Zhao Rong followed his memory to one of the courtyards with a double entrance door.
At that moment, he pushed open the door of the courtyard and saw a young man pacing back and forth inside.
The man had a decent appearance without glamour, with thin cheeks and dark skin, his eyes rather bright, and his physique quite sturdy, only his clothes were a bit odd. He was wearing a blue cross-collared garment, but it looked unusually bulky.
Zhao Rong glanced at the collar of the man’s outer garment, which revealed the collar of a thick cotton-padded jacket he wore underneath.
It was deep autumn now, and it was quite normal for some students at Linlu Academy without Cultivation to wear autumn clothes, but it felt like you had even dug out your winter clothes to wear...
It somewhat reminded Zhao Rong of how he used to forcefully wear his school uniform over his cotton-padded jacket in his previous life.
The cotton-padded man was walking back and forth urgently while holding onto a scroll when he suddenly heard the squeaking sound of the courtyard door, and he turned his head abruptly towards the door.
Upon seeing Zhao Rong, the cotton-padded man quickly spoke out, "Zhao Ziyu?"
Zhao Rong nodded and saluted with his hands, "Indeed, it is I."
The cotton-padded man sighed with relief, "Brother Nian, you finally came. Let’s go, I’ll take you to Shuaixing Hall. If we don’t leave now, we’ll be late."
His tone was anxious.
Zhao Rong curiously asked, "Were you specifically waiting for me?"
The cotton-padded man spoke very fast:
"I also live in this courtyard, we are roommates, and we are both students of Shuaixing Hall. Today I heard that you and Fan Yushu were returning to the Academy, Fan Yushu doesn’t need to worry, he’s been enrolled for a long time and knows his way around, but Brother Ziyu, you had just joined the Academy and followed Teacher Yan to give lectures, now returning to the Academy as unfamiliar as a fish out of water, so Yu classmate asked me to wait for you at the dorm specifically to show you the way."
Zhao Rong nodded vaguely, having heard about many of these things from Fan Yushu and his senior classmate.
At Linlu Academy, every new student initially holds the status of a student and must study in the Mochi Academy for one year, attending seven basic Art Classes. After a year of observation and final mentoring ceremony, they can officially be accepted by a teacher at the Academy and become a Confucian scholar.
Inside Mochi Academy, there are Six Halls.
Shuaixing Hall, Cultivation Hall, Sincerity Hall.
Justice Hall, Chongzhi Hall, Guangye Hall.
Each cohort of students is divided into six groups, stationed within these six halls, similar to classes in previous lives, but the system is relatively lenient.
Zhao Rong and Fan Yushu were members of Shuaixing Hall.
Besides, in Mochi Academy, there are positions like the Sacrificial Officer, Dean, and other ranks, all held by teachers of the Academy who are responsible for managing the Six Halls. Among them, the position of Sacrificial Officer is the highest, holding the governance of Confucian teachings, generally taken in rotation by respected elderly teachers within the Academy.
As for the six halls, apart from seven Art Studies teachers, there isn’t a specific teacher permanently in charge, thus the system is relatively lenient. However, as Zhao Rong knew, there is also a "senior" managing the hall. Here, ’senior’ doesn’t mean the same as in his memories from a previous life but refers to "leader of the academic year," similar to the role of a class monitor, responsible for managing student affairs within their respective halls.
The ’senior’ is elected by all the students of the hall, usually the most recognized among the students can persuade the crowd.
So, the "Yu senior" mentioned by this brother must be the senior of Shuaixing Hall.
Zhao Rong raised an eyebrow, this name he heard for the first time; previously, while chatting casually, he asked Fan Yushu about it, but he always digressed, rarely discussing matters related to the hall, simply saying, "You’ll know once you join the hall," thus evading Zhao Rong.
"Brother Ziyu, if you have nothing else, we should hurry, we can’t be late, ah, I haven’t been late since I came to the Academy a few months ago..."
Zhao Rong snapped back to reality, hearing the cotton-padded man’s urgent expression, nodded, "Just a moment, let me put something in the house."
"Hurry up, we can’t let Yu senior see me being late..."
Zhao Rong turned back into the house, put the luggage from his Sumeru Object down, spread the quilt, grabbed some books, and then left the house following the cotton-padded man who was anxiously stepping in place.
The two hurriedly left the dormitory.
Along the way, after walking some distance,
Zhao Rong suddenly realized he had yet to ask his roommate’s name.
He turned his head to look at the dark, wooden face of the cotton-padded man, "Brother Nian, what is your honorable surname, and how should I address you?"
The cotton-padded man, focused on hurrying, casually said:
"I am surnamed Jia, with the given name Fei, styled Teng Ying. In the Academy, Brother Ziyu, just call me Jia Tengying."
Zhao Rong was surprised, then his expression turned strange, his eyes involuntarily glancing at Jia Tengying’s hand holding the scroll.
Hearing his odd tone, Jia Tengying was startled and turned his head in confusion, "Brother Ziyu, what’s wrong with my name? Jia Tengying... Is there something inappropriate?"
Zhao Rong quickly shook his head, "Nothing, it just coincides with the name of a friend I used to know, cough, Brother Teng Ying, good name."
His tone was sincere; after all, it really was a good name, appealing to the ladies...
Half an hour later, Zhao Rong arrived at the southwest side of Linlu Academy’s Mochi with Jia Tengying.
Though it’s called Mochi, it was a lake covering a vast area, and Mochi Academy was built along the lakeshore.
The name ’Mochi’ was derived from a story in the Saintly Books about a Saint who, while reading by a pond, turned its water to ink.
However, considering the size of this expansive lake, turning its water dark from ink washing would indeed be difficult.
Zhao Rong withdrew his gaze from a distant, shimmering boat on the lake where dimly, a fishing hermit could be seen – possibly one of the Academy’s teachers enjoying some leisure time.