In the days that followed, Lu Chang'sheng threw himself heart and soul into his studies.
His talent for reading and recognizing words was now on par with a genius, and he picked things up incredibly fast.
Almost every day, he mastered a batch of new characters.
He even picked up a few words he hadn't come across before, just in passing.
"The more words you can recognize, the more leverage you have to survive in the Prefecture City!"
He privately warned the other three to take learning and reading seriously.
He also started to feel a bit anxious inside.
Because he was running out of money!
"Hey, Black Monkey, lend me ten copper coins for now."
That day, Lu Chang'sheng went to find Wang Heihou.
"Here you go!" Wang Heihou handed them over without any hesitation.
That made Lu Chang'sheng feel grateful towards him.
He bought two steamed buns, kept one on him for emergencies, and held the other, eating as he walked.
Just as he finished, he suddenly saw the middle-aged man walk into the literacy room with a stern look on his face.
"The teacher asked about you all today. I answered honestly, and he wasn't too happy about it!"
The middle-aged man shook his head and spoke to everyone sitting below.
"Fine, then—two days from now, you'll start. Whether you make it or not, depends on your own talent!"
······
"Chang'sheng! Why so soon? We feel like we haven't learned anything yet!"
"Yeah, seriously!"
That afternoon, the group sat in the courtyard while eating lunch.
Wang Heihou, Niu Dazhuang, and Li Nangua all looked anxious.
"The teacher probably has his reasons,"
Lu Chang'sheng didn't reveal the truth.
The three of them were too young—especially Wang Heihou, who was pretty impulsive. If he shared his suspicions, the kid might blurt it out somewhere.
Lu Chang'sheng had seen too many folks get in trouble for running their mouths.
This matter—either the problem was with the teacher, or it was with Zhao Deshui.
But no matter which, nothing could be done about it now.
Like usual, he picked up a stick and wrote on the ground.
"Study hard. Who knows, maybe on the big day, you'll catch the teacher's eye."
The three could only bury their heads in their notes and memorize.
Lu Chang'sheng recalled the words the "teacher's student" had taught them that day, picked out a dozen or so repeat characters, and set about writing and memorizing them carefully.
Practice makes perfect!
"There's no clear tracking of how much time I've spent on reading or learning characters on this Light Curtain Panel. Maybe that's because reading is so broad a skill,"
But—
"Wait, something's off. Slacking Off is a particular skill too, but the panel doesn't record specific hours for that either."
"Is there something here I don't get?"
Lu Chang'sheng stared for a while, then shifted his focus back to practicing his writing intently.
Before he knew it, two days had passed.
The group hadn't been in Black Mountain Prefecture for long, and they still felt a mix of awe and fear in this strange place.
Like Zhao Liang—he was a real little tyrant back in the village, but here, even he kept his head down and his nature in check.
At night, when they should've been sleeping, plenty of kids went to deserted corners, using sticks as pens and the earth as paper, writing out words with great effort.
"For poor folks, trying to climb up in the world is just way, way too tough."
Pale moonlight spilled down, ghostly silhouettes moving about—like lost souls crawling toward the faintest glimmer of hope.
Lu Chang'sheng sat on the ground, looking at the haggard boys and girls around him, all worn out from lack of sleep, and he felt a little moved inside.
Footsteps approached.
The "teacher's student" and the always-vanishing Liang Hu came into the room one after the other.
"When you read, you search for 'reason.' So, if you don't pass the test, don't get all worked up!"
The "teacher's student" cleared his throat, took out a worn book and a ruler, and started testing them one by one.
"What word is this?"
"Year!"
"Wrong! How about this one!"
"Get out!"
"What does it mean?"
"It means... um... it means..."
The boy racked his brains, but the word he just knew seemed to vanish into thin air, leaving his face deathly pale and drenched in sweat the next moment.
"No talent for reading. You'll be leaving soon."
"Thud!" The kid's knees buckled as he collapsed, "Mister—!"
"Hell, what do you think you're doing, you little bastard?"
One of the men grabbed the boy by the shoulders, dragged him out, and soon, sounds of wailing came from outside.
Liang Hu walked in, sneering, "Reading is for the upper crust. If you could beg your way in just by kneeling, wouldn't that make it too easy?"
"Anyone tries that trick again, don't blame me for getting rough!"
He grinned wide, showing his teeth, and scared the crap out of everybody present.
Even the "teacher's student" beside him wasn't immune.
"Next!"
······
"But—"
"But—"
"But—"
······
The "teacher's student" shook off his weariness, weaving around the group as he tested them.
Suddenly, he stopped in front of Lu Chang'sheng.
"What word is this?"
"Ghost!"
"Meaning?"
"People who become spirits after death are called ghosts. The unworthy become ghosts. Crafty people are called ghosts, too."
"No—"
But the word "failed" never left the "teacher's student"'s mouth.
Because, actually, the answer was spot-on.
He was a bit surprised, but didn't dwell on it, chalking it up to luck.
Recognizing words was mainly about memory—if you studied them for three or five days, you could memorize them.
But over those few days, he'd been through over two hundred different characters, which wasn't something your average kid could handle.
So, he pointed to a few more words.
A moment later, the room was dead silent.
A hint of shock, maybe even hesitation, showed on the "teacher's student"'s face.
Clearly, he hadn't expected someone here to get this far.
He thought for a second, wrote a new character on a wooden board with his brush.
This time, though, Lu Chang'sheng didn't know the answer.
"But—"
The faces of all the kids turned hopeless.
"Your talent's actually just a tiny bit short—such a shame!"
The "teacher's student" said, looking regretful.
Now, everyone understood: Lu Chang'sheng was as close as it got to the standard.
If even he couldn't pass, then no one else stood a chance either.
Sure enough, by the time they finished with the last kid, not a single one had passed the test.
"Pack your stuff. Tomorrow you're out."
Liang Hu said impatiently.
······
The first chill of winter crept in.
Lu Chang'sheng pulled his mom's hand-sewn cotton jacket tighter around him, and felt a tiny bit warmer.
"Chang'sheng, how about we just go home? Feels even colder this year," Wang Heihou said, rubbing his nose.
"If we go home now, and run into bandits, we're all screwed."
"Bandits wouldn't kill us though," Wang Heihou blurted out, remembering that square-faced, tough guy with a bit of admiration and awe.
Lu Chang'sheng replied helplessly, "Don't let those thieves fool you into thinking they're all like that."
"Yeah, Black Monkey, my mom's always saying bandits drink blood and eat people,"
Niu Dazhuang added.
Suddenly, Wang Heihou felt nervous, then grumbled, "So what are we even sticking around here for?"
"Chill out. Let's wait a bit and see,"
said Lu Chang'sheng.
"Right now, I bet he's tying up loose ends."
"Loose ends?" The three boys stared blankly at Lu Chang'sheng.
Lu Chang'sheng just smiled.
He thought to himself: If only you three would hurry up and grow, I wouldn't have to keep things half-hidden all the time.
······