Chapter 125
Fang Zichen was tall, and living in the examination cubicle felt incredibly cramped and stifling. When he slept at night, his legs never fully stretched out. The bed was extremely simple, just a wooden plank placed on two bricks. It was not only hard as a rock, but it also creaked and groaned with every turn. Fortunately, he had prior experience sleeping on wooden planks, or else he would have surely woken up with a sore back, or worse.
He stayed inside for three days and had to bring his own food.
Some candidates couldn't tell the five grains apart. In their daily lives, they were either waited on by servants or cared for by family members, never touching a drop of household chores, focusing only on burying themselves in their studies. While queuing to receive their cubicle assignments, Fang Zichen had glanced around and noticed most people brought non-perishable food. Even though it was the tenth lunar month, midday was still quite hot. Items like meat buns would probably spoil by the next day.
[Five grains: rice, millet, broomcorn millet, wheat, and beans]
The soldiers conducting the inspections were very strict. Those who brought steamed buns had them broken into pieces for inspection. Some people brought supplies to cook inside. Although the examination compound was spacious, it was crowded with people. If someone brought firewood, the resulting smoke and fumes would fill the place, making it impossible to hold the exams. Therefore, most brought charcoal instead.
Fang Zichen brought some rice, charcoal, and a jar of pickles made by Zhao Ger.
He didn't buy a single bun. As the saying goes, the body was the capital of revolution. Only when one was well-fed and warmly dressed did a person have the energy to think about other things.
The exam questions weren't particularly difficult, but Fang Zichen was still extremely careful, meticulous and serious, not daring to be the least bit negligent.
Before leaving, he had boasted to Zhao Ger and his son that he would come back in first place again. If he didn't pass, it would damage his dignity as a man.
____
Three days passed in a flash.
In the afternoon, the thunderous sound of a gong echoed outside the examination compound. The chief examiner's voice boomed: "Time is up. All candidates, please stop writing and hand in your papers."
Six examiners came down, knocking on doors one by one to collect the papers.
After another half cup of tea's time had passed, and the last exam paper was collected, the compound's heavy main gate finally creaked open slowly from the inside.
Fang Zichen felt like a prisoner being released after serving his sentence, his eyes brimming with tears of joy. Li Yisheng found this amusing: "How was it?"
Fang Zichen was startled. The crowd outside was a dense sea of people, he hadn't spotted Li Yisheng at all earlier. Moreover, he hadn't expected the other man to come pick him up.
Li Yisheng's hair was disheveled and his clothes were in disarray. Fang Zichen was puzzled: "What happened to you? Did someone try to assault you? Which blind bastard was it?"
Li Yisheng: "..."
His sincere concern had ultimately been misplaced.
He gave Fang Zichen an annoyed punch. "It's all because I was afraid you'd go in standing up and come out lying down! I fought my way through the crowd to get here." He pointed at the dense mass of people behind him. "Do you know how hard that was?! Having a brother like me, you're truly blessed for three lifetimes."
"It's just the prefectural exam! There's no way I'd faint!" Fang Zichen boasted shamelessly, waving his hand. "Those who faint are probably just noobs."
No sooner had he spoken than Second Aunt Li's voice came through.
"My son! My son! What's wrong with you?"
The soldier carrying Li Yiying out explained: "It's nothing serious. He just fainted from the stress of not being able to finish the exam paper."
Such incidents happened every year during the prefectural exams without fail.
Some candidates either caught a chill and developed a fever, or fainted from hunger. Everyone was used to such occurrences by now.
Second Aunt Li's lips trembled. "...What? Didn't finish? That's impossible, impossible!"
The soldier didn't elaborate further. After confirming she was the candidate's family member, he directly handed the candidate over to her.
He was really busy, there were still a few more inside who had fainted!
Li Yisheng was dumbfounded, seemingly never expecting that his cousin, who was so doted on at home, always aloof and self-proclaimed as cultured and elegant, would become the 'noob' Fang Zichen spoke of.
Fang Zichen nudged him with his elbow. "Are you going to go check on him?"
"...No." Li Yisheng wasn't particularly close with this cousin, and his Second Aunt was not a good person either. She might even think he came specifically to gloat. He said, "Going over now would just be asking for trouble. Let's go back first."
The puppy had been entrusted to Li Yisheng's care. Li Yisheng, being wealthy and generous, had tried giving it rice porridge, but the puppy just sniffed it and lay back down. Afraid the dog might starve to death and that Fang Zichen would sever ties with him over it upon release, Li Yisheng specially sent someone to buy goat's milk to feed it. After a few days apart, Fang Zichen thought the puppy might have forgotten him, but as soon as it caught his scent, it started whining and moving towards him.
Fang Zichen took a bath, ate a little something, chatted with Li Yisheng for a while, and then went to sleep.
Early the next morning, Li Yisheng saw him carrying a large bundle, coming to say goodbye.
"Leaving already? In such a hurry? Is your Xiao Hua waiting for you to go back and help with the delivery?"
"You, a single dog, wouldn't understand," Fang Zichen sighed dramatically. "I'm a man with a family. My fulang and my son are waiting for me at home! I have to hurry."
Li Yisheng's face turned red with anger. He had originally wanted to ask Fang Zichen to stay a few more days so he could show him around Yuanzhou and sample the local culture, but now... forget it!
He waved his hand, not having time to say anything, when someone walked in from outside.
"Brother Sheng?"
It was a little fatty. He seemed both surprised and excited to see Li Yisheng. He jogged over: "Brother Sheng, when did you get back?"
Li Yisheng's brow furrowed slightly. Instead of answering, he asked: "Why are you here?"
"I came to see Brother Yi. I heard he caught a chill." The little fatty looked at Fang Zichen and said, "And this is?"
Li Yisheng, noticing the breakfast from Xingpin Zhai in the fatty's hand, felt a bit sour inside. After a silent moment, he replied curtly: "My brother."
The little fatty nodded at Fang Zichen. "Hello."
"Uh, hello, hello!"
"I'll see you out." Li Yisheng now seemed very eager, pulling Fang Zichen to leave.
"Brother Sheng..."
The little fatty called out, hurriedly chasing after them a couple of steps. Li Yisheng pretended not to hear and didn't respond.
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