During the ten days or so in between, Cui Wuniang was busy with her own business and Chen Cui was at the academy most of the time, so the two did not meet.

But they had agreed to keep in touch frequently, so Cui Wuniang would also send servants to deliver letters.

Since we were in the same city, there was no need to send every detail like in rare correspondence. In fact, just write a few words on a piece of letter paper, just like chatting on WeChat in later generations. Just write whatever you think of and ask someone to deliver it.

Anyway, the two houses are not too far away. When the servants went out to buy groceries, they would bring the letters with them.

The reason why Cui Wuniang came in person this time was naturally because passing the imperial examination and becoming the top scholar in the imperial examination was definitely a great joyous event, and she needed to come in person to congratulate.

Chen Cui already knew the result, but since Cui Wuniang came specially, she had to show some surprise and invite her in for a cup of tea and a rest.

Passing the academy in the center of the house, Cui Wuniang went to the main house.

The two of them corresponded frequently, and Cui Wuniang's way of speaking to her became much closer. She sat down and drank a sip of tea to catch her breath. She was really envious and said, "I heard earlier that your little son is so well-behaved and lucky. I didn't know you were so lucky that you even won the first place in the 'Four Yuans'. I have only heard of such a person since I was a child. How did you raise him? You must teach me well!"

"It's Yunchuan's own hard work. He's talented and works very hard. I really don't have any credit at all." Shen Cui explained truthfully.

Just then, Zhou came over, and Shen Cui relayed the good news.

Zhou was so surprised that her cheeks flushed, but because there were guests, she couldn't show too much excitement. She took a few deep breaths to calm her disordered breathing, and then looked at Chen Cui shyly.

Chen Cui immediately understood and asked Cui Wuniang, "When will Yunchuan and the others be coming back?"

The young wife's thoughts were written on her face. Cui Wu Niang had actually understood it a long time ago, and she smiled and said, "Actually, he should have come back a long time ago, but my brother is very tight-lipped and won't tell me the reason. He just said that he had something to do and had to stay for a while, but he will definitely be back this month. You have to invite me to the banquet when the time comes. I must come!"

Chen Cui nodded in understanding, and asked Zhou, who pretended to be calm, to go out and buy some snacks to go with the tea. At the same time, she couldn't help but think - Cui Wuniang only mentioned Mu Yunchuan's grades, but didn't mention her own brother Cui Fei. Does that mean Cui Fei didn't pass the exam?

But since Cui Wuniang didn't mention it, she didn't dare to ask.

After a while, Zhou, who had just returned from outside, calmed down completely and presented the snacks.

Cui Wuniang was indeed busy. She had just eaten a piece of dessert and had not said a few words when the maid who stayed in the carriage came over and said that the shopkeeper wanted to see her.

Chen Cui didn't think about asking Cui Wuniang about Cui Fei's situation. Instead, just as she said, Cui Fei and Mu Yunchuan came back this month. How to celebrate at that time, she can also take the opportunity to meet Cui Fei in person.

Thanks to the move of the academy to the provincial capital, Mu Yunchuan's daily life in Cuiwei was not affected after he passed the imperial examination.

Otherwise, like what happened before, if the Mu family had a scholar in the village, or a top scholar at that, the popularity of the family would probably be even higher, and Chen Cui would be troubled again.

Back to the young men in his own academy, after entering the provincial school, some changes took place in Wei Shu, Wei Xi and Mei Ruochu.

The biggest change is that they have clearly realized that there are always people better than you.

Not to mention the professor's and instructor's knowledge, his teaching methods are also far superior to those of Lao Buyu, who just changed his career path.

Of course, the three young men would not despise Lao Buyu just because they had a better teacher, but this is an indisputable fact. After Lao Buyu listened to them talking about the content of the class, he said with his own mouth that he felt inferior to them.

There are many talented people among the classmates in the prefectural school, and there are many hidden talents.

Some of them are good at writing poems, and they can easily come up with all kinds of beautiful sentences without having to think about them carefully, and their writing is far more clever than others; some are good at solving questions, and even Mei Ruochu has to think carefully for a while after receiving them, but the other party can just pick up the pen and write, and the solution is so clever, both meaningful and closely related to the theme; there are also people who are good at writing eight-part essays, the length of the sentences, the complexity of the words, the pitch of the voice are all so just right, and it is natural...

Their overall quality may not be as high as Mei Ruochu's, but in terms of individual talents, Mei Ruochu really doesn't dare to guarantee that he is better than others in everything.

They also heard that some people had very good grades in the college entrance examination, but after entering the provincial school, their grades plummeted and they ended up being mediocre.

Mei Ruochu immediately sensed the crisis.

Because in just over two months, at the end of the year, the annual examination will be held.

The annual examination tests all scholars and in some sense is about the same difficulty as the provincial examination. Those who get first class can be promoted. Attached students can be promoted to additional students, and additional students can be promoted to students on government stipends. Those who get second class will not be promoted or demoted, and students on government stipends will stop receiving their rice. Those who get third or fourth grade are considered to have passed, while those who get fifth or sixth grade may not only be advised to drop out, but also be stripped of their title of scholar.

Mei Ruochu certainly didn't have to worry about passing the exam, but if he got second place right away and lost the scholarship he had earned by getting first place in the academy examination, that would be too embarrassing.

Since he took it so seriously, Wei Shu and Wei Xi became more aware of their own shortcomings and worked harder than before.

Usually after dinner, before they gathered together to do their homework, they would tell Mu Erpang some interesting things that happened in the prefectural school.

They laughed and chatted for an hour or two as a break. Now this only "entertainment activity" had stopped, and even the dinner time was compressed to half an hour.

In the original plot, Wei Xi worked harder and did better after entering the provincial school.

Chen Cui thought that maybe on the one hand he was competing with Mu Yunchuan, but on the other hand he probably also realized how powerful others were?

But this time was different from that time. Wei Xi was not trying to surpass anyone and disregarding his health. Instead, he learned with the mentality of enjoying this healthy competition, so it did not affect his body.

Even if his physical strength dropped a little due to excessive fatigue, Shen Cui would be able to notice it immediately and then spend money to buy some to replenish it.

The original book did not go into detail about how Wei Xi performed in the county examinations, prefectural examinations, and imperial examinations. It only said that he was always better than Mu Yunchuan from the beginning. It was clearly pointed out that he won the second place in the provincial examination later.

This should have been his, so Chen Cui encouraged them to do their best.

With them taking the lead, Mu Erpang naturally felt the sense of urgency.

However, he is never distracted in his studies, and his sleep time is pitifully short in Shen Cui's opinion.

Unable to squeeze out more time, he would find a book and read it even when he was eating or going to the toilet. This is what is meant by "never putting the book down".

…………

At the end of September, Mu Yunchuan and Cui Fei returned to Qingzhou Prefecture from Linnan Prefecture.

After entering the city gate, Mu Yunchuan said to Cui Fei, "It's because of me that Brother Cui has been stranded in Linnan Prefecture for so long. Brother Cui's family must be worried sick. You don't have to see me off. Go home quickly and reunite with your family."

Cui Fei waved his hand nonchalantly and said with a smile: "We are already here now, so it won't take much effort to send you back. Besides, my sister said that your family is renting her property. I know the place and the driver knows the way. I don't know how much effort it will take to let you find the way by yourself."

The coachman was a servant of the Cui family, so he naturally listened to Cui Fei's advice and sent Mu Yunchuan back to Cuiwei.

After the carriage stopped, Cui Fei wiped the sweat off his face and said, "I am in such a bad state today that I won't come to see you. Please ask your mother for mercy on my behalf, and I will come to see you next time."

Mu Yunchuan nodded, and the two parted ways.

After the Cui family's carriage drove away, Mu Yunchuan looked around the mansion, then looked up at Cuiwei's slightly old and shabby plaque.

After standing for a while, Mu Yunchuan knocked on the door.

The servant in the back room heard the noise, came over to answer the door, and asked who was looking for.

This question made Mu Yunchuan a little stunned. Of course, he was not looking for anyone, he just came back to this "home" that did not belong to him.

Unexpectedly, the servant opened the door and saw him, and immediately asked, "Are you Mu Jieyuan?"

After seeing Mu Yunchuan nodded slightly, the servant opened the door as wide as possible and said with a smile: "The headmaster has already told you to come back in the next few days. I am not very good at seeing, please forgive me."

This servant was not Wei Shu's personal servant. He was only responsible for the rough work on a daily basis. He had never met Mu Yunchuan, so naturally he didn't recognize him.

Mu Yunchuan was slightly surprised, but he didn't show it on his face. He just asked casually with a warm smile, "Did mother mention me?"

The servant said, "That's right. I was able to guess it so quickly because the headmaster told me that you are the one with a particularly elegant and refined temperament. At that time, I thought to myself that the headmaster is much more educated than us, so how could he be so poor in words when describing people? Among these ten scholars, only eight can be picked out as elegant and refined, with extraordinary temperament. How can I identify them? Now that I see you, those two words popped into my mind spontaneously, which shows that the headmaster was not wrong at all."

As he spoke, the servant welcomed him to the second hanging flower gate and stopped. "Please go in. The academy is at the back. The headmaster has told us outsiders not to go there without permission, so I won't see you off."

Mu Yunchuan pursed his lips and said, "Then it shouldn't be convenient for me to go over?" After all, in Mu Yunchuan's view, he was indeed an outsider.

The servant didn't understand and scratched the back of his head, saying, "The headmaster didn't say anything. He just told you to do whatever you want."

Mu Yunchuan didn't make things difficult for him and let him go about his own business first.

The academy had undergone several upgrades and the map was larger than before, so when the two of them appeared near the Chuihua Gate, she discovered that Mu Yunchuan had returned.

She put down her pen, stood up, left the classroom and walked to the vicinity of the hanging flower gate.

When we met again three years later, Mu Yunchuan had grown from a boy into a young man. His figure was no longer so thin and frail, and his face was less childish and more mature and tough.

However, Shen Cui has only lost a lot of weight compared to before. There is no other change but she looks younger.

Since there were no one else around, the two of them didn't have to act out scenes of deep mother-son love or crying in each other's arms after reunion.

After exchanging a few inquiring glances, Mu Yunchuan called her "mother" indifferently, and Chen Cui replied, "I'm glad you're back safely. Have you eaten?" ', it can be considered as a greeting.