Chapter 88

On the day of the exam, Liao Tingyu accompanied his students as the teacher, to take the test. When they reached the exam venue, they were greeted by two anxious fathers seeing their children off.

“Teacher, why are you here as well?” Yang Wenhao, with his sharp eyes, immediately spotted the approaching figure and hurried to Liao Tingyu.

Zhang Dewu followed closely behind.

“I’m here to support you on your first exam!” Liao Tingyu gently ruffled their heads. “Concentrate during the exam, think before you write, and take your time to make your answers neat, okay?”

“Don’t worry, Teacher, we won’t disappoint you.” Yang Wenhao and Zhang Dewu patted their chests, full of assurance.

“Good, Teacher believes in you. With your abilities, as long as you take the test seriously and complete the questions, you will do well.” Encouraged by their Teacher, the two children were filled with confidence.

Liao Tingyu continued, “If you encounter something you don’t know, just leave it blank and return to it later if you have time.”

“We understand, Teacher.”

The bell rang, signaling the students to enter the examination room. As the two children and the teacher bade each other farewell, Liao Tingyu approached the two nervous fathers who resembled stone statues.

“Don’t stand here and fret. There’s nothing you can do to help with the exam. They must rely on their own abilities. Trust me, it’s not a major issue. If they perform well, you’ll hear good news soon.”

“We know that, and we have faith in your exceptional abilities. It’s just our parental concerns.”

“Indeed. Thinking back to when I took the exam; my parents were just like this. Parents always care more about their children’s futures than their own lives,” Liao Tingyu empathized.

Yang Shu smiled awkwardly; it was different when the teacher was present, and what they did on their own was another story.

The Tongsheng Examination was completed in a single day, and the children did quite well. Seeing the two cheerful children exiting the exam hall, it was evident that they had performed admirably.

As soon as Zhang Dewu emerged, he joyfully rushed to his father.

Zhang Yi quickly inquired, “How did it go? How did my son do on the exam? How are you feeling?”

“Dad, the exam was quite straightforward. I believe I’ll pass this time. The content was typical Confucian examination material. The questions we studied and practiced were also in the exam.” Zhang Dewu confidently stated.

The other child nodded happily in agreement.

“We were prepared for all of that, but the lunch they provided wasn’t very appetizing.”

“You cheeky boy, expecting a gourmet meal while taking an exam. Do you think you’re in a restaurant?”

“But they only gave us dry steamed buns. I tried to eat a few as my teacher’s advice, but I’m starving now!”

Zhang Dewu also nodded; his hunger was evident.

At first, they wanted to invite Liao Tingyu together and have celebration.

However, Liao Tingyu refused, saying, “You and your son can go ahead and eat. I’ll take care of my own here. These two children have been hungry for a long time. Get them something easy on the stomach so they don’t develop stomach problems from hunger.”

Yang Shu naturally didn’t object. After all, adults like them were there to enjoy a drink and tea, and they weren’t expecting to have a full meal.

“Thank you for understanding, Teacher.”

“They’re from the same town. Let them have a good chat together. Let the children go back and play for a few days before they come to my place.”

“Alright!”

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When Huang Zilan returned home, he set aside his account book and asked curiously, “How did it go? How did your two students do in the exam today?”

“Those two kids were in high spirits during the exam today. They were talking about the questions and how they felt. Why? You care more about those two little guys than your husband?” Liao Tingyu playfully pouted and coquettishly turned to Huang Zilan.

“Of course, I care about those two little ones. They’ve been taking exams all day, while you were leisurely chatting in a restaurant and sipping tea. What a life! You need me to ask whether you’ve eaten well or enjoyed your time.” Huang Zilan playfully chided Liao Tingyu.

“In that case, I won’t have to worry about it? It’s said that children’s exams are more nerve-wracking for adults. While I was sipping tea and chatting, I was also anxious. I’ve been worrying about whether those two little brats performed well in the exams all day long. That kind of mental stress is much more exhausting than physical exertion.”

“Alright, alright, your hard work has paid off. Have you seen all the delicious treats I’ve prepared? Go on and eat. You’ve had a long day. Eat up.” Huang Zilan encouraged while trying to feed pastries from the table into Liao Tingyu’s mouth.

Liao Tingyu shied away. He felt quite full just looking at the spread on the table. Huang Zilan noticed something was amiss.

“What’s the matter? You look like you’re not eating. Did those two forget to leave you some food again? They knew you were full! What did you eat today?”

Liao Tingyu smiled sheepishly, “I had soy sauce duck and fried pork. They were delicious.”

“That’s right, those are Zhenwei Pavilion’s most famous signature dishes. Be careful not to gain weight,” Huang Zilan said, concerned about his husband’s health.

Liao Tingyu thought about how he looked and touched his clothes. He seemed to be fine, not gaining much weight.

The Tongsheng Examination had a large number of participants, but the results were released quite swiftly. Within a month, the results were posted. However, as it was the lowest-level exam, there were no officials or soldiers to make an announcement. The news was simply posted on a list. On that day, parents gathered around the location where the list would be posted.

Zhang Yi and Yang Shu, who had experienced many challenges in life, found themselves quite anxious about such a trivial matter. They woke up early on the day the results were to be released and even had their servants wait in front of the posting location the day before.

As for their children and wife, they were left at home. Some matters were better suited for the elder generation to handle.

Before the results were released, Zhang Yi and Yang Shu were already standing by nervously. They inquired, “Have the results come out?”

“Not yet, it’s not expected until noon,” the servant replied with an exasperated look, thinking that the master had asked the same question multiple times. Why keep asking?

“Why is it taking so long?” Zhang Yi was visibly anxious.

“He hadn’t eaten anything in the morning, and his stomach had already rebelled.

“What can we do? Why don’t we go to that restaurant to sit down and have something to eat? You two, keep an eye on me. If you come out, look up for the young master’s name,” Yang Shu heard Zhang Yi’s stomach growl and came to the rescue.

“Master, don’t worry. We will remember the young master’s name firmly,” the servant nodded quickly.

Zhang Yi didn’t want to leave: “We’ll just wait here for a while. It’s only for an hour or two, anyway.”

“There are people watching here. You can’t stand on your legs for so long. Let’s go back to the restaurant. How about we wait patiently? Believe in the child, believe in the teacher.” Yang Shu said the words of belief, his legs were shaking a little, he was very nervous, but he didn’t have the courage to look at the list.

So…

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Liao Tingyu sat leisurely at home and basked in the sun.@@novelbin@@

Huang Zilan asked very strangely: “The results of your students will be released today. Whether you can pass the exam depends on that piece of paper. Why don’t you take a look?”

“What are you looking at? I asked them about the exam content and listened to their answers. I think it’s pretty good and there’s not much of a problem. Now we just need to sit here and wait for the news. Don’t be too busy. Just have a simple meal at noon. What do you need? I’m here to help. Let’s go copy the big business tonight.”

“Copying the big business, do Zhang Yi and others know that you describe them like this?” Huang Zilan said.

“They definitely don’t know. How can I say these things in front of them? Okay, what are we going to eat for lunch today?”

“Just make braised pork and stew some soup or something. You go pick some. It tastes better if the vegetables are placed in the soup.”

“Okay, I’ll pinch some and bring it over.”

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The two of them had a nice meal together, but the other side was nervous and couldn’t finish every bite.

He was holding something and staring intently at the place where the list was posted.

He obviously said he wanted to drink tea, but he was afraid that later he had to enter the hut and delayed the release of the results, so he didn’t dare to drink tea and just ate dry food.

Finally, the exciting moment came, as the people from the yamen came out.

It was relatively quiet at first, and the people surrounding the place stood there consciously. But as the officers and soldiers posted things on the notice board, it became crowded, and everyone wanted to move forward.

Two servants stood in the front row, holding on in agony.

“Why don’t we go and have a look too?” Zhang Yi stood up and moved as fast as he could, trying to make out the ant-sized characters.

Half of his body was almost sticking out of the railing.

“No, I’m afraid we won’t be able to squeeze in with this situation. We can only wait for news and hope these two can be smarter.” Yang Shu looked at the congestion below. The two of them, who have been pampered for many years, are unable to squeeze in. Go.

“I just said I wanted to go down, but you refused to let me go.” Looking at the scene below, Zhang Yi knew there was no hope, so he complained.

“Yes, you said you wanted to go down, why didn’t I see your feet move!” Yang Shu looked at Zhang Yi angrily, “It’s like this every time.”

The servants lived up to his expectations and quickly found the two young masters’ names.

Because it was difficult to squeeze in, it was even harder to squeeze out, so they could only wave and shout towards the restaurant.

“Master, my young master passed the exam. My young master has been admitted to the Tongsheng Examination!”

Zhang Yi didn’t believe it. He quickly asked: “I just heard someone say something serious. It seemed to be the servant’s voice. Am I hallucinating?”

“Yes.”

He tried hard to find the familiar person below, but there were all black heads below, making it impossible to distinguish them.

“I don’t know, don’t ask me!” This brotherhood was like plastic, it will fall apart at a moment’s notice.

When the servants saw that his master was still staring at the list on the balcony, they knew that the master had not heard anything at all, so they had to bend their body and try to squeeze out carefully.

After finally squeezing out, they felt like they had changed shape, and their hair was more messy than dead grass.

The two ran to the restaurant without daring to delay for a moment. The waiter thought something big had happened and chased after them, “Hey, what are you two doing? What are you waiting for? Stop!”

Zhang Yi looked at him. The two people appeared in front of him in a very embarrassed manner. They recognized the person and asked anxiously: “How is it? Did the young master pass?”

“Yes, yes, the young masters have all passed the Tongsheng Examination.” This simple sentence made the two adults take a sip of their cold tea.

“Oh, my son, he really hit the target. Brother, did you hear it? My son got the hit!” Zhang Yi jumped up happily, hugging the Yang Shu.

Yang Shu’s expression looked like he had eaten something unpleasant. He pulled the person off his body and asked, “Did Young Master Yang Wenhao pass the exam?”

“Yes, Young Master Yang Wenhao and Young Master Zhang Dewu passed the exam.” The news was confirmed again. After it was true, Yang Shu pretended to sit down calmly.

In sharp contrast to the elation of Zhang Yi.

The waiter who came from behind saw the people in the room going crazy.

He hurriedly wanted to retreat, but Yang Shu called him out, “Waiter, don’t leave yet, bring me a table of good wine and food.”

The waiter nodded, retreated, and the shopkeeper who arrived behind asked about the situation.

“What just happened? What are you shouting?”

“Shopkeeper, I just saw two embarrassed people running inside. I thought they had bad intentions, but I didn’t expect it was the son of the person in the box. It seems that I passed the exam and was so happy that they went crazy.”

“Whose family are you from? I’m so lucky to have passed the exam. I don’t know who I learned it from.” The shopkeeper was very envious.

Zhang Yi’s happiness was almost vented. He sat down and ate the food and said to his brother, “We should go and thank Liao-xiucai. It’s probably too late to go now. Why not go out to Liao-xiucai for a meal in the evening? I have to think carefully, I need to give good gifts for him. It is all thanks to Liao-xiucai that our children can pass the exam.”

“That’s true. I will also think about what gifts to give. You two go back and share the news first. Let everyone hear it, and spread the joy.” Yang Shu nodded and ordered.

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As expected by Liao Tingyu, tonight was indeed a grand celebration.

The two of them arrived at Liao Tingyu’s mansion hand in hand with the invitation and presented a generous gift.

After the other guests had left, Huang Zilan opened the box and found pieces of beautiful jewelry inside.

He was very pleased, even though he was not in need of money, as a businessman, he naturally appreciated the value of the gift.

“This is indeed a generous gift. Shall we reciprocate?”

“It’s not necessary. This is probably only their income for one or two years. I brought their son into the path of scholars. From now on, no matter what their children do, no one dares to look down upon them. They have a wide-open road ahead, so you don’t have to worry about these gifts. Feel free to accept them,” Liao Tingyu said as he looked at the gifts.

Huang Zilan considered this and agreed.

After all, it had taken these two children two years of hard work to pass the exam. The boy was a prodigy, and they would no longer face discrimination. If they were admitted to Qingshan Academy in the future, they would have a bright future.

Even if they didn’t choose to advance academically and instead took over the family business, they were still a learned businessman, and no one would dare to underestimate them.

During the evening banquet, Yang Shu and his family invited musicians to entertain the couple. The two children presented their gifts to the teacher, following their father’s instructions.

“Thank you, Teacher, for your guidance over the past two years.”

“You’re welcome. Both of you were already very bright children to begin with. Your achievements are the result of your hard work. I merely provided some guidance. In the future, I hope we can continue to support each other as you take further steps in your journey,” Liao Tingyu offered words of encouragement.

The two fathers looked at their sons’ attire and were pleased. Dressing during the Mid-Autumn Festival was a matter of great significance. Scholarly attire typically had minimal patterns, while scholars with some recognition might wear elegant embroidery.

Businessmen had their own dress code, and if a businessman or his son wore embroidered patterns with certain meanings, they could face criticism from scholars.

On this occasion, the two children wore clothes embroidered with green bamboo. While their attire might not have looked brand new, the green bamboo pattern had been recently added. It’s likely they had it embroidered quickly upon hearing the good news, which was indeed a joyful occasion.

Yang Shu’s wife was familiar to Huang Zilan as the child of his father’s former business friend and Zhang Yi’s wife was also an acquaintance. The three of them sat together and engaged in conversation.

“The orchid embroidery on Yang Wenhao’s attire is exquisite. Did you do the embroidery yourself?”

“Yes, I learned this skill at home, and now it’s come in handy. All thanks to your husband.” Yang Shu’s husband smiled warmly, and his contentment was evident in his demeanor.

“Yes, indeed. We should express our gratitude to Liao-xiucai properly. Without him, we wouldn’t be where we are today. Let’s raise a toast in his honor.”