Chang Yan, whose name was called out outside, put his hand to his forehead.
"Not just us, but all the boys' butts are off-limits." Xu Mo suddenly felt that it would be more satisfying to give them a good spanking than to do what they were doing now.
Fortunately, Jiang Sheng didn't ask any more questions and nodded blankly.
Xu Mo thought she had understood and smiled with relief.
Just then, Jiang Sheng sighed, "I should have known better than to look at Second Brother's butt. I saw him peeing behind the dilapidated temple once, and it was so round."
Xu Mo's smile froze on his lips.
At the same time, Zheng Ruqian, who was galloping on his donkey, sneezed.
"Old Zheng, are you alright?" Pang Dashan, who was also running wildly, shouted.
Zheng Ruqian waved his hand and wrapped his clothes tighter around himself.
He needed to hurry to the prefectural city to reunite with his brothers and sisters, and at the same time, see if there was anything valuable in the prefectural city that he could bring back to the county town to make a profit.
A quick calculation reveals the answer.
He spent three days collecting vegetables in Xiyang County, four days delivering them to Yunshui County, then three more days collecting vegetables to transport them back to Youranju. After taking leave from Manager Bai, he headed straight for the prefectural city.
It took another five days to get there, and by the time we arrived, it was already late March.
Looking at the magnificent city gate of Anshui County, Pang Dashan couldn't help but marvel.
Zheng Ruqian, however, was focused on finding his siblings.
They only said we'd split up, but they didn't say where we'd meet up.
That was too hasty!
Fortunately, Zheng Ruqian was useless in every way except for his mouth. Everywhere he went, he would ask with both hands and feet, "Do you have five children here? Four boys and one girl. Two of them are a little tall, and the other three are quite short."
After asking all the way from the east side of the city to the west side, I finally managed to find someone at the entrance of the inn.
"We do have such a guest, but who are you?" The waiter's big eyes were full of vigilance.
Zheng Ruqian grinned, "I'm their older brother."
The waiter was skeptical, but said, "I'll take you there."
The two walked through the upper room and the lower room, but still couldn't see anyone when they reached the end.
Zheng Ruqian almost thought he had encountered a group of kidnappers and reminded Pang Dashan to be ready to run away at any time.
When he finally arrived at the door of the woodshed, he was stunned.
Under the bright sunshine, Xu Mo lay on a simple chair, supporting himself with one hand and holding a calligraphy brush in the other, writing with flowing, serpentine strokes.
Occasionally, he would look up at Jiang Sheng, who was propping herself up with a book, and cough lightly twice.
Jiang Sheng would wake up from her dream and quickly turn a page in the book for her elder brother to read.
"Cough cough." Xu Mo coughed twice more.
Jiang Sheng, not understanding, flipped to another page.
On the other side, Chang Yan, who was training his physique with Fang Heng, couldn't help but remind him, "You turned two pages forward."
Jiang Sheng suddenly realized what was happening and quickly flipped back three pages; finally, she had the correct answer.
Xu Mo lowered his head and continued writing rapidly, occasionally closing his eyes to write from memory, just to memorize all the knowledge points.
His posture was so comical, with bandages wrapped around his buttocks, yet his enthusiasm for learning never waned, and could even be described as intense.
Wen Zhiyun was grinding medicinal powder in a corner and kept flipping through medical books, seemingly searching for a better medicine for wounds.
The sunlight shone on their heads, making the simple courtyard glow with golden light.
This is how Zheng Ruqian felt after being away for more than half a month. At first, he just felt empty and uncomfortable, but at this moment he realized that it was the solid feeling of having family by his side.
That's something that no amount of money can buy.
Pang Dashan followed behind him and suddenly began to sob softly, "Old Zheng, I miss my brothers."
Zheng Ruqian pursed his lips.
The voices startled everyone in the courtyard. Jiang Sheng was the first to jump up. When she saw Zheng Ruqian, her eyes lit up. She probably wanted to rush over, but then she remembered something and stood there timidly.
This doesn't fit my sister's personality.
Little did Zheng Ruqian know that Jiang Sheng felt embarrassed when she saw him, remembering his round bottom.
"Little Jiang Sheng," Zheng Ruqian stretched out his arms, "why don't you miss me at all?"
I miss it so much!
At that moment, all thoughts of buttocks and the strict separation of men and women were thrown to the back of one's mind.
Jiang Sheng rushed into Zheng Ruqian's arms like a meteor shower. She first wrapped her arms around his neck and jumped forward, then wrapped her legs around his waist and hung there instantly.
"Second Brother, why are you only arriving now?" the little girl cried out twice.
Zheng Ruqian grinned widely, "Here we are. Why are you all staying in the woodshed? Don't you have enough money?"
At the mention of money, Jiang Sheng jumped down immediately.
Zheng Ruqian then freed his hands, took out the ten taels of silver he had just earned from his pocket, and handed them to her.
Jiang Sheng was overjoyed and didn't forget to explain, "The rooms here are too expensive, but there's a cheap woodshed here, so let's stay here."
Zheng Ruqian paused for a moment.
The essence of saving money is simply because you don't have enough money.
It seems he needs to work even harder.
"Brother, with that ass," Zheng Ruqian said, his gaze falling on Xu Mo again. "Will he still be able to participate in the prefectural examination in April?"
"I have to participate even if I can't." Jiang Sheng hid the silver back into her small purse.
He then recounted what had happened in the middle of the month.
The difficulty of the top-ranking official in the prefectural examination weighed heavily on the hearts of the brothers except for Jiang Sheng, especially Xu Mo, whose backside was badly injured but who still insisted on studying and reading after being bandaged up.
But he was too tired. Holding a book in one hand and a pen in the other was too difficult. To make things easier for him, Jiang Sheng offered to be a bookshelf and provide book-flipping services for her older brother.
And that's how I've persevered until now.
Xu Mo's wound on his buttocks has gradually scabbed over, but it's still a bit difficult for him to sit for long periods of time while taking the exam.
In order to find a better medicine for wounds, Wen Zhiyun searched through ancient books day and night, and even developed bags under his eyes.
Everyone is working hard for the prefectural examination in April.
Xu Mo does nothing but sleep, eat, and study, needless to say.
While Zheng Ruqian was strolling around the city looking for business opportunities, he found a soft butt pad for Xu Mo and bought it back at a high price.
When Wen Zhiyun went out to buy medicine, she bumped into Wu Suowei, who grabbed her face and rubbed it for a long time in exchange for a bottle of high-quality wound medicine.
When I applied it to Xu Mo, he felt much more comfortable, and the healing process was much faster.
April has finally arrived.
Xu Mo's wound on his buttocks had scabbed over, and the gauze no longer needed to be changed every day.
Wen Zhiyun specially applied a thick layer of wound medicine to him and wrapped it with two more layers of gauze to prevent new cracks from appearing in the wound these days.
Just like during the last county exam, Jiang Sheng prepared food, drink, writing brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones for her elder brother, and finally stuffed a soft pad on top of the chamber pot.
The prefectural examination differed from the county examination.
The county examination lasted for five consecutive days, and you could go home every day.
The prefectural examination required candidates to stay in the examination hall for three days without sleep or rest, eating, drinking, or relieving themselves there.
However, the prefectural examination was also safer, as it was said that there were at least a dozen yamen runners patrolling back and forth, so there would be no more incidents of snatching examination papers.
It was early April, and the prefectural examinations had just begun.
Under the watchful eyes of his younger siblings, Xu Mo limped and carried a small basket into the examination hall.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
