After resting for a night in the county inn, early the next morning, Qin Yao and Liu Ji went their separate ways.

Qin Yao and Song Yu went to buy some daily necessities and snacks to bring home to make the children happy.

Liu Ji took his identity documents, went to the government office to complete the household registration, and added his honor. At the same time, he applied for the documents needed for the provincial examination.

Time was tight, and there were only five days left for Liu Ji to not delay the departure time for the provincial examination.

At the latest, he needed to take all the documents to the prefecture to meet with Qi Xian.

According to Qin Yao’s idea, the time was so short that she could prepare the village’s documents on his behalf and send them directly to the county, allowing Liu Ji to stay alone in the county to handle everything first.

Unfortunately, someone stuck to her like a plaster and insisted on returning to the village with her.

The reason was that the children hadn’t seen their real father for a long time and needed to meet him.

Moreover, if there’s anything about their studies, Qin Yao couldn’t handle it alone and still needed him to manage it.

"What did you say before? You can’t delay the children’s education no matter what," Liu Ji said seriously.

Song Yu reminded from the side: "Madam said that no matter how poor, don’t poor education; no matter how hard, don’t hard the children."

Liu Ji nodded repeatedly, "Yes, that’s what I meant, so you, madam, must wait for me to come back, and we’ll leave the city together!"

Afraid that Qin Yao couldn’t wait, Liu Ji immediately strapped on his flamboyant book box and hurried to the county government.

Qin Yao shrugged and told Song Yu to prepare the carriage to go out shopping.

The family was not short of rice, noodles, oil, and grain, and since Ah Wang opened the vegetable garden, fresh vegetables were never lacking.

However, with so many people in the family, fresh meat and spices were never enough to eat.

Qin Yao got up early today and managed to catch fresh meat at the stall, directly buying half a piece home.

The news of Liu Ji’s success in the provincial examination should about have reached the county. Even if they didn’t want to host, the villagers would come to congratulate, and as hosts, they had to treat everyone to a good meal.

Passing by the grocery store on the way, she bought a lot of peanuts, fungus, mushrooms, and other dried goods.

As for other things, just adding some sunflower seeds and candies would be enough, as chickens, ducks, fish, and meat were all available in the village and could be bought fresh when needed.

Qin Yao returned to the inn after being busy until mid-morning.

Liu Ji didn’t come back until noon, sweating profusely.

Qin Yao ordered a simple meal, and after the three filled their stomachs at the inn, they started their journey home.

Considering everything, they had been away from home longer than expected. Originally, Qin Yao only planned to spend seven or eight days, but now it had been half a month.

She wondered if Sanlang and Si Niang would be upset with her when they got home.

But... looking at the car filled with candied fruits wrapped in oil paper, Qin Yao thought it wouldn’t be a big problem.

The weather had been too hot these days, and the school, fearing students might suffer heatstroke, had granted a five-day holiday to let them go home to escape the heat.

Today was the first day of the holiday, and as the carriage moved slowly along the official road and turned into the country path, they would occasionally see groups of mischievous children playing by the riverbank.

The river here wasn’t deep, and adults didn’t pay much attention, but Qin Yao and the others, as passers-by, watched with fear.

Whenever they saw children about to go into the water, Song Yu would shout out loudly.

The children, frightened by his shout, scattered in all directions.

"Even shallow water can drown people," Song Yu shook his head and sighed helplessly.

When the child in Liu Family Village fell into the water, Liu Ji was not at home. Only later did he hear about it from Song Yu.

Looking at those frightened children running away, Liu Ji thought to himself that if he caught Da Lang taking his siblings to play in the river when he returned to the village, he would definitely catch him for a good scolding.

At this time, the three had just passed Lower River Village, unaware that the entire village had prepared a great surprise for them.

Two days ago, the list of successful candidates for the Zijing Mansion examination had been posted outside the government office in Kaiyang County.

Liu Fei, who was in the academy, received the news and immediately rushed over. He scanned the list from beginning to end, not holding out much hope, but when he saw the last two words, "Liu Ji," he couldn’t help but erupt into a sharp shriek!

"He made it! He made it!" He jumped around excitedly as if he were the one who had passed.

Others came up and asked who had passed.

In public, Liu Fei always called Liu Ji by name, and he pointed excitedly at the name on the list:

"It’s my brother, my third brother made it!"

The others laughed and congratulated him.

Liu Fei hurriedly thanked everyone for their good wishes, double-checked the name on the list to make sure he wasn’t hallucinating, and then immediately packed up at the academy and rushed back to Liu Family Village to share the good news with the entire village.

Old Liu suppressed his trembling hands from excitement and laughed heartily, "The ancestors have blessed us!"

Then he asked Liu Bai, "Do you know when Yao Niang will return home?"

Since the third son had passed, he would surely come back with Yao Niang to see his fellow villagers!

Liu Bai calculated the days, "Maybe tomorrow, or the day after at the latest, they should be back."

Old Liu patted the bewildered heads of the Da Lang, Second Lang, Sanlang, and Si Niang siblings and waved his hand grandly, "We must celebrate this on a grand scale!"

Seeing Liu Dafu’s family being so prominent for so many years, it’s hard not to feel a bit envious. Now it’s finally Old Liu’s family’s turn to shine.

Mrs. Zhang was also happy but hesitated a little, "Should we wait for Yao Niang to come back and discuss this with her?"

"No need!" Old Liu said confidently, "Even if Yao Niang knew, she would definitely agree to a grand celebration. You just go ahead and organize it."

For the first time, he told Mrs. Zhang and her daughters-in-law to freely ask him for money if needed. Over the years, he had saved some private money, and he was willing to spend it all in joy this time. 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

In the midst of happily mingling with the villagers who came to congratulate him, Old Liu didn’t notice the murderous look in Mrs. Zhang’s eyes.

After sleeping together these years, she didn’t know he had hidden money!

Detecting something was off with their mother-in-law, He and Mrs. Qiu exchanged a secret glance and enjoyed the enviable looks from the village women as they slipped away.

Since Father said to make it grand, they certainly couldn’t forget to inform their own families.

Imagining herself soon to be the wife of a scholar, He couldn’t stop smiling.

Borrowing her third uncle’s reputation, her family would surely pamper her now!

Mrs. Qiu, naturally more cautious, after her initial happiness, began planning how to organize the grand event, feeling both joyful and worried.

The four Da Lang brothers and sisters squeezed out of the crowded old house’s backyard gate, looked at the blue sky, and then at the gray-yellow ground, finally exchanging glances and showing wide smiles with their teeth.

Si Niang clenched her fist happily, "Father has finally done something impressive."

Da Lang and Second Lang were also relieved for their father, thinking he might get beaten less from now on, making the family more harmonious~

Sanlang, being action-oriented, called Little Lai Fu, who was still happily playing with other village children in the courtyard, "Come on, let’s go to the village entrance to wait for Mother and Father!"

Mother promised to bring him something delicious, and thinking of the sweet and sour sugar haws and the appetizing and juicy candied fruits, Sanlang was salivating.