Chapter 7: This Kid Has Some Tricks Up His Sleeve

The crowd filed into the water pavilion one after another.

Two middle-aged men were already standing before the hall; one was clean-shaven, wearing a green robe, his slender frame standing perfectly straight.

The other had two meticulously groomed mustaches on his upper lip, wore silk, and looked like a somewhat portly landlord.

Seeing them enter, the man with the small mustache spoke first: "Find your own seats."

Everyone found a desk; Zheng Fa also found an empty spot in a corner and knelt before the desk.

Zheng Fa had always felt that the moment before exam papers are distributed is the most tense part of an exam.

For instance, right now, the water pavilion was so quiet that only a series of slightly coarse and heavy breathing sounds remained.

"I am the Lady's internal steward, surname Wu; this one is the Seventh Young Master's teacher, Mr. Shen." He pointed to the middle-aged man in the green robe beside him: "Today's chief examiner is Mr. Shen."

Mr. Shen nodded slightly, his face showing no expression; he said nothing else, stating directly: "Today we select a page boy for the Seventh Young Master; your family backgrounds differ greatly."

He glanced at the short tunic on Zheng Fa, then swept his eyes over the youths wearing silk clothes.

"Your learning is also uneven."

His gaze lingered for a while on the silk headbands worn by the three young scholars.

"Therefore, for the sake of fairness, we will test nothing else today." He pointed to the desk in front of Zheng Fa and the others: "On this is a Daoist text, the 'Sutra of Purity and Tranquility'. I will lead you in reciting some chapters, and then you must write down from memory the verses you remember."

Having finished speaking, regardless of how these youths reacted, he did not even hold a book and began reciting directly.

The youths fumbled to open the 'Sutra of Purity and Tranquility' before them, reciting along with Mr. Shen, clumsily trying to keep up with his pace.

"The Great Dao has no form, yet it gives birth to heaven and earth; the Great Dao has no emotion, yet it operates the sun and moon; the Great Dao has no name, yet it nourishes all things; I do not know its name, so I forcibly call it Dao. The Dao: has clarity and turbidity, has movement and stillness; heaven is clear and earth is turbid, heaven moves and earth is still. Males are clear and females are turbid, males move and females are still. It descends from the root to the end, giving birth to all things. Clarity is the source of turbidity, movement is the foundation of stillness. If humans can constantly maintain purity and tranquility, heaven and earth will all return..."

After reciting four chapters, he abruptly stopped and said:

"Enough. Hand in the books in your hands and begin writing from memory."

Not only did it start suddenly, but it ended so unexpectedly.

Many youths sighed, but seeing his not-bright expression, none dared to say anything; they simply obediently placed the scriptures they had not finished memorizing before him.

The water pavilion fell quiet again, with only the sound of grinding ink and the rustling of paper remaining.

Mr. Shen and Steward Wu stood side by side before the hall, watching the dozen or so youths bent over their desks; their lips moved slightly, their conversation audible only to each other, clearly both possessing extraordinary martial arts.

"Mr. Shen has quite a temper," Steward Wu said.

The impatience of the other party was obvious even to these seventeen- and eighteen-year-old children.

"Just to find a mere page boy..."

"What can be done? The Seventh Young Master is after all the apple of the Young Master's eye, and furthermore the future head of our Zhao family; how can one not be cautious about those around him? You know, Mr., that the previous page boys were all driven away by the Lady."

"It is clearly his own naughtiness!"

Upon hearing this, Mr. Shen's expression became even worse.

Steward Wu dared not respond to this remark, merely changing the subject: "This 'Sutra of Purity and Tranquility' is quite obscure; neither of us has read it. These little ones usually study only Confucian classics and have never encountered Daoist scriptures; they will have a hard time of it."

"Hmph! Since your Lady wants to find a good one, I will find her a good one!"

Steward Wu smiled slightly, knowing the other was merely complaining a bit.

As the Young Master's teacher, coming to examine these children, feeling it was a waste of talent was only natural, wasn't it?

"This book was chosen extremely well; not one of these children has ever seen it. How can anyone say we are unfair after today's assessment?"

Who knew that Mr. Shen shook his head slightly: "They say it is fair, but I think those who stand out will be only those few with some background."

"How so?"

"You have also studied books; how could you not know? Eating meat nourishes people more than eating vegetables; eating well improves memory. Moreover, studying brings wisdom; those who have attended school are mostly a bit smarter than those who have not."

Steward Wu also understood in his heart that what Mr. Shen said was correct.

"The three young scholars in this field each have their own backgrounds: one is the child of the steward of the Second House, one is from the Seventh Young Master's wet nurse's family, and the third is the grandson of the Shopkeeper. According to Mr.'s opinion, is it just these three?"

Mr. Shen nodded.

"But I feel there is a certain boy who is somewhat interesting." Mr. Shen paused, following his gaze to the corner.

In the corner, Zheng Fa was slowly grinding the ink.

"This child?" Mr. Shen frowned: "Judging by his attire, he is probably the worst among this group; you actually think he has a chance?"

Steward Wu chuckled: "Comparing learning with Mr., I am ashamed of myself. But if it is about judging people, my eyes still have some sharpness."

He raised his chin slightly, pointing at Zheng Fa: "This boy; when others entered, they were timid and hesitant, but only he, though somewhat nervous, seemed to adapt to this environment within two or three breaths."

"Mr., just now after you finished reciting, including those three young scholars, all wore worried expressions; only he showed no difficulty on his face."

"He probably has some substance in his belly."

Mr. Shen looked at Zheng Fa carefully a few times; influenced by Steward Wu's words, he truly saw a certain steadiness on the boy's face.

More importantly, he knew Steward Wu was not boasting; able to be deeply trusted by the Lady and manage almost all major and minor affairs of the First House's inner courtyard, the other's ability to judge people could not be underestimated.

Zheng Fa finally managed to grind the ink.

He was indeed not very nervous; in the modern world for five years, the exams he had experienced, big and small, added up to at least a hundred.

Regardless of whether he did well or poorly, his mindset in the exam hall had been trained.

He was confident that compared to the other youths, he was experienced in this regard.

Moreover, the method of this assessment was extremely favorable to him—the 'Sutra of Purity and Tranquility' was certainly hard to memorize, but when first learning English, that was truly a heavenly book.

However difficult it was, could it compare to challenging high school mathematics with kindergarten-level skills?

Indeed, although there were some phrases he could not quite understand, after Mr. Shen recited it once, by listening and watching, he had memorized about seventy or eighty percent.

It was just that having to grind ink before writing was really a bit unfamiliar to him.

While others had already started writing, he was still struggling with the inkstone.

Having finally obtained the ink, Zheng Fa picked up the brush, only then remembering a very awkward question—

He couldn't use a brush pen at all!

In any world, he had never learned calligraphy.

Zheng Fa could only barely hold the brush like a ballpoint pen.

Then, he realized:

He didn't know the writing of this world.

It wasn't that he knew nothing—he had attended elementary school for a year—but overall, he knew very little.

The writing of this world was strangely similar to modern script, more like the style found in ancient modern texts.

When he read the Classic of Purity and Tranquility, he hadn't noticed this problem; just as many modern people read traditional characters and find them fluent, he genuinely understood it.

But when he picked up the brush, despair set in.

Had he, a graduate of compulsory education, become an illiterate all over again?

"During exams, even if you write wrong, fill the page—never hand in a blank paper!" Old Chen's earnest advice still echoed in his ears; Zheng Fa gritted his teeth and began writing from memory using simplified characters.

In the hall, Mr. Shen watched Zheng Fa scrawl crooked, error-ridden characters on the paper, and smiled faintly at Wu the steward.

Wu the steward stroked his two thin mustaches: "Mistaken identity—where did this child get such confidence?"