Chen Chen didn't go out these days. Apart from playing with his two sons in the yard, he spent the rest of his time preparing food for He Jinshu for the exam.
The imperial examination in Dongli State lasted nine days, with three sessions in total, each lasting three days and two nights.
Therefore, students usually have to bring their own food for these three days. Although meals are provided at the examination center, they are not only expensive but also not very tasty. Most students choose to bring some food with them.
Although it was almost September, the weather was still hot and ordinary food would not last long, so Chen Chen went to the library to check and then tried making some luncheon meat, butter biscuits and canned fruit.
Luncheon meat can be eaten as meat to replenish physical energy, butter biscuits can be eaten to resist hunger, and canned fruit can be drunk as water.
In addition, he also prepared some dried meat, some flatbreads and steamed buns to bring to him, as well as some cooking oil and some pickled mustard greens brought from home.
Each room in the examination hall will be provided with a small stove for heating food. When the time comes, He Jinshu can fry the steamed buns and luncheon meat, and then wrap them with some pickled mustard greens. He will definitely not starve.
After the luncheon meat and biscuits were ready, Chen Chen gave them to He Jinshu to taste and then asked, "How does it taste?"
He Jinshu nodded slightly and said, "It's delicious."
Chen Chen also picked up a piece of luncheon meat and put it in his mouth. It tasted really good. After finishing it, he said to He Jinshu, "Didn't you say that the examination room was very strict? They even had to break the bread apart to check.
I'll cut the luncheon meat into thin slices for you to take with you, so they don't have to break it apart to look at it. I'll also make the other food into smaller pieces, so that should be enough for the inspection."
"Okay, thank you, husband." He Jinshu reached out and pinched Chen Zhen's earlobe, then said with a faint smile.
Upon hearing this, Chen Zhen shook his head, then smiled and said, "This is what a husband should do."
After hearing this, He Jinshu did not refute the double meaning in Shen Zhen's words. He just raised the corners of his mouth and smiled, his eyes full of doting.
The day of He Jinshu's exam soon arrived. The exam room opened at 2 a.m., and the test papers were distributed at noon. The test papers were collected at dusk on the third day, and the exam was over.
Just after midnight, Chen Chen and He Jinshu packed up and prepared to set off. Their two sons were still asleep, so they each carried one of them into the carriage. The innermost seat of the carriage was covered with cushions, and Chen Chen later had a baffle added so that the two sons could sleep inside without worrying about them falling out.
However, under normal circumstances, Chen Chen and his family would hold their son in their arms while they slept. After all, the roads nowadays are difficult to travel on and are easily bumpy, so the sons would not sleep well. They would only let them sleep inside when they stopped to rest.
After arriving at the exam venue, He Jinshu put his son in the back seat, then kissed Chen Chen and said, "Wait for me to come back."
Upon hearing this, Chen Zhen simply nodded and said, "I'll bring my sons to pick you up when the time comes."
"Okay, I'm leaving." He Jinshu touched his face and said.
"Go ahead." Chen Chen said.
Then He Jinshu got out of the car carrying the box that Chen Zhen had prepared for him, and said to Wen Feng and Wen Li outside the car in a cold voice: "Protect your husband and the two young masters well."
"Yes, Boss." Wenfeng and Wenli responded in unison.
After giving the instructions, He Jinshu carried his suitcase to the entrance of the examination room.
There were huge crowds of people at the entrance of the examination hall today. Some were taking the exam, and many were family members who were sending their children to take the exam.
Although there were some torches burning outside the examination room for lighting, it was still night time, so unless you looked closely, you couldn't see anyone's faces.
He Jinshu carried the box and avoided the crowd, standing at the end of the queue.
He arrived neither early nor late. There were already some people queuing in front of him. After he stood still, some more people followed him.
After a while, it was He Jinshu's turn. After entering the room to be inspected, he took off his clothes. After the inspection was completed and all the clothes were found to be OK, the inspectors began to check the boxes he was carrying.
He Jinshu first took out the pens, ink, paper and inkstone one by one for them to check. Because he didn't want them to touch the food that Chen Zhen made for him with their hands, he broke the biscuits and steamed buns himself, and then spread the dried meat, luncheon meat and some other food on the plate for the two people in the room to check.
The two people in charge of the inspection inside the room couldn't help but swallow their saliva at the aroma of the food. What are those pieces of meat-colored things? They smell so good. And what are those two slightly black things? They smell good too.
One of them couldn't help but point at the luncheon meat and ask John Hoffman, "What is this? Is it also food?"
"Yes, this is luncheon meat. My husband made it specially for me." He Jinshu said lightly, with a hint of boasting in his words.
"What is that yellow stuff in this bowl?" another inspector asked.
"Canned fruit." He Jinshu replied in a calm voice.
After that, he introduced the two inspectors: "This is pork jerky, these are braised dishes, this is pickled mustard greens, and these are some other pickled vegetables."
After introducing everyone one by one, He Jinshu didn't give the two inspectors time to react, and asked them: "My lords, may I enter the examination room smoothly?"
The two nodded unconsciously after hearing this, and then said, "Okay."
They're so thoroughly prepared for this exam, aren't they? They're not here to take an exam, they're here to eat. And what are the names of all those dishes? How come they've never heard of them?
After He Jinshu packed up his things and thanked the two, they came to their senses. They watched He Jinshu leave together, and then continued to check the next one, smelling the aroma of leftover food.
Chen Zhen was sitting in the carriage. After seeing He Jinshu carrying the box in, he told Wen Feng to go home. It was still early, and he could go back and hold his two sons for a nap. It was a pity that he couldn't hold Ah Shu to sleep for the next two days.
The first day of the exam passed very peacefully. On the second day, some people in luxurious attire came to inspect the exam room. They looked at almost every room, but they stayed the longest at the door of He Jinshu's room.
When he noticed someone coming, He Jinshu just glanced outside casually and didn't pay much attention. The person who could come to inspect the examination room now was either the academician sent by the court to preside over the provincial examination, or the prefect of Cangzhou, or two people came together.
But these had nothing to do with him. He was not familiar with the academician, and he had never met the prefect of Cangzhou. He just needed to finish his test paper.
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