Chapter 105

Before the academic exam, Wei Xi’s physique improved, and Mei Ruochu also wore the new clothes she had made.

They could only bring some dry food besides clothing.

Dry food was usually things like fried rice or fried flour, as buns and pancakes needed to be broken and kneaded into crumbs for inspection, so bringing them was not practical.

Shen Cui still insisted on helping them prepare the dry food as before—although the system also sold it, the appearance was very ordinary.

Although it didn’t have any additional benefits, it tasted better and could make them feel more comfortable.

In addition, it was now early summer, and not only was the weather hot, but mosquitoes and other insects also began to be rampant.

At home, the Wei family’s servants would burn mugwort and hang mosquito nets, which was fine, but it was hard to say in the examination room.

When they took the prefectural exam before, Wei Xi was assigned a seat close to the well, and he was bitten badly by mosquitoes.

Shen Cui bought them each a mosquito repellent bracelet in the system. They looked like ordinary red strings, but they were high-tech products.

The system said one bracelet could last a whole summer, and it only cost 10 shopping points, which was considered cost-effective.

Lastly, there was the issue of heat. Shen Cui picked a small item in the system, which was a safe buckle style. The material was like jade but not jade, presenting a milky white color, but not as warm as white jade, looking more ordinary.

The system said it was a kind of stone on their planet that could lower the temperature.

It also cost 10 shopping points each, and the effect was quite ordinary. After wearing it, it could lower the temperature around the person by one or two degrees, which was better than nothing.

Shen Cui bought one for each of them, and it happened to be strung on the red string, making the handsome and fresh-looking young men even more charming with a touch of red on their wrists.

As for Mu Er Pang, Shen Cui couldn’t bear to leave him out, so she also got him one. However, he was reluctant to wear it and said he would wait until next year before wearing it. Shen Cui put it away in the system’s warehouse for him.

On the day of the exam, except for Zhou Shi, Shen Cui went to send off Mu Er Pang and Lao Buyu together.

Because the exam venue was very close, they didn’t need to use the carriage. They got up before dawn, had a hearty breakfast, quickly packed up, and set off.

The process of the exam was not unfamiliar to the students who had already taken the county exam and the prefectural exam.

The most different thing was probably that the head of the academy personally called the roll outside the examination room.

The head of the academy usually came from the Hanlin Academy, and his noble demeanor was quite different from other officials.

When the students looked at him, they felt more admiration and yearning than fear.

Shen Cui and the others watched as the three young men went to queue up for the roll call.

Of course, there was also a body search afterward. Wei Xi and Wei Shu didn’t have any accidents, but Mei Ruochu was lucky enough to have his luck value halved directly, leaving only 40 points.

When he took off his clothes during the search, he immediately caught the attention of the soldiers—on such a hot day, everyone else was wearing as little as possible, but he was wearing layers upon layers, almost wrapping himself up like a zongzi.

So several soldiers took him to the side and searched him rigorously several times, but they couldn’t find any intention to cheat or carry cheat sheets.

They specially came out and reported to the head of the academy.

For others, the pressure before the exam was already great enough, and after such an ordeal, their mentality might have collapsed directly.

But Mei Ruochu had a strong heart and remained calm.

The head of the academy didn’t say anything, just asked about Mei Ruochu’s reaction after the repeated searches.

When he heard that Mei Ruochu didn’t look suspicious, he smiled and said, “It’s normal for talented people to have some quirks. Since there’s no problem after the check, let him go.”

After the head of the academy spoke, Mei Ruochu put on his checked clothes again, and his luck value rose back up. The soldiers then let go of him.

After the roll call and body search were over, the candidates entered the examination room one by one, and the gates were sealed with cannons outside the examination room.

Shen Cui also opened the light curtain and watched their cartoon avatars. Seeing them safely reach their seats without any surprises, she didn’t call Mu Er Pang and Lao Buyu to go home but sat in a nearby shady place and found a tea stall to sit at.

Because the college entrance examination was different from the prefectural examination, it was divided into two parts: the main examination and the reexamination.

The first day was the main exam, testing the candidates on their eight-legged essays and test-piece poems.

After the candidates were in place, the head of the academy would personally write the exam questions in the hall.

After writing, the questions were written in large characters on a two-foot-tall and one-foot-wide paper, which was then pasted on a wooden board.

Then, a scribe would hold up the board and walk around the exam room for the candidates to see.

Once the candidates saw the questions, they would copy them down and immediately start writing their essays and poems.

The papers had to be handed in before (3 p.m.). After handing in their papers, the head of the academy would join forces with other heads of academies or senior scholars from schools five hundred miles away to grade the papers.

The first round would eliminate half of the candidates. After the first round, the remaining half would participate in the second round.

So Wei Xi and the others didn’t have to stay overnight; they could come out in the afternoon of the same day. It was just a matter of half a day’s work.

Most of the parents who came to send their children off didn’t leave either; they were all waiting nearby.

Shen Cui wasn’t anxious about the movements of the young men, but the incident today gave her a wake-up call—Mei Ruochu’s luck value started dropping after he entered the exam room during the prefectural exam. It dropped before his body search during the college entrance examination.

Although it was only a moment’s difference, it was very important.

In the next provincial examination, he would lose 50 points of luck. If Shen Cui hadn’t raised her embroidery skill to level 3 by then and increased his base luck value of 80 points, Mei Ruochu’s clothes would have left him with only 30 points left.

Even 40 points of luck made the soldiers search him like a thief and even alarmed the head of the academy.

If he had only 30 points left, he might suffer another misfortune… he might be driven out before entering the exam room, just like before.

But fortunately, there was a three-year gap, and the embroidery skill was raised to level 3, requiring 1,000 stitches. She only needed 900 more stitches in these three years. As long as she didn’t slack off in these three years, whether it was upgrading her embroidery skill, saving up shopping points to buy him an expensive item that could continue to increase his luck value, or dealing with it in some other way.

Before 3 pm, the Longmen Gate opened, and the candidates successively came out from inside.

Despite only relying on half a day, the college entrance examination questions were more difficult and it was in the midst of the scorching summer.

Many people came out with pale faces and unsteady steps.

The parents waiting outside eagerly greeted them.

Shen Cui and the others walked over from the tea stall, but they didn’t rush forward. They just found a conspicuous place to stand in the outer circle.

Soon, Wei Xi, Wei Xiu, and Mei Ruochu came out one after another. Both their facial expressions and their mood values were very good, indicating that they had performed very well.

After meeting up, they left the examination room and stood in a shady place to talk.

According to Cui Wei’s rules, they wouldn’t discuss the answers before the exam was over, so they didn’t mention how the exam went.

They just talked about their post-exam feelings, all saying that they felt they did okay. Then they talked about some trivial things.

“Did the scribe who held up the wooden board stumble today? I seemed to hear a noise.”

Wei Xi said, “Yes, it seems he stumbled quite hard. I heard it too from the other end. I just don’t know where he stumbled.”

Mei Ruochu touched his nose and said, “He stumbled in front of me, indeed… it looked a bit ugly, so he got up and left…”

When this was said, Wei Xi and Wei Xiu’s expressions changed. “Then did you see the exam questions…”

“I saw them clearly.” Mei Ruochu reassured them, “My eyesight is good, and I can see clearly even the characters that flash by!”.