Food gives me an entry, I will be invincible if I stay alive

Chapter 323 Speculation, Suspicion, and Prediction
Chen Xu opened his eyes in his cell and listened to all the sounds in the examination room.

He discovered that everything seemed flawless on the surface.

For example, a fire broke out in the examination room.

While not common, fires are not uncommon either.

After all, it was a long exam that would last for nine days and eight nights.

In some sessions, some candidates would even stay up all night to work on their answers in order to make their papers more perfect.

However, test takers are, after all, made of flesh and blood. If they exert too much mental effort, they will inevitably feel tired and sleepy.

It is "reasonable" that such a candlestick was overturned and caused a fire.

Of course, candidates who cause a fire are usually disqualified from taking the exam.

Furthermore, due to the construction structure of the examination hall, small-scale fires such as those within individual examination cells are usually extinguished immediately.

It's highly unlikely that the fire would affect the entire examination hall and cause a large-scale fire.

The first strange thing Chen Xu felt was precisely because of this.

First of all, this fire was not caused by some students "burning the midnight oil" to study.

After all, the answer sheets for the second exam had already been collected, and there were no questions left to answer, so who would still "burn the midnight oil"?
According to Chen Xu's intuition, the fire actually originated from a lantern falling from one of the cells.

This is a bit surprising.

The lanterns at the Tiannandao Examination Hall were so dilapidated that they would suddenly fall down at night.

Before the provincial examination begins, shouldn't all the facilities in the examination hall be carefully inspected and checked for repairs?

Even if the fire was caused by negligence on the part of relevant personnel, resulting in the lanterns not being properly inspected—

Theoretically, the fire shouldn't have spread so widely.

Yes, as Chen Xu listened carefully, he was able to clearly count that the total number of candidates affected by the fire was as high as twelve.

Don't think that the number "twelve" is nothing compared to the scale of tens of thousands of test takers.

In reality, even if only two or three people are affected by a fire in such a cell, it is considered a lot.

The fact that it wasn't extinguished in time is the second strange thing.

Finally, the Heavenly Bell rang.

It seemed that all the chaos had been eliminated, and even the invisible pressure that had previously hung over the examination hall appeared to have been swept away—this was clearly a good thing.

But is this really a good thing?

Chen Xu didn't actually have any clear evidence to support his conjecture, but he just felt that something was wrong.

On the sixth day of the seventh lunar month, the crescent moon hung obliquely in the sky.

Inside the examination hall, all the chaotic noises disappeared.

The proctors marched in formation through the rows of examination cells, shouting in low voices, "Silence! Silence!"

"The fire is out, there's nothing to do tonight, everyone get some rest!"

The remaining candidates, who were not affected by the fire, couldn't help but feel fortunate.

Many people exhaled softly and breathed a long sigh of relief.

Most people have a subtle psychological tendency.

Among classmates, if some individuals are unlucky, then the others who are not so unlucky should feel lucky.

When people are lucky, their mood tends to improve.

But as I said before: is all of this really a good thing?

Chen Xu suppressed his suspicions and calmed himself down.

He kept all his vigilance hidden deep inside, closed his eyes again, and fell into a light sleep fully clothed.

In any case, as long as the exam can continue, we must finish this exam first.

What Chen Xu didn't know was that his suspicions, to some extent, had actually come true.

At the same moment, chaos erupted within the examination hall, and some even perished in the fire. At the bottom of the Yuancang River, the enormous, shadowy figure flicked its long tail and suddenly let out a satisfied roar—

Its long cry was silent.

But whenever it raises its head, the undercurrents at the bottom of the river surge violently, intensifying the impact.

Boom boom boom!
This is a silent chaos, yet it seems to be turning the whole world upside down.

That night, the water level of the Yuancang River dropped by another three-tenths of an inch, unnoticed by anyone. The next day was the seventh day of the seventh lunar month.

The third round of the provincial examination finally arrived.

The third session was actually the most important session in the entire provincial examination.

Because this exam tests policy essays!

At dawn, the rising sun leaps out from behind the clouds.

As sunlight streamed through the buildings of the examination hall, faint sighs could be heard from each of the examination cells.

The essay topics have been distributed!

This exam had even fewer questions, with only three in total.

One large and two small.

In other words, there is actually only one major policy essay question.

But the same principle applies: in the imperial examinations, the fewer questions there are, the more difficult the questions tend to be.

According to past practice, the third session of the provincial examination should actually consist of three major questions, all of equal difficulty and weight.

This may seem more mentally taxing, but in reality, with all three questions having equal weight, it means there is a higher margin for error.

After all, each candidate has different experiences, talents, and focuses.

It is difficult for candidates to be proficient in everything.

In this way, with three questions of equal weight, candidates are considered lucky if they encounter a question they are good at.

In other words, out of the three major questions, you're bound to find one that you can answer well, right?
If you can't even answer one question well, then there's no point in taking the exam.

Now that the three major questions have been reduced to one major question and two minor questions, it means that test takers will have to focus most of their attention on that one major question.

When the major questions for this provincial examination were announced, even Chen Xu was stunned and fell into deep thought.

The same applies to talented scholars from Tiannan Road who achieved fame early on, such as Mo Huaizhang, Ning Siyu, and Song Chengye.

As for Luo Wenhuan, who was sitting diagonally opposite Chen Xu, his eyes widened suddenly when he opened the test questions.

Then, Luo Wenhuan's breathing became heavy.

His eyes widened, and blood vessels had appeared at the corners of his eyes from excitement.

Why was Luo Wenhuan so agitated?
Because, before this exam, his elders had predicted the correct answer for him!
Preparing exam questions beforehand is something that all teachers and elders who care about their juniors do.

It's nothing unusual, and there's nothing wrong with it.

However, in most cases, it is very difficult to predict the exact questions.

But this time, the Luo family's fate was sealed!

Luo Wenhuan swore to God that this was absolutely not a leak of the exam questions; rather, the questions had been correctly guessed.

Or rather, part of the exam question was guessed.

Before this provincial examination, an elder in the Luo family had mentioned to Luo Wenhuan: "The northern frontier is suffering from a severe drought that has lasted for more than four months."

The questions for this year's provincial examination may be related to this.

At the time, Luo Wenhuan questioned: "Shouldn't the questions for the provincial examinations have such a clear focus?"

Besides, how could a problem like the severe drought in northern Xinjiang possibly be solved by scholars like us?
Even in the provincial examinations, setting a question based on this was truly excessive.

"The provincial examination or the palace examination is still somewhat possible."

The elder replied, "It is impossible to expect you to discuss and devise a comprehensive solution to the severe drought in the northern frontier."

But what if the policy proposal is only related to the severe drought in northern Xinjiang, and only from a single perspective?

Why is it impossible? How can it be impossible?

The debate ended with Luo Wenhuan's defeat.

He was a junior, a student, and no matter how famous he became at a young age, he could only listen obediently to his teachers and elders.

He recalled the days when he would stay up late, racking his brains to figure out how to solve the problem.

I recall all the hardships I endured, the countless books I devoured, and my bloodshot eyes from staying up all night.

Luo Wenhuan suddenly became so excited that he trembled all over.

(End of this chapter)