Chapter 557 Finding an Opportunity
Manbao righteously rejected Bai Shanbao's offer to help her cheat, and then took out a piece of white paper to copy the book herself.
She had just finished grinding the ink when there was a knock on the courtyard door. The three people who were chatting immediately turned their heads and looked outside. They saw Zhou Silang running to open the door in the rain without even opening his umbrella. After a while, a man holding an umbrella came in.
Bai Erlang went to the window to look, then immediately turned around and said, "It's Mr. Lan."
The three of them were all excited and went to the window to look. It was indeed Lan Cheng.
Zhou Silang invited everyone to the main hall. After a while, he came out with an umbrella. Bai Shanbao immediately pushed Manbao.
Manbao ran to the door and made a "puff puff" sound, attracting Zhou Silang's attention.
Zhou Silang was about to go out when he saw his sister looking suspicious. He walked over and asked, "What's wrong?"
"Fourth brother, what are you going to do?"
"Go get some food and wine. Mr. Lan is here, and I'm afraid he has something important to say to Mr. Zhuang."
Manbao immediately waved his hand and said, "Then go quickly, go quickly."
Zhou Silang was silent for a moment, then looked her up and down and said, "Manbao, you are not allowed to act naughty at home."
"I'm not naughty."
Zhou Silang looked at the two young men lying on the study window again, shook his head and left.
Manbao winked and laughed with them, "I think we can take a break this afternoon."
Manbao happily went to copy the book. Even though she was copying "Yili", she felt very happy. After she had copied only two pages, Zhou Silang came back with wine and food.
Bai Shanbao immediately ran out and asked him to bring the wine and food to the study, saying, "The gentlemen will definitely discuss some classics and history, so it's better to eat in the study."
Bai Erlang also nodded and said, "Yes, then we will go to the main room to study."
Zhou Silang looked at them with contempt. Are they going to the main room to study or to play?
Isn't this just like they are too lazy to go out to the fields, so they make excuses by saying they help their sisters-in-law with housework at home?
Zhou Silang ignored them and wanted to send the wine and food to the main hall. Mr. Zhuang heard it from the main hall and said, "Send it to the study. Mr. Lan wants to test Bai Shan."
Bai Shanbao: ...
Manbao and Bai Erlang immediately shrank their necks and stopped talking.
Zhou Silang agreed with a smile, picked up the basket and turned in another direction.
Manbao has regained his composure and is pretending to be copying the book very seriously.
Mr. Zhuang invited Mr. Lan into the study, and the two sat down on the other side, a long distance away from Manbao and the others' desks.
Mr. Zhuang told Bai Erlang to go back to his homework and left Bai Shanbao alone. He said, "Your Uncle Lan said that for some reason, this year's provincial school exam is a bit harder than in previous years. It's said that two of the major questions were set by high-ranking officials from the imperial court. So, your chances of passing the exam are a bit lower. Your Uncle Lan came to check on your skills."
Lan Cheng explained, "I may not be as knowledgeable or as skilled in teaching as your master, but I do have some strengths in this area, so I'm here to test you."
To put it bluntly, this is the special treatment that friendship gives you.
Bai Shanbao quickly bowed to express his gratitude.
Lan Cheng raised his hand and asked, "How many of the books on the list have you read?"
The test started over there, and Manbao slowly breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that it had nothing to do with her.
She continued copying the book while listening attentively.
After she finished copying the rest of "Yili", Lan Cheng was still testing Bai Shanbao, and even gave him two topics and asked him to write about them immediately.
The two gentlemen found a seat in a corner of the study and sat down to chat and drink, most importantly, to talk about the preferences of the mysterious questioner.
Lan Cheng couldn't see the test paper either. He just got a piece of news from his colleagues. The test papers that were supposed to be written by Lord Zhang and King Yizhou had one question each, but the question setters were changed. No one knew who wrote the two questions.
For ordinary candidates, they have no chance to know this information, so whether the question setter is changed or not has little impact on them. But for candidates who know who the question setter is, changing the question setter will have a great impact on them.
The reason why Lan Cheng made such a book list was because he knew from inside that those were the books that King Yizhou and Lord Zhang read the most in the past year.
Most people will consider the books they have read recently before making up questions.
After Manbao finished copying the book, he didn't want to read "Han Shu" for a while, and his eyes felt a little sore, so he simply propped up his chin and looked at Bai Shanbao, and then looked at the misty sycamore tree outside.
As she looked, she found that the rain had stopped.
Koko also noticed it, so he whispered to Manbao, "Host, let's go."
Manbao rolled his eyes, said "hmm" in his heart, and then slipped away secretly when no one was paying attention.
Bai Erlang, who was not concentrating on his homework, looked up at her, then turned to look at Mr. Zhuang who was talking to Mr. Lan. He didn't have the courage to sneak out to play without finishing his homework.
Manbao slipped into the yard and immediately went to the woodshed to get her small backpack and hoe.
Zhou Silang was sitting in the kitchen weaving a basket and didn't notice it, but Daji, who was sitting under the eaves guarding the door, saw it and couldn't help but stand up.
Manbao said "hush" to him, then quickly opened the door and slipped away.
Daji: ...
He frowned, turned around and went to the kitchen to find Zhou Silang, and said, "Silang, Manbao ran out."
Zhou Silang asked without even looking up, "Where did you go?"
"Next door."
Zhou Silang immediately looked up and asked with a glaring look, "Didn't Mr. Zhuang forbid them from running over there? Why did they go there again?"
Daji thought of the flower hoe that Manbao took away, and the flowers and plants that she had missed so much the last time she went there. He felt helpless and said, "It's because of the flowers and plants in the garden."
Zhou Silang immediately dropped the half-finished basket and ran out to find her.
Seeing him leave, Daji sat back under the eaves with peace of mind and continued to watch the door in a daze.
It had just rained and the ground was very dirty, but Manbao didn't mind and just drilled a hole and crawled in.
What are you dissatisfied with?
No matter whether they are dirty or clean, she washes the clothes herself.
Manbao went in, took a deep breath of air, and felt that the air here was better than that over there.
She asked Koko in her heart, "Is this the air of freedom you are talking about?"
"There are many flowers and trees here, so it's normal for the air to be fresher. The host may be overthinking it."
Manbao carried the basket on his back to look for the flowers and plants he had found earlier and denied it, "No, it's not like that. I just feel so happy after coming in here. It's not just because of the air."
Is that because you want to play?
Manbao found those hollyhocks, dug them up, put them into his backpack along with the mud, and stored one of them into the system.
She wanted to try growing it herself, wait for it to bloom, and see what it looked like.
The next chapter will be around 6 p.m.
(End of this chapter)
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