TTLJDFL chapter 18

The teacher Li Jin previously studied under was a failed scholar named Song Yuan.

Song Yuan, at the age of twenty, had passed the county, prefecture, and academy exams, finally earning the title of xiucai. Later, he took the provincial exams twice but failed both times, and eventually he lost his motivation and decided not to bother trying to become a juren, which is why he was called a failed xiucai.

Mr. Song’s family originally lived in Xiatan Village. Later, after he earned the title of xiucai (a successful candidate in the imperial examinations), his clan bought him a residence in the town so that he could teach the children of his family in his spare time.

Besides that, Song Yuan also took in students from surrounding villages.

After all, being a teacher wasn’t charity work, and Song Yuan couldn’t live off the weather and meals outdoors. So for students from other villages, a tuition fee had to be charged.

Li Jin carried ten strips of cured meat in his hands, walked through the main street, and headed toward Mr. Song’s residence.

They usually held classes in a side room at the front yard of Mr. Song’s house. There were fewer than ten students in total, so it didn’t feel too formal.

Passing by the bun shop, Li Jin bought two vegetarian buns again.

The shop owner still remembered this handsome young man, and didn’t say much, just packed the buns for him.

Coincidentally, the owner’s daughter, who was usually at home, had come out to help steam the buns, and just happened to see Li Jin’s profile.

Her daughter said, “Mom, this person looks really familiar.”

The merchants in the town did not have the kind of tradition that kept daughters and ger’ers strictly confined to the household. The owner’s daughter went to the capital to help her mother steam buns.

The shop owner’s wife said, “What a coincidence. When I saw him come to buy buns last time, he also seemed familiar. He must be from one of the nearby villages.”

Her daughter frowned, unable to recall immediately.

“I just can’t remember when I’ve seen him before.”

Li Jin was still unaware that the owner of the bun shop had almost recalled his previous habit of frequent drunkenness.

He quickly finished the steamed bun to fill his stomach and, following the route he remembered, walked to the residential area of the town. After turning two corners, he saw a rather familiar house.

He stepped forward and knocked on the door.

Mr. Song’s eldest son came out to open it.

The child was only seven years old this year, wearing a miniature version of a long robe, with a round face that was quite endearing.

Upon seeing Li Jin, he asked seriously, “This is the residence of Scholar Song. May I ask who is calling, and what business brings you to the master?”

…These days, even a seven-year-old child speaks so formally. However, what made Li Jin even more embarrassed was himself—after all, he was a student of Song Yuan, yet this child didn’t remember him.

“I am Li Jin, a disciple of Master Song. I was on leave due to illness recently, and have come today specifically to resume my attendance.”

After hearing this, the child said, “Please wait a moment, I’ll be right back”, and then ran off quickly to call someone.

Today happened to be during Mu Xiu, so Li Jin’s classmates were all on holiday and had gone home, and Master Song was also free.

When he heard the name ‘Li Jin,’ he first frowned, but then he remembered the scene two years ago when Li Jin’s mother knelt and begged him. He put down his teacup and said, “Bring him in.”

Mr. Song’s residence had two courtyards. After entering through the main gate and taking a few steps, one would reach the screen wall. The child led him in through the side Hua Gate, passed through the left corridor beside the main hall, walked to the end, and then turned right to arrive at the main hall.

The children in Mr. Song’s household were very polite. After leading Li Jin over, they needed no further instruction and ran off on their own.

Li Jin placed the basket outside the door and entered carrying the cured meat and the two-hundred-wen tuition gift.

He bowed to Mr. Song and said, “Student Li Jin pays his respects to you, sir.”

Seeing his sincere attitude, Mr. Song’s expression lightened considerably.

He let Li Jin put the items down first, sit across from him, and asked lightly, “A few days ago, you asked for leave, saying your husband was giving birth. Is everything going smoothly now?”

This was the original owner’s excuse for skipping class.

Although he didn’t care about the husband, he used it as a pretext to skip lessons, which was truly a despicable behavior.

Li Jin had a smile on his face: “Gave birth to a ger’er smoothly, and my husband is safe too.”

Mr. Song said, “Seeing you turn over a new leaf now, I won’t nag anymore.

Since you’re already a father, you should avoid being hasty, focus on your studies, and aim for success in the exams. That way, you can bring honor to your family and provide for your wife and children.”

Li Jin naturally agreed.

Mr. Song then asked, “Are you going to take the Tongsheng exam next February? You’ve been in mourning these past two years, which has already delayed things quite a bit.”

The students here generally take their first exam at the age of fourteen, not to seek fame or official rank, but simply to experience the atmosphere and get familiar with the environment. It is to prepare for achieving success in one go next time. …

So this is treating the formal exam as a mock exam.

Li Jin asked, “Teacher, do you think my knowledge is enough to take the exam?”

Mr. Song spoke without any tact at all: “Of course you won’t pass the first time, which is why I want you to go first to get familiar with the environment.”

Li Jin really wanted to say that he could still turn things around. After all, he was an adult now, with much better focus and self-control than kids. If he studied hard like those who ‘hang their heads from the beam and prick their thighs’¹The phrase “hang their heads from the beam and prick their thighs” is a direct translation of the famous Chinese idiom “Tóu Xuán Liáng, Zhuī Cì Gǔ” (头悬梁, 锥刺股), which serves as a powerful metaphor for studying with extreme diligence and determination. to work, there might still be some chance…

Mr. Song noticed Li Jin’s thoughts and warned him, “Don’t aim too high. The Tongsheng exam for young scholars is divided into three parts, and the first part alone tests five subjects—it’s really tough to prepare for.”

After a pause, he added, “But if you have this kind of ambition, tomorrow bring your own paper and pen, copy all of my ‘Four Books’ and ‘Five Classics,’ and go back and memorize them more. If you can finish memorizing these books by September, I’ll start teaching you the writing styles of the eight-part essay, classical discussions, and policy essays early.”

Li Jin quickly stood up and bowed again: “Thank you, sir.”

Mr. Song was very pleased with his attitude, and besides, this time Li Jin was completely different from his usual timid, distracted self.

It felt as if he had suddenly grown up. As a teacher, he naturally wouldn’t discourage a hardworking student. Seeing that it was almost lunchtime, Li Jin didn’t linger and went out to buy paper and pens.

=

Mr. Song’s family was also not wealthy, and his wife was a woman from the same village. He had no concubines. At lunchtime, his wife was somewhat surprised when she saw the two hundred wen.

“The child said Li Jin came to pay you a visit, and I didn’t take it seriously. Why is he suddenly giving gifts?”

She paused, “I should have known to keep him for a meal.”

Although two hundred wen was not much, it was still half a month’s earnings for an ordinary peasant.

Mr. Song thought that his wife was good in every way, except that she valued these material things too much.

In his view, it didn’t matter how many sets of ceremonial gifts Li Jin brought; a small gift with sincere intentions was what counted.

Song Yuan said, “No problem, I’ll have him come tomorrow to copy the Four Books and Five Classics to take home and memorize. You can have him stay for a meal tomorrow.”

His wife: “……..” She was really just saying that.

Her husband, though a scholar, was so dull in character.

But in a way, that was good too—he did things methodically and properly, and would never cause any unexpected trouble in his life.

=

This time, Li Jin strolled through two or three shops on the main street, comparing the prices of paper and pens.

He was used to writing medical records on a computer, only using a fountain pen when signing. Suddenly transported back in time, everything was back to before the Liberation.

In the end, Li Jin chose the cheapest rabbit-hair brush pen. As for the previous owner’s paper and pens, it seemed they had all been sold to buy liquor.

Once the craving for alcohol kicks in, nothing can be controlled. Li Jin had seen people like this in a previous life, but he never expected the original owner to be one of them.

As for the paper for copying books and practicing calligraphy, Li Jin planned to buy different kinds.

Copying books is to ensure the ink spreads evenly, making it easier to memorize later; but for practicing calligraphy, it consumes more paper, so Li Jin planned to buy the cheapest rough paper.

“Young man, Xuan paper is one tael of silver per bundle, not really worth it. How about buying four-cut bamboo leaf paper instead? Only two hundred wen per bundle, and rough-edged paper is forty wen per bundle.

If you buy one bundle of each, I’ll throw in two rabbit hair brushes and a block of ink, how about that?”

The shopkeeper noticed that Li Jin was young. Although he wore a scholar’s robe, it had been washed many times and the color had faded.

He could tell at a glance that he wasn’t from a wealthy family.

So he was a bit accommodating as well. Children from humble families sometimes turn out to be successful; if this young man were to rise rapidly and pass the imperial exam one day, his shop would certainly not worry about having no business!

Anyway, selling it like this wouldn’t make him lose out, it just wouldn’t earn much.

The main raw material of bamboo leaf paper is bamboo. The surface of the paper is smooth, not as convenient for ink absorption as xuan paper, and after copying a book, it needs to be dried for a period of time.

But it is much more affordable than xuan paper.

Li Jin felt that the shopowner was really nice and bought both the bamboo leaf paper and the rough-edged paper, putting them into his basket.

As for the brush and ink, he wrapped them up and put them in his sleeve.
The shop owner, seeing that Li Jin was still looking around after buying them, tried to promote more items: “I also have some copybooks here, both Yan style and Liu style. Young man, do you need them?”

Li Jin ended up buying both copybooks.
Although he had learned the Liu style in his previous life, this life he was living in ancient times, and he didn’t want to learn just one style.

Liu style and Yan style had now become the main styles for writing essays in the imperial examinations.

But precisely because it is mainstream, it has become a handwriting style that every examinee will write.

If you want your answer sheet to stand out from the crowd, you naturally cannot just copy and imitate.

Li Jin thought that perhaps, after practicing calligraphy for more than a decade, he could combine the strengths of many people to create a handwriting style with his own unique character.

For example, the ‘Guan Ge’²[Guan Ge style (馆阁体, Guángé tǐ, meaning “office/pavilion style”) is a standardized form of regular script (kaishu) used for official documents and imperial examinations during the Ming and Qing dynasties in China] style that was popular during the Ming and Qing dynasties.

It is already mid-June, and the exam is in February next year, so Li Jin can only start from copying for now.

He only hoped that before the exam, the Liu-style calligraphy he wrote himself could be both fast and neat.
Documents presented to examiners and superiors must be neat and clean above all.

If one seeks to show off skill instead, it would be putting the cart before the horse.

This is the imperial examination, not a calligraphy contest.

Li Jin admitted to himself that he was not a genius capable of founding a major calligraphy school, but practicing calligraphy could truly cultivate one’s temperament.

He planned that in the future, whenever he had spare time, he would devote himself to proper calligraphy practice.
When talent is insufficient, diligence must make up for it.

In this way, Li Jin spent a total of sixty-five wen.

But what he wanted to buy wasn’t just these; Li Jin thought that eggs and vegetables could be bought from the villagers.

The young boy’s body has recently been in the recovery phase, and his diet doesn’t need to be so bland. He planned to buy more pork belly to make braised pork.

Moreover, the young boy seemed to like the meat buns at the street corner very much, so Li Jin bought two more to take back.

—When the young boy was nibbling on the meat buns, his eyes were sparkling and his face was full of satisfaction.

The shop owner’s wife looked at his straight, upright back and felt both familiar and strange.

I mean, this robe definitely looks kind of familiar, but why can’t I remember who he is?

Suddenly, the shop owner’s daughter remembered.

“Mom, that’s the guy who really likes drinking at the little tavern! But it seems like he hasn’t come by for quite a while.”

The town was crowded, and people weren’t that close, so no one really knew much about anyone else.

Therefore, no one knew about Li Jin’s little scandal. At most, people would just notice it occasionally when they happened to see them doing business.

With such a reminder, the shop owner’s wife recalled it herself. She said, “The two of them do look quite alike, but it always feels like a different person…”​

• 1
  The phrase “hang their heads from the beam and prick their thighs” is a direct translation of the famous Chinese idiom “Tóu Xuán Liáng, Zhuī Cì Gǔ” (头悬梁, 锥刺股), which serves as a powerful metaphor for studying with extreme diligence and determination.
• 2
  [Guan Ge style (馆阁体, Guángé tǐ, meaning “office/pavilion style”) is a standardized form of regular script (kaishu) used for official documents and imperial examinations during the Ming and Qing dynasties in China]