Chapter 988: Imperial Examination Essay: The Evil Mother-in-law (11)
Zhang Luoyi could only persist in doing embroidery for three days before she couldn't continue. Of course, she said that her fingers had been pricked by needles too many times and she had to heal the wounds first.
Wu Shichu was well aware of her excuse, but she had no objection. After all, she would not be the one who would be anxious when she ran out of money.
The time for the scholar examination was approaching soon. Wu Shichu asked Mrs. Song to pack some dry food and give it to Han Ji. He had to go to the county two days in advance to prepare for the exam. In order to save money on the way, he could only eat dry food.
"My husband, you must be careful to be safe. When you go out with your classmates, be careful not to get separated..." Zhang Luoyi reluctantly told Han Ji, "How about I give you some more money? Don't be too frugal when you go out."
This time, Zhang Luoyi paid for Han Ji's travel expenses and registration fee for the examination for the scholar. There was no other way. The little money Han Ji earned was negligible, and Wu Shichu stopped doing embroidery due to "poor health". Zhang Luoyi had to use her dowry again. Once this happened, it would happen again. After using more than ten taels of silver to buy a maid, he had to use dozens more taels to give Han Ji the examination for the scholar. It took Zhang Luoyi less time to convince himself this time.
Although Han Ji didn't want to use his wife's dowry, he wouldn't even have the money to travel if he didn't use it. So he had no choice but to accept his wife's kindness.
"No need. This money is enough for me. Don't worry too much. I won't let myself suffer when I'm away. You must take good care of mom at home." Han Ji said goodbye to Zhang Luoyi reluctantly.
When sending Han Ji to the village ox cart, Zhang Luoyi's eyes turned red, and she was very reluctant to let him go. Wu Shichu patted Han Ji's shoulder in a very casual manner and said, "Just do your best. Mother and your wife are waiting for your good news at home."
"Mom, I won't let you down." Han Ji said with great enthusiasm, looking forward to the future.
The ox cart quickly took Han Ji away, and the villagers asked Wu Shichu, "How confident is Han Ji in this exam?"
"About 60 to 70 percent," Wu Shichu replied. "His father and son in the academy said that if nothing unexpected happens, he has a great chance of passing the exam and becoming a scholar this time."
"Well, then let's wait to drink at the scholar's wedding!" The villagers said in a very supportive manner, but they would not deliberately say bad things to bring bad luck to others at such a time.
"Thank you for your advice! If Han Ji really passes the exam and becomes a scholar, I will definitely host a banquet for him!" Wu Shichu said without hesitation.
Everyone was talking and laughing as they walked towards their homes. When they reached a more remote place, they suddenly saw a tall and strong man bending over and tidying up the weeds in front of a thatched house that was almost collapsing.
"Who is that person? Why is he pulling weeds in front of that shabby house?" An old woman with gray hair and blurry eyes asked while trying hard to keep her eyes open.
"I don't know him. I don't think I've seen him before. Is he from our village?" said another villager in his thirties.
"Hey, why do I feel like he looks familiar?!" A sixty-year-old man slapped his head, frowned and tried hard to recall. After a long while, he excitedly shouted, "Isn't this the son of the Gao family? Hunter Gao, who fled to our village more than 40 years ago. That broken house is Hunter Gao's home. This man must be Hunter Gao's son. Didn't he run off to some unknown place? Why is he back? I thought he died outside..."
"So he is the son of the Gao Hunter family? He must be in his thirties or forties now, right?"
"Do you want to go and ask him? See what he came back for."
"Then go ask?"
…
So a group of people really walked towards that person. When the man saw a group of people coming, he nodded to the older ones and said, "Hello, uncles and aunts. I am Gao Li, and I just returned home after I have cleaned up my house. I will invite all the elders to come and drink house-warming wine."
"Are you really the son of Hunter Gao? Then did you join the army before?" the leading old man asked curiously.
Gao Li nodded: "Yes, I used to travel around during the war and had no place to settle down. Now that the war is finally over, the emperor has shown mercy and allowed us to return to the countryside, so I came back."
"Oh, that's not easy. War is dangerous, right? Have you ever been injured?" The younger men were more interested in the war. Their village was far away from the border where wars often broke out, and there were almost no wars here, so many people were curious.
"Of course I was injured, and even almost died, but the King of Hell didn't want me and let me come back alive." Gao Li raised his thick black eyebrows and said in a relaxed tone.
Wu Shichu looked at his muscular body. This guy was probably about 1.85 meters tall. In an era when the average height of men was around 1.60 meters, he truly stood out from the crowd. His arms were as thick as other people's thighs, his waist was lean but he looked very strong, his legs were long and straight, and his thin trouser legs could not cover his smooth leg muscles.
Such a man must have been very brave on the battlefield, right? Otherwise, he would not have survived until he was demobilized and returned home.
Gao Li suddenly felt a gaze that was obviously different from that of an ordinary person and full of inquiry. He looked sharply towards the source of the gaze, but was surprised to find that it was not some country expert with sharp eyes and unfathomable knowledge, but a woman in her thirties with fair skin and a pretty face who was looking at him in this way.
When Wu Shichu saw Gao Li looking at him, he smiled and nodded at him. Gao Li was surprised for a moment and then nodded as well, and then continued talking to other people.
Zhang Luoyi couldn't help but move closer to Wu Shichu at this time, and lowered his voice and said, "Mom, this guy looks really fierce. Is he really a retired soldier and not a bandit who has turned good?"
When Wu Shichu heard her words, he couldn't help but chuckle. Gao Li did look quite fierce, with high eyebrows, deep eyes, sharp and dark gaze, a high nose bridge, clear facial contours and sharp lines. There was also a scar at the right corner of his eye that was enough to scare a child to tears.
But in fact, if you look closely, he is quite good-looking, with good-looking facial features, which together make for a handsome face. Unfortunately, his dark skin and scars cover up his handsomeness, leaving only a fierce look.
"Don't talk nonsense. Look at his physique. If he wasn't a soldier who had received long-term training, he wouldn't have such a straight waist." Wu Shichu replied.
"But he is tall and strong, so scary." Zhang Luoyi's favorite type is a fair-faced scholar like Han Ji, who is gentle and handsome. Naturally, she finds a wild and tough man like Gao Li scary.
However, no matter how scary it was, it couldn't scare Wu Shichu. After Gao Li chatted with everyone for a while, he said goodbye to everyone on the grounds that he still needed to tidy up the house and was very busy.
His return caused heated discussions among everyone, and he was the topic of conversation in the village recently.
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
