Here’s what happened.

Xu Huaiqian talked to Chen Liejiu about the guarantee for the imperial examination. He couldn’t just count on Master Zhang. After all, Master Zhang’s help was out of kindness, and not helping was his duty. So he asked Chen Liejiu to ask around to see if there were any Tongshengs in other villages who were taking the exam together.

He was running around the countryside and the county every day to collect debts, so he should know a lot of people.

Chen Liejiu was very happy that Xu Huaiqian thought of him first when he had something to do, and promised to do it for him.

Looking at him solemnly guaranteeing himself, Xu Huaiqian smiled and said, “Don’t feel pressured. It’s good if you can find someone, but it doesn’t matter if you can’t.”

Chen Liejiu didn’t think so: “If I can’t do this little thing well, how can I be your husband?”

Maybe he was born different from other gers. He had been to all over the world, and his experience and vision were not comparable to those of the gers in the village, so he didn’t think this was a particularly difficult thing.

 If it were someone else, they would have been anxious and exhausted.

So when Xu Huaiqian went to meet the teacher with the greeting gift, Chen Liejiu was also helping him find people.

Zhang Jiming, Master Zhang, is sixty-five years old this year, but he still looks like a very energetic teacher.

He has a ruddy complexion, black hair, a straight back, and bright eyes. He is said to be sixty-five, but he looks like he is in his forties or fifties. Seeing Xu Huaiqian, a Tongsheng, he happily welcomed him into the school’s wing room.

It’s called a wing room, but in fact it is where the teacher usually comments on guests and lives, which is equivalent to an office and accommodation in one.

However, the students in the school dare not enter this place at will. Only the teacher’s family and guests can come in. The illiterate gentry and local tyrants in the village will not be invited in, so this is a very elegant and mysterious place.

Whether the original owner has been here, there is no memory.

 However, Xu Huaiqian felt very honored to be led here by the Master.

After all, no one comes to visit without a reason. He came to visit with gifts in such a grand manner, so he must have something to ask for. Master Zhang did not even ask him what he wanted, but led him here directly, which proved that he still valued him.

After entering the main hall of the wing room, Xu Huaiqian put the gift boxes he brought on the tea table on the side, and was about to greet the Master, but the Master sat on the upper chair without fear of trivial matters, waved his hand, pointed to his seat and said: “No need to greet, sit down.”

Okay.

Xu Huaiqian was forced to stop the etiquette of greeting, and sat down as the host asked him to.

 “Have you encountered difficulties?”

The teacher has no servants, and his wife has always been serving him. The teacher’s wife came up to pour tea for them. Xu Huaiqian quickly bowed and respectfully called out: “Teacher’s wife.”

He turned his head and looked at Master Zhang who was leaning on the chair, taking a sip of tea and asking him questions. He nodded: “I came here to ask you, what should I pay attention to in the mutual agreement and pledge of the imperial examination? Last time, you helped me to handle it. This time, I have to handle it myself. There are many things I don’t understand. I am afraid that I will miss the imperial examination if I don’t do it well.”

When asking someone to do something for you, you can’t state your intention directly. If they don’t want to help you, you have to give them a way out. In this way, even if the negotiation fails, you can save face for both parties and don’t ruin the relationship between teacher and student for such a small matter.

 “Oh?” Master Zhang didn’t stop him from bowing to his wife. Hearing that he came for this matter, he became interested. “Have you decided to take the exam this year?”

“Yes.” Xu Huaiqian nodded: “A lot of things happened in my family this year. My parents passed away, and student also married into my wife’s family. I wonder if this married-in student can still take the imperial examination?”

Speaking of marrying into his wife’s family, Xu Huaiqian suddenly remembered that in the history of his time, it seemed that there were no Xiucais who married into their wife’s family. No, there were. Aren’t sons-in-law married into their wife’s family?

“I have heard about your parents’ affairs. It was cold and I couldn’t go to pay my respects. You must worry about it.” Master Zhang explained, and then looked at Xu Huaiqian again, “I didn’t know you married into your wife’s family.”

“It happened last month.” Xu Huaiqian briefly talked about how his uncle’s family sold him and occupied his house, and he was forced to marry into his wife’s family.

 “Human fate is inherently unfortunate. There are no smooth sailing people and things in the world. We must look forward to everything. Only in life can there be infinite possibilities,” Master Zhang sighed, and then asked him, “Do you think you can still take the imperial examination?”

“I think so.”

He read a lot of books by the original owner and found that Jinchao’s thoughts were quite open-minded. Although there was still a feudal system of men being superior to women, he allowed girls and gers to divorce and remarry. For gers, there was one more rule, that if the husband did not come during the hot flashes, he could remarry on his own. Girls and gers did not need to cover their faces when they went to the streets to do business, and there were no such bad habits as foot binding and waist wrapping. The key point was that he allowed merchants to take the imperial examination.

Since he was so open-minded, adding one more rule of marrying into the wife’s family did not seem to be a big deal?

 Master Zhang asked again: “What if it’s not possible?”

“If it’s not possible, I can only give up the imperial examination.” Xu Huaiqian also said calmly, “I have already married into the family. If I leave home and start my own family, isn’t that unfair? Even if you don’t mind, there will be a gap in my heart after a long time, unless you are completely tired of your husband and ask to leave.”

But unfortunately, Xu Huaiqian had no idea of ​​hating Chen Liejiu.

At first, he was indeed very reluctant to fall in love with an ancient person and spend his life with him, but after he came into contact with Chen Liejiu, he found that his thoughts were completely different from those of people in this era. He did not have such secular concepts and such secular constraints. He only cared about what he thought was right and what he felt happy about. He was self-reliant and outspoken.

He could get along with such people.

If it were other men in this era who regarded their husbands as heaven, he would not know what to talk to them about.

Besides, the imperial examination was not a necessary path in life. It was just a shortcut, a broad road that allowed him to live a better life in this era.

Of course it would be good if he could go, but it would be okay if he could not. He could also become a staff member, or earn money to donate an official position. These were all ways. Why should he give up his life’s happiness for a shortcut?

 After Xu Huaiqian finished speaking, he looked at Master Zhang, and Master Zhang also looked at him. The two looked at each other for a long moment, so much so that Xu Huaiqian took out ten taels of silver from his sleeve and came to Master Zhang, ready to bribe him.

He felt that it was definitely possible, but there might be other ways in this?

“Hahahahaha——” Who knew that Master Zhang saw the silver he sent over and laughed immediately: “A gentleman has a quiet interest, is humble and courteous, and has talent for music. When I gave you the name Huaiqian, I hoped that you could be more lively, like a humble gentleman. Now it seems that I really did not make a mistake. You are really a gentleman with quiet interest!”

Master Zhang did not accept Xu Huaiqian’s silver, but was pleased with the name he gave Xu Huaiqian. Facing his satisfaction, Xu Huaiqian could only smile indifferently. He couldn’t tell him that he had changed people.

 Fortunately, after Master Zhang laughed, he did not delay the business. He took out a stack of papers from the desk in the inner hall and handed them to Xu Huaiqian: “Look at the differences between the views on the classics and policy papers here?”

Xu Huaiqian took them and scanned them one by one. The more he read, the more shocked he was. These views were not much worse than his. Although his thoughts had not yet escaped the constraints of this era, his words were meaningful and not the kind of general talk on paper.

Master Zhang saw Xu Huaiqian’s expression become serious and asked again: “How is it?”

“It’s better than student’s.” Xu Huaiqian had to admit that the scholars in ancient times were not fools. They were all good at writing. He gradually felt unsure.

Originally, he thought that he had insights and cognition beyond this era, and he had a good handwriting to guarantee that he would be able to pass the Xiucai examination. He didn’t expect that others were not much worse than him. In an instant, a sense of frustration surged in his heart.

 Master Zhang was not as frustrated as Xu Huaiqian. He stroked his beard and said slowly, “This is what my grandson brought back from Qinglian Academy. It is the classics and policy papers written by some scholars in Class B when they took the exam for the Xiucai title. I gave it to them for reference. You can understand it, which proves that you have not neglected your studies in the past three years.”

Xu Huaiqian smiled bitterly. The scholars in the previous classes were already so powerful. They also had formal schools to study. How could he, who was a wild person, beat them?

“So do you know where your path is?” Master Zhang took Xu Huaiqian to the inner hall and wrote him a letter of recommendation. “Go to the academy to study. Even if you don’t pass the exam this year, you can still make a living next year. Working behind closed doors is not the right way after all.”

Xu Huaiqian left the door in high spirits and returned in despair.

 Chen Liejiu, who had been squatting by the door, saw him come back like this. He thought that he hadn’t asked, so he came forward to comfort him: “Didn’t Master Zhang agree?”

“Don’t be unhappy, look what this is?” As he said that, he took out a letter from his arms and gave it to Xu Huaiqian with a smile on his face, “A handwritten letter from the county magistrate. Your husband has done everything for you. If Master Zhang doesn’t work, don’t you still have me?”

Seeing the smile on his bright face, the haze in Xu Huaiqian’s heart was also dispelled a lot, and he also took out the letter written by Master Zhang from his arms: “My side is also done?” 

Chen Liejiu took the letter and looked around: “Why are you still so unhappy?”

Xu Huaiqian couldn’t help but lean on his shoulder: “I just found out today that the imperial examination is so difficult. I may not pass it in August this year.”

To be honest, Xu Huaiqian thought he was not a top student, nor a talented person. Although he got into a 211 university, it was all earned by his three years of hard work. He couldn’t compare with those students in the class who were easily recommended. He finally changed to ancient times and thought he could pretend to be a top student for once, but he didn’t expect that he was still at the bottom. It was so frustrating.

 “Hey.” Chen Liejiu, who was suddenly leaned against by Xu Huaiqian, was stunned for a moment. Then he heard his words, patted his back and comforted him, “What’s the matter? You are only seventeen, not fifty-seven, not sixty-seven. You still have many years to take the exam!”

Xu Huaiqian leaned on his shoulder, sniffed the body fragrance emanating from him, and continued to ask: “What if I can’t pass the exam?”

“Then keep taking the exam until you pass it,” Chen Liejiu didn’t think this was a problem, and blurted it out. After saying it, he felt that this was not like comforting people, and thought about it, “If it really doesn’t work, if you still can’t pass the exam by the age of thirty, let’s donate an official position.”

When he was escorting, he heard people say that if you really can’t pass the exam, you might as well donate an official position. A fifth-rank nominal position is only five thousand two hundred taels, and a real position has to be several times more. The specific amount will be known after donating.

At most, he will start earning from now on, and when Xu Huaiqian is thirty years old, he should be able to earn a fifth-rank salary for him?  It’s more cost-effective than the imperial examination. I heard that those who pass the imperial examination have to start from the eighth or ninth rank.

His thoughts coincided with Xu Huaiqian’s, but Xu Huaiqian was most worried: “What if I don’t live past thirty?”

This body is too bad. Even if he eats ginseng and bird’s nest every day, he still feels weak from time to time, except that he doesn’t cough so badly. He is afraid that his life span will not be long.

Originally, he didn’t care about these things. He thought that being able to have one more life was something that others could only encounter but not ask for. Just treat it as a few years of travel in ancient times. However, he has become more and more afraid recently, afraid that he will not live long enough to accompany Chen Liejiu.

“What nonsense are you talking about!” Chen Liejiu heard this, pulled Xu Huaiqian off his shoulders, looked into his eyes and said seriously, “I don’t believe you can only live to 30 years old!”

“But they all say I’m short–“

“Shut up!” Chen Liejiu got angry, “People can believe in anything in this life, but not in fate. You don’t believe that you can live a hundred years, so God can’t give you a longer life.”

“Remember, your life is your own. Except for yourself, God can’t, the King of Hell can’t, and no one can take it away.”

Chen Liejiu believed in everything in his life, but he didn’t believe in fate the most. When he was born, the villagers said that it was a pity to be a ger, and he would have a hard life in the future. He didn’t believe it and had to make his own way.

Later, when he was escorting and collecting debts, the villagers said that he was so fierce and a bully that he couldn’t find a man in the future and would be burned to death by hot flashes, but he didn’t believe it.

 Facts have proved that he not only found a man, but also found a man as good as Xu Huaiqian. So, fate is something that will not be affected by others as long as you don’t believe in it.

So he felt that as long as Xu Huaiqian was as determined as he was that he was no worse than ordinary people. He firmly believed that he could live a long life, and never accepted his fate. He would definitely not die young!

Chen Liejiu’s eyes were extremely firm, as if he really didn’t think that his life was shorter than others. Xu Huaiqian was infected by him and wanted to bet with him, betting that God put him here and would not let him end his journey so early.

The haze in Xu Huaiqian’s heart was destroyed by Chen Liejiu’s firmness, and he gradually saw it open. Instead of getting entangled in the unknown fate, it is better to grasp the present.

 He pulled Chen Liejiu in, sat down, and asked him: “How did you get the county magistrate’s handwritten letter?”

Chen Liejiu didn’t see the decadent and lifeless look on him anymore, so he said with relief: “It’s all because of you.”

After Shengyuan Bank became more active, it went to Qinglian Mountain to find Qinglian Academy for cooperation. With the magistrate of Mishan County as a guarantor, Qinglian Academy quickly handed over the purchase of the entire academy to Shengyuan Bank.

After Shengyuan Bank got the job, it asked them, the debt collectors, to go to the countryside every day to collect fresh vegetables and fruits from the debtors’ homes to pay off the debts. The debtors’ families knew that their vegetables and fruits could still pay off the debts, and they were willing to serve them attentively. The vegetables collected every day were more delicious than those purchased by Qinglian Academy.

 This Qinglian Academy was jointly opened by the five counties of Mishan, Pingxi, Anning, Yunmeng, and Taoyuan. Those who can study in Qinglian Academy are all rich young masters from the five counties. Even the children of farmers have family backgrounds. They will not let the students in the academy suffer any loss, so they are particularly willing to spend money on food.

This way, Shengyuan Bank can not only collect the credit with interest, but also make money. The only thing they pay is some worthless labor.

That’s why Chen Liejiu is so busy during this period.

The repayment method and delivery method have changed, and the IOU has also changed. Among the debt collectors, only Chen Liejiu worked in the escort agency in his early years. In order to understand the escort order, he learned some characters. Many others can’t even read their own names, let alone the changed IOU. Everyone relies on Chen Liejiu. How can he not be busy?

 However, no matter how busy he was, he still found time to handle Xu Huaiqian’s affairs.

He thought that instead of going door to door in the countryside to inquire, why not go directly to ask the shopkeeper Wu of the bank? Shopkeeper Wu’s boss was the county magistrate, and he knew very well where there were Tongshengs working in the government in the county, so why should he go far away?

It was also a coincidence that when he went there, County Magistrate Wu was in the bank and praised Shopkeeper Wu for running the bank so well during this period. When Shopkeeper Wu saw him, he shirked that it was all the strategy offered by his husband, so he could run the bank well.

Wu County Magistrate became interested and asked Chen Liejiu about Xu Huaiqian.

 Chen Liejiu was also very courageous. He was not timid at all when meeting County Magistrate Wu. He told him about Xu Huaiqian honestly. At the end, he asked County Magistrate Wu directly: “My husband wants to participate in the imperial examination in August, but he has been studying at home and has not made any friends. Do you know where we can find Tongshengs from the government and take the same examination?”

After hearing this, County Magistrate Wu laughed immediately: “Why bother looking for them? There are Xiucais and Tongshengs everywhere in Qinglian Academy. You can just go to Qinglian Academy to find them.”

As he said this, he thought about it and had a heart of loving talents. He picked up the paper and pen on the counter and wrote directly: “Your husband is a talented person who can bring my family’s bank back to life. A small Mishan County cannot contain him. You are harming him by locking him up at home. If you want to support him in the imperial examination, take this handwritten letter of mine and let him go to Qinglian Academy to study.”

Then Chen Liejiu came back with his handwritten letter.

 “I think it’s better to have someone in the academy to sign the pledge directly than to go around looking for people,” Chen Liejiu told him his idea, “and I’ve asked, Qinglian Academy only charges five taels of silver as tuition a year, and there are often juren, jinshi and even county magistrates to give lectures, which is much better than you studying at home. You can go and study. The chicks are about to hatch, and the family can afford it.”

Of course, Chen Liejiu didn’t tell him that in addition to tuition, the academy also has seasonal gifts, and they need to pay for the green robes, bags, etc.

When Xu Huaiqian heard that the price was reasonable, he also put the letter written by Master Zhang on the table: “What a coincidence, Master also asked me to go to the academy to study.”

This dynasty has only been established for more than 40 years, and there is a serious shortage of scholars. It is simply not possible to support the establishment of official schools in every state and county. Some county magistrates, gentry, and scholars organized the scarce resources in the county and merged with other counties to form an academy.

 This is how Qinglian Academy was established.

At first it was just a small academy with not many students, but now it is located close to the border of five counties. The magistrates of the five counties also hope that the academy will produce more scholars and candidates to increase their performance. The number of students has gradually increased, and now it has become a well-known academy in the surrounding areas.

The main reason is that no private school can beat it.

Chen Liejiu’s eyes lit up: “Since the county magistrate and the teacher both want you to go to the academy, then go.”

Everyone says that the place is good, even if it is bad, it shouldn’t be that bad?

And he also felt that County Magistrate Wu was right. Instead of locking Xu Huaiqian, a scholar, at home and listening to the villagers scolding him for being a short-lived ghost every day, it would be better to let him go to the academy to study. It would be more conducive to the relaxation of body and mind to be with people who share the same ideals and can talk to him.

Scholars will never be as vulgar as the countryside, talking about other people’s lives all day long, wishing that they would die sooner. Even if they scold others, they will scold them in a roundabout way.

If you don’t understand, just treat it as if you didn’t scold them.

“Then go.” Xu Huaiqian didn’t refuse. If he wanted to understand this era, he had to integrate into it.

If he wanted to take the imperial examination, he had to go out of the village and see what kind of era this era was. Only then could he write exquisite and touching articles like others, even without advanced knowledge.

 On the day when Xu Huaiqian was going to study at the academy, the chicks at home shed their shells.

The first person to discover it was Chen Xiaomei. At that time, Chen Liejiu was preparing a gift for Xu Huaiqian to become a disciple at the academy, as well as some writing materials, ink, paper and inkstone.

At this time, Chen Xiaomei’s surprised and shocked voice came over: “It’s hatched! It’s hatched! My chicks have hatched!”

When they were about to put down their things and go out to see, the neighbors who heard the noise rushed over and crowded at the door of the kang room to look inside.

When they saw that the small room was full of cute chicks of various colors, yellow, black, and colorful, who had just hatched and were pecking at their eggshells, they were all shocked.

 “They really hatched!!!”

“And a lot of them!”

“This scholar has a good brain, he can think of this!”

“The Chen family is going to get rich, they hatched so many chicks at once!”

The uncertainty of a hen in the countryside is too high. Sometimes the hen has to peck at the eggs while incubating. It’s good if a nest can hatch more than a dozen chicks, and there are many families who want to raise chickens. After all, chickens can lay eggs, you can eat their meat, and don’t need to be fed too much food.

It’s just that chicks are hard to buy.

For this reason, many people who feed chickens are reluctant to kill them after feeding them for many years. Finally, they kill them when they can’t lay eggs anymore.

Now that the Xu family can supply chicks, it’s obvious that many people will buy them.

While they were amazed, Xu Huaiqian and Chen Liejiu came over. Seeing the chicks in the room and hearing the villagers’ conversation, they both raised their lips at the same time.

Now the villagers have nothing to say. 

However, Xu Huaiqian was not too proud of himself. He and his family counted the bad eggs that had not been hatched and found that there were only more than 600 bad ones, with a success rate of nearly 85%. Only then did they feel relieved.

The villagers spread the news, and after seeing the happy chicks in the house, they all looked at Xu Huaiqian differently.

They used to think that Xu Huaiqian looked sick and ugly like a hanged ghost. Now, when they look at him again, they see that he is wearing a light blue long suit, with a straight back. His dead face, which had been pale for many years, has begun to have color. His facial features are handsome no matter how you look at him, and he has a handsome temperament.

 Some were amazed at how different Xu Huaiqian looked from before, and some were more shrewd, saying on the spot: “Mr. Xu, you said the other day that you would not charge a high price for us to come to your house to buy chicks, is that still true now?”

“Of course!” Xu Huaiqian told Chen Xiaomei to remember to feed the chicks some soft food an hour later, and said to the villagers, “But I’m going to the academy now, so I don’t have time to take care of these. Xiaomei is taking care of the chicks, so you can go to her if you have any problems.”

As soon as he finished speaking, the villagers of Xinghua Village were shocked, what?

Xu Huaiqian is going to the academy to study? !

When did it happen? How come they didn’t hear anything? !

No matter how the villagers were shocked by the fact that he hatched chicks and that he was going to the academy, Xu Huaiqian, who had dropped one bomb after another, put on his exquisite little school bag, pulled up his beautiful wife, drove the ox cart, and went to the academy to study beautifully.

 The author has something to say:

Qianqian: It’s not easy. My face finally looks a little better now, so I can go out and meet people, and I’m not far from flirting with my wife.