Chapter 455 - 174: Prefectural Academy (5)
Chapter 455: Chapter 174: Prefectural Academy (5)
As students, they held a deep-seated reverence for Mr. Yin, who had achieved the rank of third-place scholar.
Therefore, unlike the other instructors, they didn’t dare to stand openly in the doorway. But that hardly stopped them from standing two steps away, craning their necks to peek inside.
Mr. Yin was starting to regret taking on this whole affair.
Honestly.
’Every last one of them thinks I’m some great villain,’ he thought. ’It’s not like I have a mouth full of fangs. Am I going to eat these two students or something?’
’At most, I just wanted to teach them a little lesson. Make them learn the meaning of ’respect your teachers’ and ’a teacher’s orders are absolute.’’
It was hard to say if Chen De’an and Zhao Jing had learned their lesson, but he was the one who had been gawked at like a monkey all morning. If it weren’t for the great mountain that was Mr. Min looming over him, he would have thrown in the towel and left.
Mr. Yin taught the classics to students of Xiaocheng Hall and Youzao Hall. The students of Xiaocheng and Youzao Halls were perfectly capable of achieving success in the autumn civil service examinations. He was used to writing exams for them, so being asked to downgrade and create questions for new students... ’Why should I reduce the difficulty?’ he mused. ’The fact that I didn’t make it even *harder* than the usual exams for Xiaocheng Hall students is a sign of my mercy.’
Zhao Jing answered the exam—one designed for students of Xiaocheng and Youzao Halls—with the grace of flowing water, not stumbling for a moment.
De’an, on the other hand, looked like he was nursing a bitter grudge, his brow so deeply furrowed it could have crushed a mosquito.
After finally finishing one question, he looked at the next, but couldn’t make heads or tails of it. Meanwhile, the sand in the hourglass was about to run out.
’The heavens are out to get me!’
’That fiend, Yin Xichen!’
De’an ground his teeth, his glare so hostile he looked like he wanted to devour Yin Xichen alive.
Yin Xichen noticed and couldn’t help but chuckle inwardly. ’Now *this* is the effect I was going for.’
He glanced over at Zhao Jing, seeing only the young man’s handsome profile and sharply defined jawline.
His posture was perfectly straight, and his brush moved as if guided by a divine hand. As the noon sun fell upon him, he seemed to glow.
’He’s even a bit better-looking than me,’ Yin Xichen thought, ’but he’s just a stuffy bookworm who can’t take a joke.’
’How boring.’
As the exam entered its second half, De’an grew more and more agitated, large beads of sweat popping out on his forehead.
He kept telling himself, ’Don’t panic, don’t panic. The more you rush, the more mistakes you’ll make.’
’Everyone can see how difficult this is. They won’t actually expel me just because my results aren’t what they’d hoped for.’
’Think about the test-taking techniques and formulas Jing gave me. Doesn’t matter if they work or not, just write something down for now... ’
Finally, the bell rang. The noon session was over, and so was the exam.
Yin Xichen rubbed his drowsy eyes, rose languidly to his feet, and gave a huge stretch. "What are you still writing? Hand them in, it’s time to hand them in."
He was already regretting having to proctor.
Proctoring was the absolute worst.
In the one and a half hours he’d been proctoring, he had reviewed the first half of his life, pondered how to spend the second half, and even slept for half an hour... He was definitely never proctoring again. He didn’t even know if this was a punishment for Zhao Jing and Chen De’an, or a punishment for him in disguise.
After collecting the exam papers, Mr. Yin casually rolled them up, tucked them in his hand, and turned to walk out.
De’an saw this and his eyes widened. "The ink isn’t even dry! Be careful with those!" he exclaimed. "What kind of instructor is he? It’s infuriating! I pray I never have to take his class as long as I live. We’re bound to clash!"
Yin Xichen heard De’an’s grumbling and let out a massive yawn.
’Youngsters really are full of energy,’ he thought. ’Look at him. After taking an exam all morning, he’s still got the strength to shout and yell, full of vigor. Not like me. I’m so tired every bone in my body aches. All I want right now is to find a place to lie down and get some proper sleep.’
But sleep was not an option. The moment he stepped into the Professor Bureau, he was surrounded by a crowd of instructors and tutors.
"So the exam’s over? Where are the papers? Let me have a look."
"Let me see, too. That Zhao Jing is a Lesser Triple Crown Scholar. The essays of his that made it into the selected collections were quite good. I’d like to see if he’s made any progress in the last few months."
Even Mr. Sun squeezed his way in, saying eagerly, "Mr. Yin, you must be wanting lunch. Please, go ahead. I can grade these two students’ exams, so you don’t have to trouble yourself."
Yin Xichen hadn’t planned on grading the exams right away. It wasn’t urgent. He was definitely going to shake off his drowsiness and fill his belly before finding the time to look at the answer sheets.
But with so many people scrambling for them, the exams suddenly seemed to be in high demand.
Yin Xichen’s earlier lethargy vanished, and he was instantly energized.
"Forget lunch! I am the proctoring instructor. How could I possibly eat before grading my students’ exams? Since I’ve chosen this profession, I must be dedicated to it. I must be responsible for my students."
The Professor Bureau filled with sounds of ridicule. "You, Mr. Yin, responsible for your students? That’s the best joke I’ve heard all year."
"I’m laughing my head off."
"My, my. Quick, someone check if the sun rose from the west today."