Is it original?

The dean of students froze. An essay written in Classical Chinese?

A high school senior writing an essay in Classical Chinese—wasn't that just nonsense? Classical Chinese was so complex that it was hard enough for a high schooler to grasp even the basics; to think they could use it to write an entire essay was simply impossible.

Several students sitting near the front heard the proctor's words and looked up in shock. What did they just say? The essay was written in Classical Chinese?

Was the guy who just handed in his paper that much of a legend?

How could such a legendary guy be slumming it in this exam hall?

The proctor handed the answer sheet to the dean and continued to explain in a low voice, "I glanced over it twice just now and didn't find any major flaws. But my major isn't Classical Chinese; my specialty is Western literature, so I can't really tell if it's actually good or not. You're the expert in Classical Chinese—could you take a look?"

The dean took the answer sheet, his brow furrowed at first. He wanted to say it was surely gibberish—what kind of Classical Chinese could a high school senior possibly write? But out of professional courtesy to a colleague, he didn't say it outright.

However, as he held the paper and read the first few lines, the dean paused slightly. The impatient look on his face vanished completely, replaced by astonishment.

This opening... it actually had some flavor to it?

As he read further down, the dean's expression grew increasingly serious.

Halfway through, the dean couldn't help but read aloud in a low voice:

"A jade horse may travel ten days, but its success lies in not giving up. If you carve and then stop, even rotten wood will not break; if you carve without ceasing, even metal and stone can be engraved. The earthworm has no sharp claws or teeth, nor strong muscles and bones, yet it eats the dust above and drinks the yellow springs below, because its focus is singular..."

"The Book of Songs says: 'The turtledove is in the mulberry tree, its young are seven. The virtuous gentleman, his conduct is consistent...'"

"If one walks a thousand miles but does not arrive, it cannot be called good driving; if one does not understand the categories of logic, or if benevolence and righteousness are not unified, it cannot be called good learning..."

A few students in the front row had initially pricked up their ears, intending to copy a portion of Chen Zhao's essay.

But as they listened, these students were left dumbfounded, their faces blank.

What was this even saying?

Why couldn't they understand a word of it?

It really was Classical Chinese!

They couldn't even understand it, so how were they supposed to copy it? They were all academic underachievers in the last exam hall; how could there be a situation where they couldn't even copy? Was there a chasm-like gap even among the underachievers?

After finishing, the dean was so excited that his face turned red.

"This essay is absolutely brilliant!" The dean looked up at the proctor, his hand holding the answer sheet trembling slightly. "This is a piece written with the style of a master! And there are no obvious errors!"

The proctor was stunned. The dean was an expert in Classical Chinese research; for him to say things like "absolutely brilliant" and "style of a master," was the essay written by this student really that powerful?

If you like this book, remember to add it to your bookshelf so you don't lose it next time.

"A high school senior... couldn't write an essay like this, right? Did he memorize some ancient text and just transcribe it?" The proctor voiced his suspicion.

"Usually, I have some impression of the ancient texts I've read, and I've never seen this one before." The dean's excited face calmed down slightly. "But you have a point. If this essay had been carefully polished and published by a university professor, it would be somewhat believable. A high school senior? I don't think it's very likely. We'll know once we search online."

The dean took out his phone, took a photo of Chen Zhao's answer sheet, scanned the image to extract the text, and copied and pasted it into a search engine.

Soon, some search results appeared, but they had little to do with the essay; they were just a mess of irrelevant answers.

The dean tried several other search engines, but the results were all equally chaotic and nonsensical—he couldn't find the original text anywhere.

"Strange, I can't find it. Could it really be that he wrote it himself?" The dean was somewhat shocked.

"With search engines being so advanced nowadays, if it can't be found online... it might really be an original work," the proctor said with a hint of dread.

"Where is the student who wrote this? I want to ask him." The dean looked around the classroom.

"He left. He ran off as soon as he handed in his paper," the proctor said, looking at the empty seat Chen Zhao had left behind.

The dean was silent for a moment, then took Chen Zhao's answer sheet and turned to leave. After such an event, he had no heart left to patrol the other exam halls. The dean went downstairs and headed straight for the senior year Chinese department office. The senior year Chinese office was essentially staffed by the best Chinese teachers in the school, all of whom were highly learned and talented.

Except for the few teachers who were proctoring, most of the staff were in the office, drinking tea, grading papers, and chatting. As soon as the dean entered, they greeted him one after another.

"I've just received an essay written by a student. Could the teachers who specialize in Classical Chinese help me take a look?" the dean said.

The Chinese teachers were all taken aback. An essay written by a student—why would he need to find teachers who specialized in Classical Chinese?

All the Chinese teachers gathered around to look at the answer sheet the dean was holding. It didn't matter until they looked, but once they did, they were all startled!

"An essay in Classical Chinese?"

"And it's this long?"

"When did a student who can write Classical Chinese appear in our grade? Teacher Gao? Is this your student?"

"It's not mine. This student is in Class One; he's Teacher Li's student."

Chen Zhao's homeroom teacher checked the name and was extremely shocked. "This student... his essays have always been terrible, and his Chinese grades are basically failing. How could he write an article like this?"

The dean interrupted the teachers' chatter and said, "Let's not worry about which student wrote it for now. I just took a look, and the level of this essay is extremely high; it's no exaggeration to say it has the style of a master. We need to determine two things now: first, whether this essay is an original work or if it comes from some obscure ancient text. Second, if it is original, let's see if there are any hidden errors in it."

The Chinese teachers nodded. Indeed, the most important task at hand was to determine if the essay was original and, if so, whether it contained any mistakes.

Many Chinese teachers began to read the essay carefully. After finishing, they all felt shocked and confused. They were shocked because the essay was written so well that it definitely had the style of a master. They were confused because, logically, such a good essay should have been read during their university years, yet they had no impression of it at all.

Many teachers began searching online. After searching for a long time and digging through thousands of results, they still couldn't find the essay.

Many teachers began calling the professors they had studied under in college to ask if the essay came from any ancient text. But after asking around, they only received one piece of information: no one had ever heard of this essay!