Chapter 28: A Rare Luxury

It had been stated before that in the county school examinations, regardless of the subject, unless one reached an extremely excellent level, a Grade A would not be awarded!

Below Grade A was essentially equivalent to a full score, while being able to receive a Grade A-Middle was an extra reward for those who performed exceptionally brilliantly.

Therefore, generally speaking, Grade B-Upper was roughly equivalent to 90 points.

By extension, Grade B-Middle was roughly 75 points, Grade B-Lower was the 60-point passing mark, and if one received Grade C, that was a failing level.

For subjects like Text Exegesis, which involved rote memorization and fill-in-the-blanks, since the difficulty was relatively low, generally speaking, most students could achieve a Grade B-Lower rating as long as they answered six out of ten correctly.

But Moyi was different; the content of the Spring and Autumn Annals and the Book of Rites was vast and complex, making the error rate when answering questions quite high.

Therefore, for the vast majority of examinees, their Moyi scores were at a failing level, which meant Grade C.

Yet, as long as one could reach the passing line and obtain a Grade B-Lower, one could already rank within the top 20 out of the 220 students in the Hejiang County School.

Although, due to the sheer volume of content, even Lu Beigu could not master the vast review materials related to the Spring and Autumn Annals and the Book of Rites in such a short time, he had improved significantly compared to before and possessed certain answering techniques, so he smoothly obtained a Grade B-Lower score in Moyi.

Furthermore, since Lu Beigu's accuracy in the Text Exegesis fill-in-the-blanks was very high, his comprehensive score in this decadal test reached the top ten in the county school!

"What was Lu Beigu's score in the last decadal test?"

The students whispered to one another, asking.

"I remember it was something like Text Exegesis Grade C-Middle and Moyi Grade C-Lower, ranking 198th."

"In this short time, he rose from 198th place to 9th?"

The buzzing murmur in the lecture hall was like a swarm of hornets whose nest had been disturbed; several scholars in the back row stretched their necks forward, as if to confirm whether they had heard the name correctly.

Hearing this, He Cong suddenly clenched the paper on his desk, crumpling it into a ball between his fingers.

He stared fixedly at the straight back ahead—the hemp cloth robe of Lu Beigu stood out glaringly amidst the many silk and satin garments.

"It must be luck," a scholar surnamed Liu, sitting to He Cong's right, lowered his voice. "It was just rote memorization of the Analects; Moyi only just reached Grade B-Lower. The gap grows wider the higher you go; the top ten and the top five are not the same thing at all. It's impossible to pass the prefectural school exam."

What he said was actually correct.

Because in the county school, the gap between the individual students in the topmost tier was actually still very large.

For instance, in Text Exegesis, if in this decadal test of 40 questions, making only 2 or 3 mistakes could achieve a Grade B-Upper rating, then there was a chance to squeeze into the top ten.

But the top five were basically at a level where they made no mistakes at all, or perhaps only one mistake; the gap within this group was self-evident.

Of course, Text Exegesis could not create a significant score difference.

The subjects capable of creating the biggest score differences were, besides Strategy Essays, Moyi.

Normally, if the newly appointed County Magistrate Li Pan had not had a whim to test a tricky topic like "The Strategy Against Xia," He Cong and other top-tier students in the county school, by reciting classics and writing templates for other strategy essay topics, could all achieve a Grade B-Lower or Grade B-Middle rating.

And Moyi was their key area for creating score differences.

Because Moyi was a subject that heavily relied on books; relying on books meant relying on money.

Whoever had more money, could buy good Moyi analyses and books of real Moyi exam questions to study and train extensively, and could afford good teachers to provide private tutoring and targeted explanations, would inevitably have higher Moyi scores after years of accumulation.

Therefore, for the top five in the county school, Moyi scores often reached Grade B-Middle, or even Grade B-Upper.

Do not think that because they are all Grade B ratings, the distance between Grade B-Lower and Grade B-Middle is truly ten thousand miles; as for the jump from Grade B-Middle to Grade B-Upper, without years of grinding effort, it is even more difficult to break through.

But even so, He Cong still broke down.

Because someone whispered in: "But he went from Grade C-Lower to Grade B-Lower in just over ten days."

"Shut up!" He Cong squeezed out two words from between his teeth.

A flicker of fear appeared in his heart at that moment.

Although the gap between the top ten and the top five was very large, who could say for sure that if Lu Beigu could rise from 198th to 9th in just over ten days, he could not achieve moving from 9th place into the top five in the upcoming nearly two months?

He Cong, feeling restless and agitated, did not even want to eat after the exam and simply went back to his family's restaurant to drink his sorrows away.

Meanwhile, Lu Beigu went to the dining hall for lunch.

Generally speaking, for lunch, he ate the same as the vast majority of county school students, which was the combination of "wheat rice + vegetable soup + pickled vegetables"; although this set meal could not be called very delicious, it was free every day.

Because the county schools in Sichuan basically all had their own school fields, and the bulk of the revenue from these school fields was used for "school grain," ensuring that poor students studying in the county school could have one full meal at noon every day to maintain the most basic vital signs.

Of course, besides the fixed set meal, the dining hall also had some stir-fried dishes; vegetable dishes were basically just mustard greens, cabbage, and garlic chives stir-fried haphazardly, eggs were definitely not included, and if spring bamboo shoots were used inside, the price would generally be 2 or 3 copper coins more expensive.

As for meat dishes, stir-fried versions were not common; they appeared more often in the form of soups and stews, such as lamb hotpot, which was lamb noodle soup, and lamb genghuo, which was thick lamb soup.

"Brother Lu, over here!"

Lu Guangyu waved from a square table in the corner, with a bowl of meat balls in front of him, the oil glistening with an attractive sheen.

Lu Beigu walked over quickly and placed his tray gently on the table.

The lamb genghuo was served in a coarse earthenware bowl; the broth was thick and milky white, with a few pieces of cornel cherry floating on top, emitting a spicy aroma. Beside it was a bowl of snow-white tofu, a bowl of wheat rice, and a small glutinous rice cake with a surface roasted to a slightly golden brown.

Hmm, tofu was already a food widely popular among people in the Song Dynasty.

"Whoa, 14 wen plus 4 wen plus 2 wen plus 2 wen, 22 wen; Brother Lu really went all out today!"

Zhang Sheng widened his eyes, his chopsticks suspended in mid-air, staring at that bowl of lamb genghuo and swallowing his saliva.

"A rare luxury," Lu Beigu smiled.

Meat was expensive, but it was necessary for supplementing nutrition.

After all, he was currently in the final two years of his physical growth.

And for today's decadal test, although Lu Beigu felt his performance was not very perfect, it was not bad overall, so there was no harm in rewarding himself with a meal.

Moreover, he believed that with his continuous effort, not only would he be able to eat meat in the future, but his family would also be able to eat meat along with him!

He poured the distinct grains of wheat rice into the lamb genghuo, stirring with a wooden spoon; the rice grains gradually absorbed the broth, becoming plump and crystal clear. The spiciness of the cornel cherry mixed with the mellow fragrance of the lamb rushed to his face, causing his stomach to unconsciously make a "gurgle" sound.

(End of Chapter)