I feel so good after dressing up as a peasant girl

Chapter 346 Return to Baijia Village

Bai Lizheng was not worried about how long it would take for his grandson to take the imperial examination or whether it would take a few more years of hard work. He was worried about whether his grandson had encountered something bad.

His doubt was soon answered. The first thing Bai Jingzhou and others did when they returned to the village was for one thing: Bai Lizheng saw his eldest grandson with a guilty look on his face.

The whole family rushed over, and just as he was about to ask, Bai Jingzhou explained, "Grandpa Lizheng, Brother Yaoheng's exam room was leaking so badly that he forced himself to finish the first exam and then fell ill. And Uncle Yue, he was assigned to the stinky room."

These two people are better than Bai Jingshan and Gu Wenhai in terms of knowledge. The reason they failed the exam can only be attributed to bad luck.

As for the other scholars from the same village who had little hope of passing the exam and took the exam just to gain some experience, Bai Jingzhou simply skipped the mention of them.

Bai Lizheng listened to him and nodded while gently patting his grandson's shoulder to comfort him. "It's good that he's okay. You are still young. It will be the same if you take the exam again in three years."

Bai Yaoheng hummed lightly, and then followed his father and mother who had rushed back specially to wait for him to return home.

The other students from the same village who had followed Bai Jingzhou to Daming Prefecture had also gotten off the bus. Their families squeezed through the crowd and helped them carry their belongings.

Bai Jingzhou and others said goodbye to them and Bai Lizheng and other villagers with a smile, planning to take their families home.

However, some villagers gathered around at this time, racking their brains to praise Bai Jingzhou and others with their straightforward and poor words.

Bai Jingzhou smiled and said a few humble words, then gave a brief account of the scientific expedition.

The point he made was that many students who failed the exam were not because they were not talented enough, but because it rained heavily when they took the first exam.

According to him, the rain was so heavy that many famous students became sick due to severe leaks in the examination halls and ultimately failed the exam.

He said modestly, "The reason Jingshan, Wenhai, and I were able to pass was actually because our examination halls did not leak."

There was another reason he didn't mention, which was that there were quite a few scholars who were delayed by the war, or even died or became disabled because of the war. The Xin Dynasty was now in need of talent, and the imperial examinations held every three years gave quite generous admission quotas. As a result, the competition pressure on those who took the exams was naturally relatively small.

After everyone left, Gu Wenxuan whispered to Bai Jingshan and Gu Wenhai, "Jingzhou can be modest in front of outsiders, but you can't think that your success was all due to luck."

"If you hadn't been diligent and hardworking in the past few years, reciting poems and essays in your mind while doing horse stance, farm work, eating, and walking, and if we hadn't collected a rich collection of books from various sources, and if those good teachers including Grandpa Lin and Uncle Lin hadn't taught you carefully, even if you were lucky enough to be assigned to a good examination room in the provincial examination, you would never have made it to the list at this age."

Bai Jingzhou nodded in agreement, "That's right, not everyone can catch good luck."

Gu Wenhai blinked, "I know, sister, brother-in-law."

Bai Jingshan said, "The man who made fun of me and Wen Hai in the teahouse must not have been caught."

When he said that, Gu Wenxuan couldn't help but burst out laughing. It was the first time she saw Bai Jingshan holding a grudge like this.

Li Fan was riding in a separate carriage, which was specially arranged by Bai Jingzhou when they set out this morning, so that Li Fan could go home directly with his mother, wife and daughter.

Zheng Rong, who was driving him, took him and his luggage, as well as his mother, wife and daughter, and uncle's family, directly to the small courtyard of his home near the school.

Zheng Rong originally wanted to help Li Fan move things, but Li Fan's uncle's family had a lot of strong laborers, so Zheng Rong didn't have to do anything. They just took turns to move the things Li Fan brought back out of the car and put them away.

Seeing that there was nothing left for him to do, Zheng Rong drove the carriage back to the Bai family.

It was very lively at the Bai family's place. The Bai family, the Gu family, the Fang family, Jia's father and mother, and Jia Yuelan were all gathered at the Bai family, happily chatting with Bai Jingzhou, Gu Wenhai, Gu Wenxuan and others.

At the same time, in the Bai family's big kitchen, the cook and the maids were busy preparing hot water, tea, snacks and meals for Bai Jingzhou and others.

While drinking tea, Bai Jingzhou and others briefly recounted their experiences during this period. Then the Bai family and the Gu family told them about the officials and hangers-on from the county government who came one after another to report the good news.

Bai Jingzhou and the others listened carefully, and agreed to send a letter to pay a visit to the current Qingshan County magistrate before returning to the academy.

The current Qingshan County magistrate took over the position from the former County Magistrate Peng. He has no friendship with anyone in Baijia Village, but with the emperor's commendation of Bai Jingzhou and their relationship with the Peng and Mu families, the new county magistrate would not deliberately make things difficult for the people of Baijia Village.

After talking with family members and close relatives, Bai Jingzhou and his friends had a simple meal, then went back to wash, change clothes, and prepare to rest.

Unlike the situation here, Bai Jingshan's house was still bustling until dark.

Their house is not like Bai Jingzhou's and Gu Wenhai's. The house is big and has many servants, so it is basically impossible for outsiders to get in.

Bai Jingshan's family only had two strong old women he bought, who were responsible for helping to guard the house and do some heavy work.

If any thugs sneaked in at night, they could indeed play a role of defense and warning, but now they were facing members of the Bai family who came to congratulate them.

As servants, they couldn't treat the Bai family members who came in under the pretext of congratulations as people with ulterior motives.

Those who didn't dare to go to Bai Jingzhou's house, or those who went there but couldn't get in, now all flocked to Bai Jingshan's house. They sat there chattering non-stop, completely ignoring the fatigue on Bai Jingshan's face from the long journey.

Bai Jingshan didn't want to fall out with so many clansmen just after passing the imperial examination, so he could only entertain them with his family with a gloomy face.

In the end, their next-door neighbor couldn't stand it anymore and secretly asked his youngest son to invite Bai Lizheng over.

Their neighbors were the kind of sensible members of the Bai clan. After congratulating Bai Jingshan, the sensible members of the Bai clan, including their neighbors, left tactfully. They had never expected that Bai Jingshan's house would be occupied by the group of rude members of the Bai clan after they left.

Bai Lizheng had a dark face. As soon as he entered the room, he pointed at those people who were pestering Bai Jingshan's family and couldn't wait to get benefits from them, and said, "Get out of here!"

What a bunch of shameless people. He had to give some respect to the only two juren scholars in the Bai family. But these people couldn't wait to bully him and come to his door, wanting to eat his flesh and drink his blood. How proud they were of it!