Chapter 7 – The First Encounter Between Chen and Tang (1/2)

After the incense burnt out, a gong was hit to inform the students that this round of testing was finished. Chen Chang Sheng walked out of the testing building with the rest of the students and didn’t care about the people who gave him weird looks. He followed the instructions and walked to the back of the lake where the results were given. He waited patiently for dusk and the final testing result.

Many others stayed in the building and checked answers with each other. They talked to each other about their opinions of the test. After Chen Chang Sheng arrived at the lake, the rocky plainwas still very quiet. Only the blue shirt youngster from before stood there. Chen Chang Sheng thought that geniuses were always proud and lonely. As a result he didn’t walk up to him. However, out of his expectations, the youngster walked towards him.

“My name is Tang Thirty-Six.” the blue shirt youngster said.

Chen Chang Sheng was surprised. He didn’t expect that the youngster would take the initiative to speak to him. He organized his attire and answered politely, “My last name is Chen, Chen Chang Sheng.”

Tang Thirty-Six was startled for a second. He didn’t expect that the youngster’s name would be so unsophisticated. Even rich people from the rural areas wouldn’t give such a name to their son. After a moment of silence he said, “Your name is simple. I couldn’t say it’s bad.”

(Again Chen is the family name and Chang Sheng means to live long so his name in the US would just be Chang Sheng well people call out to him.)

Chen Chang Sheng thought that Tang Thirty Six spoke quite boldly, but his name was also weird.

“My name is Chen Chang Sheng…..because I was very sick when I was young and my Master wanted me to live to be a hundred years old. What about you? Why are you named Tang Thirty Six? Is it because you are the thirty sixth child in your family? Why do you have so many family members? Where are you from? Wouldn’t it be noisy to have so many siblings when you are studying?”

Tang Thirty Six was stunned.

Asking the meaning and origin of one’s name in front of the person wasn’t something polite. In addition, Tang Thirty Six had a serious face that wasn’t exactly friendly to strangers. The people who didn’t know the meaning of his name wouldn’t dare to ask in front of him no matter how curious they were. But he didn’t expect that this youngster would just ask the question so casually.

But what Chen Chang Sheng thought was very simple. Since he’s living in a city where he doesn’t know anyone, he should give back friendliness to the genius who was willing to talk to him. At least he should actively chat with him and talk about something.

Chen Chang Sheng had lived with his Master and senior brother since he was young. Master didn’t speak much and senior didn’t speak. Because of the environment he grew up in, he had no idea how to chat regularly. Even when he did so with good intentions, it was easy to create misunderstanding, just like what happened at the Divine General’s Estate yesterday. (No common sense?)

But the interesting thing is that Tang Thirty Six wasn’t offended or angered by it. Rather, he thought Chen Chang Sheng as very honest and real. Tang Thirty Six had always wanted to be a “real” person his whole life, but people he encountered are always lying and fake. The sudden encounter of Chen Chang Sheng was rather satisfying.

“I have a lot of relatives from the same generation in my clan, but when we study we always study at our own respective homes. Because of this it isn’t noisy at all. My name is Tang Thirty Six not because I’m the thirty sixth child in my family, but because when I entered the Proclamation of Azure Clouds for the first time last year when I was fifteen years old, I was the thirty sixth on the list. I was embarrassed by my placement. Especially when I am compared to that woman and that wolf. To remind myself of my weakness i changed my name to Tang Thirty Six. Yep, I think I answered all the questions.”

This conversation was the first Chen Chang Sheng has had since leaving Xi Ning Village and arriving at the Capital. The conversation was also the first for Tang Thirty Six after he left Wen Shui and arrived at the Capital. At that instant Chen Chang Sheng was fourteen years old while Tang Thirty Six was going to be sixteen years old. They were inexperienced in many fields and their conversational skills were lacking as well. But the funny thing is that this conversation will prove to be one of the most important conversations that will occur in history. Or it could said that it was the most successful and important chat after the vow taken by Emperor Taizong and the Demon Lord.

“How many questions did you answer on the test?”

Tang Thirty Six asked. He was interested because he felt that Chen Chang Sheng was an ordinary person but he felt that he was special at the same time. When he saw Chen Chang Sheng’s pale face, he realized that his question was inappropriate. Even a genius like himself struggled in the sea of test questions. It was clear that Chen Chang Sheng had used all of his mental strength. Speaking from this situation then, Chen Chang Sheng’s result shouldn’t be good.

“I couldn’t answer some questions in the field of cultivation like divine sense, True Essence, and other things…..”

Chen Chang Sheng answered honestly and felt lucky. From a young age he has been reading the Scriptures of The Way so the seemingly difficult concept and detailed questions were rather easy to him. But because he didn’t cultivate, he didn’t know how to answer those questions. Good thing that this was an entrance exam because the questions tested on cultivation wasn’t the main focus.

Tang Thirty Six felt strange. The only questions he couldn’t answer were the cultivation related ones. Is he saying that he answered all of the other questions? At that instant he noticed that at the other side of the lake a teacher was holding a big stack of testing papers and ran quickly toward a building. The teacher seemed to be excited that he even almost tripped himself when going up the stairs. Tang Thirsty Six was stunned for a moment and thought back to Chen Chang Sheng’s answer. Is he really going to give everyone a big surprise?

“You answered….all of the rest?”

“I’m cannot speak too confidently. There are two versions of the Chanting of Ultimate Calmness. When the Orthodoxy was established, a new version was created and everyone used the newer version. However, the question asked for the time before the year of 1573, and I wasn’t sure which version to use. At last I answered with both versions. I hope the teacher won’t disapprove of it and deduct points off of my answer.”

After Tang Thirty Six heard Chen Chang Sheng’s response he was shocked. He remained silent for a while.

For that question he only knew one version and only answered with one version.

After a while, he looked at Chen Chang Sheng and said, “I always thought that a certain someone and I are the most arrogant in the younger generation, but I didn’t expect that you are more arrogant than us.”

Chen Chang Sheng was confused. How was he arrogant?

———————————————–

The result was finally out….

And Chen Chang Sheng’s name wasn’t on it!