Cultivation: I Have Studied Abroad in the Modern World-Chapter 6 - This Kid Has Something Special

The crowd entered the Water Pavilion one by one.

In front of the hall stood two middle-aged men, one of whom was clean-shaven with a cyan robe, his thin body standing upright.

The other had a meticulously groomed thin mustache and was dressed in silk, looking like a somewhat portly merchant.

Seeing them come in, the man with the mustache spoke first: "Find a spot for yourselves."

Everyone found a desk to sit at, and Zheng Fa also found a vacant spot in the corner and knelt before the desk.

Zheng Fa always felt the most tense moment of an examination was before the papers were distributed.

Like now, the Water Pavilion was so quiet that only a series of somewhat heavy breathing could be heard.

"I am the internal steward under madam's command, surnamed Wu. This gentleman is Seventh Young Master's teacher, Mr. Shen." He pointed to the middle-aged man in cyan: "Today's head examiner is Mr. Shen."

Mr. Shen nodded slightly, showing an unfathomable expression. He didn't say anything else, but went straight to the point: "Today we select Attendant Students for Seventh Young Master, and your family backgrounds are quite diverse."

He glanced at Zheng Fa's short robe and then at the silk-clad youths.

"The range of scholarly knowledge is also uneven."

His gaze lingered for a while on the scholarly caps worn by three young students.

"Therefore, to ensure fairness, today we will not test anything else." He pointed to the desk in front of Zheng Fa and the others: "Here lies a Taoist book, the Qingjing Scripture. I will lead you in reciting some Chapters, and then you must transcribe from memory the passages you can recall."

Having finished speaking, he did not wait for the youths to react, nor did he take a book in hand. He began reciting from memory.

The young students frantically opened the Qingjing Scripture in front of them, reading along with Mr. Shen, clumsily trying to keep up with his pace.

"The Great Way is formless, nurturing heaven and earth; the Great Way is emotionless, governing the sun and the moon; the Great Way is nameless, sustaining all beings; I do not know its name, forcibly calling it the Way. Verily, the Way bears clarity and murkiness, movement and stillness; heaven is clear, earth is murky, heaven moves, earth is still. Male is clear, female is murky, male moves, female is still. Descending from the root, flowing to the branches, it generates all things. Clarity is the source of murkiness, movement is the foundation of stillness. One capable of constant purity and stillness, to heaven and earth all return..."

After reciting four Chapters, he abruptly stopped and said:

"Alright, hand over the books you have, and commence with the transcription."

The start was abrupt, and the end caught everyone off guard.

Many young students sighed, but seeing his not-so-amiable face, they dared not say anything and obediently placed the scriptures they hadn't finished memorizing in front of him.

...

The Water Pavilion quieted down again, with only the sound of grinding ink sticks and the rustling of paper.

Mr. Shen and Housekeeper Wu stood side by side in front of the hall, watching the ten or so young students leaning over their desks. Their lips moved slightly as they conversed in a low voice, audible only to each other—an indication that both possessed exceptional martial skills.

"Mr. Shen seems quite impatient," Housekeeper Wu said.

Even these seventeen- or eighteen-year-old children could see the other's irritability.

"Selecting a mere Attendant Student..."

"What choice is there? After all, Seventh Young Master is the apple of Madam's eye, and he will be the future Family Head of the Zhao Family. Shouldn't the people around him be chosen with care? You are aware, aren't you, Mr. Shen, that the previous Attendant Students were all dismissed by Madam?"

"It's clearly because of his own stubbornness!"

At this point, Mr. Shen's expression grew even darker.

Housekeeper Wu didn't dare to pursue this line of conversation and instead changed the subject: "This Qingjing Scripture is quite obscure; I haven't read it myself. These youngsters are usually only exposed to Confucian classics, never having touched upon Taoist texts; they're going to have a tough time now."

"Humph! If your Madam wants a good one, I'll make sure she gets a good one!"

Housekeeper Wu smiled slightly, knowing that the other was only venting a little.

As the teacher of a young master examining these children, it was all too common to feel that this was making little use of one's talents, wasn't it?

"This text has been excellently chosen; not a single child here has seen it before. With today's assessment, who could say we were not fair?"

Who knew Mr. Shen would shake his head slightly: "Fairness is one thing, but I suspect that the ones who will stand out are those with some background."

"What do you mean?"

"You've also studied; how could you not know? Eating meat is more nourishing than eating vegetables, better food leads to a better memory. Not to mention that studying can make one wiser, those who have received an education are generally a bit smarter than those who haven't."

Mr. Chen knew what Mr. Shen said was right.

"Among these three students, each comes from a different background. One is the child of the second branch's steward, one belongs to the Seventh Young Master's wet nurse's family, and one is the grandson of our family's Shopkeeper. According to Mr. Shen, are these the only three candidates?"

Mr. Shen nodded.

"However, I find one boy quite interesting." Mr. Shen was taken aback and followed his gaze toward the corner.

In the corner, Zheng Fa was slowly grinding ink.

"This child?" Mr. Shen frowned and said: "Judging by his attire, he seems to be the poorest among them. Do you really think he has a chance?"

Housekeeper Wu chuckled: "In terms of scholarship, I am no match for you. But when it comes to reading people, my eyes are somewhat discerning."

He lifted his chin slightly, pointing at Zheng Fa: "The others came in tiptoeing, but only he, despite some nervousness, adapted to the environment in just two or three breaths."

"When you finished reciting just now, including those three students, all of them looked worried, but his face showed no difficulty."

"He must have something up his sleeve."

Mr. Shen took a closer look at Zheng Fa and felt, under the influence of Housekeeper Wu's words, that he indeed saw a trace of composure on the boy's face.

What's more important, he knew Housekeeper Wu was not merely boasting. Being deeply trusted by the lady of the house to manage almost every major and minor affair in the main residence, his ability to judge people should not be underestimated.

...

Zheng Fa finally managed to grind the ink properly.

He was indeed not that nervous. During his five years in the modern era, he had taken part in countless exams, easily over a hundred.

Good or bad results aside, he had cultivated the right mentality for examinations.

He was confident that among these youngsters, he was the one with rich experience in this aspect.

Not to mention that the examination format was greatly in his favor—while the Qingjing Scripture was certainly hard to memorize, the early days of learning English felt like deciphering celestial runes.

How could it be harder than a kindergartener tackling high school mathematics?

Sure enough, even though some words and sentences were difficult for him to comprehend, Mr. Shen's recitation allowed him to listen and watch, and he managed to memorize most of it.

But having to grind ink before writing was something he was not used to.

Others had started writing, and he was still wrestling with the inkstone.

Finally, with the ink prepared, Zheng Fa picked up the brush, only to realize an embarrassing problem—

He had no idea how to use a brush!

He had never learned calligraphy in any world.

Zheng Fa could only make do by holding the brush as if it were a ballpoint pen.

Then, he realized:

He did not know the script of this world.

Not that he couldn't recognize it at all; after all, he had attended elementary school for a year, but overall, he didn't know much.

The script in this world miraculously shared similarities with modern text, resembling the style found in ancient books.

He hadn't noticed this problem when looking at the Qingjing Scripture, just as many modern people find traditional characters reasonably smooth to read—he truly understood it.

But writing them was a source of despair.

Having completed compulsory education, was he to become illiterate once again?

"When taking an exam, it's better to write something wrong than to leave a blank," Mr. Chen's earnest instructions echoed in his ears. Zheng Fa gritted his teeth and began to transcribe the text in Simplified Chinese characters.

At the front of the hall, Mr. Shen watched as Zheng Fa scribbled each character incorrectly and full of errors on the paper, and couldn't help but smile at Housekeeper Wu.

Housekeeper Wu stroked his modest moustache: "Seems I was mistaken, where does this boy get his confidence?"

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