Chapter 214 Top Scholar
On the day the results of the provincial examination were announced, Xu Laosan was escorted to the mine.
Although Xu Laoda and others from Xujiaba had clearly received the news, not one of them rushed to Jinling to see him off or prepare warm clothes or food for him.
Ma Dahua, remembering their years of marriage, cried and begged to come and see them off, but her family couldn't even afford the travel expenses.
She borrowed money from her married daughter, but was beaten up by her son-in-law and his entire family.
She asked Xu Laosi and his wife for money, but was met with sarcastic remarks from Feng Lianhua.
She pleaded with the villagers for help, but they all refused to lend her any money.
The clan elders, who always maintained harmony within the clan, remained unmoved by Ma Dahua's tearful complaints.
Xu Laosan was vicious and wicked, and his fate was entirely his own fault. The clan elders and patriarchs disliked him for bringing shame to the entire Xu clan and wished he didn't exist. They wouldn't care whether he lived or died.
Finally, Xu Huaining pretended to prepare a bundle, and with red eyes, he stood guard at the prison gate to see Xu Laosan off.
Upon seeing him, Xu Laosan became agitated and began to curse loudly: "Xu Huaining, you are ungrateful! You will get your retribution! You will die a horrible death!"
Xu Huaining looked pained and spoke with a tone full of guilt: "Third Uncle, it is your nephew's fault for being incompetent. You can scold me if you want, I just hope it will make you feel better."
Upon hearing this, Xu Laosan became even angrier, and the words he uttered were extremely offensive.
The guards escorting him looked at Xu Huaining with pity, thinking he must have had the worst luck in eight lifetimes to have such an uncle.
No matter how much Xu Laosan cursed, Xu Huaining did not defend himself at all. He even slipped a few taels of silver to the two constables, asking them to take care of Xu Laosan on the way.
Sheng An was completely unaware of Xu Huaining's pretentious act. She got up early in the morning to tidy herself up, using the few cosmetics she had to create a beautiful makeup look for herself.
Is it pretty?
Sheng An put down the bronze mirror, turned around and looked at the man standing behind her with a smile, and even deliberately gave him a flirtatious wink.
However, her temperament wasn't the seductive type; that flirtatious wink looked more like an eyelid twitch.
Xu Jinnian's lips unconsciously curled up, his gaze fixed on the face that he liked more and more with each glance: "Beautiful."
Sheng An poked his abs through his clothes: "Just two words?"
This guy has studied for so many years, surely he can come up with some kind of description like "bright eyes and white teeth, beautiful enough to shame the moon and flowers", right?
She didn't even ask him to compose a poem on the spot to praise her.
Xu Jinnian reached out and lifted Sheng An's chin, leaning closer and closer, his deep, magnetic voice sending chills down one's spine: "Two words aren't enough, how about this?"
As soon as she finished speaking, Sheng An felt a heat on her lips, and most of the lip rouge she had just applied was instantly eaten away.
After a while, the soft noises in the room finally disappeared.
Looking at her swollen lips in the bronze mirror, Sheng An glared fiercely at the smiling man, her shimmering eyes flashing with a harmless yet menacing light: "How am I supposed to go out in public like this!"
People can tell what they've done just by looking at them.
"It's alright, just say you got bitten by a mosquito."
Xu Jinnian remained extremely calm, showing no remorse for having done something wrong. He personally opened the lip rouge box, dipped his fingertip in a little red, and carefully applied it to Sheng An.
Unlike the first time he applied lip rouge to Sheng An, making her look like a flower, after years of practice, his skill in applying lip rouge is now better than Sheng An's.
When Sheng An looked in the mirror again, she was surprised to find that her lips no longer looked swollen, which added a touch of sexiness to her appearance.
Seeing his wife happy, Xu Jinnian smiled and took her hand: "Let's go to the front hall."
Today, the results of the provincial examination were announced, and Li Tian and the guards from the other two families went to the examination hall early to wait.
Xu Jinnian and his group were too lazy to go to teahouses and restaurants and squeeze in with the crowds, so they stayed in the villa and waited for Li Tian and the others to return and tell them the results.
On the way to the front hall, Sheng An asked, "How confident are you?"
She hadn't asked before, but now that the result is in, there's nothing to worry about.
"very."
Xu Jinnian spoke in a calm tone, but his words were anything but humble.
Sheng An's smile widened, and words of praise spilled out: "Wow, that's amazing! You're absolutely confident!"
If someone else said that, she would definitely think they were bragging.
If it were your own man, it would be perfectly normal.
When the couple arrived at the front hall, Fang Qingzhou and the others were already there, but the atmosphere inside the room was somewhat somber.
The two men remained relatively calm, but Liu Xiaoyun and Liu Yanran showed signs of nervousness and unease in their eyes, glancing outside every now and then, and not even bothering to drink the tea that had gone cold.
Seeing Sheng An and Xu Jinnian arrive hand in hand, Liu Xiaoyun perked up and greeted them, "You two have finally arrived. Come and sit down for some tea. These are some pastries I just bought from Yufangzhai this morning."
The couple sat down at another tea table, and a maid immediately brought them tea and snacks.
Seeing that Liu Xiaoyun and Liu Yanran weren't in the mood for small talk, Sheng An didn't initiate the conversation, only saying a few words when they asked.
Fang Qingzhou and Ye Yunhua were in good spirits and chatted with Xu Jinnian about the release of the results.
Not long after they started chatting, Tan Zhenlin arrived in a flurry with his younger sister, Tan Qingrou.
He had barely stepped inside when he shouted at the top of his lungs, "The results are out now! We'll know soon whether we made it or not!"
Upon hearing this, Liu Xiaoyun and Liu Yanran became even more tense, completely losing the desire to speak, their eyes fixed on the direction of the main entrance.
Seeing this, Tan Zhenlin comforted them, saying, "Don't worry, sisters-in-law. Both of you senior brothers performed as expected and will definitely be on the list this time."
He felt he had also won; it was just a matter of whether his ranking was high or low.
Hearing Tan Zhenlin say this, Liu Xiaoyun and Liu Yanran's expressions indeed improved considerably.
Seeing that Sheng An was completely unaffected, Liu Yanran couldn't help but laugh at herself: "I'm older than my sister-in-law, but I'm not as steady as her."
Sheng An swallowed the pastry in her mouth: "I was anxious and afraid that my sisters-in-law would laugh at me, so I held back."
Liu Xiaoyun shook her head and smiled wryly: "Sister-in-law is too modest. We two are indeed not as experienced as you."
The villa was very close to the examination hall. Not long after the results were announced, Li Tian hurriedly returned, his face beaming with undisguised joy.
Upon seeing this, Fang Qingzhou and the others immediately understood the outcome.
Sure enough, Li Tian said excitedly, "Young master, you've passed! You've passed! You're the top scholar!"
Everyone stood up abruptly, and Fang Qingzhou and the others couldn't hide their joy.
Liu Xiaoyun and Liu Yanran looked at Sheng An, their faces filled with undisguised envy.
The top scholar, the top scholar of Dongjiang Prefecture, will surely be a shoo-in for next year's imperial examination.
Sister-in-law Sheng is so lucky!
"Hahahaha, the top scholar! It's the top scholar! Good! Good! Hahaha—"
Tan Zhenlin slapped the table and laughed loudly, then jumped up and pounced on Xu Jinnian, clinging to him like a monkey:
"You cunning Xu, you actually beat everyone to take first place! Now the teacher has something to brag about! You have to treat everyone, you absolutely have to treat everyone!"
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