Chapter 170
Hall Chief Zhang immediately sent a letter home explaining the situation and stayed in the guest room of the Cui household to supervise his sons doing their assignments. That night, he personally oversaw his sons writing out test answers for half the night, then spent the other half correcting them with a red brush, and was so furious, he couldn’t fall asleep at all.
The entire papers were marked in red!
There were typos and omissions everywhere, entire sections they didn’t understand!
He had written more corrections on the page than they had answers!
He was so angry he couldn’t eat, storming over to show the red-marked exam papers to Cui Xie, pointing at his unfilial sons and shouting: “When I tested you before, I thought those mistakes were occasional slip-ups, but it turns out you’re just consistently wrong! From classical essays to history, to couplets, to rhyme groups… is there anything you actually remember? With grades like these, you think you can become Jinyiwei? Even the Yuyang Commandery1 wouldn’t want you!”
Cui Xie accepted the two exam papers and reviewed the error rate while listening to the scolding.
There were spelling mistakes in fill-in-the-blank questions, more correct answers in single-choice, but a lot of missed or extra selections in multiple-choice. In short answer questions, the quoted texts were missing some lines, but the main ideas were correct. They could even complete couplets, just not very neatly.
If one wasn’t demanding precision and just looked at comprehension, their accuracy was even higher than modern elementary and middle school students.
Raised under quality-oriented education himself, Teacher Cui was quite satisfied with this baseline test. He grabbed Hall Chief Zhang’s hand, which was about to poke his sons’ faces, and said, “Brother Zhang, don’t be so anxious. They’re still young. I can see they know the material,it’s just that kids are impatient and often make careless mistakes. It’s not too late to correct that now.”
He calmed Hall Chief Zhang down and let the two boys have a proper breakfast. Afterward, he said, “Now that we have a sense of their foundation, I’ll need to prepare some teaching plans and create more practice papers for them to study at home. As for these two sets of papers, let them take each other’s tests and complete them again. Then, for every incorrect answer, they must copy it ten times and memorize it.”
His gentle, modest smile usually made teachers and elders see him as a good student. But to his two new disciples, that smile was more terrifying than their father’s stern face.
Their father might only hit them a few times and quiz them afterward, but this teacher imposed copying punishments!
Zhang Yanling’s eyes turned red from fright. He whimpered, “I’m younger, I’ve studied less, so the questions I get should be easier than my brother’s.”
Zhang Heling glared at his useless little brother in contempt.
Cui Xie pulled Zhang Yanling over and gently wiped his eyes with a handkerchief, speaking kindly: “There’s no such thing as studying less for life. What you don’t know today, you’ll have to learn tomorrow. Eventually, you’ll catch up to your elder brother. It’s not too early to start memorizing now.”
Little Zhang Yanling’s face scrunched up in even more misery. Teacher Cui, ever soft-hearted with children, continued in an even gentler tone as he wiped his nose, “Let’s do it this way. I don’t ask you to copy just to torture you, I only want you to memorize the questions. Since you’ll also have regular school during the day, I won’t rush you. As long as before your next visit, you’ve copied and memorized each paper ten times, that’s enough. You’ll quiz each other. Once you can recite them, you’ll be excused from copying.”
Great!
We’ll quiz each other!
“No way!” Their faces had just brightened with scheming smiles when Hall Chief Zhang shot up. “I know my own sons. These two little scoundrels will definitely cover for each other and lie to you!”
His sons cast him resentful looks, hating him for exposing their tricks in front of the teacher.
But Teacher Cui wasn’t swayed. He calmly asked Hall Chief Zhang to trust him and still insisted the boys quiz each other: “Heling, Yanling, each of you will supervise your brother’s copying and memorization daily. Record how many times they copy and how many questions they recite. Bring that list to me next time, and I’ll have your seniors test you.”
The mere word “test” gave them headaches. But compared to copying twenty times, they still felt pretty pleased. Zhang Heling even forgave his brother for being a crybaby and asked brightly, “If we can recite the test papers, we really don’t have to copy anymore? Just need to recite it back to our seniors?”
Of course.
Cui Xie smiled at them. “But if next time you get any questions wrong, and your brother, the one who claimed you had memorized it, marked it as correct, then he’ll have to copy however many times you skipped.”
What! How could anyone be so cruel and wicked?! Isn’t this just pitting brother against brother?!
The two Zhang boys immediately experienced the pain Second Young Master Cui had felt when doing those practice problems. This charming young teacher was scarier than all their academy instructors and their own father combined.
But Hall Chief Zhang praised him with a hearty, “Excellent idea! These two brats won’t study properly unless they’re keeping tabs on each other. If they don’t make their brother memorize it right, they’ll suffer themselves. Then we’ll see if they still forget!”
In truth, even after copying, they still might forget.
Cui Xie wasn’t that optimistic, but he smiled mildly and said, “When I read, I often remember everything after just one glance, but there’s a secret to it. You two are my very first disciples, and our teacher-student bond is special. If you score well on your next test, I’ll share that secret method with you.”
“A secret technique!”
Even though it was just a memorization trick, the word “secret” held a special allure that no middle-school-aged child could resist! Especially now, when they were being forced by their terrifying teacher to memorize test questions with no end in sight.
If they could learn the secret technique, wouldn’t that mean they could copy fewer papers next time?
The Zhang brothers immediately bowed and thanked their teacher. Their father, however, feared the method might be too valuable and wanted to decline on their behalf. But after sending the children off, when Hall Chief Zhang got in the carriage to the Imperial College with Cui Xie, the teacher finally revealed: “It’s not some grand secret, just a method of changing the timing of memorization, reviewing right before forgetting, reinforcing it several times, and eventually it sticks.”
Zhang Luan was enlightened.“So it’s still just memorization. I was worried you were going to teach them some family heirloom trick.”
Cui Xie also said regretfully,“Unfortunately, I don’t have one of those magical techniques where someone can memorize something at a glance.”
Cui Xie had seen plenty of “super memory” books at bookstores, but had never bought one. In fact, he had only learned this “Ebbinghaus forgetting curve” method from an English vocabulary book. His two disciples would just have to make do with it.
But now that it was on his mind, he realized the method was pretty scientific. Maybe he could include a memory chart in the teaching manual he was currently typesetting for “Lectures on the Book of Songs” by Master Lin and Teaching Assistant Xie from the Imperial College…
Still, as a mere juren, if he printed a memory technique in a book by famous academy teachers, wouldn’t others accuse him of passing off fake goods?
Better to wait until he and Lu juren passed the metropolitan exam and became jinshi first. With real credentials as backing, the method would be more convincing.
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The Zhang brothers still had to attend Cuiling Academy outside the city and could only take occasional trips into town. After enjoying a night of playing teacher, Cui Xie went back to being a student at Master Li’s home.
There, he proudly shared his new status as a Teacher.
Li Dongyang laughed and called him “naughty”:“You haven’t even finished reading Master Xiao Donglai’s 《Reflections on the Essentials》, don’t know the nature of principle, or the distinction between knowledge and action, and you already dare to teach others? Isn’t your friend afraid you’ll lead the children astray?”
Cui Xie replied nonchalantly:“ Hall Chief Zhang’s two sons aren’t old enough to understand Neo-Confucianism anyway. They’re just mischievous kids who hate studying. I’m only helping discipline them. Not everyone is a child prodigy—the majority succeed by working hard.”
Then he recounted the mock test he’d given the boys. Hearing the details made the Young Master Li, who had been quietly listening at the side, go pale.
Li Dongyang glanced at his son and smiled:“No need to be afraid of your shixiong. That method is only for mediocre students, not for you. If we gave you those test papers, would you even get anything wrong? In this household, we don’t believe in rote memorization. True learning requires comprehension.”
So Master Li was a believer in joyful education.
Well, it made sense. He and his son were both geniuses, and even their students were gifted, of course they had learning privileges.
Cui Xie shamelessly lumped himself in with the true geniuses and said cheerfully: “It’s as Master says. I’m just a countryside scholar who forces kids to memorize things. If those two children had your son’s talent, I wouldn’t be so strict. I’d be coming here begging to learn how to teach prodigies.”
He lightly flattered his teacher, then looked at the healthy, radiant little face of his junior and casually asked:“How long can you walk now, half an hour? You’re looking better these days. If you’ve regained some strength, you could start practicing martial arts to strengthen your body.”
Young Master Li’s face instantly dropped. He clutched his arms to his chest and stared at Cui Xie in horror.
Li Dongyang, slightly concerned, asked: “Is it alright for someone his age to train in martial arts? I’ve heard it’s easy to get injured, and if done wrong, it can leave lasting harm. Wouldn’t it be better to let him continue walking back and forth? It seems to be working fine.”
Cui Xie shook his head: “Too much walking can damage the tendons, and standing too long harms the bones. A child’s muscles and bones are still soft, whatever exercise they do shouldn’t be prolonged. I wouldn’t teach him spears or staves. I just have a gentle sword form I once learned from Commander Xie. It’s flexible and safe, perfect for him to learn from.”
Li Dongyang looked surprised:“But don’t you have school every day? When would you find the time to practice swordsmanship?”
Cui Xie innocently replied: “It was back when I first arrived in the capital. I went to thank Commander Xie for saving my life. He saw I’d trained in martial arts back home and thought I had potential, so he taught me a sword form. I practiced it with him on my days off. It’s a truly excellent routine.”
This was a good opportunity to report his past secret meetups to his teacher and make them seem respectable. Plus, it gave him a valid reason to teach his junior fitness routines… and maybe sneak in a few more date nights. Far better than the old “see you only on the 1st and 15th” deal!
He was feeling very pleased with himself with his scheming, but Li Dongyang wasn’t as quick to agree. He first asked:“Is that Commander Xie’s family technique? Aren’t you afraid he’ll be upset if you teach it to Zhaoxian?”
This disciple of his was certainly unusual. Already a juren in civil exams and trained in martial arts too… Was he planning to take both the civil and military exams? Could it be possible that the Ming Dynasty could also produce a jinshi who achieved both civil and military status under his tutelage?
But the military provincial exam had already passed in October, and the military metropolitan exam came after the civil one. There were cases of people passing the military exam first and then the civil one, but not of officials giving up their post to retake another exam!
As his teacher got lost in thought, he failed to notice that Cui Xie was glowing with joy.
Looking tenderly at the younger student whose fitness journey was giving him dating excuses, Cui Xie said:“You’re right, Master. I almost forgot to ask. I’ll first check with Commander Xie to see if I have permission to pass it on. He’s very agreeable, maybe he’ll even teach you a wellness boxing set himself. That would be even safer than swords. Once I’ve learned it, I’ll teach you.”
Young Master Li forced a smile and replied stiffly:“No rush, no rush. It’s already October and getting cold. How could I let you go out in the cold just to learn martial arts for me? I think I’d better just take more walks for now… walk a little longer, and maybe in the spring, when it’s warmer, we can start boxing…”
Young Master Li gave a few dry chuckles, then awkwardly changed the subject: “Father recently composed a new poem lamenting the passage of time and the whitening of his beard. It’s titled ‘Questioning My White Mustache’. The lines are brief yet meaningful, concise and profound, reminiscent of the style in the Nineteen Old Poems. Let me recite it for shixiong.”
Footnotes:
- I believe the Yuyang Commandery is just a local commandery in the province of Hebei. ↩︎
TN: TN: Hi everyone!! I just came back home after spending a week with my boyfriend and his family. Hope everyone is doing well and here’s to an exciting 2026!
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