"Brother Xia, what do you think?" Seeing that he didn't respond, Wei Wushuang couldn't help but ask.
Xia Fan smiled slightly, "I was thinking, instead of making random guesses, I might as well ask someone who knows."
"Huh? Who would know?"
He raised his hand and waved to the waiter, "Waiter, please come over here!"
"Hey, come on!"
Xia Fan tilted his head and said, "Look, someone who knows is here."
Wei Wushuang couldn't help but open his mouth and said with surprise, "Do you think... the waiter in this teahouse knows the inside story of the Shikao?"
"Actually, I was very surprised at the beginning. Why would a remote village built halfway up a mountain have a hotel and a teahouse in the center?" He put down the tea cup and slowly expressed his doubts, "It is neither close to the big city nor close to the big city. It is located on a traffic thoroughfare. If it were not for the examination, who would come here to stay and stay in a shop? No one in the world would be willing to do a purely loss-making business. "
"Uh..." Wei Wushuang was also stunned, "What you said does seem to make sense."
"Look at the blue brick floor. It's decades old at least. It doesn't look like it was built temporarily. The reason why this store can survive for so long must be supported by other sources of income. Regardless of the book profit and loss, you are willing to Who do you think it would be to invest money in a place like this?”
"Could it be... that it's the Privy Council Office responsible for organizing the examination? But even so, what does it have to do with the waiter?" Wei Wushuang was still puzzled.
"The scientific examination only requires a paper and a pen, and the martial arts examination only requires an open space and weapons. There is basically no limit to the location of both. As for the military examination, you can't just find any place, right? Otherwise, the Privy Council Office won't do it either. I will go to great lengths to summon everyone to this remote town." Xia Fan said in a persuasive manner, "After all, in terms of office and administrative costs, going to a big city is always the best option, which is why the final test for the two exams is The reason why they are all settled in Gyeonggi.”
"Administrative...cost?" the fellow countryman repeated with difficulty.
"Ahem, don't worry about the wording. You just need to understand it as the difference between the expenses required to hold the exam and the profit." He stretched out two fingers, "In short, it is not difficult to infer two points from the above. An examination room that can hold the bachelor's degree examination has It must be special, so the number should not be too large; and to maintain such an examination room, a steady supply of money is needed."
"Although the Privy Council Office is extremely important, you can't spend money carelessly. They have maintained Qingshan Town for a long time, and it is definitely not just for this exam. In other words, there should have been many military exams held here." Xia Fan Finally, he concluded, "If the waiter is a local, he should have experienced similar battles."
Wei Wushuang was speechless for a moment.
"Two guests, what are your orders?" While they were talking, the waiter also came to their table.
Xia Fan ordered braised beef first, then changed the subject and asked casually, "By the way, how long have you been in this teahouse?"
"Guest officer, I have been running errands here since I was a child, at least for more than ten years." The waiter replied enthusiastically.
"Business shouldn't be so hot in normal times, right?"
"You are right, the last time I was so busy was probably five or six years ago."
"Were people like us here at that time?" Wei Wushuang asked quickly.
The other party smiled, but did not answer immediately.
Xia Fan suddenly realized that he seemed to have rich experience... He coughed twice and pointed to his waist.
Wei Wushuang was stunned for a moment before he realized what he was doing. He took out half a dime of silver from his pocket and put it on the table.
The waiter immediately beamed and took the money with a slight sweep of his sleeve, "It should be about the same. I remember that the topics they talked about were all about the exam, spells, etc. Of course, I don't know the specifics."
Wei Wushuang suddenly became excited, "Then do you know the content of their assessment?"
The other person shut up again.
This time no prompting was needed, the fellow countryman had already pushed another silver horn into his hand.
"Honestly, I'm not sure." Xiao Erle said, "I don't dare to touch the things they talked about. Moreover, most of those people were active late at night, and they even went to the back mountains, so no one had time to avoid them. Who would go up and ask what's going on? If anyone in the town knows, it's probably just a few old hunters. It is said that someone asked them to be their guides at that time, and they earned more than ten taels of silver in one night."
When Wei Wushuang was about to put on his pocket bag again, Xia Fan held him down and said, "Okay, go and do your work."
"Okay!" the waiter responded.
"Wait, I still want to..."
"Look around." Xia Fan interrupted Wei Wushuang.
Only then did the latter realize that several tables of people had noticed what was going on here. Although they still pretended to be eating and drinking, their glances were obviously becoming more frequent.
"Waiter, this way!" When the waiter turned around, a table of people immediately shouted.
"Look, there's no need to spend all the money on this." Xia Fan picked up a peanut and threw it into his mouth, "Since other people are willing to pay this money, it's better to give them the opportunity, as long as we can be sure that here It’s not the first time that the examination is held, so it’s the same question for everyone. Besides, if we can think of this, the Privy Council must also think of it. If the invigilator doesn’t prohibit us from communicating with the locals, then we must be sure not to leak the questions in advance. Questions too many Otherwise, it might be detrimental to us."
Wei Wushuang frowned and thought for a moment, then suddenly raised his head, "You mean - Qian Yin?"
"Twelve taels of silver is not too little, but it is not too much either." Xia Fan nodded. Calculated according to the purchasing power of food, one tael of silver in this era was about five hundred yuan. Twelve taels of cash was a huge amount of money that he and his master couldn't afford, but to the disciples of the big family it was just a drop in the bucket. "Why you can only carry this amount before entering the town probably has something to do with the exam. Didn't that person just mention it? Hiring a local guide only costs more than ten taels of silver. This is enough for several people to pool their money. Number of."
"This... is something I didn't expect." Wei Wushuang sighed after a long time, "I wonder who your respected master is?"
"Expert?" Xia Fan couldn't help but think of the image of a cheap master - a middle-aged uncle who would tell everyone he was in trouble, but I could solve your problems for you. If it’s not even, the disciple needs to take care of it first. Do you have any misunderstandings about the master?”
"But my brother's knowledge really amazes me. I've been working in shops since I was a child, and I think I'm quite sensitive to money, but I'm still much worse than you." Wei Wushuang admired him, "If it weren't for respecting my master, then you must have been there before. Traveled to many places."
Xia Fan couldn't help but want to laugh. He had indeed stayed in many places with his master, but that was by no means a break-in, but an aimless wandering.
If you include the experience of two lifetimes, it would be even more.
It's just that he naturally won't tell the other party this.
In addition, the teahouse was not the only place where Xia Fan noticed something strange.
Such as the reaction of local people.
There are only one or two hundred residents in Qingshan Town at most, but there are as many as four hundred candidates. If a large group of outsiders flood into this closed place, it will inevitably bring about resistance and defensiveness. But after walking around, he found that the locals behaved too naturally, doing whatever they were supposed to do, and even saying hello to the candidates, as if... they were used to this kind of thing.
"Your family runs a shop?"
"Dawanliang Store is my store." Wei Wushuang replied.
"Pfft," Xia Fan almost choked. Isn't this the best-selling grain store in Fenghua County? Moreover, the store would occasionally distribute some relief porridge, and Master would often take advantage of it. Those who can open a grain store in Qiguo, even if they are not members of aristocratic families, are not ordinary merchants and hawkers.
"Brother, have you seen him before?"
It would be strange if you haven't seen it before. It is the most central location in the county. Xia Fan rolled his eyes at him and classified the other party as a bourgeois enemy in his mind, "Well, that's right."
"Hehe, when the examination is over, I will definitely treat Brother Xia to a good meal in Fenghua County."
"No, this meal is enough." Xia Fan stood up and cupped his hands towards him, "Thank you very much."
"…Wait, wait," Wei Wushuang didn't react for a moment, "You don't want to be with me—"
"Cooperate?" He shook his head, "You are actually right about one thing. Disciples of those sects and aristocratic families have far greater advantages than individual investors. Even if they can pass the scholar's examination, their rankings will not be too high. Therefore, for you, the most important thing is The best choice is to fail on purpose - whether you get into the Privy Council House or not will not have much impact on you, and because you failed in the assessment, your father should have nothing to say. Back in Fenghua County, you are still the second young master of the family, and you will have no food and clothing for your whole life. Worry is at least much better than being assigned to a certain town and eventually dying of an evil incident."
"So hurry up and go home -" Xia Fan waved his hand at this point, "Isn't it bad to be a rich second generation with a boring life?"
He could see that Wei Wushuang had no determination to pass the examination.
The latter's face turned visibly red.
For a moment, he thought that the other party would become angry and curse, but in the end Wei Wushuang endured it.
This was not common, so Xia Fan secretly praised him - the most important thing for boys between the ages of fifteen and sixteen to adulthood is face. They can lose anything, but face cannot be lost. To put it bluntly, they love to show off their strength and like to take advantage of others. However, while the other party was not convinced, he looked at his heart.
After half a moment, Wei Wushuang said, "What about you? It's just as hard for you to get a good ranking as me. Aren't you afraid?"
"Who said that? I don't care about my own life."
"Then why..."
"Maybe because of ignorance." Xia Fan sighed softly.
"Ignorance?" Wei Wushuang's face was full of surprise. He really couldn't associate the man in front of him with ignorance.
Because I know nothing about this new world, I want to learn more about it. Xia Fan knew clearly that the sense of dissonance in his heart came from the opposition between reality and common sense, and from the feedback from an unfamiliar environment. If he was just an ordinary person in this life, it would be fine, but he happened to be gifted. Paying off the debt for a cheap master was just a hook. Even if something like this hadn't happened, he would have taken this step sooner or later. As the Privy Council that manages all visions, it is undoubtedly an ideal platform.
What's more, for him who has received a systematic education, seeking knowledge and solving doubts has become an instinct engraved in his soul.
But even if you say this, people in this world probably won’t be able to understand it.
He waved his hand, turned and walked outside.