Chapter 29 I'd Rather Die Than Drop Out

Chapter 29 I'd Rather Die Than Drop Out

"Your internal heat is attacking your heart, and the external heat is hard to relieve. Your body is too weak to withstand both internal and external heat." After taking Du Min's pulse, the old doctor reached out and pried open Du Min's eyelids, and continued, "You are worried and have trouble sleeping at night. Your liver fire is strong, and your kidney fire is weak. You are weak inside and hot outside. Do you have difficulty relieving yourself?"

Du Min turned his head away and said awkwardly, "I'm not a doctor. You don't need to tell me these things or say them out loud. Just prescribe the medicine."

The old doctor withdrew his hand, as if he hadn't heard, and added, "He's very proud and obsessed with saving face."

"Are you here to treat a patient or to tell a fortune?" Du Min was furious.

"Shut up, you're full of energy now." For the first time, Du Li found him too talkative.

The old doctor chuckled and told the apprentice to fetch a horn board. He looked up at Du Li and said, "Take off your brother's shirt, I'll give him a gua sha treatment to relieve the summer heat."

Du Li quickly stripped off Du Min's long robe, revealing the skin beneath. He said sourly, "Such delicate skin and tender flesh."

However, in just a few breaths, a large red bruise appeared on Du Min's delicate skin. The place where the old doctor's horn scraper had scraped looked like the skin had been peeled off, and the purplish-red bloodstains covered the entire neck.

"Does it hurt?" Du Li asked curiously.

Du Min gritted his teeth and remained silent.

Du Li sat down to the side, only then remembering something important: "Third brother, do you have any money on you? I don't have any money on me."

“I only have eight coins; the rest is at the academy. I’ll give you the key; go get it.” Du Min said, enduring the pain. “If you don’t want to go, go get it from my second sister-in-law.”

"I'll go find your second sister-in-law."

Du Li detained Du Min at the clinic. He returned to Jiayufang, but the Meng family's gate was locked. He then went to the Paper Horse Shop.

Inside the paper horse shop, the four members of the Meng family gathered in the attic, where Meng Qing and Meng Chun recounted the exciting events that had unfolded an hour earlier.

"Was the slap mark on Du Min's face from his father when he came?" Meng's father asked.

“Yes, when he was at our house, he got slapped by his dad again.” Meng Chun had an indescribable feeling, but he was quite uncomfortable.

“That Du Laoding is something else. Du Min is old enough to get married, yet he’s still studying at the prefectural school. A respectable scholar, doesn’t he have any pride? No matter how wrong he is, his parents shouldn’t slap him in the face in front of outsiders. How can he hold his head up in public?” Meng’s father looked exasperated. He spat and said, “Even I, a merchant, know that we should save face for our children when they grow up. Meng Chun has never been scolded in front of outsiders since he was a child.”

Meng Chun nodded emphatically, “No wonder I always felt something was off. I felt uncomfortable when Du Min got slapped, but I just couldn’t put my finger on it. It’s infuriating that he’s unfilial and disobedient, and he deserves to be hit, but it’s really uncomfortable to see a scholar like him being beaten to the ground and kicked around like a dog by his father.”

"If the root of the problem is wrong, the whole family will be bad," Mencius' mother concluded.

“Du Li is still good.” Meng Qing singled out Du Li.

"I never considered him a member of the Du family," Meng's mother said, pursing her lips.

Meng Qing laughed, "He even told me before that he wanted to come and be our son-in-law."

“If we weren’t a merchant family, I would have welcomed him with open arms if he had this idea,” Meng’s mother shook her head.

"Master, your son-in-law is here!" Wenjiao called from downstairs. She was one of only two girls among the six apprentices, and also the youngest, only twelve years old. Her voice was crisp and bright.

"I'm going downstairs." Meng Qing stopped what she was doing, opened the door, and went downstairs.

"Did Father and Mother go back with Eldest Brother?" Du Li asked. "Third Brother is sick. I took him to the clinic, but I didn't have any money with me. I'll get some when I get back. You can deduct it from his share."

Meng Qing took him to the shop to get the money, saying, "You and your third brother just left, and your parents and your eldest brother left by boat. Your father said you should stay here for a few more days and take the money back with you. But I heard him mention Yu's Rice Shop? Is your family's grain sold at Yu's Rice Shop?"

Du Li explained what had happened at the rice shop, and then said with difficulty, "I don't want to go get it alone. Come with me."

Meng Qing shook her head. She counted out three hundred copper coins, strung them together with hemp rope, and handed them to him, saying, "I'm not going. You go by yourself. Master Yu has been very open and friendly with you. What are you embarrassed about? It's just that you didn't become his son-in-law."

"Just don't be upset," Du Li said, giving her a sidelong glance.

Meng Qing chuckled, then pushed him out the door, saying, "Go quickly, your third brother is still waiting for you to bring money to ransom him. We can talk when you get back tonight. Are you coming back tonight?"

“Come back. He just has heatstroke, he’s not so sick that he can’t get out of bed. He doesn’t need me to stay up all night to take care of him.” Du Li was also unwilling to take care of that heartless and ungrateful person at the academy.

"Then I'll cook for you tonight." Meng Qing waved to him, "Go quickly and come back soon."

Du Li, carrying three hundred coins, rushed to the clinic near the prefectural school, paid eighty-eight coins for the medicine, and then followed Du Min out of the clinic with three packets of medicine.

"Go back by yourself?" Du Li saw that Du Min's spirits had returned and his face had regained color, so he no longer needed Du Li's help.

Du Min remained silent.

Du Li shoved the medicine packet into his hand and said, "I still have to go to the rice shop, I'll be going now."

Du Min hesitated, but Du Li didn't see it. He wiped his sweat and continued on his way to the rice shop.

Du Min could only carry the medicine bag back to the prefectural school by himself.

"Du Min is back." The servant who was looking out of the academy shouted when he saw him.

"I'm finally back. I thought I'd come all this way for nothing since I wasn't going to see anyone today." Shi Zhengli was the first to walk out.

The summer heat was unbearable, and the prefectural school only held classes for half a day in the morning. Of the fifty students in the academy, only five, including Du Min, lived in the back dormitory; the rest lived at home. On ordinary afternoons, the academy was almost deserted, but today, almost all forty-nine students came to see Du Min's performance.

"Hey, isn't this the unfilial son of the Du family? Back from the doctor's? Really sick or faking it? Let me see, is this stuff filled with weeds?" Shi Zhengli snatched the medicine bag from Du Min, tore it open without even looking at it, and scattered the contents all over the ground.

“You…” Du Min’s face turned ugly.

"Hmm? What do you want to say?" Shi Zhengli flicked the dregs of medicine off his hands. He glanced at him and said sarcastically, "What a piece of trash, pretending to be sick. A grown man is quite adept at playing the concubine game."

Du Min was so angry that he was breathing heavily, but he still forced a smile and explained, "Young Master Shi, I am really sick. I am not feeling well, so I will go back to the back house first."

He wanted to take a detour to leave, but the road to the academy was completely blocked, and no one was willing to make way for him.

“Du Min, this is not a place for you to stay at the prefectural school. Be sensible and leave on your own.” Xing Shu, who lived in the back dormitory, felt a little sorry for him and advised him.

"Sitting in the same classroom as a shameless scoundrel like you lowers my status. Go back to where you came from," someone else said.

"You'd better behave yourself and not make us take action against you. You may be able to fool Dr. Xu today, but you can't fool us. If you piss us off, we'll make sure you can't even participate in the provincial examination," Shi Zhengli threatened.

"A loach should stay obediently in the mud and not dream of going to places it shouldn't be," someone else mocked.

Du Min was now truly panicked. He was genuinely afraid of Shi Zhengli's threats, because Shi Zhengli was capable of keeping his word and could truly prevent him from participating in the provincial examination.

“I only occupy one seat in the classroom. I sit at the very back to listen to the lectures. I can be the last to arrive and the first to leave. When there are no classes, I stay in the back dormitory and won’t come out to get in your way.” Du Min pleaded in fear, “I won’t bother you. Please don’t kick me out.”

“Given your status, your presence at the prefectural school is a mistake. Your taking up a spot there is the biggest impact on us. The prefectural school has always been a place for the children of officials and members of the imperial family to study. Who are you?” Shi Zhengli questioned with disgust.

"Are all the officials in the court from aristocratic families? The imperial examination system originated in the Sui Dynasty and continues to this day. Countless people from poor families have risen through the ranks by passing the imperial examination. If you are so proud of your background, when you pass the imperial examination and enter the court, won't the first thing you do be to eliminate your opponents?" Dr. Xu's voice rang out from behind a wall of people.

"Dr. Xu."

"I've met Dr. Xu."

The solid human wall instantly crumbled, and the students present dodged and weaved. Shi Zhengli was exposed, and he panicked.

"The student dares not." Shi Zhengli was so frightened by the words "eliminating dissidents" that he broke out in a cold sweat.

"Dare not? I don't think so." Dr. Xu stepped forward, looking directly at the group of students who were hiding with their heads down, and reprimanded them: "What are you doing? Coercing your classmate to drop out! When did it become your place to meddle in the affairs of the state university? Should I give you my doctorate?"

"The students dare not."

"The student acknowledges his or her mistake."

"Doctor, you're exaggerating. I just don't understand. The prefectural school has always only allowed the children of officials and members of the imperial family to study. When did it start admitting commoners?" Shi Zhengli asked, unconvinced.

"The Imperial Academy and the National Academy are only for the sons of officials and members of the imperial family. You can't get in. The minimum requirement is to be the son of a fifth-rank official, and he must be an official in the capital. Local government schools have always been able to admit talented commoners. Not to mention local government schools, even the four schools in Chang'an City allow outstanding commoners to study." Dr. Xu didn't even look at him. He said mercilessly, "If you have a narrow vision, go read more books instead of thinking about excluding your classmates all day long."

An invisible slap landed on Shi Zhengli's face, making him blush with shame and anger.

"Disperse," Dr. Xu announced.

The students present immediately scattered like birds and beasts, fleeing with their servants by water and land.

In just a short while, only Du Min and Dr. Xu remained in the same spot.

"Thank you, Dr. Xie, for saving me from this predicament." Du Min bowed deeply in gratitude, tears streaming down his face.

Dr. Xu didn't like this student very much. He waved his hand, lifted his shirt, and left.

Du Min waited until the footsteps were no longer audible before he straightened up, exhausted. He watched Dr. Xu's figure disappear at the end of the road, desperately hoping that his words today would scare away the wolves and tigers and save him from disaster.

But when he returned to the back dormitory, he found that the door to his room was open, the lock on the door had been broken, and there were bright water stains on the edge of the bed. The mess in the room told him that this matter was not over yet.

Du Min walked over and touched the water. The water hadn't dried yet, so it could only have been done by one of the five classmates who had returned to the back dormitory before him.

Du Min did nothing. He silently carried the soaked mattress outside to air it out, and then slept on the hard bed board that night.

*

"...That's the gist of it." Du Li lay on the bed and told Meng Qing what had happened after he sent Du Min to the prefectural school. He exclaimed, "My third brother is really capable. This matter was resolved so easily."

Meng Qing shook her head. She thought to herself that this was not necessarily true. If Du Min had not made it up, he was currently being bullied at the state school, and there was an even bigger calamity waiting for him.

“My third brother is all right now, and I plan to go back tomorrow. We haven’t sold all the grain at home yet. After we sell the grain, we’ll have to continue transplanting rice seedlings for the late season.” Du Li was completely unaffected by the daytime turmoil and was already thinking about the work in the fields.

"What are your thoughts on what happened today?" Meng Qing asked. "What do you think of your third brother?"

Du Li was silent for a moment, then said, "Let's go to sleep."

"What do you mean?" Meng Qing poked him. "What are you sleeping for? I'm asking you a question!"

"I don't want to talk about him. He's both hateful and pitiful." Du Li didn't want to get involved in Du Min's affairs anymore. He had long since grown cold towards his third brother, and after today's events, he was even more wary of Du Min.

“He’s the kind of person who doesn’t remember kindness, only grudges. No matter how good you are to him, if you do anything wrong, he’ll hate you. Stay away from him, have less contact with him, and don’t try to climb up to him just because he’s successful. Just don’t offend him,” Du Li advised her.

"You're quite good at judging people. Now, tell me what kind of person I am?" Meng Qing probed.

Du Li pretended to be mute again.

Meng Qing sat up, and he sat up too. "Where are you going?"

"There's still some wine at home, I'll go pour you a bowl."

"Hey!" Du Li said, embarrassed and annoyed. He leaned over and grabbed her. "I don't drink."

The child murmured in fright, and Du Li and Meng Qing, afraid of waking him, both quieted down.

“You seemed to be mediating today, but you were actually instigating it.” Before she could ask, Du Li took the initiative to speak. “My father was scolding and hitting him, and the third son was about to admit his mistake. But when you intervened, he poured out all the things he had been keeping to himself.”

"That's utter nonsense," Meng Qing denied.

"Let him talk nonsense then." Du Li lay back down on the bed.

The couple remained silent for a moment, then Meng Qing changed the subject, speaking first: "Go deliver food to your third brother tomorrow and see if he's still being bullied."

"I won't go. If I go, I'll only embarrass him." Today's events will haunt Du Li for the rest of his life. He decided that, apart from delivering the news of the death, he would never take the initiative to seek out Du Min again.

"Sigh... What kind of people are at the prefectural school? We can't speak up for them. We know they're bullying my third brother, but what can I do?" Du Li knew Du Min would be bullied, but he couldn't help. Going there might even make Du Min a hindrance.

Since he had already said that, Meng Qing didn't press the matter further.

“Your father has already said that you should stay here for a few more days. You are in charge of taking care of the child. He is getting older every day, and his energy is increasing day by day. He is sleeping less, and when he is awake, he always wants to run outside. My mother has to guard the shop, teach apprentices, and take care of him. She is extremely busy,” Meng Qing said.

Du Li should agree.

However, on the fourth day of Du Li's stay at the Meng family's house, Zhu the boatman came to the Meng family's paper horse shop and said, "Du Li, your elder brother asked me to tell you to go back quickly, because your parents are too sick to get out of bed."

“Okay, I’ll go back this afternoon,” Du Li replied.

Upon hearing this, Meng's parents told Meng Qing to go back and check on him, as he was so ill that he couldn't get out of bed, and it sounded quite serious.

"Should we go and tell our third brother?" Meng Qing asked Du Li.

Du Li was unsure.

"Could this be what your parents meant? They want to use us to inform Du Min so that he can go back to visit her in the hospital, and thus reconcile?" Meng Qing suddenly had a flash of inspiration.

Du Li thought to herself that it might actually be true.

"No need to notify him. If he has classes and can't take leave, my parents will scold him for being unfilial. It's better if he doesn't know. Let's just pretend we don't know what they mean and avoid making a fuss," Du Li decided.

This was his family matter, and Meng Qing listened to his advice. She went home to pack her luggage, planning to take the child back to the Du family for a visit.

However, as soon as the two entered Jiayufang, they saw a page lingering outside the Meng family's gate.

"Who are you looking for?" Meng Qing asked.

"Are you from this family? Are you Du Min's second sister-in-law? I am the page of Dr. Xu from the prefectural academy. He learned from Master Chen that Du Min's second sister-in-law lives here, and he sent me to deliver a message." The page explained his purpose.

Meng Qing hurriedly opened the door, "I am Du Min's second sister-in-law, come in and talk to me."

The door opened, and the three people went in. Du Li followed behind and closed the door, blocking the probing gazes from the other side.

“He’s Du Min’s second brother. Just say what you have to say,” Meng Qing said.

“Du Min has been claiming illness and hiding in the back room, refusing to come out. Dr. Xu asked you to go and see him, and also to persuade him that if he can’t stay here any longer, he should drop out of school,” the page said.

Du Li knew there was more to this than met the eye, and he angrily questioned, "Are the students of your prefectural school still bullying Du Min?"

The pageboy didn't answer. "Do you want to go? I can take you in."

“Let’s go, we’ll go right now.” Meng Qing didn’t ask Du Li’s opinion and decided directly: “Let’s wait a bit with your parents, we’ll go see Du Min first.”

The couple and their page went to the prefectural school together, only to find themselves at the end of the school term when they encountered the sons of powerful and wealthy families leading their page out.

"Oh, isn't this Du Min's second brother who's gone mad?" Shi Zhengli sneered.

Du Li pretended not to hear.

"Who are you to Du Min? His second sister-in-law, a merchant's daughter? And a merchant's daughter who makes funerary objects? What kind of nonsense is this paper-crafted funerary objects?" Shi Zhengli had thoroughly investigated Du Min's connections, and he sneered, "The whole family is no respectable."

Unable to afford to offend him, Meng Qing could only pretend she hadn't heard anything.

"This way," the page said.

When Shi Zhengli saw Dr. Xu's pageboy, he became more restrained and stopped causing trouble.

"This is it. The dormitory with the words on the door belongs to Du Xuezi," the page said before leaving.

Meng Qing walked to the door. The word "shameless" was written on the blackened wooden door in chicken blood or some other kind of blood. She raised her hand and knocked on the door: "Third brother, are you in there? Your second brother and I are here."

The person lying inside the room heard her voice, and their eyes, filled with hostility, flickered.

"Third brother, open the door," Du Li said.

"Third brother, if you don't open the door, your second brother and I will be laughed at," Meng Qing said.

Upon hearing this, Du Min got out of bed and went to open the door barefoot.

When Meng Qing saw his face clearly, she frowned deeply. His eye sockets were sunken, and there were dark circles under his eyes, making his eyes appear exceptionally large, frighteningly large. He had changed as well, looking fierce and menacing.

“Third brother…” No matter how angry or disheartened Du Li was with him, the first thing that came to her mind when she saw him like this was heartache.

"Come in and talk." Afraid of being seen, Du Min hid in the shadows behind the door.

The door closed, plunging the room into darkness. Du Li and Meng Qing were momentarily blinded, but Du Min remained unaffected. He strode back to the bedside and sat down, asking in a hoarse voice, "Why are you here?"

"Dr. Xu's pageboy brought us here," Meng Qing said.

"You're the ones who persuaded me to drop out of school?" Du Min understood.

"He said you were sick and asked us to take you to see a doctor," Meng Qing denied.

Du Min chuckled, "I'm not sick, you can leave."

"Why don't you leave the house if you're not sick? Are they still bullying you?" Du Li asked. "What can we do to help you?"

“The paper house is finished, but I haven’t shown it to Master Chen yet. Come with me, and I’ll take you to see him,” Meng Qing offered a clear solution.

Du Min remained silent.

Meng Qing didn't urge her. She searched around the room, found the window, and opened it.

"Don't open the window!" Du Min tried to hide under the covers.

Meng Qing ignored him, saying, "There's a strong smell of swill in your room, it's unbearable for me. Open the window and let it air out."

With the window open, the room became much brighter. Meng Qing and Du Li took a closer look at the furnishings: a wooden box, a bed, a stool, a desk, and books on the desk... Meng Qing picked up a book; it was damp.

"Is your blanket wet?" Du Li smelled the source of the swill odor. He lifted the blanket covering Du Min and found that the silk floss inside was clumped together. The damp smell mixed with the smell of sweat, making people nauseous.

"They did it? Come on, let's go find Dr. Xu and have him stand up for you." Du Li's suppressed anger erupted, and he shouted, "You son of a bitch, your hearts are black as hell, and your methods are as despicable as a bastard's."

"Stop cursing, don't bring trouble upon yourselves." Du Min stopped him. "Don't get involved in this. Go back and don't come back."

“What will you do if we leave? Third brother, why don’t you drop out of school? We’re not staying here anymore,” Du Li couldn’t help but say.

Du Min's eyes flashed with malice, and he said in a harsh voice, "Impossible, I'd rather die here."

Meng Qing was startled. "What are you going to do?"

"Go away, and don't come back," Du Min said again, urging them to leave.

How could Meng Qing leave? “Third brother, you can’t do anything foolish. If you die, you’ll lose everything. You’ve read so many books, stayed up so many nights, written so many policy essays, and memorized so many classic texts. You’ve endured so much hardship not to die. If you die, it will be just what they want.”

“I don’t want to do what they want, but they threatened me. If I dare to go to the school to attend classes, they will spread the word that I am unfilial for not recognizing my parents. My reputation will be ruined, no one will vouch for me, and I won’t even be able to participate in the provincial examination.” Du Min cried helplessly. “Second sister-in-law, what do you think I should do? I can’t go to Chongwen Academy if I leave the prefectural school. No academy will accept me.”

"Would it be of any use going to Master Chen?" Meng Qing asked.

Du Min shook his head. "Dr. Xu is his man. If he were willing to help, you wouldn't be here."

After saying that, he slapped himself hard across the face with a loud "smack." "It's all my fault. I ruined myself. If I hadn't been so vain, none of this would have happened."

“They have plenty of ways to get rid of you. Even if this doesn’t happen now, another one will.” Du Li held his hand and urged him again, “Du Min, drop out of school. We’ll think of other ways.”

"No, I won't drop out of school!" Du Min shouted emotionally.

“Look, you’re being vain again. You’re just afraid of being laughed at by outsiders after you drop out of school,” Du Li said.

Du Min couldn't refute it. He muttered madly, "If you push me too far, I'll die in the school. I want everyone in Wu County to know that forty-nine sons of powerful families in the prefectural school drove me to my death. I'll make them bear the burden of murder charges and prevent them from taking the imperial examinations."