Before class, Rong Zheng handed his poem to Teacher Zhao.
Teacher Zhao read it once, then again, and praised him. "Very good, very good. Your poetry is getting closer and closer to the finest standard." He pointed to one spot. "Here, in this line about plum blossoms, you could change one character. Hmm..."
He pondered for a good while. "Yes, change it to 'bustle.' That would raise the imagery to another level, simple yet evocative."
Rong Zheng read it quietly several times, then said, "You're amazing, Teacher. That word works wonderfully."
"Your poem was good to begin with. Changing one character merely adds flowers to the brocade."
"Would you be willing to leave this poem at our school?" Seeing Rong Zheng's puzzled expression, he added, "The school walls are being renovated lately, and we teachers thought we could inscribe some poems on them as decoration. Your poem uses simple language, but it's full of spirit, so I thought we could put it on the wall."
Rong Zheng bowed respectfully. "It would be my honor!"
Teacher Zhao felt deeply gratified. He thought that Rong Zheng, with his outstanding learning now, could contend for the top spot in the upcoming preliminary examinations.
Previously, the school's most promising student had been Xu Qi, taught by Teacher Lin next door. Naturally, Teacher Zhao favored his own student more, and he had high hopes for Rong Zheng.
During class, Teacher Zhao used Rong Zheng's poem as a good example and praised it once more.
Huang Yi was immensely envious, but his feelings were also complicated.
With a top student sitting beside him, he, a poor student, felt under mountains of pressure.
What was more, the top student studied extremely diligently. Even during breaks, he never forgot to turn a few more pages, putting particular effort into areas where he was weak.
Once, while they were eating during the midday break, Rong Zheng suddenly stopped using his chopsticks for a long time. Curious, Huang Yi asked, "Why aren't you eating?"
Rong Zheng suddenly said, "I've figured out how to revise the last line of that poem!"
It turned out that even while eating, Rong Zheng had been considering how to revise the problems in his poem.
It was probably this diligence and persistence that had allowed him to improve so rapidly in such a short time! After sitting with Rong Zheng, Huang Yi had been spurred to work considerably harder too, and had made quite a bit of progress, just not as obviously as Rong Zheng.
After school, Huang Yi clapped Rong Zheng on the back and said casually, "Brother, well done! Put in a little more effort, and you could very well surpass Xu Qi next door."
Rong Zheng responded with a smile. He had heard a little about Xu Qi; the teachers all thought Xu Qi had the ability to contend for the top spot.
Ah, let me pass first. As for first place, who wouldn't want it? Do what I can and leave the rest to fate!
As they spoke, Chen Yujie hurried in from outside. "Cousin, Rong Zheng, bad news! Wei Xing, who agreed the day before yesterday to join our mutual guarantee group, says he wants to withdraw. He won't join us."
"Why did he suddenly change his mind? The teacher is about to finalize the mutual guarantee list." Huang Yi looked anxious.
Chen Yujie glanced at Rong Zheng and said with some hesitation, "He said Rong Zheng failed the preliminary examinations three times, and that it's bad luck. He's afraid it'll rub off on him, so..." He paused, his tone awkward. "Anyway, he said it's either him or Rong Zheng, and he also said he could find someone else to replace Rong Zheng." Finally, he cursed, "He's obviously looking for trouble on purpose!"
Huang Yi slammed the table hard and said angrily, "A petty scoundrel who changes his mind at the last minute! Tell him to get lost!" Then he added quietly, "I've failed twice myself."
He felt rather offended... o(╯□╰)o
"But almost all the students we know have already formed mutual guarantee groups. If we find someone we don't know, we'll need time to ask around and learn about them. Will we make it in time?" Chen Yujie sounded worried.
Listening beside them, Rong Zheng understood that Wei Xing had gone back on his word to deliberately exclude him, but he could not remember when he had offended this person. Or had he offended someone else? Had Wei Xing merely been instructed to do this?
He truly had not expected this sort of trouble. He told the two of them, "I'm sorry for dragging you both into this. Wei Xing is targeting me. I'm willing to withdraw."
"What are you saying? We're friends. Besides, we wouldn't stoop to associating with a scoundrel like that." Huang Yi immediately made his position clear.
"Exactly. That sort of petty behavior is truly contemptible. It's my fault too, for not seeing what he was like before bringing him into our group," Chen Yujie said.
"Cousin, what does Fang Zihao say?" Fang Zihao was another member of their mutual guarantee group.
"I haven't had time to find him yet. I'll go get him."
After hearing what had happened, Fang Zihao roundly cursed Wei Xing for breaking his word and immediately declared that he would not withdraw. He speculated, "I reckon this has something to do with Xu Qi. Wei Xing is close to Xu Qi, so he might be trying to do him a favor."
Seeing the confusion on the others' faces, he explained, "Recently, someone overheard the teachers talking, and they thought Rong Zheng could contend for the top spot! Xu Qi's expression changed when he found out. Wei Xing follows him around like a dog all the time. He probably wanted to suck up to him, so he's putting obstacles in Rong Zheng's way."
Rong Zheng asked, "Did Xu Qi tell him to do this?"
Fang Zihao shook his head. "I don't know, but Xu Qi definitely has something to do with it. If he didn't want this, would Wei Xing bother with something so pointless?" He covered his mouth and said quietly, "Xu Qi is the nephew of our county's education commissioner."
The education commissioner, whose full title was "superintendent of education," was the official in charge of local education, responsible for the county's educational affairs, such as organizing examinations, issuing educational policies, marking examination papers, and so on. Barring any surprises, he would be the deputy chief examiner for the county examination, and his recommendations on grading would carry considerable weight. As chief examiner, the county magistrate would certainly give the education commissioner's recommendations careful consideration.
In short, the education commissioner had the power to influence the candidates' rankings.
Chen Yujie said, "Forget it. Let's stop talking about this and think about who we can find to join our mutual guarantee group."
Rong Zheng said, "Or we could ask Teacher Zhao for help. He has the registration list for this county examination, so he probably knows who hasn't formed a group yet. Someone he recommends should be trustworthy."
"Right! Why didn't we think of that? There's no time to lose. Let's get this sorted out."
The four of them found Teacher Zhao and explained the whole situation. After taking out the list and checking it, Teacher Zhao recommended someone named Mu Han, a student of Teacher Wang.
"I've heard Teacher Wang mention Mu Han. He's introverted and doesn't have many friends at school. His family is in trade, and his background is clean."
Mu Han had been worrying because no one had approached him to form a mutual guarantee group. This worked out perfectly, so he readily agreed.
As Huang Yi said goodbye to Rong Zheng, he told him, "Don't worry. Chen Yujie will find someone to check Mu Han's information again."
"Yes, thank you." Rong Zheng knew that Chen Yujie's father was the chief clerk. Looking into such things would be a piece of cake, so there was nothing to worry about.
With the problem resolved, he relaxed.
"I never would've thought someone as capable as you had failed the preliminary examinations three times."
Huang Yi had been quite surprised to learn this today. With the way Rong Zheng carried himself as a top student, it was simply hard to imagine him failing.
Usually, he lived in the shadow of a top student like Rong Zheng. Now, at least, he had found something to feel superior about. He bumped Rong Zheng's shoulder and teased, "How come I've never heard you mention it?"
Rong Zheng answered with silence... It's not exactly something glorious worth broadcasting everywhere...