The next day, Qin Zhao and four other candidates who had guaranteed each other a place went to the government office to register.
The provincial examination was scheduled for April 13, less than two months away. After registering, the four people who were traveling with them had to rush back to review, but Qin Zhao did not go with them, saying that he wanted to accompany Jing Li to play in the city for two more days.
"God is so unfair. I also want to get the first place in the exam without reviewing." Chen Yan'an said sourly before leaving.
Qin Zhao ignored him.
In fact, Qin Zhao stayed in the city not just for fun.
His Xiaoyu is pregnant now, Qin Zhao is worried about him staying outside for too long, so naturally the sooner he goes home the better. But Jing Li is seasick, and it takes at least seven or eight days to get back to Linxi Village from the city by carriage. How can Jing Li bear it in his current condition
Since the carriage could not be ridden, Qin Zhao came up with a compromise idea.
- Let Jing Li return to his original form, and Qin Zhao takes him back by boat.
Being in the water reduces shaking and naturally prevents you from getting seasick.
However, this would make it inconvenient to travel with Chen Yanan and the others.
Therefore, Qin Zhao pretended to stay in the city with Jing Li for two more days.
"Aren't you going to visit the prefect?" Jing Li asked.
After the county examination results were announced, the county magistrate wrote a letter of recommendation for Qin Zhao.
Qin Zhao had told Jing Li that in the imperial examinations of the previous dynasty, there was a period of time when the recommendation system was implemented. Although the recommendation system has been abolished now, some local customs of the recommendation system are still retained.
That is to say, if the levels of several candidates are almost the same and they are all among the top, the one with the recommendation letter will be listed as the first.
But after Qin Zhao arrived in the city, he never mentioned going to see the prefect.
Qin Zhao shook his head: "That's not necessary."
Jing Li blinked: "Why?"
"The county magistrate has to come to the city every month to report on his work. If he really appreciated me, he could have mentioned it during the report. Why did he ask me to bring a letter?" Qin Zhao sneered, "He wants me to owe him a favor."
"… If I really deliver this letter, when I become successful and return home in glory, he will have been very kind to me for recommending me, and I must repay him."
Jing Li finally understood the stakes involved and scolded, "What a dog official."
"I don't want to owe anyone a favor, so I don't want this recommendation, especially..."
Before Qin Zhao finished speaking, Jing Li continued, "Besides, even without the recommendation letter, you are still the first in the case."
With Qin Zhao's strength, he doesn't need these external things at all.
Qin Zhao smiled and continued walking forward holding Jing Li's hand.
"Aren't we going back to the inn?" Jing Li asked.
They had just sent Chen Yanan and his party to the city gate, but the direction they were returning was completely opposite to the inn.
Qin Zhao said: "Let's go check something out first."
"What?"
"Notice board."
There are two types of notice boards in the city. One is used exclusively for posting government notices, and there is only one at the entrance of the government office. The other is used by the public to publish recruitment and sales information. There are more than ten large and small notice boards in the city, located in major markets and crowded places.
"So you want to see the house sale information." There were only two or three people in front of the notice board at the moment. Jing Li went up to read the notice carefully.
Qin Zhao nodded: "Don't rush to buy it, let's see if there is anything suitable first."
The city does not allow free trading of houses. If you want to sell a house in the city, the owner must first register with the person in charge of house sales. After the review is passed, the person in charge will post a notice, which will clearly state the size of the house, the geographical location, the selling price and other information.
If the seller is interested, he can go directly to the house to check it out.
Jing Li carefully compared several notices, his brows furrowed tighter and tighter.
The housing prices in the capital city are... really too high.
The city is divided into inner city and outer city.
The inner city has a curfew, good public security, and because the commercial areas are located here, life is relatively convenient. The outer city has relatively poor public security, and you will be searched and questioned when entering the inner city, which adds a lot of inconvenience.
Therefore, housing prices in inner cities are much higher than those in outer cities.
There is no such thing as loans or credit in this era. Everything has to be paid in cash. You can imagine the economic pressure.
Jing Li carefully read all the house sale information on the notice board. Most houses in the outer city are priced between 150 taels and 300 taels. There are large and small houses, and there are more choices. In the inner city, there are only a few houses that can be chosen for 300 taels. Not only are the houses small, but they are not in very good locations.
"Is there any you like?" Qin Zhao asked.
Jing Li hummed and shifted his gaze to the notices at hand.
His favorite was a house with three courtyards, right by the lake. The environment was quiet and peaceful, and he could see lanterns and pleasure boats on the other side of the lake at night.
Also because the house has a good geographical location, the owner offered five hundred taels.
Jing Li pursed his lips and looked away.
He may be the poorest time traveler in history.
Jing Li hesitated for a moment and said, "Why don't we pick someone from the outer city?"
Qin Zhao was silent.
He wanted to stay in the capital city, firstly because it was convenient for him to take part in the imperial examination, and secondly because the place was well-informed, which would facilitate his investigation of some past events.
But he didn't want his own fish to suffer any injustice.
The outer city has inconvenient transportation and imperfect public security, so Qin Zhao would never consider it. But if he wants to afford a house in the inner city, he has to think of other ways...
Qin Zhao raised his eyes and glanced at the notice board, his gaze suddenly fixed.
"These ones in the outer city are all good, and they're cheap too. Why don't we—" Jing Li wanted to say that they should go and have a look together, but when he looked up, he saw Qin Zhao staring intently at another sign. He moved closer and asked, "What are you looking at?"
Qin Zhao pointed to him and said, "This one."
"Hmm... Gu family recruits teachers?" Jing Li thought of the young man he saw yesterday and raised his eyebrows, "For his young master?"
Qin Zhao said: "That young master Gu has indeed reached the age to prepare for the imperial examination."
During this era, there was no age limit for registering for the imperial examinations. However, except for a few gifted boys, candidates usually took part in their first county examination at the age of fourteen or fifteen.
Therefore, after children finish elementary education, when they are twelve or thirteen years old, they can start preparing for the imperial examinations.
"With his appearance... will he study hard?" Jing Li muttered softly, "That young master will probably torture me to death."
Someone around them heard Jing Li's words and sighed, "That's right. This is the fifth time the Gu family has posted a notice this year."
Jing Liqi asked, "But it's not March yet?"
"That's right." The man said, "None of the teachers who went to his house lasted long. This one was quite good recently, and he lasted for ten days. I didn't expect that he was still forced to leave."
Jing Li: “…”
This young master of the Gu family... is quite amazing.
Qin Zhao didn't answer, but just stared at the sign thoughtfully.
Jing Li noticed him like this and was shocked: "You don't want to try it?"
Qin Zhao: "It says here that the monthly allowance is twenty taels."
Jing Li: “…”
Qin Zhao: "And it only takes fifteen days a month."
Jing Li: “…”
Qin Zhao: "Food and lodging are also provided."
Jing Li: “… … …”
The monthly salary of 20 taels, including food and lodging, even if there are other expenses, they can save at least 17 or 18 taels per month. In this way, with this income alone, they can save 200 taels a year, and they can afford the house by the lake.
"No, no!" Jing Li managed to maintain his sanity. "That young master is too much of a hassle. If it was an easy job, how could they be so generous?!"
Qin Zhao smiled and looked away: "I was just joking with you."
Jing Li: “?”
Qin Zhao pointed to the small words on it and said, "They only want candidates for the Juren position, but I am not qualified."
Jing Li saw the line of words clearly and couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.
This is good. Instead of letting them hesitate and have difficulty in making a decision, it is better to directly rule out this possibility. By the time Qin Zhao passes the imperial examination, the Gu family will most likely have already found a teacher.
Although he lost an opportunity to make money, it was not a bad thing that Qin Zhao did not have to suffer in the Gu family.
In the next few days, they selected several houses not far from each other in the inner and outer cities for on-site inspections, but none of them were suitable.
But there is no rush for this matter.
Qin Zhao had never planned to move out of the village so early.
Life in the city is very different from life in the mountain village. If you move here now, it will definitely take a long time to adapt.
Jing Li is not yet suitable to accept a new environment.
At least until the baby is born.
On the morning of the fifth day, Qin Zhao asked Jing Li to change back to his original form, put him into the new wooden barrel he bought for him, and then carried his own little koi and boarded the return boat.
Unlike the portable fish basket, the new wooden barrel has a wide bottom, allowing the little koi to swim inside.
Three days later, the ship arrived at the town's dock.
Qin Zhao found a deserted place and let Jing Li turn back into human form. After dressing him neatly, he took him on the ox cart back to the village.
When the driver heard that he was going to Linxi Village, and saw that he was dressed like a scholar, completely different from an ordinary farmer, he asked hurriedly, "Are you Qin Zhao, the first place in the county exam?"
Qin Zhao said: "It's me."
"Oh my god, I saw a living person..." the driver exclaimed, "I heard them say that the first place winner had gone to the capital and would be back in a few days, but I didn't expect to run into him. I can be considered to have shared in the first place winner's good fortune!"
What farmers admire most are scholars. The town hasn't had a top candidate in a case for three years, and this time the first and second place are both in their town. How can the villagers not be happy
The driver was always in high spirits when driving. Whenever he met someone on the way, he would shout out to the top scorer in the county examination on his cart, with a rather proud tone.
The oxcart soon left the forest and came to a vast plain. There were people working in the fields on both sides of the road, and when they heard the driver's shouting, they all looked over here.
Jing Li watched all this quietly, feeling quite touched.
Qin Zhao tilted his head and asked, "Why aren't you talking? Are you feeling unwell?"
As he spoke, he placed his hand on Jingli's abdomen.
Counting the days, Jing Li has been pregnant for three months, but his waist and abdomen are not pregnant at all and are still flat and tight.
However, the fish-shaped pregnant belly is very obvious.
Qin Zhao inferred that it might be because the fish cubs were too small to be revealed in the human's belly.
It would be much easier if this kid could stay this small.
Jing Li curled his lips into a slight arc and shook his head: "No, it's not uncomfortable."
He buried his head in Qin Zhao's arms: "I just suddenly remembered that it was also this season when I first met you."
At the end of February last year, he woke up and found himself in this strange world.
He couldn't leave water, couldn't speak, and didn't even have the ability to turn into a human. He could only drift helplessly along the river until he was caught by a fishmonger and then bought by this man.
At that time, he followed Qin Zhao back to Linxi Village for the first time, and this was the scene he saw along the way.
Jing Li said softly: "A year has passed..."
"Yes, it's been a year." Qin Zhao looked at the endless fields. The villagers repeated the same work day after day, year after year. "We have changed so much, but it seems nothing has changed here."
Jing Li responded softly, but when he looked up he was stunned.
The front is all plains, and you can see the stone tablet at the entrance of Linxi Village in the distance. Perhaps the driver was too high-profile during the journey, and someone got the news on the road and rushed back to the village to report the good news.
At the entrance of the village, dozens of villagers spontaneously lined up on both sides of the road, as if to welcome them.
Jing Li could see clearly that the person standing in the front was the village chief of Linxi Village, and then there was the group of students from the elementary school.
The faces were young and familiar, and they looked at them eagerly. When they saw the ox cart Qin Zhao was riding in appeared, they shouted excitedly, "The master is back!"
"Who said nothing has changed here? Isn't this a big change?"
Jing Li smiled and gently hooked Qin Zhao's finger with his hand hidden in his sleeve: "Welcome home, Mr. Qin."