Chapter Sixteen: The Number One Scholar of Jiangnan

  Xu Xian stood at the entrance of this ancient version of a university cafeteria, took a deep breath, and the aroma of food filled his nose, feeling a deep sense of satisfaction. The life of having no worries about food and clothing in his past life didn't bring him much joy, but only after losing it did he know to cherish it!

  At this time a middle-aged man with a green beard walked into the small cafeteria, and wherever he went, students bowed and called out "Mr."

  That middle-aged man was elegant and refined, with a face like jade, obviously well-maintained. He was the teacher who lectured in class today. At this moment, he was no longer as solemn and serious as he was in class, but had a smile on his face, slightly nodding his head, showing extraordinary demeanor. He was a famous Confucian scholar in Jiangnan, said to have been known as the number one talented young man in Jiangnan when he was young.

  Li Si Ming had just sat down when he saw Pan Yu standing at the door, his eyes lit up and with a flourish of his sleeves, he rushed towards Pan Yu saying: "Come come come, Pan Yu, you this 'rear' Jiangnan's number one talented scholar coming to the academy without paying respects to me this 'front' Jiangnan's number one talented scholar, is too impolite."

  Pan Yulang smiled and said: "Students only know there is a first, but do not know what comes before or after." As he spoke, he pulled Xu Xian to sit down beside Li Siming's desk, clearly being extremely familiar.

  "It's really 'the apprentice surpasses the master', I recall that in the past, as a teacher, I was known for my literary talent and heroic spirit, but now it seems that getting to sit down is not that easy."

  Pan Yuxi laughed and said, "I've heard your story from back then eight hundred times already. Let's see how my skills are this year, whether I can sit in the position of Jiangnan's number one talented scholar."

  "Alright, alright, alright. It seems I still have some of the heroic spirit from my younger years. Let's see how you perform this year." Li Si Ming said three "goods" in a row, clearly extremely pleased.

  Xu Xian looked at him strangely, Pan Yu who was usually humble suddenly spoke out of line, and what he said didn't make much sense either. He couldn't help but ask: "Ming Yu, is there something going on this year?"

  Pan Yu had not yet responded when Li Si Ming hastily said: "You must be Xu Xian! A precious jade does not accompany a worthless stone, if you are without talent or virtue then stay far away from me, the number one talented scholar of Jiangnan, lest you bring trouble upon yourself." After finishing speaking, he took a sip of tea and didn't even glance at Xu Xian.

  Xu Xian scratched his head, what kind of person is this? He glanced apologetically at Pan Yu, who was about to make excuses for him. But Xu Xian turned around and looked seriously at Song Si Ming, then slowly stretched out his right hand, suddenly peeled off his eyelid, stuck out his tongue and made a ghostly face at Song Si Ming.

  "Pffft! Cough... cough, cough!" Li Siming spat out the tea he hadn't swallowed yet, his face turned bright red as he coughed uncontrollably. The eyes of everyone in the cafeteria were drawn to him, while Xu Xian smiled innocently and gestured to the crowd that it was just an accident.

  Because the table was in a corner, only Li Siming and Pan Yu saw Xu Xian's ghost face. Pan Yu patted Li Siming on the back while giving Xu Xian a white eye, but his face couldn't help but show a smile.

  Li Si Ming's cough finally stopped, Pan Yu sat back in her original position and glared at Xu Xian again. She now understood the meaning of Xu Xian's gaze earlier. She thought to herself: Who says that honest people are easy to bully? There is one person who cannot be bullied.

  It turned out that Li Si Ming, who had finally calmed down from the pain of being choked by water, smiled and said to Pan Yu: "Good, good, good. It seems I underestimated him. This kid has a few more points of arrogance than you." He then turned his face to Xie Xian and said: "Now we're even. My whole life, I've hated the weak and incompetent. It looks like you're barely passable."

  Pan Yu explained on the side: "Hanwen, Mr. Li also has a nickname called 'crazy Confucian', with a personality that is unbridled, what he said earlier was just a joke, don't take it to heart."

  Xu Xian shrugged, indicating that he didn't care. Li Si Ming's eyes lit up, feeling that this action was very special and had an inexplicable elegance to it. He praised: "Suddenly added but not surprised, unexpectedly added but not angry. At such a young age, you already have such a temperament, it's truly rare. Just now I was just testing your character, don't mind." After speaking, he used tea as wine and punished himself with a cup.

  Xu Xian said with a strange expression: "Test me? How will you test?"

  He muttered to himself: It seems that people of a certain age all love this set! However, if you really want to talk about age, Xu Xian, who has been through two lifetimes, is also approaching the age of not being perplexed. But the age in his heart still has a lot to do with his living environment. Without experiencing marriage and childbirth, he can't be considered an uncle-level character after all.

  Li Si Ming burst out laughing and said, "If you were to flare up in anger and retort back, it would prove that your temperament is not sufficient. If you were to consider my status and forcibly restrain yourself, it would prove that your thoughts are dark and sinister."

  Xu Xian was speechless, and no matter how he thought about it, it didn't add up. He simply said, "What if I beat you up?"

  Li Si Ming waved his fist and sneered: "Look at your thin arms and legs, I'm afraid you're not my match."

  Xu Xian turned to Pan Yu and said, "Mingyu, Mr. Li doesn't have any twin brothers or anything like that, does he?" Seeing the learned scholar turn into a scoundrel, Xu Xian couldn't help but feel a bit unbearable about this change.

  Pan Yu just smiled and shook his head, finding it quite interesting. Li Si Ming's character of being good at teasing was still relatively common in modern times, but in ancient times, especially among Confucian scholars, it was a rare animal. Even Pan Yu, who was good at socializing, often felt unsure of how to get along with him.

  Xu Xian had a feeling of meeting an old friend in a foreign land, and after traveling through time for so long, he unexpectedly met an ancient person with such a modern air about him, it was a pleasant surprise, and he spoke even more casually.

  Li Si Ming, on the other hand, was increasingly surprised and delighted as they chatted. He often inadvertently brought up Xu Xian's modern perspective, which made him feel extremely pleased with himself. As their conversation became more engaging, he even forgot to eat his meal.

  Pan Yu watched from the side as the big and small brows flew in conversation, occasionally coldly ridiculing each other with a few sentences. Sometimes the sharp acid cut so deeply that even Pan Yu secretly frowned, but the two of them lightly passed it over, as if they didn't care at all.

  A group of people were chatting, and I was isolated to one side, a feeling that hadn't been experienced in a long time. Pan Yu looked at Mr. Li, who was full of spirit, having followed him to read books since he was over ten years old, seeing him argue with others many times, but rarely having such pleasant conversations like now. Even if they did, most of the time it would be about history, poetry, or literature, not like now, talking nonsense without any substance.

  Xu Xian, Xu Xian, what kind of person are you after all?

  If Pan Yu is still thinking, then there is one person who has already determined what kind of person Xu Xian is. Xia Zi Qi has been paying attention to him since Xu Xian came in earlier, and now seeing him so familiar with Mr. Li, he has concluded that Xu Xian must be a well-connected person, otherwise he wouldn't have been so "disrespectful" to the son of a circuit judge like himself.

  "Hmph, just a small-time teacher, does he really think he's some kind of big shot?" Xia Ziqi sneered to himself.

  In the official school, the teacher was also of a certain rank. Li Si Ming was half a rank higher than the eighth rank of Tong Pan, but he had no real power and naturally couldn't get the attention of someone like Xia Zi Qi, who was from a powerful family. Although Tong Pan's rank wasn't high, he held the position of supervisor, so even the county governor would show him respect, not to mention ordinary minor officials, who would all be very deferential when they saw him. Living in such an environment, it was inevitable that Xia Zi Qi would become arrogant and look down on others. Today, being teased by Xu Xian, he felt extremely humiliated and would definitely not let the matter drop.

  Xu Xian suddenly remembered Li Si Ming and Pan Yu's discussion earlier, and asked again: "What was the literary comparison you were talking about earlier? What is this 'Number One Scholar of Jiangnan' business?"

  "This is a grand occasion in the Jiangnan scholarly world, held once every three years, where the Xitian Book Academy gathers scholars from various academies in Jiangnan to engage in literary and poetic competitions by the West Lake. Whoever emerges victorious will be hailed as the number one scholar of Jiangnan, a title that, although unofficial, is highly esteemed by all major academies. Mr. Li had once debated with a group of scholars and was known as the previous generation's number one scholar of Jiangnan. Since it always takes place on the day of the First Snow Festival, this grand event is also referred to as the First Snow Examination!"

  Xu Xian raised an eyebrow, just like Li Si Ming: "Can this uncle also participate in the competition?" Because earlier Pan Yu called him the previous generation of Jiangnan's top talent, but this kind of competition should produce a new number one talent in Jiangnan each time!

  Pan Yu ignored Li Si Ming's strong dissatisfaction and smiled to explain: "Being the first in this competition doesn't necessarily mean becoming the 'Number One Scholar of Jiangnan', it has been a long time since there was such a thing as the 'Number One Scholar of Jiangnan'."

  Xu Xian suddenly understood what it meant to "suppress" the heroes, it wasn't just about being in first place, but rather being in an absolutely advantageous position. It was like during his previous life's high school days, every time there were annual exams, there would be a strong student who would always rank first with a terrifying score difference of several tens of points from the second place. In that state where everyone was desperately preparing for the college entrance exams, this kind of situation was simply unimaginable. Only someone like that could become the "Number One Scholar of Jiangnan".

  Xu Xian looked at Li Si Ming in surprise, not expecting such a ruthless uncle to have such strength. But thinking about his teaching level just now, he indeed had real skills and couldn't help but feel a few points of admiration.

  Li Si Ming enjoyed the admiring gaze of Xu Xian Pei, feeling very pleased with himself. He casually waved his hand and said, "It's all in the past now. This year, I think Pan Yu will definitely win the championship." Showing great confidence in Pan Yu.

  "Yes, the Yangtze River's rear waves push forward the front waves, and the front waves die on the beach. When a person is about to die, their words are good. I'd better care more about Mingyu!" Xuxian sighed and immediately ruined Mr. Song's good mood.

  Pan Yugou burst out laughing: "What died on the beach, don't talk nonsense in Chinese." Her stunning face suddenly melted like ice and snow at dawn, a thousand flowers blooming. Xu Xian didn't expect that his casual joke would bring about such a scene, and he was stunned, muttering to himself: "If it were really Zhu Yingtai, that would be great!"

  She immediately came to her senses and muttered ten times: I am not glass, I am not glass. Then she seriously said to herself: Xu Xian, you must be loyal to your future wife, don't indulge in male charm!