This Kid Had Something

This Kid Had Something

The crowd filed into the waterside pavilion.

Two middle-aged men were already standing before the hall. One was clean-shaven, dressed in a blue robe, his lean body standing ramrod straight.

The other had two meticulously groomed little mustaches above his lip and wore silk, looking like a somewhat plump country squire.

Seeing them enter, Mustache spoke first. "Find yourselves a seat."

Everyone found a small desk. Zheng Fa also took an empty spot in a corner and sat kneeling before the desk.

Zheng Fa had always felt that the most nerve-racking moment of an exam was before the papers were handed out.

Like now—the waterside pavilion was so quiet that only slightly heavy breaths could be heard.

"I am the Madam's inner steward, surnamed Wu. This is Seventh Young Master's teacher, Teacher Shen." He pointed at the middle-aged man in blue beside him. "Today's examiner will be Teacher Shen."

Teacher Shen nodded faintly, his face revealing nothing. Without another word, he said, "Today, we are selecting a bookboy for Seventh Young Master. Your family circumstances vary greatly."

He glanced at Zheng Fa's short shirt, then swept his gaze across the youths dressed in silk.

"Your learning is uneven as well."

His gaze lingered for a moment on the scholar caps atop the heads of the three licentiates.

"Therefore, for the sake of fairness, we will test nothing else today." He pointed at the desks before Zheng Fa and the others. "On them is a Daoist scripture, the Scripture of Clarity and Stillness. I will lead you in reciting several sections. Then you will write down whatever passages you can remember."

Having said that, he paid no heed to the youths' reactions. Without even holding a book, he began reciting straight away.

The youths hurriedly opened the Scripture of Clarity and Stillness before them and recited after Teacher Shen, scrambling to keep up with his pace.

"The Great Dao is formless, yet gives birth to Heaven and Earth; the Great Dao is without feeling, yet governs the sun and moon; the Great Dao is nameless, yet nourishes all things. I know not its name, and so I force a name upon it: Dao. As for the Dao: there is clarity and turbidity, movement and stillness; Heaven is clear and Earth is turbid, Heaven moves and Earth is still. Men are clear and women are turbid, men move and women are still. The root descends and the branches flow forth, thus giving birth to all things. Clarity is the source of turbidity, movement is the foundation of stillness. If a person can remain ever clear and still, Heaven and Earth will all return..."

After reciting four sections, he abruptly stopped and said:

"Alright. Hand over the books in your hands and begin writing from memory."

It had begun without warning, and its ending caught them even more off guard.

The many youths sighed one after another, but seeing his far-from-pleasant expression, none dared say anything. They obediently placed the scriptures they had not yet finished memorizing before him.

The waterside pavilion fell quiet again, leaving only the sound of ink being ground and the soft rustle of paper.

Teacher Shen and Steward Wu stood shoulder to shoulder before the hall, watching the dozen or so youths bent over their desks. Their lips moved slightly, yet their conversation could be heard only by each other. Clearly, both possessed extraordinary martial arts.

"Teacher Shen has quite the temper," Steward Wu said.

Even these seventeen- or eighteen-year-old children could see the other man's impatience.

"Over finding a mere bookboy..."

"What can be done? Seventh Young Master is, after all, the apple of Madam's eye—and the future head of our Zhao Family. How could we possibly be careless about those around him? Teacher, it is not as though you do not know. All the previous bookboys were driven away by Madam."

"It was clearly because he himself was so mischievous!"

At those words, Teacher Shen's expression darkened further.

Steward Wu did not dare take up that remark, merely changing the subject. "This Scripture of Clarity and Stillness is quite obscure. Even we have not read it. These little ones normally study only Confucian classics and have never encountered Daoist scriptures. They will have to suffer for it now."

"Hmph! Since your Madam wants a good one, I will find her a good one!"

Steward Wu smiled faintly, knowing the other man was merely grumbling.

As the young master's teacher, it was only natural for him to feel that examining these children was using a butcher's knife to kill a chicken, was it not?

"This book was chosen very well. Not one of these children has read it before. Who could say today's examination was unfair?"

To his surprise, Teacher Shen shook his head slightly. "They call it fair, but I think the only ones who can rise above the rest will be those few with some background."

"How so?"

"You have studied too. Could you not know? Eating meat nourishes a person better than eating vegetables; those who eat well remember better. Besides, studying brings wisdom. Those who have gone to school are generally a little smarter than those who have not."

Steward Wu understood in his heart that Teacher Shen was right.

"The three licentiates here each have their own background. One is the child of a steward from the second branch, one comes from Seventh Young Master's wet nurse's family, and the other is the grandson of a household shopkeeper. By Teacher's reckoning, it will be these three?"

Teacher Shen nodded.

"Yet I think one lad is rather interesting." Teacher Shen froze, then followed his gaze toward the corner.

In the corner, Zheng Fa was slowly grinding ink.

"This child?" Teacher Shen frowned. "Judging by how he is dressed, he is probably the worst off among them all. You actually think he has a chance?"

Steward Wu chuckled. "When it comes to learning, I am ashamed to compare myself with Teacher. But when it comes to judging people, these eyes of mine have some sharpness to them."

He raised his chin slightly and pointed at Zheng Fa. "When the others came in, they were all timid and constrained. He alone, though somewhat nervous, seemed to adapt to the surroundings after only two or three breaths."

"After Teacher finished reciting just now, even the three licentiates wore miserable expressions. Only he showed no particular difficulty on his face."

"He is probably carrying something in his belly."

Teacher Shen studied Zheng Fa carefully for several moments. Influenced by Steward Wu's words, he truly did seem to see a measure of composure on the child's face.

More importantly, he knew Steward Wu was not boasting. To be so deeply trusted by Madam and manage nearly every major and minor affair in the main household's inner court, the man's ability to judge people could not be underestimated.

Zheng Fa had finally managed to grind the ink.

He truly was not very nervous. During his five years in the modern world, he had taken no fewer than a hundred exams of all sizes combined.

Never mind whether he had done well or poorly—his state of mind in an exam setting had been tempered by now.

He was confident that, compared to the other youths, he could be called richly experienced in this regard.

Besides, this method of examination was extremely favorable to him—the Scripture of Clarity and Stillness was certainly not easy to memorize, but when he had first begun learning English, that had truly looked like heavenly script.

No matter how difficult it was, could it be harder than challenging high-school mathematics with a kindergarten-level foundation?

Sure enough, although there were some words and phrases he did not quite understand, after Teacher Shen's single recitation, listening and reading together had allowed him to remember seven or eight parts out of ten.

It was just that having to grind ink before writing felt rather unfamiliar to him.

The others had all begun writing, while he was still struggling with the inkstone.

At long last, once he had ink, Zheng Fa picked up his brush—only to remember a very awkward problem—

He did not know how to use a brush!

In neither world had he ever learned calligraphy.

Zheng Fa could only make do with the way he held a fountain pen.

Then he realized something else:

He did not know this world's writing.

It was not that he knew none of it at all. After all, he had attended one year of elementary schooling, but overall, he knew very little.

The writing of this world was strangely similar to modern writing, more like the script found in ancient books from the modern era.

When he had read the Scripture of Clarity and Stillness, he had not noticed this problem. Just as many modern people found traditional characters fairly easy to read, he truly could understand them.

But once he put brush to paper, despair began to set in.

Having completed compulsory education, was he going to become illiterate all over again?

"During an exam, even if you would rather write something wrong, fill the page. Do not hand me a blank paper!" Old Chen's earnest instruction still rang in his ears. Zheng Fa gritted his teeth and began writing from memory directly in simplified characters.

Before the hall, Teacher Shen watched Zheng Fa write character after character that were crooked, twisted, and riddled with errors. He could not help smiling as he looked at Steward Wu.

Steward Wu stroked his two little mustaches. "My eyes failed me. Where did this child get such confidence?"

(End of Chapter)