Seeing the cesspool right next to him, Zhao Qianci felt as if he had suffered a thousand points of damage, and all the pain he had endured today had been for nothing.
Remembering her granddaughter's instructions, she tidied up the exam room briefly, took out a mask from the exam basket, and put it on. At least it didn't smell so bad.
Since we're not having much luck today, we naturally need to be extra careful.
Zhao Qianci wiped the tabletop again and again, looked up at the ceiling of the examination room, and finally, still feeling uneasy, unfolded the tarpaulin and quickly fixed it to the wall.
Fortunately, when preparing the oilcloth, Zhao Qingyan had prepared a few pieces of wood inside. They were custom-made and could be folded up to form a frame. The size of the oilcloth was just right to match the wood.
In other words, this is an unconventional, simple tent.
After setting up the tarpaulin, I still felt uneasy. So I quickly sprinkled snake and insect repellent powder around the area.
Finally, I began grinding the ink, being extremely careful with every movement, for fear of making any mistakes.
The yamen runners patrolling the examination hall were all curious about Zhao Qianci's thorough preparations. They wondered who this old man was and how meticulous he was in his work.
This is really too much trouble. With such a bright sun, are they afraid of rain or what, they just built a whole shed for themselves?
The exam papers were handed out, and everyone began to carefully read the questions. Many quickly wrote their answers on scratch paper, while others outlined their answers.
Zhao Qianci felt that he was going to have bad luck today, so he quickly reviewed the questions, checked that the answer sheet and the draft paper were in good condition, and then started answering the questions directly.
As for writing a draft and then copying it, forget it, I don't have the time for that.
While most candidates were still writing their drafts, Zhao Qianci had already finished writing all the answers.
After checking that the exam papers are correct, blow them dry and then arrange and stack them one by one, including the scratch paper.
These items will be taken back to prevent cheating from happening.
After organizing all the papers, Zhao Qianci was still very worried, so he wrapped the test papers and draft paper in a small piece of oilcloth and put them in the test basket.
The Zhao family's examination baskets were also specially treated, with a certain degree of waterproofing. In particular, the bottom had four legs, so even if it was placed in the mud, the contents would not get dirty.
Even after everything was ready, Zhao Qianci still felt uneasy.
He then opened the large umbrella, half covering the exam basket and half covering his own head. He sat by the wall, locked in place.
Although the movements were a bit awkward and lacked the imposing presence of sitting upright, the granddaughter said that crouching against the wall was probably the safest option when encountering danger.
At noon, the weather, which was still sunny, suddenly became covered with large patches of dark clouds.
Soon, lightning flashed and thunder roared, and a torrential downpour began.
The examination buildings had no roof; each building only had a small roof. With the heavy rain, the walkway in the middle of the buildings quickly filled with water.
As the water level rose, water also entered the examination hall.
The shoes of the students, who were sitting upright, were quickly soaked. And that wasn't all; rain was blowing in from the doorway.
You can hear gasps of surprise from the test takers all the time.
Meanwhile, Zhao Qianci was curled up in his seat, holding the umbrella in one hand to block the rain from blowing in from outside, and eating the cake and fruit his granddaughter had prepared for him with great relish in the other.
The other candidates from the Zhao family are in a similar situation to Zhao Qianci.
The reason why the Zhao family's children and grandchildren made such thorough preparations was because Zhao Qianci stumbled when he entered the examination hall.
Thinking about his father's (grandfather's) unlucky constitution, the only accidents that could happen in the examination room were snakes, insects, rats, ants, houses collapsing, or flooding during rain.
In broad daylight, no one lit candles or started a fire. After all, it was only for a day before they went home, and no one would be so delicate as to ignore the possibility of a fire.
Let's get ready for the rest. When we arrived at the examination room, everyone prepared everything they needed to. Except for Qingyi, who was too small to carry the oilcloth and brought two large umbrellas, the other members of the Zhao family prepared almost exactly the same things as Zhao Qianci.
The Zhao family members answered the questions in a similar way to Zhao Qianci, except that they would write down a few keywords on a draft paper.
When the rain poured down, the Zhao family had already put away the exam papers.
Although Zhao Qingbei is small, she writes quite fast. When the first clap of thunder sounded, two large umbrellas opened, one facing the outside door of the examination room, and the other connecting with the umbrella in front. She quickly answered the questions.
After quickly finishing the test, I quickly moved the test paper off the seat and placed it on my seat. Once it was completely dry, I quickly put it away in my test basket.
Fortunately, Qingbei was young, and when she hid under the two large umbrellas, not even a single patch of her clothes got wet.
The heavy rain continued for a full half hour.
After the rain stopped, the tabletop was soaked through. I wanted to lay it down to write, but I had to wait again. By the time the water dried completely, it would probably be too late to write my answers.
For the first time in years, the examination hall witnessed students answering questions without regard for their image.
Some were writing answers with their butts sticking out on the seat, some were squatting on the ground, and others were kneeling on the edge of the seat with their heads facing inwards, making it look like a pig was rooting in the ground.
Anyway, the scene was bizarre and varied. The patrolling constables, seeing this, would only twitch their lips and pretend they didn't see it. They actually felt quite sorry for these candidates.
But what bad luck! In all these years of patrolling and proctoring exams, I've never seen it rain this hard. This group is the worst off.
I imagine that after today's exams, some students will definitely fall ill tomorrow.
It's said that scholars are useless, and to put it bluntly, these scholars aren't even as physically strong as a good old woman.
He can't lift anything with his hands or carry anything on his shoulders. Besides being good at studying, he's useless. Sigh.
That's what the proctoring officer thought.
The rain stopped, but Zhao Qianci didn't get off the seat quickly. Instead, he leaned against the wall and took a nap.
Daydreams can be a little scary. In my dream, it rained heavily, flooding the exam room and soaking the exam paper I had just finished.
Finally, the rain stopped and the sun came out. I wanted to answer the questions, but I didn't have a single sheet of paper. I begged the yamen runner for a few sheets of paper, but I accidentally broke the inkstone.
In the end, he had no choice but to give up answering the questions. As he walked out of the examination room, a tile fell down and hit his head, causing him to bleed profusely and faint on the spot.
When Zhao Qianci woke up, he was covered in sweat from fright.
"Thank goodness, it was just a dream." Zhao Qianci patted his chest fearfully.
Looking up at the ceiling, unable to see anything through the tarpaulin, Zhao Qianci decided that he wouldn't take down the makeshift tent when he left.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com