Chapter 34 Registration

After this incident, the Su family's status in the village suddenly became prominent. Of course, it was not that their status was low originally, but after Su Dianli passed away, although Su Fengzhang was a scholar, he was still a young generation after all.

He is a man of few words and not very reliable in doing things. When there is something important happening in the village, he will be informed, but it can be said that his opinions are not respected much.

But after this incident, no matter big or small, the villagers liked to come and ask about the matter.

Even the village chief was like this, relying more on Su Fengzhang than his own son. He privately told several elders that if their Su family could produce another capable person, it would most likely be Erlang.

Su Fengzhang was happy to see this happen, but what excited him even more was that the spiritual spring water representing the golden finger had actually increased. He didn't know if it was because of the accumulation over nearly three years or if some other changes had occurred, but the dripping speed had definitely increased.

This is a good thing. It used to take half a month to save up half a bowl, but now it only takes ten days to save up most of a bowl, which is more than double the speed.

Su Fengzhang drank more and gradually felt that his brain became faster. He thought he was a smart man, but he had never had this kind of experience of remembering everything he saw. It can be seen that the quantitative change of Lingquan water has a good effect on qualitative change.

"Feng'er, have you taken everything?" Su Zhaoshi checked again and again, still feeling uneasy. "Take this purse with you; you never know when you might need the money."

Su Fengzhang took it helplessly and comforted her, "Mom, I'm just going to register today. I'm not going to the examination room right away. There's no need to bring so many things."

Su Zhaoshi said, "We can't be careless about that either."

Their family's three-year mourning period had already ended. They had thought that because of the flood in Qingzhou last year, which had caused countless disasters to the people and the bandits who had looted the villages, the county examination might be postponed. However, in January, the government office posted a notice that everything would remain the same.

The temperature in the south has warmed up in February, and the sun has been shining brightly these past few days, sweeping away the gloom of last year. The Su family has also started preparing for Su Fengzhang's first county exam, with Su Zhaoshi attaching particular importance to it.

Su Fengzhang had already taken off his hemp clothes and put on a green shirt. He had no choice but to accept the purse: "Mother, I'm leaving now."

Su Zhaoshi followed them out. Since Su Dianli passed away, she rarely went out, mainly because she was afraid of attracting criticism, but this time she accompanied them all the way to the village entrance.

Along the way, he kept telling Su Caozhang: "Caozhang, please keep an eye on Feng'er and don't let him get caught in the wind on the road."

Originally, it was Uncle Su who was supposed to send him there, but Uncle Su caught a cold a few days ago, so Su Caozhang became the one who sent him there.

Su Caozhang had a good relationship with his cousin and readily agreed: "Don't worry, auntie, I will definitely take good care of Erlang."

When the ox cart was on the road, Su Caozhang asked Su Fengzhang to hide behind him, saying, "That way you won't be caught in the wind."

Su Fengzhang was very helpless: "Brother, I'm not that weak. I've been in good health in the past few years."

Su Caozhang smiled and said, "We can't be careless. The county exam is coming up soon. What if I get sick?"

"Pooh, pooh, pooh, the bad ones don't work, only the good ones can. That's how you won't get sick."

Su Fengzhang didn't think that he would get sick even if he was exposed to the spring breeze. Although the spiritual spring water was very useless, the effect after using it for a few years was still visible. The first was that his entire family, including the two children, did not get sick.

You have to know that there were heavy rains and floods some time ago, and people had to go up the mountain and hide in the ancestral hall. Many women and children fell ill, and even some strong men were too frightened. They became sick instead of being cured.

But all seven members of the Su family managed to survive. After the mourning period, they were able to eat meat, and their skin became fair, tender, and radiant.

After entering Hushan County, Su Caozhang drove the carriage directly to the county government office, where registration for the county examination was held.

Su Fengzhang was familiar with this area and could find the county government's ceremonial room without anyone's guidance.

But he didn't go in directly. Instead, he sat on the ox cart and waited: "I guess we are too early. We haven't seen anyone else yet."

The county examination requires five boys to form a pair, and Su Fengzhang is waiting for four of them to form a pair.

Speaking of it, the matter of the five children forming a bond troubled him for a while. After all, he stopped going to the private school three years ago and had no personal relationship with his former classmates. The two who had been in contact, Wenzhu, had passed the prefectural exam and did not need to retake the county exam, but Gu Beichen was not eligible to take the county exam, so they could not form a bond with each other.

Some people did come to him, but Su Fengzhang didn't know their background, so he didn't dare to make friends with them casually. He knew that if one of them cheated, the other four would be punished together. Who would dare to joke with his own future?

As it turned out, Mr. Wen had already thought of it for him. He personally selected four people from the private school to form a partnership with him, and personally served as the student in charge of the partnership, which helped him solve a big problem.

Su Fengzhang later learned that in order to get those students to agree, Mr. Wen also agreed to help them sign a bond and charged less money for the bond than other families, which made them agree willingly.

Mr. Wen hasn't given anyone a bond for some years, and not many people even know that he is a student on government stipend. But he did all this for him, so Su Fengzhang naturally remembered Mr. Wen's kindness in his heart.

"Brother Feng Zhang." A voice came, and when I looked up, I saw a man in his early twenties wearing a long robe coming towards me. He had a beard on his lips and looked more mature than his actual age.

"Brother Gu." Su Fengzhang was a little surprised to see the newcomer. He smiled and bowed, "Long time no see."

"I didn't expect to meet you here. It seems we are destined to meet. Nanfeng, this is my classmate Su Fengzhang, Brother Su. Fengzhang, this is my cousin Gu Nanfeng. He is also here to take part in the county exam this year." Gu Beichen himself could not participate, but his cousin was eligible.

Gu Nanfeng was about the same age as Su Fengzhang. He looked a bit arrogant. He looked up at him and said with a forced smile, "So you are Su Fengzhang. I've heard of you for a long time."

Su Fengzhang didn't know where his vague hostility came from, so he just smiled and said, "Nice to meet you."

Gu Beichen wanted to say something else, but Gu Nanfeng shouted impatiently: "Cousin, are you done yet? I'm going in."

After saying that, he left without caring about anything. Gu Beichen's face looked a little ugly, and he could only explain: "This child is young and doesn't know the immensity of the world. Please don't mind it, Brother Su."

Su Fengzhang naturally would not be angry with a child, although he was not much older now.

Gu Beichen chatted for a few more words before hurriedly catching up. As soon as he left, Su Caozhang snorted coldly, "These two brothers have very different temperaments. What kind of person is that little one?"

Su Fengzhang waited for a while, and the people who had been protecting each other finally arrived.

Mr. Wen has a keen eye for people, and the ones he chose for him are all serious students who won't cheat. Although their temperaments vary, the risk of cheating is very low.

The five of them entered the ceremonial room of the county office together, and happened to meet the two brothers of the Gu family coming out. Gu Nanfeng walked away without even looking at them, which made Gu Beichen apologize again. He was actually familiar with the five people present.

Inside, everyone had to fill in their name, age, place of origin, physical characteristics, and facial features. They even had to fill in the life and death history of three generations of their great-grandparents, grandparents, and parents.

One of the five of them was adopted, so he also had to write about three generations of his biological parents.

Su Fengzhang wrote down his name. His facial features were described as being fair-skinned and beardless, with a red mole at the end of his right eye, and a height of five feet eight. Don't think this is short. One foot in the Zhou Dynasty was approximately 31.5 centimeters, and Hushan County was in the south. Most people were only about one meter sixty-eight tall, so Su Fengzhang definitely stood out among them.

It was not in vain that he drank goat milk continuously for three years. Now when he stood up, he was taller than Su Caozhang. It was just that he grew too fast and looked too thin, but this definitely broke the record of the Su family's height.

For example, the student next to him couldn't help but take a peek at Su Fengzhang's physical features, and couldn't help feeling envious. When it was his turn, he wrote down the number "a little over five feet" with some depression.

It’s not over yet after writing this, the highlight is yet to come. The five of them need to insure each other. From this moment on, the fate of the five of them is connected to some extent.

Do not impersonate others, conceal the death of a deceased person, use a substitute, or use a false name. Guarantee your integrity and that you are not the descendant of a prostitute, actor, or official, and do not commit any crime. As for cheating, it is absolutely forbidden. Once discovered, all five people will be prosecuted.

Su Dianli passed away at the beginning of three years ago, and Su Fengzhang just finished mourning at the beginning of the year. Now he was asked a few more questions.

Just these two sentences made the others nervous. Fortunately, the ceremonial officer who was recording them still remembered Su Dianli and said two final words: "Time flies. Many years have passed in a flash. Brother Su has been gone for three years. Fengzhang, do well in the exam and make your father proud."

"Thank you, sir. I will definitely do well in the exam." Su Fengzhang said with a smile.

The other four people around him breathed a sigh of relief. Just now, Su Fengzhang almost thought that they were going to change their minds at the last minute.

After leaving the yamen, the few people had no intention of getting together. They chatted for a few minutes and then dispersed. After all, they were all busy going home to prepare for the exam.

Su Fengzhang planned to visit the Wen family before going back, but when he arrived at the Wen family, he found out that Mr. Wen was out. Wen Zhu was there, but his father kept the boy at home to study, and told him to continue to take the college entrance examination, which made him very miserable.

Seeing Su Fengzhang, Wen Zhu became even more dejected. With a look of resentment, she said, "Xiao Feng'er, how come you've grown so much taller in just six months? Did you take some powerful pills?"

"Eating meat won't make you taller, but eating vegetables will? Do you think I should eat more vegetables?"

Su Fengzhang was helpless: "I've already told you that drinking goat milk is useful, but you don't want to drink it."

Wen Zhu said, "I drank it, but other than being scolded by my father, I didn't grow an inch taller."

Su Fengzhang thought about Mr. Wen's height and compared it with the heights of the Su family members. He felt that this was probably a genetic limitation.

Wen Zhu was extremely resentful. They were of almost the same height before, but Su Fengzhang had grown rapidly in the past three years and was already a head taller than him. How embarrassing it was for him.

Su Fengzhang was attacked by resentment and could only accompany him to do a test question, barely making Wen Zhu forget about the height comparison.

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