Chapter 93: Crisis Averted

The courtyard gate swung open as the children filed out, heading home. They were hopping, skipping, and squeaking incessantly; it was as if the entire group had undergone a literal transformation into monkeys.

"Brother, that story of yours is incredible!" the young men remarked, watching the backs of the 'monkey troop' with admiration. "Forget about them—even we were completely hooked!"

"That's for sure. I've never heard a story so exhilarating," Su Lang added with a sigh of wonder. "It almost makes me want to go attend classes at the community school myself."

Having already completed his elementary studies, Su Lang had spent the year at home, self-studying according to the methods provided by Su Lu, preparing to attempt the academy entrance exam again at the end of the year.

"If you did, you’d never pass," Su Dan, who had rejoined his friends, retorted sharply. "Unless you're looking to review the 'Three, Hundred, and Thousand Character Classics' all over again."

"You’d probably end up having to pull the teacher off the students during a brawl, too," Cheng Wanfan teased.

"That's a great idea," Cheng Wantang said to Su Lang with a grin. "When the time comes, we’ll stand on either side, acting as the senior’s personal bodyguards."

"Good grief, the eldest brother teaching on the podium, and us flanking him?" Su Lang flexed his biceps. "I’d like to see anyone dare to cause trouble then."

"You aren't talking about holding a class, you're talking about opening a gang branch," Cheng Wanzhou said, speechless. "What if you scare the kids?"

"Hahaha..." The youths burst into laughter. After fighting side-by-side, the barriers between the two groups had indeed melted away.

Once the laughter subsided, Su Lu asked, "Do you think this method will work?"

"It’ll work, it’ll definitely work!" Cheng Wantang rushed to agree. "Didn't you see how those little brats turned into monkeys? They’ll behave themselves just to hear the rest of the story."

"Exactly, don't you worry, Brother," the other youths nodded in agreement.

"I just fear that in a few days, they’ll revert to their old ways," Su Lu said with a wry smile. He turned to Cheng Wantang and added, "You reminded me earlier—it really is necessary to arrange for one of you to act as a teaching assistant for my brother. Someone to step in when things look bad and keep them in line... How about it? Interested?"

How could Cheng Wantang not know this was an act of kindness from Su Lu? If it weren't for his grandfather’s illness keeping his father busy this month, he would have already been kicked off to the distillery to work as an apprentice.

In this day and age, no matter your background or how much education you had, you were expected to endure three years of unpaid labor. Between being an apprentice at the distillery and a teaching assistant at the community school, he would choose the latter ten thousand times over. He nodded firmly: "I'll do it!"

"Is that a 'yes,' or are you swearing at me?" Su Lu teased.

"Brother, you know how I am..." Cheng Wantang said with a sheepish grin, and the brothers dissolved into laughter again.

"But where will the salary come from?" Su Dan asked in a low voice.

"Don't worry about that, just have your grandfather settle it!" Su Lu waved his hand. "If my brother can establish his footing at the community school, our Su family won't need to run a clan school, which will save us a significant sum of money."

"And if my brother can't hold his ground, then the clan school will have to be reopened." He paused, smiling with certainty. "I believe our old clan leader wouldn't want to see that happen, would he?"

"Understood, I'll tell my grandfather when I get back," Su Dan nodded, then whispered, "It’s just... I feel bad for Hai-ge'er."

Hai-ge'er was a senior student even more experienced than Su Man. He was the one who had taken over Su Youcai's position, only for the clan school to close just two days after he started, leaving him unemployed again.

If the clan spent money to support a Cheng family member while ignoring the unlucky Hai-ge'er, his grandfather—the old clan leader—would surely be accused of favoritism.

"Then invite him along as well!" Su Lu thought for a moment and said in a low voice, "Sixty children in one class is far too many. It would be better to divide them into three classes based on their progress. Three teachers instructing separately will surely be far more effective than throwing them all into one pot!"

"That goes without saying!" The youths agreed wholeheartedly. Back when they were in elementary school, who hadn't fantasized about such a thing? Having older and younger children mixed together didn't just make for a rowdy environment—it meant they learned next to nothing all day. But there was no choice; there was only one teacher, and he couldn't be split in half.

Now that Su Lu proposed adding two more teachers to the community school, they cheered, especially since it wouldn't cost them a penny.

"The cost for two teachers shouldn't be borne solely by your family. I'll go back and tell my grandfather as well..." Cheng Wanzhou was also willing to do his part for peace between the two clans.

"Exactly, we can't let the old Su family outdo us!" Cheng Wanfan shouted.

"You're being unpeaceful again!" Cheng Wanzhou tapped him with a small fist.

"Hahaha..." The moonlight bathed the Chishui River, and the night breeze of the Wumeng Mountains carried the youths' laughter across the entire Erlang Beach.

~~

It was already the second watch of the night when they arrived home. For the first time ever, Su Lu did not open his book box. After washing up, he grabbed his bamboo sleeping pillow and headed into Chun-ge'er's room.

Scholars were night owls. Chun-ge'er was already in bed, reading a copy of "Supplement to the Exposition of the Great Learning" that Su Lu had borrowed from the academy, lit by an oil lamp.

Seeing Su Lu enter, he frowned: "What is it?!"

"Brother, let's sleep together tonight," Su Lu said with a grin.

"Why? Are you done studying?" Chun-ge'er asked, wary. It wasn't as if this were one of those times he was begging Qiu-ge'er to sleep with him.

"Can I really study all day? I need to relax occasionally. Let me tell you a story," Su Lu said.

"Nonsense! Excellence is forged in diligence and ruined by play. One must never slack off in their studies. Don't let a little success go to your head..." Chun-ge'er pulled a long face and scolded him.

"So, should I go?" Su Lu made a show of turning around.

"You're already here, so let this be the only time," Chun-ge'er said, sniffing. "Did you wash your feet?"

Su Lu raised his leg, extending his foot toward him, and chuckled: "Smell them!"

"Lack of manners, you're becoming increasingly unruly!" the elder brother rebuked. Even so, he shifted to the side to let him in.

"I'll just sleep on the outside," Su Lu said.

"Get in. What if you roll off in the middle of the night?" Su Man ordered.

"Brother, I'm not Jin Bao'er..." Su Lu said with a bitter smile.

"In my eyes, there's no difference," Su Man snorted.

"Fine." Su Lu obediently climbed to the inner side of the bed and lay down beside Su Man.

Noticing that he had only brought his bamboo pillow and was resting his head directly on the mat, Su Man shook his head helplessly. After a moment of thought, he got up, walked to the bookshelf, took out a key to open a cabinet, and pulled out an object wrapped in three layers of blue cotton cloth.

"Lift your head." Su Man gestured twice before Su Lu finally lifted his head, and Su Man placed the object behind it.

"Isn't this the pillow you had in Luzhou?" Su Lu said as he rested his head on it; even through three layers of cloth, it felt hard. "Is this a porcelain pillow or a stone one?"

"It's a 'Traveler's Pillow,'" Su Man said coolly. "Just know it's good for you and don't ask questions."

"Alright, fine." Su Lu was accustomed to obeying his older brother; if he wasn't supposed to ask, he wouldn't.

"What story are you going to tell? Hurry up," Su Man said, placing his book back on the table before lying down beside him.

"I'll tell you the story of the Monkey King..." Su Lu began to recount the tale vividly, going all the way up to Sun Wukong completing his training and returning home...

Su Man had expected Su Lu to use the story to lecture him, but he hadn't expected him to just tell a story, nor had he expected to find himself so thoroughly enthralled!

By the time Su Lu fell into a deep sleep, Su Man’s mind was still filled with monkeys.

"How shameful! Su Man, oh Su Man, you have become so degenerate!" Chun-ge'er whispered, pointing at his own nose. "Your past disgrace remains unavenged; how can your heart be so easily distracted?"

He secretly vowed to himself: "Starting today, I must never listen to these monkey stories again!"

~~

The next day was the posting of the results for the sixth month's monthly assessment. As usual, the students gathered before the notice board.

The top three remained unchanged, but the rankings of the Hu brothers and Wu Tong had all slipped by one spot. The person who had pushed them down into fourth place was none other than Su Lu, who had been ranked tenth last time.

Seeing he had reached fourth, Su Lu was even happier than before. Because the questions last time were so difficult, everyone had performed poorly, so his tenth-place finish might have been a fluke. This time, the questions were not as difficult, and everyone had performed normally; yet, he had still achieved this rank. It showed that his level had truly improved!

As long as he kept working hard, the threat of being expelled should be resolved...

His fellow students congratulated their 'foster father' one after another. Lin Zhihong laughed: "Next time, Brother, you'll be surpassing A-Feng and me to challenge Student Zhu."

"Hahaha, I can't wait!" Qiao Feng also laughed.

"Don't say that; it's very hard for me to surpass you all," Su Lu said with modest laughter.

"Brother's level already exceeds ours," Lin Zhihong said with genuine conviction. "You just need a little more persistence to refine the details."

"Exactly," Qiao Feng nodded, happily saying to Lin Zhihong, "Actually, we should be fortunate that we’ve managed to rank above Brother for four monthly assessments. Such a feat will likely be unmatched in the future."

"That's true," Lin Zhihong agreed.

"Hahaha, I get it, you're trying to build me up just to knock me down," Su Lu said, feeling embarrassed by all the praise. He turned to his classmates: "Let's all stop being restless and study properly. Rankings aren't important; what's important is being able to enter the higher academy in the future!"

"Brother always speaks so sensibly," the classmates replied happily. "Let's work hard, let's all work hard together!"

Looking further down the list, Su Dan had improved from twenty-fourth to twentieth. Although not as dazzling as Su Lu, he was making steady, step-by-step progress. Moreover, he had already accumulated four points, while Su Lu only had two and a half...

The twenty-fourth place this time was Cheng Wanzhou, who had been twenty-eighth last time; he had also collected his full four points.

The head of the斋 (zhai), Ma, was twenty-sixth, earning one point for a total of three and a half.

These were all expected, so there were no surprises. The surprise came from Li Qiyu and Cheng Wanfan.

The two were ranked twenty-seventh and thirty-fifth respectively. Since the thirty-six students had all earned one point this time, they had finally achieved a breakthrough and secured a point each!

"Awoo-woo-woo, we did it!" The two cheered, hugging each other in excitement, and even couldn't help but steal a kiss...

Everyone could understand their excitement, but they still found it quite disgusting.

Further down, the thirty-seventh to fiftieth places fell into the half-point bracket.

And further still... after the eliminations from the last assessment, there were only fifty students left in the lower house.

Among the fourteen peers who had received half a point this time, five more would be leaving the academy forever. The only consolation was that three were from the Duxing House and two from the Mingzhi House; the Shengshen House had none this time.