After making the call, Chen Chuan headed straight home. He heard his cousins' boisterous shouts the moment he reached the front yard. As he walked into the living room, a small ball came bouncing toward him. He flicked it up with his instep, juggled it a couple of times, then held his foot out, and the ball came to a perfect stop right on top of it. He didn't wobble in the slightest.
"Wow!" his little cousin, Nian Lu, gasped in amazement, clapping her hands vigorously.
His cousin, Nian Mo, threw his hands in the air. "Yeah! Do it again! Do it again!"
Chen Chuan flicked his foot forward, sending the ball rolling toward the two kids.
Yu Wan was sitting in a chair, knitting. She knew Chen Chuan was heading to Wuyi University Hall tomorrow, so she had been waiting for him since early in the day. She smiled. "Chan'Er, you're back?"
Chen Chuan nodded. "Yes, Auntie. I have to register tomorrow, so I came home a little early."
Yu Wan stood up. Noticing the dust all over the jacket he was holding, she said, "Goodness, child, have you been rolling around in the dirt? Quick, give it to me. I'll take it outside and shake it out. It's a nice jacket, don't let it get ruined."
She took the jacket from him and, muttering to herself, went outside to beat the dust out.
Just then, Chen Chuan sensed the air stir behind him. As if he had eyes in the back of his head, he tilted his head to the side, letting the thrown ball fly past.
"Whoa! Brother is so cool!"
"Throw it back! Throw it back!"
Chen Chuan passed the ball back and played with the two kids for a little while. Yu Wan returned and placed the cleaned jacket in his hands. "Here," she said.
Chen Chuan took the jacket and walked toward his room with Yu Wan following him. 'She must have something to say to me.' Once they reached his doorway, Yu Wan asked with concern, "Chan'Er, do you have enough money?"
Chen Chuan said, "You gave me plenty last time, Auntie. I still have some left."
Yu Wan said, "If it's not enough, just ask me for more. You can't cut corners when it comes to your education."
Chen Chuan hummed in agreement.
Yu Wan added, "Your uncle wanted you to move out within two months, but now that you've got this settled, I don't think you should be in any rush to move your things. Wait until you're settled in at the school dorms, and we'll see. If you don't want to live there once the term starts, just come back. It's not like we can't afford to feed one more person, is it?"
Chen Chuan asked, "Auntie, is that what Uncle thinks?"
Yu Wan replied, "What? You think your auntie can't make a decision on her own? As long as you can learn real skills at the hall, that's more important than anything else."
Chen Chuan didn't argue the point. He could move out whenever he needed to, anyway. "Alright, Auntie. We'll leave it at that for now."
Yu Wan was very happy that he'd agreed. Ever since her older sister and brother-in-law passed away, she had treated Chen Chuan like her own son. She couldn't bear the thought of him just moving out like this.
After Yu Wan left, Chen Chuan went into his room. He shut the door, hung his jacket on a hook, and walked over to his desk. Opening a drawer, he took out the money he had left and counted it.
Yu Wan had originally given him six hundred Jianyuan Coins in total. He'd spent one hundred on registration. Factoring in food at Quan's House, training, equipment maintenance, and other miscellaneous expenses, he had spent a little over three hundred in the past two months, averaging about one hundred and fifty per month.
For the next month, leading up to the second assessment, he would obviously still need Yu Gang's coaching. Even by a conservative estimate, he'd need about that much again.
Once the term at Wuyi University Hall officially began, however, room and board would be free for enrolled students. If he could pass the second assessment, most of his tuition would be waived as well. 'But it's not like my expenses will just disappear,' he thought. 'They might even increase. I have to do everything I can to get a scholarship.'
「Meanwhile, at Wuyi University Hall.」
Bian Feng, the instructor who had recruited Chen Chuan, and Yue Hong, another instructor primarily in charge of admissions, were walking together down a corridor in one of the hall's buildings.
Yue Hong tapped the list in his hand. "We've been expanding enrollment for ten years, and the number of applicants increases every year. We've brought in even more this year. Between Yangzhi City and the six surrounding counties, we've hit two thousand students—a record high. Looks like the people upstairs are really pushing for it."
Bian Feng said grimly, "A lot? The population of Yangzhi City is over six million. Add the surrounding counties and towns—not even counting the mountain regions—and you're looking at over ten million people. And yet, we only get this many new students each year? This is the result of a decade of expansion."
Yue Hong chuckled. "You should be grateful. Back in our day, which one of us wasn't personally mentored by a master before getting in? Who didn't start training as a child? Nowadays, a lot of these students have a chance to enroll after just a year or two—or even six months—of training at some Boxing Club or gym. They have countless more opportunities than we ever did."
Bian Feng shook his head. "They can get in, sure, but we'll be lucky if even a tenth of them pass the second assessment."
Yue Hong nodded in agreement. Even though they were all technically Wuda students on paper, there was a world of difference between those who passed the second assessment and those who didn't. The former were the talents the academy would truly invest in cultivating; the latter were just making up the numbers.
Despite ten years of expansion, the internal dynamics at Wuda hadn't really changed. The total number of elite students remained fairly constant each year. The reason was simple: resources were finite and could only be funneled toward those deemed worthy of cultivation.
The real reason, however, was that most of the resources were snatched up by students from powerful families, leaving only the scraps for the common students. Although in recent years the Upper Layer of the Central Hospital had become aware of this problem and tried its best to make adjustments, the results were limited.
He said with a sigh, "Who would willingly spit out the meat they've already put in their mouth?"
As they spoke, the two arrived outside the office of the admissions director. Just as they approached, they heard a powerful, resonant voice from within:
"Tell me, what's the point of the hall's scholarships anymore? Every year, the ones who get them are just candidates put forward by those influential students. After graduation, they all go off to serve the rich and powerful. The scholarships were meant to give ordinary students a chance, but they've all been co-opted. So what was the point of expanding enrollment?
"We've gone to all this trouble just for the strong to get stronger and the weak to get weaker. The situation is worse than it was a decade ago! In my opinion, we should scrap the scholarships entirely. If not, we should at least slash the funding!"
Bian Feng's and Yue Hong's hearing were both sharp. Even through the wall and in the quiet corridor, they could clearly hear the voice coming from the speakerphone inside:
"You have to give them some hope. Common students can't compete with the well-connected ones, but there will always be exceptional talents who manage to break through. Even if it's only one or two, that's still a victory. It shows our methods are effective. If you cancel the scholarships, you take away even that glimmer of hope."
"You're the school board director, so you call the shots on this. But if this year's batch turns out the same as always, you can find someone else to handle this mess next time."
CLACK. The receiver was slammed down. Then, the voice boomed, "What are you two doing waiting out there? Want to have a laugh at my expense? Get in here."
Bian Feng and Yue Hong hastily pushed the door open and stepped inside. A middle-aged man in his fifties with a full head of hair sat in the office. He had thick eyebrows, large eyes, an imposing build, and a stern expression. He wore a dark, foreign-style suit, its cuffs and collar fastened with meticulous care. He looked like an exceedingly fastidious man.
He sat there, so large he seemed to take up nearly half the room. His two feet, planted on the floor behind the desk, were like stone pillars, all but obscuring the chair beneath him. Bian Feng and Yue Hong both bowed slightly. "Master Gao."
Master Gao asked, "Is the list of students for the assessment ready?"
"It's ready. I've brought it with me," Yue Hong said, handing over the list. "Please take a look, Master Gao."
Master Gao waved a dismissive hand. "I don't need to see it. Send it to the school board, and they'll cut at least half the names. The commission will surely jam it full of their own preferred students."
Bian Feng looked up. "That still leaves half of them."
"And what good will that do?"
Master Gao shook his head. "We have so many students this year because of pressure from above. But the more pressure they apply, the bigger the pushback. We already have a pile of headaches, and now this. What's the point of all this trouble... Forget it." Halfway through his sentence, he seemed to change his mind. He snatched the list from Yue Hong's hand and frowned. "Let me see it. I might as well do my due diligence, even if it's pointless."
...
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