The county examination, which lasted for more than ten days, finally came to an end. In this most basic exam, most of the students and scholars failed. Among more than a thousand students and scholars, only more than 150 passed.
Zhu Ping'an was at the top of the list from the first to the last results announcement.
I still remember that when the last exam results were announced, my uncle Zhu Shouren and others were dumbfounded. If it weren't for the three fellow villagers who also passed the county exam, they would have gone to the county magistrate to complain. Even so, they still shouted that the county magistrate was unfair. Why were they well-read but only ranked in the second place, while Zhu Ping'an, a foodie who was bitten by a snake and heard the cry of birds, ranked in the first place.
After the county exam results were announced, the people who stayed in the inn were all the students who passed the exam. There was no Luming Banquet for the county exam, so these people celebrated in the inn. The inn was full of poetry and wine, and the students and scholars were unrestrained, drinking and singing, just like us after the college entrance examination.
My uncle Zhu Shouren and several fellow villagers sat at a table, congratulating the three of them for passing the county exam. They got drunk and discussed their departure for the prefecture tomorrow.
Zhu Ping'an sat alone at a table by the window in the lobby, and was subtly excluded by everyone. No one in the lobby believed that Zhu Ping'an's talent could pass the county examination. Even though everyone was slapped in the face every time the list was posted, they still insisted on their opinions.
This is probably what intellectuals look down on each other.
The provincial examination is held in April. It is already the end of February, and with the time spent on the road, I don’t have time to go home.
At this moment, Zhu Ping'an couldn't help but miss his family, his dull father, his fierce and protective mother, his honest elder brother, and even the family's hero - the big black cow.
The inn was filled with the smell of alcohol. The students and scholars who used to care about their image no longer cared about it and started drinking with their sleeves rolled up and their tongues sticking out.
"Come, come, come, our top talents, let's drink this cup together."
A staggering fellow villager came over with a pot of wine and poured a glass of wine for Zhu Ping'an without saying anything.
Zhu Pingan looked up at him, but before he could finish his words, the man continued with a thick tongue:
"If you don't drink this cup of wine, it means you look down on me."
Why should I look up to you? Zhu Ping'an really wanted to reply like this, but he couldn't say it out loud because more than a dozen pairs of eyes were staring at him.
No matter how many tricks you have, they are useless in front of this group of drunk people.
My uncle Zhu Shouren and other villagers also came over with wine glasses in hand, looking eagerly at the scene.
That's all
Zhu Ping'an had no choice but to pick up the wine glass and drink it all. Although he could spit the wine into his sleeves while wiping his mouth, he couldn't bear to do so when he thought that this robe was sewn stitch by stitch by his mother Chen.
There is nothing we can do about the mountain temple, but here, forget it, the worst that can happen is that we get drunk.
Seeing Zhu Pingan finish drinking, the other onlookers gathered around him like wolves smelling blood. It was probably out of jealousy and revenge, and everyone wanted to get Zhu Pingan drunk and make him look bad.
Don't say that the fermented wine of the Ming Dynasty has a low alcohol content. Still, no one can handle so many people forcing him to drink cup after cup. Besides, he is only thirteen years old and can't drink much.
Zhu Ping'an was not a person who cared much about his reputation. After everyone had gone around, Zhu Ping'an felt dizzy. In order to avoid being drunk, he simply lay on the table and pretended to be drunk.
"That's all I can do..."
“I can’t drink so much”
“Not fit to be a man”
The fellow students from the same hometown insulted Zhu Ping'an who was lying on the table, then left in boredom and started drinking with each other. In the end, they were all drunk and looked very ugly.
Effectively imitate the ancients, open your belly and insist that you are showing off your books;
There are also those who boast shamelessly that they alone possess one-third of the world's talent;
Some even made speeches as if they had won the first place in the imperial examination, saying that it was Your Majesty who taught them well, as if they had really won the first place in the imperial examination.
Of course, there are also those who speak the truth after drinking. They mutter that the county magistrate is blind and chose a foodie who was bitten by a snake and heard birds singing as the top of the list, but he didn't recognize his own knowledge. He was confused, really confused.
... ...
The innkeeper and the waiters were worried about these drunken students, as they had all passed the county examination and who knew who would become a scholar or even a juren in the future. They did not dare to spoil their fun and could only watch them go crazy with alcohol and get drunk on the table and the floor.
"Please prepare a bucket of hot water."
A sound was heard, startling the worried boss and his staff.
Wasn't that the young man who was drunk by everyone at the beginning? How come he acted like nothing happened now? There were even dozens of coins left on the table for meal money.
The prefectural capital is not the same as the county town. To get from Huaining County to Anqing Prefecture, one needs to cross two counties. Early the next morning, my uncle Zhu Shouren and others hired two horse-drawn carriages to prepare for the journey.
Before leaving, the uncle went to Zhu Ping'an's firewood room and just stood at the door without going in, for fear that the firewood room would bring bad luck to his exam.
"Zhi'er, have you packed your luggage? We're about to set off." Uncle Zhu Shouren asked, standing at the door.
"Uncle, please wait for a moment." Zhu Pingan replied while packing up his things, "Uncle, please come in and have some tea."
Uncle Zhu Shouren naturally refused. What a joke! He was just cannon fodder. How could he enter the woodshed
"Zhi'er, we need to raise money together for the carriage expenses. The journey is long, and each person needs half a tael of silver." Uncle Zhu Shouren said after Zhu Ping'an came out.
Zhu Ping'an, carrying his bag, glanced at his uncle Zhu Shouren and asked calmly, "Yesterday, I heard what my uncle and other uncles and brothers said. They said that they bargained with the driver and that the ladies could get a discount of 100 coins. Maybe Zhu'er heard it wrongly."
At this time, my uncle Zhu Shouren seemed to have just woken up from a hangover. He sighed and said, "I was hungover yesterday and forgot about this."
The uncle was not embarrassed at all and was very open and frank.
Zhu Ping'an naturally would not say anything clearly. He had already prepared four hundred coins and handed them to his uncle, expressing his gratitude for his uncle's hard work in preparing the carriage.
Seven people squeezed into two carriages, which was not too crowded, but the journey was too boring. The carriage space was small, and the whole journey was filled with the noises of my uncle and others.
The carriage stopped and started, and my uncle and others were inspired to write poetry when they saw the mountains, rivers and streams. Then they got off the carriage and wrote a few poems that didn't sound very good. They praised each other for a few sentences before they finished. This wasted a lot of time.
They traveled during the day and stayed in inns, temples or farmers' homes at night. Although there were some twists and turns along the way, they were not a big deal. They walked and stopped for five days before finally arriving in Anqing Prefecture.