I Believe in You
Madam Cui frowned, saying with disapproval, "A person's energy is limited. If you learn the zither, won't you practice after class? The same goes for calligraphy, painting, chess, and needlework. If you do that, you'll spend less time on the Four Books and Five Classics."
She patiently advised, "We women are different from men. Men can spend over ten years preparing for the imperial examinations. We women only have two or three years to study and take the exams. When you're seventeen or eighteen, you'll have to get married, right? What if your husband's family objects to your taking the exams? Even if they don't object, you'll be pregnant and have children, and you won't have time to take them anymore. So if we want to take them, we have to seize every second. As for music, chess, calligraphy, and painting, you'll have plenty of time to learn them after you get married and live in the inner quarters."
Xu Xi remained silent.
She realized that Madam Cui was a feminist of this era, or more accurately, a promoter of feminism. She had an extraordinary obsession and fervor for enabling talented female students to participate in the imperial examinations, compete with men, and become officials to set an example for women.
Faced with such Madam Cui, Xu Xi felt a growing respect for her, but his desire to withdraw from the imperial examinations also intensified.
She was highly intelligent, a top student in her past life, but after obtaining her doctorate, she didn't pursue postdoctoral studies because she was inherently inclined towards comfort. She felt that a doctorate was enough, and with her abilities, she could earn a decent income in the workforce. As an only child from a middle-class family, she possessed the refined egoism and hedonism characteristic of that era.
Although she knew that what Madam Cui was doing was very meaningful, her small shoulders were really not up to the task.
Those who charge ahead are often cannon fodder. The nail that sticks out gets hammered down; the nail that sticks out gets hammered down first—proverbs are often the truth.
"Master, may I ask, over the years, have any students from the Capital Women's Academy participated in the imperial examinations?" Xu Xi asked.
Madam Cui paused for a moment, then replied, "Yes."
How many are there?
Madam Cui hesitated for a moment, then said, "One. The woman who passed the imperial examination."
"May I ask about her family background?"
Looking into Xu Xi's dark eyes, Madam Cui vaguely guessed the purpose of her question and sighed inwardly, but still replied, "Her father was a Jinshi (a successful candidate in the highest imperial examinations), and her family has a long tradition of scholarship. She was also intelligent from a young age, and her father raised her like a son."
Upon hearing this, Xu Xi laughed, "Madam, you think too highly of me. I don't know if you know my situation. My adoptive father was a scholar, and he passed away three years ago. He taught me to read. I was only recently recognized by the Marquis of Suiping's Residence. I admit that my memory is not bad; I memorized everything I was tested on yesterday. Do you think that with my level of education, even if I study hard for another two or three years, I can compare to men who have studied for more than ten years?"
When the Women's Academy admitted students, it conducted a background check on them, so Madam Cui naturally knew about Xu Xi's situation. She didn't have high hopes for Xu Xi, but she felt that with a good memory and proper guidance and hard work, she might be able to compete with others.
With more women taking the imperial examinations, the base number was large, and surely one or two would pass and become a scholar or a provincial graduate, right? Every time she encountered such students, she would encourage everyone to take the imperial examinations.
"How will you know you can't do it if you don't try?" she encouraged. "The teacher believes in you."
Xu Xi smiled wryly. Madam Cui, with her serious expression, wasn't actually very good at encouraging people.
"I... I'll go back and discuss it with my family first," she said.
Seeing Xu Xi's intention to withdraw, Madam Cui felt a moment of disappointment.
However, perhaps she had experienced too much disappointment, and quickly regained her composure, nodding and saying, "Okay, then you can go back to class now."
Xu Xi bowed and took her leave. The moment she stepped out of the courtyard gate, the system's voice impatiently rang in her mind. "Host, I think you should agree to her request. Think about it, just participating in one academy exam earns so many points; if you could participate in the more formal imperial examinations, who knows how many points you could get!"
"Get this straight, you need to get first place to get a lot of points, it's not like you get them just by participating," Xu Xi reminded her.
Although she knew she was smarter than most, she wasn't arrogant enough to think that she could compare to those who had studied for years or even decades and had been guided by scholars, provincial graduates, or even metropolitan graduates, with just a few months of study. She thought that studying hard for a year or two, hiring famous teachers, and passing the county-level exam would be good enough, let alone dreaming of being the top scholar.
She can't possibly be number one. What's the point of spending a year or two passing the exam only to end up last and become a mere scholar?
With so many ways to boost scores, why would she choose such a thorny path?
When Xu Xi returned, several people had already arrived at the classroom, including Xu Xue.
"Sister, why are you here so early? Where did you go after you arrived? If you hadn't shown up, I was going to go out and look for you." Xu Xue asked anxiously as soon as she saw her.
When Xu Xi and Madam Cui left, the writing implements were still spread out on the table, untouched. Everyone who entered the classroom could tell that she had already arrived.
Xu Xi laughed and said, "I ate a few test papers for breakfast and got a bit of an upset stomach." There were too many people in the classroom, so she decided to tell Xu Xue about it privately.
"Is it serious? Should we ask the teacher for leave and see a doctor?" Xu Xue asked with concern.
"No need, no need, everything's fine now," Xu Xi said, changing the subject, "Why did you come so early?"
Xu Xue glared at her. "And you still dare to talk? You said you'd arrive before class yesterday, but you came so early without telling me. If I hadn't been thinking of coming early to write my storybook, I wouldn't have been able to catch you."
"You know I live a long way, and I'm worried about being late. I set off right after breakfast this morning. It's good to come here to practice my calligraphy, so I won't be late if something goes wrong on the way."
"Then I'll come earlier from now on and practice calligraphy with you," Xu Xue said.
"If you're busy at home, don't worry about me. I need peace and quiet to practice calligraphy, so I can do it alone. I don't need anyone to keep me company."
Xu Xi knew that Xu Xue was sensible and would usually do what she could at home. Now that the Xu Family was in business, she couldn't just watch her parents work without helping at all.
Xu Xue also considered her family's situation and didn't insist, simply saying, "If I have time, I'll come earlier."
The academy's classes usually consist of the Four Books and Five Classics and Five Classics, law, and history in the morning, and music, chess, calligraphy, painting, and needlework in the afternoon. This morning, the classes were on law and history, and the two teachers did not conduct a preliminary test but started lecturing directly.
To earn points, Xu Xi started taking notes in class. She carefully wrote down everything the teacher said. To earn as many points as possible, she wrote slowly and couldn't keep up with the teachers' pace, so she only made rough notes.