Some people are still hesitant. Although you can see how they behave, who knows if some of them are just putting on a brave face?

Besides the famous Wang Congyong, other popular candidates include Xie Wanling from the Xie family and a middle-aged man in his thirties who is particularly confident on the field. He is a well-known private tutor in Wenbo Village.

Besides the three of them, there were three other players who performed well on the field: Ji Jin, a young man in his early twenties, and a middle-aged man who was a bit older.

As the rosy clouds approached and the sun set in the west, Bai Jiao and his team finally finished grading all the exam papers.

Bai Jiao stood up and immediately fell silent.

"The exam results are in, and I will now announce the scores of all candidates."

Seeing everyone staring at him, Bai Jiao couldn't help but smile knowingly. "The time allotted for grading this exam was quite tight, but the results were decided after careful consideration by everyone present, as you can see."

Bai Jiao paused for a moment, and seeing that no one spoke, continued, "Does anyone have any objections to this exam?"

Qi Nuan watched quietly. After a brief exchange of whispers among the crowd, Wang Congyong stepped forward and said, "This student has no objection."

Bai Jiao looked at the others, and the other examinees stepped forward and said, "The examination is open, the adults are strict, and the students have no objections."

Bai Jiao nodded.

Qi Nuan presented the rankings of all the candidates, which Bai Jiao then read aloud.

There were 30 candidates in total. Among them, 13 were ranked as "below average", 7 as "average", 5 as "above average", 3 as "good", and 2 as "excellent".

The top five went directly to the county government office, the average ones assisted, the lowest were not considered qualified and did not enter the government, and the average ones went to the village to serve as the three elders in charge of education.

"Yan Peng, Zhou Ruoyi..."

The person whose name was called by Bai Jiao looked nervous, unsure whether to breathe a sigh of relief or become even more nervous, as Bai Jiao finished reading the name.

He looked at these people with regret and encouragement on their faces.

"These thirteen people failed the exam and will not be appointed to official positions, but they are very knowledgeable. They just did not perform well in this exam. I hope you will all work harder and see you again in the next exam."

Although Bai Jiao said this, it did not offer much comfort to those who did not succeed. Some people's faces turned pale instantly upon hearing that they had failed, and some even lost their balance and swayed precariously. However, others were able to face it calmly, having come to try anyway, and were not too bothered by failing.

Those whose names weren't called breathed a sigh of relief.

Fortunately, she wasn't the worst. However, Bai Jiao's words made her heart leap into her throat again.

“Among the middle class: Ke Chengxuan, Ding Zhiyuan, Gao Ci... are suitable for the local area.”

“The top performers: He Zhiwei, Liu Shayu, Wang Congming... entered the county government, but were not directly appointed to official positions. They were given official posts after being examined.”

After Bai Jiao finished reading, he cleared his throat, glanced at the remaining five people, and continued:

“The good ones are: Ji Jin, You Cangzhi, and Xie Wanling.”

“The best performers are: Guan Yi and Wang Congyong.”

Those whose names were called stepped forward and bowed to Bai Jiao as a teacher.

"None of you are required to report to the county government within three days."

After all the names had been read out, a murmur of discussion broke out in the crowd.

"The level was mentioned, but the ranking wasn't?"

"That goes without saying. The first name the adults called out was Guan Yi, so he must have won first place. But who is he? I don't think I've ever heard of him before."

I don't think so...

Someone mustered up their courage and asked, "Sir, what is the ranking of these candidates?"

Upon hearing this, everyone looked at Bai Jiao, clearly curious about the rankings of the examinees.

Bai Jiao smiled and said, "The rankings will be posted on the bulletin board tomorrow. Anyone who is interested can come and take a look. The exam papers of the top three to five students will also be posted there."

After saying this, he addressed the crowd, "Do you have any further questions? If not, it's getting late, so you can all head home as soon as possible."

Seeing that no one spoke, Bai Jiao left first.

Guan Yi and Wang Congyong looked at each other, sizing each other up, wondering if the other had won first place.

Meanwhile, Ji Jin and Xie Wanling, who had received excellent grades, remained remarkably calm. They seemed indifferent to the results. You Cangzhi, standing between them, glanced at the two of them, then at the top two.

His face was full of melancholy. He sighed and said, "The younger generation is truly formidable! The younger generation is indeed formidable!"

With that, he left with heavy steps. He would definitely come to see their articles tomorrow; he was already in his fifties, yet he couldn't compare to these young people.

After seeing Qi Nuan leave, Ji Jin quickly followed her, and Xie Wanling shook her head and left as well.

After most of the people had left, Wang Conglin walked over.

He patted Wang Congyong on the shoulder and praised, "Not bad."

But Wang Congyong showed no joy. He had a feeling that he was not the first place in this exam, which was quite a blow to him.

There are always people more capable than you, and he was ultimately a bit arrogant.

Wang Congming and Wang Congqing, standing to the side, dared not speak.

One was of average ability and the other of superior ability, which made them feel somewhat ashamed when facing Wang Conglin.

Wang Conglin glanced at the two of them but didn't say anything. Although their results were not ideal, this setback was a good thing.

In Wutu County, only the Wang family had ever held official positions in the capital. Therefore, the Wang family members always subtly displayed a superior attitude towards others, though it was not obvious, it was not difficult to notice.

Now is the perfect time. It's time to let them know that the Wang family is no longer the same as before. Only by adjusting their mindset can they get back on track sooner.

On the other side, Ji Jin caught up with Qi Nuan.

He followed behind Qi Nuan without saying a word. Qi Nuan glanced at him and after a long while said, "I've seen your test paper today. You answered it very well."

The boy's lips curled into a slight smile, his eyes sparkling with a bright joy that quickly faded.

“I used to learn that my father and husband both praised me for being smart, but I know that I’m actually not that smart.”

There was a hint of sadness in the boy's voice, and Qi Nuan turned to look at him.

In fact, Qi Nuan didn't know anything about Bai Jiao or the mountain village. She only knew that, apart from Bai Jiao and Ji Jin, everyone in the village was surnamed Xu and came from the same village. She didn't know anything else.

Qi Nuan asked Xu Erniang and the others, but they only told her how they got to the mountain village and how good life was for the villagers in their village before.

Ji Jin and Bai Jiao were rarely mentioned.

This was also the first time she had heard Ji Jin talk about his family.

“Your father and husband are right. You are very smart, smarter than all of us, smarter than Bai Jiao.”

Hearing Qi Nuan's words, he smiled, but still said, "The boss is very smart. He is the smartest person I have ever met."