The Sixty-Third Section: The Legendary Shen Family's Clan Studies (Part 2)

  It's said that everyone has a share, the students looked worried, but none of them dared to speak out, they all quietly laid down paper and inkstone, preparing to write.

  But then Shen Lian said in a deep voice: "Who wasn't sitting in their seat just now? Now everyone stand up!"

  Shen Xiang and Shen Zhuang stood up honestly, and Shen Jing also pulled Shen Mo, and the two stood up together.

  "Great, it's you guys again." Shen Lian said expressionlessly: "And there's an additional new face... Since you don't want to sit, then stand and listen to the lesson today." After finishing speaking, he put his gaze on the book and didn't look at them again.

  Standing at the back of the classroom, looking at the students who were copying with their heads down, a sense of absurdity surged in his heart: "Damn it, I've been punished to stand again."

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  Eight characters were copied a hundred times, and had to be meticulous, if they were careless, they would have to be rewritten. This was indeed a time-consuming and laborious chore, it took half an hour for an older student to respectfully present it to the teacher. Although his arm was numb with fatigue, he didn't dare move a single thread.

  Mr. Shen looked at each character carefully and then put it aside, sitting up straight and saying, "Continue reciting the book."

  The student hastily agreed and returned to his seat to fetch a book, which was "The Great Learning". He then walked up to the stage with a nervous look on his face. He respectfully placed the book on the teacher's desk and said in a soft voice: "Teacher... I just learned the chapter 'Jing' yesterday."

  "Back." Mr. Shen nodded slightly and said.

  "The way of the university is to make clear the virtues, to love the people, and to stop at nothing but the ultimate good..." The student then put his hands behind his back, shook his head and recited loudly in a drawling tone. At first, he recited the first few sentences very fluently, but when it came to "After things are investigated, knowledge is obtained; after knowledge is obtained, intentions become sincere...", he began to stumble, and by the time he finished "When the country is governed well, the whole world will be at peace", he completely gave up, like a long worm eating an egg, unable to recite any further.

  "Look at the rest yourself." Mr. Shen pushed the book in front of him, and the student took a glance, immediately letting out a disappointed "aiyo". Then, with a bitter face, he said: "There are still three or four sentences left." As he spoke, he hesitantly stretched out his left hand, closed his eyes, and trembled as he said: "Please, sir, punish me severely..."

  Mr. Shen picked up the ruler and raised it high without any politeness, heavily hitting the student's palm.

  That "crack" sound made all the students in the study room tremble, even Shen Mo felt a chill run down his spine.

  The student's hand was suddenly slapped down, the pain causing his face to contort, yet he didn't dare dodge or make a sound. Instead, he used his right hand to support his left, and gritted his teeth as he endured seven more slaps from the teacher. His left hand began to swell before his eyes. Tears streamed down his face, but he still bit back his cries and remained silent.

  "My god," looked at Shen Mo who was sweating profusely and asked in a low voice: "Have you ever been beaten?"

  Shen Jing nodded and made a zipping motion across his mouth, telling him not to say any more.

  The silent one had to shut his mouth, and then saw that the student who was beaten still couldn't go down, but instead stood by the table, wiping away tears while listening respectfully to the teacher's lecture... It was from his stuttering "wù gé ér hòu zhī zhì" that he began to understand.

  Only then did Mr. Shen nod and hum, first finishing this passage of the "Classic", and then lecturing on the first paragraph of another "Transmission" from "What is meant by 'making one's thoughts sincere' is the prohibition of self-deception." to "Wealth fills the house, virtue fills the body, the mind expands and the body relaxes, therefore a gentleman must make his thoughts sincere."

  After finishing speaking, he ordered the students to hold books and recite again. After they finished reciting, he finally let him return to his seat to read aloud, waiting until tomorrow to check again.

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  Another student, a year or so younger, came forward with the character and presented it to the teacher. The teacher examined it and also asked him to recite from memory. This student brought out his book and placed it on the teacher's desk, stood behind it with his hands clasped together, and said in a low voice: "Yesterday we studied forty sentences of 'Hanging up the people and punishing crime'." It turned out that he was reading the Thousand Character Classic.

  This rhyming couplet is smooth and easy to recite, and the student quickly memorized it, but still got two slaps on the back of the head for a small mistake of just two characters.

  The students came up one by one, some reciting "Three Character Classic" and others reciting "Mencius", although the content was different, but if they made a mistake, they would be beaten with a board... Mr. Shen's teaching was very strict, forgetting a sentence or making a mistake in pronunciation was not allowed, even if the tone was wrong, or using too many interjections like "hmm" and "ah", he would still beat them without fail!

  After watching for an entire morning, Shen Mo hadn't seen a single person escape unscathed. He couldn't help but glance at Shen Jing, implying: 'I finally understand why you didn't want to go to school.'

  Shen Jing made a 'you actually don't know' expression and continued standing there with her eyes wide open.

  Shen Mo really didn't know. His family was poor and couldn't afford the tuition for school, so he simply studied at home by himself. After all, his father's knowledge was still superior to that of an average tutor... When he said "a few years in school" to Magistrate Li earlier, it was just a way to save face. Fortunately, Magistrate Li didn't pursue the matter further, otherwise Shen Mo would have had to say that he was "homeschooled"...

  Shen He's temperament was warm and gentle, and he loved him extremely, so naturally he couldn't bear to hit him even once. To the point that in Xiao Chao Sheng's memory, there wasn't a single instance of not being able to recite his lessons and getting hit with a wooden board.

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  The sky was already past noon, Shen Mo suddenly smelled a fragrance of food, his eyes involuntarily drifted towards the window, and saw that the so-called small cafeteria's west wing had already set up the meal... He instantly felt hungry, his heart burning with anticipation for school to be over.

  However, there were still a few students who hadn't finished reciting, and the teacher didn't seem to want to stop either. It wasn't until half a time later that he had explained it to the last student, then waved his hand and said: "Dismissed."

  The students didn't dare disperse in a hurry, but stood up together and bowed: "Thank you, Mr. Xie, please go first."

  Mr. Shen stood up and glanced at those who were being punished with a stern expression before walking away.

  The students rushed out of the classroom and went to the canteen to have their meal.

  Shen Mo also wanted to run out with them, but was pulled back by Shen Jing who asked: "Where are you going?"

  "Haven't you seen them all running away?" Shen Mo urged anxiously: "If we don't go now, even the vegetable soup will be snatched away!"

  "Sir hasn't let us go, who dares to leave?"

  He let out a silent sigh, and suddenly felt his legs numb and swollen. He wanted to sit down, but seeing others standing still, he had no choice but to lean against the wall, forcing himself to stand upright, whispering: 'How can I endure this...'

  Shen Jing said in a low voice, "Let's play hooky tomorrow." It turned out that Mr. Shen had a quirk - he never took attendance. If students didn't want to come, they wouldn't come, and he wouldn't pursue the matter. However, there was one thing: once you entered this door, you had to strictly follow the rules, not a single deviation was allowed.

  Division

  According to book friends' suggestions, I plan to change the chapter numbering a bit (change 20 chapters of upper, middle and lower to 60 chapters) so that it looks like there are more chapters. The title remains unchanged, no impact on everyone...