Chapter 4: Enrollment

“You child!”

If he weren’t holding gifts in both hands, Li Gang would have been tempted to tap him on the head.

“Mr. Xie has already changed; seven scholars, two graduates have all studied under him.”

Quite impressive, isn’t it?

“Ah?” Upon hearing this, Li Yu pouted. “Not a single one who achieved the highest honors? Besides, he only taught them before they became graduates. Can the achievements of those graduates really be credited to him?”

If that logic held, then any teacher from elementary or middle school could bask in the glory once their student got into Tsinghua University.

Li Gang laughed in frustration. “Do you think becoming a top scholar is like picking cabbages or radishes from the field? Only a few top scholars emerge from a province every three years.”

“Half of them come from Jiangnan region alone, leaving just a small portion for the other twelve provinces to compete for.”

“In our county, can you just casually find a teacher who has taught a single top scholar? That’s impossible! If such a remarkable magistrate existed, would he send his child all the way to Jiangnan to study?”

“Besides, without the foundational teacher’s guidance, how could they achieve later success? Why wouldn’t that be credited to the first teacher?”

Without the early teacher laying a solid foundation, no matter how good the later teachers are, would the students be able to understand?

Li Yu hung his head in shame. “Father, I understand now. The enlightenment teacher guides the mischievous child, and the gratitude lasts a lifetime.”

He barely even remembered his own elementary teacher’s name...

So shameful, so shameful!

Hearing this, Li Gang stroked his beard in satisfaction. “A teachable child indeed. Good boy, study well. If you learn well, you will benefit your entire life.”

In ancient times, the ceremony of formally becoming a disciple was quite elaborate, especially for young children at the beginning of their education.

Xie Huan originally did not want to take Li Yu as a student. First, because ordinary children began their education at age four, and Li Yu was already two years late. Second, because of his family background...

It wasn’t that he looked down on rural children.

He feared that a child raised in the countryside might not only be poor at learning but might also corrupt his classmates. But since Li Gang was a longtime friend, he couldn’t outright refuse.

So he reluctantly accepted the student, but after seeing Li Yu in person, he suddenly realized he had been somewhat prejudiced.

This well-mannered boy, with clear eyes and a square face, was nothing like what he had imagined.

“The school day begins at the first hour of the Mao period, with a lunch break from the first quarter of Wu to the first quarter of Wei, and classes end at the midpoint of You hour. There is a bath day every ten days, and no leaves are allowed except during those times.”

“Bath day” means a day off.

Li Yu immediately bowed respectfully and agreed, thinking how much more comfortable it was in modern times.

Five days of study followed by two days off, whereas in ancient times, it was one day off every ten days.

But that was only during his schooling; he’d heard that nowadays many schools say they have weekends off, but actually only get half a day off on the Mid-Autumn Festival.

Even if they had official holidays at home, they still had to attend online classes.

How pitiful!

Seeing how familiar Li Gang was with his somewhat wayward teacher, who had only charged him two strings of cash as a token fee and asked him not to tell other classmates about it, Li Yu curiously asked after leaving the private school, “Father, when did you become friends with the teacher?”

This new father of his seemed upright; surely he wasn’t a rogue like the teacher used to be.

Li Gang answered without hesitation, “Back when we first began learning, we were classmates. While the teacher lectured up front, we often threw paper balls at each other down below.”

If it weren’t for the troublemaker Xie Huan, he would have already passed the highest imperial exams long ago.

So they grew up together—didn’t they ever get into trouble together?

Li Yu didn’t believe it.

He blinked and tried to get more out of him. “Then why is it said that Master Xie was a rogue, but no one ever said that about you?”

Li Gang coughed awkwardly twice, signaling the boy not to be so curious.

After marrying, he stopped hanging out with them. His first wife was always in poor health and would fall gravely ill whenever angered.

After failing the provincial exams twice, he asked his father to find him a stable post.

From then on, he behaved properly and gradually everyone forgot his youthful indiscretions, only remembering his honesty in recent years.

Besides, the matchmaker took his money; how could anyone speak ill of him?

After seeing the two off, Xie Huan turned his back and went to the kitchen, speaking to his wife who was cooking.

“Don’t make so much food; they’re already gone after finishing their business.”

It was as if he had poisoned the meal with something deadly—they left so quickly!

Wang, his wife, scolded him lightly, “Why didn’t you keep Inspector Li? After all, you’ve been classmates for so many years.”

Though they hadn’t been in contact for a period, weren’t they reconciled now?

“Why keep him?”

Xie Huan said proudly, adjusting his Confucian robe.

“If it weren’t for that old fellow ruining me, I’d have already passed the imperial exams long ago.”

When they were young, they never cared about rules or etiquette.

Now that they were older, the old fellow was the one who cared too much.

Wang laughed, “That’s just like blaming the latrine when you can’t go. But Inspector Li is still an official, so it’s normal for him to be more particular.”

Which parent would stay for a meal after sending their child to school?

It’s inappropriate!

“Well said, that metaphor fits perfectly.” Xie Huan clapped his hands, smiling as he turned away. “Next time I see Boqun, I’ll tell him you said he’s a latrine.”

Thinking of the gentlemanly facade his friend had maintained for twenty years, he laughed when it faltered.

Wang was speechless.

So childish, yet not childish?

An outsider might think he was a three-year-old.

At this stage, Li Yu’s elementary textbooks included five books: The Three Character Classic, The Thousand Character Essay, Expanded Wise Sayings, The Young Learner’s Jade Forest, and The Hundred Family Surnames.

Among them, Expanded Wise Sayings collected proverbs and sayings from ancient to modern China.

The Young Learner’s Jade Forest, also called The Study of Idioms, covered astronomy, geography, family, food, flora and fauna, weddings and funerals—essentially an ancient encyclopedia.

Fortunately, in the Great Yong dynasty, printing and papermaking were quite advanced, so all five books cost only five hundred wen.

On the sixteenth year of the Qian’an era of Great Yue, on the sixth day of the fifth month, at the third quarter of the Yin hour—around 4:45 am modern Beijing time—the sky was still dark.

Under the blessings of his parents and sister, Li Yu strode proudly into the Yunduan Private School.

From that day on, whether in freezing winter or scorching summer, he had to arrive at the school around this hour to study.

That day, the boy who once looked out over endless farmland was lucky enough to become a scholar with boundless possibilities.

He felt like he was dreaming.

Whenever he spaced out, he would recall the image of himself carrying a basket larger than his own back, filled with pig fodder.

The version of himself who wore straw sandals in winter, his insteps exposed, working hard.

And now... wearing Confucian robes, becoming a scholar?

On his first day, he astonished his classmates and Master Xie with his extraordinary talent.

Having only read through the books twice, he could already recite the first ten lines of The Hundred Family Surnames.

Xie Huan stroked his beard in delight. “Very good. With your talent, you should soon catch up on the two years you missed.”

Originally, he had only accepted the student to favor an old friend, but unexpectedly, this was a promising seedling.

Faced with praise, Li Yu felt very embarrassed. These introductory books were indeed quite easy for him.

Although there were no exams at school, his parents made him memorize them extra, so after reading twice, he could recite them from memory.