The two words "Ding Chou" on the red paper were like two loud slaps in the face of the uncle and others who were surrounding Zhu Ping'an and were always talking about gaining experience.
Snap... Snap...
With an echo
Uncle Zhu Shouren's mouth twitched as he stared blankly at the list, unable to look away for a long time, as if he had to see the two words Dingchou as other words.
The other students and scholars were almost the same as my uncle Zhu Shouren, all of them were shocked by the word "Ding Chou"...
"Ahem, maybe there's something wrong with the list..."
A failed student who had withdrawn his gaze from the A-list, muttered to himself with red eyes. Apart from the problem with the list, he really couldn't think of any reason why Zhu Ping'an could be on the A-list.
"Maybe... maybe they made a mistake when marking the papers..."
Another student who could not accept the result thought of a second reason why Zhu Ping'an was able to be on the A-list.
In fact, these people just don't want to accept this result. The imperial examination is notoriously strict. The county examination is the most basic part. Although it is more relaxed than the prefectural examination, there are no mistakes in marking the papers. The county examination has a strict set of regulations to prevent cheating. One of them is to re-transcribe the candidates' answer sheets to prevent candidates from leaving marks on the test papers, or the examiners recognize the papers of candidates they are familiar with. The examiners do not read the original papers, but the ones copied by the clerks from other counties with red pens and cinnabar. After being checked and verified by several people, there will be no mistakes such as writing the wrong seat number. Moreover, a test paper must pass through the hands of multiple examiners, and the results will be announced after repeated reviews.
But no matter what, these people didn't think it was Zhu Ping'an's strength at all, and just attributed it to other reasons. Finally, after a lively and active discussion, everyone came up with a reason why Zhu Ping'an was on the top list: this glutton who was bitten by snakes and heard birds singing was lucky in this exam!
Therefore, in addition to the titles such as the bird that hears the sound of a snake bitten, the glutton, and the young man in the firewood room, Zhu Ping'an also gained another title as a boy with bad luck.
The six people on the B list were fine, but the others who were not on the list looked at Zhu Ping'an, a lucky boy, with strange eyes.
It’s not that we have no talent, but that we are just unlucky.
The failed scholar sighed unwillingly, packed up his things and started his journey home.
Uncle Zhu Shouren also sighed that fate was playing tricks on him, and followed the crowd to slowly walk back to the inn. He had studied hard for decades and only ranked second, but Zhu Ping'an was lucky enough to be ranked first. It was really fate that played tricks on him. However, luck can never be repeated, and he didn't need to worry too much, after all, he even passed the provincial examination. It was impossible for Zhu'er's luck to continue, and his road to the imperial examination would end here, yes, that's right, it must be.
Zhu Ping'an, who had not had a chance to speak since the announcement of the results, looked at everyone who was leaving, sighing at their good luck. He could not help but slowly stretched out his right hand towards their backs, as if he wanted to call out to them.
However, the scene changed in the next second. Zhu Ping'an turned his palm up, put his four fingers together, and suddenly extended his middle finger, making an iconic middle-finger gesture that is popular in modern times but unknown in ancient times.
At this time, everyone dispersed, and the list was sparse. Zhu Pingan slowly walked to the list and looked at it carefully. There were more than 1,300 people participating in the first round of the county exam, more than 700 people on the B list, 50 people on the A list, and one person who ranked first. The A and B lists were ranked in no particular order, and they were arranged in a circle. Zhu Pingan was in the core of a small circle in the A list. The first place was only the seat number "Jia Zi". Judging from the seat number, it should be the person sitting in front, quite far away from him, and it had no effect at all.
After returning to the inn, the students and scholars in the lobby congratulated Zhu Ping'an in a joking tone on his top score in the imperial examination.
Zhu Ping'an bowed and thanked them one by one, as if he didn't hear their jokes.
True gold is not afraid of fire. Zhu Ping'an disdains to argue with them. It's meaningless. Not to mention that these people may be waiting for you to argue with them, and then step on you to show off. But the first county exam is actually a very basic exam. 70% of people can pass the exam. There are still the second, third, and fourth rounds waiting for the big waves to wash away the sand and the fierce fire to refine the gold. Just let them toss around. When the results come out, they don't need to do anything. Their faces will be swollen by themselves.
It will be very interesting to see their expressions when the time comes.
As everyone looked at Zhu Ping'an's indifferent back, the ridicule became even stronger, and they regarded Zhu Ping'an's indifferent departure as a shameful and dejected departure.
"Look, look, he doesn't even dare to argue. He must be feeling guilty."
"How can I feel guilty? I'm afraid there is something fishy going on. Maybe I've given the county lord some benefits."
"Hush, Brother Wang, be careful with your words. How can this poor foodie who lives in the woodshed have the money to spare to compete with the county magistrate... The county magistrate is well-known in the county for his integrity... He just got lucky in this exam. Just wait and see. Tomorrow's exam will definitely bring him back to his original form..."
"Oh, that's right. Haha, shit luck can't last forever... Let's see how he does in the next exam."
The atmosphere in the hall became heated. The students and scholars who stayed here were either students like Zhu Shouren, or those who were on the high school list in this exam. Everyone drank some wine and the mood was high. Someone suggested that we should follow the example of the person who opened the odds in front of the list and open a handicap to see if the lucky boy in the firewood room who was bitten by a snake and heard the cry of birds can be on the next high school list.
I'll bet a hundred coins that he won't win.
I'll bet one ounce of silver on him not winning.
... ...
In the end, the odds could not be opened anymore, and students in the entire lobby of the inn placed bets one after another, but all of them bet that Zhu Ping'an would not win.
Then, everyone smiled at each other, with a feeling that they were heroes who saw the same thing, and they raised their glasses to toast each other tacitly and drank together.
Zhu Ping'an returned to his room, unaware that he had once again become the object of everyone's ridicule. He packed up his things, sat at his desk, opened the laws and previous case law, and began to read with great interest in the sunlight streaming in through the window.
The second exam was to examine the students' ability to judge right from wrong and write various official documents. This also shows that Zhu's reform of the imperial examination system really wanted to select practical talents with culture, insight, and ability for the country. But unfortunately, the eight-part essay severely restricted the realization of this goal.
While reviewing legal cases, Zhu Ping'an laughed at the good intentions of Comrade Lao Zhu. Dreams are full, but reality is skinny. If Lao Zhu knew that most of the people selected by his stuff were nerds, he would surely burst into tears in his dreams at midnight.