The Lucky Farmgirl
Chapter 608 - 597: The Reason

Chapter 608: Chapter 597: The Reason

Bai Shan reluctantly bowed to Mr. Zhai.

Upon seeing this, Mr. Zhai touched his grizzled beard and smiled, "What’s the matter, annoyed that I called on you to answer questions?"

"This student dare not."

Mr. Zhai looked at the expression on his face and chuckled inwardly, certainly proud enough.

He gestured with his hand, indicating for Bai Shan to walk with him.

"Lan Zhongcheng has taken on a task and gone to Zizhou; he probably won’t return until after the Dragon Boat Festival."

Bai Shan was slightly surprised, he hadn’t expected Mr. Zhai to discuss this with him.

Mr. Zhai looked at him and smiled, "Do you know why we like to call on you to answer questions?"

Bai Shan replied sullenly, "Because you don’t like me?"

Mr. Zhai burst into a hearty laugh upon hearing this, clasped his hands behind his back, and strolled leisurely as he said, "I can’t manage why He Qingping does, but I call on you because of your test papers."

He Qingping was the instructor of their class, Class C1.

Mr. Zhai spoke without reservation, "I was one of the examiners of your papers and I thought, although you are young and rash, ranking at the bottom did you an injustice."

So you’re targeting me?

The thought flashed by, but Bai Shan quickly reacted, his steps involuntarily pausing.

It wasn’t necessarily about targeting him, but rather about admiring him?

Bai Shan’s eyes widened as he looked at him.

Mr. Zhai also stopped walking, turned back to look at him, and seeing his round, wide eyes, couldn’t help but laugh and said, "I am the instructor of Class A3; how about this: if you can rank within the top one hundred in the year-end exam, I’ll transfer you to Class A3, how does that sound?"

Each class had twenty students, and only the top sixty could enter Class A3, so Mr. Zhai felt that his offer was quite generous.

But Bai Shan didn’t think so.

He frowned and asked, "Can it be changed to the mid-year exam?"

Mr. Zhai raised an eyebrow, "That would be difficult. Usually, you can only change classes after the year-end exam."

"What if I can rank within the top sixty in the mid-year exam?"

"You sure are confident," Mr. Zhai shook his head and smiled, "Though you’re good, there’s always someone better. The top one hundred of this academy’s exam aren’t weak either."

Bai Shan earnestly said, "I know, and that is why I will work hard."

Mr. Zhai thought for a moment and nodded, "Alright, as long as you can get into the top sixty, even if it’s the sixtieth place, you can enter honorably."

Ambition ignited within Bai Shan, and he couldn’t help but reveal a brilliant smile. Carrying his book basket, he almost jumped up to run back and tell his mentors the great news.

But he had just started to move when he remembered something, and stopped in his tracks, turning back to ask, "Mr. Zhai, do you truly have no idea why the instructor targets me?"

Mr. Zhai just smiled and said nothing.

Seeing that, Bai Shan knew he wouldn’t get an answer, asked no further, bowed respectfully, and happily left.

If he wouldn’t tell him, he would find out one day on his own.

After learning of Mr. Zhai’s promise, Mr. Zhuang also felt that Bai Shan might benefit from a change in environment and thus intensified his tutelage.

And the studies in the academy for Bai Shan started to get on the right track.

As Mr. Zhuang had said, the instructors of the academy were no less learned than him, especially when compared to Mr. Zhuang, they were even more specialized.

Take Mr. Zhai, for example; he mainly taught "The Spring and Autumn" and the "Book of Han" and other historical records, particularly excelling in history. Even though Bai Shan had already studied "The Spring and Autumn," relearning it with him was immensely beneficial.

His classes and those of Mr. Zhuang were a bit different, and so were those of the other instructors.

Even that instructor He Qingping, whom Bai Shan disliked, had a more thorough understanding of the "Book of Documents," although his teaching methods were distasteful to Bai Shan, causing the students of Class C1 to grumble endlessly.

But it was undeniable that after attending his lessons, Bai Shanbao would take the questions that arose back and discuss them with Mr. Zhuang, gaining much more than his classmates.

Similarly, Manbao learned a great deal from Bai Shan’s notes as well.

The two learned from each other, with Mr. Zhuang coaching them on the side, making rapid progress, especially Bai Shan.

From the very first day of formal classes, he was far ahead of his classmates.

Outside of class, they isolated him, whispering and mocking him behind his back, but in class, he was the one who could overpower everyone.

Whether it was in the classes taught by Mr. Zhai and other instructors or in those given by He Qingping who always seemed to target him, he managed to shine so bright it was irking.

Consequently, some students broke away from the band of those isolating him and struck up a conversation with Bai Shan through Kang Xiaodong and Wei Chen.

But Bai Shan was still too proud to really engage with them, mainly because he held grudges.

Though they had not had any open conflicts, he clearly remembered those few who had whispered about him when he was isolated.

Even though he looked down on them in his heart, Bai Shan did not openly make enemies and merely nodded perfunctorily in response.

To his surprise, these few actually took it as normal and assumed it was just Bai Shan’s way.

Of course, since the enemies were surrendering, they naturally showed it in their way.

Their way of showing it was to gossip about why He Qingping targeted him.

Bai Shan had been just about to pack up his book basket and leave when he heard their discussion and couldn’t help stopping to prick up his ears and listen.

"It turns out, Bai Shan, you really suffered undeserved misfortune. I heard that your original ranking was not just within one hundred fifty, but it was the Prince of Yizhou who decided the rankings, saying you were arrogant, so he wanted to cut down your spirit, thus placing you at hundred and fiftieth," one said.

Bai Shan: "...How am I arrogant? Is it just because I asked a few questions on the last problem? Since I was little, my mentors have taught us ’To know what you know and not know what you do not know’ – if you don’t know, you must inquire."

Since enrolling until now, he had suffered so much injustice because of those few problems; had he said anything?

How does that make him arrogant?

Some classmates chuckled sheepishly, not really believing but nevertheless said, "But the Prince and the instructors did not believe it, you see. I heard your papers were not even considered for nomination initially, and you were eliminated in that round of selection, but Mr. Lan pleaded on your behalf, which gave you a chance in the final selection."

Bai Shan asked, "And then what? What does that have to do with He Qingping?"

"Of course, it’s related. You don’t know, do you? He Qingping’s nephew took part in this year’s academy exam too and made it to the final selection only to be eliminated. Later, when the examiners ranked privately, he was placed at one hundred fifty-first."

"If Mr. Lan hadn’t taken up your papers for another recommendation, by now, it would be He Qingping’s nephew enrolled instead of you."

"That’s right. And I heard that He Qingping and Mr. Lan have always been at odds. Since you benefited from Mr. Lan’s favor, that makes you his faction, so naturally, He Qingping dislikes you."

"This time, for his nephew, He Qingping specifically recused himself from marking to avoid conflict, missing out on quite a bit. Things seemed carved in stone but ended up fruitless; it’s no wonder he’s irritated."

Bai Shan’s face remained expressionless, yet he thought to himself, It was his nephew’s lack of ability to blame, not me. Who could be more wronged than I?

However, Bai Shan finally understood the reason he was targeted and felt completely relieved.

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