Chapter 25 25. County Examination

On the day that Yu An was leaving, the carriage was waiting at the door early, and Yu An was carrying his baggage and preparing to go out.

"Wait a minute." Yun Yao stopped him, handed him a money bag, and said, "Be careful on the road."

"Okay." Yu An took the money bag and left.

Yun Yao looked at Yu An's back resentfully, feeling very uncomfortable in his heart.

I don't know what to say, give her a hug or something.

As she was thinking this, Yu An suddenly stopped and looked back at her.

Yun Yao was stunned, blinked, and asked, "What's wrong?"

Yu An suddenly became awkward, moved his fingers and said, "I'm leaving."

Yun Yao suddenly laughed, wondering in her mind whether Yu An was a little bit reluctant to let her go. She said in a gentle tone: "I'll wait for you to come back."

"Yes." Yu An nodded slightly, turned and left.

Yun Yao watched the carriage leave, waited until it was out of sight, then closed the door and started to clean up the room.

She first cleaned up the kitchen, and then started sweeping the floor. She swept the kitchen and the main room, and then came to Yu An's room.

His room was always tidy, Yun Yao had only swept out a little dust, and when he was about to go out, he accidentally caught a glimpse of a small bronze medal lying next to his bed. When he looked closer, he saw that it was a reference for the county examination.

With a buzz in Yun Yao's head, he grabbed the small bronze medal, threw down the broom, and ran out.

The ruts were clearly left on the snow. Yun Yao ran forward at a sprint speed of 100 meters. The cold wind sucked into her chest and made her hurt. She had to catch up as soon as possible. When the carriage entered the town, it would be difficult to find it.

Fortunately she caught up.

"Stop! Stop!" Yun Yao shouted while running.

When the coachman heard the sound, he turned around and saw a girl running after the carriage. This startled him and he quickly reined in his horse and stopped.

Yun Yao took a few deep breaths and opened the curtain. The light reflected on the snow shone on her body, and it burst into Yu An's eyes. Yu An Yao handed the test guide to him and said, "Don't forget it next time."

Yun Yao's cheeks were red, her hair was messy, she didn't even wear a shirt when she came out, and she was shivering from the cold.

Yu An's heart sank. He took the test and accidentally touched her cold little hand, her fingers trembling slightly.

He took off his coat, handed it to Yun Yao, and said, "Put it on."

She shook her head and said, "I'm fine. Just keep your clothes on. You can't catch a cold."

Yu An held out his hands stubbornly, with a bit of anger in his eyes.

Xu Jingzhou's eyes flickered between the two of them, and he said, "I have many coats. Brother Yu is about the same height as me, so you can wear mine."

After Yun Yao heard this, he saw Xu Jingzhou actually taking out a piece of clothing, and then he took Yu An's coat.

She put her coat on, and it still contained Yu An's warmth, making her feel warm all of a sudden.

"Then I'm leaving. Come on for the exam." Yun Yao said, waved his hand, and left wearing a loose coat.

Yu An looked at her back, the wide sleeves covering her body made her already slender look a bit petite.

He was fussing over the test, not knowing what he was thinking.

Lu Zhixu glanced at Yu An and felt that he had not failed the test by accident.

About half a month later, the three of them arrived in the county. It was during the county examination period, and the price of the inn had doubled. Even so, the three of them had to search several hotels before they found a vacant room.

This place is some distance away from the examination shed. On the day of the county examination, several people set out early and stood outside the shed waiting for a body search.

The body searches in the county examination were much stricter than those in the college. Not far in front of them, a candidate hid his cheat sheet in his foot pocket. He was soon discovered and was disqualified from taking the examination for life.

He grabbed the hem of the invigilator's clothes, knelt on the ground and refused to let go, alarming the officers and soldiers guarding him, and was forcefully dragged away.

This farce made the already nervous candidates feel their hearts in their throats.

Soon it was the turn of the three of them. Seeing that Yu An was a cripple, a fat invigilator gave a mocking smile and deliberately pinched Yu An's left leg during the examination.

Although Yu An had no feeling in his left leg, he still felt a sense of shame invade his whole body. His face was gloomy, and he held the crutch tightly, as if he wanted to embed his fingers in it.

"Go in." the examiner said.

As he said this, he made a circle with his fat pig hand, telling Yu An that your legs are only that thick.

Yu An gritted his teeth and went in silently.

He found his seat and sat down. Xu Jingzhou and Lu Zhixu were not in the same room as him. When the time came, the invigilator began to hand out papers.

Yu An looked at the paper in his hand, thinking of Yun Yao's cold little hands and panting appearance, he was silent and put down the tip of his pen.

More than a dozen invigilators patrolled the aisles, which added a lot of pressure to the candidates.

Half an hour later, Yu An stood up first.

Just then, an invigilator with a mustache walked up to him. His eyes widened and he gave Yu An a look that looked like he was sitting down.

That look seemed to say: Boy, don’t give up.

Yu An turned a blind eye and left alone.

The test papers of the candidates must be collected by a dedicated person, and the invigilator cannot touch them. Therefore, the mustache can only see the top test paper.

In his opinion, no one could finish writing the test paper in half an hour. Yu An must have given up because the questions were too difficult.

Yu An returned to the inn early to pack his things. By the time Xu Jingzhou and Lu Zhixu returned, he had already finished packing.

Lu Zhixu said in surprise: "Brother Yu came back so early."

"Why don't you wait until the rankings are announced before leaving?" Xu Jingzhou asked.

Yu An looked calm and said, "No, hurry back."

Thinking of Yun Yao, a meaningful smile appeared on Xu Jingzhou's gentle face. He coughed and said, "Okay, let's go back after having a meal."

"There is another place I want to go to." Yu An said.

After lunch, the driver took Yu An to the most famous jewelry store in the county, Baiyu Palace.

Every piece of jewelry here is valuable, but when the boss saw that Yu An didn't show any disdain, he carefully introduced it to Yu An.

After leaving, Yu An picked out a silver-dot emerald sapphire hairpin. It was not gorgeous, but very beautiful.

Five hundred taels was his New Year's money.

Yu An carefully installed the hairpin and left the White Jade Palace.

There was a snowfall on the way back, and the snow melted quickly when it fell on the ground. Many country roads became muddy, and the carriage had to slow down. It took more than twenty days to get back to the town.

It's already the end of February.

Xu Jingzhou asked the coachman to take Yu An home, while he and Lu Zhixu went back first.

As the carriage was on its way back to the village, Yu An touched his hot chest and felt the candidate's nervousness for the first time.

It is the time of spring plowing, the soil exudes a unique fragrance, and busy figures can be seen everywhere in the farmland.

"Sir, here we are, I'll help you down." I remembered the coachman's voice.

The coachman's voice attracted Zhao Xiaoqin's attention. She walked out of Yunyao's house and saw Yu An at first sight.

"Young Master Yu is back," she said with a smile, "Ayao is asleep, I'll wake her up."

"No, let her sleep." Yu An said.
Chapter completed!