Chapter 56

"Brother Huang, let's stop arguing. We're all roommates. Come on, Brother Lin, have some broad beans. If you didn't do well this time, we can work harder next time," Yu Ziyu said, putting on an air of magnanimity befitting a son of a high-ranking official.

"Sure," Lin Yanchao replied, knowing that Yu Ziyu was sweet on the outside but venomous within. However, he didn't want to expose this facade. He grabbed a handful of broad beans and returned to his bed, peeling and eating them.

Beside him, Ye Xianggao sat cross-legged, reading a book.

Lin Yanchao said nothing, continuing to eat the broad beans. "Brother Ye, congratulations on ranking first in the outer dormitory."

Ye Xianggao, still looking at his book, replied, "Thank you, but I can't match Brother Lin's composure in the face of success and failure."

Lin Yanchao glanced at Ye Xianggao, who spoke in a calm tone. He guessed that there was an 80% chance Ye Xianggao was just being polite, but it wasn't obvious on the surface.

This was someone who was outwardly polite and proper but inwardly proud and aloof. Wait, composure in the face of success and failure, isn't that a synonym for being thick-skinned? Well, this Ye Xianggao.

Ye Xianggao usually interacted with a few other students from official families when studying, but in the dormitory, he kept to himself. This was similar to Lin Yanchao, while Chen Wencai made an effort to build good relationships with Yu Ziyu and others, integrating himself into the dormitory.

Lin Yanchao could guess that for Ye Xianggao, his journey was the vast universe! This outer dormitory, the Lianjiang Academy, was just a small stream or river to him, not even worth a glance. As for the camaraderie with his classmates, it didn't matter to him; nothing was more important than his own studies.

Before the college entrance exam, Lin Yanchao had also gone through similar experiences. Later, in society, he realized that school was actually the easiest place to get by. This self-centered attitude, was it a case of middle school syndrome? Considering Ye Xianggao's age, it seemed to be the right time for it to manifest.

Lin Yanchao shook his head and continued eating the broad beans.

The next day, Lin Liao didn't lecture on the classics but instead focused on the techniques for writing the eight-part essay. This was not about the textbook but about exam preparation, teaching the students how to tackle the exam.

Lin Liao listed various topics and explained how to break them down. The most important part of an eight-part essay was the opening, and if the opening was done right, the essay was half done.

Lin Liao then explained how to break down the topic explicitly, implicitly, directly, indirectly, positively, and negatively, and what to avoid, such as insulting the topic, missing the point, connecting to the previous part, or offending the next part, and other taboos. He gave a few examples that, while not from the Four Books and Five Classics, were still excellent.

Lin Yanchao particularly appreciated one example, where the topic was "Tower," and the opening was "Because the land is insufficient, we take what the sky has in excess."

Finally, Lin Liao combined the teachings of Mencius and Zhu Xi's annotations to explain the key points of breaking down the topic in the "Liang Huiwang" chapter.

After lunch, Lin Yanchao reviewed the lecture notes from the day, reread the "Liang Huiwang" chapter of Mencius, memorized the annotations by Cheng and Zhu, practiced his calligraphy, and then started reading "The Treasury of Major and Minor Topics."

When Lin Yanchao picked up "The Treasury of Major and Minor Topics," the other students in the outer dormitory snickered.

"This bookworm, I wonder how he even got into the academy!"

"He's just a bookworm, a disgrace to the great scholars."

"He's such a pedant!"

"Thanks to him, my mother no longer worries about me being the worst."

Lin Yanchao occasionally heard a few comments and thought, do these young people find it meaningful to belittle others to elevate themselves?

By the second watch of the night, Lin Yanchao had read one and a half volumes, a pace he couldn't believe himself. He packed up his books early and went back to the dormitory to sleep. When he saw Huang Biyou, he gave a cold laugh, showing his disdain.

The next day, he read another one and a half volumes, finishing the four volumes of "The Treasury of Major and Minor Topics" that Lin Liao had given him.

On the third day, Lin Yanchao brought the four volumes back to Lin Liao.

Lin Liao was surprised when he saw Lin Yanchao returning the books. "How did you read them so quickly?"

Lin Yanchao had to lie. "Sir, you've been teaching us how to break down topics these past few days, so I focused on studying and pondering the methods in each model essay, and I briefly looked at the承接 (承接 means '承接' in Chinese, which can be translated as '承接' in English, but it's a term used in the context of the eight-part essay, so I'll keep it as '承题' for accuracy) and the opening paragraphs. I'll study the other parts later."

Lin Liao didn't object. "It's fine to skip the usual order and focus on breaking down topics first. The key to learning is your own insight. I'm just here to guide you."

So, Lin Liao gave Lin Yanchao more pointers on breaking down topics and lent him another four volumes.

In the following days, Lin Yanchao spent his free time reading, finishing a novel of several million words in fifteen days, with no pressure at all. However, the time was a bit tight, so in the last three days, he read until the third watch of the night, finishing two volumes each day.

Of course, the other students in the outer dormitory found it amusing to watch Lin Yanchao study every day. His efforts finally paid off. The day before the monthly exam, he had read all twenty-six volumes of "The Treasury of Major and Minor Topics" related to Mencius, memorizing every word.

On the day of the monthly exam, Lin Yanchao, having stayed up late the night before, arrived at the exam hall just as it was about to start.

Seeing Lin Yanchao yawn as he entered the exam hall, the other students in the outer dormitory snickered.

"Still cramming the night before the exam, he must have studied until the third watch!"

"I wonder if he can even pick up a pen today."

"Poor guy, I wonder if he's memorized even a fraction of the entire book."

"A fraction? Do you think he's a prodigy? I doubt he's memorized even a tenth."

"Even if he memorized a tenth, he can't remember everything. He'll probably forget the first part as he memorizes the next, and in a few months, he'll have to start all over again."

"It's embarrassing to study with someone like him. Even if he becomes a jinshi in the future, sharing a dorm with him would be a disgrace."

The students kept muttering, and soon the exam questions were distributed.

This time, the questions were set by the instructor of the Min County School, a government-appointed exam. The government provided annual funding to the Lianjiang Academy and used these exams to assess the students' progress. These exams were more important than the regular school exams, as they determined the students' rankings and the government would award silver prizes. The exam papers would also be copied and printed for submission.

Given the importance of the exam, Lin Yanchao's classmates did not dare to be the least bit careless.

As usual, the exam lasted five hours. The monthly exam did not test the classics or the interpretations but only the current essays. Each paper had three questions, with no space left between them.

Lin Liao then distributed five sheets of yellow rough paper to each student for drafting.

For the final copy, they were given three sheets of eight-page red-lined vertical paper, with each page divided into two, twelve lines per page, and twenty-four characters per line. This was the special exam paper used in the provincial exams. It was said that the papers used in the imperial exams were even more refined, made from four layers of rice paper.

The monthly exam was already this rigorous, let alone the quarterly exams. The academy's goal was to help students get a feel for the atmosphere of the major exams as early as possible.

As soon as the questions were handed out, the students eagerly read them, the pages rustling. Some students pressed the corner of the paper under a paperweight before reading.

Lin Yanchao also took the paper and glanced at the three questions. Hmm, one major question and two minor questions.

The first major question was "Zhuang Bao visited Mencius and said."

This was a major question, and the opening had to encompass the meaning of the entire chapter, which was about five or six sentences.

Lin Yanchao recalled the opening from the question bank: "Music has no ancient or modern, only those who share it with the people can truly appreciate it..."

He could copy this directly. He didn't start writing yet but read the next question.

The second question was "One does not give even a small thing to others."

This was a minor question, and the full sentence was "One does not give even a small thing to others, nor take even a small thing from others," from the "Wanzhang" chapter of Mencius.

The book had written the opening as "In matters of giving and taking, even a sage cannot be careless..." This was also memorized. With two questions in hand, Lin Yanchao felt confident that he wouldn't be the worst this time. The last question, he hadn't memorized, so he could practice.

The third question was "Teach them the meaning of filial piety and fraternal love." This was from the chapter "The Duke of Wei's Inquiry." Lin Yanchao didn't even think about it; the opening came to mind: "Teaching has its priorities, and the emphasis is on conveying the meaning..."

At this point, the other students in the outer dormitory were frowning, pondering how to break down the topics, whether to break them down explicitly, implicitly, directly, indirectly, positively, or negatively, and how to proceed with the承题 (承题) and the opening paragraphs.

But Lin Yanchao was stunned, unable to start writing. Damn, he had guessed all three questions correctly, turning a closed-book exam into an open-book exam!

This feeling was too exhilarating. Actually, I wanted to take the exam seriously!

PS: Second update. I hope for your support with recommendations! If you can, please show your appreciation. Writing is my livelihood, and you are all my supporters!