Zhen Jingxiu looked helpless. "Isn't it fine for this child to call me 'teacher'? Why is he calling me 'brother' now?"
“That’s because you’re young, Brother Jingxiu. The child has a discerning eye and wouldn’t call him by the wrong name.” Su Jin said, striding towards Sui Sui.
“Young Master Su, Miss has something to attend to today, so she specifically instructed me and the young master to come and fetch you home.” Gao Mu said, then looked at Zhen Jingxiu, “Young Master Zhen, you’re coming along too? The carriage is outside; I’ll escort you home.”
Su Jin also said, "We're going the same way anyway, let's go back together. I'll have Brother Gao take you to the gate of the mansion in a bit."
"Someone from the manor should be coming to pick you up. Thank you both for your kindness." As soon as Zhen Jingxiu finished speaking, two servants came forward to greet him.
"Young master, I'm late. There were too many people, and the carriage couldn't get in." The servant said, taking the bedding and food box from Zhen Jingxiu's hands.
There were too many people outside the examination hall. Gao Mu held down Sui Sui's little short legs, which were draped over his shoulder, with one hand, and reached for the quilt that Su Jin was carrying with the other.
Su Jin turned slightly to the side and said, "It's not heavy, I can manage. There are many people here, let's go outside."
Gao Mu didn't stand on ceremony and pointed to a large tree outside, "The carriage is over there, please come forward, young master."
When Zhen Jingxiu saw Sui Sui smiling at him, he couldn't help but reach out and hold his little hand, saying gently, "Can you still call me teacher from now on? Or uncle is fine too."
Sui Sui nodded and grinned, "Okay, I'll try my best to call you teacher."
Zhen Jingxiu: "..."
Su Jin glanced back at the entrance of the examination hall. Candidates were coming out one after another, but Lin Xiangzhi was not among them.
Su Jin said, "I wonder when Young Master Lin will come out."
As more and more people came to greet the examinees, Zhen Jingxiu let go of Sui Sui's hand and urged, "Brother Su, you all go back first. We'll meet again another day. I'll wait here for Young Master Lin."
Looking at the huge crowd at the entrance of the examination hall, Su Jin nodded: "Okay, see you later."
After leaving the examination hall, neither of them asked each other about the exam. Judging from each other's relaxed expressions, they should have done well.
After seeing Su Jin leave, Zhen Jingxiu instructed his servant to wait in the carriage outside, while he craned his neck to search for Lin Xiangzhi's figure in the crowd.
Just then, a familiar scholar came over and greeted him, "Young Master Zhen, are you waiting for someone?"
Zhen Jingxiu glanced around the Imperial Examination Hall, then smiled at the visitors and said, "I'm waiting for a friend. You can leave now. See you at Qingyunzhai another day."
"Young Master Zhen, you shouldn't wait any longer. If he hasn't come out by now, he might no longer be in the examination hall."
Zhen Jingxiu shook his head at the scholar, "No, his cell is behind mine, so he should have come out later than me."
The scholar lowered his voice and said mysteriously, "Young Master Zhen doesn't know yet, but last night several people from different cells disappeared. Even the people in the cells across the street didn't see when they left."
"What do you mean? You mean..." Zhen Jingxiu's eyes widened in surprise.
Seeing that Zhen Jingxiu understood, the scholar nodded, "Yes, someone was caught cheating last night. The fact that they were able to take the person away from the examination hall without anyone noticing must mean they were officials sent by the Emperor."
After the scholar finished speaking, he cupped his hands in greeting and said, "See you at Qingyunzhai tomorrow. My page is waiting for me."
Watching the scholar walk away, Zhen Jingxiu continued to look towards the entrance of the examination hall. He was certain that Lin Xiangzhi was an upright and honest man and would never cheat. Besides, he came from Yannan, and there was no one in the examination hall to help him cheat.
Although the two had only known each other for a short time, Lin Gongzi's talent and knowledge far surpassed those of the young masters from prominent families in the capital.
After a while, people in front of the examination hall gradually left.
Lin Xiangzhi's figure slowly appeared at the entrance of the examination hall.
He was carrying the blanket in one hand, while his other hand was empty.
"Hey! Jingxiu, why aren't you home yet?" Upon seeing the real Jingxiu, Lin Xiangzhi smiled and quickly walked up.
"I'll wait for you, how about it? You look so happy, your policy essay must be pretty good, right?" Zhen Jingxiu patted his shoulder and asked.
"It's alright, pretty much what we discussed."
Lin Xiangzhi then looked around and asked, "Did Brother Su come out with you? Where is he?"
“He was originally going to wait for you to come out, but the guards from the manor brought his son to pick him up, so I told him to go back first.”
Lin Xiangzhi had never met Su Jin before, so he naturally did not know that Su Jin had a husband.
Zhen Jingxiu said as he walked out, "No one's coming to pick you up, shall I take you to the Imperial Academy?"
"I'll accept your offer without further ado." Lin Xiangzhi glanced around, still unwilling to give up, and sure enough, he couldn't find his personal servant anywhere.
"Jingxiu, these past few days, I'm so grateful for the beef strips you sent through the proctor. Otherwise, I probably wouldn't have lasted this long." Lin Xiangzhi felt ashamed that even his stinky mandarin fish had alarmed the proctor.
Zhen Jingxiu slowed down and waved his hand, "The beef strips aren't mine, they were made by Brother Su's older sister."
Lin Xiangzhi quickly said, "I'll host another day. Jingxiu, could you please help me invite Brother Su out? I need to thank him in person for this."
"Although cooking beef strips in porridge slightly affects the taste of the porridge, the beef strips are really delicious when you chew them."
"Pfft, hahaha..."
After hearing Lin Xiangzhi's words, Zhen Jingxiu couldn't help but laugh so hard he couldn't stand up straight.
"Jingxiu, what are you laughing at? Did I cook it wrong?" Lin Xiangzhi also felt that something was wrong, so he stopped and asked.
Zhen Jingxiu stopped laughing and said, "Who told you to put the beef strips in the porridge? That's definitely not right. Put the ceramic pot on the stove to heat it up, eat half a pot of beef strips and then drink the porridge. That's much more comfortable."
Lin Xiangzhi's lips twitched. No wonder he thought the sweet porridge with pickled vegetables tasted strange; it turned out he hadn't eaten it correctly.
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