The next day, Deng Xue noticed someone outside the door looking into the yard again, so she sprinkled realgar powder in the yard while muttering, "Damn you poisonous snake! I told you to kill my son! Wait until I've covered the entire yard with realgar powder, and see if you dare to come again."
Seeing Deng Xue like this, Tian An also turned slightly to face the door, pulled out a handkerchief and pressed it against the corners of his eyes, sobbing, "Oh! Why is my brother Yiming so miserable! Oh! He went through so many trials and tribulations all the way, oh! He finally got the final push, but he didn't expect this to happen."
Deng Xue hurriedly comforted him, "Miss, don't be sad, the most important thing is that the young master is safe."
Tian An nodded sadly, "Oh! It's a blessing in disguise! But... sob..."
Sure enough, after that, Deng Xue never noticed anyone looking at her outside the door again, but she still didn't dare to let her guard down. She insisted on keeping watch every night and only went to sleep after Zhao Yiming and Tian An woke up during the day.
Deng Yuan came back again ten days later. He said everything was fine at home. Mr. Han was very happy to hear that Zhao Yiming had passed the provincial examination and asked him to keep working hard and strive to pass the academy examination in one fell swoop.
A few days before the college entrance examination, Zhao Yiming had to go to the government office in person to handle the examination procedures.
Regardless of his protests, Tian An personally applied makeup to him, giving him a sickly look before letting him out. She and Deng Yuan supported him along the way, one on each side, creating the impression that he was truly terminally ill.
The process of handling the formalities went smoothly, but it was only smooth for them.
When Tian An was waiting for Zhao Yiming outside the yamen, he saw several people had accidents.
A student was leaving the yamen after completing his formalities when he was tripped by someone and fell directly down the stairs. His family quickly sent him to the hospital, but no one knows what happened.
There was another person who had just walked into the main street with his family when he was bumped by someone coming towards him. He realized belatedly that the person was a thief. Unfortunately, there were many people on the street and the person blended into the crowd and disappeared in the blink of an eye, and the "floating ticket" (admission ticket) on his body was also missing.
Accidents like these happened every once in a while. Tian An was paying attention to the others. Seeing Deng Yuan helping Zhao Yiming out of the government office, he hurried over to support him and carefully walked back to the courtyard.
Everyone was very nervous while waiting for the college entrance examination to begin. Zhao Yiming studied hard every day, and Tian An prepared different kinds of food for him to nourish his body. Deng Xue and Deng Yuan took turns to keep watch at night, and went out to inquire about news when they had time during the day.
Both times, the most talked about things were that a candidate staying in the inn was sick, a candidate had an accident, and what happened to a candidate. Everyone who listened was terrified.
The college entrance examination lasted for three days and the examinee was not allowed to leave during the test. After Tian An prepared food and daily necessities, he checked it over and over again, and only gave up after checking for omissions and filling them in several times.
The day of the college entrance examination finally arrived. Tian An got up early and prepared breakfast. After eating, they went out to line up in the examination room.
Even though they lived nearby and arrived fairly late, there was still a long line outside the examination hall. They waited for nearly an hour before Zhao Yiming began checking in people.
This inspection was more stringent than the previous two. After carefully checking the appearance, they also had to carefully check the items they brought with them, and the clothes they were wearing had to be taken off one by one and carefully inspected, and they had to be checked twice.
After the inspection, Zhao Yiming took his number plate and went to look for his toilet, but the further he walked, the deeper his frown deepened. He wasn't very lucky this time. His toilet was only five cells away from where he went to the toilet. Although it wasn't the last one, he would definitely smell the odor in the afternoon.
However, when he saw the five people walking past him with sour faces, he felt balanced. As the saying goes, there is no comfort without comparison, and he was content.
Entering his cell, Zhao Yiming found two wooden planks, a quilt, and a candle. He placed his belongings on the wooden planks and began cleaning. He then sprinkled the insect repellent powder with realgar that Tian An had prepared for him around the cell, then hung sachets of incense at the four corners. It seemed he would need them this time.
After finishing everything, Zhao Yiming sat on the wooden board and closed his eyes to rest. He only opened his eyes when the yamen runners started to distribute the papers.
After receiving the test paper, I first wrote down my name, place of origin, and test number. Then I started to look at the questions...
Outside, Tian An and the other two escorted Zhao Yiming to the examination room and then went back to the courtyard to take a nap. When Tian An woke up, it was already past noon and the sun was blazing.
Deng Xue brought the food she cooked to Tian An on the stone table in the yard.
While fanning her, he muttered, "God is so kind! It rained heavily the past two days! I didn't expect the sky to clear up as soon as you took the exam."
Tian An put down the bowl, wiped his mouth, and then looked towards the examination room outside the courtyard and said, "Just because the weather is clear doesn't mean it's a good thing. It's so hot out here, it looks like Brother Yiming is going to suffer! I hope what I've prepared can help him."
Zhao Yiming, in the exam room, had already eaten lunch as the sun began to heat up at noon. Tian An had prepared a kind of square-shaped instant noodles for him. He boiled water, added the noodles and a packet of seasoning, and then scooped a spoonful of Tian An's secret meat sauce. The aroma immediately came out.
He still remembered how the invigilators kept glancing over at him several times while he ate his noodles. He could even faintly hear the students in the next cell swallowing their saliva. There was nothing they could do; the food was just too delicious.
When the sun gradually grew hotter, Zhao Yiming used hot water to make the summer heat tea that Tian An had prepared for him. The cup for drinking tea was also prepared by Tian An in advance. It had a very tight lid, so even if it was accidentally knocked over, the water would not spill, making it perfect for use in the exam room.
After drinking the cooling tea, the original feeling of heat and boredom was swept away. Zhao Yiming picked up his pen and continued answering the questions...
During dinner, Deng Yuan, who had been waiting outside the examination room, came back and told the two that in the afternoon, a candidate had fainted due to heatstroke and was carried out of the examination room by the yamen runners.
Tian An was extremely grateful for his foresight. He not only prepared summer tea for Zhao Yiming, but also prepared special medicine for heatstroke, which was absolutely foolproof.
Zhao Yiming, who was in the examination room, kept answering questions until it got dark. He put the test papers neatly into the paper bag, lit a candle and started preparing dinner.
After dinner, he stretched his arms and legs in the cell, and after a few simple exercises, he took down the four green sachets that had been hung in the cell during the day, and took out four dark blue ones from the examination basket and hung them up again.
Tian An had told him that the green sachets were for daytime use, refreshing the mind and removing odors, while the dark blue sachets were for nighttime use, calming the nerves, repelling mosquitoes and removing odors, so they had to be used separately.
After doing all this, Zhao Yiming made the bed and went to sleep.
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