Chapter Twenty-Three: Wishes Fulfilled

At noon, their master, Yao Ding, dragged his weary legs off to take a nap, but not before assigning the four boys their afternoon lessons: two thousand characters to copy. They were forbidden from resting until the task was complete.

As soon as the sound of Master Yao closing his door echoed from the next room, Zhang Daxia stood up. "Junior brothers, my hands have festered. I am going to the pharmacy to get some medicine; I will be back shortly."

He unwrapped the bandages to show them, revealing a gruesome, bloody mess. Yue Fei asked, "Isn't there medicine on the table in the front? I found it quite effective."

"That medicine is useless to me; the wounds only got worse. I’ll be back soon."

Zhang Daxia hurried out of the classroom. Li Yanqing took the opportunity to slip out under the guise of going to the latrine. He searched all around but could not find Wang Gui; he had no idea where that boy had wandered off to.

Just then, Li Yanqing spotted Li Er. He quickly pulled him aside and whispered a few instructions. Li Er nodded. "A trivial matter. I guarantee he won't see me."

Li Er darted out of the academy, and Li Yanqing returned to his calligraphy. About half an hour passed, and Zhang Daxia still had not returned. Tang Huai grew worried and said to Yue Fei, "Fifth brother, Brother Qing, why hasn't Big Brother Zhang come back yet? The master will wake up soon. How will he answer to him? He’ll end up beaten until he’s howling again."

Just then, Li Yanqing saw Li Er peering around the entrance. He set down his brush and said, "I’ve finished my writing. I’ll go fetch him back."

He stepped out of the classroom, and Li Er quickly pulled him aside to whisper, "That boy went to the pharmacy and pestered the clerk for a long time. Then he bought croton powder—a lot of it. I watched him eat it with my own eyes, and then... he bolted toward the inn."

Li Yanqing was dumbfounded. He actually ate croton? Which clerk gave him that wicked advice? He then asked, "Did you see Wang Gui?"

"Over there!"

Li Er pointed toward the school gate, where Wang Gui was wrestling with a few other students. Li Yanqing rushed over, pulled Wang Gui aside, and asked, "Do you still want to participate in the Children's Competition?"

"Of course! I dream about it every night!"

"But it requires great hardship. You've seen how we are being tormented."

Wang Gui patted his chest. "As long as I can participate in the Children's Competition, I’m not afraid of any hardship."

Li Yanqing looked at him skeptically and drawled, "If you really want to go, there is an opportunity right now."

"What opportunity?" Wang Gui's eyes widened.

Li Yanqing lowered his voice and spoke to him for a moment. Wang Gui was both shocked and delighted. "Really?"

"Of course it's real. It just depends on whether your grandfather is willing to fight for it for you."

"I'll go tell my grandfather right now!"

Li Yanqing grabbed him. "Don't rush. Tell him after school. By then, his 'illness' should be severe enough."

***

Half a month before the Children's Competition, Zhang Daxia, one of the four contestants from the Lushan Academy, suffered an accident—a severe case of diarrhea—and was unfortunately bedridden, forcing him to withdraw mid-way.

Zhang Baojun, one of the four local gentry, did Wang Wanhao a favor and handed the spot over to the Wang family. Wang Gui got his wish and joined the training team. Unfortunately, his debut was disastrous; the very next day, he was pinned to the table by a furious Yao Ding and had his backside beaten until it was a mess.

"Wuwu—I’m done! I want to quit!"

Listening to Wang Gui wailing like a butchered pig, Li Yanqing felt nothing but sympathy.

As the date of the Children's Competition drew nearer, Master Yao Ding's temper grew increasingly volatile.

"Do you really expect to take this nonsensical essay to the county-wide literary competition? If I were you, I would have bumped my head against a wall and died long ago!"

Master Yao’s roar, like that of a savage beast, echoed through the academy. The students were so terrified they didn't dare speak above a whisper, holding their breath and walking on tiptoe. Whenever they passed that particular classroom, they cast hurried glances, eyes filled with sympathy for the four of them—though, of course, some felt a sense of schadenfreude.

Inside the room, Yao Ding glared with bloodshot eyes at Wang Gui. "I’ll give you one last chance. The first line is: 'The bright moon shines among the pines.' What is the second line?"

Wang Gui was trembling so hard he nearly lost his soul; how could he possibly remember Wang Wei's poem? Just then, Li Yanqing nudged a stone on the ground with his foot and mimicked the gesture of someone urinating. Wang Gui's eyes lit up as if he had found treasure, and he stammered, "Clear... clear springs flow over stones."

Yao Ding stared at Wang Gui for a long time before suddenly turning to lash out at Li Yanqing with a bamboo whip. He had switched back to the whip because his ironwood ruler had snapped while he was punishing his grandson, Yue Fei, and he hadn't found a suitable replacement yet.

"From now on, copy Wang Mojie's poems in clerical script three times. If you don't finish, no one goes to sleep!"

***

Although Yao Ding wished he could split one day into three, the time for the Children's Competition finally arrived. By then, Xiangzhou had entered the heart of winter. Two heavy snowfalls had turned the world into a vast, white expanse—the happiest time of year for children.

On the sixth day of the twelfth lunar month, Yao Ding made an unprecedented move and gave them the day off to play. But the four of them slept for an entire day and night; even Wang Gui, who loved snowball fights, couldn't crawl out from under his covers.

At dawn the next day, over a dozen local gentry from Xiaohe Township gathered at the academy to see the four off. Twenty days of rigorous study had yielded great results. Even Wang Gui could recite over a hundred poems in one breath before his grandfather, making Wang Wanhao so proud he boasted to everyone about his grandson's progress.

Even Zhang Baojun secretly regretted letting his grandson quit, and every time he saw Zhang Daxia faking illness and loafing in bed, his temper flared.

Li Wenyou spoke on behalf of the group, encouraging them to bring honor to their township. He handed a plate of silver shards to Yao Ding—a small contribution from everyone to cover their expenses in the county.

In the past, the four major families of the township had monopolized the spots, and the gentry had no interest in seeing them off. But this time was different; they had all heard from their own children about how the four had been training, which ignited a spark of hope in their hearts.

Yao Ding, however, remained stony-faced. In his view, the four were still far from meeting his standards. Li Yanqing was barely acceptable, Yue Fei was lacking, and the other two were complete fools. He didn't dare hope for a top-three finish; he would be satisfied with sixth.

Yao Ding had the four students line up and bow to the departing gentry before boarding the carriage. The carriage, provided by Wang Wanhao, was spacious and sturdy, lined with leather on the outside and thick carpets on the floor, keeping it warm even in the dead of winter.

The carriage was partitioned into two sections. Yao Ding sat alone in the front dozing, while the four students sat in the back. They sat directly on the soft carpet, covered by a thick quilt, chatting excitedly all the way.

Tang Huai laughed, "Last year, I was the youngest of the four, but this year I'm the oldest! It's really interesting!"

***

Of the four, Tang Huai was nine, Yue Fei and Wang Gui were eight, and Li Yanqing was only six. However, he was mature for his age and had a large frame, so he looked like an eight or nine-year-old; no one would have guessed he was only six.

At this, Yao Ding’s listless voice drifted from the front, "Other academies choose students of twelve or thirteen. Only I was foolish enough to choose you lot, and there's even a six-year-old among you. Sigh! This time, I’m truly going to lose all face."

Wang Gui and Li Yanqing stuck out their tongues and giggled.

Among the four, Yue Fei was the most serious, silent, and disliked mischief. Tang Huai didn't talk much either, but he was always involved in any trouble that occurred.

Yue Fei asked Tang Huai, "Brother Tang, you participated in the Children's Competition last year. Tell us how the contest works so we know what to expect."

Tang Huai thought for a moment and said, "It lasted seven days last year. The first three days were the tournament, then a day of rest. The fifth day was the exam, starting at dawn and going until noon, with results announced the next morning."

"What kind of results?" Li Yanqing asked.

"All of them. The tournament scores combined with the exam results. The highest total score wins the title of Champion for the year."

At this, Tang Huai said dejectedly, "Last year, we were eliminated in the first round of the tournament, and we ranked last in the exam. We returned in defeat—as always."

Li Yanqing asked curiously, "I heard one academy withdrew last year. What happened there?"

Tang Huai waved his hand and signaled the three to lean in. He lowered his voice, "There is a lot of backstabbing and underhandedness. Last year, the Tangbei Township Academy was leading the tournament, but the next day they all came down with diarrhea and had to withdraw. The Youli Town Academy took first in the tournament and first in the exam, stealing the championship. We miraculously took seventh place. Everyone says the Tangbei Academy shouldn't have eaten out that night."

A heavy feeling settled over the group. Then, Wang Gui laughed, "Let's talk about something lighter! What is the reward for the champion?"

"The reward? I hear the champion gets three hundred strings of cash, the runner-up gets two hundred, and third place gets one hundred. Nothing after that."

Seeing Wang Gui's eyes light up, Tang Huai quickly added, "The money doesn't go to the individual; it goes to the academy to fix leaking roofs or repair desks and chairs."

Wang Gui’s spirits plummeted. "Then what do we get out of it?"

Tang Huai scratched his head. "There are individual benefits, I suppose. The township gives rewards, but the most anticipated thing is that the champion's name is entered into the county annals, and the magistrate gives each person a copper plum blossom to wear. You get the title of 'Child Prodigy,' and I think there's something else?"

Li Yanqing chimed in solemnly, "Wealthy families will also try every possible way to marry their daughters to you."

The four children burst into laughter. Amidst their mirth, the carriage rolled over the snowy road, speeding toward the county seat.