The Obligations of the Elderly - chapter 40

Chapter 39

Gong Si was now sitting in the Student Affairs Office of the High School Division at Ji Ling Academy.

He was taking an exam.

Sitting next to him was Xi Liu. Although Qiu Xia and Dong Chun had come with them, they were assigned to different Student Affairs Offices due to being in different grades.

They were probably taking exams as well.

“You two are transferring at this time of year-honestly, it’s a bit late. Coincidentally, it’s the time for our Academy’s midterm exams. For your entrance exam, we’ll simply use the same test as the other students. This way, you can see the academic progress of your peers, and we can assess your level of learning. How does that sound?” The Student Affairs Director greeted them with a cheerful smile as soon as they arrived.

What else could they do? Refusing wasn’t really an option.

So Gong Si and Xi Liu began their exam.

At first glance at the test paper, Gong Si was grateful he’d spent the previous nights cramming for exams. The papers here were truly difficult! Many questions even went beyond the scope of a typical second-year high school exam. Luckily, he was always diligent in his studies.

With his eyes fixed on the test, Gong Si gradually forgot everything around him.

Three hours later, after carefully checking his answers, he finally remembered to look up and see how Xi Liu was doing.

The moment he raised his head, he met Xi Liu’s dark eyes.

Sitting across from him, Xi Liu rested one hand on his knee, supporting half his face, staring at him without blinking.

“W-why are you looking at me like that?” Gong Si felt goosebumps rise on his back under Xi Liu’s intense gaze.

Caught in the act, Xi Liu didn’t bother to hide it. He smiled, “Waiting for you to hand in your paper.”

But did he have to stare so motionlessly like that?! Gong Si screamed internally.

However, this was the exam room, with the Proctor right beside them. Gong Si pursed his lips, stood up, and walked over to submit his paper.

Xi Liu followed, handing in his paper right after.

They waited a while longer, even had lunch in the Faculty Cafeteria, and by the time they returned, the exam results were already out.

“Both of you performed exceptionally well. Xi Liu achieved the top score in the grade, with outstanding marks in all subjects. Except for Chinese, he scored full marks across the board. In Chinese, he lost only one point, all on the final poetry question-this is extremely rare at Ji Ling Academy. Gong Si ranked thirty-seventh in the grade, and it’s worth mentioning that his Chinese score was exceptionally high, even higher than Xi Liu’s. Especially the prose poem at the end of the paper-it was truly remarkable!”

The Student Affairs Director praised their results enthusiastically: “I’m the Chinese teacher at Ji Ling Academy, and I personally graded your paper. That prose poem was simply beautiful! In my teaching career, I’ve rarely given full marks for the poetry section, but for your prose poem, I had to give full marks.”

He was especially pleased with Gong Si. While he maintained his composure with Xi Liu, he was visibly excited when speaking to Gong Si, looking as if he’d discovered a treasure: “I’m an advisor for one of the Academy’s Campus Journals. May I publish your prose poem in the journal?”

“The Ling Poetry Collection in our Campus Journal is a benchmark magazine in the poetry world. Although it only publishes works by our faculty and students, it’s distributed across the continent and highly regarded in the industry.” He went on to introduce the Academy’s Campus Journal.

“R-really? I-I’ve been a devoted fan of the Ling Poetry Collection since its first issue! I’ve read every edition!” Gong Si’s face flushed red-not just from the praise, but from sheer excitement!

“My favorite poet these past few years has been Moxi Weiya. Is he a teacher at the Academy? Could I get his autograph?!” Gong Si grew nervous at the mention of his idol.

“Is that so? My pen name in the Campus Journal is Moxi Weiya. You really admire my work?”

“O-of course! I…”

On one side, Gong Si and the Student Affairs Director were deep in enthusiastic conversation.

On the other, the newly crowned top student, Xi Liu, was left to the side by the two.

But with results like these, their admission was now a certainty.

“The teaching quality in Lengshui Town is truly impressive. Your scores show that you both have a solid foundation, but you’re not just rote learners. Each of you has strengths in certain subjects-talents that can’t be cultivated by exam-oriented education. It seems our Academy should consider recruiting from there in the future.”
“Next, you just need to go to the information entry department and get ready to start school.”

After stamping the “admission seal” on both of their Admission Letters, the Student Affairs Director personally escorted them out of the office.

“Lengshui Town? You changed your records to Lengshui Town?” Gong Si finally asked Xi Liu after they left the office.

Xi Liu simply nodded.

“They don’t know about your Director status?” Judging by their attitude, it didn’t seem like they knew.

“No, they just think we’re some kind of connected students, so at first their attitude was strictly business. Luckily, in the end, Vice Class Leader, your prose poem was so good it completely won that guy over.” Xi Liu said, glancing at Gong Si with a hint of grievance. “I never knew you wrote poetry so well before, or that you liked reading poetry magazines.”

“Lengshui Town’s Chinese exams don’t allow poetry!” Gong Si barked at him, his cheeks flushing slightly. “My family runs a used bookstore, right? There are lots of poetry magazines there. I liked reading them since I was little, and then I started trying to write my own.”

“I… actually always wanted to be a poet…” He muttered, his face growing even redder.

“Really? You told me before you wanted to be a doctor.” Xi Liu raised his eyebrows.

“That’s because doctors make more money! And Qiu Xia wants to be a doctor too. We even thought about opening a clinic together in the future. But it’s hard to be a poet, and even if you become one, you have to worry about making a living…”

Looking at the young man beside him, whose blush was fading as he spoke of his dreams and reality, Xi Liu suddenly reached out and ruffled his hair.

“Hey! What are you doing? My hairstyle is ruined!” The blush gone, Gong Si clutched his head and jumped around.

“You didn’t have a hairstyle before. I just gave you a trendy one.” Xi Liu said with a straight face.

“Really? You’re already seventy, and you still know what’s trendy?” Gong Si was skeptical.

Xi Liu: …

The two started horsing around again.

At the information entry office, they ran into Qiu Xia and Dong Chun. Both of them had also received their admission seals. Qiu Xia had achieved an impressive third place in the first year of high school, while Dong Chun hadn’t been so lucky. Before Ah Ji, he was the youngest, and he loved playing soccer. Even though his two older brothers tutored him every day, his grades were never particularly outstanding. This time, he barely made it, ranking 199th in his grade-just one spot away from the cutoff, since anyone ranked over 200 wouldn’t be admitted.

“Eldest Brother, my grades might be bad, but my Vessel scores are great! The teacher said my Vessel aptitude is excellent, and I can rank in the top fifty in the grade~” Afraid of being scolded, Dong Chun quickly brought up his praised area to his Eldest Brother.

“Second Brother Qiu Xia, what about you? What’s your User aptitude ranking? Is it awesome too?” Dong Chun asked his Second Brother, trying to divert his Eldest Brother’s attention.

Sure enough, Gong Si turned to look at Qiu Xia.

“Supposedly first in the grade, but User aptitude is growth-based, so it’s hard to say for the future.” Unlike his third brother, Qiu Xia was always steady and reserved.

“You got first in the grade and didn’t even mention it. That’s great, really great!” Gong Si slapped his Second Brother on the shoulder.

Qiu Xia just smiled modestly, his lashes lowered, looking as humble as ever.

“And you, bragging about being top fifty. Learn from your Second Brother-be low-key and humble, got it?” Gong Si took the chance to lecture his third brother.

Sticking out his tongue, Dong Chun hid behind Xi Liu and fell silent.

But-

“So there’s an aptitude assessment too? Why didn’t we get assessed?” Gong Si had noticed this earlier when Dong Chun mentioned it, and now he finally voiced his question.

But Qiu Xia and Dong Chun didn’t know either; they had no idea their Eldest Brother hadn’t been assessed for Ability User aptitude.

At this moment, Xi Liu took over with a cheerful smile: “Aren’t we already married? Married people and single folks aren’t treated the same, you know?”

“Get lost!” Gong Si retorted coldly.

Still smiling, Xi Liu continued more seriously: “Forming a contract proves both people are Ability Users. Besides, I’m a ruler. When Xie Kai came over before, I showed my ability certificate and told them about our contract. In this case, we can skip the aptitude test.”

“The aptitude test is for single Users and Vessels who haven’t formed a contract. Ji Ling Academy also admits outstanding non-Ability User students, so the aptitude test isn’t strictly mandatory.”
“This Academy is truly quite unique…” Gong Si commented, his finger brushing his chin.

“Mm, among all the specialized academies on the continent, Ji Ling Academy is the only one that also admits ordinary people. And unlike other academies, where as long as your abilities are outstanding you can enroll, here, even if your abilities are exceptional, if your academic development in various areas doesn’t meet the requirements, they still won’t let you in. It’s considered rather unconventional among academies,” Xi Liu explained.

“Sounds good,” Gong Si concluded. “From now on, you two should focus on your studies here.”

This last sentence was a reminder for his younger brothers.

Unlike Gong Si and Xi Liu, Qiu Xia and Dong Chun would be living on campus.

This had been decided long before they came to the Academy for the entrance exam, after the brothers discussed it together.

Having Xi Liu help find a school was already enough; after that, they didn’t plan to keep living at Xi Liu’s house. After all, it wasn’t their own home, and with so many servants waiting on them every day, and even needing someone to send them to school after classes started, Qiu Xia felt it wasn’t right.

Gong Si handed the bank card their parents had given him over to Second Brother for safekeeping: “Anyway, I’m bound to Xi Liu, I have to live with him, that’s non-negotiable. You guys living at school will need more money.”

“Ah Ji will stay with me for now. When he’s older and we’ve found a suitable place, we’ll move out together, and I’ll move too,” Gong Si arranged everything neatly.

They set a fixed day for the whole family to eat together at the Academy, and then Gong Si waved goodbye to his two younger brothers. After he and Xi Liu finished the information registration process, the two of them received their Ji Ling Academy Student Badges. These were both decorative and served as identification; entering and leaving the Academy, eating in the cafeteria-all relied on this. Then they learned which class they had been assigned to:

Class 3, Grade 11-the exact same class as they had in Lengshui Town.

“Let’s go to the classroom,” Gong Si said to Xi Liu, looking at the class name.

He seemed calm on the surface, but Xi Liu could see his nervousness:

“Don’t be nervous. Just treat it like a banquet-we’re simply guests who arrived late. Though we’re a little late, we’re no different from those who arrived earlier.”

“Is that your personal experience?” Gong Si tilted his head slightly, looking at Xi Liu.

If Xi Liu had been waking and sleeping off and on for seventy years, he must have transferred schools many times. Each time, it was a new environment, new classmates-he must always have been that “late guest.”

Suddenly, Gong Si remembered how Xi Liu looked when he first arrived-

Quiet and elegant, every gesture set him apart from the other boys his age, and his looks were striking: jet-black hair, snow-white skin, refined and generous features…

He seemed hard to approach ← That was what Gong Si thought at the time, chin propped up, watching coldly from below.

Others thought the same back then.

But after actually interacting with him, everyone changed their minds and said Xi Liu was very easy to get along with. Yet in Gong Si’s heart, his original impression remained-he still felt Xi Liu wasn’t easy to approach. How to put it? Lonely, perhaps?

Even though he seemed cheerful, always among people and able to talk to anyone, the sense of loneliness lingered.

Of course, every time he woke up, he had to “attend a banquet”-or rather, every time he woke, the outside world must seem like a grand banquet to Xi Liu.

People he knew all drifted out of sync with his own time, no more communication, no more relationships; each time he met new people, but the new ones would also part ways again…

Thinking of this, Gong Si couldn’t help but reach out and ruffle Xi Liu’s hair.

“Hey! What are you doing?” This time it was Xi Liu’s turn to clutch his head.

“Your hairstyle isn’t trendy enough, just fixing it for you,” Gong Si said, striding past Xi Liu and swaggering forward.

“Hey-” Xi Liu’s footsteps followed from behind.

The two of them chased and teased each other all the way into the classroom.

Standing at the classroom door, about to push it open, Gong Si suddenly spoke:

“This time, I’ll attend the banquet with you.”

Staring blankly at the door ahead, Xi Liu paused for several seconds, then softly replied, “Mm.”

Together, they pushed open the classroom door before them.