Chapter 46

She was clearly in the wrong, yet still acted from a position of superiority.

Xu Mo's lips tightened as he remained silently acquiescent.

Seeing that Auntie was about to flare up in anger, Jiang Sheng rushed over from the dilapidated temple and grabbed Xu Mo's arm, whispering for him to restrain himself: "Second brother, why let yourself be provoked by such vulgar people? We're in this business to make money; as long as we can turn a profit, what do past grievances and grudges matter?"

Currently, they were unilaterally transporting vegetables from Yunshui to Xieyang, going there with empty carts and wasting resources.

If they could also bring back some of Xieyang's specialty vegetables to Yunshui, they could earn a bit more.

Jiang Sheng had just finished speaking when Xu Mo understood his point.

He suppressed his anger and responded as calmly as he could, "Fine, but at three jin per wen."

Things were different now than in the past. Before, Xu Mo had begged and pleaded to buy vegetables, so he paid two jin per wen. Now he had no shortage of vegetables to buy, and it was the villagers who wanted to exchange vegetables for cash, so he could force down the price.

The woman was still unwilling to concede and wanted to protest further.

Xu Mo turned away: "Auntie, if you don't want to sell, then forget it."

He didn't particularly want to buy either.

Seeing she had lost, the woman grumbled as she threw her vegetables onto the donkey cart.

The new year had just passed, and everyone's pockets were a bit tight. They would need money again in less than two months when it was time to harvest the rice and plant again. Vegetables would just rot if they couldn't eat them all, so they might as well exchange them for cash.

Pang Dashan ostentatiously took out the scale and placed it on the cart, weighing the vegetables.

Three heads of cabbage totalled six jin. Jiang Sheng took out two wen and stuffed them into the woman's hand, smiling broadly. "Walk slowly, Auntie."

With this first transaction, the other women hurried over, jostling to cram their vegetables onto the cart. Some even ran back home to grab more produce.

But Xu Mo's donkey cart was already full. He looked to Jiang Sheng, "I'll leave the rest to you."

Jiang Sheng thumped his chest. "Don't worry, I'll keep good accounts."

Xu Mo and Pang Dashan delivered their cartloads of vegetables to the Yu Ran Inn.

After settling accounts, Xu Mo handed one hundred wen to Pang Dashan. "This is your share for the trip."

Pang Dashan held out both hands reverently to receive it.

After spending ten full years as a beggar, stealing, robbing, and accepting alms, this was the first time he had earned money through his own labor.

To Xu Mo, it was just one hundred wen, not even enough to fill half a cart of vegetables. But to Pang Dashan, it represented hope for the future, a way for his younger brothers to eat their fill and dress warmly.

"I'm going to buy some things." After leaving the Yu Ran Inn, Pang Dashan headed straight for the clothing store.

He originally had two younger brothers, and later took in three orphaned children. One of them, Chang Yan, had been adopted by Jiang Sheng, leaving two others. Four younger brothers in total.

Grey cotton jackets were fifteen wen each. After buying four, only forty wen remained in his hands.

But Pang Dashan was not worried at all. He ran to buy four candy apples and four pastries, leaving just ten copper coins in his palm. Xu Mo smiled without comment beside him.

There was a time when he and his siblings were just the same, carefully calculating as they excitedly spent every cent, focusing on the essentials of food and clothing first and foremost.

Fortunately, they had all been diligent enough, and lucky enough, to get to where they were today.

"When do we go back to Yunshui to buy vegetables?" Pang Dashan asked eagerly after delivering the goods back to their cave dwelling.

He was clearly buoyed by his younger brothers' enthusiastic reception, and eager to earn more money.

Xu Mo smiled. "When we fill the carts."

The reason he had agreed to buy the village women's vegetables wasn't because of the radishes and cabbages. The key was a vegetable native to Xieyang.

This vegetable was called snow vegetable. It was a bumper harvest vegetable that grew in late September through early October. By the new year, no fresh ones could be found, but snow vegetables had one special trait - they became even more delicious when dried.

Freshly picked snow vegetables were first dried until the leaves turned yellow. Then they were tightly pressed with bamboo mats for over a month until the leaves turned completely brown. At that point, they had become the elastic, slightly chewy dried snow vegetables.

Some used them as stuffing, some stir-fried them, some paired them with meat - no matter how they were prepared, the taste was superb.

After buying vegetables for over half a year, Xu Mo was confident he could sell these dried snow vegetables, even without a steady customer like the Yu Ran Inn in Yunshui.

And so, after five days they had filled two carts full of snow vegetables and set off once more for Yunshui.

Jiang Sheng skipped along behind, calling out, "Hurry back, second brother. Eldest brother is taking the county exam soon!"

It was now February, time for the first exam in the imperial examination system - the county exam.

Xu Mo had already informed Master about wanting to take the county exam. Worried that he didn't have enough knowledge and a failure would impact his mindset, Master thought it better to wait until next year when he was more prepared.

But Xu Mo couldn't wait.

Although Prefect Pang had acquiesced to Pang Dashan impersonating his nephew, essentially offering them his protection, he was still far away in Yunshui. Thirsty men want drink close by.

The Xieyang Prefect and his wife were surely secretly plotting something, perhaps even keeping them under surveillance, ready to strike them down at any moment.

Xu Mo desperately wanted to grow stronger, to gain abilities, to have the power to... uncover the truth behind his parents' deaths.

In preparation for the February county exam, he tirelessly studied day after day, even abandoning his copying work. He scrutinized and pondered, frowning as he pushed through texts.

Twelve hours in a day, minus four for sleep, one for meals, left seven hours that Xu Mo spent studying.

Jiang Sheng couldn't bear to see this. He grabbed Xu Mo's arm and wheedled, "Eldest brother, you'll make yourself ill like this. You should rest."

But Xu Mo shook his head.

Jiang Sheng gritted his teeth. "If you ruin your eyes like this, are you planning to become a blind scholar? How can a blind scholar still gain favor and take the exams? How can he have a future?"

This barrage of five questions left Xu Mo torn between laughter and tears.

"Eldest brother, please rest a while," Fang Heng also persuaded.

Wen Zhiyun added, "From a medical standpoint, the eyes should not be used for prolonged periods. Over time, vision will become blurred, an irremediable terminal illness."

Xu Mo was still contemplating.

The previously silent Chang Yan slowly spoke up, but not to dissuade. Instead, he provided another perspective. "Eldest brother, sitting and reading all day, you'll inevitably become restless. It might be better to go outside for a walk and gain new insights."

The world of books was vast, but staying only within books was armchair strategy.

Many matters still needed to be seen firsthand, experienced and observed directly.

Xu Mo understood. He swiftly rose, grabbing two books as he went out of the dilapidated temple.

He was reading about people's livelihoods, agriculture, and farmland. Books could only describe the general idea, but there were real fields at the village entrance. The new year had just passed, and though it was only February, the once biting winds had grown warm. Wheat seedlings buried in the grassy valleys were also gradually sprouting, unfurling slender new growth.

In another month or two, the commoners would take their night soil and turn it into fertilizer, crushing and drying it into a fine powder to evenly spread over the wheat fields. Then they would wait for the spring warmth to spur the wheat sprouts to soar upwards, blossoming into swaying stalks of grain.

The commoners sowed wheat, the stalks produced wheat grains, the grains fed the commoners, the commoners' waste was turned into fertilizer, returning nutrients to the wheat.

The cycle was thus.

Xu Mo deeply inhaled the fragrance of spring winds, then returned to the dilapidated temple, inspired and ready to write prolifically.

Jiang Sheng, as an illiterate, could only gaze in awe.

Soon, it was mid-February.

The county exam proceeded in earnest.

Fang Heng untied the old donkey early in the morning and hitched up the well-fed horse to the cart.

"Finish strong as a horse," he said, smacking the red-maned horse's rump.

Jiang Sheng pursed his lips, feeling he should also say something auspicious. After thinking hard, he managed to come up with, "Swift success like a horse."

Some auspicious phrase that was.

The brothers laughed uproariously.

Xu Mo patted Jiang Sheng's little head. "Don't worry, it will certainly go well."

The group boarded the donkey cart. Or rather, calling it a horse cart would be more accurate, despite the cart being attached to the horse's rear.

Jiang Sheng started checking that Xu Mo had all he needed for the exam.

The county exam, as the name suggested, was held at the county Imperial Examination Hall. Students from all over the county participated, arriving before dawn and remaining seated for a full day until released in the evening.

February weather - even bundled up, the icy winds cut to the bone. Remaining motionless in the frigid Examination Hall without fire, food, or hot water was even worse.

To ensure nothing was overlooked, Jiang Sheng had specifically gone to ask Manager Bai at the Yu Ran Inn. When he returned, he began preparations.

According to Manager Bai, after a major cheating scandal during the previous dynasty, examinees were only allowed to bring lattice-bottomed bamboo baskets into the exam halls, to prevent concealment of pre-written materials.

Even the bamboo brush handles in the ink, paper and inkstone had to be carved hollow, and hair accessories were strictly prohibited from entering. If it wasn't so cold during the exam, they probably would have made the students take the exam naked.

Jiang Sheng clicked his tongue as he prepared a hollow bamboo basket, brush, a pot of water, and two dry rations for Xu Mo.

There was also a chamber pot - once the candidates entered the exam hall, they were not allowed to use the toilet. If they needed to relieve themselves, they could only do so on the spot.

Finally, there was the ID certificate.

This thin piece of paper recorded Xu Mo's name, hometown, age, and physical characteristics. It was his only credential for entering the exam hall, and a means prepared by the Dayu Dynasty to prevent proxy test-taking.

Jiang Sheng checked the paper repeatedly, murmuring to himself that he could not lose it.

Needless to say, they raced there by fast horse.

On the way, Chang Yan, curious, took Xu Mo's ID certificate from Jiang Sheng to examine it briefly before returning it.

Jiang Sheng quickly stowed it back into the little bamboo basket, saying "No more looking, you must keep it safe, don't lose it no matter what."

But in this world, what you most fear is most likely to happen.

Right at the gates of the Imperial Examination Hall, Jiang Sheng was bumped into by someone.

When he got up, the ID certificate was gone from the basket.

Just outside the doors of the Imperial Examination Hall, right before the county exam, Xu Mo's critical admission ticket was lost!!!