You are unlucky and I am tough

Chapter 192: Entrance Examination

February 28th is the biannual enrollment day for Chongwenguan in Fucheng. Children who pass the assessment and are selected will be admitted directly on the same day.

The school can provide students with food and accommodation as long as they pay extra money. Children from the city generally do not live in the school and are picked up from home every day, while those who live far away can only live in the school.

The whole family got up early and packed up. Cheng Shuang changed the two younger brothers into their best clothes, combed and tied their hair, and pinned them with white jade hairpins. She also bought them the best study supplies in the mall.

Legal merchants in Daliang were not allowed to set up private schools, so even the richest children had to be sent to private schools. Chongwenguan was naturally the first choice for children from wealthy families.

In a school where children from wealthy families gather together, it is impossible to talk about absolute fairness and equality. Flattery of the powerful and bullying of the weak are inevitable. Cheng Shuang doesn't want to see her two younger brothers being bullied, so she dresses them in the best clothes, uses the best pens and ink, and also provides them with servants, so that they won't be bullied as poor boys in the school.

Except for Cheng Guqiu, everyone else said they wanted to go, and Wei Qinglang also temporarily stopped the construction of the half-finished water pressure well.

After breakfast, the two carriages set off towards the city.

The street leading to Chongwenguan was so crowded that the carriages were stuck and couldn't pass through, so the people in the carriages had to get off and walk outside the museum.

Cheng Shuang and Wei Qinglang also got off the car with their families and walked forward with the crowd.

At this time, the outside of Chongwenguan was already crowded and noisy. There were wealthy families surrounded by servants, and ordinary people in coarse clothes. They all had the same goal, to send their children to the best schools to receive the best education so that they could make a name for themselves in the future.

Cheng Shuang, who was squeezed in the crowd, felt a little nervous when she saw so many children. She was not worried about Cheng Chen, but she was worried that Cheng Xu would not be selected.

If he fails to be selected, should the two younger brothers be separated, or should Chen'er also give up Chongwenguan and choose another private school together?

Looking at Xiao Si who was carried on Wei Nanxing's shoulders, Cheng Shuang's face showed worry.

Wei Qinglang saw through it and whispered to her, "I think Xiao Si will be fine."

"How can you be so sure?" Cheng Shuang sighed. "Xiao Si's best skill is calligraphy, and he's also good at painting, but the entrance exam won't be enough just based on these two."

"When I first came here, I took a look at the notice in front. It listed the content of this year's assessment."

Wei Qinglang leaned close to her ear. "This year's assessment has added arithmetic. Xiao Si has been studying with you for so long, I'm not sure how good you are. You should have no problem handling the arithmetic test for first and second graders. You should also be able to pass the etiquette and appearance test without any problems. Add in handwriting and drawing, and you'll be almost there."

Cheng Shuang was happy and quickly listened to the discussions of the people around her. Sure enough, she heard many people complaining about why there was an additional arithmetic test this year.

In the past, the annual assessment content included literacy, comprehension and thinking, recitation ability, writing ability, painting talent, and manners and etiquette. This year, an arithmetic item was suddenly added, which caused many parents to complain.

After waiting for a while, Mr. and Mrs. Lu came with their son Yuanbao. When they squeezed to the front, they found Cheng Shuang and the others. The two families stood together and talked.

Lu Yinyin came to the village a few days ago. In addition to playing, she also asked Cheng Shuang for a weight loss diet. Cheng Shuang took the time to customize a diet for her based on her situation, and handed it to Mrs. Lu today.

Mrs. Lu was overjoyed. She had seen with her own eyes how the old man in her family lost weight by following Cheng Shuang's diet. In just a few days, he had lost a lot of weight.

Soon the door of the academy opened and a tutor came out to read out the examination content and rules. After reading, he asked the children to line up and hand in their business cards. The children's family members were not allowed to accompany them, and each child could only bring one servant into the academy.

This is also because some children have been living a life of luxury since childhood and need someone to help them study and grind ink.

Song Qi, who was going to stay at the academy as a servant, also came along. Cheng Shuang asked him to follow Xiao Si for a while, and then warned his two younger brothers, "Chen'er, if you perform normally, there will be no problem. Don't feel pressured."

"Xiao Si, you must do your best on the test. Don't try to be cunning and answer questions randomly, and don't scribble on the test paper. Otherwise, if you fail, you will have to go to a different school from your brother."

Cheng Xu was so anxious that he kept shaking his head, "No, I will definitely do well in the exam."

Yuan Bao had already taken his servant to the queue to reserve a spot, and waved to the two of them, "Brother Chen, Xiao Si, come and queue up."

Mr. Lu held his belly in the back and prayed quietly, "Yuanbao, you have to work hard. As long as you pass three subjects, you can enter the school, otherwise Dad's Jade Cloud Dragon Pot will be given away for nothing."

Mrs. Lu raised her hand and hit him, "Okay, I said that the jade teapot set at home was missing, and you used your connections to take advantage of me. You really don't believe that my son can pass the exam on his own."

Mr. Lu complained, "I'm just doing this just in case."

"I'll take care of you when I get back."

After the children lined up and went in one by one, the door was closed. Round after round of assessments were carried out in an orderly manner inside, and the parents of the children outside waited anxiously.

Two hours later, the door of the school finally opened. The tutor came out with a few people and posted the test results on the bulletin board.

The crowd rushed forward to see the list. Cheng Shuang had the foresight to bring her family to stand in front of the bulletin board in advance. When the first list was posted, she saw the first name on the list at a glance.

"Wei Qinglang, look, Chen'er is the first place." Cheng Shuang grabbed his arm and almost jumped up with joy.

"I see." Wei Qinglang also laughed.

"Where's Xiao Si?" Cheng Pan asked anxiously, "Why isn't Xiao Si's name on it?"

This sentence made Cheng Shuang nervous again, and she stretched her neck to continue reading.

There was still no sign of him on the second list, until the third one, when Cheng Xu's name finally appeared on the list.

Thirty-seventh place.

Cheng Shuang breathed a sigh of relief. "Fortunately, I was selected. The ranking is not important, as long as I was selected."

Now that the school has been settled, she can finally put her mind at ease.

While waiting, Mr. and Mrs. Lu went to a nearby teahouse to rest. When they rushed over, the bulletin board was already crowded with people, and they were so anxious that they were jumping up and down outside.

Seeing that they were anxious and couldn't get in from the outside, Wei Nanxing squeezed out of the crowd and came to their side.

"Don't worry, Mr. Lu, Yuanbao has been selected, 33rd place."

He saw Lu Zhan's name when he was looking at the list just now.

"Oh, that's great."

Mr. Lu excitedly patted Wei Nanxing's shoulder several times, "Where are your two younger brothers?"

“They were all selected.”

Mr. Lu was even happier and laughed heartily, "Great, they will be classmates from now on."

The selected children will start school directly today, and those who live in the school need to go through the check-in process separately and send their luggage and belongings in for storage.

Yuanbao didn't need to stay overnight, so Mr. and Mrs. Lu didn't disturb Cheng Shuang and the others and said goodbye and went back.

Cheng Shuang and Wei Qinglang went to handle the relevant procedures, first paying a tuition of five taels of silver per person, and then queued up to register for accommodation, paying two taels of silver per person for food and lodging.

Song Qi did not need to pay tuition to accompany the students, but the food and accommodation fee was still two taels.

Although he is not a formal student, Shu Tong can audit some classes from the outside. In addition, he can accompany his two younger brothers to do homework on weekdays. He can learn a lot by observing and listening. In any case, it is better than staying in the village to work.

After everything was done, the two went in to see their two younger brothers and told them to study hard.

However, the new students still had to pay their respects to the teacher, and they were asked to leave the private school before they could say a few words.

After leaving Chongwenguan, the family had lunch at a small roadside restaurant and then split up.

Cheng Shuang and Wei Qinglang took their three sisters to the market. After adding ten people to make soap, the daily output of soap exceeded one thousand pieces. One shop could not supply enough lard, so they had to find another shop to cooperate with.

Wei Nanxing took Wei Xinyi to the Xicheng Bookstore Street to buy books. Everyone in the family loves reading and studying, and the various books they bought before have been almost finished, so they need to restock.

This bookshelf street is quite old, and most of the people on the street are ordinary families and poor students, but the books and related items here are the most complete, and it is very lively every day.

After all, no matter how prosperous a city is, the majority of its inhabitants are ordinary people living ordinary lives.

There were bookstores on both sides of the street, one next to the other, with a wide variety of books hanging in front of the store doors. Wei Nanxing and Wei Xinyi went through each store and bought quite a few books, including a complete set of Liangshan Stories.

"Fourth brother, I like this." After buying almost all the books, Wei Xinyi saw a paperweight at a roadside stall and pulled Wei Nanxing over.

"Boss, how much is this?"

"Four hundred wen." The shrewd stall owner raised four fingers when he saw that the two men were good-looking and well-dressed.

"It's too expensive. How about a little less, two hundred wen?" Wei Nanxing bargained and cut the price in half.

"Young man, how can such a good thing cost only 200 coins? It should be at least 380 coins."

"One hundred and eighty wen."

The stall owner was anxious. "Young man, how can you bargain like that? The lowest price is three hundred and fifty coins."

"One hundred and fifty coins. If you don't want to sell it, forget it." Wei Nanxing turned and was about to leave. "Let's go look somewhere else."

"Okay, okay, one hundred and fifty cents."

The stall owner stopped the man and wrapped up the paperweight with a look of pain on his face. His hands moved quickly as if he was afraid the buyer would go back on his word, and he complained, "I lost money on this deal."

Wei Nanxing smiled without saying anything, paid, took the things, and was about to leave with Wei Xinyi, but suddenly he heard a familiar voice in his ears.

"Braised pork noodles, hot braised pork noodles are out of the pot."

"Authentic homemade secret braised pork noodles, only 20 cents a bowl."

"The price is absolutely fair, no cheating, come and try it."

The brother and sister were stunned when they heard the voice. When they turned around, they saw Wei Da Kui and Wei Xiao Kui standing at the door of a shop opposite and shouting.