On the day of the annual exam, Cui Fei and Li Rufeng met outside the examination room.
Cui Fei looked normal and in good spirits. Although he had been studying hard recently, everyone in Cuiwei was making progress together, and he was experiencing the joy of learning that he had never experienced before.
Li Rufeng's complexion did not look very good.
After the bet, he thought he had regained his advantage, but he didn't expect that from then on, other classmates in the prefectural school would be unwilling to work with him. Even Zhang Shuo and others kept their distance from him.
In fact, this kind of treatment was nothing compared to what he had given Cui Fei before.
But he was used to smooth sailing and had never experienced anything like this, so his condition was naturally affected.
However, despite the influence, after staying in the prefectural school for such a long time and taking several annual exams, Li Rufeng was still very confident in his ability. When he saw Cui Fei, he raised his chin and said, "Just wait for you to offer me tea and admit your mistakes."
Cui Fei did not argue with him, but said calmly, "Let's wait for the result."
Later, when the exam started, the candidates were searched in order before entering the exam room.
Like the college entrance examination, the annual examination also requires entry in the morning and exit in the evening. It only lasts one day and is completed at one time. The results are announced three days later.
After returning to Cuiwei from the examination room, Mei Ruochu led everyone to write down the test questions and test paper contents.
He had earlier said that he wanted to be Cuiwei's assistant teacher, but Shen Cui insisted that he should not give up his studies.
Now, unconsciously, he has really acquired some of the demeanor of a young teacher. And because he was the oldest, most talented, and most kindly-mannered, even a troublemaker like Li Rufeng was eager to make friends with him, and everyone was very respectful to him and followed his lead.
After he collected everyone's papers, he sent them to Lao Buyu, who judged the awards.
Shen Cui and Mu Erpang, two "outsiders", sat aside, also waiting to hear the result nervously.
Without a doubt, for the same test question, the best and most eye-catching answer was still Mei Ruochu's.
Wei Shu and Wei Xi, on the other hand, had solid academic knowledge and had taken part in intensive review before the exam, so they performed better than before.
Cui Fei's paper was slightly inferior to theirs, but compared to his previous work, it was a great improvement.
——Although the homework was given to the professors and instructors of the prefectural school for marking, it was all written at night under the supervision of Lao Buyu, who would also give some pointers, so he had some idea of Cui Fei's knowledge.
However, there is a quota for each level in the annual examination. For example, the number of people in the first level is corresponding to the number of students on stipend in the provincial school, which is only forty.
Therefore, it is certainly a good thing that Cui Fei is better than his past self, but his specific ranking will depend on the performance of other people in the prefectural school.
All I can say is that the chances of getting second-class admission have increased from 50% to 70% to 80%.
At this moment, Lao Buyu would definitely not say such things to disturb his mind. He only praised: "A Fei's use of Kung Fu is really impressive. I hope you can be like this in the future."
Cui Fei nodded and said seriously: "After studying hard, I realized how much I missed in the past. I will never dare to slack off again in the future."
Lao Buyu smiled and nodded, then turned around and saw Shen Cui also looking at Cui Fei, and they both couldn't help but smile with relief.
Didn't Shen Cui look at Cui Fei's physical values first? In fact, his aptitude was not bad either. His overall aptitude of over 80 was similar to Wei Shu's, and slightly worse than Wei Xi's.
It was entirely because of the bullying in the provincial school and the psychological inferiority that affected the progress of the examination. Otherwise, he would not have failed the provincial examination.
Although the result of this campaign is yet to come out, the fact that it has helped him regain his confidence in his studies is already a huge achievement!
The three days before the announcement of the results are the time for marking the papers, and the provincial school is closed during these three days.
It happened that Cui Fei's heart disease had just healed, and since he hadn't been home for a long time, Shen Cui asked him to go home the next day.
Cui Fei had already told Cui Wuniang that he would go home, but before he left, he said, "I won't be staying at home. I'll be back for half a day. I'll be back after lunch."
This is really not something that someone who used to take daily leave at the provincial school would say.
But there was no way. After entering Cuiwei, Cui Fei truly realized what people who were better than him were. What was even more terrifying was that these people who were better than him were also more diligent than him!
If he falls behind again, no one will need to tell him that he will be the first one to be ashamed to stay in Cuiwei!
Later, Cui Fei returned home and first met Mr. Cui, and then met other uncles and elders.
During the days before the exam, he threw himself into his studies, and every meal he had was scrambled eggs with cabbage to enhance his short-term memory. He had lost a few pounds since Cui Wuniang saw him.
Now everyone in the Cui family knows that he has lost weight!
Mr. Cui praised it again and again and immediately asked people to start preparing gifts - isn't Chinese New Year just twenty days away? It would be a good opportunity to go to Cuiwei before the New Year.
Cui Wuniang was still busy. She met him briefly, and without saying a few words, she buried herself in the account books again, saying that after she was completely busy in the next few days, she would come back and personally deliver the New Year gift prepared by Mr. Cui.
Seeing how excited his family members were, Cui Fei finally couldn't bear to tell them about the bet between him and Li Rufeng in the annual exam, so as not to let the whole family worry about him. After all, he was the one who took responsibility for this matter, so he should bear the consequences himself. Besides, the result is not out yet. He will come back to report after the result is out in two days.
At this moment, Cui Fei really regretted wasting so much time in the past, otherwise he would not have only a 70% to 80% chance of winning.
After having lunch at home, Cui Fei went back to Cuiwei.
On Cuiwei's side, they finally no longer had to smell the smell of scrambled eggs with cabbage. Wei Shu and Wei Xi both had good appetites and ate half a bowl of rice more than usual.
After the meal, Chen Cui suggested that they take a break. After all, studying is a long-term battle, and it requires a balance between relaxation and tension. They can take a proper rest for half a day. Moreover, the weather is cold now, and it is inconvenient for the teenagers to take a bath at home. Each of them has a pot of water, which needs to be boiled with firewood and it is unknown how long it will take. So they go to the bathhouse outside to take a bath together.
The half-day break is just the right time for them to go out and take a bath.
Later, no one knew who started it, but someone said that since they were going out to take a shower anyway, they might as well move around first, so everyone started cleaning and tidying up the house, which also relieved Shen Cui and A Yao of the pressure of doing daily housework.
Cui Fei came back with something on his mind. Seeing everyone sweeping the floor and wiping the table, he also found some tools to help.
It was his first time working and also his first time taking a bath in a bathhouse. He was a little shy when taking off his clothes.
But you know what, when you do physical work, you clear your mind, move a little, sweat a little, and then take a bath. It feels indescribably comfortable, and the stress in your heart quickly disappears.
The three-day vacation passed in the blink of an eye, and the results of the provincial school were announced.
Knowing that Cui Fei must be concerned about his grades, everyone got up extra early the next day. After doing morning exercises and having breakfast, they immediately set off for the provincial school.
Many students in the provincial school lived there, so they came to guard it at dawn, arriving earlier than them.
"Brother Mei is really capable!"
"I knew that Brother Mei was not an ordinary person!"
"The two Wei brothers are also very capable. The Wei family is a pair of heroes!"
As soon as they walked to the place where the results were announced, they heard endless congratulations.
The announcement of the results of the prefectural academy is not as rigorous as that of the imperial examinations, and there are not as many staff. It is done by the clerks in the prefectural academy, who publish the first-class list first and then the second-class list in order. At present, the second list has not been released yet.
It can be imagined that Mei Ruochu, Wei Shu and Wei Xi must have done very well in the exam and must be among the best.
Since their classmates had congratulated them, the three of them had to bow in return and modestly say "it was just luck".
After the socializing was over, they went on to look at the specific rankings.
Mei Ruochu was first in the first class, Wei Xi was third, and Wei Shu was fifteenth.
Comparing the rankings in the college examination, Mei Ruochu still performed at his true level, while Wei Shu and Wei Xi could be considered to have performed exceptionally well.
But what disappointed them a little was that Cui Fei was not among the forty people in the first class.
Wei Xi was a thoughtful person and had already heard Cui Fei's heavy breathing. He was obviously very nervous.
At this time, Li Rufeng's voice came from behind them, "Hey, why is Brother Cui not in this group?"
Without waiting for Cui Fei to answer, Mei Ruochu said, "It seems you are not in the first row either."
Li Rufeng was still arrogant towards Cui Fei, but he didn't dare to be presumptuous towards Mei Ruochu, who was number one.
He tilted his head and snorted, "I always have a second-rate job anyway!"
The second list has not been released yet, but he is so sure. Cui Fei explained to Cuiwei quietly, "In addition to the bookstore, the Li family also runs a literary business, supplying the prefectural school at a price 30% cheaper than the market price... Therefore, the purchasing agent in the prefectural school has some connection with the Li family. The annual examination is not as rigorous as the imperial examination process, and the rankings are not so confidential when they are copied. I think the purchasing agent found a way to help find out and then leaked the news to him."
Cui Fei felt a little bitter when he said this, because he was indeed the one who was too reckless. Alas, if he had not slacked off before, how could he be inferior to Li Rufeng, who performed worse than him in the college entrance examination?
He really wasn't afraid of losing face, he just felt sorry for the people in Cuiwei who helped him review his lessons.
Other people in the government school also knew that the Li family had such a relationship. Seeing Li Rufeng so proud, they looked at Cui Fei with a bit of sympathy in their eyes.
At this moment, someone suddenly shouted, "The second list is out... How could this be?!"
There were low exclamations one after another, Cui Fei and Mei Ruochu looked carefully and saw that Cui Fei was ranked first in the second class!
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