The Excellent Do Not Blame Circumstances

Three rounds of grueling toil grind a man to a ghost; two characters of "merit and fame" mislead a man to ruin.

Ten years of cold study, unheard by any; one moment of fame, known to all under heaven.

The imperial examinations left a deep and indelible mark on the bureaucratic selection system of feudal society.

Once every three years, scholars from across the land were selected through layer upon layer of screening—village exams, academy exams, and palace exams—fighting their way through to become ministers and officials.

The Autumn Examination was this village exam, held in the provincial Examination Halls. Three days per session, three sessions over nine days total.

For nine days, each examinee had a single small cubicle in the Examination Hall, where they ate and slept. They hung a door curtain, set up a shelf, wrote eight-legged essays by day, slept by night, and lit fires to cook...

Now the Capital City's Examination Hall had opened. On the first night of the exams, three flags were planted inside: red, blue, and black.

These flags had their own meaning. Selecting talent for the nation required righteous spirit and open honesty; no room for fraud, no room for cunning evil. Planting these flags was to invite Heaven, Earth, and the spirits to oversee together.

The red flag invited the gods of Heaven and Earth. The blue flag invited the ancestors of the examinees' families. The black flag invited each family's wronged creditors and vengeful spirits—let grievances be avenged, let grudges be settled.

If an examinee in the Hall was upright and aboveboard, all was well. But if he harbored guilt or wickedness in his heart, then let him fear whether ghosts would come for him.

Though this was a superstitious notion, still...

The Examination Hall had ghosts every year.

No one could say exactly why, but every Autumn Examination, someone always died in the Hall. Many died in very sinister ways. But once the bodies came out, they still had to be stitched.

The Autumn Examination was also the time when corpse stitchers died the most.

In recent days, when Lin Shou went out, he saw the Heavenly Cripples and Earthly Maimed fellows from the other corpse-stitching shops already drinking, putting on a show of spending all their money before they died, enjoying their last pleasures.

"Little Nine, have you spent all your silver yet? If you haven't, old brother here can help you spend it. Let me tell you, that Tongxian Old Cellar Liquor has a real punch of rice fragrance. Old brother will share a couple of cups with you?"

"Pah! Old Eight, you shameless bastard. You've blown through your own money and now you're eyeing Little Nine's. Can't get enough of that drink, can you?"

"Tsk, I'm just teaching him how to have fun. For us, there's no tomorrow. If you keep that silver, it'll just go into the ground with you. A while back, a little student from Shangyang Academy recited a poem for me: 'When life is joyful, you must—must—' something or other, I forget the rest. Anyway, if you've got money, spend it early, or you won't have time once you're dead."

"That's because you're short-lived. Little Nine has a long life ahead. Back when they went to the Bureau of Corpse Management, everyone who went died. Only Little Nine came back alive. He's still got many years to live."

"Tsk, you're so stuck-up. It's just that the Eight Great Alleys have been plagued by illness lately and can't be visited. Otherwise, old brother would take Little Nine to taste some flesh. In our line of work, we'll never get a wife, but dying without ever having touched a girl just won't do."

"You're old and shameless. Little Nine, don't listen to his nonsense. I'm telling you, save your money well. Save for a year, then run. Leave the Capital City, find some remote place, and marry a girl to settle down."

"Oh, give it a rest. Little Nine's not too bright to begin with. If someone cheats him out of his money, he'll end up sold into a deep mountain to dig coal. It's safer for him to stick with us old brothers."

"You old fool, you're just jealous that Little Nine is young and fit. What girl wouldn't like such a fine young man? Look no further than Little Xi Shi from the Tofu Shop. She brings him tofu every day. I'd say there's something there."

"That Little Xi Shi has so many suitors coming to her door every day they've worn down the threshold. Rich landlords, talented scholars who can recite poetry. You think she'd fancy someone in our dirty line of work? Little Nine, old brother tells you, women are the best at deceiving. Especially pretty women—who knows what's in their hearts? You're not sharp enough to handle her. Don't even think about it. It'll bring trouble."

"Heh, Old Eight, you're a coward. The moment women come up, you fold. Little Nine, don't listen to this old bachelor's nonsense. I think that Little Xi Shi is just fine. She's definitely interested in you. And even if she isn't, so what? When you've saved enough money to run, just hoist her over your shoulder in the middle of the night. Once you're out of the city in the wilds where she doesn't know the way, she'll have no choice but to go along with you. Then the two of you can settle down and live your lives."

"Pah! Old Seven, you shameless old thing. You call me brazen? Can't you teach Little Nine something good? Teaching him to ruin a girl. Have you no shame?"

Seventh Master and Eighth Master from Shop No. 7 and Shop No. 8 bickered and jabbed at each other every day, spitting at one another whenever they met.

Lin Shou found it amusing to watch these two old men argue daily. He brought out two jugs of wine he'd prepared earlier and said with a smile:

"Eighth Master, this rice-fragrance liquor you wanted. Did I guess your taste right?"

Lin Shou had already bought the wine for the old man.

"Aiyo! Little Nine, you really know your old brother!"

Eighth Master's eyes lit up as he took the jug and sniffed it deeply.

"Child, you're wasting money again."

Seventh Master grumbled, but his eyes betrayed his craving.

"Ah, I helped someone with a funeral and burial these past couple of days. The family rewarded me with plenty of silver. Since you fellows enjoy a drink, let's be merry."

Lin Shou gave a simple, honest smile, unconcerned. Everyone joined in the clamor, sharing the fine wine.

A clerk from the Bureau of Corpse Management came by. Unable to refuse Lin Shou's repeated invitations, he was pulled in to sit and drink as well. Amid the noise and laughter, it was a rare moment of liveliness.

The corpse-stitching shops in the Capital City had been open for so many years. Stitchers came and went, all of them bereaved masters with no tomorrow. Forget chatting or making friends—aside from stitching corpses and sleeping, they'd just lie outside a teahouse, listen to stories, and wait for death. They rarely interacted, each living a stifling and dismal life.

But ever since that little fool Lin Shou from Shop No. 9 arrived...

He'd always bring them snacks and nuts. Sometimes he'd treat them to stories at the teahouse. Lately, he'd set up a small table outside his shop, bought food, and often called them over to eat and drink together. Gradually, everyone started to get to know each other.

Seventh Master and Eighth Master had been corpse stitchers for nearly a year. Before, they'd never spoken a word to each other. But after a few months of these gatherings, they'd become regular sparring partners in bickering.

These corpse stitchers were all men with one foot in the grave, no children, no relatives or friends, destined to die alone. Yet, because of Lin Shou, they felt life had flavor again.

As for the clerks from the Bureau of Corpse Management, they'd always been curt with the stitchers, interacting only on official business. It wasn't dislike or favor—it was simply that no one had much interest in dealing with a bunch of men passively waiting for death.

But in recent months, they'd come to think that this little fool from Shop No. 9 wasn't bad. Unlike the other stitchers, who seemed so gloomy, he'd even planted flowers and added decorations to his shop, living his life with vitality.

These minor clerks had hard work running their daily errands, but when they came to Shop No. 9, Lin Shou always had tea ready for them. Over time, the clerks from the Bureau also grew familiar with him.

These people, once scattered sand with no connection to each other, were now gathering around Lin Shou as a center, beginning to interact.

The surrounding environment, once dead and stagnant, had been revitalized by Lin Shou's quiet, gentle and unobtrusive movements.

In ancient times, Mencius's mother moved three times. Near vermilion, one turns red; near ink, one turns black. Xunzi said, "When artemisia grows among hemp, it stands straight without support. White sand in mud turns black with it."

The ancients always emphasized the influence of environment on a person—how important it was to be in a good environment.

But as Lin Shou saw it, mediocre men drift with the current. The extraordinary do not blame their times. They possess the power to change heaven and earth. Murky waters can be clarified by them; dark clouds can be parted by them to reveal the sun.