Chapter 86 Daffodils and Flowerpots
In ancient times, becoming a Xiucai (a successful candidate in the county-level imperial examinations) was roughly equivalent to obtaining an undergraduate degree in the modern world, but it was much more difficult to pass the examinations.
After studying for a while, Guo Baiwen gradually realized that he still had a long way to go if he wanted to become a scholar.
The students in the A, B, and C classes of the academy are not fixed. Every six months, there is a unified examination of the academy, and then the students are reassigned to classes according to their scores.
On the sixteenth day of the twelfth lunar month, which was the day before the beginning of spring, the Yangzheng Academy held its class placement exam, and the scene was very formal.
Although it was different from the formal county and prefectural examinations, the teachers arranged for the students to do everything in accordance with the former.
Guo Baiwen had only heard a few words from Guo Banshan; in the past few days, everyone in the academy had been busy setting up the venue and preparing exam supplies.
On the day of the actual exam, Guo Baiwen looked at the distributed test papers, but instead of immediately looking at the questions, he took two slow, deep breaths.
From the beginning of summer in the elementary school to the beginning of spring in the current elementary school.
He put in a lot of effort in memorizing the classics. In addition, he was not a complete novice who had just started learning. After understanding the meaning of the ancient texts under the private tutoring of Master Guo, his speed in reading, writing and memorizing became much faster.
Although he wasn't particularly skilled at composing poems, he was still quite competent.
Neither the poetic form nor the rhyme and meter can be found to be significantly flawed.
After calming down, Guo Baiwen opened the test paper in front of him and began to grind ink while reviewing the paper.
Five days later, just before the academy's New Year's Eve holiday, the rankings of the exam papers were posted on wooden boards in the academy's courtyard.
Guo Baiwen was confident in himself and did not look at the last class, Class C. He planned to start looking directly at the names on the papers of Class B.
But before he could even find his own name, his classmate, who had spotted him first, was already waving enthusiastically from a short distance away, "Eighth-Yi Zhang! Your test paper is over here!"
Huh?!
Guo Baiwen was somewhat incredulous, but still went over at his invitation.
Because it wasn't just a simple matter of pasting the students' names and rankings onto the wooden board; the previous exam papers were also pasted onto the board along with it.
Guo Baiwen quickly found his own sheet among the pile of blank sheets of paper.
Although the test paper was pasted at the very bottom of this row, but—
It's... the fourteenth place in Class A?!
He looked at it twice more, somewhat incredulously, and after confirming that the familiar paper and name were indeed his, the smile on his face could no longer be contained and grew wider and wider.
Even more excited than Guo Baiwen were his classmates who were originally in Class B with him.
He also made it into Class A this time.
When I checked my own paper, I noticed that the paper next to mine was Guo Baiwen's.
Even though he had just been excited, he still felt like he was walking on cotton, and was extremely happy.
He nudged Guo Baiwen, who was laughing heartily beside him, with his elbow and said, "Shall we still sit together after this?"
In Class B, the two of them happened to be deskmates.
Guo Baiwen readily agreed. This classmate was named Lin Zhongbin, courtesy name Qingru.
The two got along fairly well when they were in Class B.
"Of course, I'll have to trouble you to take good care of me for the next six months!"
"Oh no! Not at all!"
Although they were in the same class as Guo Baiwen, with one ranking fifteenth and the other fourteenth, they were considered the bottom of the class this time.
but!
How did they even make it into Class A?!
The two of them wore identical smiles as soon as they thought that their previous hard work had not been in vain.
After laughing foolishly for a while, and finally confirming his exam ranking and class, he turned around and walked lightly back to the classroom he had been in.
The Little New Year is just a few days away, and today they are going to move their belongings from here to the new classroom.
After the Little New Year, the academy will officially begin its holiday.
From the Lunar New Year to the tenth day of the first lunar month, there is a full two weeks of rest time, which is a good time to relax.
Although the teacher will still assign a lot of homework during the holidays.
But the weather has been getting increasingly damp and cold these past few days, so it's good to be able to study at home.
After they finished packing their things, they carried their books to Class A and found seats to sit down.
Among the classmates in Class A, there were those who came from other classes, like Guo Baiwen and his classmates, as well as those who had been in Class A from the beginning.
Although everyone in this class is of different ages, they are all relatively mature.
They were all very proper and respectful when the Master spoke.
After Master Cao left the classroom, everyone stopped chattering and instead bowed respectfully before exchanging names.
For the next six months, we were classmates, and we got to know each other by introducing ourselves like this.
On my way home after school in the afternoon, I happened to pass by the hunting tool repair shop run by the Chen family.
This was an idea from Aunt Chen. The shop wasn't very big; half of it was used to repair and sell hunting tools, and the other half was separated to make it convenient for familiar hunters from the mountains to come to the city to consign animal hides and dried meat.
Regardless of whether it sells in the end or not, you only need to pay for a few days of consignment at the store.
Business was surprisingly good.
Guo Baiwen was passing by the door carrying his book box when, unsurprisingly, he was called back again.
"Hey! Guo Xiaoge is out of school today!"
"Yes, Uncle Chen, business is pretty good at the shop today, isn't it?"
"It's alright," Chen Youtian smiled relaxedly. The county town was much warmer than the mountains. He then invited, "We just got a few bamboo chickens at home today. Your aunt just made soup with them and red dates. Don't rush off. Sit down for a bit, and I'll fill a clay pot for you to take home and eat."
These days it gets dark earlier, so dinner time has also started much earlier.
Guo Baiwen declined twice, but he couldn't resist Uncle Chen's enthusiastic invitation. In the end, he carried a heavy earthenware pot of soup home.
When he arrived home, Grandma Guo and Xiao Hua were setting the table.
Seeing what Guo Baiwen was carrying, both of them looked knowing. Grandma Guo took the earthenware jar and asked, "Did your Uncle Chen give this to you on the way here again?"
Ever since the Chen family opened a shop on that road, Guo Baiwen would often find himself carrying extra things after school every few days.
Grandma Guo and Guo Xiaohua have both gotten used to it now.
After opening the lid and taking a look, Guo Xiaohua suddenly cheered, "Great! It's bamboo chicken soup!"
"Uncle Chen said he felt I was working too hard studying and wanted me to eat more good food to replenish my energy." This was something Uncle Chen would say almost every time he tried to give him something to eat.
But if I keep taking supplements like this every day, I'm bound to gain another 20 or 30 pounds.
But if he takes a different route home and doesn't take that route for several days in a row, Uncle Chen might think he's sick.
It was a kind gesture, but Guo Baiwen felt somewhat helpless. "I'll send some more things over later."
Then I told Uncle Chen that I really didn't need to save him any more good food next time.
...Even if you do keep some, keeping a small amount is fine.
We really can't finish it all.
Grandma Guo, unaware of his thoughts, simply nodded in agreement, saying, "It's a give-and-take situation!"
As she was talking, she seemed to suddenly remember something, "Perfect timing, we just made some fermented soybeans and sausages at home a while ago, we can send some over later."
So Guo Baiwen put down his book box and ran back again.
When they returned, Grandma Guo was scooping out the pot of soup.
The earthenware pot kept the heat quite well. Even though I was delayed while walking, when I opened the lid, hot steam was still escaping from inside.
There were two bamboo partridges inside. Each person took half, and whoever wanted the other half could have it themselves.
The pale yellow soup, with red dates and mushrooms floating on top, looked very tempting and was perfect to go with the buckwheat pancakes that Grandma Guo made today.
Guo Baiwen hadn't felt particularly hungry at first, but after smelling the aroma, his appetite suddenly returned.
Just as he was about to sit down and pick up his bowl and chopsticks, Grandma Guo angrily tapped his hand, "Wash your hands before you eat!"
All right.
So he had no choice but to get up from the chair again and angrily go to the kitchen to wash his hands.
The second day is a ten-day break.
I remember when we first moved to the county town, our home was completely bare.
Having lived here for a while, I've seen the family's wealth increase, and the house is indeed becoming more and more lively.
Although it was still early, remembering the pain of cleaning up last year, Grandma Guo got Guo Baiwen and Guo Xiaohua to start cleaning early this year.
The house is actually cleaned and tidied every day, but these past few days the sun has been nice, so I'm planning to move all the boxes and cabinets out of the house to air them out properly.
Grandma Guo's knees are bad, and Xiao Hua is too weak.
In the end, it was Guo Baiwen and Yang Qiaomai who carried the things out of the small building.
"Phew—finally finished moving everything." Guo Baiwen couldn't help but wipe the sweat from his forehead, feeling as if his back was also covered in sweat.
Just as he was packing his books and preparing to take them out to air them out, he suddenly remembered that he hadn't had time to sign in for the day.
After checking the system's storage space and finding it was still sufficient, Qiaomai went upstairs again to help Xiaohua move things.
Grandma Guo was the only one still busy taking things out to air in the yard, so he took advantage of the book box as cover to do a little something.
Anyway, Grandma is one of us.
The items I've received for the past month have been pretty much the same: either food, clothes, shoes, toilet paper, or something similar.
Guo Baiwen was already prepared to fold the clothes.
This time, the items were rather unusual: a pot of daffodils, a bag of coffee powder, and—
...A squat toilet?!
So shocked was he that he couldn't help but stare at the thing in his hand.
The things he checked in with this time were so bizarre that he wondered if he hadn't woken up properly that morning.
But the weight in his hands did not disappear with his shock.
No matter how you look at it, it's just a squat toilet.
Yes, it's a white squat toilet, usually made of cement and placed on the ground for squatting to use.
I must say... it's actually quite heavy when you hold it.
Should we just recycle it? Or take it home and put it in the bathroom?
Before he could decide what to do with the plant, Grandma Guo had somehow moved over there and was now looking at the pot of daffodils with great emotion.
"These flowers are so beautiful! Even in this weather, there are still buds! Did you grow these flowers, Wenzai?!"
Despite the cold weather and the sun, the flowers still bloom so beautifully.
While Grandma Guo was still marveling at the daffodils, Guo Baiwen was still holding the squat toilet in both hands, trying to hide it in the box.
"It's just that the flowerpot on the ground is no good; it doesn't match such beautiful flowers," Grandma Guo commented on the flowers in her hand, then turned around and saw what Guo Baiwen was holding.
"What you're holding in your hand—"
Guo Baiwen's heart skipped a beat upon hearing this.
You're so dense! Share this now!
Before he could even come up with an explanation...
Grandma Guo had already placed the pot of daffodils into the hole of the white squat toilet.
After placing it, she even turned it around and looked it over a couple of times, patted the dust off her hands, and nodded, saying, "Sure enough, it looks much better in this flowerpot!"
After saying that, she added curiously, "But this is the first time I've ever seen a flowerpot like this. Wenzai, did you have someone make one specifically for this flower?"
Grandma, you are truly a genius.
Guo Baiwen glanced at the flowers placed in the white semi-oval porcelain vase. If one ignored the original purpose of the porcelain vase beneath it, this arrangement...
It is indeed quite beautiful.
He paused for a moment, then nodded emphatically, “Yes! I had someone make it specifically for it.”
Grandma Guo looked at it with delight, "Such a beautiful flower, no one can see it if you put it inside the house. Why don't we move it to the front shop and put it there?"
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Author's note: My head has been throbbing with pain for a while now. I wonder if it's from getting chilled. I hope it doesn't turn into a cold. [Chin resting on hand] Sigh.
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