Daqian Martial Saint

Chapter 460: Chapter 376: Ten Thousand Demons Branch, The Academy’s Talented Girl (Part 2)

Fortunately, he hadn’t been delayed at the Weishui Garrison for long. If he hurried now, he should still make it in time!

“A little faster!” Chen Ping’an’s voice came from inside the carriage, immediately drawing a respectful reply from the driving Guard.

“Yes, My Lord!”

…

Zhang Xinda was a gatekeeper at Weishui Academy. Although his days were filled with the hassle of greeting and seeing people off, the job earned him a great deal of respect from friends and family.

Weishui Academy had a considerable reputation. For most people, being a formally contracted gatekeeper there was already a respectable job that guaranteed a steady income.

“Did you hear? That little genius girl from the Outer Residence has already finished all her coursework ahead of schedule and is about to move up to the Inner Residence to study!”

“For real?! How long has she even been here? And she’s already finished all the Outer Residence coursework?!”

“I heard it from Instructor Han with my own two ears! How could it be fake?!”

“That’s insane! The Outer Residence curriculum takes six years. Even ordinary people who study diligently for the full six years often fail to advance to the Inner Residence. She’s been here for less than a year and she’s already moving up early?”

“What else would you expect from a genius? Let me tell you, I did some digging, and if it weren’t for the examination and review process, she would have entered the Inner Residence a month ago!”

“If you ask me, once she finishes all six years of the Inner Residence curriculum, she might just stay at the academy as a teaching assistant. She could even become an Instructor someday!”

…

Aside from the private schools within the Noble Families, Weishui Academy was considered the number one academy in Weishui County City. To be a teaching assistant here was already a top-tier job in the eyes of the common person. And if one could become an Instructor, it was like having one foot in the door of the upper class.

Even the Inspectorate wouldn’t dare to lightly provoke an Instructor from the academy in the alley where Weishui Academy was located. The most famous Instructors could even get an audience with the city’s Chief of the Patrol Office, or even higher-ups like a Candidate for Commander or a Deputy Commander!

Such honor was beyond the imagination of ordinary people!

Listening to his colleagues’ idle chatter, Zhang Xinda felt a little emotional. He knew the little genius girl they were talking about. She had a clean and fair complexion, and you could tell at a glance that she was the bright and clever type. She always had a smile on her face and was polite to everyone, including them, the gatekeepers.

Zhang Xinda was quite fond of the little girl. He’d just heard that she didn’t have much family support. She always came to the academy and left by herself; he’d never seen anyone come to pick her up.

However, as far as they remembered, the little girl was supposed to have an older brother. They recalled that he had accompanied her on the day she registered. But after that, he was never seen again.

The tuition and fees at Weishui Academy were not cheap; one could even say they were expensive. To support the little girl’s education, her brother was likely struggling to make a living, working himself to the bone.

“Life isn’t easy for anyone,” Zhang Xinda couldn’t help but sigh.

‘If I had a sister like that,’ he thought, ‘I’d work hard to send her to school no matter how tough it was, just so she could make something of herself in the future.’

Come to think of it, no one would have assumed the girl was from an ordinary family if it weren’t for her name, Chen Erya. It just didn’t sound like a name a prominent family would choose. Speaking of which, there was a story about it that circulated widely within the academy, which he’d once heard as a funny anecdote during a break.

When the little girl first enrolled, the academy thought the name Erya was unpleasant and didn’t sound like a scholar’s name. An Instructor offered to give her a new one. The Instructors at Weishui Academy were all great scholars. Countless people would beg for the honor of being named by an Instructor.

But the little girl said it was a name given to her by her father and could not be changed lightly.

The Instructor then asked if she intended to use that name forever.

The little girl replied that when she was older, she would ask her elder brother to change her name. She also asked the Instructor to understand that elegance lies in the person, not the name. If one has a beautiful name but is a vulgar person, what good is that?

Hearing this, the Instructor became furious. He stormed off, flicking his sleeves, and declared, “This child is unteachable!”

‘To refute an Instructor at such a young age… She truly lives up to her reputation as the academy’s famous genius!’

‘Hmm, come to think of it, that Instructor seemed to have resigned not long after. Could it be because he was that angry? Probably not!’ Zhang Xinda mused.

At this time, as the academy’s dismissal time approached, a crowd had gathered outside, mostly people here to pick up their children. Some of the wealthier families had carriages waiting, attended by servants and maids.

“The lives people are born into are truly different!” Zhang Xinda remarked with some emotion, the stark contrast between the little genius girl’s situation and the scene before him stirring his feelings.

As more and more people arrived outside the academy to pick up students, the gatekeepers no longer had time to slack off and had to go out to maintain order.

With the melodious ringing of a bell, dismissal time finally arrived at Weishui Academy.

Students in their school uniforms streamed out of the academy, walking in pairs or in groups of three to five.

“Cooped up all day, and school’s finally out!”

“Yeah, it’s over. My brain hurts from studying all day!”

“Same here, I’m totally lost!”

“Hahaha, let’s go home and relax!”

“Yeah, relax!”

“Ahhh, the good times are here! Let’s go home and play Cuju!”

“Wait! Did you forget something? The Instructor assigned homework! It’s due tomorrow!”

“Ah! It’s like I’ve been struck by lightning! No way, I’m going home to cry to my mom and get her to give me more allowance!”

…

The clamorous voices were full of youthful energy. For them, this was the most beautiful time of their lives!

“Erya, we’ll be classmates in the Inner Residence from now on. We should talk more when we have time!”