The closer you get to the manure pit, the stronger the pungent smell becomes, and the clearer the buzzing of flies and mosquitoes becomes.
The smell is simply unbearable.
"Ugh..."
A sound of vomiting was heard. Zhu Ping'an looked over and saw the poor, unlucky kid sitting in the room near the manure room. His face was pale, his eyes were dull, and he was vomiting against the corner of the wall.
I really want to vomit...
When the unlucky child saw Zhu Ping'an coming over with the card for going to the toilet, he shivered like a little girl who was cornered by a seven-foot-tall man late at night. His lifeless eyes seemed to be filled with accusations, "Damn it, it's already stinky enough, and you come again!"
My dear, I am so sorry, it was not my intention to make your misery worse.
Zhu Ping'an could only express his apology with his eyes.
I won't describe the excrement scene in detail, but in short, it was so sour and hot, with mosquitoes and flies flying around, and going to the toilet was a torture.
Hearing that Zhu Ping'an was a small toilet, the guy next to the feces room wanted to raise his finger and give Zhu Ping'an a hundred thumbs up. Zhu Ping'an finished his work, washed his hands, and came out of the feces room. Seeing the grateful eyes of the poor and miserable child next to the feces room, he was a little confused for a moment.
But thinking about it, I feel relieved.
In short, I hope this unlucky and miserable good student won't be so smoked that he can't perform properly. As the saying goes, when God gives a man a great responsibility, he must first make his heart and mind suffer, his muscles and bones tired, his body hungry, his body empty, and his actions frustrated. I hope he can get good results... But seeing that he rolled his eyes because of the smoke, it may be a bit difficult.
After returning to his own cell, Zhu Ping'an returned the toilet permit to the inspector and continued answering questions for his own examination.
The draft of the first eight-part essay question had been completed, and Zhu Ping'an then worked on the sutra question. It was very simple and did not take much time. It did not take long for him to finish it and write it neatly on the rough paper.
After finishing the scripture-posting question, Zhu Pingan continued to do the second eight-part essay question. The second question was titled: A gentleman is aloof, while a villain is inferior. It comes from a sentence in "The Analects of Confucius". Confucius said: "A gentleman is aloof, while a villain is inferior." It means that a gentleman is aloof and understands benevolence and righteousness; a villain is inferior and pursues fame and fortune. Although I have never tried to solve this question before, this eight-part essay question is quite standard and not difficult. It depends on your writing style.
Zhu Ping'an stopped writing, thought for a long time, and then pondered for a while. Then he dipped the brush in the ink on the inkstone, and then copied the well-thought-out eight-part essay neatly in small regular script on the draft paper.
After finishing the drafts of the three questions, Zhu Ping'an stretched and moved his body slightly. Writing at the desk in such a cramped environment was simply a harm to the body.
After exercising the body, go to the Mumingyuan Tower and look far away to give your eyes exercise. In ancient times, people with myopia did not have glasses to wear.
"Hey, I'm talking to you, stop looking around!" A yamen runner who was patrolling nearby saw Zhu Ping'an always looking elsewhere and couldn't help but scold him.
Well
I'm just looking forward, okay?! Although he thought so in his heart, Zhu Ping'an still obediently retracted his gaze. The ancients didn't understand theories like eye protection, and arguing with him at this juncture was like a birthday star drinking arsenic to show his longevity.
Under the gaze of the yamen runners, Zhu Ping'an obediently withdrew his gaze, turned a deaf ear to the outside world, and focused on writing eight-legged essays.
After Zhu Ping'an withdrew his gaze, he bent over his desk and began to copy the first eight-part essay on the answer sheet. He was more careful than when he copied it on the draft paper. He tried his best to bring out the maximum potential of his calligraphy and copied it neatly in small regular script.
After copying the first question, three more drums were heard, and then servants came one after another to bring food and water to each candidate's room. A large bowl of rice with one meat dish and one vegetable dish, and a bowl of boiled water, this was the lunch for the candidates.
The vegetarian dishes were too bland, and the meat dishes were too salty, but the rice was crystal clear, with an excellent texture and good taste. He usually ate with vegetables, but today he ate with rice. During this period, Zhu Ping'an felt that his mouth seemed to have become a little picky, and it was thanks to this bowl of rice that he could fill his stomach.
After eating, someone came to clean up the dishes and give the candidates a clean and tidy answering room.
After finishing his meal, Zhu Ping'an inexplicably thought of the candidate in the manure room, wondering how his lunch was.
The candidate in the manure room, whom Zhu Ping'an couldn't see, vomited again the moment he saw the food, and waved his hands as if he had seen a flood or a beast... In such an environment, it would be strange if he could eat it.
After the unfortunate kid finished vomiting, he became deeply worried. Damn, if everyone had lunch, wouldn’t the manure room become active again? So he started vomiting again.
After dinner, Zhu Ping'an began to copy the second question. When he was halfway through, he heard three drum sounds, followed by three cloud board sounds, and then he heard the invigilator shouting, "Copy it quickly!", just like the invigilator in modern exams reminding candidates to pay attention to time and write quickly.
At about one to two o'clock, Zhu Pingan leaned over to continue copying the second eight-part essay. The eight-part essay did not contain much content, and it did not take long to finish the second question, and then he copied the scripture as well.
After copying all the test questions, Zhu Pingan checked them carefully. Some candidates had handed in their papers and went to the waiting area to wait for the card to leave the Imperial College. Zhu Pingan ignored the people who handed in their papers and continued to check the papers carefully. He checked them twice in total and stood up to signal the examiner to hand in the papers after confirming that they were correct.
When the examiner came, he asked Zhu Ping'an to peel off the floating label with his name on his test paper and write his seat number. Then the examiner took Zhu Ping'an's test paper and gave him an exit card.
After Zhu Pingan received his exit card, he was led by the guards to the waiting area to wait for his card to be released. At this time, the first batch of people who had submitted their papers had been released. Zhu Pingan and his group waited for about a quarter of an hour before they were allowed to leave the Imperial Examination Hall.
The clerk guarding the gate collected a badge and released each person. Zhu Ping arranged the team to hand in the badges and walk out of the Jiangnan Examination Hall.
After leaving the Jiangnan Imperial Examination Hall, I looked back at the gate and felt like a bird out of a cage. I suddenly felt relaxed and comfortable.
"Brother Zhu, you finally came out..."
Before Zhu Ping'an could take two more breaths of air, he heard a pig-slaughtering scream.
You don't need to look, you can tell it's Fatty Xue Chi just by listening to his voice.
"Brother Xue..." Zhu Ping'an looked up and swallowed the words halfway through his words, because the image of the fat man in his sight was so... so shocking, it was as if he was dragged into the woods by a group of strong men and rubbed a hundred times, but without paying a penny.
It was really a mess of tears and snot.
"Brother Zhu..." Fatty Xue Chi came over with tears and snot.
Along with the fat man came a fishy and foul smell.
"Oh my god, did you take a shower in the toilet?" Zhu Ping'an took two steps back, regarding the fat man as a monster.
This sentence seemed to touch the fat man's heart. Upon hearing this, the fat man's snot and tears flowed like a river...
"Brother Zhu, I was assigned to the manure station. Woohoo, I vomited all day long..."
The fat man was crying bitterly and waving his fat hands, complaining that the college examination was unfair, as he was assigned to the stinky room, which resulted in him only using one-tenth of his ability.