Xu Huaiqian had no idea about the passing of the exam. He was listening to the exclamations of the charcoal burners on the mountain.

“Amazing, amazing, it really works!”

Yesterday, the temperature of the fire in the charcoal kiln reached the highest temperature Xu Huaiqian mentioned, so they went to invite Xu Huaiqian.

Although Xu Huaiqian was blind now, it was he who proposed it so no matter what, he had to be present.

When Xu Huaiqian arrived, the temperature of the charcoal kiln that had been burning for a long time was so hot that his body, which had not felt warm since he fell ill, was warm.

Immediately, he asked someone to open the kiln.

Pull out all the hot charcoal in the kiln, bury it with sand, and force it to cool.

About an hour later, everyone dug the cooled charcoal out of the sand. Sure enough, the charcoal was not burned into ash, but was covered with a layer of white powder on the surface.

 Chen Liejiu described it to Xu Huaiqian: “It was white at first, and then it turned grayish white after a while. It was very light, half as light as the average.”

“Hmm.” Xu Huaiqian’s hand was led by him to touch a piece of charcoal. The palm-sized piece was as weightless as a feather in his hand. He nodded, “Let’s try burning a few pieces.”

Chen Liejiu took the brazier and picked up a few pieces to start lighting the charcoal. He found something different when he lit it. He exclaimed: “It’s not easy to ignite!”

Xu Huaiqian smiled when he heard it: “It’s more durable if it’s not easy to ignite, isn’t it?”

“That’s the reason!” Chen Liejiu also felt that Xu Huaiqian was right. He blew a few times and saw that the white powder covering the surface of the white charcoal was really inflammable. He then took the fire to the charcoal kiln and ignited the white charcoal with the temperature in the charcoal kiln.

When all the charcoal in the brazier was ignited one after another, the scalding temperature made everyone notice the difference.

 “Ah! It’s really hotter than black charcoal!”

“No smoke! No choking! Good charcoal!”

“Not only that! It seems to be more durable than black charcoal!”

They just saw with their own eyes that Chen Liejiu took a long time to light the fire. It has been burning for a while, but there is no trend of burning down. Isn’t it better than the black charcoal that turns white after a few burns.

“Not only that,” Chen Liejiu’s vision is different from theirs, “Don’t you find that burning this kind of charcoal saves more time than burning black charcoal?”

Black charcoal needs to cool in the kiln for several days before it can be taken out of the kiln. For a large kiln, it takes more than ten days to cool down. For the charcoal that Xu Huaiqian said, you only need to control the temperature. When it is at the highest point, you can stop the fire, open the kiln and pour the sand.

It greatly saves their time waiting for the kiln.

 “It’s true!”

After he said that, everyone came to their senses, and their eyes lit up: “Then let’s burn this kind of charcoal. This kind of charcoal burns faster than black charcoal. Can’t we make more money?”

Because they are now equivalent to a large group, everyone in the group is a shareholder. As long as they make more money, everyone will get more dividends.

Although Xu Huaiqian couldn’t see, he heard the joy that was beyond words, and he also smiled at his wife who had been holding his hand.

My wife is smart!

“Not necessarily,” he said. He held the light white charcoal, which was not deliberately discouraging, “This charcoal is too light. How many kilns do we have to burn to burn a cart?”

He calculated that if he burned black charcoal, one kiln would weigh two or three carts, but if he burned this kind of white charcoal, one kiln might only weigh one cart.

 The weight is too light. It will take several more kilns to reach the weight of a kiln of black charcoal. Isn’t it no different from burning a kiln of black charcoal?

Chen Liejiu saw the smile Xu Huaiqian gave him and rubbed the back of his hand, saying that he was praised by him. When he heard what this man said, he paused and thought of what Xu Huaiqian said before that this kind of charcoal would be more expensive. He refuted him without thinking: “It’s okay if the charcoal is lighter, just raise the price of the charcoal.”

The man frowned after hearing this: “How much will it increase?” The price of a cart of charcoal is already three taels of silver, which is not low. If the price increases again, even if it increases by one tael, it will not reach the price of a kiln of black charcoal.

And it’s not easy to sell, right? ! Who would buy a cart of charcoal for four taels of silver when it is three taels of silver for a cart of black charcoal.

This man thought that he was already black-hearted for raising the price by one tael of silver, but he didn’t expect that Chen Liejiu’s heart was even blacker than him: “Increase to ten taels per cart!”

It’s just the same as the price of burning a kiln of black charcoal, and you can make a little more.

“Ten taels!”

The crowd exploded immediately: “Can this be sold?!”

It’s not them who said that. If it were them, they would never buy a cart of charcoal for ten taels of silver. It’s too expensive. Before they started burning charcoal, they would have to earn for many years to earn ten taels.

 Although they are rich now, they are not rich enough to squander it at will. Ten taels of silver for a cart of charcoal is a sky-high price for them.

Due to their limited vision, they think that no one will buy it at such a high price.

But Chen Liejiu, who has been to the capital city and even further away, knows that there are many people in this world who spend a lot of money just to make themselves happy. Ten taels of silver for a cart of charcoal is just a few coins in their eyes, but those people are too far away from Xinghua Village.

People as far away as Xinghua Village dare not even think about it.

“You won’t know whether it can be sold until you sell it!” Chen Liejiu hates to be rejected by others before he has done anything.

If he rejects an idea and never takes action, when will he make a fortune in this life!

What he said is true, but the price of ten taels of silver for a charcoal is too high. In their Mishan County, he is afraid that even the people in the county cannot afford it.

 Chen Liejiu was also thinking about this question. He didn’t think that ten taels of silver for a cart of charcoal was expensive. If it was placed in those rich families, they would use more than ten or twenty carts of charcoal in a winter, and it wouldn’t cost them much.

The problem now is, where can he find these rich families? !

Originally, he thought that good charcoal like this would be the best to sell in the capital city. Rich people anywhere else couldn’t compare to the rich people in the capital city!

But Xu Huaiqian’s illness was a wake-up call for him. Don’t just make money when you see it’s easy to make. There are many rich people in the capital city, and there are also many black-hearted people.

The material officer of the examination hall dared to embezzle so blatantly, which shows how corrupt the officials in the capital city are. If he sent this white charcoal to the capital city to sell, wouldn’t he be walking into a wolf’s den?

 Xu Huaiqian didn’t know what Chen Liejiu was thinking. He heard every word of what they were discussing. He didn’t take anything else to heart, but he was curious about the person who was good at thinking about the different weights and prices of burning white charcoal and burning black charcoal: “What’s your name?”

“——Ah?” The man was still thinking about how to sell the charcoal that Chen Liejiu said was ten taels of silver per cart. Now he was stunned by Xu Huaiqian’s question. He was stunned for a moment and replied: “My name is Chen Qiang.”

“Then I’ll call you Xiao Qiang,” Xu Huaiqian couldn’t see him and didn’t know how old he was. Anyway, most of the people on the mountain called Chen Liejie, boss, so he was right to call him that. “You will come to me every day like Chen Wu to learn two words.”

He felt that as Chen Liejiu’s business grew bigger and bigger, he had to start building and cultivating his own team. Most of the scholars in this world took the imperial examinations in the academy.

 Only a small number of people are left, following their fathers, learning to read and write, and then become shop assistants or shopkeepers.

Most of them are like the villagers of Xinghua Village, who can’t read a single word. Sometimes, if they want to find a literate person, they have to look for a long time, and it is not easy to hire outsiders in a short time.

Especially in a sudden situation like him, he can’t see, and he has to write down the words he teaches Chen Xiaomei and Wang Wanwan every day on paper before he can teach them.

After hearing what Xu Huaiqian said, this person was stunned even more, and he went from being a normal person to stuttering: “What, what, what? Teach me to read!”

“Don’t you want to?” Xu Huaiqian asked him with a hooked lip. It doesn’t matter if he doesn’t want to. He sees that he is quite thoughtful and thinks that he is a smart person. Maybe he can learn some words and help Chen Liejiu in the future. If he doesn’t want to, he will find someone else.

 “Yes! I am!” He is very willing, okay? ! Chen Wu has only learned to write for a few months. When Xu Huaiqian and his friends went to the capital city for the imperial examination, the elders of the clan knew that he could write, so they hired him as an accountant to record the number of carts selling charcoal every day.

Although his handwriting was crooked, there was a voucher. When the clan divided the accounts in the future, they would not be criticized by the gossip of the neighbors.

He also wanted to be an accountant. Being an accountant was much easier than burning charcoal. He only needed to take a pen and sit in the small shed built by the clan to write and draw every day. He was not exposed to the wind and the sun, which was much better than him eating dust in the charcoal kiln.

Hearing that he was willing, Xu Huaiqian smiled and said, “Then I will wait for you at home.”

It happened that he was recuperating at home recently and had a lot of free time. He couldn’t teach him to read now, but he still had Chen Xiaomei and Wang Wanwan. They were learning characters from him. It has been a while, so they can be little teachers, one by one, and slowly learn from each other.

When his eyes are better, teaching them will not be so complicated.

No matter how surprised Chen Qiang was, Chen Liejiu told the people on the mountain to continue to burn white charcoal in the small kiln, and then pulled all the white charcoal freshly burned today down the mountain and put it in his yard.

He wanted to save these white charcoals for Xu Huaiqian to use in winter.

Hearing Xu Huaiqian say that he wanted to teach Chen Qiang to read, he subconsciously looked at the bandage covering Xu Huaiqian’s eyes: “Can you see?”

“Not yet?” Xu Huaiqian shook his head, and said to him without fear of being laughed at, “Find something for Xiaomei to do!”

Recently, he couldn’t see, and this girl was very lazy in learning to read. It would be best for her to teach Chen Qiang, who didn’t know any big characters but wanted to learn to read.

Adults are not distracted like children, and they learn quickly and well. When he has learned the few words that Chen Xiaomei has learned and there are no more words to teach, Chen Xiaomei will be anxious.

This is much more effective than him forcing her to learn every day, which makes her want to learn but hate learning.

“You still have a way!” Xu Huaiqian couldn’t see that Chen Xiaomei read the few words that Xu Huaiqian taught her over and over again every day, and she was getting tired of reading them.

Xu Huaiqian did this, so he was not afraid that she would not study seriously.

“It would be great if my eyes could get better soon.” Xu Huaiqian touched the cloth on his eyes. With Chen Liejiu by his side at all times, it didn’t matter if he couldn’t see, but it was still inconvenient.

“It will get better!” Chen Liejiu looked at Xu Huaiqian’s face. The food at home was good recently, and Xu Huaiqian didn’t have to bear the pressure of the imperial examination. He ate and slept every day, and didn’t even have to read books. He had no worries, and he seemed to be better than before. 

It seems that his skin has become whiter.

It is not the kind of pale white that is as white as snow, but the kind of white that is a little lively, which makes him look like a fresh and tender willow branch that is radiant again.

The faint red on his thin lips is even more eye-catching, and his words seem to have some magic, tempting people to kiss him.

Chen Liejiu, who has tasted the taste of different places, can’t stand this temptation.

Xu Huaiqian, who was still waiting for Chen Liejiu to continue speaking, didn’t wait for Chen Liejiu to speak, but waited for his breath lingering in front of him, and the whole person paused.

He thought he was going to kiss him, but after waiting for a long time, there was no movement, so he couldn’t help asking: “What’s wrong?”

Chen Liejiu came back to his senses and stopped his movements in time. He touched his forehead that was hot again for some reason and shook his head: “Nothing.” He just felt that the number of hot flashes has increased recently.

Will he have an attack before his little husband reaches adulthood?

 He had seen Xu Huaiqian’s household registration and knew that Xu Huaiqian’s birthday was in the twelfth month, so there were still several months left!

The Jin Dynasty stipulated that women and gers could only get married and have children when they were 18 years old, but because the dynasty had just been established, the country people still followed the old system of the previous dynasty and could get married and have children at the age of 16.

Back then, Wang Wanwan and Chen Jinhu were 13 and 14 respectively, and Chen Liejiu could accept them worshipping heaven and earth. He was not reluctant to accept a 17-year-old young man.

Is it that Xu Huaiqian is too weak?

He is afraid that he will not be able to take good care of him, and he will torture him to death?

Chen Liejiu is not bragging, his body is much better than that of ordinary gers!

It’s no problem to torture him all night!

He looked at Xu Huaiqian sitting on the ox cart. He is tall, but his waist is so slender that it makes people tremble with fear.

 Xu Huaiqian didn’t know that Chen Liejiu had dragged him into bed and tossed him around for several nights. He was sitting on the ox cart, listening to the rustling sound of the cart moving forward and thinking that Meng Fangxun’s exam results should be out.

Why hasn’t there been any news for so long? !

Could it be that he didn’t pass the exam and was too embarrassed to tell him the good news?

But he felt that Meng Fangxun was not the kind of person who would feel ashamed if he didn’t pass the exam and was first.

Just as he was thinking about it, as soon as they entered the village, they heard the villagers telling them the good news.

 “Mr. Xu is back!”

“Mr. Xu, you passed the exam and became a Xiucai!”

“Congratulations! Mr. Xu!”

“I told you that there were magpies circling around our Xinghua Village early this morning. There must be a big happy event happening in our Xinghua Village. Before noon, the person who announced the good news to Mr. Xu arrived in the village!”

“Our Xinghua Village is unique. Liejiu is enjoying himself now. Don’t forget to have a big banquet to entertain everyone!”

“That’s right! That’s right! You didn’t have a banquet when you recruited a husband. Now that Mr. Xu has passed the exam and became a Xiucai, you must treat us well!”

The villagers’ jokes were so unexpected that Chen Liejiu and Xu Huaiqian didn’t react at all.

 After they talked a lot, Xu Huaiqian finally came to his senses from the question marks in his head and asked Chen Liejiu who had been next to him: “I passed the exam and became a Xiucai!”

Because he couldn’t see, this joy couldn’t be transmitted to his heart through his eyes. This feeling was like stepping on the clouds suddenly, which was particularly unreal.

Chen Liejiu also came back to his senses from this unreal news and nodded to him affirmatively: “It seems so!”

“I’m not dreaming!” If it wasn’t for the pain, Xu Huaiqian would have wanted to pinch himself!

After having experienced an imperial examination, he witnessed how difficult the imperial examination was in ancient times. Not to mention the Four Books and Five Classics, just the various classical Chinese essays, this poem and that poem can drive people crazy!

He only studied for a total of four months! Two months of which were studied blindly by himself, and the remaining two months were spent in the academy to study systematically.

 The knowledge that can be learned is limited after all. He can’t learn all the knowledge that the original owner has not learned thoroughly for more than ten years at once. He only knows a little bit.

When he was taking the imperial examination, he was still thinking, “It’s over! It’s over! He will definitely not pass the exam!”

Therefore, after returning to the village for so long and without any news, Xu Huaiqian was not discouraged. If he didn’t pass the exam this time, he would take it again next year.

But he didn’t expect that the situation would turn around so quickly! He passed the exam after going up the mountain?

What kind of shit luck did he have? !

Xu Huaiqian didn’t think that his verses and poems that he had pieced together could win the favor of the examiner. The only thing he could show off might be the final dictation of the classics and the people’s livelihood article.

But because the article on fame was written when he had a fever, he didn’t know if it contained any ideas that were too advanced for this era?

He was still worried about this before, but now that he heard that he passed the exam, he was relieved. It shouldn’t be.

 “I’m not dreaming!” Xu Huaiqian couldn’t see it, but Chen Liejiu could!

The villagers’ sincere congratulations came one by one. It was so real!

If this wasn’t true, the villagers would never show such an expression to him. They would have stayed away from him when he appeared, or always had a hypocritical and flattering smile on their faces.

It was rare for them to be so out of control and unable to control their expressions to congratulate him. He couldn’t think of anything else except that Xu Huaiqian really passed the exam to become a Xiucai!

 Although he was happy, Chen Liejiu did not get carried away. He listened carefully and found the key point in their chatter: “The person who brought the good news has come?! Has he left?!”

“Left!”

A villager immediately replied to him: “The person who brought the good news went to your house and told your Wanwan, gave Wanwan the reward, and said that he would rush to Taoli Village to announce the good news, so there was no delay!”

“Taoli Village!” When Xu Huaiqian heard the name of the village, his smile bloomed even brighter, “Xiaowen also passed the exam! Master Zhang can rest assured now!”

Taoli Village has many more scholars than Xinghua Village, with only Xu Huaiqian, but Zhang Bingwen is the only one who passed the exam, so the title of Xiucai in Taoli Village must be his!

Unlike Xu Huaiqian, who was a Xiucai picked by luck, Zhang Bingwen passed the exam himself!

 He is only fourteen years old, and he has achieved so much at such a young age. His future achievements will only be higher, not lower. You can imagine how happy Master Zhang and the others are.

He didn’t know what kind of mentality it is to hear that a friend has passed the exam, which is more joyful than hearing that he has passed the exam. In short, Xu Huaiqian couldn’t be happier at this moment.

“Mm, thankfully!” Chen Liejiu was also very happy. He was very happy to see Xu Huaiqian so happy. When he heard this person say this, he thanked him and promised them, “When we settle down, we will definitely invite everyone to the wedding!”

He wants to hold a big wedding banquet and Xiucai banquet for Xu Huaiqian!

“Mm, then I’ll wait!”

The villagers responded happily, but they still felt a little complicated. They were waiting to have Xu Huaiqian’s funeral soon, but they didn’t expect that what they waited for was that he was promoted step by step, and now they are holding a Xiucai banquet.

It can be seen that life is impermanent! Don’t easily deny a person, don’t easily belittle a person, and don’t easily slander a person, because human potential is infinite.

You never know that he will stand up again at that intersection, appear in front of you in the most glorious posture, and despise you like a joke.

Xu Huaiqian certainly didn’t know the thoughts of the villagers and Chen Liejiu’s ambitions.

When he went home, he excitedly pulled Chen Liejiu to ask him to fill charcoal for him.

Just right, his charcoal was burned out, and he could take some charcoal as a gift to his scholar friends.

It won’t be too much, nor too shabby, and it can be used in the coming winter, which is very economical!

Xu Huaiqian thought, he and Zhang Bingwen both passed the exam, so Duan Youyan and Meng Fangxun should have no problem, right? !

——As for Pei Wangshu, he should be able to do it too, right?

He didn’t know what the situation of other families is, anyway, Meng Fangxun’s family is definitely glorious!

First place in the case!

 The first place in the Yongan Prefecture!

The magistrate of Anning County was ecstatic when he heard the news. The first place! The first place!

Yongan Prefecture had twelve counties under its jurisdiction. How could the first place fall to his county?

It would be perfect for him to pass the imperial examination in three years!

Yongan Prefecture belonged to the southern part of Changnan, and he didn’t know which dynasty this custom started from. The northern part was better developed than the southern part, not to mention the southern part of the southern part.

So he was sent to be the magistrate of a county in a remote prefecture in the south of Changnan. If he didn’t make some achievements in the county that would go down in history, he shouldn’t think about climbing up!

Unless he had connections!

The magistrate of Anning County also climbed up step by step in the imperial examination. At the end of the examination, he passed the last place in the same Jinshi examination. He didn’t have any relatives or friends in the capital, let alone any strong connections!

 Coming to Anning County, it can be said that if nothing unexpected happens in this life, he should be completely forgotten here.

But it is not completely hopeless. For example, if his county produces a few juren and jinshi, the prefect of Yong’an Prefecture above will see that their county has produced many literati and capable officials. If nothing else, at least he will not think that he is a complete drunkard who has not even done the most basic studies of students. If he is happy, he will promote them to Yong’an Prefecture, which is better than being a county magistrate in the countryside.

Therefore, the county magistrates of the twelve counties under Yong’an Prefecture are particularly strict about education. They often go to Qinglian Academy and Qixian Academy to teach Xiucai and Juren, just to enable them to move up. However, small places are small places and can’t produce many literati.

Only the first place winners of the twelve counties every year have some hope. The first place winners of the previous two sessions were from Qixian Academy.

 It has nothing to do with the Qinglian Academy composed of the five counties. They didn’t expect Meng Fangxun to be a big upset!

This shocked the magistrate of Ning’an County and the headmaster of Qinglian Academy! ! !

Meng Fangxun is so amazing! ! !

He surpassed the beloved disciples taught by the headmaster of Qixian Academy and the teacher of Suzhou Prefecture! ! !

After the shock, the magistrate and Qinglian Academy were ecstatic!

The magistrate was happy that he had a champion in Anning County. Yong’an Prefecture would pay attention to their Anning County, right?

If Meng Fangxun passed the exam again in three years, Yong’an Prefecture’s Anning County Meng Juren would be known, and Yong’an Prefecture would also pay attention to him, the magistrate, right?

Qinglian Academy was happy because it was not easy! It was not easy!

After several years! Their Qinglian Academy finally had a champion!

They thought Meng Fangxun was indifferent to fame and fortune, so he would only get second place this time. They didn’t expect him to fight hard and win for both the academy and the county!

Zuo Zhengjian almost cried with joy.

Reward! Reward! Must reward!

The county and the academy bought gifts and sent silver to the door at the same time, making the Meng family, who lived a poor life and had to support Meng Fangxun’s studies, and had few pennies on hand, much more prosperous.

When he received the good news, Meng Fangxun was plowing the fields. He had just harvested wheat in August, and he had to plow the wheat stalks in the store in September. He didn’t want to wait until the freezing winter when he couldn’t even dig the ground to plant other crops.

Because he was the first in the case, the person who announced the good news played music and drums. When he first heard the cheerful suona sound, Meng Fangxun joked with his father, brother and sister-in-law: “I don’t know who is getting married today!”

Nowadays, getting married in the countryside is very simple. Some women’s brothers will go with the man wearing a red veil, and some will go with the man carrying a bag. They don’t even need a marriage certificate. You go to his house and sleep for one night, and the whole village will think you are that man’s new bride or husband the next day!

 It’s like Xu Huaiqian and Chen Liejiu. He agreed to be Chen Liejiu’s husband. He slept in Chen Liejiu’s room for a night. The next day, no matter what others thought, he was assumed to be Chen Liejiu’s husband!

There are also cases like Naji Wenming, where the normal engagement process is required, but only the wealthy families in the town have such a thing. Don’t even think about it in the countryside.

Of course, the more particular ones will still set up a banquet, invite relatives and friends to come over for a meal. This is let the new bride and the new husband recognize each other, and make it lively.

But it’s rare. It’s unheard of to invite a suona like this, so it’s no wonder Meng Fangxun joked.

 As a result, just as he finished joking, an aunt from the village who was close to his family ran to his field from the village wearing an apron and holding a spatula, with an anxious look on her face: “Oh my! You Meng family are really not anxious?! Your Fangxun passed the exam and became a Xiucai! I heard that he was first in the exam! People who bring good news have been waiting at home for a long time! Why are your whole family plowing the fields!”

“Ah?!” Meng Fangxun heard her impatient voice and poured out everything like pouring beans. The amount of information was so much that he almost hit his feet with one hoe!

 “Oh, slow down!” The aunt was so anxious when she saw him like this. She didn’t care whether she was holding a spatula or not. She walked to the field and threw the hoe in Meng Fangxun’s hand. “You young boy, don’t play with the hoe. Go back and get your pen to see how to deal with those people in your yard.”

The aunt acted as if she was pulling her son. She was so anxious for Meng Fangxun!

“Shoe, Second Aunt, shoe!” Meng Fangxun was pulled out of the field by her in a daze. One of his shoes fell off and he hurried back to put them on.

The aunt was so anxious. Why was he still thinking about shoes?

When he put on his shoes, the Meng family over there seemed to have realized something belatedly.

 Father Meng: “My son passed the exam and became a Xiucai!”

Mrs. Meng: “My son passed the exam and became a Xiucai!”

Brother Meng: “My son – bah – my brother passed the exam and became a Xiucai!”

“Passed the exam, passed the exam!” Aunt Meng was so anxious when she saw them talking like they were performing crosstalk, “Go home quickly, what are you still hesitating about here?!”

“Yes! Go home!” Father Meng nodded, and he didn’t even want the hoe anymore, and rushed home with his family.

Aunt Meng was left alone with a hoe, looking at the ground with hoes thrown all over it, her face full of confusion. Did she come to call for help?

The Meng family was slow to react. When they rushed home and saw the people in the room announcing the good news, they finally confirmed that their son really passed the exam and became a Xiucai!

All these years of supporting him to study were not in vain!

 At the age of three, little Xunzi climbed up the threshold of the private school to listen to the teacher’s lectures. He couldn’t be driven away even if he was beaten. He thought that it would be fine to send him to school, so that he would not have to dig for food in the fields like them after he graduated.

Unexpectedly, this kid is really promising!

From private school to Tongsheng, he went to the academy, and the academy also reduced the tuition fees for him. Now he has directly passed the imperial examination and returned.

The county magistrate and the academy gave him a reward of fifty taels! A full fifty taels!

Father Meng had never seen so much money in his life! And he heard that his child was the first in the case. In the future, he would not only not kneel before the officials, but also be exempted from all taxes on the land under his name, and receive a silver subsidy of two taels of silver a year and a food subsidy of six dou of rice a month. He was so excited that he didn’t know what to say, and could only keep saying that Meng Fangxun was doing well.

 Others also praised Father Meng, Mother Meng, Brother Meng, and Brother Meng’s wife, praising them for nurturing a Xiucai with great difficulty, and praising them for all the hard work they had done over the years. They praised them to tears.

Only Meng Fangxun calmed down, took a bowl and sat on the doorstep to drink a sip of water, secretly smacking his lips. He finally lived up to Xu Huaiqian’s expectations and got first place in the exam!

Hahahaha! Now he doesn’t have to listen to them saying that he can’t pass the exam like Zhong Yichen, Qinglian Academy is not as good as Qixian Academy, etc., and he can have peace of mind.

He didn’t know if Xu Huaiqian and the others passed the exam? !

Passed the exam! All passed the exam!

Oh! Except for Pei Wangshu, who didn’t pass the exam, Xu Huaiqian, Duan Youyan, and Zhang Bingwen all passed the exam!

 Zuo Zhengjian, the headmaster of Qinglian Academy, had just given a gift to Meng Fangxun, the first in the case, when he learned that Xu Huaiqian and other students he had no confidence in had also passed the exam.

At that time, his mood was full of ups and downs.

When he heard the news, his first thought was: How could they?

The second thought was to ask people: “Is it true?!”

When he learned that it was really true, Zuo Zhengjian instantly felt like his heart was squeezed by someone, and he didn’t know whether he should burst with joy! Or burst with more joy!

Although there was no hope for them at all, their passing of the exam was equivalent to setting an example for other students in Qinglian Academy!

Look, they can pass the exam after two months of hard work! What about you! Did you work hard? !

Although the letter said that Zhang Bingwen, Xu Huaiqian, and Duan Youyan passed the exam, they only passed the last three in the list of Xiucai, and they didn’t have the glory of being the first in the case!

But what does it matter? 

Whether it is the last or the first place, as long as they pass, they are all Xiucai!

They are Xiucai from their Qinglian Academy!

That’s enough! Besides, the first place is also from their Qinglian Academy, right?

Zuo Zhengjian was so happy about this unexpected surprise that he laughed secretly at home for several days. He will go to Qixian Academy in a few days to embarrass that old man!

Some are happy, some are sad.

Zhong Yichen was really upset that he didn’t get first place. He thought Meng Fangxun looked ordinary, and thought his ability was also average.

Isn’t it said that people with good looks are also knowledgeable? Appearance is determined by the heart. He saw that Meng Fangxun didn’t look like a person with good knowledge, but he didn’t expect that he was so knowledgeable?

He was directly pushed to the first place.

In fact, it’s okay for him to be first place? It’s just that he said before the exam that this year’s first place must be him, and everyone in the county was looking forward to his results.

As a result, he didn’t get first place, but second place. People in the whole county look at him strangely, so he hasn’t gone out for several days now, and he always feels that he will be killed by other people’s eyes if he goes out!

 But he couldn’t sit still. He would be suffocated if he didn’t go out, especially since his parents were also complaining at home: “Didn’t you say you would get first place in the exam? But you got second place!”

Zhong Yichen retorted: “I think second place is pretty good!”

“Bullshit!” his mother said angrily, “I don’t even dare to look up when I go out! I’m afraid that others will see me!”

“Who told you to brag when you play mahjong?” Zhong Yichen pursed his lips, “You said your son is very talented and will definitely get first place in the exam! Now it’s over, we are both embarrassed!”

“Why don’t we move.” Zhong Yichen directly gave his mother a bad idea, “If we move to another county, no one will laugh at us?”

“Easy to say?” His mother was so angry that her head was buzzing, “Where will the money for moving come from?”

“I’ll find a way to earn it!” Zhong Yichen felt that his poems and songs were not bad, and wanted to go out and sell poems.

 His mother didn’t believe it: “You should earn it first!”

Xu Huaiqian didn’t want to know what other people’s families were like. That day, he packed the white charcoal to give to his friends and prepared to go out with Chen Liejiu.

As a result, Chen Liejiu said he would go into the house to change clothes, but he still hadn’t come out. He called him twice outside, but there was no response.

He thought about it, groped the wall, walked towards the room, opened the door and said, “Ah Jiu?”

“… mm.” Chen Liejiu gritted his teeth and said uncomfortably, “… Don’t come in… I’ll be fine in a while…”

Xu Huaiqian couldn’t see, but his hearing and smell were very sensitive. As soon as the door was opened, he smelled a very strong fragrance. It was not pungent but very nice, which was the body fragrance he could smell on him every night.

Combined with the very light sound of water stains and some fine and fragmented sounds in the room, his face turned red to the root of his neck.

In an instant, he understood what Chen Liejiu was doing. 

He stood awkwardly at the door, not knowing whether to go in or out, and asked nervously: “…Baby, do you need my help?”

He had heard of hot flashes, but he had not understood what they were, and could only understand them through a few words.

For example, the line between the eyebrows turned red and hot, the body got hot and uncomfortable, and the mind became uncomfortable and confused, etc.

But he had never seen it in detail.

At this moment, Chen Liejiu’s situation seemed to be a hot flash?

“…No, I can do it myself.” Chen Liejiu was so embarrassed in the bed that he wanted to smother himself in it. Why did it come at this time and didn’t come earlier or later?

“…Oh?” Xu Huaiqian was very confused, “This, doesn’t need to be solved by someone?”

“…Don’t need it at the beginning,…just get it out.” Chen Liejiu knew his own body well, and he felt that his body was not uncomfortable enough to need help.

 “Okay.” At this time, Chen Liejiu was more embarrassed than him. Xu Huaiqian didn’t ask too much. He pulled the door and was about to close it and go out. After thinking for a while, he stepped into the room again. “Everyone is waiting for us now. If I stand by the door alone, they will definitely come to ask questions. I’ll come in to guard you. If they ask questions, I can also help you for a while.”

It was a bit unfortunate today. A few days ago, Xu Huaiqian just burned four carts of white charcoal to send to his friends. He planned to send one cart to each family, so he hired four ox carts and invited eight people, two people per cart. Now, with more than a dozen people waiting outside, if they heard Chen Liejiu’s movements, would Chen Liejiu still have face?

For his wife’s face, Xu Huaiqian decided to guard his wife by the door.

“…Okay.”

Chen Liejiu’s panting seemed to be hot, and he was sweating when he spoke, which burned Xu Huaiqian’s ears.

 He fumbled for a bench by the table, sat on the table with his back to Chen Liejiu, and said nothing. He made himself a glass of water and drank it thirstily.

The fragrance in the room was too strong, as if it was tempting people to commit a crime. The movement in the bed curtains became louder and louder, and Chen Liejiu’s voice became more and more unbearable.

He straightened his back and didn’t even dare to breathe, for fear of disturbing him. Sweat oozed from his forehead, nose tip and neck.

Although he couldn’t see it, it was more tiring than seeing it.

Finally, there was no movement between the bed curtains. Xu Huaiqian waited for a while, rolled his Adam’s apple, and asked softly: “Baby? Are you okay?”

No one answered.

 He asked again: “…Ah Jiu?”

“…mm.” Chen Liejiu said weakly, “…Come here.”

“…Oh, okay.” Xu Huaiqian stood up carefully and walked towards the bed. His legs went limp. They were numb from sitting for too long. He steadied himself and walked over. He thought Chen Liejiu wanted to get up or something, so he reached in and prepared to help him.

As soon as the hand reached into the bed curtain, it was dragged to the bed by the person inside: “Help me, help me, I can’t do it anymore.”

It was too uncomfortable, and there was no relief at all…

Xu Huaiqian was so nervous that his voice was trembling: “…I can’t see, how can I help?”

“You can see!” Chen Liejiu pulled his hand and touched it everywhere, “Your hands can see!”