Chapter 99 Choosing to Do Something for Future Generations

The wait for the results was agonizing, so the students found things to do to pass the time.

Most people spent their time in the Anling County Library, a small number explored the county town, and a very small number worked odd jobs in workshops and farms.

As the sun sets, the afterglow casts long shadows across the library.

Su Yue covered his mouth with his left hand and kept yawning, while carrying several history books in his right hand. He walked out of the library and headed towards the inn where the examinees were staying.

As she walked, she pondered the importance of "recording".

"Hey!"

A person suddenly appeared in front of her, startling her.

Su Yue took a step back, composed herself, and looked at the girl in front of her, pouting, "Where did you come from?"

The girl was a friend Su Yue met after arriving in Anling. Her name was Qiao Songluo, and she was from Sifang County.

Qiao Songluo chuckled, "I went to sweep the streets to earn money today!"

Su Yue: "?" Sweeping the streets?

Qiao Songluo grabbed Su Yue's left hand, winked at her, and said, "Let's go have dinner, it's on me!"

Before Su Yue could react, she was pulled forward and ran.

They ran through the streets and alleys until they reached the East Market.

We stopped in front of a small shop with a sign that read "Crossing-the-Bridge Rice Noodles".

Before even entering the store, the aroma of sesame oil and chili peppers wafted over, stimulating Su Yue's stomach, which involuntarily growled.

Su Yue: "..." I am indeed hungry.

Qiao Songluo glanced at Su Yue's belly, a smug expression on her face.

She said, "This rice noodle dish is so delicious. I had a bowl at noon and couldn't get enough of it, so I thought I'd invite you to eat here."

Is this how you use "lingering and forgetting to leave"? Su Yue thought to herself.

Qiao Songluo continued to boast, "You'll definitely love it! Their rice noodles are absolutely delicious!"

Su Yue raised her hand to her forehead. "That's not how you use 'breathtakingly beautiful.' Can your Chinese score even get you into the top 500?"

The store was quite crowded.

They found an empty table and sat down. After about half an incense stick's time, the owner came over to ask them what they wanted to eat.

Qiao Songlu shouted, "I want a serving of sliced ​​beef, shrimp balls, and crab sticks, medium spicy!"

Su Yue glanced at the menu hanging on the wall. "I'd like a serving of fish balls and beef balls, mildly spicy."

While waiting for their food, the two chatted.

They talked about when the results would come out, the interesting things Qiao Songluo did while working and the strange citizens she encountered, and the book Su Yue was reading today.

Qiao Songluo looked thoughtful. "So, you want to be a historian?"

Su Yue shook her head, thought for a moment, and then nodded hesitantly.

Su Yue smiled helplessly, “When I was reading history books, I realized that our generation has the responsibility and obligation to organize historical materials from the past and leave them for future generations.”

People a thousand years from now, lacking abundant historical materials, can only speculate about many ancient people and historical events.

These speculations may be distorted or completely off-track.

However, there's no way for future generations to travel back in time and witness it firsthand.

The truth can only be lost in the long river of history.

Su Yue suddenly had an impulse; she wanted to do something for the sake of true history and for future generations.

Qiao Songluo, true to her friend Su Yue's word, pointed out directly, "But for you right now, is joining the Executive Yuan more important?"

Su Yue replied, "Yes."

The goddess gave them the opportunity to become officials and climb the social ladder, and she will not give it up.

From the day she entered the academy, she vowed to do everything in her power to make something of herself! She wanted to bring honor to her mother!

Moreover, Xie Yingshi will definitely take the civil service exam and climb the ranks.

Su Yue could not tolerate this. Years later, she was an unknown and penniless scholar, while Xie Ying was a well-known high-ranking official!

Then she and her mother will die with their eyes wide open in disbelief!

Qiao Songluo's expression suddenly twisted as she looked at Su Yue.

After a moment's thought, Qiao Songluo clapped her hands and said, "Let's prepare for the interview first!"

Su Yue: "?"

Qiao Songluo said, "You are still young, and you have a long life ahead of you. You can work hard in the Administration Hall first, and then dedicate your time and energy to history and future generations many years later!"

Moreover, you will meet many people in the future, and perhaps someone can do this job for you.

Su Yue: "..." She smiled and said, "That's true, I don't need to choose between the two."

The proprietress served two bowls of steaming hot rice noodles.

The red chili oil, the white potato noodles, and the pot of meat and vegetables made Su Yue's mouth water.

She picked up her chopsticks and began to eat eagerly.

With a bite of food, Su Yue gave Qiao Songluo a thumbs-up with a look of delight.

Qiao Songluo's eyebrows danced with delight.

The Goddess's Palace.

The teachers who graded the papers and the teachers who set the questions were not the same group.

After the candidates finished their written exams, the teachers who set the questions were able to leave the Goddess's Palace, while the teachers who graded the papers moved in and could not leave until all the papers had been graded.

Nobody seemed to have any objections; it's just work.

It's just that, relatively speaking, the Goddess's Palace feels a bit small. After we move to the city, when the Goddess's Palace is rebuilt, we must suggest to the Ministry of Construction that it be built bigger.

He Qinglan didn't seem to feel anything.

The teachers have been confined to the Goddess's Palace for some time, and their living space is limited to this size, so of course they feel it's small.

But she's different. The whole world belongs to her; she can go wherever she wants for a walk.

The reason why the teachers came to work at the Goddess's Palace was because the Examination Hall was not set up when the Administrative Hall was first built.

When they go to the prefectural capital and build the provincial administrative building, they will definitely take the Examination Yuan into consideration; they can't keep borrowing her Goddess Mansion forever.

"Goddess, what about Liangzhou..."

Doctor Xu was very worried about smallpox in Liangzhou, but they were far away from Liangzhou and the news didn't travel that fast, so they could only "bother" the goddess every few days.

He Qinglan was very patient with her honest and hardworking subordinates. "Don't worry, Mei Leshu went to see Xue Rang. Xue Rang has already ordered the delineation of the epidemic area, which will be managed by Mei Leshu."

Doctor Xu first breathed a sigh of relief, then looked puzzled, "Xue Rang actually..."

He Qinglan said calmly, "If Mei Leshu solves the smallpox problem, it will also be an achievement for him."

Dr. Xu was furious upon hearing this, "This...this is clearly our medical team..."

He Qinglan said, "Our Anling has not yet declared independence."

Dr. Xu calmed down. "Since Xue Rang is willing to cooperate, the medical team's work should be able to proceed smoothly, right?"

He Qinglan comforted him, "You have to believe in Mei Leshu."

She is a highly skilled and experienced doctor.

But it was smallpox after all... How could Doctor Xu not be at ease until Mei Leshu returned to Anling with the medical team?

He Qinglan then said, "You should prepare more medicinal herbs for them. People who haven't been infected with smallpox can be vaccinated, but those who have already been infected will still need a lot of medicinal herbs to treat their illness."

Dr. Xu nodded repeatedly, "Okay, okay, I'll take care of it right away!"

He hurriedly took his leave and went straight to the clinic.

Not long after Dr. Xu left, Cheng Hui came again.

He came to inquire about a job related to an interview.

He Qinglan decisively passed the matter on, saying, "We will select people from the administrative offices of your four counties to conduct the interviews, in several examination rooms, all at the same time."

After all, there are 500 people.

"I will not participate."

If 500 people came to her to answer questions for the duration of an incense stick burning, how many days would it take to finish?

Cheng Hui nodded upon hearing this, "That's what we thought too. If you, Goddess, were to personally supervise the exam, then naturally every candidate would have to answer the questions in front of you, otherwise it would be unfair. But if 500 people had to come to you, it would take far too long."

He paused, "What you mean by conducting the exams simultaneously in separate rooms is..."

He Qinglan explained, "There are 20 people in each examination room, divided into 25 examination rooms, and the interviews are conducted simultaneously in each examination room."

"If there are not enough examiners, the process can be divided into two or three days."

Cheng Hui suddenly realized, "Okay, let's set the location at Longyuan Academy."

He couldn't help but feel that the Goddess's Palace was a bit too small.

Qian Shiwen's suggestion to expand the Goddess's Palace in the future is reasonable. We cannot let the Goddess live in such a small place while we occupy such a large administrative building. It would be disrespectful to the Goddess!

At this point, Cheng Hui suddenly smiled, "Then the first batch of examinees were the only ones who went to the Goddess's Palace to answer questions and had their answers heard by the Goddess herself."

He Qinglan: "?"

Cheng Hui said, "No matter how many years pass, we'll always have a lot of face to talk about it."

He Qinglan: "..."

Actually, it's not that she can't listen to all the candidates' answers at the same time, but the other examiners can't.

“In the imperial examination system, the last step was the palace examination, in which the emperor set the questions to test all the candidates,” He Qinglan suddenly said. “But I think that the interview in the civil service examination in later generations also has its necessity.”

Cheng Hui understood what she meant. He said, "We also think that interviews are very necessary. The people we hire cannot only be good at writing; they must also be good at speaking."

They are recruiting people to do the work, to go to the grassroots level, and to connect with the people.

He Qinglan said, "Go ahead. Once you've come up with a final plan, just bring it to me to take a look."

She added, "I believe in you."

Cheng Hui replied, "Yes."

Before leaving, Cheng Hui also inquired about the medical team heading to Liangzhou.

That was smallpox after all, and countless people from the four prefectures were concerned about the situation in Liangzhou.

He Qinglan looked at Cheng Hui with gentle eyes and said, "It's alright, the work is progressing smoothly so far."

Cheng Hui breathed a sigh of relief. "That's good."

Watching Cheng Hui leave, He Qinglan seemed lost in thought. She calculated once more to make sure no one in her medical team would be harmed, and then she felt relieved.

As for whether the medical team members will be harassed or plotted against? That's inevitable. There's a war going on in Liangzhou right now, and various forces are entrenched there.

Not everyone cares about the lives of ordinary people, and not all officials hope that people infected with smallpox will be cured.

Besides treating illnesses, Mei Leshu and her colleagues also have to deal with all sorts of messy things.

He Qinglan will not interfere.

She chose to believe Mei Leshu, just as she believed in Mo Jingchun.

She is the leader, and a leader should trust that her subordinates are capable of solving the difficulties they encounter and do a good job in logistics, rather than taking on everything and removing all obstacles for them.

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Author's Note: Almost 100 chapters already, and Xiao He still hasn't arrived in Jinzhou...

God knows, when I first started writing, I thought I could finish it in just a few dozen chapters...