At noon, the three of them stayed on the mountain instead of going home, preparing the rabbits with water from the stream. The autumn water was cold, so Jin Shanyao wouldn't let the two children help.
They could only crouch by the stream and watch their aunt gut the rabbits and clean off their fur.
"Tomorrow, I'll take the rabbit fur and fox pelt to the clothing shop and have a fur coat made for each of you. They'll keep you warm in winter."
Meng Anzhi hugged her knees. "What about you, Auntie? Won't you wear a fur coat?"
Jin Shanyao threaded a rabbit onto a stick. "I'm a grown-up. I'm not afraid of the cold. You're still little, and if you catch a chill, you won't grow taller."
The moment Meng Anci heard that, he cried out in alarm. He was already the shortest in the Enlightenment Academy; he couldn't afford to be any shorter.
Meng Anzhi and Jin Shanyao burst out laughing at him. The three gathered some dry firewood nearby, built a fire beside the stream, and slowly roasted the rabbits over the red flames.
It was the two little tots' first time hunting, and their first time roasting rabbits themselves-and rabbits they had caught themselves, at that. They looked exceptionally serious.
They watched the rabbits the whole time, afraid they would burn them if they let their attention slip. Finally, half a shichen later, the rabbits were cooked.
The two children then scrambled to feed Jin Shanyao, each insisting that she eat theirs first.
Their fussing gave Jin Shanyao such a headache that she tore a piece of meat from each of their rabbit legs and put both in her mouth at once. Only then did they stop.
That was settled, but now they started asking whose tasted better, giving Jin Shanyao another splitting headache.
She thought the rabbit meat wasn't tasty; the nutrients in the black soil were the tastiest.
After lunch, none of the three wanted to head down the mountain so early, so Meng Anci took Dahuang and Xiaoli to hunt more rabbits.
Jin Shanyao took Meng Anzhi to dig for medicinal herbs.
She cut through a freshly dug licorice root and taught Meng Anzhi how to identify it.
"Licorice and astragalus look the most alike. The cut surface of licorice has radial veins, while astragalus has a chrysanthemum center and no veins." She put the licorice into her back basket.
"Compare it with some astragalus when you get home. Their effects are different, so don't mix them up."
Meng Anzhi nodded and continued digging for herbs with her little hoe.
The three stayed on the mountain until sunset. Meng Anci had enjoyed himself so much that day that he had completely forgotten his schoolwork, and he frantically worked to catch up by lamplight late into the night.
He finally finished three quarters into the hour of Hai.
After putting away his schoolwork, he took a rag and carefully wiped his little bow and arrows clean. He was going to take them to the academy tomorrow.
The more he thought about it, the happier he became. While Jin Shanyao and Meng Anzhi weren't looking, he even took the bow and arrows under his quilt and happily cuddled them all night.
The next day, Meng Anci rode Black Grand Marshal with his little bow and arrows on his back, grinning more brightly than ever.
He kept recalling Master Zhao's instructions: keep his back straight and his eyes forward, don't pull the reins too tight, and don't kick the stirrups too hard.
Meng Anci stayed tense the entire way, and by the time he reached the academy, his head was covered in sweat from the effort. The families who could afford to send their young children to Green Mountain Academy were all wealthy, but they didn't dare let their children ride alone.
Seeing Meng Anci riding by himself, they all shook their heads. An unmarried young woman simply couldn't raise children properly. How could she so casually let a child sit on a horse alone? What if he fell off?
What they didn't know was that Black Grand Marshal wasn't carrying a person, but a precious lump of gold. How would he dare buck?
Thinking of the ginkgo leaves his master had fed him when he first came to the Meng household, Black Grand Marshal smacked his lips. They were delicious.
Shiyan had always been the center of attention at the Enlightenment Academy, but today Meng Anci had stolen his limelight. He snorted softly. Buying a pony wouldn't do Meng Anci any good; his family ran an escort agency.
Nobody was a better rider than him.
On the twenty-fifth day of the tenth month, the academy announced the exam results. It was Meng Anci's first exam since he had started school, and he was a little nervous.
Master Zhao stood at the front of the classroom with the graded papers, handing them out from the lowest score to the highest.
"Shiyan." No sooner had Master Zhao spoken than the class erupted in laughter. A mischievous child jeered, "Shiyan, how come you're last again? You couldn't even beat Meng Anci."
Shiyan said impatiently, "Shoo, shoo! This young master just didn't do his best. Wait until we get to the six arts of a gentleman, and see how I crush him."
His words drew another roar of laughter from the class. Shiyan's face turned red with embarrassment. Damn it, how could Meng Anci have scored higher than me? He must have cheated.
Master Zhao continued calling out names. "Chen Zishan."
Everyone was surprised. They hadn't expected Meng Anci to beat even Chen Zishan. Just what place had he come in?
A group of little ones huddled together, whispering curiously. "I guess fifth?"
"Third."
"I guess fifth too. He even beat Chen Zishan."
Listening to the children chattering, Master Zhao couldn't help smiling. "Qian Bao."
"Ah..." Qian Bao jumped in surprise and hurried to his feet to collect his paper. "Oh, I'm actually fifth."
Now everyone was even more curious. All eyes were fixed on Master Zhao as they waited to see what place Meng Anci had taken.
As the papers were handed out one by one, the atmosphere grew more and more tense.
"Zhao Zhiyuan." Master Zhao took a little pleasure in his misfortune. His young nephew seemed mild and courteous, but was actually quite scheming, and had been smarter than other children his age since he was little.
He took first place in every exam, but this time he'd finally stumbled.
Zhao Zhiyuan froze for a moment, then took his paper back to his seat as if nothing had happened. At that, the children in the classroom could no longer keep calm. "Could it be that Meng Anci didn't take the exam?"
"How could he possibly beat Zhao Zhiyuan? That's Zhao Zhiyuan! He's been first ever since he enrolled."
Seeing their disbelieving expressions, Master Zhao smiled. "Meng Anci, congratulations on taking first place."
Meng Anci secretly breathed a sigh of relief, and his tense shoulders quietly relaxed.
As he stood up, he pressed his palms against the front of his robe and quickly wiped away the sweat. Then he walked steadily up to Master Zhao and accepted the paper with both hands, his movements full of respect.
Master Zhao was gratified. "Good. Keep working hard."
Meng Anci turned and looked at the children, who were staring as if they'd been struck senseless by lightning. His little heart felt a secret thrill. He carefully placed the paper in his satchel.
Shiyan shot to his feet and pointed at Meng Anci. "He cheated! He's only been at the academy for a few months. How could he possibly come first?"
Meng Anci thought the fool was about to get scolded again. Sure enough, the next moment, Master Zhao said with a touch of anger, "Shiyan, sit down! What kind of behavior is all this shouting?"
Shiyan held his head high for a while, then sat down in a huff.
After classes ended that evening, Shiyan led a group of little tots in surrounding Meng Anci.
With his hands on his hips and an exceedingly arrogant expression, he said, "Meng Anci, take out your paper. We want to see if you cheated."
Meng Anci glanced at the people surrounding him. The oldest was no more than seven, and the youngest... oh, he was the youngest.
Meng Anci held his satchel protectively behind him, turned, and tried to walk around them.
Shiyan hurried to block Meng Anci's path. As the two changed positions, Shiyan instead looked like the child being surrounded, facing the others with an arrogant air.
He said domineeringly to Meng Anci, "Take it out."
Before he had finished speaking, he saw the look in Meng Anci's eyes change to undisguised provocation and mockery. Then an extremely quiet "idiot" drifted from Meng Anci's lips.
Shiyan's pupils contracted sharply. He knew Meng Anci wasn't a good student, and now he'd finally caught him by the tail.
"Meng Anci, how dare you insult me! I'll beat you to death!" he shouted, charging at Meng Anci, but Meng Anci dodged with a quick sidestep.
Shiyan had put too much force into his charge. He lost his footing and slammed headfirst into the wall.