Chapter 63 The Literary Conference Opens
On the way back, An Xin saw the nearby fishing village and realized that the fishermen here did not live as wealthy as modern people living by the sea.
Most of the clothes worn by the elderly, women, children and young adults were patched up, and the houses they lived in were old and simple. There were many dried fish drying in front of every house.
It was obvious that they harvested too much and couldn't sell it, so they had to dry it and store it like this for their own consumption.
An Xin looked at those big sea fish and felt it was a pity. Fresh fish without ice would easily go bad and could not be transported to farther places for sale.
Only nearby towns come to buy seafood. If they catch too much, they can't sell it, and if they catch too little, it's not enough to feed the family. The people living here will become increasingly poor.
An Xin had some ideas in her mind, but she couldn't do it now.
They spent a day here and had the seafood feast they had longed for. In the afternoon of the next day, they got on a horse-drawn carriage and rushed back to Baichuan Academy.
If Mr. Gongsun Jin hadn't happened to come along, An Xin and his group of unmotivated people would probably have been so happy that they wouldn't even remember that there was such a literary gathering.
*After coming back, the next day.
The Baichuan Academy Literary Festival officially opened.
The sun rises, and golden sunlight shines on the square of Baichuan Academy.
At this time, seventy or eighty academies of all sizes from all over the place gathered here, a huge crowd of people gathered here.
Because they are all scholars and pay attention to their image, even if there are hundreds of students gathered here, they only whisper with people they are familiar with, and no one makes loud noises.
When Cangyun Academy's Dean Wang saw An Xin, dressed in a green Confucian robe, standing on the judges' panel behind Mr. Gongsun Jin, he felt sick.
He rubbed his eyes in shock, his eyes widened, "How is this possible?!"
Zhao Jing and Liu Mingjie, who were standing next to him, also came back to their senses from their shock, with ambiguous looks flashing in their eyes.
Many self-proclaimed aloof literati, both on the stage and in the audience, looked at the seat where An Xin was sitting with strange eyes.
Mr. Gongsun Jin's unique deep and loud voice sounded at this time: "Thank you all for coming to participate in the literary gathering held by Baichuan Academy every three years for students to exchange ideas..."
Gongsun Jin, as the president of Baichuan Academy, gave up his seat to the gentleman who was hosting the literary gathering after delivering his opening speech.
Li Fangyu stepped forward and said, "Hello everyone, my last name is Li, you can call me Mr. Li."
"Next, I would like to introduce the judges of this literary gathering and the rules of the gathering," Li Fangyu looked at the speech manuscript in his hand and began to introduce: "The scholar Gao Shilian sent by Tiande Academy, the scholar Liang Hongsheng from Hanchen Academy, the scholar Chi Changxu from Huating Academy, and the scholar Gu Zhicheng from our Baichuan Academy."
Every time a name is called, the corresponding person will stand up and bow to the people below, and then sit down again.
Li Fangyu glanced at the remaining two judges. One was the Leling Prefecture instructor who was the last to appear, and the other was a little-known female principal of a small academy.
Although he didn't understand why his dean made such a decision, Li Fangyu still gritted his teeth and introduced: "This time, our Baichuan Academy shows respect to other local academies. We have specially invited Principal An Xin from Wanhua Academy in Lin'an County to be a judge for this literary gathering."
When An Xin was introduced, there was total silence.
An Xin stood up and bowed as well. The advantage of being thick-skinned is that he can face a look of contempt and disdain and still sit back down calmly.
Anyway, she is not embarrassed, it is others who are embarrassed.
Li Fangyu raised his sleeve to wipe the non-existent sweat from his forehead. "I would like to introduce Bai Huaqing, the teacher of Leling Prefecture, as an important judge this time. He will give you the most fair judgment."
At this time, there was applause from the audience. After all, he was the prefectural governor and they had to give him some respect.
"This year, we added calligraphy to test memory and recitation after poetry, prose, arithmetic, debate, and the six arts of a gentleman."
Finally: "I hope that all students can display their literary talents in this literary gathering and bring glory to themselves and the college they are studying in."
"Like in previous years, the top three in each competition will receive a scholarship. The first place winner will receive 150 taels, the second place winner 100 taels, and the third place winner 50 taels. Although it's not much, it's still a reward."
Li Fangyu took a deep breath and finally finished the introduction.
Next is the registration time. As long as each student has sufficient ability, he or she can register for multiple items.
Li Ziyu was dispensable and signed up for painting, one of the six arts of a gentleman.
Leng Xiangbai was short of money, so he signed up to play the piano, which he was good at.
Zhu Shijing has been beaten by his own big devil in the past two years, and his chess skills have improved like a rocket. If he doesn't sign up to play chess, what else can he sign up for?
Horse riding and archery are the strengths of military generals. As the descendant of a military general, Liu Boxing cannot be said to have grown up on horseback, but at least he is very familiar and professional in these two things.
He walked steadily to the place where people signed up for horseback archery and proudly gave his name.
6◇9◇Book◇Bar
The sharp-tongued boy walked to the debate registration office without even thinking about it. Arguing with others is his hobby, and no one can stop him.
An Xin looked at his little cousin who was still standing beside him and didn't move, and raised his eyebrows: "Don't you have anything you want to participate in?"
An Rui said without any shyness: "Cousin, you don't know that I am an all-round player. I can do a little bit of everything, but I am not proficient in any one thing."
An Xin nodded: "Yeah, you are quite self-aware."
"Cousin, you don't have to be so blunt. Aren't you worried that my self-esteem would be hurt as the only child of the An family?" An Rui covered his chest in a funny manner.
The students who heard the conversation between the two looked at them with disdain. They knew nothing, yet they came to attend the literary gathering. Everyone seemed to be watching them for fun.
An Xin: "Since you are here, go over there and take a look. Just sign up for one. Haven't you heard? The result of the competition is not important, what matters is participation."
An Rui was a good boy who listened to advice and had enough food to eat, so he really listened to what An Xin said and went to the registration office to take a look.
"You're not going?" An Xin looked at Kong Xun.
Kong Xun looked at the crowded registration area and frowned slightly, "I... I just wanted to come here with you to take a look. I never thought about signing up for the competition."
Just as the two were talking, a sarcastic voice came from the side.
"Did you see that? Those few students from Wanhua Academy all signed up for the Six Arts, which have nothing to do with academics.
They must have average knowledge to choose those items for the competition, and I don’t know how that unknown female headmaster became a judge of the Baichuan Academy Literary Meeting this time.”
"That's right. I've never heard of this Wanhua Academy. It has no reputation and no knowledge. How can they be the judges of such a large literary conference?"
When the people around heard these remarks, they looked at them with strange eyes, and it could be seen from their expressions that they also agreed with what they said.
I feel that An Xin is unqualified to be a judge and is just filling in the numbers.
(End of this chapter)