Chapter 178.2
Xiao Liulang had always been a maverick in Shuaixing Hall. He always had a cold face as though he didn’t allow others to approach him. Clearly, he was just a poor scholar from a small county, but he always took the first place in every exam.
He also had problems with his leg.
Had it been in the former dynasty, he wouldn’t be able to take part in the imperial exam at all.
Director Zheng had once targeted him.
They thought he would be forced to drop out of the academy, but he didn"t quit. Instead, it was the official career of Director Zheng that took a hit.
They didn’t know if they should say Director Zheng was out of luck or that this guy had a tenacious life.
Director Zheng’s matter had only been discussed by the Imperial Academy students for a short while. After all, what was more important to them was their studies and the next month"s metropolitan exam.
The crowd soon entered the studying mode.
Among the six halls of the Imperial Academy, Guangye Hall, Chongzhi Hall and Zhengyi Hall of the first grade had the loudest studying voices, followed by Xiudao Hall and Chengxin Hall of the second grade. On the contrary, in the third grade Shuaixing Hall, one could almost not hear any sound.
Shuaixing Hall was very quiet, and there was also the stifling atmosphere of preparing for the imperial exam.
It wasn’t just the recent Jurens who would partic.i.p.ate in this year"s metropolitan exam; the old Jurens who had failed in the previous and even previous years would also return to the examination hall this year.
So the compet.i.tion was really huge.
At the end of the morning cla.s.ses, the gloomy Imperial Academy students went to the cafeteria one by one.
Xiao Liulang went to the private elementary school to pick up Little Jing Kong for lunch. He waited outside the private elementary school for a long time before finally seeing Little Jing Kong.
"Did the teacher put you in detention today?" He asked.
"No, I just had something to do." Little Jing Kong raised his chin and replied.
Xiao Liulang: What other things did you have to do? You really treat yourself like an adult.
Xiao Liulang was amused and vexed at the same time as he went back to Bishui Alley with him.
Their house was really close to the Imperial Academy, so much so that Xiao Liulang seriously suspected that the little guy"s master bought this house for the convenience of his going to the Imperial Academy.
Lunch was made by Old Chief, which was delicious as usual.
Gu Yan and Gu Xiaoshun, who didn’t have to strictly avoid any food, ate in the cafeteria of their academy instead.
After lunch, the elderly woman went back to sleep in her room, and Little Jing Kong went to wash his own small dishes.
Only the pair of master and disciple was left at the table.
"Why did you do that?" Xiao Liulang looked at Old Chief and asked.
Old Chief wasn’t stupid, how could he not understand what his disciple was asking about? He didn"t want Xiao Liulang to have any psychological burden, so he said, "To earn money and support the family."
Xiao Liulang：“…”
They had a deep-rooted tacit understanding between them, so there was really no need to explain things clearly.
Xiao Liulang used to only have darkness in front of him, unable to see his way out. But Gu Jiao and Old Chief, in their own ways, were both illuminating his way out of the darkness.
Little Jing Kong always took a nap every day after lunch, but today he didn’t.
Xiao Liulang came out of the main hall and saw him sneaking around in the backyard.
"What are you doing?" Xiao Liulang asked.
"Nothing!" Little Jing Kong casually answered.
He didn’t take a nap, and didn’t behave like a noisy trumpet either. His behavior was very suspicious.
As the saying went, an extremely quiet child must be up to mischief.
Sure enough, Xiao Liulang was still in his first cla.s.s in the afternoon when he was invited over by Little Jing Kong"s teacher.
The incident all began because Little Jing Kong was mocked by his little cla.s.smates in the morning due to his small stature. Among them, Qin Chuyu ridiculed him the most.
Little Jing Kong couldn’t just let it go, so he called Qin Chuyu alone after the morning cla.s.s, saying that he wanted to compete with him with size.
Qin Chuyu almost died laughing, "Haha, what could you possibly compete with me with size?"
Little Jing Kong thought for a moment, "Do you have a bird?"
Qin Chuyu choked on the spot.
He blushed and became angry from embarra.s.sment, "How do you talk? Of course I have! Don’t you?"
"I do, too!" Little Jing Kong opened his eyes wide and said, "Then let’s compare our birds! Let’s see whose bird is bigger! I"ll see you again after lunch! Let"s go to a deserted place!" [T/N: Lmao! I can’t! ]
Qin Chuyu looked at Little Jing Kong with doubts.
Little Jing Kong returned to the Imperial Academy after lunch, and really came to find Qin Chuyu again.
Qin Chuyu felt embarra.s.sed as he asked, "Do, do you… Do you really want to compare?"
He was a prince and must observe proper rules and etiquette. This was simply too much.
Besides, how could a small dumpling of three or four years old have a bigger thing than him?
Qin Chuyu wondered doubtingly as he walked: could his thing really be bigger than mine?
"Alright, let’s do it here!" Little Jing Kong stopped under a big tree.
This place was the small meadow of the private elementary school. Usually, no one came here.
Little Jing Kong went around behind the big tree and said to Qin Chuyu, "Come on! Have you brought yours with you?"
Qin Chuyu: What is he saying? Does he still need to ask that?
Qin Chuyu, with a black face, also went around behind the big tree.
After thinking about it, he still felt something was wrong, "Are you really serious?"
Little Jing Kong looked at him and asked, "Are you scared?"
Qin Chuyu couldn"t stand being challenged like this. He stamped his foot and responded, "Are you kidding? How could I be scared? Let’s compare then! Come on! I"ll count one to three, and we’ll show it at the same time!"
Little Jing Kong said generously, "Okay, you can start counting."
Qin Chuyu gritted his teeth, "One, two, three!"
He loosened his waistband and took off his trousers!
Little Jing Kong took out the baby falcon, the biggest bird in the family, out of his bulging book bag.
Little Jing Kong：“…”
Baby Falcon: "..."
Qin Chuyu：“…”
Hearing this story, Xiao Liulang broke out in a cold sweat, "And then?"
Teacher Sun, who had just officially taken office, had a bigger headache than Xiao Liulang because of this matter. He was terrified as he continued, "Then the falcon pounced on Chu Yu——"
Xiao Liulang’s body shook all over, "It couldn’t have… pounce on it—"
Teacher Sun hurriedly waved his hand, "No, no, no! It didn’t! Jing Kong managed to grab it back!"
However, Qin Chuyu really thought he was going to be finished, so he fell to the ground and peed his pants on the spot.
For a prince of a country to pee his pants in the Imperial Academy, it was indeed a humiliating matter.
But it was Little Jing Kong"s fault in the end, as bringing such a terrifying raptor to school could really easily lead to accidents.
Xiao Liulang: I thought he won’t get into trouble again now that he is a year older, but I was naive!
Qin Chuyu"s parents hadn’t come yet.
Xiao Liulang and Little Jing Kong were waiting in a separate cla.s.sroom.
Little Jing Kong drooped his head and his whole person wilted, "Don"t tell JiaoJiao." He looked at the baby falcon in his arms and added, "Don"t take Little Nine away either."
Xiao Liulang looked at him seriously, "Some nice thoughts you have!"
Little Jing Kong thought for a moment and looked at him with his head tilted sideways, "I can give you a month"s rent exemption?"
Xiao Liulang：“…”