Reborn as the Blissful Wife in the countryside-Chapter 1022: Furious Rage

County Magistrate Zheng said: "The college examination is on the ninth of June. The candidates like Gu Jin’an represent the honor of our entire Tianfu County. When they return to the village, you must shield them from the people from the surrounding ten miles and eight villages, so they won’t disrupt their studies. If their studying is affected, resulting in poor exam performance, I will hold you accountable!"

With a thud, Village Chief He was so frightened that he knelt down again: "Yes, yes, yes, I, the humble villager, obey your orders. I will make sure the village shrews do not disturb Good Brother An and the others studying."

County Magistrate Zheng, seeing Village Chief He so intimidated, couldn’t help but find it a little amusing. He continued, "I heard you’ve prepared many chickens, ducks, and pigs to hold a large feast?"

Village Chief He nodded. Yes, it’s not easy for someone to achieve the honor of being the top of the county, so their village certainly planned to celebrate grandly. Moreover, the money for the feast was contributed by the village, very generous indeed, not stingy at all.

However, County Magistrate Zheng said again, "Don’t go through with it yet. Wait until Gu Jin’an and the others pass the scholar examination, then hold the feast. For now, they should focus solely on studying and preparing for the examination."

Ah?

Not holding it now!

Then what about the chickens, ducks, and pigs he bought? They’re crowing in the village, waiting to be slaughtered and cooked when the top scorer returns.

But Village Chief He, who feared officials to death, didn’t dare speak up and only nodded in agreement: "Yes, I, the humble villager, obey."

Seeing Village Chief He was terrified, County Magistrate Zheng did not make things harder for him, lowered his head to look at the document, and said, "Alright, you may return now."

Steward Zheng made a gesture inviting him to leave and escorted Village Chief He out of the room.

Village Chief He wasn’t sure how he managed to leave, his legs were still trembling. When he saw Gu Jin’an, he almost cried: "Good Brother An, I apologize, Village Chief Grandpa almost caused trouble for you."

Lord County Magistrate is right, more people means more trouble. If those people overturned the mule cart, the Gu Family People might end up injured, if not worse.

Look around, there are still many commoners surrounding Gu Jin’an, wanting to watch the excitement. If not for the Government Official holding them back, those people would have already rushed over to touch Gu Jin’an’s head.

Gu Jin’an is like a lucky baby now; touching his head is thought to bring fortune to the entire family.

Gu Jin’an smiled, supporting Village Chief He, and said, "Village Chief, what are you saying? I’m perfectly fine; you haven’t harmed me."

Looking at more and more villagers gathering around, he said: "You should take the people and go back first; I’m going to the escort agency to meet my parents. We’ll return to the village later."

If we head back now, I can guarantee we’ll be blocked along the way and won’t even make it home by nightfall.

Village Chief He recalled County Magistrate Zheng’s instructions and quickly nodded, "Alright, we’ll go back first to clear the way for your family."

Not far away, upon hearing they were leaving, the onlookers became anxious. A woman holding a child urgently said to Gu Jin’an, "Don’t leave, Master top scorer! Please touch my child’s head, so he too can grow up to become a top scorer and a high official!"

This remark set off a frenzy, with all the villagers clamoring, "Don’t leave, touch my son’s head too."

"Mine too!"

Gu Jin’an: "..."

Is my head going to go bald?

He cupped his hands towards the crowd, saying, "Respected elders and villagers, Gu Jin’an is under the Lord County Magistrate’s orders to concentrate on studying. The head-touching matter will have to wait until after I become a scholar. Farewell!"

Saying this, he quickly took Brother Cheng’s hand and slipped back to the county government.

Qi Kangming, Gu Dexing, Xu Zhao Ming, and others also were nervous and hastily followed him into the county government, planning to leave through the back door.

Luo Wu then led the Government Official in blocking those trying to rush after Gu Jin’an: "Stop! This is the county government, no trespassing allowed. Violators will be thrown into prison!"

Having served as squad leader for three years and owning an escort agency in the county, the townspeople still feared Luo Wu. Hearing this, they didn’t dare pursue further.

However, some persistent women called out, "Squad Leader Luo, I hear the top scorer is your brother-in-law. Let’s set this straight, once the top scorer passes the scholar examination, let my child touch his head!"

"My child needs a touch too."

"Squad Leader Luo, I want a touch too!"

Luo Wu looked at the person speaking, thinking, you’re in your thirties and still want to touch the scholar’s head for luck, have you no shame?

He ignored them, instructed the Government Official to guard the county government gate, then turned and ran inside to catch up with Gu Jin’an and the others, leading them to exit through the back door.

At the county government entrance, the townspeople were still in an uproar. County Magistrate Zheng, upon hearing this, chuckled: "Gu Jin’an has narrowly escaped; when I returned home after passing the scholar examination, my hair was a complete mess from being touched."

No one knows how this custom started, but everyone believes touching the head of someone who passed an official position exam brings good fortune to their family.

...

At Xu’s Shop, after discussing a lot of idle talk, Elder Xu finally said to Gu Dashan: "Dashan, Good Brother An is almost twenty, right? I heard from Brother Ming that he hasn’t been betrothed yet, that’s not good. A young man at his age, how can he not be engaged? It’s embarrassing."

Gu Dashan’s heart sank; Good Brother An was right, returning home would inevitably lead to talks of his marriage.

"Yes, he’s almost twenty, but Good Brother An swore he wouldn’t discuss marriage until he passed the exam for scholar." Gu Dashan repeated the words Gu Jin’an instructed him to say: "A sworn oath shouldn’t be broken lightly, otherwise it offends God."

On hearing this, Elder Xu almost choked; Gu Dashan was using God as an excuse.

However, Great Chu People believe in such things; once sworn, people generally wouldn’t dare to break the oath. Elder Xu could only smile awkwardly, "Establishing a career before starting a family, Good Brother An is quite ambitious."

However...

"Though he has sworn, it doesn’t prevent preliminary engagements. Making a preliminary engagement now, and later formalizing it when Good Brother An passes the exam for scholar, is feasible."

One has to admit, Elder Xu is a cunning old fox; even with Gu Jin’an’s oath, he found ways to convince Gu Dashan.

Gu Dashan was taken aback, holding his teacup, shaking his head: "Good Brother An said he doesn’t want to settle down too early. If he passes the scholar exam, he wants to travel for two years to see the world before aiming for the higher scholar examination, becoming an official before starting a family."

What? Traveling after passing the scholar exam, and only settling down after aiming for the higher scholar examination?

By the time all this is done, Gu Jin’an would be old!

Elder Xu, frustrated, looked at Gu Dashan and earnestly advised, "Dashan, I hear you and your wife adore your child, but indulging him like this isn’t right. At his age, he should settle down first. If he wanders around not settling down, what is that?"

Gu Dashan, having a slow tongue, didn’t know how to respond to Elder Xu’s words. But he held fast to Gu Jin’an’s instructions, refusing to give in.

Elder Xu was about to speak again when his second son approached him, whispered something, and left him fuming. 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Turns out the ruckus earlier was indeed trouble.

This girl, Xu Ling, how dare she ruin his plans? This concerns the honor of the next two generations of the Xu Family!

Elder Xu was furious, wishing he could give Xu Ling a good scolding right then.