Chapter 449 - 172: Prefectural School (Part 3)
Chapter 449: Chapter 172: Prefectural School (Part 3)
"So that old man is really that impressive? I heard that before his demotion, he was a Vice Minister in the Ministry of Rites. Even the Lord Prefect had to bow and greet him. If his career path had been smooth, one more step up and he might have joined the Grand Secretariat... What a shame, what a shame!"
"Enough nonsense. Come help make the beds. Jing! Hey, Jing! Are you still with us? If you are, give us a squeak."
Zhao Jing looked over calmly. "Mice squeak. I’m a human."
"Hahaha..."
De’an doubled over with laughter. He said to Wang Jun, "Why are you calling for Jing? Your mind is still back home. If you need something, come to me. Asking him for help is just asking for a snub, isn’t it?"
Wang Jun scoffed. "We’ve only been apart a few days, and Jing has already learned how to crack a joke. Truly remarkable."
The dorm room was very simple, consisting of just two wooden plank beds.
Between the beds was a small table holding a candlestick. At the foot of the beds stood a washstand, though the wooden basin was missing—students had to buy their own. By the window, there was a very large desk with two stools underneath, which was where the students did their daily reading and homework.
"Just throw the bedding on for now. Let’s go get our academy uniforms first so we’ll have them for our afternoon classes."
Wasting no time, the three of them headed to the warehouse to pick up their academy uniforms.
Along the way, students could be seen everywhere, holding books and reading in the sunlight.
Some were lost in their books, while others sat in pavilions with a few friends, engaged in lofty debate. Near a bed of flowers, a couple of students were playing a leisurely game of chess, accompanied by a friend strumming a qin.
An old tabby cat lay lazily on a patch of dry grass. Sensing approaching footsteps, it merely lifted its head for a curious glance before resting it back on its body with a languid "MEOW."
"That cat’s a real old-timer. It has more seniority than anyone at the academy. Instructors and students have come and gone, one group after another, but even the person who’s been here the longest will look at that tabby and say, ’It was already here before I arrived.’"
"Ah, it’s that old? Is it going to die soon, then?"
Wang Jun shot De’an a sidelong glance. "Why can’t your mouth ever spit out any ivory?"
"Because I’m not a dog."
"And yet you sound just like one right now."
The two started roughhousing again, which made Zhao Jing frown.
Luckily, he had already spotted the warehouse. He decided not to wait for them and simply strode over.
By the time Wang Jun and De’an had settled their score and looked up, Zhao Jing was no longer beside them.
Looking into the distance, they just managed to catch a glimpse of his back as he was about to disappear through a carved gate.
Wang Jun couldn’t help but smile.
"That temperament of Jing’s..."
De’an slung an arm around his shoulders. "He’s usually pretty good-natured. It’s just... suddenly leaving home... you know?"
"I get it, I totally get it!"
Trading playful punches and kicks, the two followed him at an unhurried pace.
They assumed that by the time they got there, Jing would have already collected his identification tag and uniform. They didn’t expect the scene in the warehouse to be anything like what they had imagined.
The person in charge of the warehouse was an elderly scholar who had long given up hope of passing the imperial examinations.
Since he was a poor speaker, he couldn’t make a living running a private school. So, he pulled some strings to get a job managing the academy’s warehouse.
Life in the warehouse was quiet and comfortable.
It only got a little busy for a few days each year when new students enrolled. The rest of the time, not even a dog would show up.
...Still no dogs today, but three separate parties had shown up one after another.
The first was a renowned figure at the academy: Instructor Yin Xichen.
Yin Xichen had come to collect an instructor’s uniform.
Of his two uniforms, one had gotten dog droppings on it, and the other had been hidden away by one of the girls from the Red House.
The academy, however, had a rule that instructors must wear their uniforms while teaching. Not doing so was a violation and would earn them a reprimand from Mr. Min.
Instructors were only issued two uniforms per season.
The autumn sets had already been distributed, and the winter ones weren’t ready yet. But Mr. Yin was insisting the old scholar somehow conjure a new uniform for him. ’If I had the power to create something out of thin air,’ the old scholar thought, ’wouldn’t it be much better to conjure up a chest full of gold?’
The scholar pleaded patiently with Yin Xichen, "There really are none left. The instructors’ uniforms are all custom-tailored to your individual measurements. As soon as they’re made, they’re distributed. The warehouse truly has no spares. You could beat my brains out, and I’d still give you the same answer."
Anyone else would have left after hearing that, but Yin Xichen was not just anyone.
’For him to cause such an unreasonable scene, it could only be one of two things: either he was bored and messing with me to kill time, or I’d somehow offended this grand master, and he was now deliberately trying to make my life miserable.’
’After thinking it through, it had to be the former, which only made the old scholar feel more miserable.’