Only at this moment did He Qing's awkwardness finally ease.
Mu Erpang asked when they would be free. He was afraid that he would say something wrong again today, so he said, "I came to the city this time thanks to Brother Zhang's care. Just listen to Brother Zhang, I'm fine with anything."
Zhang Zian was not a fussy person, so he said: "We read books in the inn every day. We are unfamiliar with the place and don't go out much. Brother Mu can bring us over anytime." After that, he left the address of the inn where they were staying.
They talked for a while and it was almost noon, so Chen Cui invited them to stay for lunch.
Both families were unwilling, so Zhang's father politely said, "The children can just get together later. We adults are here to accompany them for the exam, so we can just deal with it casually. Besides, the children are studying hard now, and we have already disturbed your family for half the morning. We can't disturb them any more."
So before lunch, He Qing, Zhang Zian and the adults from their two families said goodbye.
In the evening, the other people in the academy returned from the provincial school. After dinner, Mu Erpang discussed the meeting time with them.
Wei Shu said, "It's easy to make an appointment with Ren Shun. His brother asked me about it today. I can just go and tell him tomorrow."
Cui Fei nodded and said, "It's not difficult to get to the Zhao family. They have a lot of contact with my family. I can just go home and bring a message."
Mu Erpang was naturally relieved when his brothers were doing the work. After they had agreed, he said, "Big Brother Mei and Junior Brother must be present. The people that Big Brother Wei and Brother Afei helped to select should also be present."
Chen Cui then appropriately added: "Why don't we gather in our academy? You all have to attend this gathering anyway."
Several teenagers looked at Mu Erpang. Even though he was the youngest, he was the protagonist of this gathering, so they all listened to him.
Mu Erpang shook his head and said no.
Shen Cui asked, "Is there anything inconvenient in the academy?"
Mu Erpang said: "There are two inconveniences in doing it in the academy. First, He Qing has been a little restrained since he came back. It can be seen that he is not used to being in a house like our academy. Secondly, it's my mother's problem..."
Chen Cui raised her eyebrows and listened to his explanation: "If we invite people to our house, we can't eat too casually. Mother has always been frugal. If we buy a table for eight of us, it will cost a lot of money if we buy it from outside. If we buy vegetables and cook it ourselves, how busy will A Yao and you be? In addition, I haven't met Ren Shun and Zhao Xiuwen yet. Although I believe that my brothers will not choose people randomly, it is better to meet outside for the first time. We can just have breakfast outside as before."
Mu Erpang in the front was just like a little housekeeper, but now after the marrow cleansing, he has the demeanor to be the master of the house. Chen Cui didn't get involved and let them handle it on their own.
The few of them quickly decided on a specific time, which was set two days later, the day when the provincial school was closed.
The gathering place was not far away; it was the teahouse next to the inn where He Qing and Zhang Zian stayed.
Several waves of people arrived one after another. According to their age order, He Qing was 20 years old, Ren Shun was 19, Zhao Xiuwen was 18, Zhang Zian was 16, and Mu Erpang was still the youngest among the people who had signed a guaranty agreement this time.
However, he was the newly crowned top judge in the county case, and Ren Shun and Zhao Xiuwen were carefully selected by Wei Shu and others for guaranty. They both had good tempers, and no one would underestimate Mu Erpang.
This time, there was no one like Huang Junping who spoke in an unpleasant way. The people who wanted to provide guarantees first told each other about their general situation.
Ren Shun was educated by a teacher at home. He also took the county examination this year, and ranked third in their county.
Zhao Xiuwen's family was from the same county as Ren Shun, but the two had never met each other before. They only saw each other's names on the list. He ranked fifth in the exam.
Their county examination results were all excellent, and the county they took as their reference was the largest county under the jurisdiction of Qingzhou Prefecture. The competition was extremely fierce every year, so the value of their rankings was also extremely high.
He Qing, who had passed the exam without knowing why, couldn't help but feel a little more nervous.
But Zhao Xiuwen was also from a farming family, and after listening to He Qing's story about his background, he picked up some interesting topics about the countryside and chatted with him, which eased his nervousness.
Ren Shun doesn't talk much, but spends most of his time listening with a warm and humble smile on his face.
Now Zhang Zian became the most embarrassed person. He Qing was a bit "ignorant and fearless", but he was not.
The people who were making guarantors at the same time were all outstanding one after another. The ones from Cuiwei were all excellent students in the provincial school, especially Mei Ruochu, who was a famous child prodigy in his early years!
Zhang Zian felt a little dizzy, wondering how he was qualified to eat and chat with them at the same table.
Plus, he wasn't good at speaking, so he didn't say much.
However, with Wei Shu, who is the most sociable, and Mu Erpang bringing him along when talking from time to time, Zhang Zian did not feel out of place.
The morning tea was very harmonious and everyone did not leave until noon.
Later on, the registration was handled by Mu Erpang and his friends themselves.
Naturally, Chen Cui had to contribute as well. She had helped organize a special training on poetry writing for the previous county exam. For this provincial exam, she went to ask Lao Buyu what kind of training was going to be organized.
Lao Buyu thought for a while and said, "No one needs to worry about Hanshan's calligraphy. The essays must be good. The policy questions test current politics and laws. Recently, I have asked him to reread the law books. However, many questions do not have so-called correct answers. It is closely related to the examiner's likes and dislikes..."
Shen Cui understood, so now she needed to find out what the examiner liked and disliked.
But soon Chen Cui found that she was useless again, because Wei Shu, Wei Xi and Mei Ruochu had all passed the exam.
Local officials such as prefects usually serve a three-year term, and the prefect of Qingzhou Prefecture is still the previous one.
Two years ago, when Wei Shu and Mei Ruochu met their end in the same year, he had already done enough homework, which he had shared with Wei Xi last year. This year, he only needed to find out whether anything major had happened to the prefect in the past year that could have changed his character. There were many well-informed people in the prefectural school. They quickly helped to find out the truth and also obtained some articles written by the prefect in his early years, so that Mu Erpang could use them to guess his likes and dislikes.
Finally, Shen Cui said with relief: "You are all grown up now, and I don't have to worry about anything now."
Mei Ruochu said no, "For now, we have taken the test before, so we can help Hanshan as experienced people. When we take the test in the future that we have never taken, we will naturally need Shanzhang to take care of us."
After he finished speaking, he paused, his face slightly reddened, "And there is one thing, only Shanzhang can come down to help Hanshan with 'special training'."
Shen Cui nodded immediately and let him speak.
Seeing that Mei Ruochu was too embarrassed to speak, Wei Shu came over and lowered his voice and asked, "Does the headmaster know about 'Shit Poke'?"
Chen Cui really didn't know that when she read this undergraduate examination essay, it was from Mu Yunchuan's perspective. The original author wanted to portray him like a banished immortal, so how could he possibly write about indecent plots related to shit, urine and farts.
Wei Shu explained to her, "The provincial examination will take four days, and you can't come out during the period. So not only do you have to eat and sleep in there, you also have to go to the toilet. There will be a basin under each exam seat for urination..."
Speaking of this, Wei Shu, who has always been an extrovert, also felt a little hot in his ears. He cleared his throat and continued: "You can relieve yourself at your seat, but you have to go to the toilet for a long time. You have to raise your hand and hand in your paper first, and then the sergeant will follow you. After going there, a black seal will be printed on the paper, which is what we usually call a 'shit stamp'. Generally speaking, this kind of test paper with a 'shit stamp' will receive special treatment..."
There was no need for him to elaborate on this "special treatment". Shen Cui guessed that it meant that he would not be hired.
No wonder Mei Ruochu felt embarrassed while talking. It turned out that she was asked to give Mu Erpang "special training" in this aspect.
Shen Cui nodded and said she understood, then asked them curiously, "Then you..."
Wei Shu didn't need to help explain this. Mei Ruochu said, "We have been preparing to take this path since we were young, so we have trained when we were young. And it's not just us. Basically, everyone who wants to take this path is like this."
After all, it is personal privacy, so Shen Cui is not in a position to ask more questions. She only sighs that novels are novels and life is life. The road to imperial examination is not easy. Talent, mind, luck and strong physical fitness are all indispensable. The relevant regulations of this "shit stamp" are even considered to be against basic human physiology.
Mu Erpang has an exceptionally strong physique, which is reflected in all aspects, including his exceptionally accurate biological clock and regular bowel movements every day. The young men all ate and lived together, and knowing this, they mentioned it to Shen Cui.
However, this "shit-poking" rule has become a burden to his biological clock. But there is no need for any "special training" because Shen Cui found the relevant medicines in the system mall, 50 shopping points for one, with no side effects, and just temporarily relieve people's needs in that aspect. One serving can last for four or five days. Just let Mu Erpang eat it in advance.
Chen Cui didn't know about this before, but now that she knows, she not only bought one for her fat son, but also put a few more in the shopping cart, thinking that when other people in the academy come later, they will each take care of one.
In the blink of an eye, it was April and the provincial examination began.
This was the first time that Mu Erpang took part in a long-distance marathon-like test.
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