Misty Rain of the Old Times

Chapter 117 Happy

When I walked out of the examination room, the sun was setting.

The candidates who left the venue had different expressions. Some looked numb, some looked crazy, some were silent, and some were smiling.

No matter what, the exam is over, and whether you did well or not is a foregone conclusion. The results will be clear when the results are announced in five days.

Outside the examination room, Chen Xuan looked at the sunset in the sky and let out a sigh. Although he was a study companion, it would be a lie to say that he didn't care about the results after several years of study. He had tried his best to take the exam, and he was not sure whether he would be on the list. Now that things have come to this, he can only take the mentality of "if I succeed, I'm lucky, if I fail, I'm doomed". After all, what he learned over the years is real.

He believes that he has lived up to his youth, although it is a bit inappropriate to mention these words at his age.

There were still countless people waiting outside and had not left. They seemed to be more tormented than the candidates taking the exam.

Chen Xuan saw the people from the Gao family at a glance. They had not left and had obviously been waiting outside the examination room for a whole day, in a conspicuous position.

Before I could get there, I saw Xiao Cai jumping in the carriage, waving and shouting, "Master, this way! Master, we are here!"

Just like a lively little rabbit, it attracted a lot of attention, but when they saw that it was not him, they would silently look away.

Chen Xuan keenly heard Gao Jingming's response in the chaotic crowd, and he approached flexibly, moving freely in the chaotic crowd like a fish in water without any hindrance.

Gao Jingming looked very proud, obviously he did well in the exam. He put down his hands and turned back to say something to the frowning Luo Taiyun.

Chen Xuan approached him and quickly noticed him. He patted Luo Taiyun on the shoulder and asked, "Xuan, how did you do on the exam?"

"I have finished answering all the questions on the test paper," Chen Xuan answered truthfully. Anyway, he felt that he had answered them all correctly, and the paper was also neat. As for the result, who knows.

Having said that, who can leave the test questions blank? You have to answer them all even if you write them randomly, just in case you get them right by chance.

"It's okay, at worst you can come next time," Gao Jingming consoled with a smile. He thought Chen Xuan's answer meant that he didn't do well in the exam, so he should stop talking so as not to make Chen Xuan sad.

Come here next time. Do you think I'm a big master like you? If you make the list, I'll have to follow you around everywhere. How can I have time to learn these basics and take the exam again? In the future, I will be exposed to new things, and my memory will gradually fade. It will be difficult to take the Tongsheng exam again.

Chen Xuan didn't care about the criticism in his heart, and said with a smile: "Young Master, you must have done well in the exam."

Of course not, otherwise how could he laugh and still feel like comforting others? But Gao Jingming waved his hand and said, "It's too early. We'll know the result after the results are announced."

Although he seems low-key, his mouth corners are harder to suppress than Aka's.

"Oh, I didn't do well in the exam, so there's no hope of getting on the list. What should I do? Should I go back to school for further studies? Or should I just give up and go home to slowly take over the huge family business," Luo Taiyun sighed, feeling extremely confused and depressed about the future.

Young master, can you please consider other people's feelings? Don't you see so many people around you glaring at you? Even if you don't do well in the exam, you can still take over the family business, but if others don't do well, it will be difficult for them to turn their lives around.

Gao Jingming acted like a caring older brother and said, "Tayun, don't be so sad. The result is still uncertain. But what if, I mean what if, what if you don't do well in the exam? I think you should go back to school and keep working hard. There is still a big difference between having a good academic record and not having one. It's not like your family can't afford your education."

You might as well not comfort me.

"Let's talk about it later. I don't know how Linzi and the others are doing, but I can't be the only one who does poorly in the exam," Luo Taiyun said sullenly, looking like good buddies should share hardships and there was no ill intention on his part.

"It's too late today. We can just meet up tomorrow to talk about it. My mother is waiting for me over there. I'll go over first. Ah Xuan, let's go..."

After separating from Luo Taiyun, Chen Xuan and the others quickly reunited with the Gao family.

As expected, the first question was how they did in the exam. Chen Xuan still gave the same answer as before, but Gao Jingming, since there were no outsiders around, whispered that he did well in the exam and was 80% sure that he could make the list!
"I believe my son will not let me down," Mrs. Gao's voice was filled with relief, but the results were not out yet, so it was not the time to be happy.

After returning to the Gao family, considering the difficulty of traveling back and forth to study in the past few years, especially the hard study in the past year, Mrs. Gao said that he could relax for a while and deal with other things after the results were announced. She even approved a sum of 100 taels of silver for expenses.

This is an unprecedented move, equivalent to giving the son decades of salary of an ordinary waiter in a store to spend his leisure time after he graduated from high school!

You have to know that the waiter at Deweilou in Yang County only earns three taels of silver a month, not counting daily tips and food and accommodation. One hundred taels is equivalent to several decades of salary.

Having said that, the elementary school stage is equivalent to graduating from high school in Chen Xuan's hometown, and it is considered the end of compulsory education for scholars, because many people will not continue to study after elementary school, just like facing society.

However, the imperial examination for students cannot be measured by the college entrance examination. It is much more rigorous than the college entrance examination. If you have to make an analogy, it is clearly at the level of a civil service examination. If you make it to the list, it is equivalent to having one foot halfway into officialdom to some extent.

This was not Chen Xuan's blind guess. With the title of Tongsheng, if he could work hard enough, he would be eligible to get a job in a township and receive a salary from the emperor, although it would only be of a low-ranking rank.

For Chen Xuan personally, such a social system is a bit deformed, but it cannot be compared with the one in his previous life. After all, the cultural level of this era is low.

Well, back home, some elders said that in certain periods, being able to read and write was enough to get into officialdom. His son had a good chance of passing the civil service exam, and for a family like the Gaos, it wasn't surprising that Madam Gao gave him such a large sum of money for his own entertainment.

You know what, after the stage of study ended and the pressure of the imperial examination was gone, it was a bit difficult to adapt to the sudden relaxation. At least Chen Xuan felt that way, and his heart suddenly became a little empty.

Fortunately, this emotion comes and goes quickly, so I can focus more on martial arts in the future.

As for the imperial examination, Chen Xuan only thought that having a certain status would make it easier for him to do things or go out in the future. Apart from his status, he was not really interested in being an official in his heart, and he also knew that he was not cut out for it, so he should not bring trouble to the already poor people.

He was more interested in the martial arts that brought him great power. It wasn't for the sake of competition, but now that he had achieved internal strength, he had already experienced the feeling of flying over rooftops and walls. So what about the Xiantian, Grandmaster, and even higher realms? He truly wanted to glimpse the scenery at the top of the martial arts.

Personally, isn't that more interesting than being in a high position in government?
Everyone's pursuits are different. Some people like to hold power and make decisions, some like to spend money lavishly and be noticed, some like beautiful women and fine wine, some want to be famous, and some just want unfettered freedom...

The next day, Gao Jingming gathered a few friends together, still at Deweilou, and even at the private room where Chen Xuan first met Zhou Lin and the others.

The people are still the same as before, but after getting together, they are no longer as carefree as they were a few years ago.

In the past, they were only thinking about what was fun and what was delicious, but now, when they get together, they talk more about the heavy topic of the future.

Whether you like it or not, after the end of elementary school, everyone's destiny will change, and there will not be many opportunities for everyone to get together like this in the future.

Zhou Lin and Tian Xueyu were almost the same as Chen Xuan. They were not sure whether they would do well in the exam, but even if they failed this time, they still had to insist on studying for the imperial examination. The worst that could happen was that they would go back to Yushan Academy for "tutoring".

Luo Taiyun was undecided. He wanted to continue taking the imperial examination, but he felt his chances were slim. He wanted to go home and live an ordinary life, but he was unwilling to do so and was in a state of confusion.

Deng Lingfeng was much more straightforward. He said that he was not cut out for studying and he had guessed most of the questions in the imperial examination. He was sure to fail and he did not plan to continue studying. He would go home to practice martial arts and then slowly take over his family's martial arts school and escort agency. He also joked that he would take care of his family's business when he had the chance in the future.

Time is changing, people are still the same people, but it is difficult to be young again.

This gathering was still happy, but afterwards people felt empty and inexplicably melancholy. Due to their age, they didn't drink, but they all seemed drunk.

Maybe they got drunk after drinking here four years ago, and have been drunk until today, and don't want to wake up.

After everyone left, the confused Luo Taiyun went home and felt hungry, so he asked his servants to bring him a table of food and continued eating, as if he could never get full.

Zhou Lin and Tian Xueyu's eyes became determined after they returned home. Even though the imperial examination was over, they still locked themselves in the study to read and never turned off the lights late into the night.

On the contrary, Deng Lingfeng, who was the most free and easy, cried after returning home. He locked himself in the room and cried under the quilt. He gritted his teeth to stop crying out loud, but his tears soaked the bedding. He didn't know why he wanted to cry, but he just couldn't control it...

The next few days were filled with agonizing waiting, waiting for the day when the results would be announced.

When that day arrived, servants from the Gao family had already rushed to the place where the results were announced to wait for the results. The entire Gao family was shrouded in an atmosphere of anxiety, and the servants were even a little afraid to breathe.

Even though Gao Jingming was very confident, he was still wandering around the courtyard. He had no mood to sit down, and even Xiao Ye and Xiao Cai followed him around.

Chen Xuan felt dizzy, which was normal considering their mood.

The strange thing is that Chen Xuan himself is very calm. Maybe it doesn’t matter because he doesn’t care?
"Great joy, great joy! Young Master has passed the exam and ranked fifth in this year's Yang County Tongsheng Examination. The person announcing the good news will be here soon..."

At noon, the entire Gao family breathed a sigh of relief as the excited voice of a returning servant of the Gao family was heard, and they ran around to tell each other the news.

If you don’t know, you would think he was the top scorer.

Although this ranking was not the first place, it was not bad either. Mrs. Gao immediately announced that everyone would receive a reward.

"Congratulations, young master." Upon hearing the news, Chen Xuan immediately expressed his sincere congratulations to Gao Jingming. It was strange that he had the mentality of an old father who finally wanted his son to become successful.

Gao Jingming finally felt relieved, and pretended to be calm and said regretfully: "It's okay, not too good. I have to work harder next time."

You're clearly showing off.

But this was not the end yet. Then the voice said, "Congratulations, Xuan Ge'er, you are ranked 20th in the Yang County Tongsheng Examination this year."

Chen Xuan was stunned when he heard this. He hadn't had much hope, but he was actually on the list?
Although the 20th place is the last one in this talent selection, no matter whether he makes the list or not, he will have achieved fame and honor from now on, and has already surpassed thousands of people who took the same exam!

After reacting, Chen Xuan couldn't help but smile, happy...

(End of this chapter)