Chapter 91 [VIP]

Perhaps because they were in an unfamiliar environment, the three of them were still not quite used to it and tossed and turned in bed at night, unable to fall asleep.

After a moment of silence, Chen Qingsong spoke first, "It's been four months since I left home, and I wonder how my mother and the others are doing."

Chen Qingyan: "It's alright, everything is fine at home."

Upon hearing this, Chen Qingsong sat up. "How did you know?"

"I guessed." He naturally couldn't tell his younger brother that he had just met with Wang Ying a few days ago and knew that everything was fine at home, and that his son had been scolded for wasting food.

Chen Qingsong lay back on the bed, "I miss my mother, my older sister, and my sister-in-law so much..."

Hearing this, Chen Qinghuai felt even more distressed. He hadn't seen his parents for over a year. When they left, his younger brother was only a little over a year old, and he should be able to walk and talk by now.

The fourth wife's offspring were also few. Besides Chen Qinghuai, the eldest son, she had a son and a daughter. The daughter was seven years old this year, and the youngest son was only three and a half years old. The children born in between did not survive.

Chen Jing had high expectations for his eldest son, which is why he was willing to let him study under Master Liang.

Chen Qingyan comforted her two younger brothers, saying, "Hang in there. We're already much better off than those students who are too poor to afford school. Don't let your family down."

"Um."

After the two fell asleep, Chen Qingyan quietly opened the experimental field. He had arrived late today and Wang Ying was no longer inside. Chen Qingyan picked up a charcoal pencil and left a message on the paper.

"My brothers Song and Huai have entered the Laizhou Prefectural School. Everything is fine, so don't worry." After writing this, he hurriedly returned to his room. Seeing that the two people next to him hadn't noticed, he fell asleep.

The next morning, they were awakened by the sound of a bell.

The loud chime of the bell resounded throughout the entire academy. The three of them were stunned for a moment, then quickly got up, changed into the student robes they had received yesterday, put on their Confucian hats, and went to the classroom for morning reading.

When I arrived, the classroom was already full of people. Normally, we start our morning reading at 1:15 AM and continue until 5:00 AM for breakfast, after which we begin our full day of studying.

The mornings were mostly for regular classes, including the Four Books and Five Classics, poetry, songs, and policy essays. Each class lasted one hour and was taught by three teachers in rotation.

Lunch is served around noon, with a half-hour break in between. The afternoon is for miscellaneous classes, including subjects such as classics, scholars, law, characters, and mathematics, as well as the Six Arts of a Gentleman. The break continues until 5 pm.

The curfew begins at 7 PM. Students are not allowed to leave their dormitories except to use the restroom. Anyone found doing so will be severely punished, and three violations will result in expulsion.

Smoking is strictly prohibited within the academy grounds. Since the buildings are mostly wooden structures, and the academy houses a large quantity of paper and books, along with so many people, a fire would have unimaginable consequences. Therefore, the students lived a life of working at sunrise and resting at sunset.

The sudden enrollment of the three caused quite a stir in Class C. Everyone somehow learned that the three of them were Liang Boqing's apprentices, and they were curious and envious of the three of them, and of course, there was no shortage of jealousy.

Among them, Peng Huan was the worst. He was in his early twenties and entered the prefectural school as the top student in Song'an County. He was admitted to Class A as soon as he entered the school. However, he was blinded by the prosperity of the prefectural city and loved to make friends. In just a few months, his grades plummeted and he fell from Class A to Class B. At the beginning of this year, he was squeezed from Class B to Class C in the primary school exam.

He boasted of his exceptional talent, but unfortunately, he lacked a renowned teacher. The instructors at the prefectural school were all opportunistic, and they expelled him from the top rank just for failing a minor exam once. This was truly excessive, considering he was the top student in the county.

Of course, he dared not say these things in the academy; he could only complain to his cronies, and he always longed to find a famous teacher to teach him.

Seeing Chen Qingyan and the other two, he couldn't help but be tempted. He planned to first befriend them and get closer to them, and then visit them as a friend to ask Liang Boqing to accept him. He was sure that with his talent, he could win Liang Boqing's favor!

The more he thought about the idea, the more feasible it seemed. He immediately stood up and warmly invited the three of them to sit down, saying, "There are empty seats here, come and sit over here."

Chen Qingyan and the others had never met Peng Huan before and didn't understand why he was being so enthusiastic. Having been fooled before, they instinctively felt a bit repulsed by this kind of person, so they pretended not to see him and walked to the last row of empty seats to sit down.

The students around me were more normal; they greeted me reservedly and then picked up their books to read aloud.

The three of them took out the books they had received yesterday and began to read, continuing until the time of Yin (3-5 AM) when the Master finally arrived.

The three teachers who lectured Class C were surnamed Zhang, Xu, and Zhou, respectively.

Mr. Zhang is mainly in charge of their class; you can ask him any questions you may have.

He was quite old, thin and slightly hunched, with gray hair tied in a topknot and a long beard. His brows and eyes held a stern expression that made people feel intimidated at first glance.

He walked in holding a ruler, and the students raised their voices to read aloud, standing tall as if afraid of being punished by the teacher.

Master Zhang walked over to Chen Qingyan and his brothers and tapped the table with his ruler.

The three stopped reading and looked up at him, puzzled.

"So you are Elder Liang's disciples?"

The sound of reading in the classroom stopped, and everyone turned to look at the three people.

Chen Qingyan quickly pulled his two younger brothers to their feet, saying, "Students Chen Qingyan, Chen Qinghuai, and Chen Qingsong greet the Master."

Master Zhang did not make things difficult for the three of them. He simply looked them over and said, "Sit down and read carefully."

The three sat down, their faces full of confusion, and continued reading.

Actually, Zhang Duan just came to get acquainted with the children. Yesterday, the dean asked him to take good care of these three kids, worried that they might not adapt well to the new school and could be bullied.

However, after a quick glance, he realized that none of the three children were weak-willed and they shouldn't be bullied.

After morning reading, everyone took their bowls and chopsticks to the cafeteria for lunch. On the way, they ran into Cai Jingqi and Zhao Lan, who were waiting for them. The three of them quickly ran over.

Cai Jingqi asked, "How are you doing? Are you adjusting well?"

Chen Qinghuai nodded, "It's alright, I almost overslept during morning reading."

"That must mean you guys go to bed late at night, otherwise you'd wake up before dawn."

Evenings at the prefectural school were the most boring time. No one could light a lamp to read or go for a stroll. Everyone went to bed early and woke up around 1-3 AM.

The group went to the cafeteria together, and as soon as they entered, the man named Peng Huan invited them to eat together.

Seeing this, Cai Jingqi tugged at Qing Huai's sleeve and shook his head gently. The three of them then pretended not to see anything and followed the two to sit down on the other side.

Upon seeing this, Peng Huan's face darkened, he threw his chopsticks on the table, and turned to leave.

The few lackeys who usually followed him immediately helped tidy up and left as well.

After everyone left, Cai Jingqi spoke up in a low voice: "You guys stay away from this guy. He used to be a student in Class A, but because he was lazy and often frequented brothels, his grades dropped too quickly and he ended up in Class C."

Zhao Lan added: "Moreover, this person likes to form cliques. He will lead the way in ostracizing those he doesn't like. Back in Class B, he bullied a young scholar so much that he was expelled from school."

Chen Qingyan asked, "Doesn't the teacher care?"

"We tried to manage it, but we couldn't stop these people from making things difficult for us, both openly and secretly. The young scholar was already too young to stand such a life, so he left."

Upon hearing this, the three immediately labeled this person as someone they could not associate with.

After breakfast, they continued with class. The morning lessons were tedious and boring, and the teacher's voice was drawn out and slow, making the three of them drowsy.

Not only the three of them, but also others who had fallen asleep were all dragged out of bed by the teacher's ears and made to stand outside to listen to the lesson.

The June sun was so bright that you could hardly open your eyes, and standing for a whole class would leave you with a flushed face and drenched in sweat.

The afternoon classes were a bit more relaxed, with a music theory class taught by a Mr. Bai. He was young but had excellent piano skills, and the three of them were completely captivated by his rendition of "High Mountains and Flowing Water".

This was the first time Chen Qingyan had ever heard the sound of the guqin. He secretly made a decision in his heart: he would learn to play the guqin and then play it for Aying.

*

Wang Ying had no time to listen to the zither. The town had been experiencing torrential rain for days, and if it continued like this, there was a risk of flooding.

"Boom..." A clap of thunder rolled by, and the rain outside intensified.

Li and Chen Rong sat inside, looking out the window with worried expressions. "This rain has been falling for four days straight, and there's no sign of it stopping."

"Yes, if this continues, all the crops in the fields will probably be flooded and die. I wonder how Ah Ying and the others are doing now."

Early in the morning, Wang Ying and Uncle Chen went to the village to gather all the villagers to dig ditches to drain the floodwaters. There is a river in Chenjiazhuang. Normally, the water level of this river is only knee-deep, but after several days of heavy rain, the water level has risen by more than a meter, and it is flowing downstream with a rumbling sound, carrying mud and sand.

With no sign of the rain stopping, if this continues, the water will definitely overflow and flood the fields.

Wang Ying instructed them to widen the river channel and build dikes on both sides of the riverbank with wood and sand to prevent the river from flooding the fields. Upon hearing the news, the villagers spontaneously came out to help, carrying wooden shovels and stone picks.

Because of the heavy rain, only a little over 200 meters of flood control belt could be built in the morning. Wang Ying was worried that everyone would get sick from being in the rain for a long time, so she told everyone to go home and rest in the afternoon and continue the work the next day.

Back home, Uncle Chen handed him a cloth and said, "Young master, the rain is too heavy. You shouldn't go tomorrow. I'll take them to handle it."

Wang Ying wiped the rain off her face. "It's alright. I wouldn't feel at ease unless I saw it with my own eyes. I'll have Aunt Chen make some ginger soup later so everyone can drink some to avoid catching a cold."

"Why."

As soon as he pushed open the door and entered the house, Yuanbao heard the voice and ran over, "Father!"

"Father, you're still wet. Don't jump on me."

Yuanbao stopped in her tracks, grabbed his hand, and looked up at him. "Father, your hands are so cold. Let me warm them up for you."

Wang Ying smiled and pinched his little face, "It's nothing, what did you do at home this morning?"

“I played hide-and-seek with Brother Mutou and Brother Chunsheng.”

"Did you hide it in the woodpile?"

Yuanbao exclaimed in surprise, "How did Father know?!"

Wang Ying chuckled and removed the straw and wood chips from his hair. "Be a good boy and play in the house with your brother. Don't go out, or you'll catch a cold if you get wet."

"good."

Wang Ying took a bath in the bathroom, changed into dry clothes, and returned to the backyard. For lunch, he had chicken soup made, which Li Shi had specially asked the kitchen to prepare because she was worried that he would be too tired.

"How's it going outside?"

Wang Ying said with a serious expression, "The river water is almost overflowing into the fields. If the rain continues like this, the autumn harvest will probably be a total loss."

A note from the author: