16. Ideal!

The liberal arts courses were not considered particularly heavy, especially for Leng Sa, who came from a scholarly family background and had a good memory. Sometimes, Leng Sa would go to the neighboring medical school to freeload classes with An Lucy. An Lucy's ambition was to follow in her father's footsteps and become a good doctor. Although there weren't many female doctors at present, they did exist, and An family was only concerned about whether she could endure the hardships of the profession; they didn't hinder her ambition.

Supporting the pale-faced An Lucy as they walked out of the anatomy laboratory. After enduring for a while she couldn't hold back any longer. She pushed Leng Sa away and rushed to the roadside, where she squatted down and started vomiting non-stop.

Leng Sa sighed and walked back to the teaching building.

When she came out with a glass of water, An Lucy was still squatting by the roadside, crying with tears and snot streaming down her face.

"Get up and drink some water."

An Lucy leaned against a tree and stood up, took a sip of water, and looked at Leng Sa pitifully, "Sasa, am I too useless?" She ended up vomiting like this during her first anatomy class. She was full of confidence when she studied the theory before.

Leng Sa supported her with one hand, "It's alright, at least you held on until the class was over before throwing up." Plenty of students who threw up just from seeing the cadaver.

An Lucy choked. "But… you're fine. Aren't you a liberal arts student?"

Leng Sa looked up at the sky, "Well, you could say I have a unique talent for this?" She had killed more than the school's anatomy specimens. Additionally, in the Fox Den of the five-person group, Silver Fox occasionally posed as a field surgeon, although those opportunities are rare.

"Woo…"

One by one, a group of students with similarly pale faces and unsettled expressions exit the building. Seeing An Lucy in this state, no one mocked her.

An Lan University used to be the only women's college in the entire An Xia region, and even now, it remains one of the top comprehensive universities in An Xia. Almost every girl who had the means to pursue higher education aspired to attend this university. However, the medical school at An Lan University has the highest attrition rate in the entire university; the graduation rate is said to be less than thirty percent. When it was an all-female institution, the graduation rate from the medical school was even lower, around ten percent.

More than half of them chose to transfer courses or drop out directly after their first anatomy practical class.

However, those who could persevere until graduation generally became formidable women.

"Sasa, Xiaoxiao, why are you still… what's happening?" Song Xuan and Bai Xi walked side by side, looking slightly puzzled at the two. Originally, they had planned to go for lunch together, but they waited for a long time and Leng Sa and An Lucy still hadn't arrived, so they came over to check.

Leng Sa pointed at An Lucy. "Anatomy class."

"Oh…" The two suddenly realized and quickly approached with concern, "Xiaoxiao, are you okay? Should we eat something light?"

Song Xuan suggested, "I think we should fight fire with fire. Why don't we have duck blood and pig intestines for lunch?"

"Urgh!" An Lucy glared at Song Xuan with tears in her eyes. She ran to the roadside and continued vomiting.

Leng Sa and Bai Xi both looked at Song Xuan. She shrugged. "I'm serious. Fighting fire with fire is the fastest method."

"I agree," Lengsa nodded, "but it's too masochistic, it could leave psychological trauma." She was once forced to eat 'tofu pudding'1 and knew just how terrible that experience could be.

While they were talking, An Lucy had already returned. With a determined wipe of her tears, she said, "Let's go, let's eat!"

"What do you want to eat?" Bai Xi asks, "How about porridge? Or should I treat you to some cake?"

An Lucy declared, "Duck blood and pig intestines! Braised pork! Stewed ribs!"

"…Don't you want to vomit anymore?" Leng Sa asked.

An Lucy looked at them with reddened eyes and boldly stated, "I've vomited it all out. At least for now!"

"…"

Of course, they could not eat duck blood and pig intestines. The four of them ended up in a small restaurant near the school where they usually ate and ordered some light dishes. After finishing their meal and clearing the table, Song Xuan skillfully took out a few thick notebooks from her bag and gave half to Leng Sa. The other two leaned on the table, looking at each other.

Leng Sa habitually flipped open the booklet and started calculating mentally.

Song Xuan took out a pocket-sized abacus from her bag and fiddled with it while watching Leng Sa swiftly calculate and record expenses. She couldn't help but envied, "I envy your mental arithmetic ability. By the way, why didn't you choose to study science with this kind of skill?"

Leng Sa continued calculating and replied, "If I were to study science, my grandfather would break my legs. Even if he couldn't break them, he would be infuriated, and then my father would have to kneel in front of him until his legs broke. My father has been kneeling in front of him for half his life, so let's be a bit kinder to his knees."

Song Xuan nodded understandingly and said, "Emperor's teacher, of course. He wouldn't want anyone in the family to be tainted by the smell of copper2." In earlier years, many noble scholars looked down upon merchants. Even though merchants ceased to be considered lowly professions centuries ago, some still held the belief that studying was superior to all else.

Moreover, someone like Old Master Leng had reached the highest aspiration of scholars—an Emperor's teacher.

The Emperor's teacher, teacher of the Son of Heaven. Who else could he look up to?

Song Xuan could not help but look at Leng Sa. "How strange. The Leng family would produce a girl like you."

Leng Sa raised an eyebrow, "Didn't the Song family produce a girl like you as well?" She had met Song Xuan's parents and two brothers; none of them could be considered particularly astute. Yet, Song Xuan, at such a young age, was a shrewd person. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that she's the smartest person in the Song family.

Song Xuan sighed and said, "What can I do? The Warlord trusts my dad because he's straightforward and unambitious. My two brothers are just like my father and don't even get me started on my mother. Besides spending money and playing cards, she doesn't care about anything else. Can a family be collectively naïve?"

Bai Xi asked curiously, "Ahxuan, what will you do if your mom keeps pressuring you to get married?"

Song Xuan thought for a moment, "Then I'll leave Yong City and come back after a few years."

"Ah?" Bai Xi and even the listless An Lucy couldn't help but raise their heads at this statement. "Ahxuan, are you abandoning us?"

Song Xuan smirked, "It's not like I'm going to the end of the earth. I'll either go to Jiang City or the capital. You can visit me, and it's convenient for me to visit you. Besides, we can always call each other."

"That's true." Their families were fairly well-off, and they had telephones at home too.

Except for the Leng family.

The Leng family, up to now, had not even installed electric lights, let alone a telephone. Old Master Leng despised all things new and innovative, and even the younger generation of the Leng family wouldn't dare to suggest it, even if they wanted to. Of course, on the other hand, it might also be because the Leng family wasn't as prosperous as before. After all, whether it's electric lights or telephones, they weren't common items and they were quite expensive. There were so many people in the Leng family so it wouldn't be practical to install them in just one room.

Leng Sa asked, "Ahxuan, do you plan to do business in the future?"

Song Xuan put down her abacus and said, "No, I want to take the civil service exam."

"Ahxuan wants to be an official?" Bai Xi blinked.

"Can't I?"

Leng Sa gave her a thumbs up. "That's great, good luck!"

Song Xuan also couldn't help but smile, "Talking to Sasa is always the most comfortable." If she said this to someone else, people would always advise her that it was unnecessary or unrealistic.

An Lucy also chimed in, "Actually, that's good. My grandfather said the Deputy Chief in Yun Province is a woman, and she's quite impressive."

Song Xuan felt a bit regretful, "You mean Madam Zhuo Lin? Yes, it's a pity that she can only be a deputy chief no matter how impressive she is. It's so unfair! I want to become the Chief Governor!"

Madam Zhuo Lin had been a deputy chief for over 20 years, not because she lacked the ability, but because she was a woman!

In Yun Province, Madam Zhuo had witnessed three different Chief Governors in just over a decade, and none of them were as capable as her. Those individuals seemed to come to Yun Province to boost their political achievements using Madam Zhuo's abilities.

"Ahxuan, you can do it!"

"Ahxuan, you can do it!"

"Ahxuan, you can do it!"

"…" Song Xuan was speechless, this cheerleading was completely soulless.