Chapter 274: Two Scholars

Chapter 274: Chapter 274: Two Scholars

In all her long life, Aunt Kang had never felt as glorious as she did today.

She was absolutely ecstatic! ’I haven’t lived my life in vain after all,’ she thought. ’I raised my fourth son, and now he’s brought such honor to my name. This life has been worth it!’

And just look at those belligerent old hags who were always at odds with her! Now, their expressions changed faster than the weather. The way they swarmed around her, fawning and flattering, asking after this and that—it was quite a sight!

Aunt Kang held her chin high, her heart swelling with smug satisfaction and utter contempt.

’These people just want to ride on my son’s coattails. In their dreams!’

’Just look at them, a bunch of mud-legged, destitute peasants! After today, they won’t even be worthy of crossing my threshold!’

In all the excitement, everyone seemed to have forgotten that someone else from the village had also taken the exam.

Every family with a son taking the exam was on pins and needles, waiting for the day the results were posted. And once they were, for every family that rejoiced, there was another that despaired.

Right now, Village Chief Meng was one of the despairing.

After the exam, most students stayed in Yeyang to await the results. But Song Jing, seemingly unconcerned, had returned to his academy in town long ago.

The village chief didn’t know if he was just being frugal about lodging fees or if he had done poorly and was avoiding the results out of disappointment.

He instinctively leaned toward the latter, but Mrs. Meng was adamant that Song Jing would pass.

Village Chief Meng hoped she was right.

So for the past few days, he had come over to Mrs. Meng’s at the crack of dawn, not even daring to go inside, just waiting by the door.

After an agonizing wait, his eyes nearly worn out from watching the road, heaven had finally answered his prayers. The news was here!

But before he could even light the celebratory firecrackers, he heard that the announcers had gone to the Ji Family’s home.

The village chief’s heart sank to the pit of his stomach. Mrs. Meng’s face went completely white.

"No, Jing’er promised me... He can’t have failed. He can’t have lost to Ji the Fourth..."

She seemed possessed, repeating the same phrase over and over.

While his nephew’s failure was a heavy blow, as the village chief, he couldn’t neglect his duty to receive the visiting government runners.

He arranged for a few women from his household to help Mrs. Meng inside, but she refused, insisting that someone would surely be coming to announce good news for them any moment.

Village Chief Meng was at a loss. He sighed and turned to leave.

Mrs. Hong hadn’t had a decent night’s sleep in days. Seeing now that their hopes had been for nothing, she scowled and hurried to catch up with the village chief.

"What an embarrassment! All you do is argue with me, moving heaven and earth just to bring them here. I thought we were inviting a living Bodhisattva, but it turns out he’s just made of clay! So much for glory! I’ve never been so humiliated!"

The village chief instinctively glanced back at Mrs. Meng. Her expression was ghastly, but her eyes were unfocused. He couldn’t tell if she had heard Mrs. Hong’s words.

"Can you keep your voice down! So what if he didn’t pass this year? Song Jing is still young, he’ll have plenty of other chances!"

Mrs. Hong’s eyebrows shot up. "Don’t you raise your brows and glare at me! ’Plenty of other chances’? That’s easy for you to say! What if he takes another ten or twenty years? I might not even be alive by then! Don’t think I don’t know what’s what. There are plenty of seventy- and eighty-year-old child students out there. If it’s not in your fate, you can test your whole life and never become a Scholar!"

Back when they were bringing Mrs. Meng and Song Jing to the village, her good-for-nothing husband didn’t have the guts to face her himself, so he got the clan elders to pressure her into it.

No matter how fierce Mrs. Hong was, she had no choice but to agree. She’d been holding in her resentment ever since.

She had originally thought that if Song Jing passed, her own children and grandchildren could benefit from his success, and she could swallow her anger.

But now look! After all this fuss, he just ended up as a foil for Ji the Fourth!

’Let’s see them act so high and mighty now! First thing tomorrow, I’m taking the house back and telling that mother and son to crawl back to wherever they came from!’

Mrs. Hong stormed off in a huff.

The village chief pointed at her retreating back, wanting to say something, but held his tongue, conscious that they were out in the open.

Fortunately, everyone had run off to watch the commotion, so no one noticed them. Otherwise, today would have been one humiliation after another.

"Sigh! What a mess this has turned into!"

The village chief stomped his foot, flicked his sleeve in frustration, and headed for the Ji Family’s home.

Just as he reached the mouth of the alley, someone ran headlong into him.

Before he could react, the person grabbed his arm in a death grip.

"Dad! Dad! Song Jing passed! Song Jing passed!"

The shouting left the village chief’s head spinning and his ears ringing, and he couldn’t quite make out the words.

"Laosan, what did you just say? Say it again!"

Since Song Jing had gone back to the academy, Village Chief Meng had sent his third son, Meng Laosan, to the county seat to get the news firsthand.

Meng Laosan had been making the trip for days with nothing to show for it, and every time he returned, he was full of complaints.

Today, however, he looked as happy as if it were New Year’s, his eyebrows practically flying off his sun-darkened face.

"Ah, Dad, your hearing is terrible! I said, Song Jing is a Scholar now! And he was first place, the... the top of the list!"

"B-but..." The village chief was so excited his tongue felt tied. "But didn’t they say it was Ji the Fourth?"

"Ji the Fourth?" Meng Laosan scratched his head. "Didn’t notice him. I saw Song Jing’s name and didn’t look any further down the list."

"You’re sure you’re not mistaken?"

"How could I be? I even had several other people confirm it for me! The name at the very top of the list was Song Jing!"

Village Chief Meng gasped for a few breaths, then grabbed him again.

"Wait, hold on. Then what’s this about Ji the Fourth?"

"Pah! Who cares about him? All that matters is that Song Jing passed!"

"Then what about the announcers? Why haven’t the government runners come?"

Meng Laosan was puzzled too. Those runners were on horseback, so they should have been faster than him, even though he’d hired a mule-drawn cart to hurry back.

Just as the father and son were talking, they heard the sound of a gong.

"Great news for Mr. Song! Congratulations to Mr. Song on his success in the examination!"

Meanwhile, at the entrance to the Ji Family’s home.

The entire Ji Family was so immersed in the waves of congratulations from the villagers that they had completely forgotten about the government runners standing off to the side.

It was Ji Qingshan who finally spared a thought for them. Noticing the unpleasant looks on the runners’ faces, he quickly pulled over the giddy Aunt Kang and motioned for her to take out the red envelopes they had prepared.

Aunt Kang’s cheerful mood instantly deflated, and her face fell.

She grudgingly pulled out three red envelopes, muttering, "I heard there would be three at most. Who knew five would show up..."

She didn’t say it quietly, either. The runners’ faces darkened.

Ji Qingshan snatched the envelopes from her hand and hissed through clenched teeth, "Then hurry up and get the other two!"

Aunt Kang wanted to say that if they just split the three envelopes, it would be enough for five people. ’They’re just here to announce some good news, how dare they ask for money from the family of a Scholar?’

But since it was a joyous occasion, she didn’t want to bring her son bad luck. So, despite her muttering, she turned and went back into the courtyard.

Ji Qingshan, forcing a smile, invited the runners to come inside and sit.

The runners didn’t want to stay a moment longer.

Why did the bailiffs at the government office fight tooth and nail to be announcers on exam result day? Because it was a lucrative job. There were perks to be had.

On such a joyous occasion, no one would be stingy. If you got a wealthy family, a single tip could be worth several months’ salary. Even a poorer family would at least put on a lavish spread of food and wine.

And the family of the top scorer? That was the greatest joy of all.

They had thought they’d hit the jackpot. But the higher the expectation, the greater the disappointment. When Aunt Kang pulled out those pathetically thin red envelopes, their hearts sank.

They were all seasoned veterans; one look was all it took to know there wasn’t much money inside.

And there weren’t even enough envelopes to go around... This was stinginess to the extreme. ’If we’d known it would be like this, we’d have been better off choosing a family closer to Yeyang than eating dust for half the day,’ they thought.

Now, they just wanted to finish their business and leave.

"Since Mr. Song isn’t here, you can accept the official announcement on his behalf."

Ji Qingshan was prepared for this. He had already cleared the most prominent spot in the main hall, ready to hang the announcement.

Just imagine, in the future, any guest who visited would be able to gaze upon this honor as soon as they walked in the door. How utterly...

"Lord, I think you’ve made a mistake,"

Mrs. Zhu suddenly interjected.

"Our family name is Ji. Where did this Mr. Song come from? You mean Mr. Ji, right?"