Chapter 204: You are the most clear-headed person

Class begins.

Jiang Yunchu walked into the school hall and saw Zhang Cunwen surrounded by a group of people.

She naturally knew what was going on, flipped through her textbook, and looked at the excited eyes below.

"During your exams, our dean made a bet."

"Some bet that none of you would make the list, some bet that three of you would, some bet that five would, and some bet that six would."

She paused, looked at the children's eyes, and said, "I bet that eight of you would make the list."

As she said this, she curled the corners of her mouth; her smile held no mockery, no coldness, only a faint sense of relief.

"I feel relieved."

"I think..."

"You should feel even more relieved."

She smiled, especially when her gaze fell on Zhang Cunwen; her smile seemed contagious, gradually letting Zhang Cunwen's recently inferior and resigned heart detach from its emotions.

"Dean, am I somewhat lacking?"

He bravely asked this, instead of staying silent.

Jiang Yunchu raised an eyebrow and asked, "Why do you say that?"

"Out of the twelve of us, only I failed the exam; everyone else made the list."

While he said this, his discouraged mindset remained, but he became braver, daring to face his own problems.

After Jiang Yunchu let him finish speaking, she asked a question: "What subject are you best at?"

"Technique studies."

Zhang Cunwen blurted it out directly.

Jiang Yunchu nodded and said, "Yes, technique studies, but there is no such subject in the monthly exam; your strength isn't here."

"Then I'll ask you another question: what do you want to do in the future?"

"Earn silver, so that everyone need not worry about money and can also help more people." He didn't need to think; ever since coming to Chun Hua Xue Yuan, he had already had this idea, but after arriving at the academy, his thoughts gradually became clear.

Jiang Yunchu smiled and nodded in satisfaction.

"Zhang Cunwen, in fact, among these twelve children, you are the most clear-headed."

He always knew what he wanted; when eating mutton skewers, he thought of opening a stall; when opening the Fragrance-Filled Sleeves shop, his reputation as the third steward gradually spread, though it was a joke, she always believed this child would have his own place in the world.

She was merely waiting for him to grow up.

Zhang Cunwen scratched the back of his head, somewhat embarrassed, and said, "Really?"

He had liked keeping accounts since childhood, but his mother never let him touch them, saying that household affairs were not for him to handle.

As he grew up a little more, he grew fonder of gold and silver, liking their shiny feel and their weighty touch.

Later on...

His monthly silver was all taken away by his mother...

"I don't know what attitude the Yong Bo Marquis Manor holds, but I know that as long as you stay firm in your heart, you will find a way."

Zhang Cunwen's path has already begun to take shape; as long as he stays true to his original intention, he will surely carve it out.

If he gives up halfway, that is something no one can control.

"Dean, I will."

Zhang Cunwen firmly nodded, his gaze toward Jiang Yunchu carrying a contemplativeness beyond his years.

No one knows why this pampered young master, who never needed to understand anything, is obsessed with money.

It is because a strand of white hair has appeared on his mother's head; the Yong Bo Marquis Manor, though appearing noble, is nothing but a cage.

Everything requires maintaining the marquis's dignity, everything requires caring for the marquis's display— which of these does not need money?

When he was very young, his mother would sigh over the accounts all day, and he made up his mind to earn a lot of silver so as not to worry her.

"But!"

Jiang Yunchu smiled and glanced around.

"You can have your own ideals, you can think about your future path; all these present exams are roads you must go through, a process you need to accumulate."

"At this stage of your lives, only now can you be single-minded."

"Children, life is short and full of mishaps; if you choose to dance on the blade's tip, you must train your basics well, otherwise you'll be pierced by myriad arrows, or else abandon your original dream."

Her words carried no sense of regret, for the path she walked was always her own choice, never forced upon her.

Whatever she wanted to do, she would strive for it; she was an orphan, and from childhood she knew that to obtain anything, she could rely only on herself.

"Today we will arrange the agriculture tasks."

What needed to be said, she has already said; the deeper matters are still beyond the children's comprehension—they need to hit a wall themselves, they need to hit the south wall themselves.

"I have eaten more salt than you have eaten rice."

"I have crossed more bridges than you have walked roads."

"I am someone who has been through this; why won't you listen to me?"

Many elders say these things to their juniors, but the elders don't realize that when the juniors understand, they themselves have become those who have been through it.

"Because the monthly exam was moved up, the previously set agriculture tasks need to be changed."

"Originally, we were to set aside a month of agriculture lessons, deliberately letting you go to the manor."

"Do you remember the sandy plot you bought? Tomorrow afternoon's agriculture class will go to the sandy plot to inspect its fertility and also conduct a new round of seedling cultivation."

Jiang Yunchu looked at the children below, hoping to see resistance, confusion, and unwillingness on their faces.

But those clear, big eyes, each looking at her, were so earnest and sincere.

"You…… don't have anything you want to ask?" she asked, curling her lips slightly.

Kang Zhi Chun shook his head and said, "Dean, whatever you have us do must have your reason."

「Well, today I'll talk about seedling raising, as well as soil mounding and planting。」

She deliberately exchanged grape seeds in her space, and also the grapes sent from the Palace, as a cover, enough for that plot of sandy land to serve as a trial.

Originally she wanted to grow watermelons, to stock the drink stall in summer.

But the surface trial field required the children to participate together, so she decided to cultivate grapes.

Grapes from seedling to fruiting take about two to three years, but her space has a plant growth agent that can keep the seedlings pest‑free and also promote growth speed, raising the survival rate.

After the children's Joint Examination ended, the system awarded a large number of points; last time they used points, or rather exchanged them for space fragments, and the points have remained unused since, except for exchanging simple fruits, nothing else has been spent.

「This time we're going to cultivate……」

The class passed quickly, but the few people waiting at Ningguang Yuan felt it was slow.

When Jiang Yunchu entered Ningguang Yuan with a book in hand, she saw several people with solemn faces.

「What's wrong? 」 She first took a sip of tea before speaking.

Usually everyone is busy with their own affairs, so being able to gather together is also strange.