And that was only the situation inside the inner hall. The outer hall was even more complicated.
The news that Chen Nansheng, as the top student of the outer hall, had passed the children's examination to enter the inner hall with his tuition waived had genuinely inspired a large number of students to apply themselves and study hard.
But there were also students who harbored the wishful thinking of getting sothing for nothing, hoping to fish out the secrets of cultivation thods from inner hall students.
These new inner hall students were still largely muddled themselves, but in the eyes of the outer hall students they already appeared to be unfathomable figures of another world.
"Mr. Li! Mr. Li! This is our young miss's embroidered pouch. She forgot it at ho this morning. Would you mind..."
As Miss Tang Xiaoxue's study companion, Li Qiuchen had taken on an additional duty beyond the normal coursework.
To put it simply, he had beco an express delivery service.
Students who could afford inner hall tuition fees were almost without exception from well-off households, and having a study companion or page boy was entirely ordinary.
Study companions were easy to find, but Li Qiuchen was the only one who had passed the children's examination and made it into the inner hall.
Things were simpler on the boys' side. Li Qiuchen's scores were real and solid, and no one felt comfortable ordering him around over trivial matters.
The girls' side was another story entirely.
They made more demands, had thicker skin, and spoke in the sweetest possible terms.
Given the school's strict rules forbidding girls from initiating contact with other male students, they had turned Li Qiuchen, with his unique position, into an all-purpose wishing machine.
One day this girl had forgotten her face powder, the next day that girl hadn't brought her snacks, and there was always soone who had left a textbook at ho.
Every day after classes let out, Li Qiuchen had to spend a considerable amount of ti running errands for these young misses.
The mont he stepped out the door, a flock of chattering little maids would swarm around him, each holding so assortnt of small items.
A good portion of it was snacks.
"Don't all crowd at once. One at a ti!"
Li Qiuchen couldn't bring himself to get annoyed at these little maids. Their mouths were just too sweet, and every single one of them kept eyeing him with undisguised interest.
An actual proper scholar was too high above their station to even dream about, but for a student with Li Qiuchen's unusual standing, a girl couldn't help letting her imagination wander a little.
What if, right? A person had to have at least so dreams.
"Mr. Li, these are pastries I made myself yesterday. Would you try one?"
For example, this was the more direct sort.
A pastry box weighing two jin, as if she wasn't worried about feeding her young miss into a pig.
The young miss would take one bite and stop eating. What was left would naturally find its way into the possession of little Manager Li.
Then there were the more subtle ones. Saying with their mouths that they were bringing sothing in for their young miss, but reaching out a hand and insisting on making finger contact with little Manager Li, red-faced and head bowed without a word.
Sister, that was quite forward of you, I have to say.
Who exactly was taking advantage of whom here?
"Sa as always."
Li Qiuchen produced a basket from behind him without changing his expression. This much space and no more. Seven or eight of you can work out among yourselves how to pack it. I only have two hands. I can't carry more than that.
And don't just stuff everything in like you're feeding a pig. It's not as if she won't be ho again after school. If I dare bring all this in, aren't you worried your young miss will be laughed at when others see?
"Mr. Li, our young miss caught a chill yesterday. The doctor said she needs to take her dicine on ti. This was just freshly brewed..."
"Alright, I'll bring it in."
"Thank you so much, Mr. Li."
"Don't ntion it."
Li Qiuchen picked up the basket and was about to head back inside when he noticed, standing behind the cluster of little maids, a young boy with a sword strapped to his back.
Worn and tattered clothes, an old padded jacket. One look told you he was not from any wealthy household.
"Brother, a mont please!"
Seeing Li Qiuchen about to leave, the boy finally summoned the courage to call out, which drew sideways glances from the maids on all sides.
The boy's face, already reddened from the cold, went even redder.
Li Qiuchen stopped and waved for the others to clear a path.
"You're calling ?"
"Excuse , brother. Is this where the immortal sect is?"
"What?"
Li Qiuchen hadn't yet processed the question when the maids around them burst into laughter.
"An immortal sect, hahaha..."
People like him, coming from the countryside in search of immortal paths, were not an uncommon sight in Yun County. Especially in the outer hall, quite a few students had their hearts set on sohow slipping into the inner hall to seek an immortal connection. To outsiders it looked a bit like madness.
Li Qiuchen didn't laugh, because he had co down this sa road himself. He had simply been luckier than most.
"May I ask your na?"
"My humble surna is Bai."
Li Qiuchen walked up to him and asked quietly, "This place is the county school. What kind of immortal sect were you looking for specifically, Brother Bai?"
The boy was taken aback for a mont, then explained hurriedly, "I heard there is a legendary immortal sect in Yun County that openly recruits disciples and teaches the arts of longevity. I ca specifically to take a master."
"Who told you this?"
"I... I heard it from a cart driver..."
A cart driver, aning one of the n who drove the big horse carts, the trade that Huzi's father worked.
Apparently aware of how unreliable that source sounded, the boy lowered his head, his face full of embarrassnt.
Li Qiuchen smiled and said, "If that is the kind of sect you're looking for, then you haven't co to entirely the wrong place, Brother Bai."
"Is that true?"
The boy's face lit up with delight, "I wish to take a master at an immortal sect. Could I trouble you to make an introduction?"
Li Qiuchen shook his head and said, "The county school's inner hall has three conditions for admission. May I ask where you are from, and whether your family background is of good standing?"
"Uh... it must be of good standing? What counts as good standing?"
"Have you studied, Brother Bai?"
"Studied... not properly, no."
"Do you have one hundred taels of silver for the tuition fee?"
"You have to pay money too?"
Li Qiuchen asked three questions, and the look of excitent that had just appeared on the boy's face faded at a visible rate.
"There are other possibilities, though."
"What other possibilities?"
The boy unslung the rust-spotted iron sword from his back, clinging to one last thread of hope, "I have practiced the sword since I was small and have trained in martial arts my whole life. Is there any chance with that?"
Li Qiuchen didn't answer.
Watching Li Qiuchen's calm and steady gaze, the boy gave two hollow laughs and sheepishly put the sword away.
"Is there anything else?"
"How much money do you have on you right now?"
The boy reached into his coat and felt around for a long while, producing only five copper coins. He knew himself it was embarrassing and kept his head down, the coins clutched in his palm.
Li Qiuchen sighed, "With that amount of money, never mind cultivating to beco an immortal. Have you even thought about what you're going to eat tomorrow morning?"
The boy smiled sheepishly, "If it really cos to it I'll just beg for food. I'm a grown person, I won't starve."
Li Qiuchen turned to look at the cluster of maids who still hadn't left and were lingering to watch the spectacle, "Little Yingzi, give
that box of sugar-glazed sesa cakes."
Little Yingzi, the sa maid who had been trying to feed her young miss like a pig, imdiately pushed the remaining sesa cakes over without hesitation, "Mr. Li, take all of them. If it's not enough I'll go ho and make more."
"That's plenty. Thank you."
Li Qiuchen turned around and handed the bamboo container of sesa cakes to the boy. The boy imdiately waved both hands, "No need, no need. I'm not hungry..."
"You really don't want them?"
The boy hesitated for a mont, then said with an awkward laugh, "When I said I'd go beg for food just now, I was joking. That would be too humiliating."
"Would it really be that humiliating?"
Li Qiuchen asked in return, "Doesn't failing to take a master and starving to death in the street sound a lot more humiliating?"
[NEXT CHAPTER]
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