TATSD Chapter 33

“Look! It’s Lu Yushu!”

“He came too. What if he tells on us to the Headmaster?”

“Are you still planning to place an order? If not, maybe we should just leave.”

“Let’s wait a bit and see what Lu Yushu does.”

The boy looked around fourteen or fifteen years old, and as he got closer, everyone’s whispers grew quieter.

The age for entering the county school ranged from twelve to twenty. This meant a child could only enroll at twelve and could remain until they turned twenty unless they earned a degree or left school.

Wenxuan didn’t know Lu Yushu.

That was because Lu Yushu joined the county school after he had dropped out.

For the past two years, Lu Yushu had been the talk of the town every day.

Born into a prestigious family, bright and diligent, he was beloved by the teachers. Even the Headmaster treated him with respect.

Who in the academy didn’t show him deference, even though he was so young?

“Who’s that?” Wenxuan whispered to Ji Baoshan.

“That’s the only son of the county magistrate, beloved by all the teachers. Oh no, he’s coming this way. What should we do?” Even Ji Baoshan couldn’t help but feel guilty. He quickly rolled up the flyer in his hand and hid it behind his back, hoping Lu Yushu wouldn’t notice.

But what you fear most often happens.

“What’s that in your hand?” Lu Yushu narrowed his eyes, staring at the hand Ji Baoshan had just hidden behind him.

“This.” Someone who had always disliked Ji Baoshan pulled out a flyer from a companion and opened it in front of Lu Yushu. “I don’t know what it is, but promoting such lowly activities within the academy is a disgrace.”

Lu Yushu gave it a glance and then walked over to Wenxuan, pointing at the cookies. “What are these?”

Wenxuan, though a bit uneasy, explained the ingredients, flavors, and price of the cookies as honestly as he could.

“May I try one?”

“Of course!”

Wenxuan, somewhat flustered, nodded eagerly.

Lu Yushu picked up a cookie, studied it, and sniffed the buttery aroma before taking a bite. The crispy, sweet flavor caught him by surprise, and he couldn’t help but pause for a moment.

It reminded him of something his elder brother once mentioned in a letter, a snack called “biscuit” that had a similar crunchy, sweet texture and pale-yellow color.

He quickly regained his composure, masking his expression.

“What’s your reason for doing this in the academy?”

Wenxuan felt embarrassed, but Ji Baoshan quickly chimed in, “Wenxuan was worried that everyone would be hungry after the lecture, so he wanted to offer them cookies for free and show them this thing called a ‘cookie.’”

Wenxuan gave Ji Baoshan a grateful look. Standing close to him, Ji Baoshan gently patted his back to calm him down.

“And those?” Lu Yushu glanced at the stack of order forms.

“People want to order some cookies, so I’m just writing them down.”

Though still young, Lu Yushu had a certain seriousness about him. His face was fair and boyish, but having spent so much time with his stern father, he had developed a sense of restraint and maturity. Even his speech was subdued, adding to his air of adulthood.

At this moment, there was a hint of his father’s authority in Lu Yushu’s gaze, and Wenxuan found himself unable to meet his eyes directly.

“Oh?” Lu Yushu’s tone lifted slightly, “Your name is Wenxuan?”

“Yes.”

“Are you the student who dropped out two years ago due to poverty?”

Wenxuan lowered his head, feeling a wave of self-consciousness.

Ji Baoshan couldn’t bear to see Wenxuan like this and wanted to speak up, but a glance from Lu Yushu made him bite his tongue.

“I’ve heard the Headmaster praise you before. He said it was a pity.”

“Really?” Wenxuan’s head shot up, his eyes sparkling with hope.

Lu Yushu smiled briefly before returning to his composed demeanor.

“If you’re doing this to earn money and return to school, I’m sure the Headmaster would be pleased. He once said you had a seventy percent chance of passing the provincial exam. Don’t let him down.”

After saying this, Lu Yushu looked around at the other students.

They all moved aside quickly. His gaze soon landed on the student who had spoken earlier, and he started walking toward him.

“Brother Chen, may I ask what you mean by ‘lowly activities’?”

Chen Pei, who had been looking smug, suddenly went pale at Lu Yushu’s words.

He knew that Lu Yushu had developed a sense of compassion and was about to make an example of him!

“Well…” Chen Pei averted his gaze, feeling the weight in his chest ease. He finally blurted out, “There’s wealth to be found in books. We scholars should treat money like dirt and focus on studying the words of the sages. How can we engage in such lowly trades?”

“And if a person can’t even afford food or books, what should they do then?”

Chen Pei was at a loss for words. Seeing a faint smile on his friend’s face, he blurted out in anger, “If they can’t even afford books, then they should stop studying and focus on setting up a stall. It’s a decent way to make a living! Why force it?”

“Everyone has their path. Why impose your views on others?” Lu Yushu said sternly. “Brother Chen, this is your mistake.”

Chen Pei, clearly unwilling to admit his fault, stayed silent.

Lu Yushu continued, “Secondly, farmers, workers, scholars, and merchants—all are essential. If one is missing, the country will be unstable, and the people will suffer. Brother Chen, you should not hold such prejudices.”

Without waiting for a response, Lu Yushu walked away.

It wasn’t until his figure disappeared that Chen Pei stormed off in a huff, and the crowd slowly came back to life.

Ji Baoshan waved the flyers around to keep people from grabbing a second cookie. Once most of the cookies were gone, only about ten remained.

“Baoshan, you can have the rest,” Wenxuan said, pushing the box toward him. He then carefully reviewed the order forms, double-checking them before sighing in relief.

“You haven’t eaten either. Let’s have one together.”

Wenxuan was indeed quite hungry, so he didn’t refuse. The two of them each took a cookie and started eating.

They were happily munching when a skinny boy ran over in a hurry.

Out of breath, the boy leaned on the table, panting for several moments before saying, “Good thing you’re still here.”

“Hmm? What’s the matter?” Wenxuan asked gently.

“Master Lu said he wants to place an order too,” the boy said, leaving Wenxuan and Ji Baoshan staring at each other in disbelief.

That serious and mature Lu Yushu, interested in this?

“Why didn’t Lu Yushu come himself?” Ji Baoshan asked curiously.

The boy hesitated before sheepishly replying, “Maybe he forgot.”

“Could it be that Master Lu was too embarrassed to say it in front of everyone?” Wenxuan asked in surprise.

“Hurry up and write it down! He wants one tael’s worth! One whole tael!” The boy’s face turned red as he angrily slapped the table.

Ji Baoshan couldn’t help but laugh out loud.

Wenxuan quickly nudged him to stop laughing, and they wrote down Lu Yushu’s order.

“When will it arrive?”

“Three to five days, not long.” Since Qiwei hadn’t given an exact date, Wenxuan could only give an estimate.

The boy snorted and ran off.

Wenxuan and Ji Baoshan exchanged a glance and then burst out laughing.

“I never realized Lu Yushu could be so interesting,” Ji Baoshan said, squinting thoughtfully.

“You don’t know this, but when he first arrived at the academy, he exposed Yan Gang for forcing others to write essays for him. The Headmaster punished Yan Gang harshly, sending him home for three months of reflection. Ever since then, everyone’s been afraid of Lu Yushu, terrified of being caught by him.”

Wenxuan was puzzled. “But if they don’t do anything wrong, he wouldn’t catch them, right?”

“People make mistakes; no one’s perfect.”

“I think Master Lu is a reasonable person. If it’s not a major error, he wouldn’t be harsh. The sages say, ‘Examine yourself thrice daily,’ and if we reflect on our faults, we won’t make big mistakes.”

Ji Baoshan chuckled and playfully poked Wenxuan on the head. “You’re still the same as before. No wonder not many people like you.”

The two chatted for a while longer before Ji Baoshan suggested they go see the Headmaster, but Wenxuan insisted on waiting until he had enough money to re-enroll before meeting him again.

Ji Baoshan, unable to persuade him otherwise, let it go.

He watched Wenxuan walk to the end of the street before grabbing a broom and heading back to the academy to continue sweeping.

…

At the Lu residence.

“Master has sent me to ask Young Master to go to the main hall,” the servant greeted Lu Yushu as soon as he entered the door, bowing respectfully.

“What’s it about?”

When Lu Yushu heard his father had summoned him, the thought of going back to his room to study immediately disappeared.

Lu Zhanhong rarely called for him unless there was something important.

If there was indeed something going on, it wouldn’t be good to delay.

Lu Yushu instructed the servant to return his study materials to his room, and he headed straight for the main hall.

“Father—” As soon as he stepped into the hall and called out, he saw Lu Zhanhong eating something. The moment Lu Zhanhong heard his voice, he immediately sat up straight but then suddenly began to choke, coughing heavily.

“What’s wrong?”

Lu Yushu quickly went over and patted his father on the back to help him breathe easier.

After the food stuck in his throat was finally swallowed down, Lu Zhanhong felt much better. He took a sip of strong tea to calm his nerves.

“You’re back?”

“Yes.”

“How were your studies today?”

“Everything went as usual.”

“Anything different?”

“I had some reflections.”

Lu Yushu then recounted the incident with Wenxuan and Chen Pei, telling his father the whole story.

After listening, Lu Zhanhong nodded approvingly. “You handled this well. Rules are rigid, but we should adopt them for real people. It would be a shame if this child had to give up his studies just because of financial difficulties, especially since even the academy headmaster praised him.”

“What is he selling? How’s the business?” If it wasn’t going well, Lu Zhanhong was considering offering some financial help. The boy could always repay the debt once he achieved success.

“He’s selling a snack called ‘cookies,’ which are a bit sweet—”

“Is it this?”

Lu Zhanhong opened the corner of an oil-paper packet, revealing a familiar sight. Lu Yushu was taken aback.

“Father, how do you have this?”

“Your Uncle Zhang came by today to visit and brought this as a small gift, saying it was for you. Why, do you know it?” Although Lu Zhanhong found the taste rather pleasant, he wasn’t one to indulge in food and hadn’t inquired where Zhang had bought it.

“That student I mentioned earlier is selling these. I even ordered some.”

“No problem, we can bring some to your grandmother later.”

Lu Yushu had the same idea, which was why he had ordered a full tael’s worth.

“You haven’t seen Mingyuan in a while. Now that he’s passed the scholar exam, you should congratulate him,” Lu Zhanhong reminded.

Lu Yushu had long been planning to visit Zhang Mingyuan. Since the two families had a close relationship, and both he and Mingyuan were only children, they treated each other as brothers and were quite close.

Since his father brought it up, he decided to follow through.

“In that case, Father, I’ll visit the Zhang family in three days.” That day had the fewest lessons, and the lecture was on poetry, so he planned to ask for leave from his teacher.

“Then take this with you to eat,” Lu Zhanhong coughed once, wrapped up the oil-paper packet, and handed it over.

Lu Yushu smiled briefly before quickly straightening his face, replying in a mature tone, “Parents come first. You and Mother should enjoy it; I’m in no hurry.” After speaking, he turned and left.

Watching his son walk away, Lu Zhanhong felt a bit irritated, thinking how he had lost control in front of his son over such a small thing. Annoyed, he grabbed the packet of cookies and strode toward Madam Lu’s chambers.