Chapter 74
74
A few days ago, Cheng Yeran went to the academy to study. The conditions of the academy were better than he had imagined. There were several large classrooms and a special venue for learning riding and archery. The academy had teaching aids such as horses, bows and arrows, and musical instruments. Students did not need to prepare these at their own expense. They only needed to prepare pens, ink, paper, and inkstone, and they did not even have to pay tuition.
However, those students who paid to enter the school have to donate a portion of money to the college every year, while the rest who entered based on their talent or those who ranked at the top of the exam do not have to pay this money.
The deans of the academies were clearly divided: children from wealthy families were responsible for building the academy, while talented students from poor families were responsible for adding fame to the academy.
Cheng Yeran's situation is rather special, as he has no academic qualifications and no money, but he was recommended by the county magistrate. Although the county magistrate told the academy in advance that it would treat everyone equally, the academy was not sure whether he should pay money in his situation and could only hope that he would fail the exam or rank among the top.
The four classes A, B, C and D are next to each other, with a sign hanging at the door. Cheng Yeran's Class D has a total of thirty students, sixteen of whom are students from the original academy, but are ranked the lowest. The remaining fourteen are real freshmen.
The purpose of the first sixteen old students is to serve as a show for the freshmen. In addition to the exam in the third month, the college will have an assessment every year. The last five will be advised to drop out. Students who are assigned to Class D are basically not far from being expelled.
Judging from the clothes of his classmates, they were basically from wealthy families. They would also divide themselves into factions based on their clothes. It’s not that they looked down on students from poor backgrounds. It’s just that before they entered school, they heard that poor students were good at studying and were more arrogant. They looked down on students like them who paid to get in. So they subconsciously classified Cheng Yeran into the arrogant category and naturally would not take the initiative to approach him to avoid getting bored.
Cheng Yeran is here to study, so if he can make friends, then he will, but if he can’t, it doesn’t matter.
He also reads alone during his rest time. Although he has a good memory, he cannot rely solely on memory to write articles. There are many things he needs to think about.
His foundation was not solid, and he was not the most outstanding among the freshmen, so he put in more effort. He remembered that the book wrote that Xia Xiaowu would become a county magistrate in the future, so he must hold an official position higher than that of a county magistrate.
Xia Xiaowu told a few of his friends that Cheng Yeran had provoked him and wanted revenge.
These people hit it off and decided to use the same bullying tactics they usually used on Cheng Yeran.
His friends didn't want to stand up for him, they just wanted to have some fun.
They observed for two days and saw that Cheng Yeran was alone. They thought that Cheng Yeran was also a person who was not good at socializing and was very timid. They had no scruples about bullying such a person. Even if they bullied him, he had no background and could not do anything to them, let alone tell the teacher.
When the four classes were in class together that day, the teacher had something to do, so he assigned them homework, asking them to write an essay by themselves and hand it in after they finished writing, and the teacher would check it the next day.
As soon as the teacher left, there was a murmur of talking in the classroom. Because there were four classes together and there were a lot of students, many small voices gathered together and became noise.
Cheng Yeran is annoyed by noisy environments, but he has to train himself to adapt to such environments. Many emergencies will occur during exams, and he has to adapt to not interrupting his train of thought in any environment.
But after he had written two words, a ball of paper was thrown onto his desk.
Whispering Wind
He looked around but didn't see who had thrown it, so he thought someone was asking him for help.
He opened the note and found a drawing of a turtle inside with the words "Cheng Yeran" written next to it.
Cheng Yeran scratched his head with a pen. Is this an elementary school? How can you bully people in this way? He was so angry that he laughed. He felt cheap when he cursed others.
He smiled and threw the paper ball aside, ignoring it and continued to work on his article on the draft paper.
He is a novice in essay writing, and this is different from writing an essay. There are many differences in methods and words, and there are even some taboo words. If one accidentally commits a taboo, it will not be as simple as failing the exam.
A few spots of ink splashed onto his paper, and the whole piece of paper was wasted.
He frowned and looked up, and saw a fat man in front of him holding a pen and smiling at him without any apology.
So he is that boring elementary school student? Cheng Yeran was speechless. He looked to be about 17 or 18 years old. Why was he still using such childish means to bully his classmates? It is indeed irritating to see a seven or eight-year-old child bullying children of the same age in this way, but when an eighteen-year-old person bullies others in this way, it only makes people feel that he is ridiculous.
He reluctantly changed the paper and continued writing.
The fat man was ignored and became even more angry. He looked in the direction of Xia Xiaowu. Xia Xiaowu had said before that Cheng Guo Yeran was a lunatic in the village and often went crazy and quarreled with others.
Their purpose was not to just throw a small ball of paper or some ink spots and be done with it, but to use these little things to anger Cheng Yeran and drive him crazy.
This is not the village where one can act as he pleases. If he gets mad and says vulgar things, not only will other students dislike him, but other teachers on duty will also be attracted.
It's only been a few days since Cheng Yeran started school. If he could leave a bad impression on the teacher and his classmates, he might even be expelled from the academy. This would make these people happier than torturing him physically.
But what they didn't expect was that Cheng Yeran didn't go crazy the first time he was hit with a paper ball, nor did he go crazy the second time he was hit with an ink dot. He even laughed both times, the kind of laugh that an adult would laugh at a child, which made them even more dissatisfied.
A tall, thin man with high cheekbones in the row in front of the fat man turned around and shouted, "What are you laughing at? He deliberately threw ink spots on your paper, aren't you angry?"
"It seems that he has some intellectual problems. We feel sorry for him and there is no need to bother with him." Cheng Yeran had seen them getting close to Xia Xiaowu before and guessed that they would make things difficult for him, but he did not expect that they would use such childish methods. It was really laughable.
When the fat man heard him scolding him, he was so angry that he wanted to stand up and beat him up, but the tall and thin man held his hand.
"You don't think it's just a piece of paper and that's why you don't bother with him, right? Is a piece of paper very cheap? Cheng Yeran, I heard that you are from the village, how come your village is very rich?" The tall and thin man asked him casually.
"I heard that he used to sell tofu in the village. Can a piece of tofu be exchanged for a piece of paper? If you don't know, you would think you are a young master from a rich family." Another man with narrow eyes spoke up.
These three people are in the same group, especially the man with narrow eyes at the end, who is closest to Xia Xiaowu. Xia Xiaowu also keeps a woman with him.
The three of them plus Xia Xiaowu were the celebrities in the academy. One reason was that their grades were high. Although they were not the first or second, they were always in the top ten in every exam. The teacher often praised them and asked everyone to learn from them.
The four of them usually have different divisions of labor. The fat man is the one who solves problems with force, Xia Xiaowu uses shady tricks and makes plans behind the scenes, the tall and thin man is responsible for provocation, and the one with narrow eyes is responsible for playing tricks on people.
From the moment the fat man started throwing ink towards Cheng Yeran, many people looked in their direction and the classroom became much quieter.
Later, after hearing what the man with narrow eyes and the tall and thin man said, he began to dislike Cheng Yeran.
The children of wealthy families watched the fun and thought that Cheng Yeran was a coward and didn't dare to confront them head-on. He was going to become the next victim.
Those students from poor backgrounds felt that Cheng Yeran was wasting the money given by his parents.
Although there was no tuition fee for attending school, the villagers still had to tighten their belts to send their children to school. Not only did they have to save money to buy books, pens, ink, paper and inkstones for their children, but they also had to make long gowns for them. Money was spent on everything.
Moreover, if he goes to school, there will be one less laborer in the family. None of them dares to waste anything, including study time. So why is Cheng Yeran still wasting paper?
The tall and thin man saw everyone's reactions and felt that even if he didn't force Cheng Yeran to go crazy today, he would still make him annoying. There was no need to do too much at once and he could just take his time.
The narrow-eyed man added, "I heard that you are just a student and have not passed the imperial examination. So you must have paid to get in. One thousand taels of silver is not a small amount. How can your family afford so much money?"
"Your family didn't sell their house and land to support you to go to school, did they? You're already this old, and you haven't passed the imperial examination yet. Is it necessary for you to continue studying?"
Although it was just the two of them talking, their words coordinated very well and were about to ruin Cheng Yeran's reputation.
Cheng Yeran looked at the contemptuous eyes around him, and thought that there were other teachers around. If he started a quarrel, it would attract the teachers over, and he would be punished then.
He was recommended by County Magistrate Chen and he also represented the reputation of County Magistrate Chen. He could not bring shame to County Magistrate Chen.
I can’t go crazy, so how can I turn the situation around?
These two people kept chattering away, making the topic more and more off-topic. It was obvious that they were exaggerating. If he were to refute them now, his ability would be very limited, and one person would not be able to defeat two people.
The two men thought so too and continued talking. Xia Xiaowu was watching the excitement from the side and thought to himself that it might not last more than three months. With your personality, can you really endure it? You'll have to get out tomorrow.
What they didn't expect was that Cheng Yeran actually cried.
"Please stop talking and spare me. I know everyone is afraid of you, so I dare not resist. I don't have any money. I was just recommended by the county magistrate to study. If a poor person like me hurts you young masters, I can't afford to pay the compensation." Cheng Yeran is the best at filming crying scenes. All kinds of crying scenes are no problem, even pitiful crying scenes that make people pity them. "I don't have any parents. When I was a child, the village teacher called me a child prodigy. I passed the examination for a tongsheng at the age of ten. But my parents died one after another just after I passed the examination. I had to support myself at such a young age, which delayed my studies."
Originally, the two people thought that if Cheng Yeran refuted, they would use their voices to cover it up so that others would not hear Cheng Yeran’s rebuttal, but only hear their distorted facts.
But Cheng Yeran's crying caught them off guard and they were so shocked that they forgot to speak.
Cheng Yeran also took advantage of this opportunity to turn the tables. "It was also a coincidence that day. I saved the son of County Magistrate Chen. The county magistrate said he would give me a thousand taels of silver as a thank you gift, but I refused. I said I wanted a chance to study again. This opportunity was hard to come by. I didn't want to cause trouble in the academy. I just wanted to study in peace."
He couldn't stop crying, "I know you like to bully your classmates, but I beg you to stop bullying me."
"Stop being so aggressive!" A man in the front row stood up, scolded the tall and thin man with narrow eyes, then walked over and handed a handkerchief to Cheng Yeran so that he could wipe his tears.
Cheng Yeran looked up at him and found that this man had an air of righteousness and was handsome, like a scholar who had walked out of a picture book.
The tall and thin man with the narrow eyes didn't dare to mess with him. He was the first in Class A. His name was Yang Shiming. Although he was also a student from a poor family, he was usually willing to help others. Many people in the class were his friends. Moreover, he had good grades. The teachers often said that he was a potential top scholar. They couldn't afford to mess with Yang Shiming.
Several of Yang Shiming's friends also came over and protected Cheng Yeran. "We have heard the whole story. Don't be afraid. We poor students should stand together. You don't even look down on the first thousand taels of silver. You are a gentleman."
Cheng Yeran cried just now just to make those two people shut up so that he could fight back. He didn’t expect that he would be protected by a group of men?
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