Because the weather has improved, everyone doesn't have to worry about flooding, and Ah Hao's original mood has also recovered. Start studying in earnest. Geng Qiugang is busy with his family's work every day. The vacated fields are about to start sowing some miscellaneous grains, and there is not enough firewood at home, so I have to take the time to chop a few bundles with my third uncle. In short, the family was busy. The time is busy and it is fast to July.

Because it was too far away from the provincial capital, Ah Hao and Ah Xuan and other students in the town had to start rushing in mid to late July. July is commonly known as the ghost month, especially the day of about the seventh half of July, which is what everyone in the villagers is afraid of, no one dares to go out at night, and everyone goes home in the evening, and they can't even take care of the crops in the field, for fear of hitting the evil spirit.

Geng Qiu didn't believe in these things, but the ancient people believed that as soon as they entered the ghost month, every household began to burn money paper and worship ancestors. Ah Hao was the same, he chose a day to write a few bags of money paper for his parents and relatives, etc., and at the same time specially taught Brother Ning to write a few letters to his mother, all of which were piled up at the gate and burned. While burning the third uncle and three aunts, he also recited some words, which is nothing more than protecting Ah Hao High School, bless Brother A Niu Ning's good health, and the safety of the family.

On the day of departure, Geng Qiu and Ah Hao Aqing went out early in the morning. Ah Qing went to send something to Ah Xuan, in fact, the main thing was to explain a few words to him, after all, Ah Xuan was young, and he was afraid that he would be under too much pressure, although the family wanted to win the game, but they couldn't frighten him.

They deliberately went out early because they had to go to Zhou's mansion. Ah Hao talked about some academic topics with Master Yi as usual. Geng Qiu drank tea and chatted with Dr. Li and Steward Zhou.

Ah Hao didn't stay in the Zhou Mansion for long, and came out in more than half an hour. Then I rushed to the student gathering place and walked with everyone. In fact, according to his temperament, he would rather go alone, but this is too eye-catching, so he had to rent a carriage with everyone, a group of five. Fortunately, in addition to Ah Xuan, he has a good relationship with Liu Zhihua. The other two, Zhang Ming and A Xuan have a good relationship, and Li Wu and Liu Zhihua have a good relationship. The people in this car are also poor students, and they are not too old, and they are also kind along the way.

This time, in addition to clothes, pens and paper, Ah Hao brought some food, which was prepared at home, and he could also satisfy his hunger along the way. Actually, everyone brought it. It's just that for this group of poor students, the things he brings are extraordinary. For example, everyone is nothing more than a little rough pastry, or a few handfuls of fried peas, or a little dry cake. But what he brought was fried dried fish, orchid beans, Geng Qiu's special meat sauce, and pastries were high-end mung bean cakes. These things have a long shelf life, because the weather is too hot, they don't dare to bring food such as meatloaf and steamed buns, and they will spoil in less than a day.

Because everyone is poor, no one eats on the road during the day, and you can't find restaurants everywhere along the way. So everyone is ready to eat the dry food they brought first. But as soon as Ah Hao took out this thing, everyone else was attracted and wanted to drool, and he himself was extremely uncomfortable. If you knew this, you might as well bring the same things as everyone else.

In the end, Ah Hao took out the things he brought and distributed them to everyone, but some people were still reluctant to ask for them at first. However, under Ah Hao's persuasion, plus Ah Xuan and Liu Zhihua followed at the beginning, others did not have the intention to refuse. may have eaten the good things he brought, and the relationship between several people along the way was very harmonious. The hospital examination is a big event, and there are many places to rest and stay provided by the government along the way, and there are soldiers patrolling along the way. So they went all the way to the provincial capital.

A few people stayed in the inn designated by the hospital test, Ah Hao asked for a mid-range single room, and the remaining four people were very easy to handle, Liu Zhihua and Li Wu were in one room, and Ah Xuan and Zhu Ming were all in the middle and lower range rooms. The shopkeeper and Xiao Er are not snobs, they have seen a lot of this kind of thing, and they know that among these poor students, there will be someone in high school every time, so they are also very polite to the four of them.

After staying here, everyone followed the regulations, registered those who should have registered, and those who should have taken the exam card, and then began to study hard behind closed doors and wait for the exam.

Because of the more than ten days of travel along the way, the five of them stayed together every day, and the journey was boring, and of course they would discuss their homework from time to time. Ah Hao usually studies hard behind closed doors, and occasionally asks for advice from the master of Yi, this time it is rare to meet a few students with a high level, how can he let go of this opportunity, and he deliberately talked about a lot of schoolwork with everyone along the way. However, everyone is in the same mood, everyone does not hide their selfishness, learn from each other's strengths and weaknesses, and along the way, several people have unconsciously improved a lot in their studies, especially Ah Xuan can be said to have benefited a lot.

Not to mention how Ah Hao acted when he went back to the exam. Geng Qiu was also a little nervous at home. The first time he took the county exam, he was in the mood of sending his children to take the exam, and the second time, he was much calmer, but this time it was the final word, and it made him nervous again, which was more nervous than he was in the college entrance examination that year.

Ah Qing was ten times more nervous than him, after all, Ah Xuan was still young, and his homework was not considered superior. But in his heart, he hoped that Ah Xuan could go to high school. Nearly half of the food collected by the family every year has to be taxed, and if Ah Xuan wins, this tax will be saved, and their family's annual food will basically not have to worry about it. And if you do well in the exam, you will get back the money and food, save some money, and basically Ah Xuan's spending will not need to be supplemented by his family. The burden on the family will be lightened a lot. And there will be an invisible effect. You must know that not to mention their village, there are not even many talented men in the whole town.

There are only two college exams, one main exam and one re-exam. Ah Hao can easily deal with it, and after coming out, the five of them also crossed the questions together, basically everyone did a good job, and they waited for the list to be released. After the results of the college examination come out, the person who passes the examination has to go to the school official to register, and the place of origin, name, age, appearance characteristics, etc. must be recorded one by one. Then you can go to school to register, which means that from now on you can start the imperial examination, and the candidates can be selected for the rank of sergeant. At this time, you are the real Xiucai identity, and from now on, you will be called Xiucai Gong by ordinary people, and you will have to change into the clothes that Xiucai should wear, the so-called student uniform. In the end, everyone has to participate in the hairpin banquet, that is, the money from the court, so that everyone can eat, drink and have fun together, so that they can go home.

When Ah Hao and the others went to register, the official messenger who reported the good news had already set off. Jianghuai Mansion, to which Ah Hao and others belong, has only 20 drafts this time. The first place, commonly known as the head of the case, is Liu Zhihua. And Ah Hao is fifth. The top five are endowments, and in the future, they can guarantee other students who go to the exam, and they can also get two taels of silver and fifty catties of food every month. Zhu Ming, Zhang Wu, and Ah Xuan won the eighth, ninth, and tenth places respectively. The top 10 will receive two taels of silver per month.

As soon as this result came out, the county represented by Ah Hao's five people, the county lord of Beixian almost fainted with joy, in history, Beixian, a small county that is not famous, won five talents for the first time. This is not only a great event in North County, but also a great event in Xiangnan Town, which is the poorest town in North County. Who would have thought that there would be such good grades, and once in a five-person high school, there were two students, and one of them turned out to be the head of the case. The most important thing is that Ah Hao, the eldest of these five, is still Xianggong, and the other four, Liu Zhihua and all three are eighteen years old, and Ah Xuan is only fifteen years old.

For a while, the five of them were out of the limelight, and many students actually said that they were cheating, and finally called up their exam papers on the spot. And the provincial government also specially rewarded them. Each person received a reward of 20 taels of silver from the province, the government, and the county, a total of 60 taels, which is equivalent to a scholarship. Geng Qiu and the others did not know about this at home.

However, before Ah Hao and the others came back, the people who reported the good news arrived first. Because the five of Ah Hao shined in the hospital examination, as soon as the people who reported the good news arrived in Shanyang Town, they began to beat gongs and drums, and suona sounded in unison. The county even sent someone to find the town's biggest official and lieutenant to arrange festive activities together.

When four officials in black and red clothes and a guide sent by the town arrived at Heiyan Village, the entire village was alarmed. As soon as he entered the village, the guide lit a hanging of firecrackers. Because there were two talents in the village, the county sent four people to the village to report the good news. This guide was to guide the way, and secondly, he knew that this was a small broken village, and he was afraid that the people in the village would be too poor and would not have the money to reward the official errand who reported the good news, so he specially brought ten taels of silver, five taels for each of the two families, and let them use it first.

The village chief was so excited that he was almost speechless, but the guide said: "Village chief, you have two Xiucai in your village, hurry up and take the officials to the Xiucai Gong's house to report the good news." ”

"Two?" Everyone can't believe the total. The whole village knew that there were only two scholars in the village, Ah Hao and Ah Xuan, but unexpectedly, both of them were hit. For a while, not to mention that the village chief almost fainted with joy, even the others were speechless with joy.

These five people who came to report the good news were so confused by everyone's expressions that they didn't know what to say.

"So Ah Hao and Ah Xuan are both hit?" Geng Qiu said.

"Two Zeng masters, one is called Zeng Wenhao High School's fifth, and the other is Zeng Wenxuan's high school's tenth." An official said.

"Oops, that's great." Only then did the village chief react, and with tears in his eyes, he took the official messenger home.

Everyone followed the village chief to his house, and the guide secretly distributed the silver to Geng Qiu and A Qing. This reward comes to report the good news, and everyone gives as much as possible.

The five of them read out Ah Xuan's good news at the village chief's house, and received two taels of silver from each of Aqing's rewards, and went to Geng Qiu's house, where they also got two taels of silver. The remaining two taels were finally rewarded to the guide.

After drinking tea and eating some snacks in the village, the five of them went back to the town, and their own chief went to entertain them. In such a poor village, there must not be anything good to entertain a few officials. Before leaving, the guide also said: "The lieutenant chief said that when the two Xiucai dukes come back, the lieutenant chief will personally entertain them." ”