Just like the scene outside the college entrance examination hall in the previous life, when one candidate after another walked into the school examination hall, countless parents were waiting outside the examination hall, waiting for their children to come out with anticipation and worry.
The annual national martial arts county examination is like the college entrance examination to many people, or even more important than the college entrance examination, because for many ordinary families, it is an opportunity for a poor family to have a son who can rise above the dragon gate.
Young people who perform well in the county martial arts examination can enter the martial arts hall in the county city for further study and have the hope of becoming a samurai and advancing to the ranks of the nobility. Even if they cannot become samurai in the end, the learning opportunity in the county-level martial arts hall also has many benefits. It allows people to make many connections and make many friends in the martial arts hall, or after leaving the martial arts hall, they can have the opportunity to enter government offices at all levels in the county - because government offices at all levels in the county city have many public positions every year, and they will be selected from the martial arts hall in the county city.
In a sense, this martial arts county examination is equivalent to a combination of the college entrance examination and the civil service examination of the Han Empire. Qinghe County has 17 townships under its jurisdiction, with 700 to 800 candidates every year, and sometimes even thousands. However, only about 30 people have the opportunity to pass the martial arts county examination and enter the county martial arts hall. This admission rate is much lower than that of the college entrance examination.
After handing the rhino horse to the Lu family's guards, Yan Liqiang walked into the gate of the National Martial Arts Museum amid the "welcome" of countless parents.
There are four entrances at the gate of the National Martial Arts Museum. At each entrance, the names of several towns and villages under Qinghe County are written. Candidates from different places enter the National Martial Arts Museum through different entrances. At each entrance, there are three people checking the identity of the people entering at the same time. It is very strict.
"Name?"
"Yan Liqiang!"
"Where are you from?"
"Liuhe Town!"
The person who asked Yan Liqiang the question was flipping through a notebook in his hand. When he turned to the page of candidates from Liuhe Town, he saw Yan Liqiang's name recorded. He nodded, and then asked Yan Liqiang to stretch out his right thumb, dip it in the ink box, and then left a thumbprint on the back of the list.
This fingerprint happened to be aligned with the fingerprint left by Yan Liqiang when he took the preliminary exam here, so it was convenient for comparison. Seeing that the two fingerprints were the same, Yan Liqiang's identity was confirmed. The man then handed the list to someone next to him for inspection. The person nodded. Then the third person took out a metal plate with a number printed on it, wrote Yan Liqiang's name on the metal plate, and handed the metal plate to Yan Liqiang. Yan Liqiang then took the metal plate and walked into the county martial arts hall.
There is still about an hour before the official start of the exam. Six hundred to seven hundred candidates have already gathered at the National Martial Arts Museum's martial arts arena. The nine arenas on the arena are arranged in order. On the largest arena in the middle, there is a banner hanging - Pingxi County Qinghe County National Martial Arts County Examination.
When the day of the big exam really arrived, the candidates who entered the venue were both excited and nervous. Candidates from the same place gathered together in groups, whispering to each other, and some were doing various warm-up exercises or warm-up boxing techniques.
Candidates from different towns and villages had fixed gathering areas. Those areas had flags with the names of towns and villages written on them. You would gather under the flags corresponding to where you came from. This was done to facilitate management and to prevent impersonation. Candidates from the same region were familiar with each other, or at least had met before. If a stranger suddenly appeared, everyone would be able to spot him. According to the laws of the Han Empire, anyone who dared to impersonate others in the national martial arts exam would be sentenced to exile.
Yan Liqiang glanced around the martial arts field, saw the flag of Liuhe Town, and walked calmly towards the gathering place of the candidates from Liuhe Town.
The candidates from Liuhe Town also saw Yan Liqiang approaching, and they began to whisper to each other.
"Ah, Yan Liqiang is here..."
"Did his last injury heal so quickly?"
"Maybe it's better. Even if it's not, at least give it a try!"
"What a pity! If nothing happened at Hong Tao's home, Hong Tao would have definitely beaten Yan Liqiang to a pulp..."
Everyone saw Yan Liqiang, but no one came over to greet him. In the past, Yan Liqiang was not popular in Liuhe Town.
Qi Donglai was also among those people. When he saw Yan Liqiang, he wanted to come over, but hesitated for a moment and finally did not come over. He avoided Yan Liqiang's gaze with a guilty conscience.
Yan Liqiang looked straight at Qi Donglai, walked towards him, and came in front of Qi Donglai.
By this time, Yan Liqiang had already known how the Hong family bribed Qi Donglai two months ago. It was both ridiculous and sad. The Hong family gave Qi Donglai's family a shop in a good location in Liuhe Town and opened a rice shop. It seemed that they also waived the rent for Qi Donglai's family for several years, and Qi Donglai sold himself out.
Now that something has happened to the Hong family, the people in the Hong family have started fighting over the family property. The rice shop owned by Qi Donglai's family has been taken back. Two days ago, Qi Donglai's parents came to the county town to file a complaint, saying that Hong Chengshou should have rented the rice shop to their family for free for ten years a few months ago, but now the Hong family doesn't want to rent it anymore and wants to take it back, which is like going back on their word. However, Qi Donglai's parents could not produce any proof and were finally driven out by the officials in the county town as extortionists.
"Dongla, long time no see!"
Qi Donglai smiled unnaturally, as if he was not used to Yan Liqiang's aggressive gaze. "I have been in the county city for this big exam a few days ago. My uncle found a master to teach me a set of leg techniques. I have been busy practicing these days and have not been back. I heard that something happened in your family yesterday. I am really sorry that I didn't come to see your father..."
Yan Liqiang saw through Qi Donglai's hypocrisy at a glance.
Yan Liqiang laughed and said, "It's okay. Su Chang has been here. I'm a little worried if you come, Donglai!"
"What's there to worry about?"
Yan Liqiang's eyes suddenly became sharp, "My father has been recovering from his injuries these days, but he can't stand someone putting another ice ant on him and biting him again!"
Qi Donglai's face turned pale and froze, "Li Qiang... you... what do you mean? I don't understand."
"I know what you know, and you also know what I know. Why did I lose so badly in the last preliminary exam? Who secretly placed the ice ant on me? You know better than me!" Yan Liqiang said something like a tongue twister, and then said coldly, "For the sake of the little friendship we had in the past, Qi Donglai, I forgive you once, but from today on, we are strangers. You don't know me, and I don't know you. Remember, there will be no second time. Finally, I will give you one more piece of advice. There is a god above your head. Many times, when people do things, God is watching. Do not do things that go against your conscience..."
After saying this to Qi Dong, Yan Liqiang walked away without even looking at Qi Dong again.
Qi Donglai's face turned red and blue. The people around him listened to the conversation between the two people and looked at Qi Donglai thoughtfully, as if they had guessed something. Now, everyone in Liuhe Town knew that the Hong family hired thugs to deal with the Yan family's father and son. From what Yan Liqiang said, it seemed that the reason why Yan Liqiang was beaten so badly by Hong Tao in the last preliminary test was because of Qi Donglai's conspiracy.
Qi Donglai has always been Yan Liqiang's friend. Such a friend is really terrible.
Unconsciously, the eyes of the people around him looking at Qi Donglai changed, and they quietly distanced themselves from Qi Donglai. In the end, there was no one around Qi Donglai, and he was the only one standing there alone.
This is the price Qi Donglai has to pay. Since he is willing to betray his friends, he will never have any friends in the future. Everyone will stay away from such a person. Do I have the obligation to cover up and keep secrets for such a person
If a person cannot repay kindness with kindness and revenge with revenge, then what is the difference between him and a salted fish
The affairs of the Hong family have finally come to an end.
Yan Liqiang finally feels good...
During the following time, Yan Liqiang did not think about chatting with the people around him. He just stood quietly under the flag of Liuhe Town and waited.
After about forty minutes, as three drums sounded, a group of people walked out of the building of the National Martial Arts Museum, and the entire martial arts arena suddenly became quiet...
(End of this chapter)