The Lucky Farmgirl
Chapter 585 - 574: Announcing the List

Chapter 585: Chapter 574: Announcing the List

Once he returned home, Daji immediately took out the two silver ingots to give them to his young master, Bai Shanbao, who waved his hand and said, "This is for you, just keep it."

Daji acknowledged then put away the money.

Zhou SiLang had gone out to buy food, while Manbao was squatting in the kitchen boiling water. Bai Erlang, dragging a broom lazily over, handed it to Bai Shanbao and said, "Here you go, hurry up and sweep the courtyard. The teacher said since it’s springtime and too damp, now that Tomb-Sweeping Day has passed, we need to clean the house again. It’s late today, so we’ll just sweep the courtyard, and tomorrow we’ll clean inside."

The two young men took their brooms and perfunctorily made a circuit around the courtyard, deeming it cleaned.

But the next day, their luck wasn’t that good. With Mr. Zhuang keeping an eye on them, they couldn’t slack off anymore.

Zhou SiLang somehow borrowed a couple of wooden buckets from someone’s home and directly got Daji to help carry water, while the three of them, including Manbao, tied back their hair and covered their noses and mouths before starting to dust and clean inside and outside the house with cloths.

They had only cleaned briefly when they first moved in, and after the damp spring season, there were many dirty places hidden in the house.

Especially behind the cabinets, underneath them, as well as the inside side of the beds and underneath the beds were very grimy.

The three of them squeezed into these spaces, and in no time, they were all covered in dust.

So busy were the three that they threw yesterday’s kite conflict to the back of their minds, even forgetting about the exams.

After busying themselves for an entire day, the three exhausted individuals breathed a sigh of relief as they looked at the not very obvious but significantly more comfortable cleaned room.

Zhou SiLang and Daji, their shoulders aching from carrying water, also relaxed.

Mr. Zhuang stood at the door of the study, looked around, and with satisfaction nodded his head before turning to the five nearly collapse from tiredness and said, "Alright, go wash up and sleep. Tomorrow the academy will announce the results early in the morning, and we still have to go see the grades posted by the inspector."

Although they might not have passed, they still had to go and see for themselves. Besides, the inspector would also post some of the better essays, which could be a good learning opportunity for the three disciples.

Bai Shanbao and his companions were taken aback at this reminder, suddenly recalling that indeed, the results would be announced tomorrow.

Bai Shanbao touched his own little heart and whispered to his two friends, "What should I do? I’m feeling a bit nervous. I might not be able to sleep tonight."

Manbao said, "It shouldn’t be that bad. These past few days, it seemed like you had forgotten all about the exams."

Bai Erlang then said, "Should I sleep with you to keep you company?"

"No thanks, you kick in your sleep," Bai Shanbao rejected the offer and then sighed, "Well, if it comes to that, I’ll just recite texts with my eyes closed."

But he didn’t get the chance to do so. As soon as he lay down, he felt sore all over his waist, back, and limbs. He couldn’t help but yawn, yawning again and again until his eyes watered, and then sleepiness overwhelmed him. He tried to keep his eyes open for a moment but found it futile and finally gave in to sleep willingly.

Although tired, they went to bed early, so they got up early the next day, especially since they were always early risers.

As soon as Bai Shanbao opened his eyes, it wasn’t long after he had opened the door that Manbao also stretched and stepped outside. The two exchanged glances and then, without planning it, went to check on Bai Erlang’s door.

That door was utterly still, making no sound at all.

The two tiptoed to the window and leaned in, trying hard to peer inside.

Daji: ...

Zhou SiLang floated past them, suddenly slapped their shoulders hard, and let out a loud "Ah—!" right next to their ear.

The two caught in the act screamed, "Ah—ah—ah!" just as Mr. Zhuang inside the legitimate wife’s quarters, who was washing his face, startled so much that he almost tipped over the wooden basin.

And Bai Erlang, deep in sleep inside the room, shouted out as well and sat up. Turning over, he rolled off the bed with a thud.

Mr. Zhuang glanced outside, took a deep breath, slowly put down the towel and told himself that he had taken in these disciples himself, they were his own!

Because of the yelling, the whole small courtyard instantly erupted from the quiet atmosphere, sizzling with activity like oil splattering in water, excessively lively.

Bai Erlang, climbing up from the ground, was quite angry. Being chased by the two without even putting on his outer clothes, he grabbed his shoes and stormed out after them.

Bai Shanbao and Manbao ran around laughing, filling the whole courtyard with their noise.

Mr. Zhuang dried his hands, brought out water, and seeing the three causing such a ruckus, shook his head and said, "We’re leaving for the inspector in three quarters of an hour. Zhou Si, you go buy breakfast now."

Zhou SiLang, already washed up, bowed and acknowledged, then turned to leave.

Manbao remembered that Zhou Si was the real instigator and hurriedly said to Bai Erlang, who was chasing her to get even, "It was Zhou Si who scared us, that’s why we screamed."

Before Bai Erlang could turn back, Zhou SiLang had already slipped away like smoke.

When they had tidied up and eaten breakfast, they left the house at just the right time, three quarters of an hour later.

Daji and Zhou Si hurried the horse-drawn carriage over and delivered the four teacher and students to the outside of the school inspector’s office.

Many students had arrived and were standing waiting in front of the door.

Manbao and the others, taking advantage of their slight statures, directly squeezed past the people in front and got to the very front.

Zhou Si and Daji also wanted to follow, but while Daji could manage to squeeze in, Zhou Si just couldn’t. If he pushed too hard, the scholars would glare at him.

This embarrassed Zhou Si, who had no choice but to back out and stand next to Mr. Zhuang, looking on eagerly.

Manbao and the others got to the very front, and as soon as the hour of 7 a.m. came, the inspector’s large doors opened, and a red cloth was brought out.

The officials struck the gong three times, announcing that this year’s admission list had been completed, and next, he would read off the names and hometowns from top to bottom.

There were two red cloths in total, one for the officials to read from, and the other to be directly hung in front of the notice board.

The red cloths were passed out, and the crowd was pushed back a bit by the bailiffs, who then casually flung up the cloth, letting it fall before turning around to hang the other one.

They were indifferent; after all, it was their job to do this every year—they were accustomed to it, right?

But the students standing in front of the notice board felt differently—this was about their future and, for most of them, they hadn’t participated many times.

As soon as the red cloth fell, everyone couldn’t help but push forward to look.

Manbao and the others were also pushed a couple of steps forward, and then, as if by agreement, their gaze fell on the bottom, wanting to read from the last name up.

Just by chance, all three of them caught sight of Bai Shan’s name.

Manbao, surprised, then shouted, "Bai Shan, you passed!"

Bai Erlang laughed out loud and joyfully said, "Bai Shan, you’re actually the last one, how embarrassing!"

Bai Shanbao’s eyes widened, "The last? But I thought I did pretty well? Are everyone else really that good?"

The students behind Bai Shanbao, who had not yet found their own names: ...