Abandoned Woman Busy Farming

Chapter 1269: Chapter 1271: Exam Place Turmoil, the Brush is Destroyed_1

”Er Lang, just do your best; don’t be nervous,” Bai Yihong finished with a smile, then patted Bai Zepei on the shoulder.

A smile appeared on Bai Zepei’s face, ”Dad, I’m not nervous, but you seem to be a bit nervous.”

”Ah?” Bai Yihong was taken aback, his face reddening slightly, ”You’ve all been spoiled by that girl Ruozhu, now you even dare to make jokes about your father.”

The family laughed again, creating an especially relaxed atmosphere. At that moment, Wan Caiyue led Little Dengdeng, carrying Little Chenxi, into the Main Hall.

Little Dengdeng walked up to Bai Zepei and bowed formally, saying, ”Dengdeng wishes Second Uncle to top the list in the exam and marry a Second Aunt soon.”

Bai Zepei let out a chuckle. He wasn’t one to laugh often, laughing with family was already more than usual, but today had seen a month’s worth of laughter by morning.

”Who taught you this? Do you even know what a Second Aunt is?” Bai Zepei asked with a smile.

Little Dengdeng stuck out his tongue, ”Grandma taught me.”

”So, you just sold out your grandma like that?” Lin Ping’er was already laughing uncontrollably.

Bai Zepei gave his mother a look. She was quite eager indeed; after the exam was over, he would have to start thinking about the future as well.

”Alright, alright, let’s set off quickly. Don’t want to delay the hour; it’s definitely going to be crowded this morning,” Bai Yihong said.

The family got ready to leave. Bai Zehao even carried Bai Zepei’s examination implements, for fear that Bai Zepei would get tired, while Little Dengdeng and Chenxi stayed home with Wan Caiyue. It was too crowded this morning, and taking the children along was simply unsafe.

The family set off in a horse carriage towards the exam place, and as expected, they saw many examinees and their families hurrying on their way. Before even reaching the street where the exam place was located, an officer stopped the passing carriages, announcing, ”No horse carriages are allowed inside this morning. Please proceed on foot.”

The Bai family members got down from the horse carriage upon hearing this, but some people started to make a fuss, feeling that this arrangement was particularly unreasonable.

”My son is going to take the exam; what if he gets tired now and performs poorly later? Can you take responsibility for that?” A woman started to protest, her attire suggesting she was from a well-off family; surely an aristocrat’s lady from the Capital would not shout like this, fearing losing face.

The officer replied impassively, ”This is by Imperial Decree. If you don’t believe it, you can go issue a complaint to the emperor.”

”Who are you fooling? The emperor is too busy to issue decrees for such trivial matters. You think I’m easy to deceive?” The woman rolled up her sleeves, raising her voice again.

At this time, a young man from their carriage poked his head out and said in a low voice, ”Mother, I can walk over there; don’t argue with the man.”

The servants hurried to help him as the young master slowly got off the carriage, looking quite frail.

The officer snorted coldly, ”If you can’t even manage this short distance, how are you going to endure five days in the exam place? It’s a joke indeed.”

The woman was about to argue with the officer but was stopped by her son, who went over to help his mother walk inside.

Seeing all this, Lin Ping’er couldn’t help but whisper, ”That young man’s constitution is so poor. How can he endure the examination? Instead of doing this, it’d be better to recover his health and try again in three years. After all, life is the most important thing, and his mother doesn’t seem to be advising him against it.”

Bai Zepei glanced impassively at the scholar’s retreating figure, saying, ”Not all parents think solely of their children like ours do.”

Having dealt with many people in his business, Bai Zehao now had some insight. He lowered his voice and said, ”Didn’t you hear the subtext of what that woman was saying? She is only concerned about anything that might affect her son’s exam results. As for her son’s life, she didn’t seem to care much.”

”How could a mother be so heartless,” Lin Ping’er couldn’t help but sigh.

”The pursuit of fame and fortune always blinds some people,” Bai Yihong also lamented.

The family hurried their steps and soon passed the sick scholar, reaching the entrance of the exam place shortly after.

Bai Zepei took the carrying case from his eldest brother and said to his family, ”Alright, I’m going in now. You all should head back quickly, too. We’ll see each other in five days.”

The family members each said some auspicious words and watched as Bai Zepei approached the exam place.

Lin Ping’er suddenly wiped the corners of her eyes and said with a worried face, ”Husband, you think our second child will sail through smoothly, right?”

”Definitely, don’t worry. Let’s go too, lest we weigh on his mind.” Bai Yihong was actually nervous himself. If Bai Ruozhu were here at this moment, he would surely understand the parents’ feelings, just like those parents waiting outside the college entrance exam places in his previous life. Though not the ones taking the exam themselves, they were no less relaxed than the candidates.

As Bai Zepei approached the entrance of the exam place, the officers responsible for inspection thoroughly checked each candidate’s belongings and searched their bodies for any hidden items. Bai Ruozhu had prepared everything for Bai Zepei with this in mind, so he passed the inspection rather quickly, with almost none of his items confiscated. The dimsum, due to its small size, was not broken apart for examination, unlike some candidates’ cakes, which were broken into several pieces for inspection, making them dirty and likely unappetizing thereafter.

Upon entering the exam place, Bai Zepei’s gaze was immediately drawn to Tang Feng, unmistakable due to his unique presence—his silent sitting conveyed a debonair charm unlike that of elegant refinement.

Bai Zepei nodded politely at him and took his own seat. Soon, others entered, and he saw Lin Xufei, Leng Bin, Ding Guangji, and others, all of whom nodded in greeting. However, due to the strict rules of the exam place, they dared not chat.

At that moment, Wang Tianyou walked in. Scanning the room, he spotted Bai Zepei’s seat and snorted coldly before striding over.

Bai Zepei was organizing his stationery and didn’t notice Wang Tianyou approaching. As Wang Tianyou reached him, he suddenly flicked his sleeve, knocking Bai Zepei’s brush holder to the ground.

As if he hadn’t noticed, he then stepped on it, placing his foot down with particular force and even twisting it...

A soft crack was heard, and it was uncertain how many brushes had been broken by the trampling.

”Wang Tianyou, what are you doing? This is the exam place!” Before Bai Zepei could speak up, Leng Bin had already rushed forward and pushed Wang Tianyou away.

Bai Zepei stood up and glared coldly at Wang Tianyou, ”That’s all the ability you have, right?”

Wang Tianyou feigned innocence, ”Oh, isn’t this your brush? How did it end up on the floor? It’s natural to step on things that are down there if one doesn’t see them; my apologies.”

Despite his apology, his face was flush with smugness—anyone who wasn’t blind could see it was deliberate.

Lin Xufei also stood up and came over, noting that two out of the four brushes were broken. He said with a stony face, ”The Wang Family is becoming more and more arrogant. It seems they no longer wish to associate with the Capital.”

”And who are you, a member of the unrelated Wang lineage, to threaten the Wang Family?” Wang Tianyou said disdainfully.

”What if we add our Ding Family to the mix?” Ding Guangji also stood up.

Leng Bin crossed his arms over his chest, ”Of course, our Leng Family would be included as well.”

Tang Feng smiled as he stood, ”Although the Tang clan resides further away, should I enter the court as an official in the future, I naturally wouldn’t affiliate with the Wang Family.”