Chapter 44: The guest is the guest, but the host bullies the guest

While Lin Xi was busy working in the rice field, Wu Erniu suddenly ran over and called out to Lin Xi, "Sister, I'm calling you to come over for dinner."

Lin Xi felt strange and asked casually, "Whose family is this?"

Wu Erniu said, "It was the Wang family. They said they were celebrating Wang Xing'an's passing the imperial examination, and they called almost everyone in the village over."

After saying that, Wu Erniu added, "They insisted that I come to call them, so I called them, and then I told them later that you didn't want to go."

Lin Xi came over and tapped Wu Erniu's head in a funny way, "How come you, little girl, have become a bad person?"

"No way." Wu Erniu touched her head, somewhat disagreeing. She was clearly responding flexibly.

"You go tell them, I'll be there right away." Lin Xi said.

"Sister, what good can the Wang family do by inviting you over? Why do you want to go?" Wu Erniu asked with a frown.

Lin Xi smiled mysteriously and did not answer.

A quarter of an hour later.

The Wang family's celebration banquet was held directly in the middle of the road. Dozens of tables almost filled up the entire road. It seemed that every family in the village had guests. The Wang family members shuttled among the crowd, constantly greeting people.

When Lin Xi and Xiao Yongyan came over, Wang Xingxiong suddenly gave Old Lady Wang a look.

Old Lady Wang personally stepped forward to greet them, "Here you are, Master Xiao and Madam Xiao."

Lin Xi handed over some caramel that she bought from town as a gift, "Congratulations."

Old Lady Wang smiled and took the candy. "Back then, there was no academy for children to study in Xing'an, so I could only teach them at home and read books in my spare time. He wanted to take the exam for a Tongsheng, and I was against it. Who knew he would actually pass it?"

Finally, Old Lady Wang looked at Xiao Yongyan and said, "Master Xiao is also a scholar. I wonder how old you were when you passed the examination to become a student?"

Xiao Yongyan remained calm and said calmly, "I have never taken the examination for a Tongsheng."

"Oh, what are you talking about? My Xing'an said that for anyone who wants to take the imperial examination, becoming a Tongsheng is the first step. How come you haven't passed it?" As Old Lady Wang spoke, she clicked her tongue. It was clear that she was questioning Xiao Yongyan's identity as a scholar.

All of a sudden, the people around looked at Xiao Yongyan with suspicion.

Lin Xi didn't know the reason and looked at Xiao Yongyan with confusion.

"My father is an official appointed by the imperial court. According to the law, he does not need to pass the examination for students who are not qualified to take the imperial examination." Xiao Yongyan spoke calmly, but his words shocked everyone around him.

Everyone just laughed dryly and paused for a while before saying, "We really don't know about this."

"The old lady has never been to the capital and can't read, so it's understandable that she doesn't understand this law." Lin Xi raised the corners of his lips, with a look of respect and caution on his face, but everyone could hear the sarcasm in his words clearly.

Old Mrs. Wang was so angry that she almost vomited blood. It was not shameful for her, an old country lady, to be illiterate. Why did the words change in Lin Xi's mouth, as if not knowing how to read was abnormal?

In this regard, Old Lady Wang did not wrongly accuse Lin Xi. After all, in the era she lived in, there were indeed very few people around her who could not read.

"Which table is more suitable for us to sit at?" Seeing that Old Lady Wang didn't say anything, Lin Xi continued to ask.

Old Mrs. Wang didn't expect Lin Xi to be so shameless. Even after saying so much, she actually wanted to stay for the banquet.

But on the happy day when her grandson passed the examination, Old Lady Wang didn't want to make a scene, so she spoiled the banquet and said sarcastically, "It's up to you."

At this time, Wang Xing'an happened to come over. When Old Mrs. Wang saw her beloved son, she quickly took his hand and introduced him to others.

The people around him did not know the details of the imperial examination, but they knew that Wang Xing'an would be able to take the examination for a scholar next, and they praised him, "Your Wang family is so lucky. If Xing'an passes the examination for a scholar, your family will be exempted from many taxes."

When Mrs. Wang heard this, she smiled so hard that her teeth could not be seen. "How can we talk about this now?"

However, he had already determined in his heart that his son would definitely pass the imperial examination and become a scholar, and he had even thought about how to celebrate in the future.

"Mom, I think there is great hope. I will take part in the entrance examination of Shuer School this time. There is a high chance that I will pass. Then I will have an even better hope of passing the examination and becoming a scholar." Wang Xing'an couldn't help but fantasize.

Everyone was confused. They only knew that there was a Songtao School in the town, but they had never heard of Shuer School.

Old Mrs. Wang didn't know either. "Son, what is Shuer Academy? I'm afraid it's just a bunch of incompetent people trying to cheat people out of money."

Wang Xing'an said with great longing, "Mom, what are you talking about? Mr. Shuer is really great, even better than our teacher. If I can get his guidance, I will definitely have a good chance of passing the exam."

"Is it really that powerful?" Old Mrs. Wang still had some doubts.

"Mother, our teacher took a lot of effort to invite Mr. Shuer, and everyone in our school recognizes his greatness." Wang Xing'an said.

When Mrs. Wang heard this, she quickly said, "Then you must learn from him."

Lin Xi just found the conversation between the two people funny, and whispered in Xiao Yongyan's ear, "Are you going to accept this student?"

Xiao Yongyan shook his head and said in a voice that only the two of them could hear, "How could I accept such a disrespectful student?"

As the two of them were talking in private, Wang Xing'an suddenly looked at Xiao Yongyan with a provocative look, "When I pass the exam to become a scholar, maybe the children from the neighboring village will come to my private school to study. I wonder where Mr. Xiao's private school is and where his students are?"

Wang Xing'an deliberately emphasized the pronunciation of the three words "Mr. Xiao", and the sarcasm was self-evident.

"There's no need to trouble Mr. Wang to worry about this. The academy is in the town and there aren't many students." Xiao Yongyan replied.

Wang Xing'an's smile became even more presumptuous. "I haven't heard of any academy in the town. Xiao Yongyan, as a fellow scholar, you should stop bragging. Could it be that Master Xiao is selling bacon while teaching students?"

Lin Xi shook his head. This Wang Xingan was simply hopeless. He really didn't know what expression he would have if he knew that Xiao Yongyan was Mr. Shuer.

Seeing that the couple did not refute, Wang Xing'an felt that he must have found their weak spot and felt very proud.

After he passed the examination to become a student, more families in the village wanted to send their children to Wang Xing'an, so they became more diligent in currying favor with the Wang family.

As for the truly amazing Xiao Yongyan, "no one cares about him." Lin Xi joked, "You said you studied so much, but in the end, no one is popular."

Suddenly, a little kid in the crowd shouted in dissatisfaction, "Teacher Xiao is amazing!"

Lin Xi took a closer look and was instantly happy. The person who stood up for Xiao Yongyan was none other than his only disciple Ge Liyang.

Ge Liyang is still young and doesn't understand the art of speaking at all. He just says what he wants to say.

The adults didn't take a little kid's words seriously, so his rebuttal had little effect.