Walrus Qian's voice was low as he read out the names of the admitted students one by one.
Fifty-five new students stood on the steps one after another, all of them energetic and smiling.
And down the steps.
There are hundreds of failed candidates.
The one-meter-high steps clearly separate the two emotions of joy and sorrow.
"Is this the end of reading?"
"Impossible. I've counted, and now I've only reached fifty-four. There should be one more person."
"Wait a little longer, wait a little longer..."
The candidates who failed all looked pale and tried to comfort themselves in vain.
An old boy broke through the yamen's obstruction, knelt in front of the walrus stem, kowtowed and said, "Master Xuezheng, please read another one!"
Looking at the gray-haired old boy in front of him, Walrus Gan did not scold him harshly. He just sighed, shook his head gently and said, "All fifty-five students are here."
The old Tongsheng fell to the ground with a sad face, tears falling down like Lanzhou ramen, and said to himself: "Impossible, impossible, I have studied hard for decades, how come I can't pass this college examination!"
However, this old boy is just one of many frustrated candidates.
In the distance, a middle-aged scholar wearing a whitish green shirt glanced at Wei Chen who was standing on the steps in high spirits, smiled, shook his head, and left quietly with a look of relief.
The figure from the back looked very much like the Shi Kai script of Meng Shi Kai that Wei Chen had longed for.
After the list of new students was announced, Walrus Qian ordered the clerk to post the top ten Cheng Mo on the screen wall of the yamen to facilitate all candidates to check their papers to show fairness.
Unwilling candidates rushed to the screen wall to criticize, trying to find evidence that the examiner was ignorant and had their own bright pearls covered in dust.
At this time, the three famous talents from Jiangning Prefecture, Wang Yaochen, the second-ranked Wang Yaochen, the third-ranked Weng Dingfan, and the fourth-ranked Tang Henian, also came to the exam together.
After the government examination, the three of them had all doubts about Wei Chen. This time they came to read Wei Chen's article, not with the intention of criticizing, but with the intention of analyzing and learning.
This is like those motivated students in Wei Chen's previous life. After each exam, they always tried to borrow the papers of the top student in the class to see where they were compared with the top student.
Acknowledge your own shortcomings and work hard to learn from the strengths of others so that you can make progress.
The three of them looked up at Wei Chen's first five-article article, but they saw a walrus-shaped ink mark on the front of the article. There were no comments, only three circles.
Wang Yaochen was so surprised that he couldn't close his mouth. He had already read his paper before coming here. The first page of the paper was also circled, but there was only one.
Including Weng Dingfan and Tang Henian, their articles have far surpassed other candidates, but even so, Walrus Gan only gave them a circle.
One circle already means "good", but what about these three circles?
Is the gap between me and Wei Chen really that big?
Wang Yaochen couldn't help feeling a little frustrated, and immediately read Wei Chen's article carefully.
However, after reading it, he fell into a deep silence and stared at the article for a long time without speaking.
Weng and Tang, who were on the side, had also finished reading the article. Weng Dingfan looked away from the list and sighed: "This kind of article can truly be called a literary masterpiece. Wei Chen, a little Sanyuan, doesn't care whether others accept it or not. , at least I, Weng, am convinced."
Tang Henian smiled bitterly and said: "For such a beautiful article, if the case cannot be taken away, that would be a real injustice..."
"Hey, Boyong, this is..."
The two of them glanced at Wang Yaochen, who was staring at Wei Chen's article speechlessly, and couldn't help but look at each other, sighing secretly in their hearts.
…
On the other side, Wei Chen and the others finally rejected the warm invitation of the same year and returned to Shengzhai together.
As soon as the three of them reached the alley entrance of Huagaifang, Sheng Changbai felt that the atmosphere was a little different from usual.
But the ground was filled with bright red firecracker crumbs, and the neighbors who used to come and go in the alley were gone. Even the few food shops at the entrance of the alley were closed.
The three of them walked into the alley in surprise, when they suddenly heard a noise in the distance, and the strong aroma of wine and meat hit their faces.
Sheng Changbai's heart skipped a beat, and he quickly led Wei Chen and Chen Jun to the door of his house. He saw a long flowing mat at the door of Sheng's house, occupying half of the alley, with people drinking and drinking.
One table, two tables, three tables, ten tables, twenty tables... Wei Chen counted the numbers in his mind and couldn't help but secretly marvel, it was really grand!
Sheng Changbai also looked surprised, obviously unaware.
Needless to say, it must have been the old manager named Chen who took matters into his own hands.
As soon as Sheng Changbai appeared, several enthusiastic neighbors gathered over and surrounded Sheng Changbai.
"The second son of the Sheng family is back!"
"Now I have to change my name and call myself Xianggong Sheng!"
"Hahaha, yes, Mr. Sheng!"
Many of these neighbors were friends with the Sheng family, and many of them were Sheng Changbai's elders. They all came up to toast with smiles on their faces. Sheng Changbai could not refuse, so he could only take the wine glass and drink it with a smile.
At this time, Manager Chen finally arrived, and Sheng Changbai asked angrily: "Uncle Chen, what's going on? This banquet has been decided a long time ago?"
Today is a happy day. Manager Chen also drank a few drinks and his face was bright red. After listening to Sheng Changbai's question, he chuckled and said, "Yes, Second Young Master, yesterday I found our Jiangning City to be one of the best." The flowing-water mat master ordered this flowing-water mat."
"This is too extravagant!"
"I have informed the master in advance, and the master has agreed."
"Forehead……"
Sheng Changbai was speechless now. Even his father agreed. What else could he say?
Wei Chen, who was standing aside, looked at Sheng Changbai's helpless look and couldn't help but laugh secretly. He immediately said, "Brother, being selected as a scholar is not only your own business, but also concerns the reputation of the Sheng family. You'd better just accept it!"
Sheng Changbai was slightly startled when he heard this, and then nodded: "Brother Xian is right, but Brother Fool is wrong. Whatever, whatever..."
After Sheng Changbai figured it out, he confessed his crime to Wei Chen and Chen Jun, then took up his wine glass and toasted to the guests.
Manager Chen was relieved when he saw this and glanced at Wei Chen gratefully.
Wei Chen smiled, greeted Chen Jun, and found an empty seat to sit down. After the two toasted each other, they each used their chopsticks in silence.
This is a Sheng residence, and Sheng Changbai is the owner. Although Wei Chen is the head of the case, it is not easy to steal his limelight.
Looking at the lively scene in front of him, Wei Chen's thoughts couldn't help but drift to Youyang, a hundred miles away. If his aunt and uncle knew that he was even a middle school student, they would definitely be even more ecstatic than Manager Chen.
Although both husband and wife came from poor backgrounds, the banquet they held to celebrate themselves would probably not be much inferior to that here at Shengzhai...
