Chapter 72: 72 Prefectural Examination
Xiao Liulang had nothing to say.
In fact, Xiao Liulang had never raised a child before, and he didn’t know if other people’s children were as peculiar as this.
Xue Ningxiang’s child definitely wasn’t. That little one only knew how to eat, unlike the little monk that Gu Jiao brought back, who was filled with weird and bizarre thoughts.
Little Jingspace, who was peacefully waiting for his “seed” to sprout, fell fast asleep, snuggled in his blanket.
The west room, which Gu Jiao had carefully tidied and fixed up, was no longer damp. The bedding, freshly aired just a few days ago, was soft and warm.
Little Jingspace was sleeping comfortably, his little face seemed to be suffused with a blissful smile.
Xiao Liulang gave Little Jingspace a glance, then shrugged it off and continued copying texts.
Xiao Liulang copied a line, furrowed his brows slightly, put down his brush and picked up a book to read.
Soon he realized that he wasn’t really into reading either, he frowned deeply.
After a while, he turned his head, his gaze falling on the unconventionally sprawling little monk.
He stood up, walked over to the bed, bent a little at the waist, extended his slender jade-like fingers, gently untied the headscarf wrapped around Little Jingspace’s head.
Little Jingspace, deep in sleep, was oblivious to his cunning brother-in-law’s shenanigans.
Xiao Liulang looked at his rosy little face and mischievously extended his fingers to pinch and pull at it!
After finishing her work, Gu Jiao came to the west room to call Xiao Liulang for his rehabilitation exercises.
The door was open, so she walked in openly, and what she saw was Xiao Liulang lying on the bed, his exquisite hand reaching out and then retracting over Little Jingspace’s face, as if he was pulling out invisible grasses!
And he was doing it so seriously, more seriously than studying!
Gu Jiao was perplexed.
What in the world was he doing?
Could a bookworm, of all people, be so childish when playing with a kid?
The next day, Little Jingspace was woken up by Gu Jiao.
The first thing Little Jingspace did upon waking up was to feel for his headscarf. Seeing it was still intact around his head, he heaved a sigh of relief.
An entire night had gone by, there must be sprouts by now. From now on, Jiaojiao’s kisses would always be on his face!
Gu Jiao didn’t have the heart to tell him that his little seeds and sprouts had already been mercilessly plucked clean by your brother-in-law last night!
After breakfast, Gu Jiao sent Xiao Liulang to the village entrance. Previously, she would send him alone, but now she was joined by Little Jingspace. The mother-daughter… no, sister-sister pair saw him off together.
They looked just like a family of three, quite a picture indeed!
It’s worth mentioning that Xiao Liulang had topped the county examination, earning him a certain fame in the town, and also more people seeking his service for copying books. But Gu Jiao, wanting him to focus on his preparations for the examination, forbade him from doing such jobs to supplement the family income.
Xiao Liulang completed all the books he had promised to copy previously and earned ten taels of silver. This wasn’t even half of his usual volume of scribing, but he made several times more silver.
He handed over all the silver he had earned to Gu Jiao, and since then, truly stopped taking on any copying work.
The date for the Prefecture examination was drawing close, and the prospective candidates started to make arrangements.
In the current dynasty, both the county and prefecture examinations were held earlier than in the previous dynasty. By late February, the candidates had to set off for the Imperial College in Prefecture City.
The trip from the town to Prefecture City took several days, even by horse carriage. Since Xiao Liulang still needed crutches despite daily rehabilitation, Gu Jiao was quite uneasy about having him travel alone.
Gu Jiao wanted to accompany him to Prefecture City, but with the elderly and a child at home, she couldn’t just leave them behind.
Luckily, Feng Lin had asked for leave from the Academy and would accompany Xiao Liulang to Prefecture City.
Before leaving, Gu Jiao packed a bundle for Xiao Liulang. In addition to clothes and silver, she also packed a few bottles of emergency medicine from her first and kit, in case he experienced motion sickness from the long journey or suffered from upset stomach due to unfamiliar food and water.
The carriage to the town was arranged by the dean of the Academy. Gu Jiao didn’t decline as no hired carriage could match the quality of the dean’s carriage, even though she could easily afford to hire one now.
The carriage driver was also from the Academy and knew Prefecture City area very well.
Before dawn, the driver arrived at the village with the carriage, while Feng Lin waited in the town.
Gu Jiao put the bundle into the carriage and slipped a purse to the driver. “Thank you for your hard work.”
“Oh no, I can’t accept this!” The driver was tasked by the dean to transport Xiao Liulang to the examination, he had never seen the dean treat any student with such care before, so naturally he dared not accept Gu Jiao’s tip secretly.
Especially since the dean was an honest and upright man. If he found out that the driver had accepted a bribe, he would surely kick him out of the Academy.
Gu Jiao said, “Go ahead, take it. The red packet I gave to the dean is much larger than this.”
On the other side, in the outhouse, Little Jingspace and Xiao Liulang were having a man-to-man talk.
Little Jingspace, with a serious expression, asked: “Do you want to talk?”
“Talk about what?” Xiao Liulang was nonchalant.
Little Jingspace took a glance at him and said, “You don’t need to turn your back to me when urinating. I won’t peek.”
Xiao Liulang kept his face expressionless: “Get to the point.”
Little Jingspace, with a serious look, said, “I heard that you had been married to Jiaojiao for quite a while but had never traveled far.”
Xiao Liulang raised an eyebrow and said, “So?”
Little Jingspace stared straight ahead: “We’re a bit worried about you at home.”
Xiao Liulang gave a faint smirk: “Hmph.”
Little Jingspace solemnly raised a palm and made a “time-out” gesture: “You don’t have to feel too much pressure, it won’t matter much even if you don’t do well in the exam. When I grow up, I’m sure I’ll do well. The family need not rely on you, I can shoulder it!”
Saying this, he stood up majestically from the little toilet, adjusted his little pants, and exited with an imposing expression on his face!
Xiao Liulang, who was snubbed even while in the toilet: “…”
What kind of overbearing little monk was this that he even forced himself into here?!