Sha Sanlang, do you know you've just used the term 'innocent bystander' a thousand years too early?
Li Ang listened to Sha Sanlang's enthusiastic promotion with an embarrassed expression, feeling just like when you meet the only reader who comes to support you at a book signing.
It was so awkward it was like he could scratch out a two-bedroom apartment with his toes.
Fortunately, Sha Sanlang didn't stay for too long. As the dazzling fireworks burst in the southern sky, the dragon boat teams on both banks, along with the crowd, quickened their pace.
"The dragon boat race is about to start,"
Sha Sanlang apologized, cupping his hands, "Mr. Li, I'm afraid I can't accompany you any longer. Once we win the championship, we will bring the prize to Security Hall to express our thanks."
"No need, no need, hurry along now, don't be late."
Li Ang waved Sha Sanlang off, then turned to pick out a couple of hairpins from a jewelry stall. He said goodbye to the mother and daughter whose names he didn't know and walked with Chai Chai towards the dragon boat racing site to the south.
At the sound of a whistle, a hundred boats raced across the water amid the rousing cheers of the Yizhou common people. The championship went to the Shipbuilding Guild, while Sha Sanlang and his buddies regretfully came in third.
The folks from the Shipbuilding Guild were overjoyed, handing out zongzi, cured meat, and candy along the street. Li Ang also got a pack of caramel, basking in the festive spirit.
By the time the fireworks celebrating the championship ended, Li Ang's first festival in Yu Country since his awakening had drawn to a close.
————
"...remember not to let the plaster get wet after you go back."
Ten days later in Security Hall, Li Ang casually reminded a patient with a fracture, watching their figure disappear through the shop entrance.
During this time, the number of patients coming to him had increased somewhat.
It was probably because the incident with Gan Er's family had spread. Subsequent patients all requested Li Ang to use the best plaster bandages for them, regardless of their type of injury or the additional material costs.
There were even peddlers who came specifically to Security Hall to inquire if there was a need to regularly supply processed plaster powder.
Chai Cuiqiao, wiping the table with a rag, complained, "Why do all these people think of using the best medicine? They don't mind the high price."
"Safety first. After all, in this environment, a minor ailment can turn into a serious illness at any time. If they can afford it, it's better to use the best medicine right from the start."
Li Ang took a sip of tea and, looking at the sky, turned to ask, "By the way, what's the date today?"
"It's the sixteenth."
"Then the State School's spring break should be over."
Li Ang mumbled to himself as he set down his teacup and stood up, "I'll head to the State School in a while and cancel my application for the provincial exam."
"The recommendation letter from the Academic Palace?"
Chai Cuiqiao nodded her head. "What about the store?"
"As before, put out a sign outside telling them I'll be back in the evening."
Li Ang went back to the rear room to grab his money bag and left the house. He indulged slightly by renting a horse carriage to head to Yizhou State School.
The spring break at Yizhou State School was from mid-April to mid-May. This was a busy period for agriculture, allowing students from poorer families to go home and help with farm work during the holiday.
Now that the break was over, the entrance of the State School was once again bustling as before.
Li Ang hopped off the carriage, took out two ten-coin pieces from his money bag to give to the driver, and then walked towards the entrance of the State School.
Without the dread of holiday homework, classmates who hadn't seen each other for over a month stood in the courtyard chatting freely. Naturally, the topic was the upcoming provincial exam of the State School in half a month.
"I heard that this time for the provincial exam, the examiner coming to Yizhou will be Great Scholar Wei Yuanlong from Xuanzhou. He greatly admires the 'Yuefu' of the Han and Wei Dynasties and likes the poetry of Bai Le Tian and Yuan Weizhi. It seems that Brother Ying Bo is virtually guaranteed success this time."
"Alas, 'virtually guaranteed'? You know as well as I do, Zhengping, that although my poetry and essays are decent, I freeze up when faced with strategy questions. For this provincial exam, we still have to look to Brother Shao Yuan and Brother Yi Ming."
"Right, Brother Yi Ming, you went to Chang'an last year, could you tell us about it? What's the Academic Palace really like?"
Li Ang, who was not very familiar with the group of classmates chatting, didn't join in the excitement, but when they brought up the Academic Palace, he stopped in his tracks and listened silently.
"The Academic Palace, well..."
Zhai Yiming, another prominent figure from Yizhou State School and a young scholar who had gone to Chang'an last year and passed the first round of the initial exams of the Academic Palace, pondered for a moment and hesitantly said, "Compared to Yizhou, it's vastly different.
"The people there, the words they speak, the things they do, the thoughts they have, their conversation, their demeanour, their realm, everything is completely unlike that of a student from a poor family.
"Once you enter there, even just for a visit, you wouldn't want to leave."
"Is that so..."
Longing appeared on the faces of the surrounding classmates, while Zhai Yiming added, "However, getting into the Academic Palace is as hard as scaling the heavens.
"Among the four hundred million people in Yu Country, across six hundred State Mansions, each State Mansion selects only ten people from the annual provincial exam.
"Once you pass that and report to Chang'an, you still need to go through an initial exam and two rounds of retests.
"If you're eliminated in any round, all your previous efforts are wasted. You can only try again next year.
"And once you're over the age of eighteen, there's no more hope of entering the Academic Palace in this lifetime.
"If it weren't this difficult, there wouldn't be a saying in Chang'an that 'the Imperial College is full of Academic Palace rejects,' and the Disciples of the Imperial College wouldn't regard the Academic Palace with such private animosity."
"The Imperial College..."
A silence fell among the classmates again. Those who managed to enroll in the Imperial College were the absolute elite who had passed countless exams and were well-versed in poetry and literature. Among them were sons of high officials and nobles, as well as the most outstanding foreign students.
For these students from Yizhou, even getting into the Imperial College was extremely tough, let alone the even more challenging Academic Palace...
"Background, ah, background."
Someone shook their head and sighed, "The students in Chang'an City of our age were born there, growing up with access to the Academic Palace's materials and thoughts, having seen or even known the professors and instructors of the Academic Palace.
"For them, the difficulty of getting admitted is lower than for us by an amount we can hardly imagine."
These words didn't evoke much reaction, as the students had voiced the same complaints countless times in private gatherings.
Having listened for a while, Li Ang felt it was about time to leave and was about to slip away quietly.
But just as he turned around, he heard Song Shaoyuan's exuberant voice from a corner of the courtyard, "Risheng? You're here too?"
"Brother Song."
Li Ang turned back with a wry smile and clasped his hands towards Song Shaoyuan and his companions.
"Come over and sit down. The professors from the State School won't be here for a while."
Song Shaoyuan warmly invited Li Ang to sit down. "How's your preparation for the provincial exam in half a month? You've been busy lately. If you haven't had a chance to look at the preparatory exam questions, take a look at this book first.
"My classmates and I compiled this booklet. We stayed up all night working on it, tailoring it to his preferences, after we learned that this year's examiner would be the Great Scholar Wei Yuanlong from Xuanzhou.
"Inside are predicted questions on poetry, strategies, and Scriptures..."
Song Shaoyuan had always treated Li Ang like a cousin and didn't mind the slightly resentful looks from the other classmates—after all, they had stayed up together to compile that book of predicted exam questions, and giving it away to Li Ang, an outsider, felt somewhat uncomfortable to them.
"This..."
Li Ang awkwardly scratched his palm and said hesitantly, "Brother Song, I've decided not to take the provincial exam this year."