And so, with the background and educational level of ordinary villagers, coupled with the high status of scholars, children who accumulate a little bit of fame for their talent would suddenly become ‘different’ in the eyes of their surroundings. Of course, in a small place like Sujia Village or the other nearby villages, hardly any children could even pass the child exam, and there was no need to even think about the student member exam.
There wasn’t anyone who had passed the student member exam in Qinghe Town, and those who had some hope of doing so would all go on to Qingyuan County. Most of the students in the academy were not even at the level of child students. And now there were rumors going around the village that Wang Xiaotian had a chance to pass the child exam and be admitted as a child student. Of course, Wang Changhe, the Su family, and most of the villagers were all completely convinced by those rumors.
However, Su Tang was not so convinced. After all, she knew that the examination wasn’t so simple. To become a child student he would need to take three exams and perform well on all of them. On top of that, Wang Xiaotian had done his studies at the Qinghe Town Academy, which meant that his level of education could only at best be what that academy could teach him. And, being honest, whatever the Qinghe Town Academy could teach might not actually be very good.
There had been many people who seemed outstanding in Qinghe town, but that ended up not being much when they went to the county seat. And that wasn’t even mentioning the fact that Su Tang hadn’t heard anything about Wang Xiaotian through her own channels. After all, she was currently living quite close to the academy and many of her customers were students of the academy, so if Wang Xiaotian were actually considered a top-notch student in the academy she probably would have heard about it, right?
However, she couldn’t say all this to Su Yongshun to comfort him. After all, because of the Su family’s deeply ingrained respect for scholars they all naturally felt inferior in front of ‘someone who was studying’, and their hearts were all full of fear that Wang Xiaotian would really manage to rise up and then come back to retaliate even further against the Su family.
Even Su Yongqiang thought this way, which was why he had been working hard to let his eldest grandson study and learn. After all, he also wanted his little grandson to find a road to success through studying so that the whole Su family could rely on him.
But Su Tang wasn’t a person who could be satisfied with such passive methods. Rather, if someone was blocking her way, she was the type who would flatten the person together with the road before moving on. But she also wasn’t in a hurry. She was content to take things one step at a time.
“Well, as to what Fuhua said, whether or not Wang Changhe will be grateful is his business, but what move our Su family makes next is our business. You should all rest assured that by doing things this way, Wang Changhe will finally have an excuse to completely cut off the Sun family’s impossible dreams, which is actually a good thing for everyone.”
Su Tang said a few random words and changed things around until the event was actually a good thing for everyone. Su Yongshun was still uncertain and felt that something was off, but Madam Qin and Madam Wen were both convinced and felt that Su Tang’s logic contained a certain degree of truth to it.
Moreover, they were all women, so they clearly understood the little tricks Chen Xiuxiu was trying to pull. The woman obviously had a motive for coming to entangle with them again and again. On top of that, many people had recently been saying that the Su family was acting too cowardly. After all, they had all watched Chen Xiuxiu come and take away those pieces of satin last time, and now she was back and fearlessly bullying the Su family again.
Of course, people could live while a little short of breath, but who would be willing to suffocate? Madam Qin quickly interjected to agree, “Tang girl is right. Let’s do it that way when we go back. We won’t ask anyone to be grateful to us, but we also can’t just let ourselves be bullied casually like this.”
Su Tang smiled. “Sister-in-law, your thinking is right. After all, Sujia Village is named so because of our Su family, but too many people have forgotten that fact. But even if others forget we, the Su family, can’t forget it ourselves.”
Su Yongshun saw that his wife seemed to agree with Su Tang’s thinking and glanced at his eldest son. Su Fu’an was smarter and calmer compared to his brother, but even he was nodding along in agreement. Su Yongshun realized that he seemed to be the only one who had doubts, so he didn’t say anything further.
As for Su Fu’an, even if the matter was a little unclear to him, he would still agree with Su Tang’s suggestions. This was because he had noticed that ever since Su Tang and her brother had been pulled out of the river back then there was something different about them.
Moreover, people said that Su Tang and her brother had an adverse fate, but reality showed that their days were only getting better and better. Thus, Su Fu’an had larger considerations in mind than these small conflicts with Chen Xiuxiu.
“Aunt Tang, you said you have something to talk with my parents about, right? What did you need to say?” Su Fu’an was keenly aware that whatever matter Su Tang had, it might be an opportunity for his family.
Seeing that Su Fu’an had opened his mouth to ask about this, Su Tang sent him a brief look. She suddenly recalled that back when she and her brother had been sacrificed to the River God, it was Su Fu’an who had come up with the idea to let them be adopted into Su Laochaun’s household. This ‘nephew’ of hers had really been helping them all along.
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tl begging corner:
tl note: Here’s a brief overview of the student hierarchy in ancient china, per wikapedia:
Child student (Tongsheng) Exam Taken: At County/Prefectural level; Annually (February/April)
Student member (Shengyuan) Exam Taken: At local school; Triennial (once every three years)
-Granary student (1st class)
-Expanded student (2nd class)
-Attached student (3rd class)
Recommended man (Juren) Exam Taken: Province Level; Triennial
-Top escorted examinee (1st rank)
Tribute scholar (Gongshi) Exam Taken: In Metropolitan Area; Triennial
-Top conference examinee (1st rank)
Advanced scholar (Jinshi) Exam Taken: At the Palace; Triennial
-Top thesis author (1st rank)
-Eyes positioned alongside (2nd rank)
-Flower snatcher (3rd rank)
Thank you!