Shen Cui was somewhat surprised to hear such an answer.
After all, she saw the young man coming out of the provincial school with her own eyes. How could someone be in the provincial school without knowing whether the school had already ended? Didn't you go to class?
But this didn't seem right. The young men had just said in the academy the day before that the enrollment of new students every year was a big day in the provincial school, and even the laziest people had to be present.
Chen Cui felt puzzled, but after all, she had never met the other party before, so it was not convenient for her to ask too much.
She smiled to express her gratitude, and seeing that the boy's forehead was covered with sweat and he looked very tired, she took a fruit from her paper bag and gave it to him, "Eat one to quench your thirst?"
"No, thank you." The boy declined politely.
Just as the two were about to separate, the paper bag in Shen Cui's hand suddenly broke, and the bag of fruits rolled all over the floor.
Shen Cui let out a soft "ouch", thinking that she had bad luck today, and then quickly squatted down and started picking up the things.
The boy who was about to leave immediately stopped. The fruit rolled to his feet. He asked, "Do you need help?"
This situation was a bit strange, because the fruits were scattered at his feet. If he wanted to help, he could just squat down and pick them up. If he didn't want to help, he could just walk away. There was no need to stay and ask out loud.
While they were talking, more parents like Shen Cui came to pick up their children, and many of them even came in horse-drawn carriages.
Afraid that the fruits would be trampled, which would not only be a waste but also dirty the area in front of the prefectural school, Shen Cui hurriedly said, "Then please help me pick them up. Just pick up the ones near your feet. I'll do the rest myself."
The young man didn't say anything else. He squatted down and helped pick them up. However, he picked them up very slowly. Shen Cui had picked up all the ones around her before he picked up the ones at her feet.
Shen Cui went over and picked up the rest, then took the one from his hand and was about to thank him.
The young man, however, seemed to have done something wrong and left in a hurry.
Not long after he left, the school was officially dismissed and students filed out.
Mu Erpang was also among the first group of people coming out, while Mei Ruochu and the others had not come out yet - weren't there many freshmen who were stumped by the professor today? During the whole day in the prefectural school, the freshmen also heard from the seniors that Mei Ruochu was the most talented and was most willing to give guidance. After school, they all came to him for advice.
Mei Ruochu couldn't handle it all by himself, so he asked Wei Shu, Wei Xi and Cui Fei to help him with the advice.
Mu Erpang should have stayed inside and waited for them, but he guessed that his mother would most likely come to pick him up in person today, so he said he would come out and take a look first.
Sure enough, the mother and son met at the gate of the provincial school.
When the mother and son saw each other, they laughed at the same time. Mu Erpang said, "I guessed that mother would come to pick me up, and I was right. Let's wait a while, Brother Mei and the others should be out soon."
As he was talking, Mu Erpang also noticed that the fruits in Chen Cui's arms were covered with mud.
Chen Cui then told him what happened earlier, and said with a smile: "I saw the young man coming out of the prefectural school, and there was no one around. I thought I was too late and you all had left. Fortunately, he was the only one who came out early."
Mu Erpang reached out to help her brush off the dust on her sleeves and asked, "Is that person about fifteen or sixteen years old, handsome, only slightly taller than me, and wearing a gray-blue scholar's robe?"
Shen Cui nodded and said yes, "Do you know him?"
Mu Erpang was ignored by Shen Aoshuang several times before, but he didn't think it was a big deal, so he didn't mention it to her. He nodded and said, "I know him, but he is always a little arrogant and doesn't talk to people, so we haven't talked."
"Arrogant?" Shen Cui thought about the boy's reaction, "I don't think he is arrogant and ignores others, but I think it's a bit inconsistent."
As for what was incongruous, Chen Cui had only met Chen Aoshuang briefly, so she couldn't tell for the time being.
The mother and son did not wait for long at the gate of the provincial school. Mei Ruochu and the others came out immediately after instructing the new students.
The group returned to Cuiwei and did not mention it again.
The next day, Mu Erpang and the others went to the prefectural school for classes. He thought that he had to talk to Shen Aoshuang about everything today.
Since he couldn't bear to see him wandering around a place like the archery range again and endangering his life, he also wanted to personally thank him for his help yesterday.
Mu Erpang even thought about it. If Chen Aoshuang didn't come today, he would ask the clerk in the government school about Chen Aoshuang's address, and go look for him when the government school was closed.
But there was no need to go through so much trouble, because when they entered the classroom that day, Shen Aoshuang was already sitting inside.
Mei Ruochu was used to coming a little earlier every day to answer questions for his classmates. Everyone in Cuiwei was willing to accompany him, so he was almost always one of the first to arrive.
This Shen Aoshuang actually arrived earlier than them.
Mu Erpang didn't let anyone else accompany him. He went over and said to him, "Brother Shen, freshmen don't sit here. They have to sit at the front."
Chen Aoshuang said 'ah', stood up and said: "Thank you, I didn't come yesterday, so I didn't know."
He stood up and slowly followed Mu Erpang to the front to change positions.
In just a short while, Mu Erpang couldn't help but think that what his mother said was right. This Shen Aoshuang wasn't very arrogant when getting along with her, but why was she so...
He didn't think too much about it, and continued to say to him as he had planned: "There is one more thing. Brother Shen was walking around the archery range yesterday. It was very dangerous and scared us a lot. Don't do that again in the future."
Shen Aoshuang's fair face suddenly turned red, and she immediately said: "I don't..."
At this point, he suddenly paused and said apologetically, "I'm really sorry for scaring you. I'll be more careful next time."
His attitude was much better than what Mu Erpang had expected. After all, according to Mu Erpang's previous assumption, the arrogant Shen Aoshuang might raise her chin and sneer, thinking that he was meddling in other people's business or something.
As the saying goes, it is best not to hit a smiling person. Mu Erpang himself is a kind person who likes to help others, so he said a few more words than before, "Why didn't you come yesterday? I don't mean to pry into your privacy, but I saw you at the archery range, but you didn't come to class. If the professor knew about this, he would be even more angry."
This time, the blush on Shen Aoshuang's face went all the way to his ears, but he still didn't explain anything, he just asked: "Does the professor know?"
Mu Erpang said no, "The people at the archery range yesterday were all old students and didn't know you. I was the only one who recognized you, and I didn't make it public, so no one else knew."
Only then did Shen Aoshuang let out a long breath and thanked him again.
Mu Erpang still told him not to be so polite, "Actually, I also wanted to thank you. You helped my mother at the gate of the prefectural school yesterday, so I came here to talk to you a little more."
"It's just a small favor." Shen Aoshuang did not take credit for it.
The communication between the two was very friendly and harmonious. Mu Erpang soon had no grudges and stopped thinking about the fact that he had deliberately ignored others before.
However, they didn't talk for long, and not many other students came later, but the professor came first.
The professor doesn't teach a full day of classes every day like he does on the first day of school. For example, this morning, he didn't have any classes.
So logically he wouldn't come in the morning, let alone come so early.
Many freshmen were immediately panicked - because they thought that the professor's class was in the afternoon and they still had time to revise the papers they had to submit in the morning, so many people were not ready yet.
But fortunately the professor was not here to collect homework, he just asked: "Did Shen Aoshuang come here today?"
It turned out that he came to arrest Chen Aoshuang personally, which showed that he was really pissed off yesterday!
Shen Aoshuang immediately stood up and responded, "The student is here."
The professor looked at him expressionlessly, not even bothering to say anything to him, and just waved at him slightly.
Shen Aoshuang stood still, watching the professor's face darken even more. Mu Erpang quickly reminded him in a low voice, "Brother Shen, the professor asked you to go. You must not be arrogant at this juncture!"
Being absent on the first day of school can still be excused by other words.
If one disrespects his teachers in front of everyone, it will be a serious matter and may affect him for the rest of his life!
Upon hearing this, Shen Aoshuang had no time to thank him and immediately stepped forward.
Later, the professor took Shen Aoshuang away and did not let her go until the morning training course was over.
If this kind of "treatment" happened to someone else, all the students in the provincial school, whether they were freshmen or seniors, would shed tears of sympathy for him.
When it comes to Shen Aoshuang, no one sympathizes with him, and many people say that he 'deserves it'.
Mu Erpang still did not participate in the discussion about Shen Aoshuang. Later during the lunch break, Ren Shun and Zhao Xiuwen inevitably asked him privately: "When we first came in the morning, it seemed that we saw you talking to Brother Shen. Did he pay attention to you?"
Chen Aoshuang actually cared about others. In the eyes of Ren Shun and Zhao Xiuwen, this was much more novel than the professor taking him away for a whole morning!
Mu Erpang said, "Yes, I talked to him and he answered politely with a very good attitude. Moreover, he helped my mother pick up things outside the government school yesterday. Maybe we misunderstood him earlier. He is not that kind of person..."
As he was speaking, the professor released him before the afternoon class started.
The three of them looked at him one after another. Chen Aoshuang's arrogant attitude came back again, and he walked past them without paying any attention.
Ren Shun and Zhao Xiuwen didn't say anything, but the expressions on their faces clearly said - 'See, it's not us who misunderstood, he is just like that'!
Later, the instructor came over to teach the class, and the three of them no longer focused on this matter.
After school in the evening, Mu Erpang and his friends went back to Cuiwei. He asked Mei Ruochu and the others to wash and change clothes first, and then he went to find Chen Cui.
He first told what happened during the day, and then said, "I know what mother meant by 'discord'. Listening to Brother Shen's conversation and seeing what he did before, he helped the fainted man in front of the college entrance examination list, and helped mother at the gate of the prefectural school. He is very kind-hearted. I don't think he is such a proud person, but his behavior is indeed... Do you think it is possible that his eyesight is not very good?"
Shen Cui said it was unlikely.
Everyone knows that studying hurts the eyes, and there are many scholars in the provincial school who have impaired eyesight. And we all know that people with myopia are very easy to identify - first, their eyes are dull, and then they will habitually squint and get closer to see things.
There was no such expression on Shen Aoshuang's body.
Besides, myopia is very common among educated people, and it is not a big deal that needs to be hidden at the cost of one’s reputation. Why is it so?
So Mu Erpang himself actually felt that he had guessed wrong, scratching his head and saying, "I'm just worried that if he really is like this because of his eyesight problem, his reputation can still be considered as external things, but if something like that happens at the archery range again, it will cost him his life. Especially since I will definitely go there often in the future, if he really gets hurt by me, I will definitely feel very sorry."
Seeing that her fat son was concerned about this matter, and that Shen Aoshuang in front of her had indeed helped her, Shen Cui said, "It's okay, there's no need to guess. I'll go to the prefecture school to pick you up tomorrow, and you'll know after meeting him."
At that time, she could replace someone from the academy system and temporarily replace Chen Aoshuang, allowing the system to discover any possible problems in him.
After the discussion, Mu Erpang didn't think about it anymore.
When Mei Ruochu and the others had just entered the academy, they all felt a heightened sense of crisis, and so did he. He quickly changed his clothes and washed up, then sat in the classroom and started doing his homework.
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