March 30th, light rain.
Today is the day of the county examination.
Zhou Youran got up early. She woke up Xu Dian: "Shh! Brother Dian, help me cook!"
"Today, my brother will stay in the examination room all day. Let's keep the tone down and let him get more rest. Yesterday, we went to the city to buy some bacon!"
"I'm going to make some bacon buns today. Please help me set up the small stove outside. My brother has a bad stomach and can't stand the cold. When he enters the examination room, he can light a fire to bake the buns and eat something hot!"
It's daybreak, but the sun has not yet risen.
The donkey cart rang in front of the door.
Zhou Dagu was carrying two baskets, one containing the four treasures of the study, and the other containing the girl's thoughts.
Zhou Youran stood at the door. This little girl, at an age that should have acted like a spoiled child, was able to preside over the daily life of a family: "Brother, take the exam well!"
Zhou Dagu nodded: "Go back! I'll be back tonight, don't worry!"
"Oops!" Zhou Youran ran back to the room and came out with a piece of yellow talisman in his hand: "I asked for this from the Taoist temple. It can bless you, so take it with you."
At Cai County Taoist Temple, Zhou Dagu didn't know how dark they were. He took the talisman paper handed over by the girl and said, "Can they give out talisman paper for free?"
"There are three taels of silver!" The little girl looked distressed: "But it's okay, as long as it's useful!"
Zhou Dagu solemnly stuffed the talisman into his arms: "It's over!"
"What's wrong? What did you forget to take?"
"I'm saying this for other students. I have the talisman that my girl personally asked for. How can they stand a chance in this county exam?"
"You will make me happy!!"
Xu Dian led the donkey cart: "Let's go, Brother Gu! There is a distance between the city and Zhoujia Village. If we leave now, we will definitely get there before the exam starts!"
Zhou Dagu got on the carriage and said, "Close the door and go to Third Grandpa if you have something to do. If you can't, go to the city to find me!"
"I will!"
Xu Dian blocked the carriage and went down the long slope.
The little girl stood on the long slope and looked at her brother: "Brother!"
"well!"
"It's okay if you don't do well in the exam! You must come back!"
"Wash the bacon, I want to eat bacon ribs tonight!"
"okay!"
Zhou Dagu was sitting on the carriage, swaying, and the books left by Master Zhu were flipping back and forth in his head.
The carriage suddenly stopped.
"Brother Gu, there is someone in front of you!"
Zhou Dagu got out of the car: "Third Grandpa, why are you here?"
"Hehe, when I woke up, Young Master Jue, I just remembered that you were taking the county exam today. I thought about you passing through this and waiting for you here!" The third grandfather of the Zhou family took out the things from his back.
"It's raining today. Every year at this time, it's cold in spring. It might be very cold today. I thought Youran was young and didn't expect this level!"
"This is the shawl your grandma left for me. It's a little torn for you to wear, but it's warm!"
Zhou Dagu took it: "Yeah! The material is good, it will definitely be warm!"
"Let's go! Let's go! Don't waste time!"
"Then I'll come back tonight and treat you to a drink!"
"Hey, that's a good feeling!"
The donkey cart rides the rain and leaves the small village.
The old man looked at Zhou Dagu's back: "What a resemblance!"
He thought of the second oldest member of the Gu family in Zhou Dynasty.
When Zhou Wu's father died early, Zhou Wu and his little ones knelt down one by one, begging for food.
In order to train his brother, he secretly learned military sword skills and went to the battlefield.
But that heartless boy left Zhoujiacun and only came back once. He took Brother Zhou Dagu to Kyoto and never came back again!
The road becomes smoother when the donkey cart is on the main road.
Zhou Wu walked up the long slope, and a figure ran quickly.
"Bang bang bang!"
"Wang An, what are you here for?"
"Sister Ran, Brother Gu hasn't left yet!"
"Just leave!"
"Oh! I'm so damned! This is the arrowhead my father left for me. He said it was lucky. I wanted to lend it to Brother Gu for a day!"
"Hey! I gave my brother a lucky charm! Do you want to come in and eat steamed buns?"
"No, I made an appointment with my third uncle today to go to the mountains to collect herbs. I can make several fortunes in one day!"
"Then I'm closing the door!"
"Um!"
The little guy didn't leave. He stood under the gate and turned to look south.
That is the direction of the Two Worlds Mountain.
He knelt down and kowtowed: "Dad, Brother Gu is a good man and has been kind to me. Please help him to pass the exam! With the money I spent picking herbs today, I will leave two of my sons to buy yellow paper for you to burn!"
"No, I promised my brother yesterday that I would buy him candy, so I'll leave a big one for you to burn!"
"Dad, as a big man, you have to protect Brother Gu! You can't be stingy!"
…………
Caixian County School.
Two detectives came out to set the table.
"Oh, what is this!"
"people?"
"Living person? Dead person?"
A trembling man in white clothes on the ground woke up and leaned under the window of the nearby shop: "Two adults, I am a living person!"
"What are you doing here...Old Man Fan! You come here so early every year, but you didn't go back this year!"
"Hehe! Sir, you are joking. My home is far away. If I go back, I'm afraid I won't be able to make it today, and I'm short of money..."
"Who wants to hear these useless things from you? Just wait here! The exam will only start now!"
On the long street, the light rain gradually stopped.
The number of people gradually increased.
It is one thing for people in Caixian County to look down on the students, but they respect people like these in the Confucian Temple.
Back then, when the Master left Yumen Pass, he went to Cai County.
Today, the Confucian Temple was invited to open the county school, and many people were waiting at the door early to watch the excitement.
The hawkers were sitting outside the county school with their burdens on their shoulders, their eyes constantly looking into the county school.
They are all mediocre people who cannot practice martial arts. It would be nice to have some talents and stay healthy.
Old Man Fan was sitting at a hawker stall selling steamed buns: "How to sell steamed buns?"
"One big boy, one!"
"Don't lie to me. Aren't we usually one and the other?"
"Today, I call this High School Steamed Bun. I asked for water from the stream behind the Confucian Temple. Do you like it or not?"
"Give me two..." Old Man Fan touched his waist pocket: "Give me one!"
"okay!"
The rain has stopped, the weather is getting colder, and there are many cars and horses.
Old Man Fan was leaning on the square table selling steamed buns, drinking the hot water he had asked for, lowering his head, and holding a broken book in his hand.
He was already immersed in the book when he was suddenly awakened by the sound of horse hoofbeats. He raised his head and looked at the fast horses in front of him: "Where does this sergeant come from?"
The bun seller looked down on him and deliberately showed off in front of him: "You don't even know this?"
"Today's county examination, I heard that Qingxue Mansion sent academic administrators to invigilate the examination!"
Old Man Fan was confused: "There was no such rule before!"
"Hey, it's always been there, but they used to look down on us Cai County students. It was probably after Zhou Dafu came out this year that it was our Cai County's turn!"
"You're a hawker, how do you know that?"
"I can go to the Confucian Temple to fetch water, and we can be ordinary people, because my brother-in-law works as a gatekeeper at the Confucian Temple, and he is on official business. He told me all this!"
Old Man Fan looked at Xuezheng who came down from the sedan chair: "It's still wrong. There was no such rule before!"
He has participated in the county examination for decades. Even if he is the chief clerk, if he encounters something unclear, he still comes to ask him.
There is talk of academic administration in Daying Country, but they are all sent by the imperial court to the state capital, and I have never heard of the state government sending them to the county.
Thinking of what Young Master Hou said yesterday, Old Man Fan slapped his head!
"It's bad, they really came here for Zhou Da Mansion!"
"However, these grandchildren are not doing bad things!"
"No, I have to inform Zhou Dafu so that he can prepare early!"
