Chapter Seventy-Five: The Dining Hall

“Though you ranked first in the admission exam, the county academy is filled with hidden talents. In the future, when you leave the county academy for the prefectural level, it will be even more so. As the saying goes, there’s always someone better than oneself, and learning is like rowing upstream—if you do not advance, you fall back. Study diligently and do not slack off. I believe the day will come when your name is called at the Eastern Hua palace!” The steward encouraged Zhang Yue.

Zhang Yue nodded. Indeed, the day when his name would be called at Eastern Hua was not far off.

“Thank you, sir,” Zhang Yue replied sincerely.

As Zhang Yue walked along, he felt a secret delight at being appreciated by Assistant Sun and the steward.

At this moment, Zhang Yue and Guo Lin were making their way toward the dormitory. The dormitory sat at the highest point of the county academy, about halfway up Huanghua Mountain.

As they approached, they saw the dormitory was surrounded by towering trees, with only a single mountain path winding down to the academy below. The dormitory buildings stood in orderly rows, ascending along the mountainside.

Zhang Yue looked up for a long while, thinking to himself what a tranquil place this was for study—if only there were girls!

When the steward led them into the dormitory, they found two students already inside, tidying their bedding.

Hearing footsteps, both paused in their work.

“You four are all newly admitted classics students this year! From now on, you’ll all live in this dormitory together. Greet each other properly,” the steward instructed.

The four exchanged formal greetings.

“I am Qian Qiming. Pleased to meet you both.”

“I am Wu Rang. Pleased to meet you both.”

“I am Guo Lin. Pleased to meet you both.”

When it was Zhang Yue’s turn, he smiled and said, “I am Zhang Yue. Pleased to meet you both.”

Both Qian Qiming and Wu Rang were taken aback. One thought, “So this is the top scorer of this year’s county academy entrance exam?” The other wondered, “Isn’t he the one whose elder brother passed the imperial examination but then resigned?”

After the greetings, the steward asked, “Have you two paid your dormitory fees yet?”

Qian Qiming replied that he had.

But Wu Rang said, “I did not bring enough money from home. I hope you can grant me some leniency.”

The steward frowned. “You must not delay beyond the end of this month.”

Delays in school fees were always a headache for administrative staff.

“Thank you, sir.” Wu Rang bowed deeply, his manner extremely respectful.

The steward went on, “In the county academy, everything is regulated by the sound of the drum. When to rise, eat, attend lessons—you must pay close attention. Do not miss the drumbeat.”

With these words, the steward left.

Zhang Yue thought, since they were all classics students who got in by exam, none of them likely had family connections. Those with connections would take the imperial exam track or wouldn’t need to sit for exams at all. Since they were of the same background, they would likely get along well as roommates.

Now that names were exchanged, the group sorted themselves by age.

Confucians placed great importance on seniority—even names differentiated between eldest, second, third, and youngest, lest anyone get confused.

Zhang Yue was not the youngest; Qian Qiming was actually a month younger than he. Guo Lin was second youngest, while Wu Rang was the eldest at seventeen.

Zhang Yue sat down and looked around the dormitory—four low cots, two wardrobes, and on the wall, a three-legged washbasin stand.

He hung his towel on the rack; it seemed all four would share one basin. The soapbox on the rack was currently empty.

Zhang Yue had brought the least with him and soon finished unpacking. Seeing a broom behind the door, he swept both in front of and behind the dormitory. The school was still in session, so the dormitory was quiet.

After tidying up, as Zhang Yue passed by, Wu Rang asked, “Brother Zhang, are you truly the top scorer of the county academy exam?”

Zhang Yue, pleased inside but modest outwardly, replied, “It’s nothing worth mentioning.”

Qian Qiming chimed in, “Brother Zhang, you must be quite remarkable. How did you manage to get first place?”

Zhang Yue answered without hesitation, “There’s nothing special—just diligence.”

Guo Lin shrugged, wanting to say something but holding back, and went on arranging his things.

Wu Rang was full of admiration. “Brother, you’re so young and already accomplished. You must have put in a lot of hard work.”

Qian Qiming said, “Han Yu once said, ‘The mountain of books has a path of diligence.’ Brother Zhang, I hope you’ll urge me on in the future.”

Zhang Yue quickly replied, “I wouldn’t dare, not at all.”

Glancing at Guo Lin, Zhang Yue added, “In truth, I haven’t been very diligent myself—please do urge me on as well in the future.”

The others took his words as humility.

“An inch of time is worth an inch of gold—let’s encourage each other!”

Wu Rang said solemnly, “As classics students, we have no other skill but rote memorization!”

Once they finished tidying up, everyone took out their meals, ate, and then each fetched a book from their trunks to read on their cots.

Having just boasted, Zhang Yue didn’t dare slack off and read for a while. After the second drumbeat, he couldn’t resist any longer and lay down to sleep.

Wu Rang and Qian Qiming thought Zhang Yue must be tired from the day’s work and paid it no mind.

The next morning, at the drumbeat, everyone dressed in their student robes and went to the academy. There were formalities for enrollment: first, bowing to the Sage, and then the classics dormitory leader read aloud the academy’s rules.

The highest punishment was expulsion—crimes read aloud before all, then thrown out of the academy.

The second was confinement—being locked up in the penalty dormitory.

The third was relocation—changing dormitories.

The fourth was restriction to the front corridor—essentially house arrest, not allowed even to step outside the front door.

The fifth was restriction from the academy grounds entirely.

The dormitory leader continued, “Normally, supervision comes from me and the registrar; only major issues are reported to the academic officer. Let’s set a private rule among ourselves: each month, tally the number of mistakes at month’s end, fine the offenders, and use the money to buy food for those who made no mistakes—meat, of course. If you prefer, we can handle it officially and report to the academic officer. The choice is yours!”

Zhang Yue and the other ten classics students immediately replied, “We’ll follow the dormitory leader’s instructions.”

“Very well, go eat! After breakfast is morning class. Today the chief instructor is teaching in person, so dress properly and don’t be negligent. If you break the rules with me, it’s just a fine. But if you offend the chief instructor, the five punishments will be enforced—and you’ll taste summer and thorn switches as well.”

The Record of Rites describes summer and thorn switches as instruments of discipline.

What are summer and thorn switches? “Summer” means mulberry; “thorn” means bramble—both are used to whip unruly students.

In plain words, they were teaching rods.

The four walked together toward the dining hall, quickening their pace when the drum sounded.

At the dining hall, they saw a long line—a human dragon.

Everyone queued up for their food, the kitchen staff having already portioned out first, second, and third-class meals into trays. Each stepped forward in turn to collect theirs.

Zhang Yue and his companions presented their meal tokens: Zhang Yue, Qian Qiming, and Wu Rang all received second-class meals; only Guo Lin had the third-class meal.

They found an empty cedar table and sat down.

Zhang Yue saw that Guo Lin’s meal was indeed just steamed eggplant and millet rice. Their own second-class meals weren’t much better—just a few vegetables and plain rice.

At the next table, a group of students had much better fare—first-class meals. Just the sight of several large meat buns made everyone at Zhang Yue’s table envious.

It’s not what you eat, but the contrast that matters.

Qian Qiming and Wu Rang wore somewhat bitter smiles, while Guo Lin silently set his jar of pickles on the table.

Zhang Yue joked, “Come on, let’s eat! We’re eating second and third-class meals today, but one day we’ll be first and second-rank officials!”

The students eating first-class meals glanced over at them.

ps: This poem was composed by the esteemed reader Bull Demon King! Double-tap and like!