Fang Zichen said things like Snow White's stepmother was an old witch who specialized in eating children. She fed Snow White a stale, sour steamed bun that had been left overnight, and then Snow White died from diarrhea. She was buried in the forest, but then she was saved by seven dwarves who specialized in grave robbing. Later, she met Thumb Prince. With Thumb Prince's help, she met the Calabash Brothers. They joined forces to defeat the Balala Little Magic Fairies, and then with Black Cat Sheriff, they took back Aladdin's lamp from the Scaly Snake. Then the whole group flew on a carpet to a small island to help Ultraman defeat the monster Godzilla and save the world.
But these stories, when he had told them to him before, were clearly not like this.
Fang Zichen had a silver tongue that was especially good at sweet-talking and bluffing. Now, as soon as he got off work, Guaizai would stick to him like a tail.
After spending so much time together, Guaizai had learned many things—both good and bad. But so far, he hadn't learned much that was good, instead picking up a great deal of false reasoning and sophistry.
Zhao Ger was worried.
But there was nothing he could do.
He couldn't very well keep them apart.
Last time, when Guaizai disappointed Fang Zichen, Zhao Ger was worried that Fang Zichen would hold a grudge against Guaizai. But that night, after Guaizai fell asleep, Fang Zichen pinched his nose, cursed him as 'this darn kid, I've spoiled you for nothing,' and then the next day, he was back to calling him his sweetheart and precious treasure.
Fang Zichen doted on the child, he really doted on him to the heavens.
He would kiss Guaizai several times a day. He obviously loved cleanliness the most, but he didn't dislike Guaizai at all. He kissed his face, his nose, the back of his little hands, his little belly. Fang Zichen had kissed every part of Guaizai's body except his two buttocks, his little p*nis, and his little feet.
When playing, he even let Guaizai sit on top of his head.
No one in the village played with their son like that.
But he was truly unreliable.
Seeing him spacing out, Guaizai gently tugged on his clothes: "Daddy..."
"En? What's wrong?"
"When Guaizai grow up, Guaizai will help you work, won't let Daddy be tired!"
Zhao Ger patted his head.
This was the only somewhat comforting thing about his son at the moment.
____
While rushing to town, Fang Zichen felt the entire way like he had forgotten something.
It wasn't until he reached the government office that he suddenly remembered: When he had gone to find Zhao Ger earlier, it seemed like he hadn't seen his soft, glutinous son.
But he wasn't worried.
If nothing else, Zhao Ger was very careful. He surely wouldn't have lost the child.
Right now, outside the government office, a crowd of scholars was lined up, handling their imperial examination registration.
The matter of whether the imperial exams needed to be held early had been decided after several court discussions in the middle of the ninth month.
But it took half a month for this news to travel from the capital to Fu'an Town.
The news came suddenly. Many scholars were completely unprepared and caught off guard. While lamenting and complaining, they also didn't forget to hurriedly come to the government office to register and report.
The exams were in just a few days, there was no time to delay.
Right now, two lines of people were queued up at the government office entrance.
The efficiency of the soldiers responsible for registration and issuing tokens wasn't very high.
They would stare at the few characters on the household registration documents for a long time.
There was a custom in the village that when a child was first born, their life force was considered light and their soul unstable, making them easily susceptible to being taken by evil spirits. To counter this, the child was given a lowly, humble name to suppress this vulnerability and keep them safe.
Therefore, many people's names on their household registrations were mostly things like Dog or Ox—basically, mostly animal names.
Later, when they grew up and entered school, they were given new names. Some parents, not knowing better, found it troublesome and also wanted to save a bit of silver, so they didn't come to the government office to change it.
Right now, many scholars' names on their household registrations were still Er Gou [Second Dog] or San Gou [Third Dog].
If this name was written on the exam paper, the imperial examiner would probably lose all desire to even grade it upon seeing it.
Someone reported their name. The person spoke with a very heavy accent. The soldier holding the brush asked impatiently: "Is it Wang (望) or Wang (旺)? You need to speak clearly!"
The student spent a long time talking and gesturing.
The line was so long you could see the head but not the tail. After waiting almost eight minutes, it hadn't moved a step.
Fang Zichen was too impatient to wait. He went straight in to find Lao Wang.
The soldier guarding the gate recognized him, greeted him, and let him in.
Having connections inside the government office made things easier.
Eating snacks provided by Lao Wang, Fang Zichen leisurely followed Lao Wang and got registered. He put away his household registration and documents, then, acting like good buddies, slung his arm over Lao Wang's shoulder and asked him with a smile: "Lao Wang, do you know any Xiucai? If you do, introduce one to me!"
Hearing this, Lao Wang glared at him: "And you have the nerve to say that."
Fang Zichen didn't understand: "What did I do?"
Lao Wang had been at the government office for a long time and was naturally familiar with the rule that the child scholar exam required a Xiucai's guarantee. Knowing that Fang Zichen had come from overseas and had no one to rely on, he was all alone and helpless. Though Fang Zichen was busy working every day and knew many people, most of his acquaintances were from the lower classes of society. For this reason, Lao Wang had thought to help him find a Xiucai.
He didn't know many Xiucai, only Ji Xiucai from Anhe Academy had a relatively good relationship with him.
So two days ago, he invited him out for tea. After chatting for a long time, as soon as he brought up the main topic, Ji Xiucai refused him, and even seemed a bit angry.
Why?
When Lao Wang inquired further, he learned that Ji Xiucai's favorite student, Hao Desheng, had been beaten up by Fang Zichen half a month ago.
Not only had he been beaten, but Fang Zichen had also made him lose his reputation.
Fang Zichen felt a bit wronged.
How could this be blamed on him?
When he hit people, he was selective. Ordinary people, those who didn't act cheaply or ask for a beating, he wouldn't touch them.
He wasn't from primitive society.
He also had compassion and believed in being civilized.
As for Hao Desheng's matter, he couldn't be blamed for it at all.
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