The Lucky Farmgirl
Chapter 574 - 563 Title (Added Seven More Rewards for Crowdfunding Leader’s Readers)

Chapter 574: Chapter 563 Title (Added Seven More Rewards for Crowdfunding Leader’s Readers)

Even as he took his seat, Bai Shanbao was somewhat nervous; after all, it was his first time taking such an exam.

But once the test papers were distributed and he saw the questions, his heart gradually settled down.

It wasn’t that he felt fully prepared, but rather he experienced a sense of finality.

Since he was already seated and had seen the questions, and couldn’t go out to consult his books, feeling nervous at this point was useless.

Bai Shanbao calmed himself, carefully read through all the questions first, and then began to grind his ink stick while thinking about his answers.

By the time he had the ink ready, he already had some ideas in mind and began to write.

His teacher had said that the presentation of the paper must be neat; he looked over the questions, which were difficult, but he believed that one day’s time should be sufficient.

He planned to spend the entire morning working on the questions, eat his midday meal, rest for a while, and then review and transcribe his answers.

Luckily Mr. Zhuang always penalized them by making them copy books; he could write quickly and with high accuracy. Otherwise, with so many questions, he really wouldn’t dare to draft his answers, guessing he’d have to write slower and aim to get it right in one go.

For any mistakes, he would correct them in the test paper.

While Bai Shanbao struggled inside, the four people outside listened to others bragging about how talented their young masters/children were.

There was no helping it; it was so dull outside, all they could do was listen to people talk and idly boast.

Manbao listened for a bit, asked a few questions, then her confidence returned, and she quietly said to Daji, "Shanbao is better than any of them."

Daji glanced at those few families and remained silently noncommittal.

The number of participants in the Academy examination was large, and it just so happened that they might have asked the worst few.

Besides, shouldn’t talented people be humble?

This open boasting about one’s family suggested a lack of true ability.

Like them, they only felt in their hearts that their young master was exceptional; they would never boast outwardly like that.

Time passed little by little, and the sun began to set. The bells of the examiners rang, waking up those who were dozing off. Everyone immediately ran to the entrance of the examiner’s office to wait.

Bai Erlang charged to the front with astonishing speed, with Daji and others quickly catching up, staring intently at the gate.

Under everyone’s watchful eyes, the grand doors of the examination hall slowly opened, and the candidates inside immediately started to make their way out.

There were expressionless faces, some looking disheartened, and others beaming with joy...

And there was Bai Shanbao, carrying his exam basket and running towards them, shouting, "Let’s go home, let’s go home, I need to wash my hands."

Everyone: ...

Manbao asked in alarm, "There are no toilets in the examiners’ building?"

Bai Shanbao replied with indescribable frustration, "I went once and didn’t want to go again; let’s hurry home."

Then Daji took the exam basket, and Zhou Silang brought the horse cart over.

It was only after getting on the cart that Manbao asked, "How did the exam go?"

"It was okay," Bai Shanbao thought for a moment and said, "It was quite difficult, but I managed to answer all the questions and wrote a lot."

Bai Shanbao said with lingering apprehension, "Especially the last two questions, I used a whole sheet of paper for each, because I wrote a lot, so I didn’t draft those two answers. Fortunately, after lunch I didn’t rest and immediately copied my earlier answers instead. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have had time to review those two big ones."

Manbao said, "You wrote too slowly in the beginning?"

"It was a bit tough," Bai Shanbao sighed and said, "Initially, I thought I could finish those questions within an hour and then spend the next hour on those two big questions, but that was impossible. Luckily, I didn’t rest after lunch and started copying my earlier answers; otherwise, I probably wouldn’t have had time to review the last two questions."

"What were the questions?"

Bai Shanbao didn’t have time to answer as they arrived home. He jumped off the carriage and rushed through the gate, loudly saying, "I’ll tell you in a bit."

After Bai Shanbao washed his hands and returned to the study, Mr. Zhuang was already sitting there.

He picked up a brush and wrote down the topics of the last two big questions on paper.

Although it was Bai Shanbao’s first time taking such an exam, enough time had elapsed since the end of the exam for him to have thought it through.

He realized that the focus of this examination was probably still on the last two big questions.

He said, "Teacher, the last two questions, one came from the ’Classic of Poetry’ regarding ’the people’s livelihood,’ and the other was about the resettlement of refugees."

Mr. Zhuang was surprised, "That difficult?"

Bai Shanbao also nodded, "Yes, it was very tough. The first few questions were not easy either. As soon as the test papers were distributed, I heard people saying that this year’s Academy exam is twice as hard as previous years."

Mr. Zhuang was silent for a while before asking, "Do you still remember your answers?"

"I can’t say I remember everything, but I roughly know what I wrote."

Mr. Zhuang then nodded and said, "Write them down then, so I can review them."

Bai Shanbao: ... That would take several hours, right?

Mr. Zhuang also remembered that he had just come from the exam hall and said, "Never mind, just briefly tell me how you answered, especially the last two questions. Did you manage to answer them?"

"Of course," Bai Shanbao confidently said, "I have studied the ’Classic of Poetry’ thoroughly. Although ’the people’s livelihood’ is difficult, I have memorized and understood it; it seems to be about the life of Hou Ji, but in fact, it’s about the ancestors, about all the people, not specifically Hou Ji alone."

Mr. Zhuang nodded approvingly, "It seems that you have been listening to my lectures; ’the people’s livelihood’ is about sacrificial rites."

Coincidentally, Bai Erlang had just finished studying the ’Classic of Poetry.’ Since ’the people’s livelihood’ was very difficult and one of the latter parts of the ’Classic of Poetry,’ his memory of it was quite strong.

He stood stunned, unable to help himself from asking Manbao in a whisper, "Isn’t ’the people’s livelihood’ just about the life of Hou Ji? Why does it seem like it’s not about his life?"

Manbao whispered back, "The Zhou people wrote this article to honor their ancestors. Hou Ji was born to Jiang Yuan, and the achievements of the civil and the military began with Hou Ji, thus matched with Heaven; hence, it’s about sacrificial rites."

Bai Erlang was bewildered.

Seeing that Bai Shanbao understood the essence of the text, Mr. Zhuang did not inquire further about the details and asked, "How did you respond to the last question?"

After a pause, Bai Shanbao said, "Teacher, during the Tomb-Sweeping Day, we encountered several beggars and realized that in Yizhou, the refugees have still not been properly resettled, but County Magistrate Yang has done well in Luojiang County. Why don’t they learn from him?"

Mr. Zhuang was different from the two children; although he also interacted with Yang Heshu, they did not converse so directly with each other.

Yang Heshu certainly wouldn’t discuss these strategic policy details with him in depth.

But Mr. Zhuang had eyes to see and ears to hear; he was aware of how Yang Heshu had resettled refugees in Luojiang County.

After a moment, he asked, "Did you answer the question by referring to County Magistrate Yang’s actions?"

Bai Shanbao looked puzzled and shook his head, "Not entirely, because even as a student I don’t know if County Magistrate Yang’s measures could be implemented in Yizhou or other places."

He turned to Manbao and said, "Manbao and I have had extensive discussions on this matter. We feel that one place cannot be treated the same as another, blanket solutions are inadequate. Yet there are commonalities in dealing with refugees. Thus there should be a fixed standard or method in place. Otherwise, as it is now, one county fully commits to resettlement, while another neglects it entirely, which is too unjust for the common people."

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