The yamen runner hurriedly explained it again.

Ma Jingming asked, "Did you see the examiner hand out the exam paper to Song Chi?"

"I...didn't notice." The bailiff changed his tone.

Song Chi is not an ordinary person. It is impossible to disqualify him from the exam by simply accusing him of something. The only thing he can do is delay the time.

"Go find the examiner who's handing out the exam papers," Ma Jingming angrily scolded. "You can't even do such a small thing."

"Yes, I'll go right away."

The yamen runner understood Ma Xuezheng's eyes and told him not to come back for at least an hour.

"Look at what a commotion this has caused, but the exam question is unclear. Even though I'm the examiner, I can't let you answer the questions casually, so we have to wait a little longer."

Ma Jingming forced another smile.

Song Chi didn't say anything, but just watched him pretend quietly.

If nothing unexpected happens, the person distributing the test papers will take an hour to arrive. This will take at least three hours. The exam will start in the morning and he will answer the papers in the afternoon. He will procrastinate again in the evening. When it is time to hand in the papers the next morning, he will not have answered any of the questions or will not have finished answering them. Naturally, he will not pass the exam.

That's their purpose.

Now that you are here, make the most of it.

Song Chi was able to remain calm, which surprised Ma Jingming. He hesitated many times and wanted to ask Song Chi why he was not in a hurry, but he felt it was inappropriate.

Sure enough, an hour later, the examiner came over to distribute the test papers.

"I don't know why, but after handing out the test papers, I had a stomachache and had been squatting in the toilet." He explained. This excuse was really lame. Looking at Song Chi's half-smile, Ma Jingming felt embarrassed.

"This is the test paper you gave me. There must have been a problem when it was printed."

Song Chi said calmly, "I don't think the examiner put it on my desk on purpose. Otherwise, he must have opened the test paper beforehand, which would be a serious crime."

"When I entered the examination hall, you, Ma Xuezheng, personally checked me. You even knocked over my pen, inkstone, and ink box. It's impossible for me to bring cheat sheets in. As the champion of the literary competition, there's no need for me to resort to such petty tricks."

These words left the three speechless, the tone was calm but powerful.

If you want to use this matter to make things difficult for me, then I will just make a big deal out of it. If things get investigated, it's not certain who will be in trouble. I'm not made of clay.

Furthermore, it was to remind them that it was impossible to defeat him with such a small trick.

Looking at Song Chi with his back straight, Ma Jingming suddenly felt that his waist was a little hunched.

He is now forty-three years old. The phrase he heard most when he was young was that gold will always shine. This was the advice from his elders. Now that he is forty-three years old, the biggest realization that people in middle age have is that this is bullshit.

Apart from anything else, gold will never shine as long as it is covered by a piece of rag.

Once he was a piece of gold covered by a rag, but now he has to be the rag.

"This is just a misunderstanding. Quickly give Song Chi a test paper." Ma Jingming quickly ordered.

The examiner said, "The main paper is gone. There is only the preparation paper. However, the preparation paper is different from the main paper. It has an extra dictation question."

Dictation is to pick a sentence or a paragraph from the Four Books and Five Classics and ask you to write the entire text.

It's not that difficult. After all, those who can make it to the academy examination have almost memorized the Four Books and Five Classics. However, it is a waste of time and requires writing a lot of words.

This is not a difficult task. There will be a separate set of test papers for each exam.

There was a problem with the main examination paper distributed by Song Chi, and it is no longer available, so we can only use the preparation examination paper.

"Song Chi, there's nothing we can do about this. Why don't you take the test again next time?"

There was a hint of consolation in Ma Jingming's tone. He felt a little embarrassed by the wave of difficulties he received.

"fine."

Song Chi responded calmly.

"Go get the test paper."

"Yes." The examiner responded.

Song Chi asked with a smile, "Will it take an hour to get the test papers?"

"Um... the exam papers haven't been opened yet. It'll take some time to get them."

This is also a disguised admission that it will take a long time to get it.

Ma Jingming looked up at the sky, which was even gloomier. He asked someone to check and was told that it would rain today, and it would be a heavy rain.

There is a leak in the ceiling of the examination room where Song Chi is staying, and if it rains heavily, the rain will definitely come down.

After delaying for so long, I was finally able to answer the questions, but I had to stop due to heavy rain. The examination room was fixed and naturally could not be changed, so I could only wait for the rain to stop, but I didn’t know when the rain would stop.

I was finally able to answer the test paper, but I couldn’t finish it.

Even if you answer, all the words will be lost because you used reserve ink to write.

This is the whole "difficult" process he arranged.

No matter how talented you are, you will never have the chance to write an amazing article.

You are a piece of gold, but you don't have the chance to shine.

"Then wait."

Song Chi returned to the examination room and sat down. For some reason, the calmer Song Chi was, the more guilty Ma Jingming felt. The candidates in the surrounding examination rooms also felt aggrieved when they saw Song Chi being targeted like this.

They hesitated to speak, and finally sighed and began to answer.

Anyone who dares to speak up at this time will probably be disqualified from the exam.

Just as Song Chi thought, when the test paper was placed in front of him, it was already an hour later. It was already evening and it was getting dark because of the overcast sky.

The inspecting yamen runners delivered candles to each examination room one by one, preparing the candidates for answering the questions at night.

Song Chi also received the candle, so there was no need to play tricks at this time.

Rumble.

Muffled thunders were heard in the distant sky. Amidst the lightning and thunder, the rain that had been held back all day finally began to fall. It started with drops, and gradually connected into lines.

It's raining heavily.

The half-person-high wall could not block the splashing rain, so the candidates had to move their examination tables against the inner wall to avoid it.

But Song Chi couldn't do that. The gap between the ceiling and the inner wall was very wide, and the rain could pour in. The outer wall could not stop the splashing rain. Song Chi was surrounded by rain, and there was nowhere to hide in the already small examination room. The rain not only splashed onto the table, but also onto his body.

It was impossible to answer in this environment, at least not to write on the table.

The rain is getting heavier.

Standing at the door of the examiner's room, Ma Jingming asked, "How is Song Chi?"

"Of course I can't answer that. His examination room is like a water curtain cave. I just went to check and saw that Bei Mo was soaked in the rain."

Ma Jingming paused and asked, "Did he ask to change exam rooms?"

"No."

"No?"

Ma Jingming frowned and asked again, "He even wet his pen and ink, and couldn't even answer the test paper. He should be devastated at this time, so why can he still be so calm?"

The yamen runner thought for a moment and said, "Maybe it's because he's desperate."

"despair?"

"I've been constantly challenged since entering the examination hall. I have so much talent but I can't use it. Isn't this despair or something else?"

Ma Jingming looked at the rain for a long time without saying a word.

After a few more hours, it was completely dark and the rain had subsided a little. He went to the examination room to inspect it with an umbrella.

He wanted to know why Song Chi was so calm. Was he really desperate, or did he have another way?