Free Web NovelChapter 391: Chapter 153: Discussing the Move (2)
De’an wanted to fling a parting shot at them. "Heaven is watching what you do. Try to act like decent human beings from now on. Otherwise, if you push someone too far, you’ll end up like Chen Wanyue—shoved into a river. Chen Wanyue was lucky enough to survive, but you might not be."
De’an’s glare was vicious. Though he said nothing, his disdainful expression said it all.
Seeing this, the old couple from the Shi Family were furious but dared not speak. They sullenly followed Chen Song on their way out.
"Snobs, looking down on everyone!"
"They’re not even successful yet, and they’re already shunning their poor relatives. If people like that can make it big, I’ll twist my own head off and let them kick it like a ball."
"The higher you climb, the harder you fall. I’ll just wait for them to fall to their deaths. Then they can come to us to buy their coffins."
The couple left, muttering curses. Their voices were low, so De’an and the others couldn’t hear exactly what they were saying, but it was clear from their expressions that it was nothing good.
De’an couldn’t help but grumble, "’The poor are ignored in a crowd, while the rich have relatives in the mountains.’ We’re not even successful yet, and all these random people are already crawling out of the woodwork. If I have to deal with this kind of bullshit every day, I’ll be annoyed to death."
"What else did you expect? This is a society built on connections, and humans are social creatures. Unless you abandon everything to live like a hermit in the mountains, you’ll be dealing with plenty more of this in the future."
De’an felt his mother’s words were hard to swallow, but he knew they were true.
He just kept muttering, "I don’t hate all the social obligations. I just hate dealing with all this bullshit. If only I could just get away from all these annoying matters..."
Xu Su Ying shot down his hopes. "In your dreams!"
But Zhao Jing spoke at the same time. "If you really want to, you can."
The room fell silent as everyone turned to look at Zhao Jing.
Zhao Jing glanced at Chen Wanqing by his side, cleared his throat, and said, "Did you forget? That official from the Ministry of Personnel told us today that His Majesty intends for the two of us to enter the Imperial College to study."
De’an was stunned for a moment before realization dawned. "Oh, right. There was that. But isn’t that plan unfeasible?"
Chen Wanqing and Xu Su Ying both grew anxious. "How is it unfeasible? You’re really being allowed to study at the Imperial College? Is that even allowed by the rules?"
The words had barely left their mouths when they both paused, taken aback.
Since ancient times, there had been a tradition for each province to select its most outstanding students and send them to the Imperial College to become supervisors.
Zhao Jing was a triple-first scholar, so naturally he met the requirements.
But while that was the rule, if you looked around, you’d find very few Scholars from small towns who were desperately trying to squeeze their way into the Imperial College.
It was a good place, to be sure. Everyone there, from the fellow students to the instructors, came from influential backgrounds. If you managed to win someone’s favor, you could very well secure a brilliant future for yourself.
But the old saying also went, "Better to be the head of a chicken than the tail of a phoenix."
The power struggles there were intense. You might be a big fish in a small pond, but once you got there, you’d be at the very bottom. With an unremarkable family background, you’d likely be trampled on and humiliated by others.
There was once a student from a small county who entered the Imperial College. What happened to him?
They say he returned to his hometown in disgrace and never recovered. If anyone asked about his time at the Imperial College, he would just shake his head and let out a string of heavy sighs.
One could easily guess the hardships he must have faced.
So, if there were other options, the Imperial College wasn’t a place one absolutely had to enter.
That was exactly De’an’s line of thinking. He said, "I don’t think I’m cut out for it. I’m not even the best in Qingshui County. Over there, I’d just be a nobody. People could step all over me or push me around however they pleased, and I wouldn’t be able to fight back. I wouldn’t be going there to study; I’d be going there to suffer. I think it’s better to just forget about the Imperial College."
Xu Su Ying agreed. "That’s right. Don’t bite off more than you can chew. If we don’t have that kind of ability, we shouldn’t aim so high just yet. Studying at the county school is fine, too. Just get a solid two years in, and then I’ll figure out a way to get you into the prefectural school."
"You don’t have to find an opportunity later. The opportunity is right here. We just need to mention it to that official. I’m sure he wouldn’t mind helping us out."
The room fell silent once more.
They stared wide-eyed and expectant at Zhao Jing. Under the cover of his sleeve, Zhao Jing took Chen Wanqing’s hand and gently squeezed it in his own.
"That’s what Mr. Pang was implying. He probably guessed that we wouldn’t choose to go to the Imperial College, so he hinted that if we had other intentions, we could discuss them with him."
He said ’discuss,’ but if you bring it up and he’s already willing to help, there’s no way it won’t work out.
So, the question now was whether or not to go to the prefectural school.
Xu Su Ying slapped her son on the thigh. "What is there to hesitate about? You’re going to the prefectural school! Weren’t you just muttering the other day when you came home? You said that in a few months, Jing would be going to the prefectural school and you’d have to borrow books from the Xie Family. You were lamenting how high the entrance barrier was and how your father wasn’t influential enough to get you in. Now the opportunity is right in front of you. So tell me, are you going or not?"
