Gu Dashun's exceptional literacy wasn't just the result of innate intelligence, but also came from his diligence.
He used to wake up earlier than both Zhou Family members and Gu Yue'e, and was reading in his room when he heard his father calling him. He put down his book and walked out, "Father, what happened?"
As soon as he finished speaking, he saw the middle-aged man standing outside the door.
He vaguely felt the man looked familiar, but couldn't remember where he'd seen him before. But what he could affirm was that both the attire and demeanor of the visitor were extraordinary, which made him wonder why such a person would visit their humble dwelling.
"Father, what were you saying just now? I was reading and didn't hear clearly." He turned his head and spoke to Gu Changhai.
Gu Changhai pointed to the middle-aged man and laughed, "This is the administrator from the Tianxiang Academy. He has come to deliver your admission documents!"
"Admission documents?" Gu Dashun was as puzzled as Gu Changhai. The Academy had informed them that the exam results would be out three days after the exam and the admission documents seven days later. He was supposed to collect them himself from the Academy's east gate.
Considering there were still three days to go, why were the documents already available? And why was this man personally delivering them?
At this moment, the middle-aged man also caught up, laughed, and said, "I see there is another examinee in your distinguished house. But perhaps, Master Gu has misunderstood. The document in my hand isn't meant for this examinee. It is for another young Master Gu."
Gu Changhai responded in surprise, "In our family, only Dashun took the exam."
The middle-aged man maintained his polite smile, "I apologize if I was unclear earlier. Is Young Master Gu Xiaoshun at home?"
The father and son were completely taken aback.
After a long moment, Gu Changhai managed to respond, "You... you must be mistaken. Xiaoshun didn't take the exam."
Gu Xiaoshun was a scoundrel! A ne'er-do-well! Someone who wouldn't take an exam in eight lifetimes!
Even if he did take an exam, he would definitely not pass!
The middle-aged man responded warmly with a smile, "I am not mistaken. It is indeed Gu Xiaoshun. It was our Master who personally recommended him. He will be admitted without an examination."
Hearing his son's name mentioned, Gu Changlu, who had just woken up, walked over and said, "What did Xiaoshun do this time? Did he cause trouble again? That rascal! I'm going to give him a beating!"
Gu Changlu had just woken up and appeared quite disheveled. Nevertheless, the smile on the middle-aged man's face did not change. "My master was on the mountain and had an accident. Fortunately, Young Master Gu Xiaoshun helped him. So, this has been decided. If you could give the admission documents to Young Master Xiaoshun, he can commence his studies four days from now."
"We can't afford to pay for admission for both children!" Gu Changhai suddenly interjected.
Gu Changlu was still confused, not fully grasping what had just happened.
The middle-aged man glanced at Gu Dashun, then back to Gu Changhai. This time, the smile in his eyes disappeared. "The document mentions that the admission fees are waived. Additionally, I have prepared the books and uniforms. Please deliver them to Young Master Gu Xiaoshun as well."
While his father and uncle seemed to have overlooked it, Gu Dashun noticed that the man had referred to him as "this examinee", while referring consistently to Gu Xiaoshun as "Young Master Gu Xiaoshun".
Moreover, he had placed second in the exams, yet the man appeared clueless about which household he came from.
The color drained from Gu Dashun's face.
He wanted to ask the man about his and his master's identities, but the middle-aged man had handed a redwood brocade box to Gu Changlu and immediately left in his carriage.
Gu Changlu was slightly taken aback, "Big brother, did that man... say that Xiaoshun... could also go to school?"
By the time the family sat down for breakfast, everyone was aware of the situation.
"When did you go to the mountains? Who did you save? Why didn't you tell us?" Liao Family kept firing questions at him.
"I...I don't know. I just... helped." His sister had asked him not to talk about them, so he took all the blame himself. However, he didn't expect that the consequence would be him being allowed to go to school.
"Well, since we don't have to pay extra, let Xiaoshun go. This will keep him from causing trouble outside all day." Gu Changlu said.
"If he leaves, who will carry out his share of the work on the farm?" Zhou Family objected.
It was fine if they didn't have to pay, but with one less person working on the farm, they would have to work harder!
Gu Dashun looked at Zhou Family, "Mother, having another literate person in the family is a good thing. I can help with the farm work once I get back from school."
"How can we let you do that?" Zhou Family shot down the idea; her son was born to study, not to toil in the fields.
Liao Family didn't like that comment. So, her son was beneath Zhou family's son? But admittedly, Gu Xiaoshun was pretty useless. If it had been Gu Ershun being denied the opportunity to study, Liao Family would have argued back.
"But... Xiaoshun's temper will need to change, at least to be able to sit still like Ershun." Gu Dashun spoke again.
His words truly resonated with everyone. Yes, could Gu Xiaoshun, with his temper, truly excel academically without giving offense to the scholar, leading to potential repercussions for Gu Dashun?
"Why... why don't we send Ershun to study?" Liao Family suggested.
Ershun was smarter and more disciplined than Xiaoshun. If they let him study, he could surely become a scholar!
Zhou Family wasn't exactly in agreement. She felt that Ershun only seemed eager to study, but many times when Dashun taught him, Ershun couldn't grasp the lessons at all.
Ershun wasn't cut out for studying. Only Liao Family was foolish enough to dream about being the mother of a scholar through Ershun.
However, given that the men of the Family didn't object this time, Zhou Family didn't say anything either.
Throughout the entire process, no one asked for Gu Xiaoshun's opinion.
Three days later, Xiao Liulang and Gu Dashun each received their admission documents and uniforms from the academy.
The students were supposed to prepare their own books. But knowing that Gu Xiaoshun didn't have any, the Academy had prepared brand new books for him. Now, they were all given to Gu Ershun.
Gu Jiao shouldered her little basket and accompanied Xiao Liulang to the town.
As usual, she first sent him into the Academy and then walked to the marketplace.
Xiao Liulang was wearing a brand new uniform. Gu Jiao had seen others wear these uniforms, like Fen Lin and many students coming out of the Academy, but no one wore them quite like Xiao Liulang. His tall figure, the stark white of his uniform, his exquisite features — it was as if he had stepped out of a painting, radiating an impressive aura of scholarly elegance.
Indeed, he was like a rare gem in a field, an unmatched young master.
In a while, Gu Jiao's gaze fell on his feet.
Seeing that he was wearing the new shoes she had bought for him, Gu Jiao's lips curled up into a small smile.
"Do they fit?" Gu Jiao asked.
"Yes." Xiao Liulang nodded lightly.
Gu Jiao handed him his crutches and left the house with him.
When they reached the village entrance, Uncle Luo's ox cart was waiting. There weren't many people going into town that day, only the two of them, Gu Dashun, and Gu Ershun.
The latter two were also dressed in their Academy uniforms.
Truth be told, the Gu family members were not bad-looking. In fact, Gu Dashun was even more handsome than most men in the town. However, the moment they stood next to Xiao Liulang, they were completely overshadowed.
Without doing anything, Xiao Liulang seemed just like a painting, radiating an innate noble and scholarly air throughout.
Gu Jiao and Xiao Liulang knew about Gu Xiaoshun saving someone related to the Academy, so they knew that the one supposed to go to the Academy today should be Gu Xiaoshun.
However, when they saw Gu Ershun, dressed in an obviously a size-small uniform, on the ox cart, they didn't show much surprise, as if they had already anticipated that the Gu family would do such a shameless thing.
Gu Jiao scoffed coldly.
Xiao Liulang was checking his bundle and found out that Gu Jiao had given him twenty more copper plates.
"Hmph!" Gu Ershun rolled his eyes at the two of them.
The ox cart soon arrived near the Academy.
"Let's get off here. We will walk to the Academy ourselves." Gu Dashun suggested.
However, Xiao Liulang and Gu Jiao rode the ox cart all the way to the Academy's entrance.
After Xiao Liulang entered the Academy, Gu Jiao, with her basket on her back, headed for the marketplace.