Upon hearing Dong Wan's words, Zhuang Yue learned that Cloud Robe Hall would provide two sets of robes free of charge for newly enrolled disciples: one set of casual clothes and one set of practice clothes.
After that, if they wished to have new clothes made, they would need to pay for the cost. The fees were not expensive and could be afforded by children from ordinary families.
If they didn’t like the fabric given, they could trade it at Cloud Robe Hall and select better, more expensive materials.
Zhuang Yue couldn't help but marvel at the various benefits offered by Mingguang Palace—they were even more generous than those of state-owned enterprises. Meals and accommodation were covered, they promised to teach everything, provided job placement, and even gave pocket money and clothing.
However, once one joined the inner sect, they would have to dedicate their entire life to serving Mingguang, bound to the palace until death.
After drinking another glass of water, Dong Wan asked him, "Are you just staying here all day?"
"I went to the library," Zhuang Yue briefly described his experience earlier in the morning.
Dong Wan wasn’t very interested. "I’ve always gotten a headache when seeing words. Just trying to learn a few things made my palms sore from all the slaps. But my parents dote on me, and when they saw my eyes almost crying from the pain, they didn’t let me continue attending the female school."
Dong Wan was the only child in her family and also the only girl, so her parents spoiled her greatly. Although her family was just a prosperous farming household, they still spent money to send her to school, but Dong Wan didn’t have any talent in this area.
Zhuang Yue found it odd. "Then how did you end up in Mingguang? Reciting the cultivation methods is difficult, and all the characters are profound. The things you’ll learn in the future might be even more complex."
Dong Wan sighed. "Our family was hit by a flood last year. Our house and fields were submerged, and all our wealth was washed away. The land will take one or two years to recover before it can yield anything. My mother couldn’t bear for me to starve at home, and my father didn’t want to send me to a rich family as a servant, so when Mingguang nearby started recruiting disciples, they used their last bit of money for travel expenses to send me to sign up. I had no choice but to take this path."
Zhuang Yue felt sympathy. Parents' love for their children is truly universal. (可怜天下父母心 literal translation is pitiful is the heart of all parents under heaven. A Chinese proverb. Basically, it means that all parents in the world have hearts full of love and concern for their children.) He thought of his own parents from his past life. He was silent for a moment, and the room fell into an unusually quiet stillness.
After a long time, Dong Wan realized that Zhuang Yue was an orphan who had been abandoned on the streets. It was inappropriate to bring up such topics in front of him. Seeing his downcast expression, she became uneasy and didn’t know how to comfort him. She could only awkwardly bid him farewell.
In the afternoon, Zhuang Yue dipped his brush in ink and copied the characters he had learned earlier about twenty times, repeatedly whispering them aloud.
After finishing this, he opened the basic literacy text, writing the characters from the book, familiarizing himself with the writing styles and structure of this world’s script.
Zhuang Yue was diligently studying when Zhong Yunyi came to find him, wanting to go to Building A to chat with Liu Xiangruo and meet some people from the neighboring dormitory. At this moment, Zhuang Yue naturally didn’t want to go. After leaving his room, Zhong Yunyi recalled the sight of his desk, turned around, and went upstairs to study as well.
After the first cultivation technique class, they were given a day to digest what they had learned. From the third day onward, their schedule was entirely filled with lessons.
In the morning, when he went out, he ran into Shen Qing. As usual, Zhong Yunyi politely said, “Miss Shen, would you like to go to the medicine garden?”
The three of them all thought Shen Qing would refuse, but unexpectedly, she said, “I was just about to go to there, let’s go together.”
The four of them left the dormitory together. Zhuang Yue shut the dormitory door and deliberately fell behind, walking behind Shen Qing.
Shen Qing turned her head and glanced at him. Zhuang Yue smiled slightly, but Shen Qing remained silent and turned her head back.
Zhuang Yue admiringly gazed at Shen Qing’s back. Whether in appearance level(顏值 Internet slang, meaning "appearance level" or "attractiveness rating.) or temperament, she was exactly his type. In his previous life, he had interacted with many women of various identities and personalities.
But Shen Qing, with her graceful and pure demeanor, was someone he had never seen before. To put it plainly, this girl had a kind of immortal-like aura(仙風道骨 an idiom. Meaning "having the bearing of an immortal," often describing someone with an ethereal and otherworldly presence) about her.
This is probably normal, after all, she grew up in an immortal sect, so the influence she received was different.
No one spoke, and the atmosphere became quite awkward. Zhong Yunyi couldn't take it anymore and, gritting her teeth, spoke to Shen Qing beside her, "Miss Shen, is your class schedule the same as ours?"
Shen Qing replied, "Just call me Shen Qing. Yes, for the first year, my classes are the same as yours."
The disciples from different families who came to study had varying levels of knowledge. Mingguang wouldn’t set up separate classes just for them. In their first year, they all had to study together with that year’s newly admitted inner sect disciples.
After the first year, their studies would be determined based on their individual proficiency.
After the four of them exchanged names, Zhong Yunyi grumbled in frustration, “Oh no, we still don’t know where the Medicine Garden is. It’s all Zhuang Yue’s fault. Yesterday we didn’t even get a chance to scout the place in advance.”
Zhuang Yue, standing behind her, was utterly baffled. What did this have to do with him?!
Shen Qing said, "It's fine, I know the way."
With Shen Qing leading the way, the four of them arrived at the medicine garden without being late.
The medicine garden of Mingguang Palace is very large, with over a hundred types of herbs, and it's said that these are just the common ones. There's also a smaller spiritual herb garden where rare types are grown, and it's tended to by senior sisters.
In their first year of alchemy classes, new disciples started with learning herbal properties, cultivating medicinal plants, and processing raw materials.
The ones teaching here were not the direct disciples, but senior sisters from ten or even twenty generations ahead of them. There were about 140 to 150 students, divided into classes based on their dormitories. In the Graceful Moon Residence, there were only eight of them, and their instructor, Senior Sister Jiang, considered herself quite lucky.
Following the steps, Senior Sister Jiang first led the newcomers to tour the medicine garden and helped them familiarize with its various functions. She then guided the eight of them to squat by the field's edge.
A girl from Building A looked at the muddy ground. She hesitated for a moment but eventually lifted her skirt, mimicking Senior Sister Jiang's actions as she squatted down next to the herbs.
Senior Sister Jiang looked at her disapprovingly, “In the herb garden, you can’t be afraid of dirt or fatigue. You’re scared of just this little bit of dirt? Wait until I ask you to handle the alchemy furnaces later, that’s when you’ll be really covered in dust and ash!” (灰頭土臉 translates to covered in dust and dirt. A Chinese idiom. It describes someone looking exhausted or in a miserable state.)
The girl who was afraid of getting dirty blushed immediately, stammering and not daring to speak.
Zhong Yunyi squatted next to Senior Sister Jiang confidently, her skirt trailing on the ground, and comforted the girl, saying, “It’s okay, we’re all the same. Now we know that long skirts aren't practical. Next time, we’ll wear our practice clothes instead.”
Zhang Yue ignored them and carefully observed the plant in front of him, examining its leaves, flowers, and stems.
Biology was a subject he really enjoyed and excelled at in high school, especially slicing specimens to observe their cells. Right now, Zhang Yue wanted to examine the plant's roots. "Can I take a look at the roots?"
Everyone looked towards Zhang Yue, with the senior sister looking at him questioningly. Senior Sister Jiang had never met someone like him before. Fearing that he would actually cause damage, she quickly stopped his restless hand. “Wait for a while. When we teach you how to process medicinal ingredients, you can look all you want.”
Seeing that everyone’s attention was drawn to Zhang Yue's astonishing actions, Zhong Yunyi, unwilling to be left out, asked, “Senior Sister Jiang, what is the name of this herb, and what are its medicinal effects?”
When the question was raised, everyone turned their attention back to Senior Sister Jiang, and the topic returned back to its track.
Senior Sister Jiang quickly explained the herb’s properties, then led them to the next medicinal plant. After going through seven or eight different herbs and their effects, Zhuang Yue was beginning to struggle with remembering them all.
At first everyone was murmuring while listening attentively, but by the time they got further along, no one had the energy to talk anymore. They only followed closely behind Senior Sister Jiang, afraid of missing anything.
Shen Qing remained composed as always, walking neither too fast nor too slow, following at the back of the group.
Zhuang Yue, having a weak constitution, fell to the back again. His complexion turned pale, drawing two involuntary glances from Shen Qing.
His thin face was deathly pale, almost without a trace of color. Shen Qing’s brows furrowed slightly as she noticed it. Zhuang Yue, seeing her concern, suddenly felt less exhausted. He smiled faintly and said, “It’s fine, I can hold on.”
Shen Qing was not someone who acted out of excessive kindness. But seeing a frail, emaciated young girl stubbornly pushing her weak body to desperately chase after Senior Sister Jiang, just to keep up and earnestly listen to the lesson…
Such a wholehearted dedication to learning made Shen Qing feel a little reluctant to ignore it.
She said, “You don’t need to force yourself. It’s fine if you miss something. I’m very familiar with these herbs. If you don’t understand anything, just ask me when we get back to the dorm.”
Zhuang Yue’s lips moved. He didn’t want to trouble others, and the words of refusal reached his lips but were swallowed back down.
Even if he didn’t fully understand the herbs and their properties today, Senior Sister Jiang would definitely go over them again when it came to processing the herbs. There was no need for him to specifically ask Shen Qing for help, thus owing her a favor.
But upon further thought, this might not be a bad way to solve his current difficulties. He could take this opportunity to ask Shen Qing to teach him the basic literacy text!
As for asking about cultivation techniques, there were direct disciples senior sister teaching the new disciples. Moreover , since cultivation techniques were not passed on externally, Shen Qing could only access the publicly available lessons. So naturally, he couldn’t ask her for guidance on the cultivation techniques.
But literacy was different. He could even ask her more in-depth questions about Daoist Scriptures in the future. Shen Qing came from a major immortal sect, so she surely knew a lot about it.
The opportunity was right in front of him, and the former study tyrant (學霸 literally means“study tyrant”, a modern Chinese slang term meaning a top student or someone highly skilled in academics) certainly wouldn’t let it slip by. “Then, I’ll thank you in advance. But aside from herbal knowledge, I also have something else to ask. Is it alright if I asked for your help with them?”
Shen Qing paused for a moment and said, “As long as the conditions allow, I’ll help as much as I can.”
Zhuang Yue didn’t mind Shen Qing’s cautiousness. He joked, “Don’t worry, it’ll definitely be within your ability. Just some questions from ordinary books."
"Mm, if there's something you don't understand, you can come ask me." Shen Qing felt a bit annoyed with herself for being so nosy, but when she saw how eager Zhuang Yue was to learn, she felt it was worth it.
Zhuang Yue no longer forced himself to keep up and instead walked alongside Shen Qing, following the group’s pace.
As he replayed the conversation they had just had, he couldn't help but smile inwardly.
Some school romances, after all, began with academic tutoring. The library was even one of the classic dating spots!
Whether it was the boy chasing the girl or the girl chasing the boy, asking questions was often just an excuse to find more ways to interact. Once the other person agreed, after a few back-and-forths, given enough time, something would naturally develop.
Of course, he had no such intention.
Though the bad instincts in his bones and his late-stage face-con(顏控晚期late-stage face-con. A modern slang phrase meaning someone who is extremely superficial and obsessed with attractive appearances) made him secretly delighted by the thought, he still forced himself to push it aside.
Because, at this time, emotional attachments would only be a disadvantage to him.
The class only lasted half a day. In the afternoon, Zhuang Yue took a good rest, and after dinner, he went to Shen Qing's room.
"Sorry for disturbing you," Zhuang Yue said when he saw Shen Qing in her training clothes, realizing she was probably in the middle of cultivation.
"Come in, it's fine." Shen Qing stepped aside, allowing him to enter.
Shen Qing's room was arranged similarly to Zhuang Yue's— a rectangular room divided into three areas by framed partitions.
One part was for sleeping, another for studying, and the last part only had a low couch. At first, Zhuang Yue thought it was a waste to have such a large space with just a low couch. But after seeing Shen Qing practicing, he finally understood the purpose of that space.
"I've written down the names of the herbs we learned today," Shen Qing said, picking up a stack of papers from the desk to hand them to Zhuang Yue.
Zhuang Yue didn't take them, which confused Shen Qing.
After a brief pause, Zhuang Yue calmly said, "I can't read these characters."
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