In the distance, a small group led by Sun Tingwen looked at the two people whispering and said, "Tingwen, look at how these two got together."
Sun Tingwen glanced at An Jingzhi with disdain, "He's a piece of crap. Don't bother with him."
He Changxing chatted with An Jingzhi for a while and then went to read. When the time came, he went home to rest, while An Jingzhi stayed at the school.
The families attending the academy all lived in the county and generally chose to return home to sleep, with the exception of a few who lived farther away and rented houses near the academy. The original owner was fortunate, and his talent was appreciated by the teacher, who arranged for him to live in a small guest room in his own home. To protect his pride, he even charged a symbolic 20 wen per month. In reality, considering the location, 20 wen would only cover a stay of two or three days at most. The An family naturally understood that this was a special favor from the teacher, and they were deeply grateful.
When the original owner later stopped attending school and wandered around, the teacher was deeply saddened, but he didn't take back his residence. Every time he saw the original owner, he would earnestly advise him. He knew that the original owner was extremely talented, but his mindset hadn't adjusted. He couldn't bear to see him bury his talent, and even more so, couldn't bear to see the An family's hopes dashed. The teacher knew that the original owner's ability to study was due to the combined efforts of his entire family.
The original owner seemed to listen and nodded, but in fact he didn't agree at all. After failing the imperial examination once, he developed a fear and disgust for studying.
The classmates who once took him to poetry and prose gatherings also lost interest in him. It was while hanging out in the county that he got addicted to gambling.
The original owner was very addicted to the feeling of adrenaline rush when gambling.
The original owner had actually been in debt before gambling away his family's land. However, He Changxing encountered him and, out of a last bit of friendship between them, helped him pay back five taels of silver. Unexpectedly, the original owner remained unrepentant despite repeated warnings.
The next morning, An Jingzhi went to the school gate and bought two buns. He was eating while reading a book. When he finished the last one, He Changxing walked in with a lunch box.
He placed the food box directly on An Jingzhi's table and said, "I had your fried dough sticks yesterday, so I'll treat you to my pie today."
An Jingzhi: “…”
What’s the matter? Are you still having a hard time with Bing?
I picked up a piece and tasted it. Hmm, it tasted like lamb.
"Your chef's cooking skills are quite good."
"Hehe, Uncle Zhao has worked in my house for more than ten years. I've never gotten tired of his cooking since I was a child."
The two were eating when He Changxing saw someone coming from behind An Jingzhi and stopping next to them. He was about to remind An Jingzhi.
An Jingzhi spoke at the same time as that person without even raising his head:
"You're willing to abandon your scholarly integrity and hang out with a merchant's son just for a little food?"
He Changxing and the man looked at An Jingzhi in surprise at the same time. He Changxing didn't understand how An Jingzhi could know what the other person wanted to say?
The classmate was so frustrated that he could not hold back what he was saying. He said angrily:
"People like you are worthy of being my classmates?"
Or two voices spoke at the same time, without a single mistake in the words.
An Jingzhi took another bite of the pie in his mouth. The meat was fragrant and the crust was crispy. He glanced at the man lazily:
"Zhang Zhiwen, don't show me your dirty thoughts. I know what you're thinking. Don't make me explain things too clearly, or I'm afraid you won't be able to stay here. You smell really good."
An Jingzhi's casual words made Zhang Zhiwen feel his hair stand on end and his back instantly soaked with sweat. He stood there in a daze, opened his mouth but didn't know what to say, and fled with a pale face.
If the original owner was a top-notch person, then Zhang Zhiwen wasn't a good person either. The original owner relied on sucking the blood of his family, while Zhang Zhiwen relied on women. And women from brothels, and there was more than one.
Thinking of this, An Jingzhi prepared to write a few letters to remind some poor people.
He Changxing had a lot of questions in his mind, but he didn't know which one to ask first. He swallowed hard and said, "Um, can you tell fortunes?"
An Jingzhi almost choked on the pie.
"Cough cough cough."
"Are you okay? I just asked a question."
An Jingzhi pushed him away, and after a while he recovered, he looked at He Changxing with complicated eyes, "You are really a talent."
He Changxing looked puzzled, "What are you talking about?"
"Why do you ask that question?"
"Then how did you guess what he was going to say just now? I saw you said the exact same thing to him without even looking up!"
An Jingzhi knew who was coming without even looking up. Who else could be wearing all that makeup but Zhang Zhiwen? "Is it hard to guess what people like him are thinking? See? That's the one I was talking about, the one who's jealous of your family's wealth and the opportunity to take the imperial examinations."
He Changxing looked at the person pretending to read in the distance with an expression of disbelief, "No way, how is it possible? He, isn't his family well off? Is there any need to be jealous of me?" Zhang Zhiwen always wore a brand new gown in school and often treated his classmates to dinner.
An Jingzhi patted him on the shoulder and said, "Don't just look at the surface."
"Then what do you know about him? You scared him like that. I saw his face turned pale. He's a grown man. What do you mean by saying he smells good?"
"Confucius said, 'It's impossible to say.' Turn back to your books. Do you still want to take the imperial examination?"
No matter how He Changxing asked, An Jingzhi kept silent. Helplessly, he could only pick up his lunch box and turn back in disappointment.
After listening to the teacher's class in the morning, An Jingzhi took advantage of the lunch break to write a few letters and secretly asked someone to send them to several places.
Whether others believed him or not was none of his business. He was just doing a good deed. No one would think that An Jingzhi did this because Zhang Zhiwen had ruined his good mood for breakfast, right?
Having acted like a living Lei Feng, An Jingzhi, feeling relaxed, strolled back to the school leisurely.
After the afternoon class, An Jingzhi went to find the teacher. The teacher looked at An Jingzhi in front of him with some confusion, "Jingzhi, what's the matter with you? Is there something you don't understand about what I just said?"
An Jingzhi took out an essay he had written and said, "Teacher, this is what I am doing. I read all the books in my spare time and tried to write an essay. I would like to ask for your help in judging it."
An Jingzhi roughly marked the key points of the scholar examination questions according to what the teacher told them. He did not predict the questions. Without a large number of questions, it was impossible to predict the questions.
Instead, I focused on the review that I prepared myself. Most of the exams involved reciting ancient Chinese classics, understanding words and sentences, and understanding current affairs and policies. The last question, policy essay, required a lot of practice and was a test of one's knowledge.
This question is more advantageous for students from official families, but it is not difficult for An Jingzhi. All he needs to do is practice repeatedly to adapt to the article structure of this dynasty.
It would be best to find the articles that previous examiners liked the most and read them, but this is not something that an ordinary scholar like you can do.
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