TTLJDFL chapter 31

With Qin Muwen’s upbringing, there had never been any precedent for sneaking food.

But this time he really couldn’t help himself. Thinking about Li Jin’s comment after wrapping the bun, he just couldn’t resist wanting to try it.

Li Jin said, “This definitely isn’t a good bun.”

But Qin Muwen found it sweet and delicious.

It tasted better than any bun he had ever eaten, even better than the meat buns from the shop at the town entrance.

Li Jin arrived at the study early, and surprisingly, the teacher came a little while later too.

The look in his eyes toward Li Jin carried an appreciation he had never shown before: “Li Jin, I heard that a few days ago you saved someone.”

Li Jin said, “It was just a matter of chance.”

Mr. Song’s impression of him improved even more—someone who performed such a great deed and yet remained humble and calm really had excellent character.

“That Song Dali is from my family, and the child you saved is like a grandson to me. I should be the one thanking you.”

Li Jin did not dare to be complacent: “This is all what a student should do. No matter who that person is, they are two human lives, and a student should do their utmost to save them.”

Of course, Mr. Song knew this. After Song Dali learned Li Jin’s name and address, he also heard from Doctor Wu that Li Jin was studying in town.

Song Dali immediately thought of this member of their family, Scholar Song Yuan.

Anyway, the town is just that small. Strangers who seem completely unrelated might actually have some kind of connection.

He came to ask, and sure enough, Li Jin was Mr. Song’s student.

Song Dali then recounted Li Jin’s experiences of saving people, leaving quietly, and his several attempts to find someone.

“As expected, only a teacher like you could cultivate a student so indifferent to fame and gain!”

Mr. Song, shocked, confirmed once again with Song Dali before he could believe that the person was really Li Jin.

Mr. Song said, “With your character, I will continue to teach you to the best of my ability for the rest of my life. I only hope that in the future you will achieve great success and be a blessing to your community.”

Li Jin thought that Mr. Song’s expectations for him were a bit too high. He didn’t have such grand ambitions; he just wanted to raise his two children well. But that sounded rather unambitious.

Mr. Song said, “In the future, you can take all the books from here to copy. I trust your character. If there is anything you don’t understand, don’t hesitate or worry about anything else, just come and ask me.”

Li Jin hurriedly thanked him. After Mr. Song left, Li Jin took out paper and pen, but he couldn’t bring himself to write for a long time.

It turned out that in ancient times, a person’s reputation was the most important thing. If your reputation was bad, people in the village would look down on you; but once your reputation was good, even the scholars would think of ways to give you special attention so you could study well.

Li Jin suddenly realized that it seemed like during the Tongsheng Exam, if the examiner thought that a few candidates had the same score on their papers, they could all be listed as top of the list. In that case, they would definitely choose the one with the best reputation and the most fame.

Of course, there are exceptions. For example, Li Jin had once seen a child prodigy of about eleven or twelve take the Tongsheng Exam—he could have ranked first, but the examiner wanted him to hold back and not be too eager for quick success, so he was ranked second instead.

However, it also depends on the chief examiner. If an examiner values a person’s knowledge and hopes that the person can win the first place in all three exams, they will also mention the ranking.

The Tongsheng Examination is divided into three stages: the county exam, the prefectural academy exam, and the prefectural exam. The top scorer in each stage is called ‘Anshou.¹[“案首” (Ànshǒu) = “top of the list” — the title given to whoever placed first in a round of the imperial exams]‘

If a person wins the top score in all three stages, it is called ‘Xiao Sanyuan.²[小三元 (Xiǎo Sānyuán) = “Junior/Lesser Triple First.” It refers to someone who takes first place (案首) in all three of the lower-level imperial exams — the county exam (县试), prefectural exam (府试), and academy exam (院试).]‘

Just as Li Jin was thinking, he suddenly heard the sound of Chen Xiran talking to Mr. Song’s child outside.

Li Jin thought blankly that when Chen Xiran arrived later, he would definitely start telling the story of that ‘miracle doctor from a farming family,’ and if he kept listening, his ears would just go numb.

So he decided to start taking a test silently, thinking Chen Xiran probably wouldn’t bother him.

But Li Jin was completely wrong—when Chen Xiran got excited, he didn’t care about anything else and would insist on telling the whole story before letting go.

Still, having a friend like Chen Xiran made life far from boring.

After Mr. Song finished teaching the senior class, he came over to question the two of them.

He let Chen Xiran leave first, and then he went over a study plan with Li Jin.

“I originally thought you would only be able to memorize all the material for the Tongsheng examination by September, but it seems that by late July you can finish copying the books.”

Pausing for a moment, Mr. Song continued, “In August, I will teach you how to analyze the classics written by previous examiners.”

Li Jin immediately became serious. The test papers for the Tongsheng exams were graded by the chief examiner, so in order to get noticed, the candidates had to figure out what the examiner preferred.

However, the chief examiner changed every exam, so what Mr. Song referred to were the papers written by the previous few examiners.

But even so, this was already much better than going into the exam completely blind.

Li Jin bowed deeply, knowing that Mr. Song was bringing out his most treasured knowledge.

Mr. Song said, “You performed well recently, but you still need to continue working hard in July. Next year, I hope to see both you and Chen Xiran succeed in the top rankings.”

=

After Li Jin left Mr. Song’s house, he saw Chen Xiran waiting for him in a nearby alley.

Chen Xiran didn’t care about what Mr. Song had said to Li Jin privately; he wasn’t a petty person.

He just admired Li Jin for saving someone, which is why he wanted to talk to him a little more.

“Brother Li Jin, are you going straight home again?”

Li Jin looked up at the sun and said, “Today I plan to buy some tiles and also order some baked mud bricks.”

Chen Xiran’s eyes lit up: “I’ll go with you.”

Li Jin said, “Aren’t you going home to eat?”

Chen Xiran replied, “No big deal, I can just grab a few buns or a sesame flatbread on the street.”

Li Jin didn’t plan to stop him either. This guy had been wanting to have a meal with him before, but there just never seemed to be a chance.

Li Jin thought, in ancient times, classmates were close because they studied hard together. Everyone was each other’s emotional support. But with him and Chen Xiran, aside from class time, they rarely interacted.

They hadn’t even eaten a meal together.

Li Jin said, “Then let’s go together, there’s also an older guy from our village.”

Chen Xiran rubbed his hands in excitement, clearly looking forward to it. This made Li Jin feel like his IQ had taken a hit.

Li Jin and Chen Xiran each bought two sesame flatbreads and walked while munching on them. Just as they were about to leave, they noticed that there were still people talking near Li Zhuzi.

Li Jin thought one of them looked somewhat familiar — it seemed to be the ger who had come to their house that day when the young man gave birth.

That ger was talking with Li Zhuzi and someone dressed like a maid working nearby. Li Jin had no intention of eavesdropping on their conversation.

So he planned to finish eating the flatbread where he was before going over; Li Zhuzi should have finished his business by then.

But that maid saw Li Jin… and Chen Xiran beside him.

She directly bowed to Chen Xiran, “Young Master, if you need to buy anything, just let me know.”

Seeing that both Li Jin and Chen Xiran were noticed, they simply walked over in a few steps.

Chen Xiran said, “This is my school friend, surname Li. I came here with him to take care of some business.”

The maid bowed again to Li Jin and said, “Hello, Young Master Li.”

Li Jin observed the way she referred to herself and noticed that she didn’t use the very common ancient terms like ‘slave’ or ‘old servant.’ It seemed this was probably related to family status.

Even if someone in town bought servants, they wouldn’t make the difference in status so obvious.

At most, they would refer to the master as ‘young master’ or ‘master.’

Li Jin nodded in acknowledgment to her.

The three of them here seemed to be counting money. With Chen Xiran and Li Jin present, the three quickly finished counting. When that ger left, he didn’t dare to look at Li Jin; his back looked as if he was fleeing in panic.

Li Jin thought that this person had helped when the young man was in labour, but he wasn’t present when the young man was bullied later. Naturally, Li Jin wouldn’t do anything to him.

Moreover, even if he had bullied the young man last time, Li Jin wouldn’t do anything to him in public.

After finishing the deal on Li Zhuzi’s side, he hurriedly drove the wobbling ox cart towards the direction of the tile kiln.

He had been walking for a while when he realized that the young master was actually following behind him.

Li Zhuzi also felt somewhat flustered.

After all, he was just a small figure from the village, and suddenly seeing someone influential in town, it was impossible not to be nervous.

Fortunately, Chen Xiran was not pretentious; after introducing himself and saying a few more words, he naturally climbed onto the ox cart and started chatting with Li Zhuzi.

For example, talking about this year’s harvest, or how many trips this ox cart can make in a day. These were all topics that Li Zhuzi was skilled at.

Li Jin was already somewhat impressed with Chen Xiran. He asked himself that if he were born in higher social status and hadn’t experienced this time travel, he probably wouldn’t have been able to take this step.

Time travel, the memory of 29 years in the modern world, and the self-discipline from years of academic study—these were Li Jin’s greatest advantages.

The tile kiln was not far on the other side of the town, and when the three of them arrived, the workers were taking a nap.

Li Jin asked him about the types and prices of tiles.

Seeing a potential sale, the shop assistant perked up: “Pardon me, everyone, in this hot summer, people’s spirits just aren’t great.

Speaking of tiles, we have clay tiles and terracotta tiles here. Clay tiles aren’t as sturdy as terracotta tiles, but they are cheaper.”

In the end, Li Jin, weighing the money in his pocket, chose the more expensive ones.

After all, he was only buying one basket, so the price wouldn’t be much higher.

He also ordered two carts of bricks, to be picked up at the beginning of next month.

On the way back, Li Jin placed the basket on the ox cart and carefully supported it on his side, after all, this was all money.

Chen Xiran asked, “Brother Li, are you planning to build a house?”

Li Jin didn’t avoid the question: “My house only has two rooms: one for resting, and one is the kitchen. I bought a small desk a few days ago to write, but once it was placed in the room, there was no space to move around, so I plan to build a study.”

Li Zhuzi didn’t say anything; he was surprised that Li Jin spoke so frankly about the financial difficulties at home.

In particular, his classmate looked exactly like a young master from a wealthy family. That maid just now was so high-profile; even the villagers had to bow when speaking to her. Yet such a maid addressed Li Jin as ‘Young Master Li.’

Li Zhuzi thought that if it were him, he would definitely brag, exaggerating his family background. After all, the town and the village were so far apart that the young master would not be going to the village to experience life.

After all, what if someone like Li Jin spoke so honestly and ended up being disliked by the young master?

Who would have thought that Chen Xiran wouldn’t mind at all, and instead said excitedly, “Brother Li’s family is getting a study? I don’t even have a study, because I hate writing so much. When I moved, one of my conditions was not to have a study!”

See, he’s got the nerve to say it so confidently.

On the way back from the tile kiln to the village, they still had to pass through town. Li Zhuzi let Chen Xiran down, and Chen Xiran lingered by the roadside, reluctantly saying goodbye: “Brother Li, don’t forget to call me when the study is finished!”

Li Jin laughed and said, “Of course I won’t forget you.”

Chen Xiran added, “I also want to see your little ones!”

Li Jin’s first reaction was: We’ve got two little ones at home — which one do you mean?

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• 1
  [“案首” (Ànshǒu) = “top of the list” — the title given to whoever placed first in a round of the imperial exams]
• 2
  [小三元 (Xiǎo Sānyuán) = “Junior/Lesser Triple First.” It refers to someone who takes first place (案首) in all three of the lower-level imperial exams — the county exam (县试), prefectural exam (府试), and academy exam (院试).]