Chapter 10

The next day, Ye Chunqiu still got up early to go to school. He had already grown tired of ignoring Mr. Zhou, but he still had to put on a show for school.

Moreover, today was the day for the joint guarantee.

The guarantee by the scholar-candidates was a matter for the Ye family, and the candidates didn’t need to be responsible for it. They would naturally invite the county’s scholar-candidates to step in.

However, the joint guarantee required five candidates to sign the guarantee, which would be sent to the county to prevent cheating. If one person cheated, all would be implicated, and their examination qualifications would be revoked for life.

Mr. Zhou did not give a lesson today. Of course, he didn’t even glance at Ye Chunqiu as usual, but he took out a register and called out names: "Ye Chenliang, Ye Xin... Ye Zichun..."

He called out five names, and then five young men stepped forward, each signing their name on the guarantee and then affixing their seals.

Mr. Zhou began to call out names again.

Finally, he read out: "Ye Chunqiu, Ye Juncai, Ye Wen, Ye Wu, Ye Junjie..."

These five people, two of whom were from the third branch, and the other two were distant relatives of the Ye family. Of course, they were all the most unruly children in the school, and Mr. Zhou had never liked them. Essentially, their lives were already planned out; they were to exist as the dregs of the Ye family.

When everyone was providing guarantees earlier, Mr. Zhou almost pointed and instructed everyone on where to sign their names and where to affix their seals. But when these few people, including Ye Chunqiu, came forward, he just had a cold expression, turned his face away, and ignored them.

Ye Chunqiu found it amusing for no reason. After all, he was still a child, and Mr. Zhou’s demeanor was even worse than that of a child just over ten years old.

However, for such obvious discrimination, Ye Chunqiu didn’t say much. After all, the examination was the most important thing for him.

...

The day of the county examination finally arrived. On this day, Ye Jing got up particularly early and, together with Ye San, prepared the examination basket and the clothes for Ye Chunqiu to change into. He couldn’t help but nag a bit, telling Ye Chunqiu some matters related to the examination.

Ye Chunqiu, with the boldness of a young bull, smiled and said to Ye Jing, "Father, I’ll come back as the top candidate."

Ye Jing laughed and said, "Of course, if you become the top candidate, it will bring glory to our family."

Although he said this, it was more of a consolation. After saying this, Ye Jing seemed to think of something and his expression turned somewhat gloomy.

Ye Chunqiu stuck out his tongue; this father had too many worries, making it hard to communicate with him.

When they arrived outside the county, over a dozen people from the Ye family who were going to take the examination had already been waiting for a long time.

The leader was a distant uncle, of the same generation as the old patriarch. When Ye Jing saw him, he had to call him Uncle. The old uncle was already quite old, with white hair and a hunched back. He stroked his white goatee, directing the younger generation to gather their luggage on a large cart, then leaned against the cart and ordered them to set off.

Ye Chunqiu sat at the back of the cart. The only advantage of this open cart was that he could enjoy the scenery along the way, but the ride was very bumpy, and his buttocks soon became numb. Ye Juncai and a few others sat beside him, busy attending to him. As for Ye Chenliang, he didn’t greet Ye Chunqiu today and was on another large cart.

On the way, the old Uncle Ye actually came over to Ye Chunqiu, stroking his beard and nodding his head, affectionately saying, "Are you the Chunqiu from the main branch? Has your father returned? It’s good that he has returned; a fallen leaf always returns to its roots."

Ye Chunqiu bowed and said, "Uncle, you are well."

The old Uncle Ye nodded happily at Ye Chunqiu and said, "Good, I and your father are old acquaintances. Ah... Ah... Thinking back now, the past seems like yesterday. When your father first went to the county examination with me, he was about your age. Tsk tsk, your father was a good person, and I got along well with him. However, he was a literary star and passed the examination on his first try. I... Ha ha... I tried year after year, and before I knew it, over twenty years had passed..." At this point, the old Uncle Ye started coughing hard and took a long time to recover. "If a person loses their ambition, their life is over. I am now sixty-three years old, and I have been taking the examination for over fifty years, but I still have the same ambition as before..." He then sighed deeply.

Ye Chunqiu was also amazed. The old Uncle had been taking the examination for over fifty years and still felt superior.

However, since he was an elder, Ye Chunqiu quickly said, "Yes, yes, Uncle, your teachings are well taken." He felt a bit uncomfortable for no reason. How could you feel like a negative example, taking the examination for a lifetime, with white hair, no teeth, and a hunched back? Will I end up like you in the future?

Ye Chunqiu shivered involuntarily. Not to mention his wisdom, he still had the optical brain, so he wouldn’t end up like the old Uncle, right?

However, Ye Chunqiu wasn’t entirely sure about the usefulness of the optical brain.

"Is that so, what did you say?" Ye Song, who was a bit hard of hearing, couldn’t hear clearly and bent over, putting his ear close to Ye Chunqiu’s mouth.

Ye Chunqiu was speechless. Uncle, do you really need to be on the front lines of the imperial examinations despite your hearing problem?

He had to raise his voice and shout into the old Uncle’s ear, "Uncle, your teachings are well taken! Chunqiu will remember." Remember... Remember... Remember... The last three words echoed.

Ye Song seemed to understand, straightened up, stroked his white beard, and said in surprise, "Wh... What kind of prostitute? Oh, is it about visiting prostitutes? What! Your father actually went to visit prostitutes for pleasure? This... This is really foolish, it disgraces the literati, absurd, absurd..." He couldn’t help but shed tears, looking at Ye Chunqiu with a sad expression, "After being apart for over a decade, your father has become corrupt. To have a sincere heart, to cultivate oneself, to manage the family, to govern the country, and to bring peace to the world, if one’s heart is not right, how can one manage the family? Terrible, terrible, if I meet him next time, I must teach him a lesson on behalf of the ancestors of the Ye family."

"..."

Ye Chunqiu was stunned. This... It’s impossible to communicate. Ye Juncai, who was beside him, laughed so hard he couldn’t breathe, "Chunqiu, Uncle is deaf, ha... ha..."

Who knew that Ye Song understood this sentence and became furious, giving Ye Juncai a hard knock on the head, "You rascal, no respect, look at Chunqiu, even though his father visited prostitutes, Chunqiu is still like a lotus that remains clean despite the mud. You, you disrespectful scoundrel!"

Ye Juncai was beaten by the old Uncle, crying and screaming. Ye Chunqiu started laughing but then thought about it carefully. Hmm, is this praise or criticism? My father is so wronged; he didn’t visit prostitutes.

The Ye family’s estate was not far from the county, and it took only a little over an hour to arrive. Ye Chunqiu looked at this small town, which was similar to a market, and didn’t find it particularly interesting.

The old Uncle Ye, who knew the way well, led everyone to the inn closest to the county school. The innkeeper was very familiar with the old Uncle and laughed, "Old Mr. Ye is here again for the examination. Oh, this year, your Ye family has quite a large contingent."

The old Uncle Ye didn’t talk to the vulgar people, just stroked his beard and smiled modestly. As usual, he booked seven rooms, two people per room. Ye Juncai came over to share a room with Ye Chunqiu, and then everyone went downstairs for a meal.

The first floor was very lively because the examination was about to start. Most of the people in the inn were candidates. The Ye family had some connections with the locals, and the old Uncle Ye quickly hooked up with an old "sir" and discussed the county examination this year.

Ye Chenliang had a bruised nose and swollen face, but he knew many people in the county and was quite popular. Many people had heard of his name. One person asked, "Brother Ye, do you have confidence this time?"

Ye Chenliang modestly and appropriately replied, "Without the results being announced, how can I have confidence?"

"Others I can’t say, but Brother Ye will definitely pass this time."

Speaking of which, Ye Chenliang, who was quite knowledgeable, had made many friends and had good interpersonal relationships. Someone laughed and said, "Brother Ye is too modest. If Brother Ye doesn’t pass, won’t we all fail? This time, I am most optimistic about Brother Ye. Come, Brother Ye, come here for some tea."