Chapter 38

On the second day, the old teacher held an in-class exam.

The old teacher used the methods of "posting scriptures" and "ink definitions" to test the children's learning of the "Zengguang Xianwen" from the previous day.

For a student like Lin Yanchao, who had been through countless exams, "posting scriptures" meant covering a few characters from a line of text and having the student fill in the missing characters, similar to a fill-in-the-blank question. "Ink definitions" involved explaining the meaning of the scriptures, similar to a short answer question.

"Posting scriptures" only required memorizing the entire text. As for the "ink definitions" of the "Zengguang Xianwen," for Lin Yanchao, it was already very straightforward classical Chinese, much simpler than the Five Classics, which were written before Confucius. The phrases in the book, such as "In poverty, one is ignored even in a bustling market; in wealth, one has distant relatives even in a remote mountain," and "The waves of the Yangtze River push the old waves forward, and the new people in the world replace the old," were already very familiar to Lin Yanchao.

Therefore, the entire exam was no pressure for Lin Yanchao.

However, the situation for his classmates was not so good.

Yesterday, everyone had rushed to collect clams, leaving no time to study. After the old teacher started the exam and walked around a few times, he saw students either scribbling with their pens or scratching their heads, unable to write a single word.

The old teacher's face turned quite red after his rounds. However, the students did not show much tension. Zhang Haoyuan, relying on his status as the son of the chief, hastily finished his exam and submitted it.

The old teacher quickly glanced at the paper and was almost furious, but he could not blame the students because Zhang Haoyuan would not listen to him.

"Lin Yanchao, come up. Have you finished copying the 'Youxue Qionglin'?" The old teacher clearly wanted to vent his anger on Lin Yanchao.

Lin Yanchao brought up a thick stack of paper and threw it on the desk.

The old teacher was surprised to see the stack of papers filled with black ink. As he flipped through them, although the writing was messy, Lin Yanchao had indeed finished copying the first volume of the "Youxue Qionglin."

The old teacher then looked at Lin Yanchao's exam paper. The "posting scriptures" sections were well done, and the "ink definitions" answers were very accurate. Even if he had explained them himself, he could not have done better.

The old teacher thought to himself that Lin Yanchao was truly a talented student. The grand master's choice was not a fluke. His expression softened, and he said, "You have finished writing. Do you know where you went wrong?"

"May I ask, Mr. Teacher, where did I go wrong?" Lin Yanchao replied, looking up.

"Rebellious, rebellious!" The old teacher, feeling his face was lost, said, "You don't know how to repent. It seems that copying the 'Youxue Qionglin' was in vain. I will test you on the 'Zengguang Xianwen.' If you can't recite it, I will make you copy it again!"

The old teacher had deliberately punished Lin Yanchao by making him copy the "Youxue Qionglin." If he didn't finish, he would be punished. Even if he did finish, he wouldn't have time to memorize the "Zengguang Xianwen" and would still be punished. As for the article Lin Yanchao submitted, the old teacher thought that although Lin Yanchao's explanations were good, it was impossible for him to memorize the entire 4,000-character text.

Zhang Haoyuan said, "Mr. Teacher, this is unfair! Lin Yanchao copied books all day yesterday. How could he have time to memorize the 'Zengguang Xianwen'?"

Hou Zhongshu added, "Yes, Mr. Teacher, you are deliberately making things difficult for Lin Yanchao."

At this moment, Lin Yanchao was very popular among the students, and they all stood up for him.

Lin Yanchao said, "Thank you, everyone. But if Mr. Teacher wants to test me, that's fine. Why get angry? I can recite the 'Zengguang Xianwen' backward!"

Seeing Lin Yanchao's arrogant attitude, the old teacher was furious and said, "Then recite it backward! If you can't, I will make you copy it ten times!"

Hearing this, the students laughed, and Zhang Haoyuan and Hou Zhongshu even slammed their desks.

The students looked at the old teacher and shook their heads. The old teacher lacked experience. He didn't know that the county magistrate had also been defeated by Lin Yanchao in the "Thousand Character Classic."

"Recite it backward! I might have boasted a bit," Lin Yanchao said.

Hearing this, the students couldn't stand it. They thought Lin Yanchao was shameless, pretending to be weak to bully the old teacher.

The old teacher, unaware of the trap, said, "Students should be honest. Once you say something, you can't change it. If I make you copy it ten times, you will have to do it. You brought this on yourself, so you have no one to blame!"

Lin Yanchao lowered his head and said regretfully, "Since Mr. Teacher says so, I will give it a try."

"Food is given to the poor, but not to the scholar; water is drunk by the greedy, but not by the official..."

Lin Yanchao recited with a nod and a shake of his head, deliberately pausing a few times as if he couldn't remember. When he saw the old teacher's eyes widen, he continued smoothly. The students, who had seen Lin Yanchao's ability to recite backward, were not surprised, but they still enjoyed checking each word against the book.

"Good, good!"

"Lin Yanchao, you are amazing."

When Lin Yanchao finished reciting the last word, from beginning to end, without a single mistake, the old teacher was speechless and dropped the "Zengguang Xianwen" book on the ground.

Lin Yanchao smiled slightly, as if it were a trivial matter. After his rebirth, his strongest skill was memorization. He could recite any text of a thousand characters or less after reading it two or three times, just like a prodigy.

The old teacher, feeling humiliated, said angrily, "What are you cheering for? Did you do well today? You will all copy the 'Zengguang Xianwen' three times and submit it to me tomorrow!"

The old teacher then stopped the lesson and made the students copy the "Zengguang Xianwen" in class, then left, clearly saying, "I can't argue with you, but I can still punish you!"

"This is unbearable."

"Right, does such a teacher deserve to teach us?"

"I won't copy it. Let's see what Mr. Teacher will do tomorrow."

The students complained.

Zhang Guihe stood up and said, "What are you doing? You don't study well and blame Mr. Teacher. Look at today's lesson. Who else besides me could recite it? You should reflect on yourselves, not blame Mr. Teacher."

"Zhang Guihe, you are just a dog for Mr. Teacher!" a student shouted.

"You!" Zhang Guihe was furious.

"Right, look at today. Mr. Teacher punished us but not him. He is clearly a spy!"

"Spy, get out!"

"Go complain to Mr. Teacher!" Zhang Guihe provoked the students.

"Fine, fine, you wait." Zhang Guihe, fearing the students' anger, quickly left the classroom.

Hou Zhongshu said, "This kid will definitely complain to Mr. Teacher. What if we are punished?"

Zhang Haoyuan said, "Don't be afraid. If that happens, I won't write it. If Mr. Teacher dares to punish us, we will go on strike!"

The next day, the old teacher saw that none of the students had copied the text and was very angry, wanting to punish them. However, the students went on strike.

The old teacher was furious and went to Zhang Zongjia, saying he wanted to resign. However, Zhang Zongjia scolded him severely.

Outside the classroom, the students heard Zhang Zongjia's scolding.

"Do you want to resign? Resign then! Look at you, a fifty-year-old man who has never passed the exams. I finally found you a teaching position in the community school, where you earn a few coins each year to support yourself. Now you come to me with a bad attitude."

"You have read books for decades but don't even know which door to enter for the imperial exams. What good is it that you once ranked second in the prefectural exam? You are still an old student after all these years. If you want to complain, I won't keep you. In the future, don't come to me for food or to write couplets during the holidays. Don't say I don't care about the community."

The old teacher, scolded by Zhang Zongjia, left with his face covered.

Lin Yanchao felt a bit guilty, and the other students felt the same. However, the next day, the old teacher came to teach as if nothing had happened, but he never mentioned the punishment again.

The students realized the old teacher's weakness: he was afraid of losing his hard-earned teaching position. The old teacher thus compromised. The students no longer respected him. For the next few days, the community school was peaceful, but the students were no longer focused.

Lin Yanchao saw this and knew that the old teacher had not earned the students' respect, not only because of his personality but also because he was an old student. At over fifty, he was even less respected than Fan Jin in later generations. The students did not believe they could learn much from him, so they became indifferent.

Even Lin Yanchao wondered if he should continue studying in the community school with this old student.

...

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