Traveling through ancient times: living a different life

After the grandparents and grandchildren returned home, they parked the carriage in the backyard. Biyue took out grass and cornmeal from the locker to feed the horse, while grandma stood by and looked around.

After feeding the horses, they went to fetch water to wash their hands, and then returned to their room. Grandma said, "Qinghui will not come out for another three days. I want to go to the temple to burn incense and pray to the Buddha, hoping that I can win this time."

Biyue knew that her grandmother was nervous. If her youngest son failed again and really became a shopkeeper, not only would her son be unhappy, but she, as an old mother, would also feel uncomfortable.

"Okay, grandma. This is our first time in the city. We don't know which temple is more effective. Let's ask the old couple. They will definitely know."

After lunch, grandma went to ask which temple in the city had better incense. Youshi told her that Yanhua Temple was better because many candidates' families went there to burn incense.

After finding out the place, he planned to go there tomorrow morning and come back in the afternoon. He said to Mrs. You, "Thank you!" and went back to his room to tell his granddaughter about it.

Qinghui entered the examination room and went to his own examination cubicle. He was lucky enough to be assigned a cubicle far away from the toilet.

I put down my backpack, took out my writing brush, ink, paper and inkstone, put them on the table, started grinding ink and waited for the exam. Ten minutes later, the bell rang in the exam room and the examiner began to hand out the exam papers, and the exam officially began.

Because he had participated in the provincial examination twice before and had some experience, Qinghui read through the test papers after they were handed out before starting to answer the questions.

When I saw the arithmetic problems, if it was the first two times, it would definitely be difficult, but after learning the multiplication formulas, studying a lot of books given by my little niece, and practicing a lot of problems, now these are child's play. But I also calculated on the scratch paper very seriously, and copied it on the test paper after I got it right, and answered the questions seriously. I put down the pen in my hand when I heard my stomach growling unknowingly, and put down the test paper, covered it, then lit a charcoal fire to boil water, soaked instant noodles after the water boiled, added a sausage, opened the lid, and the fragrance filled the air. When the candidates next to me smelled it, the cakes in their hands no longer smelled good.

Qinghui started to eat lunch. After eating a bowl of hot noodles, he felt comfortable and warm all over. He stood up to stretch his body and started writing again.

The next day, the grandfather and grandson drove a horse-drawn carriage to Yanhua Temple. The temple was not far from the city, five miles out of the city. They got off the carriage, took the fruits and snacks they bought in the temple, and parked the carriage at the foot of the temple mountain under someone's watch. They paid the money, took the parking license plate, and bought incense and candles at the small shop next to it.

The two walked to the temple. There were also a few people along the way who were praying to the gods. The stone steps were more than two meters wide and led to the temple in a winding way. On the right side of the stone steps were many vegetable plots, and on the left side were some trees, bamboos, peach trees and other plants.

The weather in early spring was very good, with a cool breeze blowing. Biyue held her grandmother's hand, carrying things, and walked up the mountain with brisk steps. After more than ten minutes, they arrived at the gate of the temple. The temple was built solemnly and majestically, with three big characters "Yanhua Temple" written on the plaque at the gate. After entering, they lit incense and began to worship Buddha. Grandma prayed devoutly in front of the Bodhisattva.

Bi Yue also knelt down and said in her heart: "I hope my parents and relatives in my previous life are healthy! Everything goes well! My family in this life is happy and healthy! May all my wishes come true!"

While my grandmother was still worshipping, I was standing outside the temple looking at it. The temple did not cover a large area, probably because it was built on a mountain, and was built according to local conditions. In addition to the main hall, there were several other halls.

The two men threw money into the donation box at the entrance of the hall.

After leaving the main hall, he went to several other temples and bowed in all of them before taking a break. He then sat down in front of a monk's table, drew a lot, took it out and asked the middle-aged monk to help him analyze what was written on it.

The monk said, "Your son should not get married too early. It will be auspicious after he is twenty years old." Grandma nodded in agreement, threw two taels of silver into the small wooden box beside the table, and went to the dining hall with Biyue to rest, drink some water, and prepare to have a vegetarian meal here at noon.

At around three o'clock in the afternoon, the grandfather and grandson drove a horse-drawn carriage back to their house in the city.

At around 3:00 p.m. on the third day, the grandparents and grandson came to the examination room to wait for Qinghui. The examination room would not open until 5:00 p.m., and there were many people waiting outside, all of them were the examinees' family members, friends, servants, and servants.

The gate opened at five o'clock, and students came out one after another. Some looked listless, some had bad complexions, and some had smiles on their faces. When they saw the people who were there to pick them up were waiting outside, they walked over.

Qinghui did not come out until 5:10, carrying a backpack. He looked energetic and healthy. Seeing the grandparents and grandchildren coming happily towards him, his grandmother asked him to get in the carriage with his granddaughter, and she drove the carriage herself, and the three of them drove to where they lived.

In the car, I was chatting with my niece about the exam, and she said confidently, "I have a good chance of passing this time."

"I believe you, can you do all the questions?"

"After answering all the questions, I don't know how the examiner will review the questions."

When they returned to their residence, the couple came out to greet them and said that they had boiled water and asked the young man to wash up, have a meal and take a sleep. The three generations of grandparents and grandchildren thanked them again.

Fourth Uncle took a shower first, finished his meal, and tidied his things. Bi Yue saw that Fourth Uncle still had a box of instant noodles left and brought it back.

After cleaning up, Fourth Uncle went to sleep and didn't get up until noon the next day. It was obvious that he was very tired. The examination room was very small and it was difficult to sleep well. It was really painful.

Today, the three of us cooked a lot of delicious food at home for Uncle Si to eat. Uncle Si said, "I eat instant noodles and instant powder in the exam. The students around me envy me. They can only drink hot water and eat dry biscuits. After leaving the exam room, many students asked me where I bought them. I just said I made them at home. They said I could do this business and many people would buy them."

Grandma and Biyue thought this was also a good business.

"It's just that the exam room is too small. I have to sleep on the table, which makes it hard to rest. But everything else is fine."

"Si'er, you've finished your exams. We'll go to the slave market tomorrow to buy a few people and go back the day after tomorrow. It'll take another ten days to announce the results, so there's no need to wait here."

"Okay, mother. I'll follow your instructions."