After the spring examination, Lu Lin's shop became popular again. A wealthy man had bought a large rooster, the shop's prized possession, from them for fifty taels of silver. Coincidentally, the wealthy man's grandson passed the imperial examination and became a scholar.
The wealthy man's grandson was only fifteen years old. Among those selected this time, he was the youngest and could be described as a prodigy.
The wealthy man's grandson became a scholar at a young age, and everyone praised his talent, saying that he would surely pass the imperial examination with flying colors and become a high-ranking official.
Overjoyed, the wealthy man hosted a grand banquet at his home, which lasted for several days.
At the banquet, the wealthy man brought out his store's prized possession to show off, saying that it was all thanks to the store's treasure that his grandson had such good fortune. He added that although fifty taels was a bit expensive, it was still worth the price.
This led to widespread rumors that the store's prized possession truly had miraculous effects. These rumors even spread to surrounding villages and towns, attracting many people to come and buy the dolls, making them popular again for a while.
Grandma Shen was making dolls in the house, and she was in a very happy mood.
Business has been good at the store lately, so we have to work day and night. Although it's been tough, we're confident.
Magpie and Lin Chun are already fully capable of handling things, so Granny Chen only needs to assist them now.
The rooster plush toys were all snapped up, and with no more little yellow chick plush toys available, everyone turned their attention to other plush toys.
Lu Lin didn't think that the dolls in his shop had any magical effect of helping people pass the imperial examinations; he thought it was just a coincidence. However, he was still very happy to see that the customers were so satisfied.
The reputation of the store's prized possession was so great that it even spread to the surrounding villages.
Both the doll and the spring examination were hot topics, and the villagers loved to talk about them.
"This examination produced a scholar who is only fifteen years old! That's remarkable!"
"It must be the Xu family in town. It is said that when the Xu family's grandson was a little over three years old, the master found a teacher to start his education. He is definitely different from the students in our village."
"Yes, ink, paper, and inkstone are all expensive. This country boy has to use every piece of paper sparingly, while the rich young masters in town don't have so many worries."
The villagers sighed again when they thought of Lu Chengyu. They had thought he would pass the exam this time, but he failed again.
"I heard that Xu Yuanwai's grandson was able to pass the imperial examination this time entirely thanks to that treasure of the shop."
"This store's prized possession is just a larger doll; it doesn't seem to have anything special about it."
"How could it not be special? It's worth fifty taels."
"It's just that these rich gentlemen have money to burn. This is just a big doll; why would they need so much money for it?"
"I heard that when this prized possession first came out, it was snatched up by several wealthy gentlemen."
Wan Li was inside the shop when he saw a woman staring at it from afar with a rather strange expression.
After a long while, the woman finally approached Wan Li and said that she was Chen Xiaomi's aunt and wanted to see Chen Xiaomi.
Wan Li was surprised for a moment, then sent Qin Lang in to report.
Qin Lang received the news from Chen Xiaomi and took Chen Chun'er to the backyard to see Chen Xiaomi.
Chen Chun'er is the fourth child in her family and is Chen Xiaomi's aunt.
Old Master Chen was somewhat sexist and didn't care much about his daughter.
Chen Xiaomi was very young when Chen Chun'er got married, so Chen Xiaomi didn't have a very deep impression of her aunt.
Chen Chun'er married far away to a butcher, and the dowry was not low.
Butchers can make money quickly, but it's a bloody job, with white knives going in and red knives coming out all day long. In the eyes of the locals, butchers have a fierce aura and are not a good match.
Back then, after my aunt got married, she received more than twenty taels of betrothal gifts. After that, she rarely contacted her family.
After Chen Xiaomi's father had the accident, her aunt came back to the Chen family and cried a lot. Before she got married, her aunt seemed to have a very good relationship with her father.
Seeing how pitiful the three brothers were, their aunt secretly slipped them a hundred coins, telling them to take good care of themselves and not to mistreat themselves.
For Chen Xiaomi at that time, one hundred coins was a considerable sum. Because of this incident, Chen Xiaomi had a very good impression of this aunt whom she had not had much contact with.
"Auntie, what brings you here?" Chen Xiaomi asked, somewhat puzzled.
Chen Chun'er hesitated for a moment, then said, "Your grandparents came to my house a couple of days ago."
Chen Xiaomi asked, somewhat puzzled, "Why?"
Chen Chun'er married a butcher. Chen Xiaomi was very young at the time and didn't have a deep impression of him. However, she learned from the villagers that her aunt's husband had a fierce face and a stubble beard, and looked like a difficult person to deal with. It was said that many butchers had bad tempers and liked to beat people.
Chen Chun'er didn't bring much dowry with her when she left home, and because the two families lived far apart, they didn't visit each other much.
Chen Jing met someone a while ago who said he could get his hands on internal exam questions for the Xiucai degree, for fifty taels a set.
Chen Xiaomi asked in surprise, "Is that so?" The exam questions should have come from the prefectural government, right? If someone really leaked the questions internally, it would cause a huge uproar. "It's probably fake." Even if there were such internal exam questions, it shouldn't be Chen Jing's turn.
Chen Chun'er nodded. "It is indeed fake."
Chen Xiaomi thought to herself: Sure enough, this exam paper has really been leaked. That's a big deal.
"Did Chen Jing believe it?"
Chen Chun'er nodded. "Chen Jing believed it and went back to ask his mother for money. His mother didn't agree, so Chen Jing secretly borrowed money from loan sharks outside without telling his family."
In fact, when Old Madam Chen heard that Chen Jing had connections and could get the exam questions for fifty taels of silver, she was very excited. However, time was too tight and the Chen family did not have much money. If they wanted to raise fifty taels of silver as soon as possible, they had to sell land. Unless they sold the land at a low price, the land could not be sold in a short time, which would delay the process.
The old lady was afraid of taking risks, so she reluctantly refused.
Chen Jing was blinded by the prospect painted by the swindler and felt that success or failure depended on this one move, so he borrowed money at exorbitant interest rates without telling his family.
Chen Xiaomi frowned and said, "He's gone mad! Is it so easy to borrow money at exorbitant interest rates? If that money keeps rolling over, it can double the principal in just two months."
Chen Chun'er shook her head and said, "Ah Jing really believed it."
After spending fifty taels to buy the exam questions, Chen Jinghua felt that everything was settled. He was just waiting for the exam to start so that he could win the top spot in the county-level examination and rise to prominence. Then he would ask the old lady for more money to make up the difference.
When the exam papers were handed out, Chen Jing realized he had been tricked; the exam content was completely different from the test questions he had bought before.
Chen Jing realized he had been scammed. When he went back to find the person who sold him the exam questions, the person had already disappeared without a trace. Buying exam questions was an opportunistic act. If he reported it to the authorities, he might end up in jail first. The authorities investigate favoritism and cheating very strictly. If cheating is discovered, the lightest punishment is imprisonment, and the heaviest is beheading.
Helpless, Chen Jing could only grit his teeth and swallow this bitter pill.
When the results of the spring examination came out, Chen Jing was indeed not on the list. His family was extremely disappointed because he failed the exam, and Chen Jing never dared to mention the fifty taels of interest.
Chen Jing was initially apprehensive, perhaps because of the influence he had when he borrowed the money, and no one had bothered him. Later, Chen Jing decided to let things slide and simply default on the debt.
Those who can lend money at exorbitant interest rates are usually not ordinary people; if someone borrows money and doesn't repay it, the lender will certainly not let it go easily.
A few days ago, a group of people who looked like they were not to be trifled with came to the Chen family demanding money.
Several men beat Chen Jing up and threatened his family, saying that if they did not hand over one hundred taels of silver within a specified period, they would cut off Chen Jing's hand.
Old Mrs. Chen was always domineering, but when faced with several burly men, she couldn't be arrogant and could only wail.
Chen Xiaomi calmly replied, "Really? It's alright if he borrows it. Grandpa and Grandma should be able to pay it back for him." The family still has more than 20 mu of land. If they sell all of it, it would be worth more than 200 taels of silver. If they sell half of it, it would be more than enough to pay off Chen Jing's debt.
Chen Chun'er sighed and said, "What kind of situation is this?"
Chen Chun'er and the Chen family hadn't been in contact for a long time. Unless something major happened to the Chen family, they usually wouldn't inform Chen Chun'er. But now that something major had indeed happened to the Chen family, the eldest son of the Chen family called Chen Chun'er back. Of course, the eldest son of the Chen family didn't say that Chen Jing had caused trouble, but rather that the old man was ill.
Grandpa Chen was already quite old, so when Chen Chun'er heard that he was sick, she didn't suspect anything.
When Chen Chun'er returned to the Chen family, she learned that the old man was not sick at all and was full of energy. On the contrary, Chen Jing was on the verge of death because he had been beaten up.
Chen Chun'er was initially puzzled as to why her family would remember her, a married woman, when everyone was perfectly fine. Later, she learned that the reason her family remembered her was because her older brother was desperate and, in his desperation, insisted that she also contribute some money.
When Lu Lin returned, Chen Chun'er had already left.
"Xiao Mi, I heard that your aunt is here," Lu Lin asked as he walked in.
Chen Xiaomi nodded and said, "Yes!"
"What's she doing here? Shouldn't we invite her in for a meal?"
"She stayed, but she said she needed to go back early, otherwise it would get dark and it wouldn't be safe to walk at night."
Chen Xiaomi told Lu Lin about Chen Jing's situation, and Lu Lin listened with amazement.
"My aunt borrowed five coins from me for the fare," Chen Xiaomi said.
"Five coins?" Lu Lin asked, somewhat surprised.
Chen Xiaomi nodded. "She gave all her money to the Chen family, so when Chen Chun'er heard that the old man was sick, she didn't think much of it and went straight back to the Chen family. As a result, when she got to the Chen family, the whole family asked her for money, and Chen Chun'er realized that she had been tricked."
Chen Xiaomi told Lu Lin what she had heard from Chen Chun'er.
Lu Lin rolled his eyes, somewhat speechless.
"Chen Jing bought the test questions. There are quite a few opportunistic people here. Most of the people who buy test questions are not good people. People who buy this kind of thing will definitely not make a fuss. When they find out that the test questions are wrong, they can only accept their bad luck."
When Lu Lin was in college, he had also heard about buying exam questions. Sometimes you could buy real ones, but of course, if you were unlucky, you were more likely to buy fake ones.
Chen Xiaomi pouted and said, "This fool actually believes in such a pie-in-the-sky thing."
Lu Lin thought to himself: Why not believe it? Everyone has a bit of wishful thinking. In my previous life, many people believed that 68,000 could turn into millions or tens of millions.
“If Chen Jingzhen owes a hundred taels, your grandparents will probably come and make a scene here,” Lu Lin said.
Chen Xiaomi nodded and said, "That's probably the case."
One hundred taels of silver is no small sum for the villagers. With the Chen family's wealth, it wouldn't be difficult for them to raise the money, but it would definitely be a huge financial burden.
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