Chapter 95

Though she got up from the ground quickly, the fall just now was quite harsh. Mei Ruochu didn’t cry out in pain anymore, but she still unconsciously frowned.

Seeing Shen Cui’s pale face, Mei Ruochu didn’t mind her own pain. She hid her scraped hands behind her back and forced a smile, saying, “Elder, don’t worry about me. I’m fine. My long-time practice has kept me agile. I don’t feel a thing!”

Mu Er Pang and Wei Shu heard the commotion and quickly came out to ask what happened.

“It’s really nothing. I just wasn’t paying attention and fell.” Mei Ruochu smiled indifferently and looked apologetically at the scattered things on the ground. “It’s just a pity that I crushed the buns and pastries I just bought. I’ll go buy another set.”

Shen Cui naturally didn’t allow it. “You go rest in the carriage first. Ah Shu, go buy breakfast, and I’ll go to the pharmacy at the street corner to buy medicine.”

After arranging this, Mei Ruochu returned to the carriage and stayed with Mu Er Pang, while Wei Shu went to buy breakfast, and the carriage driver cleaned up the mess on the ground.

Shen Cui said she was going to the pharmacy, but in reality, she turned a corner, found a less crowded place, and bought a dose of special medicine from the system before returning.

When she came back, Wei Shu had also brought breakfast.

Not knowing exactly where Mei Ruochu was injured, Shen Cui couldn’t go up, so she just took a bun and stood by the carriage eating, letting Mu Er Pang and Wei Shu handle Mei Ruochu’s wound inside the carriage.

Soon, Mu Er Pang pulled aside the curtain, stuck his head out, and gave her a reassuring look.

It meant that the injury wasn’t too severe.

Shen Cui felt somewhat relieved and nodded in understanding. Afterwards, she asked the system what had happened.

[System: He hasn’t even taken the exam yet, why did his luck value drop? Is he naturally opposed to taking exams? If his luck value drops so much just by approaching the exam venue, how much more will it drop when he actually takes the exam?]

After working so hard to stabilize his luck value for so long, Shen Cui finally felt at ease letting him go buy breakfast. But in the blink of an eye, it dropped by 20 points, wasting a month’s effort.

If he’s just escorting for the exam, and his luck plummets so drastically… How much do we need to brush up to make it enough?

Shen Cui felt a bit agitated for no apparent reason. Of course, she wasn’t angry at Mei Ruochu, but she just felt that the laws of this plane were too cruel to him!

Especially after seeing him nearly lose his life under the horse’s hoof, Shen Cui still felt a lingering fear at this moment.

[Host, don’t get too worked up.] The system’s voice sounded, comforting her: [The situation isn’t as dire as you think. According to data analysis, if the fourth cultivation subject participates in the county exam, he’ll lose 20 points of luck. If he participates in the prefectural exam, he’ll lose 30 points, and so on. He’s only preparing to participate in the prefectural and imperial exams this year… a total drop of 70 points for two exams. Given the rate at which you’ve been brushing up his values, and considering there’s a gap between the two exams where luck can be replenished, it’s not necessarily too late.]

It’s not increasing exponentially, so Shen Cui’s worried heart eased a bit, but she still found it strange: [So, today…]

[Today is the fourth cultivation subject providing test questions for the second cultivation subject.]

Shen Cui was a little stunned after hearing this, not expecting it to be because of this.

Upon careful recollection, it seemed that the time the system popped up the notification and Mei Ruochu fell beside the carriage was the same time Wei Xi got the exam papers.

As the elder, Shen Cui was only responsible for administrative affairs and never interfered with teaching. During the preparation period, several youths indeed often studied together and exchanged ideas.

She hadn’t expected Mei Ruochu to take on the role of assistant instructor and actually provide test questions for Wei Xi.

[Did he get them right?]

[Yes, he got quite a few right. According to data analysis, the second cultivation subject’s aptitude is superior to the third cultivation subject’s. The probability of him being selected for the examination case was already very high. He originally had an 80% chance of getting the examination case, and with the fourth cultivation subject helping to provide the test questions… that probability was almost raised to 100%… So, the luck value of the fourth cultivation subject was correspondingly deducted.]

Shen Cui didn’t know what to say now. She couldn’t blame Mei Ruochu for being enthusiastic about her classmates, nor could she blame Mei Ruochu for being too capable and actually hitting the mark with the test questions…

In the end, it all came down to those darn system rules!

There are plenty of academies that provide test questions, and there are definitely talented individuals who can hit the mark. Why don’t we see others decreasing their luck after hitting the questions?

Shen Cui didn’t need to consult with the system; she could figure it out herself. It was definitely because Mei Ruochu’s own luck was low that such things happened to him.

After contemplating for a while, Shen Cui continued, asking, [What about the teaching plan he wrote…]

His teaching plan was really good, and he had been writing it continuously recently. It just hadn’t been organized into a system yet due to the short time, so it hadn’t been of much use.

If his teaching plan helped others and yet he still lost luck, it would mean that he had been wasting his time for the past half a year. It’s really lamentable.

Fortunately, the system said it wouldn’t happen. [Teaching plans are different from providing test questions. A teaching plan is like integrating resources. How much one learns from it depends on how diligently and earnestly the person studying the plan is, just like how one type of rice can nourish a hundred types of people. Providing test questions that are correct means people don’t need to make an effort and can just copy the answers to pass… Also, luckily, the second cultivation subject was already very likely to get the examination case. Host should understand, right?]

Shen Cui pondered for a moment and understood some of it. In any case, Mei Ruochu couldn’t provide test questions for others anymore, directly affecting their rankings. But if he did resource integration, it would be indirectly affecting others, which was fine.

This time it was fortunate that he only provided test questions for Wei Xi, who already had genuine talent and a high chance of getting the examination case. So Mei Ruochu only lost 20 points of luck.

If it had been someone who was originally unlikely to pass, and Mei Ruochu had provided correct test questions for them, then today might have been…

Shen Cui had been doing this task for so long, always knowing that everything she did was to help herself and everyone else escape the predetermined fate of being mere paper people, the so-called plane rules.

But before today’s incident, she really didn’t know that the power of these rules was so strong, strong enough that a small unexpected incident could lead to someone losing their life.

She felt uncomfortable in her heart and didn’t want the young men to notice, so she made an excuse to stay inside the carriage, feeling suffocated, and wanted to get some fresh air outside.

……

The first part of the county exam proceeded normally until the afternoon hour, but Wei Xi handed in his paper and left Longmen before that.

Sure enough, he looked happy, and when he saw Mei Ruochu, he bowed and smiled, “Brother Mei, you’re really talented. Many of today’s exam questions were ones you provided. I had a particularly smooth time writing.”

Mei Ruochu had a strong psychological endurance; at this moment, he had forgotten this morning’s incident. He didn’t take credit for himself and returned the greeting with a smile, “Brother Wei is too kind. Today’s exam questions were all from the classics and annotations, which Brother Wei is naturally proficient in. And it’s also Brother Wei’s good luck. Unlike me, when I provided test questions for myself before, I never got any right… I just don’t know if the questions for the later exams will be as accurate.”

Shen Cui tried her best to maintain her smile and asked in a normal tone, “How many questions did you provide…”

Mei Ruochu smiled and said it wasn’t many, “Just covered all the questions we’ll have in this year’s county, prefectural, and imperial exams.”

Shen Cui was still thinking about reminding them not to randomly provide test questions anymore, but she didn’t expect he had already provided all of them!

Feeling somewhat powerless, she waved her hand weakly, leaned against the carriage wall, and said they could talk more when they returned to the academy. She needed to rest for a while.

Wasn’t it urgent to rest for a while now? Following this trend, considering how much he would lose when he took the exam and how much he might give to others… she had to work hard to stabilize Mei Ruochu’s luck!

When she returned that night, she would make a waistband for Mei Ruochu first, regardless of whether it might cause heat rash or trouble when using the restroom, just tie on as much as possible. Better to be safe than sorry!

After a sleepless night, Shen Cui hurriedly made another waistband for Mei Ruochu to wear.

Because she hadn’t slept much, her complexion naturally looked bad the next morning.

Wei Xi took the initiative to suggest that she rest at home.

Both sides of the hand are flesh, so Shen Cui still managed to muster the energy to see him off.

When Wei Xi entered the exam hall again, the young men tacitly expressed their desire to go nearby for a stroll and buy some things, actually leaving the carriage for Shen Cui to catch up on sleep.

Shen Cui let them stay for a while, and when she saw Wei Xi receiving the exam papers on the light screen without Mei Ruochu’s luck decreasing, confirming that he hadn’t provided the test questions for this session, she finally relaxed. She reminded them not to go too far and asked Mu Er Pang to accompany Mei Ruochu, not to let him wander alone.

Once the young men left, Shen Cui closed her eyes to catch up on sleep. She slept until Wei Xi finished his exam and the group returned together. Then Shen Cui continued with her needlework in the evening.

After a few days of Wei Xi’s exams, Shen Cui made several waistbands for Mei Ruochu to wear.

Actually, if it were someone else, they would definitely be suspicious by now. After all, his waistbands were already filling up the closet, but Shen Cui kept making more for him.

However, as Shen Cui had mentioned before, this was a blessing method she had read about in a book.

So Mei Ruochu knew that it was because he had narrowly avoided an accident outside the exam hall that had scared her.

Therefore, he didn’t ask much or say anything. Whatever Shen Cui told him to do, he just did it.

By the time Mei Ruochu had ten waistbands tied around his waist, the results of the county exam were announced!

After the first round, Wei Xi was promoted to a higher level and went to take the exam next to the county magistrate.

Taking the exam next to the county magistrate was certainly a tremendous pressure for the examinees. Especially since the county magistrate of their county was very dignified and had penetrating eyes.

Several times when he stood next to Wei Xi, Wei Xi couldn’t help but hold his breath.

But Wei Shu had told them before that the county magistrate had a habit. If he encountered something he didn’t like, he would emit a deep sigh.

And since the county magistrate didn’t sigh while watching Wei Xi answer the questions, he knew where he stood, so he wasn’t so nervous.

He didn’t change his position afterward and sat closest to the county magistrate for the rest of the exam, indicating that he performed the best in each session!

So when the results were announced this time, it was no surprise that Wei Xi ranked first, with the highest score!