At the end, Brian Sullivan said a little sheepishly, “And there’s one more thing: all of the above comes with a fine banquet to eat. That’s what ordinary folks envy most, so there’s a saying: ‘Scholars eat so well, rice and white flour right up to their mouths.’”

“Heh heh…” Adam Sullivan gave a few dry laughs and replied perfunctorily, “Eating well, eating well.” He couldn’t even bear to eat two fava beans at a time, let alone have rice and white flour right up to his mouth.

Brian Sullivan blushed, sighed, and said, “Everything in the world is getting more expensive, but old writings are worth less and less. People always value the young and look down on the old, never treating everyone equally. When I became a stipend student at twenty, everyone called me a promising youth, showered me with praise, and my door was crowded with guests. But after failing the exams several times, my black hair turned white, and the years slipped by. When people saw my prospects fading, they treated me as a withered log, saying I was beyond saving…”

“If only I could have passed the provincial exam—even if I never advanced another step, by now I could have scraped together some official post, at the very least a county assistant or an instructor. Who would dare laugh at me then? So, child, you must pass the exam!” After saying this, Brian Sullivan passed out drunk, but the words “must pass the exam” took root in Adam Sullivan’s mind and became the problem that plagued him…

※※※

He felt he had never studied the Four Books and Five Classics, and couldn’t even write well with a brush—how could he compare to those scholars who had studied all their lives?

He wasn’t afraid of hard work; what he feared was working hard for nothing. Adam Sullivan knew that people learn fastest between the ages of six and twelve, a period called the enlightenment stage, when the foundation for a lifetime of knowledge is laid. Everything learned afterward is built on that base.

And he was already thirteen… No, his mental age was nearly thirty! To start again from “The Hundred Family Surnames” and “The Thousand Character Classic”—even if a slow horse can reach its destination with persistence, his goal wasn’t just literacy, but to compete in the imperial exams, a one-plank bridge crowded with thousands of contenders. Competing with those madmen who “hung their heads from beams, stabbed their thighs with awls, gathered fireflies in summer, read by snow in winter,” who would rather die than fail, and made studying their life’s work—the odds were truly one in ten thousand!

Adam Sullivan might appear mature and wise, but that was thanks to the experience from his previous life. He was clear about his own intelligence—being one in a hundred would be good; among thousands or tens of thousands, he was nothing special.

Little advantage by birth, great disadvantage by circumstance—where was this slow horse supposed to go? They say “the fragrance of plum blossoms comes from bitter cold, the edge of a sword from sharpening,” but you need to have plum blossoms and a sword to begin with.

Yet, heaven took pity on him. Only just now, during that exchange in the “Zhonghe Hall,” did he realize that the memory he’d merged with actually had a solid foundation in the classics… Judging by Mr. Sullivan’s reaction, it was quite outstanding.

It was like wanting to sleep and having someone bring you a pillow! This was truly the best news possible! How could Adam Sullivan not be overjoyed? Now that he could stand on the same starting line as the other scholars, he was confident he could overcome all obstacles and stand out!

※※※

With excitement in his heart, Adam Sullivan hopped and skipped all the way back to his room… Perhaps due to the merging of personalities, his behavior was somewhere between thirty and thirteen, about like a twenty-year-old.

As the saying goes, “Good things never happen when you’re happy”—and it’s absolutely true. Adam Sullivan ran up to the third floor, but before he could steady himself, a dark figure suddenly stood up in the corner, startling him so much that he cried out, his legs went weak, and he tumbled down the stairs.

Although the stairs here weren’t very steep and were made entirely of wood, he still ended up dizzy and seeing stars.

The person upstairs rushed down in a panic, exclaiming, “Young Master Sullivan, are you hurt?”

When Adam Sullivan heard this, he realized it was Seventh Lady’s husband, and snapped, “What, are you here to get revenge for your wife?”

The man was already tongue-tied, and in his panic, couldn’t get a word out. He could only slap himself and hurry to help Adam Sullivan up.

At that moment, the door on the second floor opened, and out stormed the furious Seventh Lady, wielding that familiar rolling pin and shouting, “I’ll beat you to death!” With her bruised and swollen face, she looked especially fierce.

Adam Sullivan groaned inwardly, “This is bad…” His whole body was numb from the fall, and he couldn’t dodge even if he wanted to, so he just closed his eyes and braced himself for the beating.

The sound of thumping soon followed, but he didn’t feel any pain… Adam Sullivan opened his eyes and saw that Seventh Lady was beating her husband. He thought, “Does she have night blindness or something?” Just as he was puzzling over it, Seventh Lady stopped, glared at her husband, and snapped, “I’ll deal with you later. Hurry up and help our benefactor inside!”

The man, as if granted amnesty, quickly helped Adam Sullivan up, and the couple supported him into the room, respectfully settling him into a chair. One fetched water to wipe his face, the other checked him for injuries. Seventh Lady kept repeating, “Thank you,” “Sorry,” “We really deserve to be punished,” and so on.