It was a day off, so after Shen Aoshuang and Shen Cui had agreed, they immediately prepared to go back and pack their luggage.
Mu Erpang wanted to help but didn't say it directly. He just asked the same question as before, fearing that Shen Aoshuang would feel uncomfortable.
Chen Aoshuang could already see the other person's expression clearly from a close distance. In addition, she knew that her disability could be recovered, so her mentality had changed. She said, "The yard I rent is not far from here, and I don't have much luggage. I only bring a few sets of clothes and a quilt. But I have to bring some books with me. It may be difficult for one person to move. I wonder if Brother Hanshan can help me with this?"
Of course, Mu Erpang said nothing and accompanied Shen Aoshuang out of the academy.
As Chen Aoshuang said, the courtyard he rented was not far away, less than two quarters of an hour's walk from Cuiwei, and even closer to the provincial school, only half a quarter of an hour's walk away.
Cuiwei is so quiet in the bustling city because there was a haunted house in front of the original site and local people don’t like to go there.
The courtyard that Chen Aoshuang rented was quiet in the midst of a bustling city, which was extremely rare.
Earlier, the broker took them around the area and said that only the haunted house had particularly cheap rent, while the other houses closer to the school, despite their small size, cost no less than 100 taels of silver a year in rent, and that even if one had money, one might not be able to rent them.
If he hadn't met Chen Aoshuang first, just looking at this small house, Mu Erpang would probably think that anyone who could rent such a place must be very capable or wealthy.
But if it was Shen Aoshuang, she should be sharing the apartment with others?
With this question in mind, Mu Erpang followed Shen Aoshuang and knocked on the door.
The servant came to answer the door quickly. He was the only one inside and there was no one else to see.
He heard Chen Aoshuang say to the servant, "I'm going to live somewhere else. Please tell my uncle that the house can be rented to someone else. I'll write back to my family later to explain the situation."
The servant nodded in agreement and went to help pack up without asking any questions.
Mu Erpang also learned something from his words. No wonder Shen Aoshuang said that moving to Cuiwei was no problem at all, because his family was not here at all, only a servant followed him.
And a family that was so generous that they only let him and the servant go out to study would not care much about Shen Aoshuang.
As for this house, it was lent to him by the Shen family out of friendship.
Mu Erpang didn't have time to think about the house anymore, he just felt a little sorry for him. As a family with the same surname, Chen, although the elders in his maternal grandfather's family cannot treat the younger generations equally, every younger generation is a treasure in their hearts.
Why did the elders of Shen Aoshuang's family treat him like grass?
Just because he is disabled? But that's not what he wanted.
The servant was quick and efficient, and quickly packed out the things that Chen Aoshuang wanted. Chen Aoshuang told him not to send them off, so he didn't, and didn't ask any more questions.
Mu Erpang and Shen Aoshuang each carried a bag and returned to Cuiwei for resettlement.
After placing the luggage, Mu Erpang took the initiative to ask Shen Aoshuang what she wanted to eat for lunch.
Today is Shen Aoshuang's first day at school, so naturally we have to celebrate. In addition, after seeing how he got along with the servant just now, Mu Erpang guessed his situation and wanted to be nicer to him even more.
Chen Aoshuang was not a person who asked for much, but after being asked, he thought again and again and said: "I wonder if it would be convenient for the headmaster to cook for us today? Yesterday's soup was really delicious, so... Of course, if it's too much trouble..."
"No trouble." Mu Erpang agreed, "My mother cooks from time to time, and today is your first day in Cuiwei... Do you want to eat anything else?"
Shen Aoshuang shook her head and said, "It's great to have a dish from the mountain head, and you don't have to worry about anything for me."
Later, Shen Aoshuang went to find Lao Buyu, offered him tea, and worshipped the statue of the saint.
They just performed a simple ceremony in their own academy. There was no need for Mu Erpang to accompany them. He went to relay Shen Aoshuang's thoughts to Shen Cui and mentioned what he had seen and heard when he followed him there.
Of course, Shen Cui didn't say anything. Although he knew that Shen Aoshuang liked his cooking skills because he used ingredients from the system, which allowed him to taste the same flavors as normal people, who doesn't like the feeling of being affirmed?
Moreover, cooking a meal only costs a few dozen shopping points, which is nothing for Shen Cui who is still well-off.
After the mother and son finished talking, Shen Aoshuang came over from the classroom. He handed Shen Cui a hundred taels of silver notes and said, "This is all the money I have. I don't know if it's enough for the expenses here. If not, I'll write to my family later..."
Shen Cui was not surprised, because from Mu Erpang's description, she also imagined Shen Aoshuang's background - the Shen family should also be a wealthy family, otherwise they would not have such wealthy family friends, but at the same time, they did not care much about Shen Aoshuang.
So it's not surprising that he could come up with a hundred taels of silver.
"Ashu and the others give the academy two hundred and forty taels of silver a year, half of which is given to me and the other half to Master Lao. This is enough for almost half a year, so there's no need to rush to pay more." Shen Cui said this and put the banknotes away.
For lunch that day, Shen Cui made another pot of 'ink' soup that Shen Aoshuang specifically requested. Since it was not part of the daily task, not everyone needed to drink it, so she left it all for him.
Chen Aoshuang soaked the rice in "ink" and ate two large bowls in one breath before putting down her chopsticks.
This time his eyes were no longer red. He just turned around and wrote a poem. It was both a connection with the poetry writing method that the professor had taught Mu Erpang before and a personal demonstration to Mu Erpang on how to write poetry. It was also an expression of his feelings at the moment.
In the poem, Chen Aoshuang compared the soup she made to the "nectar" that can only be found in fairyland. Chen Cui put the poem away carefully while feeling embarrassed.
…………
Before the Mid-Autumn Festival, Shen Cui received a letter from the old head of Hongle.
The two academies have maintained correspondence in recent years. In the early days, Chen Cui and the old principal were not very close, and they just wrote some educational experiences to exchange with each other.
Ever since Mei Ruochu came here, the relationship between the two families has become better and better. Not only do they exchange some written things, but sometimes the old headmaster will also chat with Chen Cui about family matters like an elder.
The content of this letter was not about family matters, but the old principal said that the new academy competition was about to begin.
Shen Cui suddenly realized that three years had passed since the last competition.
Unfortunately, the academy hosting the competition this year is located in another prefecture. If you go there from Qingzhou Prefecture, it will take more than half a month to go back and forth. The big competition includes several small competitions, which will take several days to complete, which adds up to more than a month.
And although Cuiwei is not a makeshift team, the number of students is more important than quality. If the students are too "excellent", all of them are in the provincial school. It would not be worthwhile to take a month's leave to go out and participate in the academy competition.
The old headmaster would always include a letter to Mei Ruochu when he sent a letter to Cuiwei, so he also knew the news. He could read ten lines at a glance, much faster than ordinary people, so before Shen Cui had finished reading a letter, he had already come to ask, "Why don't I take this leave and go to participate? I missed a month of classes, and I can catch up after I come back if I hurry up."
Chen Cui said it was unnecessary. "The academy competition is to broaden your horizons, but you are all in the prefectural school, so you don't lack such opportunities. Secondly, it is to gain some reputation for our academy and for you. You are not famous people, and the reputation of our academy... When you all pass the exams, what else can our academy lack?"
Mei Ruochu moved his lips to continue speaking, but Chen Cui continued, "Besides, you are only half a Cuiwei person. The old headmaster treats our family so well, how can I take you as my own? Just stay in the prefecture school and maybe it will be our turn to host it in a few years."
Chen Cui really didn't want to participate in the academy competition again. She had been trying so hard to participate because the reward given by the system was too generous.
For this competition, the system might have detected that Cuiwei was too tired from traveling to participate, which was putting the cart before the horse, so after she learned the news, no related tasks were issued.
Finally, time gain is needed in the early stages because Mu Erpang started learning late and laying the foundation cannot be rushed.
During these three years, Mu Erpang has learned for nearly six years due to the time gain effect. While laying a solid foundation, he has caught up with the progress. The time gain has become less indispensable and has become the icing on the cake.
The old headmaster also knew about Cuiwei's situation, and thought that Cuiwei's students were all in the provincial school, so it would not be convenient for him to go and participate. So at the end of the letter, I mentioned that if students from Cuiwei couldn't spare the time to participate, Chen Cui or Lao Buyu could be judges. He had already informed other academies in advance, and other academies had no objection.
Although Cuiwei had educated several scholars and a young scholar, its foundation was too shallow. It had only been established for a few years. Other academies that could produce judges had at least been in operation for more than ten years, like Qingzhu Academy.
Chen Cui thought that this must have been done with the help of the old headmaster, so that even if Cuiwei students did not attend, the academy could still gain some reputation.
Of course, it is true that the students of Cuiwei are excellent enough, otherwise no matter how high the prestige of the old headmaster is, he would not be able to convince the public.
Chen Cui, the "illiterate" woman, would definitely not go, and the academy couldn't do without her, so she asked Lao Buyu whether he wanted to go.
Lao Buyu was a little embarrassed when he talked about this. He was expectant and nervous like a teenager. He rubbed his hands and said, "Can I go? Thinking back three years ago, our academy almost didn't even qualify for the competition. Now I can actually be a judge?"
The young men spend most of their time in the provincial school, and he has indeed been too idle recently. Moreover, whenever he encountered happy events, he wanted to "share" them with Ling Qingming. Now, he could take advantage of the academy competition to let the brothers meet in person.
Chen Cui encouraged him, "Master, if you want to go, go ahead. With our Er Pang's deeds as an example, who can say you are not qualified?"
Others echoed.
"That's right. You have raised a 'Little Sanyuan' in just three years. Others would like to hear your experience but have nowhere else to go."
Lao Buyu was a person who couldn't sit still, and with the encouragement of everyone, he set off quickly.
He has been traveling since he was young, so no one needs to worry about him.
Since he was going on a long journey, Lao Buyu also planned to go back to his master's sect after the competition was over, sweep his master's grave, burn some incense, talk about his situation over the years, and come back before the New Year.
Not long after seeing Lao Buyu off, the young men began to miss him. Even Chen Cui sometimes felt that the academy was a little deserted because there was one person missing.
But the crowd was not distracted for long, because winter was approaching after September.
Soon after the winter comes, the annual examination chaired by Liu Xuezheng is coming again!
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