Seeing this ranking, the person who couldn't believe it the most was naturally Li Rufeng.
He pushed through the crowd and walked forward, wishing he could lie on the list. He rubbed his eyes repeatedly to make sure he was not seeing things.
The first place in the second class is indeed Cui Fei. And the information given by the procurement was correct. This time he performed better than before and was within the top 20 on the second list!
Someone couldn't help but laugh and said, "Brother Li, did you find out all the information in advance?"
This person was right. Although the annual examination was not as rigorous as other imperial examinations, it was still a formal examination held by the court.
It's better to ask for one person's name when purchasing, it's impossible to look at the whole list in advance.
Li Rufeng knew that he was in the top 20 of the second class, so he thought he had a sure win. He even dressed up specially today, waiting for Cui Fei to offer him tea and admit his mistake in public.
"Impossible, absolutely impossible! How could you do so well in the exam all of a sudden?!" Li Rufeng, who had accepted his incompetence, rushed to Cui Fei, "You must have made a mistake when transcribing the rankings, or you cheated... Yes, you cheated, it must be Mei Ruochu and the Wei brothers who helped you..."
Before he finished speaking, the professor came over slowly with his hands behind his back, "What's the noise?"
The professor's voice was not loud, but after he asked, no one dared to speak.
Even Li Rufeng, who had just been described as unruly, behaved himself much more and replied respectfully: "Professor, please understand. Cui Fei's grades have always been... but now he has ranked first in the second class. I am surprised and my voice has become a little higher."
"Really?" The professor stroked his beard and said slowly, "I've read Cui Fei's paper and there's nothing wrong with it."
The academician needs to invite a principal and aide from 500 miles away to mark the papers for the academy examination. The annual examination has a lower standard, so the academician will not read every paper. The professors and instructors of the provincial school will look at them first and divide them into passing and failing parts.
Those who fail will definitely not be favored by the academic official, only those who are first or second grade are qualified.
Li Rufeng's words actually questioned the professors, instructors and academic officials as well.
So it’s no wonder that the professor’s expression remained unchanged, but there was a hint of worry in his voice.
The professor glanced at the students present and noticed that Li Rufeng was not the only one who was surprised or slightly indignant, so he continued, "Cui Fei, come forward. There is a test paper in the annual examination - the poem is 'Scholars first know', and the word 'literature' is selected. Tell me your thinking behind the answer."
Cui Fei had always been afraid of the teachers in the provincial school, because he was in the wrong. He had taken so many leaves before, and his score was always hovering around the passing line of the annual examination, just like a poor student who was particularly afraid of his teacher.
Otherwise, when the teacher in front asked him about his leave, he would have wanted to find a hole to hide in the ground in the classroom.
Although he did well in the exam this time, he was still a little unsure when the professor suddenly asked him to answer questions in front of others.
When people are nervous and insecure, they will subconsciously look at people they are familiar with and trust. At this time, Cui Fei couldn't help but look at Mei Ruochu, Wei Shu and Wei Xi.
Receiving their encouraging looks, Cui Fei took a deep breath and stepped forward and said, "The so-called 'a scholar should first develop his character and knowledge', the whole sentence comes from 'a scholar should first develop his character and knowledge and then develop his literary talent' in the Old Book of Tang, Biographies, Volume 140. The second half of the sentence is hidden in the title, and the word 'literature' is mentioned in the stem, which means that you are required to write the test poem in the style of 'literary style'. You need to write down all the keywords in the stem and the hidden part, including 'scholar', 'first', 'character and knowledge', 'after', and 'literature and art'. If you don't know the whole sentence, it is easy to miss it..."
The professor nodded with satisfaction. "This question is indeed a bit biased. After all, the Old Book of Tang is not one of the Four Books and Five Classics. In case you haven't read it well, the academic official pointed it out in the exam guidelines. Even so, many people still stumbled on this question. Cui Fei surpassed most of you in this question alone. Do you have any objections?"
Everyone hurriedly said they didn't dare, especially Li Rufeng, who looked embarrassed and put his chin on his chest.
Seeing that no one questioned the ranking anymore, the professor did not stay long and left soon.
As soon as the professor left, someone immediately asked, "Since Brother Li lost today, does that mean he will be expelled from the provincial school?"
The person next to him said, "After the annual exam, there will be annual leave. There will be personnel changes every year after the annual leave. It is very convenient for Brother Li to drop out of school!"
"Li Rufeng was the one who took the lead in bullying Cui Fei. I have long been fed up with it. I am really sorry for the sage books I have read for so long. This is against the way of the sages!"
"You are not as skilled as others, yet you dare to provoke a bet. You deserve it!"
Discussions and disparaging voices arose, Li Rufeng's face turned red, and he pushed through the crowd and ran away!
No one cared whether he left or not. After those people finished talking, they came up to congratulate Cui Fei, and Cui Fei returned the greetings one by one.
After the others dispersed, Cui Fei's smile faded, and he looked more thoughtful.
Wei Shu was outspoken and asked him what he was thinking. Aren’t you happy about winning against Li Rufeng?
Cui Fei said no, "It's just a bit sad. When Li Rufeng took the lead in bullying me, no one stood up for me because they had more people and the Li family had certain connections in the government school. Now that I have done better than him in the exam, and Li Rufeng is about to fulfill his promise and drop out of school, many people dare to speak up for him. If this kind of speaking up was put in the past... I probably wouldn't hide from the government school every day."
Mei Ruochu put her hand on his shoulder and patted him gently, "It's easy to add icing on the cake, but it's hard to help someone in need. This is the norm in the world. We just need to learn from others and not become that kind of person."
Cui Fei nodded vigorously. Of course he remembered who had helped him in his time of need.
After seeing the results and knowing the rankings, the annual holiday of the provincial school officially began.
Cui Wuniang finally finished her household affairs in the middle of the twelfth lunar month, and as she had said before, she came to Cuiwei in person to deliver New Year gifts.
Because A Yao is with Cuiwei - A Yao usually doesn't pry into any news, and she will deliberately avoid them when Shen Cui and the others are talking about something.
But after all, she is a handyman here, and no one knows what Cuiwei lacks better than her.
The Cui family's New Year gifts were very simple. They did not include gold or silver, but food, drink, clothing and daily necessities. They even brought a few tailors and embroiderers to take measurements for everyone and make clothes.
This is really a basic need. Wei Shu and Wei Xi certainly have no shortage of clothes to wear, but Chen Cui and her son, Mei Ruochu, and Lao Buyu don't have many clothes. Chen Cui and Mu Erpang have already put on the clothes that Zhou gave them before she left, and they had never thought about buying new clothes for the New Year.
The adults are fine. The teenagers are all growing taller. Mei Ruochu, who is about eighteen or nineteen years old, has grown even taller in the past six months.
"I've always thought your clothes were a little too simple to live up to your good looks. Today I've brought the most capable embroiderer from my family. Your academy is called 'Cuiwei'. When I signed the contract with you, I saw that your name has the character 'Cui' in it. This time I'll have them embroider a few orchids on your clothes. It will definitely suit you very well."
This is true. After all, the clothes that Chen Cui is wearing now are the ones that Zhou made for her earlier. Zhou taught herself how to sew clothes. Although she learned very well, she cannot do delicate work like embroidery that requires a master to teach her.
Chen Cui did not have the idea that women nowadays think they are old and do not need to dress up when they reach around 30 years old.
She accepted Cui Wuniang's kindness and said, "Thank you very much. As for the return gift..."
Cui Wu Niang quickly pressed the back of her hand and patted it, stopping her from talking. "Being able to take care of Ah Fei's health and make him diligent and motivated is the best 'gift' you have given to me and our Cui family! Besides, didn't you see the children writing Spring Festival couplets when you just came here? They are all going to be great people, so just write a few couplets for me to keep, they will definitely be worth a lot in the future!"
After the embroiderer measured Shen Cui's size and discussed the style and embroidery pattern of the clothes, she left. They were the only two left in the room, so Shen Cui asked, "Did Ah Fei tell you about the things in the government school?"
Cui Wu Niang nodded, "I have talked about him. Although 'making a small profit with a big investment' was a business principle I taught him when I thought he was not enterprising enough, hoping that he could change it. I didn't expect it to be used this time. It's also thanks to your students who treated him very well and reviewed with him. It's also thanks to you who didn't mind the trouble of cooking for him and helping him take care of his health... Otherwise, I don't know how to end it."
Cui Wuniang didn't know that the scrambled eggs with cabbage in the system's recipe was something that could increase short-term memory, so she thought it was some secret recipe of Cui Wei's for nourishing the body. Otherwise, in her understanding, Cui Fei couldn't have lost so much weight in a short period of time. After two rounds of review without sleep and food, his body became even healthier.
After all, Chen Cui was no longer a stranger, so Cui Wu Niang told her what happened next.
After the results were announced, Cui Fei went home and told everyone about this.
Although he won, Cui Wuniang still couldn't help but talk to him. She felt that there was no need for him to gamble with Li Rufeng. As Mei Ruochu said, why not just report him for insulting others in the first place and let him receive the punishment directly? Although the most he could do as a punishment was to miss one annual exam and it was impossible for him to be expelled from school directly, Cui Fei would not have to take the risk of losing face.
Cui Fei said, "Li Rufeng is the eldest son and grandson of the Li family. After this incident, he has no face to go to the government school again. The Li family will definitely not sit idly by. When the time comes, they can come to beg for mercy or apologize. It's all up to my sister to decide."
It was then that Cui Wuniang realized that what Cui Fei was fighting for was not the anger between him and Li Rufeng, but the anger of the Cui family!
In the early years when Cui Wuniang was in charge of the family, rumors that the Cui family was in trouble spread like wildfire, even affecting the family business for a time.
Cui Wuniang gritted her teeth and persevered, even selling the dowry shop left to her by her mother to subsidize other family businesses. Cui Fei saw how difficult it was.
Rumors are like rootless duckweed, and there is no way to trace them. But later, those shops were bought by the Li family at a low price. Even after Cui Wu Niang survived, the Li family offered a high price to buy them back, but they still refused to sell them. They also said things like "You, Wu Niang, are not getting married anyway, so it's the same if you keep your dowry outside." The Cui family knew that the Li family, who had always had a grudge against them, was fanning the flames of those rumors.
Li Rufeng owes Cui Fei an apology, and the Li family also owes the Cui family and Cui Wuniang an apology. Because this matter concerned the privacy of the Cui family, Cui Fei did not reveal it even to Chen Cui and Mei Ruochu.
Finally, Cui Fei said, “If it only concerns my honor and disgrace, it is certainly not worth it for me to take the risk. But since it concerns my sister and our family, I am willing to take a gamble and fight for it if I have a 50% chance of success, because compared to those, my face is really not important.”
Shen Cui had a vague feeling that the reason why the kindhearted Cui Fei agreed to the bet was related to the feud between the Cui and Li families, so she was not very surprised to hear about this. She could only sigh, "A Fei is really pure and filial."
Cui Wu Niang also said softly, "Isn't it? After hearing what he said, I am too embarrassed to say anything to him. These past few days, it has really been as he expected. The Li family said they would never let Li Rufeng drop out of school. They came to our house several times to apologize and even handed over to me several shops that they bought at a low price and refused to sell later..."
…………
The provincial school was on New Year's holiday, and in Cuiwei, Chen Cui did not restrict the students and told them to go home directly if they wanted to celebrate the New Year.
Wei Shu and Wei Xi did not go home for the New Year last year because of their situation, so they have to go home this year.
Mei Ruochu has not returned to Hongle since he came out to study, so it is time for him to go and pay New Year's greetings in person to the old headmaster who treats him like his own son.
So when the end of the year was approaching, Cui Fei and Mu Erpang were the only ones left in the academy.
The Cui family is a large family, and there are many things to do during the festivals. On the 25th day of the twelfth lunar month, Cui Fei was also called back home.
Although the usually bustling academy seemed unusually deserted at this moment, Mu Erpang did not dare to slack off at all, because after the New Year, in the spring, it would be time for him to return to the county town to take the county examination.
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