Chapter 44
44
In his previous life, Xia Xiaowu passed the imperial examination and became a juren three years later. In this life, he takes the imperial examination two years in advance. Can he pass it?
Shen Yuntang hopes that Xia Xiaowu will not pass the exam. You can say that Xia Xiaowu is selfish or narrow-minded, but he just can't bear to see those who have hurt him live better than him.
He remembered that in his previous life, Xia Xiaowu said that he was not feeling well on the day of the exam, otherwise he would have most likely been the top scorer in that session.
If he had lived earlier in this life, perhaps he could have avoided accidents. In addition, by going to school in the county, he would have better learning resources, and who knows, he might have been able to pass the imperial examination and become the top scorer.
Even if Xia Xiaowu became a juren, he could kill both of them, let alone become a higher official.
Shen Yuntang was very worried. He looked at Cheng Yeran who was standing beside him. He looked stupid. Even if he could read and write, he would not be able to take part in the imperial examination next year. Even if Xia Xiaowu became a high-ranking official and did not do anything to them, Cheng Yeran might be troubled by Xia Xiaowu when he took part in the imperial examination and became an official, which would affect his career for the rest of his life.
No matter how he thought about it, he felt that the future would be dark. Why was fate so unfair that he had to live in Xia Xiaowu's shadow for both of his lives?
"Why do you look so bad?" Cheng Yeran thought about what his cousin had just said. Could it be that he was feeling sad after hearing that Xia Xiaowu was leaving the village?
When Xia Xiaowu got married to his cousin, Shen Yuntang immediately hid behind Xia Xiaowu when he saw him. The last time they met at the river, Shen Yuntang also showed an attempt to avoid Xia Xiaowu, and he even cried after Xia Xiaowu left.
He always thought that Shen Yuntang's feeling towards Xia Xiaowu was fear, but what if it was something else?
There is another reason that he does not want to believe the most. It is because he likes it too much and cannot let it go, so he chooses to escape. That is why he cries and why he cares so much about that hairpin.
"Have you studied in the future world? Have you ever participated in the imperial examination?" Shen Yuntang suddenly remembered that he was an actor, similar to the actors in their world. His mind was a bit confused at the time and he didn't think about it deeply. How could an actor be so rich?
How could a rich person let his young master become an actor? It can be a hobby, but it can’t be a career, right? But Cheng Yeran said that he made some money from acting.
Without thinking about his complicated family background, one thing is certain, if you become an actor you cannot become an official. Isn't the purpose of studying and taking the imperial examinations to become an official? I guess Cheng Yeran reads and writes just to understand opera.
"We don't call it the imperial examination, we call it the college entrance examination. No, the college entrance examination and the imperial examination are not quite the same. The imperial examination is for becoming an official, so what is the corresponding civil service examination?" Cheng Yeran shook his head. "I didn't take it. I took the college entrance examination for film and television colleges, and became an actor after graduation. I don't know much about those."
These were words that Shen Yuntang didn't understand again, but he felt that he had guessed right about one thing. Cheng Yeran read and wrote just to understand opera. It was not possible to take the imperial examination just by being literate, one also had to be able to write essays.
He couldn't help but shook his head. He decided not to force him to take the imperial examination. He heard that there was a man in the next door village who failed the exam for many years and finally went crazy and hanged himself. He didn't want Cheng Yeran to hang himself.
In the previous life, the lazy man died three years later. Although the soul is not the same soul, the body is still the same body, so it is still possible to die.
If it is an accident, they can be more careful and avoid risks, but what should they do if it is an incurable disease?
However, the lazy man was so poor in his previous life, and his cousin definitely didn't have the money to buy medicine for him. In addition, his cousin had already hooked up with Xia Xiaowu in his previous life, and he might have been hoping for the lazy man to die. How could he buy medicine for him?
You don’t have to worry about your life anymore. Cheng Yeran bought so many silver hairpins before. If they were converted into money, you can buy all kinds of medicine.
But the villagers have always known that their family is poor, and suddenly taking out so much money would arouse suspicion. "Let's go to the market to sell tofu next month."
"Tofu breaks easily, how can we transport it?" Cheng Yeran also knew that he couldn't just take out a lot of silver to spend casually, as it would bring unnecessary trouble. He had to turn the money from the future into legal money in this world, and then everything would be fine.
“After making the tofu, put it directly in a bucket, carry it on a shoulder pole, and then sell it by the bowl.” Shen Yuntang remembered that the auntie who sold tofu in the village sold it this way. When he was a child, he went to his auntie’s house with a bowl to buy tofu.
"It must be so heavy. I was exhausted carrying two buckets of water from the river. We don't need to carry them on our shoulders to the market. It would be better if we had a donkey cart, but people would ask where the money comes from if we buy a donkey." Cheng Yeran suddenly slapped his head and said, "We can sell dried tofu, bean curd skin, etc. Wrap them with cloth and carry them on our backs. It should be lighter."
"Dried tofu? How to make it?" Shen Yuntang had eaten dried tofu before. When he was a child, his father went to the town to do some business and bought a few pieces of braised dried tofu. His father ate it as a snack while drinking with the uncles in the village. He was young at the time and watched from the side. His father picked up a piece for him and his cousin to eat.
The smell was very fragrant. Even after so many years, he still craves that smell.
“No need to do it. Just buy some, unpack and sell them. Tell others that it was you who figured it out. We can also sell it in the village.” Cheng Yeran saw that there were also family workshops doing small businesses in the village. They just couldn’t sell their products too expensively in the village. They could sell them more expensively at the market, but it only happened once a month. When they made money in the future, they would buy a donkey cart and sell them in the town. A two-hour round trip was not too bad. Who knows, they might even be able to use the donkey cart as a Didi to pick up some passengers on the way.
He is here
Nanshan
While thinking about it, Shen Yuntang's sense of morality rose again, "Isn't it bad to lie to others and say that I did it?"
"Why not? Have you told everyone everything about yourself? Every family in the village has its own secrets. We are not lying, but just avoiding risks. I can't tell others that I came from the future and bought things from the future. If I do that, others will snatch my phone away, or the villagers will burn me as a monster." Cheng Yeran put his arm around his shoulders, "Don't be too honest."
"That's not what I meant. I meant, tell everyone that it was you who did it." Shen Yuntang was shy and couldn't lie.
"You said I did it? Do you think anyone would believe it? Don't worry, just don't deny it to others." Cheng Yeran checked the time. "After we sell all the tofu, we'll find time in the afternoon to go to the mountain to buy more."
"It would be bad if someone saw us, so let's do it at night." Shen Yuntang was very nervous about this matter.
"It's easier to be exposed at night. It's so dark. Once I take out my phone, it's so bright. What if someone sees it while they're up on the mountain? It's better during the day. The brightness isn't obvious." Cheng Yeran leaned close to his ear and said, "Let's find a place where there's no one. You keep watch for me."
Shen Yuntang pushed him away and rubbed the red tips of his ears: "Just talk, why are you getting so close?"
Cheng Yeran didn't know what was wrong with him. Even though there was no one around, he uncontrollably moved closer and spoke in his ear.
Another thought came to his mind: if Xia Xiaowu or his ex-husband came close to talk to him, would he not avoid them?
After he had this thought, he felt disgusted. Shen Yuntang could like whoever she wanted to like, and it was none of his business.
In the afternoon, the two of them went up the mountain together. The mountain was actually quite big, and it was not easy to meet people from the same village when chopping wood. So they deliberately chose a place with dense bushes to sit down.
Cheng Yeran took out his phone and couldn't help laughing at Shen Yuntang's nervous look as he watched from behind: "You look like we're going to do something in this deserted place."
"Don't say such disgusting things. Hurry up, I'll keep watch for you." Shen Yuntang nervously pinched his fingers, his ears perked up, afraid of being seen.
Cheng Yeran took two mobile phones, one for memo to record the things he needed to buy, and the other for shopping.
I wrote down a lot of things before and listed more than a dozen of them.
He found that Shen Yuntang's toiletries were very simple, and he didn't even have a toothbrush. He just used a wooden stick to rub his teeth. He said that rich people would use tooth powder, also using a wooden stick dipped in tooth powder, but poor people like them would skip the tooth powder step. This made Cheng Yeran heartbroken. He couldn't bear to see such beautiful teeth ruined. He placed an order for several toothbrushes for Shen Yuntang, and when he came back he would try them one by one to see which one had the most suitable bristles for him, and he would buy from that brand next time.
In addition to a toothbrush and toothpaste, he also bought a facial cleanser. He saw Shen Yuntang rub her face with soap when washing it, but that didn't work. How could such beautiful skin be treated so roughly? He also bought several sets of skin care products. He didn't use skin care products on a daily basis, and he didn't know Shen Yuntang's skin type. Anyway, he just bought a set from the most expensive brands one by one and tried it out.
He also bought a few sets of underwear. When buying underwear, he subconsciously glanced at Shen Yuntang's back. Even with such loose clothes, she was still so, so... upturned...
He quickly looked away. Fortunately, Shen Yuntang had his back to him, otherwise he would have punched him a few times.
They have lived together for so long and have seen Shen Yuntang changing clothes several times. Even without asking Shen Yuntang, he knows what model to buy.
People of this era don't wear underwear. Although he thinks it's quite comfortable not to wear any, he still feels awkward. He wears some himself and also wants to buy some for Shen Yuntang.
He also placed orders for various seasonings, including oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, oyster sauce, chili oil, chicken essence and the like. He doesn't cook on weekdays, so he would go into a seasoning store and buy whatever he saw, then come back and study it slowly.
He also bought dried noodles, instant noodles, rice noodles, vermicelli, and a bag of rice and noodles.
After buying daily necessities, he remembered to buy books.
He selected a few copybooks for Shen Yuntang to use, bought a book comparing simplified and traditional Chinese characters, and then searched for books on ancient imperial examinations. He didn't know much about them, so he bought the ones recommended by the bookstore.
He felt that this wouldn't work. The content of the imperial examinations varied in each dynasty, and he didn't understand the current trend. As expected, he still had to find a teacher.
He thought that he should learn all the characters first, otherwise he would be disliked by the teacher.
He also bought a camera and originally wanted to buy a printer, but later thought it would be better to buy a Polaroid camera so that he could print out photos directly after taking them.
…
After buying a bunch of miscellaneous things, he went to pick out the dried tofu.
In fact, he doesn't like to eat dried tofu. He is not interested in any kind of dried food. When he hears the word "dried", he subconsciously feels a scratchy throat and is unwilling to try it.
But now he has to buy it. He finally made the villagers believe that he bought the tofu secret recipe. It is not easy to sell other things. He can't save other people's lives every few days and then give them the ancestral secret recipe. It's too fake.
When he selected the dried tofu, he deliberately chose stores with big brands. Stores with small brands tend to go out of business easily, and after a few years the brand would be gone. He would then switch to other brands, and the taste would have changed, and diners would be able to tell the difference as soon as they tasted it.
He didn't buy too much this time because he didn't know which brand was the best. He picked five brands and bought some from each. After tasting them, he chose one.
After buying the dried tofu, he also bought some other snacks. Shen Yuntang had never eaten snacks since he was a child, so he bought some more for him to try.
When he had just traveled through time, he thought their house was quite big, with a huge front yard and a backyard for growing vegetables. The house they lived in also had a one-bedroom and one-living room with a small kitchen and a woodshed. At that time, he thought that the program crew was very generous to find them such a big house, but now he feels that the house is too small. He still has many things he wants to buy for Shen Yuntang, but he is afraid that many things will be seen, so he can only hide them in the bedroom, so there are fewer things he can buy.
After he had bought it, Shen Yuntang breathed a sigh of relief, "Do we have to buy it on the mountain? This is too much trouble."
"I have to be up high to get a signal. Otherwise, I'll try it on the wall of our house next time." Cheng Yeran said, then felt something was wrong. "Forget it. That's too conspicuous. Aunt Li next door will see it. She and I are still enemies."
Shen Yuntang said: "Who in the village do you have no grudge against now?"
"I thought I was recording a show before. For the sake of the show effect, I tried my best to scold people." Cheng Yeran said aggrievedly, "I am actually very gentle normally."
If the villagers heard this, they would be shocked and suppress it. The famous madman in the village said that he was gentle? Don't be too outrageous!
"Recording a show?" Shen Yuntang had never heard of this term before and asked subconsciously.
"I told him last time that I'm an actor." Cheng Yeran gave him a brief introduction to filming, recording variety shows and the like, and he finished the story all the way until they got home.
Shen Yuntang was confused. He did not grow up in that environment and could not understand a lot of the common sense that Cheng Yeran was accustomed to, making it difficult to communicate.
When they opened the door, they saw a few more boxes of express deliveries inside.
"It's a little unsafe to put it here. Even if it's inside the door, it would be bad if someone happens to pass by when we open the door next time." Shen Yuntang pulled Cheng Yeran in worriedly and quickly locked the door. "How about asking our dad to make a box and put it here?"
"You can try, maybe you can send it directly into the box." Cheng Yeran gestured, "Then you have to make a big one, otherwise it won't fit in at all."
"Didn't you just buy some dried tofu? How come it can't fit?" Shen Yuntang looked at the boxes on the ground. Although he knew that Cheng Yeran had 9.9 billion, he was used to being frugal. He still felt distressed when he saw Cheng Yeran spending money like this.
"I also bought some books, a bag of 100 kilograms of rice and 100 kilograms of noodles. I actually like rice more. I've been feeling really suffocated during this period." Cheng Yeran squatted on the ground and unpacked the package. "Fortunately, you are a good cook. I like everything you cook. Otherwise, I would have starved to death."
Shen Yuntang squatted beside him and watched him take apart a bunch of things he couldn't understand. "What is this?"
"A hot water bottle and a thermos." Cheng Yeran handed them to him. "Put hot water in them. They won't get cold all day and all night. Why don't you try it later?"
"How is that possible?" Shen Yuntang had never seen this thing, so naturally he didn't believe it.
"Don't believe it? Come on, come on, I'll take you to witness a miracle." Cheng Yeran pulled him and was about to leave.
"Wait, this one hasn't been unpacked yet, there's no rush." Shen Yuntang looked at the other boxes.
"This is the earring I bought for you." He bought them in several stores. He didn't specifically choose silver. There were pieces made of all kinds of materials, and many of them were inlaid with diamonds.
Cheng Yeran opened a box and handed it to him. The earrings inside were quite exaggerated, but her taste in choosing hairpins was much better than his, because he entered the keyword
nＡйＦ
——Same style as the boy band.
Shen Yuntang took out a long tassel, with stars of different sizes hanging below it. It was sparkling and pretty, just like a few shooting stars across the night sky.
It looks good, but I can’t take it out, and it’s very heavy.
Cheng Yeran handed him another box, which contained earrings.
Shen Yuntang took out a diamond earring. This was the first time he had seen diamonds. They sparkled in the sunlight, so bright that he couldn't even open his eyes. "What is this? It looks like stars falling from the sky."
"Diamond is a kind of stone that has been cut into many facets. It will appear particularly bright when exposed to light. In our place, diamonds are always given as gifts when proposing." He said the last sentence casually. He just wanted to tell Shen Yuntang that this was a very common thing, but after he finished speaking, both of them were stunned.
His words seemed to be hinting at something, like a proposal.
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