Chapter 221: Chapter 96: County Examination (8)

She didn’t make a sound to disturb them, simply setting down the tea set before quietly slipping out.

Stepping outside, she saw her mother returning, beaming with joy and her heart thumping like a captured rabbit’s.

"It’s confirmed! It’s our two boys! Jing took first place, and De’an is fifteenth."

Chen Wanqing smiled. "Didn’t you say you were going to wait until evening when no one was around to go look?"

"I was bursting with joy, how could I possibly wait until then? Oh, those two boys have really made us proud. Qing’er, tell me, should I make them a special meal to celebrate?"

Chen Wanqing gave her honest opinion. "Mother, it’s still too early to celebrate. You should wait until they’ve passed the entire county exam. It won’t be too late to celebrate then. At that point, you can order a full banquet for them from a restaurant to reward them properly."

’Let’s skip it for now. What if they get an upset stomach?’

Xu Su Ying nodded quickly. "You’re right. I’m just being silly with joy, haha. I can’t help but be this happy! Who knows, maybe this time our family will actually produce two Scholars."

"Shh, Mother, keep your voice down."

When Chen Song returned that evening, the smile on his face was so wide, you’d think he’d won a grand prize of several million silver taels. Obviously, he already knew the results of the first examination session.

This was only normal, though. After all, while ordinary people wouldn’t know De’an’s and Zhao Jing’s seat numbers, the constables at the county government certainly would.

And because of their connection to Chen Song, they would have paid special attention to the boys’ exam results.

So upon hearing the news, wouldn’t they have rushed to be the first to congratulate Chen Song?

Chen Song put on a modest front. When the children weren’t looking, he whispered to Xu Su Ying, "I’ve been praised so much I feel like I’m floating on air. Every single one of them asked me how I raised my kids."

"And what did you tell them?"

"What else could I say? I told them the truth, of course. A self-disciplined boy like Jing doesn’t need to be taught. We can’t take any credit for him doing so well. But for De’an to place fifteenth..."

It was no exaggeration to say that De’an had done incredibly well.

Take his colleagues at the county government. They might all wear the trappings of officialdom, quick to call someone "that poor scholar" or "that bookworm," and even occasionally curse someone as a "stuffy old pedant," as if they truly looked down on learned men.

But if they truly looked down on education, why would any of them spend a fortune sending their own children to private academies?

They spent plenty of money, yet not a single one of their children had amounted to anything academically.

Several colleagues had already complained in private, saying things like, "They’re our own flesh and blood. If they aren’t cut out for studying, isn’t it our own fault? Good thing we still have these posts. Worst case, we can pass the job down to our children when we get old. At least it’s a way to make a living."

But most families had more than one son and only one post to pass on. Deciding who would inherit it was bound to cause another round of conflict.

They pushed their children to study in hopes of finding them other paths in life, but what could be done if the children simply lacked the talent for it?

It was in this environment that De’an had suddenly distinguished himself. How could Chen Song not be ecstatic?

He was practically numb with joy when he heard the news. Yet, he had to pretend to be composed, saying, "It was a fluke. Just a stroke of luck."

He had to maintain his composure and not be ostentatious in front of his colleagues, but before his wife, Chen Song was so elated he could have sprouted wings and flown to the heavens.

One moment he was saying, "This boy takes after me," the next it was, "Fifteenth place! He’s really got a future ahead of him!" and then, "It proves it wasn’t a waste for me to drop by his academy every now and then, bringing a few gifts to curry favor with his teacher. See? The teacher put his heart into it, and De’an mastered the material."

Xu Su Ying rolled her eyes behind his back.

He’d been going on and on since the moment he got home, rambling until her head was spinning.

’At first, I wanted to argue back,’ she thought. ’In what way, exactly, is our son like you? Does he look like you? Is his temperament like yours? Or is his talent for studying like yours?’

’But then I thought, why waste my breath?’

’Does he really not know his own limits?’

’I’ll let him be smug for a while. After all, a joyous occasion like this only comes around once in a blue moon.’

That night, after finishing their dinner and briefly flipping through a few pages of their books, Chen De’an and Zhao Jing both went to bed to rest.

The next day, they would have to wake up before dawn again and repeat the entire process from the first day of the examination.

If they didn’t get enough rest and their minds weren’t sharp, it would surely affect their performance on the following day. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

Exhausted in both body and mind from the past two days, it wasn’t long after they lay down that both of them fell fast asleep.

When Chen Wanqing returned to her room after washing up, she saw Zhao Jing’s eyes were closed, his breathing already even and deep.

This was the first time he had fallen asleep before her, and for a moment, Chen Wanqing found it quite novel.

’He is a growing boy, after all, so it’s only normal for him to be sleepy,’ she mused. ’But he’s so self-disciplined, his diligence unwavering day after day. In all my memory, there has never been another young man like him.’

The candlelight cast a dim, yellow glow. Through the warm light, Chen Wanqing quietly watched Zhao Jing, gazing at his face, which was so peaceful it seemed almost aloof.

When he was awake, he was always gentle and refined, a faint, pleasant smile on his face that put everyone at ease.

But the sleeping Jing seemed to have shed all his burdens, revealing his truest self.

This version of him was cool and detached, almost unfeeling and apathetic, always keeping people at arm’s length, allowing no one to get close.