Chapter 371 Buying Three People

The streets are bustling with traffic.

Cheng Wanwan glanced at it from the windowsill and shook her head, saying, "I won't check the list anymore. I'll wait for your good news."

There are too many people; she'll be squeezed into a meat patty.

Another thing is that they will be heading back home tomorrow, and Madam Lu will be bringing people from Biyue Village to deliver fruit seedlings later. She will have to stay at the inn to receive them.

She stood at the entrance of the inn, watching Cheng Zhao and Shen Zheng leave.

Just as she was about to turn around and go inside, three skinny figures appeared at the entrance of the inn.

"thump!"

The three of them knelt directly in front of her.

"Auntie, here are the indentures for the three of us." Goudan held up three pieces of paper. "Please accept us, Auntie."

These three people are Gou Dan and his two older sisters. Gou Dan is ten years old this year, and his two older sisters are about fourteen and twelve or thirteen years old respectively.

Cheng Wanwan quickly helped the man up: "What are you doing? Get up!"

"That eight taels of silver is what we three siblings got for selling our bodies." The eldest girl raised her head and said firmly, "We used three taels of silver to arrange Dad's funeral, and another tael of silver to relocate Mom's grave so that we can be buried together. The remaining four taels of silver were distributed to the neighbors who helped our family. Now, the three of us have no worries, and we sincerely ask Madam to take us in."

Cheng Wanwan initially wanted to refuse, but considering the mess her family was in, she agreed anyway.

These three siblings were indeed struggling to make a living in Huzhou, and she was also short of help. These three children were able to properly handle their parents' funeral arrangements and repay the debt of gratitude they owed. They were all kind-hearted people, so it wouldn't hurt to take them back with her.

She took the indenture and said slowly, "Then the three of you will stay with me for now. If you find a new place to go in the future, you can take the indenture back at any time."

The three children's surname is Wei. The eldest sister is Wei Hongying, the second sister is Wei Hongyan, and the younger brother is Wei Gou Dan, whose full name is Wei Xiaohai.

Their father committed suicide to prevent his daughter from being sold off cheaply. He was a good father, so Cheng Wanwan did not change their surnames and kept their original names.

When Cheng Wanwan led the three children into the inn, Cheng Zhao and Shen Zheng had already arrived at the entrance of the government office.

There were huge crowds of people here, whether they were related or not, all gathered here waiting for the notice to be posted.

"Knock knock knock!"

As the drums sounded, four officials emerged from the government office, each carrying a yellow notice.

Everyone stepped back, and the officials, carrying buckets, quickly smeared a large area of ​​rice paste on the wall before posting the three notices there.

As soon as the officials left, the crowd surged forward.

"First place goes to Cheng Zhao!"

"Brother Ziyu, you are the top scorer, just as I predicted!"

"Oh my god, I made the list! I really made the list! After three attempts at the provincial examination, I've finally become a Xiucai!"

"Why wasn't I on the list? Why... why did this happen..."

"I'm thirty this year, I don't have a chance anymore, sob sob sob..."

Some people cried, some people laughed. Those who cried were ignored, while those who laughed received congratulations from all directions.

"Brother Cheng, I made the list! Hahahaha, I made the list!" Shen Zheng hugged Cheng Zhao tightly, almost going crazy with excitement. "Ninety-eighth place! Hahahaha, I'm actually ninety-eighth! I've become a scholar! I haven't disgraced the Shen family! Ahahaha!"

Qian Hui felt very upset. He didn't expect that Shen Zheng actually passed the exam to become a scholar. Could it be that, as his father said, "Birds of a feather flock together." Because Shen Zheng and Cheng Zhao got along well, he was influenced by Cheng Zhao's talent and soared to fame?

If only I had known...

Oh, forget it, I didn’t know that much earlier.

He tapped Shen Zheng on the forehead with his fan: "Brother Cheng is a top scholar, but he's never been this excited. If you keep laughing, your mouth will split open."

"You brat, how dare you knock on the neck of a newly appointed scholar!" Shen Zheng hooked his arm around Qian Hui's neck. "This scholar is going to punish you for a grave offense of disrespect. Take this!"

The two started fighting on the side.

Many people gathered around to congratulate Cheng Zhao.

"Brother Cheng is indeed the top scholar. He will surely become a Juren this August."

"Brother Cheng, when you achieve success in the future, don't forget us, your classmates who took the imperial examination together."

"The most difficult part of this imperial examination was the last three arithmetic questions. Could Brother Cheng please take some time to give us some pointers? If they are on the next exam, we won't be completely clueless..."

Cheng Zhao was not the kind of person to hide things, so when people asked, he told them the truth.

However, arithmetic is not like poetry or literature; it cannot be memorized simply by reciting it. Even if you memorize it, it is useless. You must understand it to truly grasp its essence. Once you understand one thing, you can understand everything else.

Seeing Cheng Zhao surrounded and flattered by countless newly promoted scholars, Zheng Wangfeng's face in the distance was as still as a stagnant pool.

He was only fourth.

He could still stand out in the top three, but in fourth place, overshadowed by three others, he became so dim and lackluster.

"Click".

The folding fan in his hand was snapped in two, and he threw it down and turned to leave.

Cheng Zhao finally found a moment to escape. Being surrounded by so many people and having to maintain a fake smile all the time was tiring. He just wanted to get back to the inn as soon as possible to tell his second aunt the good news.

As soon as he turned around, he saw a maid in an emerald dress hurriedly walking towards him.

He recognized that the note the day before yesterday was given to him by this maid.

Seeing the maid coming straight at him, he wondered whether to dodge to the left or right. In broad daylight, he didn't want to be...

"Stop right there!"

At this time, Shen Zheng shouted loudly and blocked Cheng Zhao's way.

He unfolded his folding fan, his eyes scrutinizing the approaching maid. He seemed to recall recognizing her on the inn's stairs that day. He sneered, "Tsk tsk, I knew someone would throw themselves at me, but I never expected it to be a mere maid. Brother Cheng is the top scholar in this year's provincial examination, the most outstanding scholar in all of Huzhou. Your maid's audacity is truly astounding, daring to do such a shameless thing in broad daylight..."

"No, I didn't!"

The maid denied it repeatedly.

She held a letter in her hand, intending to throw it into Cheng Zhao's arms as she brushed against his shoulder.

This was written by the young lady herself. Once Young Master Cheng reads this letter, he will know what will happen next... She was reluctant to deliver the letter, but she had no choice but to obey the young lady's orders.

Now that she's been blocked by another young master, doesn't that give her a reason not to send the letter?

The maid hid the letter in her sleeve, lowered her head and said, "I don't know any scholar at all, so how could there be any talk of throwing myself at him? I'm looking for our young master... Young master, where are you, young master!"

She pretended to be looking for someone, and her figure slowly disappeared into the crowd.

She quickly ran to the corner of the street, climbed onto the carriage, and said with a look of anxiety: "Miss, Mr. Cheng has a good friend who called me shameless and said that I wanted to throw myself into Mr. Cheng's arms. He forcibly drove me away, and I really couldn't find a chance to deliver the letter..."

Miss Leng frowned slightly; she seemed to vaguely hear the sound of gongs and drums.

She suddenly opened the curtain of the car and saw a procession suddenly appearing in the square where the notice was posted, beating drums and gongs, and coming in a mighty manner.

Her face immediately darkened, and she pursed her lips, saying, "Return to the manor immediately, and be quick!"

As soon as the procession appeared in the square, it attracted everyone's attention. The main reason was that everyone in the procession was wearing red clothes, and the tall horse in front had a big red flower tied to it. It looked like a wedding, but there was no sedan chair or groom in sight.

The group of people finally stopped under the list, and the sounds of gongs and drums stopped.

Hundreds of scholars couldn't help but discuss it.

What's going on?

"Could it be that they're looking for a son-in-law after the imperial examination results are announced?"

"When people are catching sons-in-law after the results are announced, they usually catch successful candidates in the imperial examinations. This is the first time I've seen someone catch a novice."

"So what if he's a scholar? He's a future licentiate. If we take him back early, we won't have to worry about him being snatched away later."

"..."