What? The first person to come to the shabby room passes the reexamination? In other words, this is the only condition for becoming Mr.’s closed disciple? This...is this the content of the re-examination? That's too simple, right?
Everyone reacted immediately, putting aside the fatigue they had felt before, and hurriedly asked -
"Sir, will you stay in that humble room tomorrow?"
"What if we arrive at the same time?"
"Do we have to leave at 9:00 tomorrow? If we leave early, does it count as cheating?"
...
Everyone rushed to ask questions, but the boy turned a deaf ear and walked out of the courtyard without looking back. Everyone rushed to catch up, but before they reached the door, they heard a "bang" and the door of the courtyard was closed. Everyone instinctively stretched out their hands to open it, but found that they couldn't pull it open, and it seemed to be locked from the outside.
Seeing that the door was locked, everyone understood the deeper meaning, which was to stay here honestly tonight, and no one was allowed to leave first. It's just that everyone still doesn't understand why a journey of just a few miles, which would only take half an hour in normal times, can be used as a test center for the re-examination. Could it be that there were some obstacles on the way, sir?
For a while, everyone tried to figure it out, but they didn't know what it meant.
Seeing that the door was closed, Jiang Changming turned around and walked towards his house first, no longer worrying about it. Seeing this, everyone had no choice but to choose their own houses and move in temporarily.
After everyone had dinner, they went back to their houses. After tonight, they were no longer the same age as those who chatted and laughed in the Taiyuan Academy in the morning, nor were they classmates who cared about each other. They were even brothers who competed with each other. relationship... But even so, everyone came up with the same idea at the same time - that is, they have no sleep tonight and will set out at 4:00 the next day. Don't miss the time because of snooze.
Perhaps in this environment, even if everyone is allowed to fall asleep, they will not be able to sleep peacefully. At this last chance, even Jiang Changming, who has always been as calm as water, feels a little uneasy. He is sitting cross-legged in the room, with thousands of thoughts in his mind.
…
Ye Changshan and Ying were equally in the same room. The two brothers also did not intend to sleep, so they chatted under the moonlight to relieve their fatigue in case they accidentally fell asleep.
Recalling the boy who behaved strangely, Yingping couldn't help complaining, saying: "This man is so strange today. At first, I thought he was mute. He only nodded and shook his head and pointed. Such a strange person can't I don’t know who first...ah, no! Someone from my master, why did he send this person to receive us?"
Ying Ping was not polite at all and directly addressed his husband as 'Master'.
Ye Changshan was a little nervous at first, but after hearing Yingping's name, he couldn't help but want to laugh and said: "Maybe he is just a scholar from a poor family. Look how serious he is in cleaning."
Ying Ping pursed his lips and shook his head, saying, "I don't think so. Do you see the jade pendant on his waist? It looks like a good piece of jade."
Ye Changshan said strangely: "Look at how shabby this man's clothes are, with his torn boots and ragged clothes. How can he be so good? I only found that this man... seems to be left-handed."
"Oh? Why can't you see that?"
"Whether this person is carrying water, sweeping the floor or wiping windows, he always uses his left hand or left hand to exert force. Therefore, I guess this person is left-handed."
"Hey, I didn't expect you to observe very carefully."
Yingping suddenly felt that it was quite interesting to get along with Ye Changshan for a long time. It was not as boring as when they first met, so he took a look at Ye Changshan.
Although the night was dark, the red candles in the room were still on. Ye Changshan suddenly felt that Yingping had stopped talking. He squinted and saw that Yingping was looking at him like a strange animal. He couldn't help but feel puzzled.
"Why are you looking at me?" Ye Changshan couldn't help but ask.
Yingping said with a naive smile: "I was thinking, we are really destined. So many things have happened in the past two months. I didn't expect to go around in circles. In the end, we brothers were able to live together at the foot of Qianniu Mountain. We will go there tomorrow. Participate in the final test of the cold exam that everyone in the world dreams of."
Hearing that 'so many things have happened', Ye Changshan's mind couldn't help but recall his deceased parents.
The night was dark, the sky was high, the moonlight was dim, the summer wind was accompanied by the croaking of frogs, and a deep sad thought crept into his heart. Ye Changshan suddenly felt a sore nose and red eyes. Fortunately, the candlelight was dim and Ye Changshan's strange behavior was not noticed by Yingping.
Although Yingping couldn't see clearly, he seemed to feel something when Ye Changshan didn't speak for a long time. He changed his previous high-pitched and excited tone, but said in a low and sincere tone: "Changshan, your family is really my great benefactor. If your parents hadn't blocked this disaster for me, I, Yingping, would still be a human or a ghost. It's hard to say... Now you and I are like brothers. No matter what I become in the future, I will treat you as my brother all my life! I will treat your parents as my biological parents! After I finish my studies, I will definitely go to Daliang for you. Find the old flower farmer and ask him why he is so cruel!"
Ye Changshan couldn't help but feel a little moved when he heard Yingping's sincere tone, as if he really put this matter first among the major events in his life.
There was another silence in the room.
The night wind gradually picked up, and the candlelight flickered, almost extinguished but not extinguished. The night is long, when will the light come? It makes people feel torture...
Although he already knew that he would be accepted as a disciple by a poor family, Yingping was still curious about the contents of tomorrow's exam. After a long time, Yingping couldn't help but ask again: "Changshan, can you tell us what we will encounter on the way in the morning?"
"I don't know... let's talk about it then."
"Hey, he's quite free and easy, unlike you."
"Why, am I very gentle on weekdays?"
"Not really, but you are smarter than me and think about the problem more comprehensively than me, so you will make careful calculations before making any decision."
"Oh? You actually admit that I am smarter than you? It's rare, it's rare."
Seeing Yingping praising himself, Ye Changshan felt very curious as if he saw the sun rising from the west.
Seeing the disbelief in Ye Changshan's tone, Yingping argued: "Humph, although I like to praise myself verbally, I am not a blind idiot."
Ye Changshan began to sound playful and said, "Really?"
Yingping rolled his eyes and said angrily: "Really! Can I still lie to you at this time? My adoptive father said that you seem to be taciturn, but in fact you are very showy. Take this cold exam as an example. , I have never studied Mathematics, and yet I got an A-level distinction. Who else is there besides you?"
"real?"
"Really! If you don't believe me, just ask Qin Jingqing. I gave him ten taels of silver to help you pass the retest!"
The room suddenly fell into silence. At this time, the wind blew the remaining candles, and the room became dark. Ye Changshan looked at Yingping, and Yingping also looked at Ye Changshan. Although they could not see each other's eyes, they both felt the same in their hearts. I know that the other party must be watching me at this time.
"Pfft-hahaha-"
"Hey Hey…..."
Somehow, the two of them burst into laughter at the same time. Ye Changshan was lying on the bed with his belly in his hands and was just about hammering the bed board with his fist, while Yingping was holding his forehead with his hands and giggling "hehe".
"Ouch - gown - don't laugh like that, my stomach hurts..."
"Hehehe - hehehe - I don't want to laugh either, but... it just feels so funny, hehehe -"
"Stop talking - hahaha - stop talking - you're laughing so hard"
"Okay...hehe...ok..."
The two of them finally stopped laughing. At this moment, their stomachs were hurting terribly. But not to mention, laughing so heartily makes people feel inexplicably comfortable.
Ye Changshan calmed down and said slightly seriously: "I know you are not short of money, but ten taels of silver is still money. Aren't you wasting money? Besides, if your adoptive father knows this, he won't scold you to death? If you want to let the humble family know, wouldn’t it be..."
"Don't worry. I asked Qin Jingqing to do it. I can rest assured that he will do it!"
Ye Changshan knew Yingping's temperament well and knew that he could not persuade him. But then I thought about it, and Yingping actually took out ten taels of silver to bet on myself, and I felt touched again. Thinking of this, Ye Changshan suddenly asked: "Do you... really think that I have a little bit of hope?"
"without!"
Yingping answered simply, and the touch of emotion that Ye Changshan had just ignited was immediately extinguished.
"Then you're still wasting this money!?"
"Isn't this giving you moral support?"
"That's ten taels of silver! You could just use this money to buy Mr. Jiang's bet!"
"Mr. Jiang? He is indeed the most popular, but I heard that the most popular one has nothing to buy and can't make much money."
“If you can’t make a few bucks, it’s still money!”
"Changshan, I didn't expect you to be so greedy for money!"
The two brothers joked with each other, and then calmed down again. Thinking that Yingping would become a disciple of a poor family tomorrow, Ye Changshan still felt a little bit envious, so much so that he couldn't help but put himself into a poor family, imagining what it would be like to be a disciple of a poor family. Yingping seemed to be getting more and more excited. In the infinite longing, the boring long night did not seem so boring.
The two of them fell into silence at the same time with great understanding, and the room finally returned to silence.
I don't know how long it took, but the sky gradually turned from dark to a little brighter, but I still couldn't see the rising sun.
Suddenly, a colorful butterfly flew in the forest. In the dark forest, the butterfly seems to have lost its way, lost itself, and forgotten the way home. After wandering around in the woods for several times, the butterfly flew out of the forest and landed on the eaves of the courtyard and stopped quietly. A faint light shone from inside the house, and the butterfly seemed to be attracted by this dim light. It just stood there silently, looking...looking...
Then, like in the past, another ray of sunshine shined through the mountains and forests...
'Squeak——'
A harsh sound of opening the door broke through the silent mountain forest, and the door of the courtyard was obviously pushed open by someone. The students were shocked, got dressed, got out of bed and walked out of the house - as expected, the courtyard door was open, but the person who opened the door was nowhere to be seen...
…
…
In the shabby room, the middle-aged scholar was reading with the lamp on. After reading all night, he felt a little tired. After all, he was nearly half a hundred years old and could not compare with his youth.
The middle-aged scholar stood up, stretched his waist, twisted his neck, and then inadvertently looked out the window and found that the sky was gradually getting brighter. The middle-aged scholar seemed to realize something at this time. He quickly turned around and looked at the hourglass behind him, and then turned to look at the sky outside the window again - the door of the courtyard should have been opened.
