Chapter 15: What a Coincidence!
After the student from Tianqing Academy answered the question correctly and explained it in detail, no one continued to look for trouble, and the next match continued on stage.
As for the information about the student who answered the question correctly, Gu Yu didn’t need to inquire from others, as the news automatically reached him.
Once Director Qingshan knew the news, Gu Yu also knew about it immediately.
“Gu Yu, that student’s performance just now was quite good! I’ve already obtained his basic situation. It turns out he’s the son of the esteemed Academician Tao Junhao, Tao Linleng.”
“Oh? That official position is the same as my father-in-law’s. He’s quite a significant figure! But why isn’t he studying in the capital, and instead came to an academy in the prefecture?”
“I heard it’s because he’s rebellious and has done all sorts of evil, causing a notorious reputation in the academies in the capital, to the point where no one dares to take him in anymore. Therefore, he had no choice but to come and study at the nearest prefecture. Fortunately, he’s very good at his studies, and after passing the imperial examination and achieving success, he can return to the capital.”
“I see.”
Hearing Director Qingshan reveal Tao Linleng’s basic information, Gu Yu was surprised that Tao Linleng was actually a problem youth who had now been sent down to the prefectural city.
However, looking at his performance just now, he was indeed quite intelligent.
Afterward, the matches continued, but there were no particularly outstanding figures, which made the onlookers feel that it was too unexciting!
Although the quality of students in this Academy Competition was much better than last time, after Gu Qingheng’s shocking performance that stunned everyone, and then the problem youth Tao Linleng’s follow-up, it continued to build anticipation for the subsequent matches, wondering if more geniuses would appear!
But, unfortunately…
Currently, only Gu Qingheng and Tao Linleng were considered to be outstanding.
Although the others were also good, they couldn’t be compared to these two, as the gap was too significant.
Even during the second round of matches, Gu Qingheng and Tao Linleng’s brilliant performances were the same, and no one could match these two.
When the host invited the advisory board and randomly posed various questions on the spot for students from different academies to answer, if they answered three or more questions correctly, they would qualify for the third round of matches.
If they answered fewer than three questions correctly, they would have to say goodbye to the Academy Competition.
As soon as the advisory board announced the questions, Gu Qingheng and Tao Linleng, facing this situation, answered the questions directly without any hesitation.
Subsequently, they didn’t make a single mistake and successfully passed the second round of selection, entering the third round of matches.
Just as everyone was thinking that these two would clash in the third round of matches, leading to a fierce battle, Gu Yu’s attention was drawn to another person.
This made him think… What a coincidence, to meet Shun Yang in this place.
Since Gu Qingheng appeared in Director Qingshan’s sight, Director Qingshan hadn’t been unprepared. He had learned about the Gu family’s basic situation immediately.
After investigating in detail, he naturally knew about the grievances between the Yang family and the Gu family. Therefore, Director Qingshan had been wrestling with whether to admit Yang Shun, as pressure, as well as motivation, to urge Gu Qingheng to study well.
With Yang Shun’s talent, he could barely be admitted to Qingshan Academy to study.
However, after thinking for a day, Director Qingshan finally rejected Yang Shun’s admission application.
Gu Qingheng was undoubtedly a good seedling for studying; it was better not to let pests in, to avoid accidents during his growth that could lead to him going astray in the future.
As the director now, he could only guarantee to water him on time every day and provide a very quiet learning environment, so that Gu Qingheng would not be bothered by other things and thus be unable to focus on his studies.
This, consequently, led to Yang Shun being unable to enter Qingshan Academy to study. In a fit of anger, he went to study at the academy in the prefecture, thus appearing in the Academy Competition today.
However, Gu Yu had been somewhat uninspired by the first round of matches, so he hadn’t noticed that Yang Shun was also participating.
It wasn’t until the second round of matches, when the academy Yang Shun was in was directly eliminated, and a group of people were shouting wildly, that Gu Yu noticed Yang Shun was also here.
And upon learning that he had failed the second round of matches and could not enter the third round, Yang Shun’s expression was also very displeased. Just as he was contemplating his misfortune, he turned his head and met Gu Yu’s half-smiling face, which made Yang Shun feel even more upset.
Originally, Yang Shun had been living quite happily in the prefecture.
With Old Man Yang providing the money, and lacking nothing in terms of food and clothing, Yang Shun greatly enjoyed his days studying in the prefecture.
He even had a fantasy of being a local resident of the prefecture, not a country bumpkin who had to haggle over every copper coin.
This way, he wouldn’t have to return to the poor village of Yang Family Village, spending his life with the loess, living as a poor person.
However, these were just thoughts.
When Yang Shun saw the generous spending of his classmates, who spent hundreds of taels at once, he was filled with envy, wishing that this silver was his.
But when Yang Shun saw that he only had a dozen taels of silver in his purse, he immediately shattered his beautiful dream and brought himself back to reality.
Although he was dissatisfied with having so little money at the moment, Yang Shun did not blame himself. Instead, he decided that during his time studying in the prefecture, he must find a way to make money.
As the saying goes, hard work pays off.
While Yang Shun was diligently researching how to make money quickly, he truly found a good method, which was to help people in the academy cheat.
The other party would get high scores, and Yang Shun would receive a “hardship fee” of tens of taels of silver.
Thus, by helping others cheat and earning a lot of silver, Yang Shun’s life in the prefecture became more and more comfortable, gradually integrating into the local scholar circles, and even gaining some fame.
Just like this Academy Competition, Yang Shun was originally full of confidence to win the championship, but he did not expect to be eliminated in the second round.
Moreover, he was seen by Gu Yu!
When Gu Yu appeared here with Director Qingshan, Yang Shun had already seen him.
However, his ingrained habit of despising Gu Yu from childhood made Yang Shun continue to look down on Gu Yu.
Not to mention, after living in the prefecture for a while, Yang Shun felt even more that he and Gu Yu, who was still a country ruffian, were not from the same world.
But, as this thought emerged, Gu Yu, along with Director Qingshan, sat on the judge’s bench, receiving enthusiastic attention from all directions.
Why!!!
Why did Gu Yu always have to be one step ahead of him in Yang Family Village, and why were the Magistrate of Lian Town and Director Qingshan so enthusiastic in helping Gu Yu? Now, after arriving in the prefecture, Gu Yu had directly taken a seat on the judge’s bench. This result was truly unacceptable.
Why was Gu Yu so lucky!
Thinking of this, Yang Shun glared venomously at Gu Yu, who was sitting in his chair. Their eyes met for a few seconds, and then, as Gu Yu smirked and raised his eyebrows, his provocative intention was very clear.
Gu Yu had never taken people like Yang Shun to heart. He simply felt that such minor characters were not worth bothering with.
In television dramas, they wouldn’t even last a few episodes.
…
“After a considerable amount of time, we have finally completed the first two rounds of matches and are about to usher in the third round. Before that, let us once again thank Tianqing Academy, Chaxiang Academy, Hongguo Academy, Lin… In addition to the strong support from the above academies, we also thank the Prefect for his attention to this Academy Competition, along with his officials. Truly, it makes people…”
After the host finished his long speech, the onlookers also became excited.
After waiting for such a long time, the final showdown was finally about to begin.
Now, the confrontation between Gu Qingheng and Tao Linleng, what would be the outcome!
“Alright, I won’t say any more nonsense. Now, I invite the students from the eight academies who passed the second round of matches to come on stage. Everyone, please welcome them!”
“The eight academies that passed are Qingshan Academy, Aofeng Academy, Tianqing Academy, Lanxiu Academy, Qidian Academy, Songnan Academy, Shanbao Academy, and Dongqing Academy. The third round of matches is different from the previous two rounds. Two academies will be paired against each other, and then the opponent will set the questions to determine the winner and continue to the next match.”
“The third round is an elimination system. The eight academies will be divided into four groups, and then two groups will remain for the final competition. We do not know who will emerge victorious, so let us wait and see!”
After the host spoke loudly, the scene was brought to a fever pitch. Then, after the eight academies appeared, they continued to draw lots to choose their opponents.
During this period, Gu Qingheng’s Qingshan Academy and Tao Linleng’s Tianqing Academy, whether by chance or design, did not face each other and were both left to the end.
After all other academies were eliminated, only Qingshan Academy and Tianqing Academy remained on stage to compete for the final championship.
It was at this moment that Gu Qingheng and Tao Linleng finally met each other.
“Gu Qingheng, I hope you don’t disappoint me.”
“Don’t worry, I definitely won’t disappoint you.”
As soon as the two met and Tao Linleng spoke first, Gu Qingheng couldn’t help but smile, his cute little face full of confident expression, showing no fear.
This made Tao Linleng look forward to the match with Gu Qingheng, believing it would be absolutely brilliant.
This made his wait worthwhile, as he could finally compete with Gu Qingheng!
If it were any other time, Tao Linleng would not have been willing to participate in such a troublesome competition. He would have preferred to have fun with cockfighting and bird whistles, which would have been more comfortable and leisurely.
However, after Gu Qingheng’s shocking performance at the very beginning, Tao Linleng’s heart began to beat rapidly, thinking that he had finally met a worthy opponent.
…
Late night update, ahhh, the author doesn’t want to stay up late.
