Study System: I'm a 38-Year-Old Student-Chapter 72 - 66: In the Courtyard Stands a Pipa Tree, Planted by My Wife the Year She Passed Away
Wang Yunpeng rolled his eyes in despair: "Brother Xiao, why don’t you just stick your certificate on your forehead?"
"So you don’t have to talk about it every single time!"
Shen Yixiao looked entirely innocent: "Hey, we just brought it up in conversation."
"It’s not like I have to mention the fact that I got third place in the school’s English Vocabulary Contest."
Wang Yunpeng was utterly speechless: "I’m out."
"Time to go back for the exam!"
"Brother Peng, can’t we chat a bit more...?"
Shen Yixiao, on the other hand, was still not satisfied.
But Wang Yunpeng walked briskly, quickly returning to Exam Room 9. After entering the classroom, he glanced at Shen Yanran’s seat first.
She was chatting with the girl sitting next to her, apparently comparing answers for the math test.
Shen Yanran’s delicate eyebrows were tightly knit, as if she hadn’t done very well.
Wang Yunpeng scratched the back of his head, a little troubled. This teenager in the throes of adolescence hadn’t yet tasted the pain of love, but was already experiencing the suffering of a secret crush.
At that moment, Zhang Xia and Xu JianShe entered the classroom again.
The examinees immediately sat properly in their seats.
This period’s test was English.
Once the exam papers were handed out, the listening section began to play.
Shen Qiushan really hadn’t practiced listening much before, but thanks to his vast vocabulary and mastery of all sorts of grammar, which he knew inside out—
The listening section wasn’t difficult for Shen Qiushan. He was even pleasantly surprised to find that, once your vocabulary was huge, listening to English actually felt about the same as listening to Chinese.
It’s a bit like listening to Xiangjiang people speak Mandarin—it’s "plastic Mandarin," but you can still understand what’s being said.
Listening section over.
Shen Qiushan figured he shouldn’t have a problem getting the 30 points here.
Next up was the written section.
Shen Qiushan answered it smoothly, bulldozing his way from the first multiple-choice question through to the reading comprehension without running into anything he couldn’t handle.
Then came the final essay.
The topic: Suppose you are Li Ming, a senior at Sanjiang High School. The school is holding a speech with the theme "A Low-Carbon Campus, Starting with Me."
Please write a speech script.
When reviewing English before, Shen Qiushan had memorized two collections of model English essays.
He searched his mind and immediately found a similar template essay.
Very soon, the English essay was done.
Shen Qiushan glanced at the time.
Out of 120 minutes exam time, only just over 70 had passed.
What a cheat—truly invincible!
Shen Qiushan marveled to himself, then checked over the entire test again from the beginning.
With half an hour still left in the exam, he handed in his paper and left the exam room.
Damn!
That quick again!
Zhou Yu, sitting next to Shen Qiushan, had just finished the reading comprehension and hadn’t even read the essay topic yet.
The rest of the students in the classroom also unconsciously glanced at Shen Qiushan.
When he handed in his math paper early, almost everyone had assumed it was because he couldn’t finish it.
After all, asking a middle-aged guy to solve high school math problems is a bit cruel.
But English was different.
The school-wide English Vocabulary Contest last week made him a legend overnight.
Shen Qiushan was known as the "God of English" at school!
So, this time Shen Qiushan handing in his English test so early only strengthened his image as the God of English.
Zhang Xia looked at the tall figure leaving the classroom, quickly picked up Shen Qiushan’s answer sheet; she herself had graduated from a 985 university and her English was decent.
She flipped straight to the essay and read it through—she couldn’t pick out any flaws. It could practically be used as a model answer.
No wonder the students call him the God of English!
He really does have the skills.
Zhang Xia quietly marveled in her heart.
At the same time, she gained some more admiration for Shen Qiushan.
Not going to college wasn’t his fault.
It was the fault of the times.
The fault of admissions policy!
To maintain such a high level even into middle age—
You can just imagine how dazzlingly talented he must have been when he was young!
Maybe it really was family hardship that kept him from college. 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮
Looks like I should learn more about his family circumstances.
Zhang Xia’s gaze unconsciously landed on Shen Yanran. If she wanted to understand Shen Qiushan’s family situation, Yanran was definitely the easiest way in...
Meanwhile, elsewhere.
Shen Qiushan hummed a little tune as in he walked into the school cafeteria.
The reason he handed in the test half an hour early was to get to the cafeteria ahead of the crowd. With classes still in session, the place would be quiet, and he wouldn’t even have to queue for food on the first floor.
He’d gotten a bit sick of the stir-fried dishes in the staff cafeteria on the second floor, but the large stews on the first floor remained a nice novelty every now and then.
He grabbed a tray and ordered salted egg chicken wings, braised pork ribs, and stir-fried romaine with shiitake mushrooms.
Then he scooped up 200g of rice and ladled a bowl of free egg drop soup.
Shen Qiushan had planned to just grab a random seat, but as he scanned the cafeteria, he suddenly spotted a Little Mushroom Head sitting alone in the corner.
He remembered this Little Mushroom Head—she was a top student from the Celestial Pride Class, who had taken first prize at the school-wide English Vocabulary Contest along with him.
The fact that the little Mushroom Head got to the cafeteria even before him meant she’d finished her test even earlier.
No wonder she’s a top student!
She could almost keep up with someone on a cheat mode!
Shen Qiushan marveled to himself again, then walked straight over to her table, setting his tray down across from her.
Xu Pipa, who’d been munching on her bun with her head down, felt her line of sight blocked. She looked up and saw Shen Qiushan.
"Uncle, the tables next to us are all empty,"
Xu Pipa frowned, reminding him.
Shen Qiushan hadn’t expected this little Mushroom Head to be prickly. He laughed, "I like quiet corners too."
"Oh."
Xu Pipa was like a prickly little hedgehog, but didn’t actually have much sting.
Since Shen Qiushan answered like that, she didn’t say more, and went back to eating her bun.
Shen Qiushan glanced at her tray and was immediately shocked.
Xu Pipa only had one bun, a bowl of free seaweed egg drop soup, and a small pinch of pickled mustard greens.
You could tell the pickles were homemade. Counting the half-eaten bun in her hand, it meant she’d only bought two buns for this whole meal.
Back at the award ceremony, Shen Qiushan had noticed Little Mushroom Head was from a struggling family, but he hadn’t thought it was this bad.
At the same time, Shen Qiushan realized why she wanted to hand in her exam paper so early.
The earlier you hand in the test, the fewer people there are in the cafeteria. For teenagers, self-esteem is at its peak.
So this little Mushroom Head wanted to sneak in and gnaw on her buns and pickles while the cafeteria was at its emptiest.
But she had just won first place—and a 2000 yuan scholarship—in the school-wide English Vocabulary Contest last week!
Because Shen Qiushan wasn’t officially registered at Sanjiang High School, the 2000 yuan scholarship went solely to Xu Pipa.
With a 2000 yuan scholarship, she shouldn’t be unable to afford a proper lunch.
Unless... she had other difficulties she couldn’t talk about.
"We’re sort of fellow winners, right? What’s your name again?"
Shen Qiushan had forgotten Little Mushroom Head’s name and asked her directly.
"Xu Pipa."
Little Mushroom Head answered with her name, still chewing on her bun.
Xu Pipa!
Shen Qiushan repeated her name silently to himself.
His expression suddenly grew heavy.
Lately, he’d been reviewing Chinese, reading a ton of classical poetry.
In Gui Youguang’s Ming dynasty essay Xiang Jixuan’s Record, there’s a line: "There is a loquat tree in the yard; it was planted by my wife with her own hands the year she died. Now it has grown tall and its leaves spread like a canopy."
In other words: In the courtyard there is a loquat tree, planted by my wife the year she died. Now it stands tall, its branches and leaves spreading wide as a cover.
If the person who named Xu Pipa knew about Xiang Jixuan’s Record, then this is probably a rather sad story.
Combined with Xu Pipa’s family’s poverty, Shen Qiushan’s guess was probably correct.
That is, the year Xu Pipa was born, her mother passed away.
So she was given this name.
