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Shen Yu’an looked at the small box handed to her and reached out to take it.
The wooden box seemed hastily crafted, with unsmoothed edges and wood shavings still clinging to it.
“A New Year’s gift?”
Shen Yu’an remembered the time before the new year when she had encountered Fei Xi.
He had mentioned that Fei Yanchen had prepared a gift for her.
Fei Yanchen was unaware that the news of his gift preparations had been leaked by that Fei Xi fellow long ago.
Currently, he had slight shadows under his eyes, as if he hadn’t slept well for several days.
However, at this moment, his smile was particularly carefree, and he nodded in agreement.
Beneath the moonlight, the nobleman appeared as refined as jade. Shen Yu’an couldn’t associate Fei Yanchen with the ruthless and murderous main antagonist she had imagined.
If everything were to follow the original plot of the novel, what would his fate be?
Noticing her distraction, Fei Yanchen reminded her, “Shouldn’t you open it and see if you like it?”
“Sure.”
Shen Yuan snapped back, she lowers her head to open the small wooden box.
Inside the box lay a jade hairpin, adorned with a few delicate pearls. She picked up the hairpin, holding it up to catch the moonlight’s reflection.
Beneath the hairpin, her fingers brushed against a couple of small raised areas. She leaned in to examine them closely.
However, the night was too dark for her to see clearly, but the touch felt like two small characters.
This was the second hairpin Shen Yu’an had received in the past couple of days.
However, it was evident that she preferred the one she held in her hand now.
She looked up at Fei Yanchen with a delighted expression and thanked him, “Thank you, I really like it.”
Fei Yanchen also smiled. He had been sleeping only for two hours a night for several days, carving out time to work on this hairpin.
But at this moment, listening to Shen Yu’an’s voice and seeing her smile, it seemed like much of his exhaustion had dissipated.
In the room adjacent to theirs, Shen Rong and Song Shi were in their own space. Shen Rong was currently bent over, peering out of the window.
He lifted the cotton curtain that covered the window, slightly opening it to peer into Shen Yu’an’s room.
Seeing him contorting his body to look outside, Song Shi couldn’t help but chuckle and ask, “What are you doing?”
Shen Rong grumbled, “That young man, coming here so late and still keeping our daughter outside.”
Song Shi chuckled, “You know very well that An’an and Ah Chen have a good relationship. Does it really bother you that much for them to have a brief chat?”
Shen Rong wasn’t interested in hearing any of that. He believed Fei Yanchen had ulterior motives and the more he looked at him, the more he found him disagreeable.
He cleared his throat and coughed heavily twice before calling out, “It’s late, An’an, go to bed.”
Shen Yu’an suddenly jolted at Shen Rong’s voice, even though she hadn’t done anything wrong. An unexplainable sense of guilt swept over her.
She instinctively lowered her hand, clutching the hairpin tightly.
Shen Yu’an leaned slightly to the side and looked towards her parents’ room, replying, “Got it, Dad.”
Then, she turned back to Fei Yanchen and said, “You should go to bed too.”
Once inside her room, Shen Yu’an retrieved a mirror from her spatial storage. She placed the hairpin Fei Yanchen had given her onto her bun, checking how it looked. Satisfied, she took it off, placed it back in the box, and put the box on the table.
The table in Shen Yu’an’s room was next to the window. During the day, she would open the window for ventilation.
The next morning, as usual, Shen Yuan got up and hooked the cotton curtain that covered the window to both sides. Then, she used two wooden sticks to prop the window open.
After securing the window, she stood by the window and went through a complete stretching routine.
As she performed the final stretch, bending over and looking through her arms, she happened to spot Fei Yanchen passing by outside the window.
Fei Yanchen frowned in confusion, asking, “What are you doing?”
She finished the last movement before standing up straight, a slight flush on her face from the blood rush to her head when she bent over.
Moving her arms while explaining, she said, “Stretching exercises. I’m hoping to grow a bit taller.”
Fei Yanchen nodded with a somewhat puzzled expression, then looked at Shen Yu’an’s stature seriously and remarked, “You’re not considered short anymore.”
This time, Fei Yanchen wasn’t just trying to flatter her.
While Shen Yu’an was still a bit shorter than Fei Yanchen’s chin, compared to other women, she was already quite tall.
However, Shen Yuan was somewhat unsatisfied. In her previous body, she had been over 1.70 meters tall, and now she was at most around 1.65 meters. So, she still wished to grow a bit taller.
Yet, she didn’t dwell too much on this matter and wiped away the sweat that had formed on her forehead.
Fei Yanchen’s smiling gaze fell upon Shen Yu’an. Just then, he caught sight of an exquisitely crafted box on the stack of paper on the desk by the window.
The box was open, revealing a wooden hairpin inside.
Fei Yanchen knew that Shen Yuan already had a wooden hairpin. However, he felt that the wooden hairpin didn’t suit her, which was why he had personally carved a jade hairpin for her.
However, the hairpin on the desk didn’t seem to be the same as the one Shen Yu’an originally had.
In an instant, alarm bells rang in Fei Yanchen’s mind. He casually inquired, “That hairpin… why did you buy two identical hairpins?”
Following his gaze, Shen Yu’an looked over and spotted the wooden hairpin.
She briefly explained the origin of this wooden hairpin.
Not sensing any other emotions on her face, Fei Yanchen relaxed slightly.
However, the thought of the way the young master of the Bai family had looked at Shen Yu’an during their time at the Bai estate made Fei Yanchen feel a bit uncomfortable again.
…..
Fei Yanchen appeared quite occupied during his days at the Shen household. Over these few days, he often saw Fei Dong or Fei Xi coming to find him.
On the afternoon of the third day, he bid farewell to the Shen family once again.
However, when he left, he managed to get the wooden hairpin that Bai Mingxi had intended for Shen Yu’an and took it with him by any means possible.
During his stay, Fei Yanchen had been active with the Shen family.
Shen Rong, along with several young men from the Shen family and Zhang Wendong and Hua Nan, went to the town to inquire about the academy.
With Shen Dalang, Shen Erlang, and Zhang Wendong’s current levels of learning, they were ready for the examination.
However, in Great Wei, in order to participate in the imperial examination, one must be recommended by the masters of the academy. So, the three of them needed to enroll in the academy first, and after the masters deemed their aptitude satisfactory, they could be recommended to take the provincial examination.
The remaining third, fourth, fifth, and sixth sons from the Shen family, as well as Hu Nan, were also decided to be sent to the academy.
Shen Rong also planned to inquire whether the town’s academy needed masters. This way, he could employ his previous expertise to contribute to the family’s income.
Their trip went smoothly. One of the masters from a local academy happened to be unavailable due to personal matters, and after assessing Shen Rong’s teaching skills, he was offered a position.
As for Shen Dalang and the others, it was relatively easy for them to stay.
However, they still needed to pass an examination of their knowledge to determine their classes.
The academy had four classes: Class A, Class B, Class C, and Class D. Only students in Class A could be recommended to take the provincial examination.
Additionally, Class B and Class C were for students who already held the title of “tongsheng” (young scholars), but were not eligible to take the provincial examination.
Class D was for students who had not even achieved the status of “tongsheng.”
Shen Dalang, Shen Erlang, and Zhang Wendong were all assigned to Class A.
As for the other young men, Shen Silang and Hu Nan were placed in Class B, while Shen Sanlang, Shen Wulang, and Shen Liulang were assigned to Class C.
With Shen Rong and Ji Xun teaching at home, none of them were placed in Class D.
However, Shen Sanlang was quite dissatisfied with the fact that he had been placed in the same class as Shen Wulang and Shen Liulang, who were younger than him. He even threatened to try to move to Class B after the next round of examinations.