Chapter 53

(Seeking support with recommendations...)

After the four of them finished their exams, they met up at the Zen temple gate. Seeing the beautiful scenery on the mountain, Su Shi suggested they take a tour. *.* However, Su Zhe was worried about when the results would be announced and said they shouldn't wander around to avoid missing important matters.

"It's fine, what's the harm in waiting a bit longer?" Su Shi said carelessly.

Over the past few days, Chen Ke had noticed that Su Shi wasn't very interested in the exams, but was only doing it to meet the earnest expectations of his strict father and kind mother... otherwise, the incident of him skipping out wouldn't have happened.

"Let's not, you'll get tired of playing here later," Chen Ke agreed with Su Zhe, "Let's go to the lecture platform and find a cool spot to eat and wait."

"Alright," Su Shi, who had a very good temper, smiled and said, "You can't back out later."

"Heh, do you think I don't like to play?"

The four of them laughed and chatted as they returned to the lecture platform, quickly occupying a patch of shade. They took out oilcloths from their book boxes and spread them on the ground, then opened their lunch boxes. Chen Ke's box contained two steamed dishes: one was osmanthus sugar cake, and the other was pine nut goose oil roll. Wu Lang's box had roast goose, pickled fish, and boiled eggs. Su Shi and Su Zhe's boxes were much simpler, containing yellow rice cakes and green rice balls.

"Su family's sister is really strict with herself and lenient with others," Chen Ke, noticing the stark difference, smiled and said, "Tell her we all ate together."

"My sister might have thought of that," Su Shi chuckled, "Women's hearts are as unpredictable as the bottom of the sea, don't be too moved."

"Is there anyone who talks about their own sister like that?" Chen Ke said helplessly.

"I'm just kindly reminding you," Su Shi picked up a goose oil roll and ate half of it in one bite, "Let's start eating!"

"Slow down, leave me one..." The four young men laughed and fought over the food, naturally not caring about their table manners.

"Ha ha, look at them, they're like dogs fighting over food..." A harsh voice interrupted their happy time.

The young men turned around angrily and saw three young men in fine clothes passing by, surrounded by servants and bodyguards. The one who spoke was one of them.

"Stop right there!" Chen Ke stood up abruptly, "Who are you calling a dog?!"

Wu Lang also stood up, his face dark, standing beside Chen Ke.

"What, you're the one I'm talking about!" Seeing someone challenging them, the young men turned around. The oldest one narrowed his eyes, "Not happy about it?"

"Turns out it really is a dog barking," Chen Ke laughed, "Good dog, good dog!"

"Feeling itchy, boy?" A muscular bodyguard rolled up his sleeves, revealing colorful tattoos, "I'll tear your mouth apart!"

"Tear this!" Chen Ke sneered, tucking his shirt into his waistband. Wu Lang also rolled up his sleeves. It was clear these two were often in fights.

"Wait, wait," Su Shi stepped between them, trying to mediate, "A flood can't wash away the Dragon King's temple, we're all family." He then said to Chen Ke, "These are my cousins from the Cheng family." And to the Cheng brothers, "These are our family friends..."

"It's you, He Zhong," Cheng Zhiyuan said with a forced smile, "I didn't expect you to hang out with these dogs. For your sake, I'll let it go..." Before he finished speaking, a bone with meat scraps flew over and hit him on the cheek.

Cheng Zhiyuan looked up in shock and saw Chen Ke shaking his head, "Sure enough, practice makes perfect. I was aiming for the dog's mouth."

"What are you waiting for!" Seeing his brother humiliated, Cheng Zhiyang, enraged, bared his teeth and shouted, "Get them!"

The servants and bodyguards rushed forward, and Su Shi and his brother quickly tried to hold them back.

"What are you doing!" Two angry voices rang out simultaneously, and it turned out to be Chen's eldest and second brothers, along with the long-absent fourth brother, appearing on the scene. The two older brothers shielded the younger ones, glaring, "This is a sacred place, how dare you fight here!" "Do you want me to report to the supervisor and have you expelled?"

"..." The Cheng brothers were taken aback for a moment, then burst into laughter, "Go ahead, see how he expels us!"

"Everyone, be a witness, they started it first!" Chen's eldest brother bowed to the onlookers and shouted, "We had no choice but to defend ourselves!"

"Brothers fight together, and fathers and sons fight together. We five brothers can't disgrace the Chen family!" Chen's second brother, usually mild-mannered, became excited. No child of Chen Xiliang was a pushover.

"They're too many, count me in too!" A slender young man appeared beside the Chen brothers, "I'm Song Duanping, and I love to stand up for justice!"

"Everyone, stop!" A stern voice rang out, and a handsome young man appeared on the scene.

"Brother..." The Cheng brothers immediately lost their nerve, as it was their eldest brother, Cheng Zhi.

"The academy is a place of learning, and you're causing a commotion, disgracing the Cheng family!" Cheng Zhi said with a stern face, "If you want to fight, do it outside! Don't embarrass us here!" He waved his hand, "Move aside!"

"Understood..." The three brothers had to lead their servants away.

Seeing there was no more entertainment, the crowd dispersed.

Cheng Zhi bowed to the Cheng brothers, his face full of regret, "My younger brothers have been spoiled, I'm truly sorry."

"Our two are also hot-tempered," Chen's eldest brother returned the bow with a smile, "We also have our faults!"

After a few more words, the conflict was resolved, and Cheng Zhi turned to Su Shi and Su Zhe, "He Zhong, Tong Shu, it's been a while since we've gathered. We've set up a table over there, let's go drink and chat."

Su Shi, who couldn't refuse, looked at Su Zhe, who shook his head, "We've already started eating here, there's plenty of time, next time."

"..." Cheng Zhi, expecting to easily take them away, was taken aback by Su Zhe's lack of consideration. A flash of anger crossed his face, but he quickly smiled, "If that's the case, next time." He bowed and said goodbye.

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"Thank you, brother, for your help. May I ask your name?" The Chen brothers thanked the young man who had helped them.

"I've already said, I'm Song Duanping," the slender young man chuckled.

"Oh, are you Uncle Song's son?" Chen Ke suddenly realized, remembering that Song Fu had mentioned this name.

"That's me," the young man smiled, looking at Chen Ke, "You must be Third Brother Chen. My father talks about you all the time!"

"So we're family!" Chen Ke was delighted, "Let me introduce you!"

Everyone exchanged greetings and bowed. Young people always have endless topics to talk about and quickly became friends.

There was a bit of awkwardness among the Chen brothers.

"Third Brother, we grew up together," the second brother, knowing Chen Ke's temper, tried to persuade him, "Eldest Brother and Fourth Brother have never wronged us."

"..." Chen Ke looked at his two older brothers expressionlessly, making them feel uneasy, then grinned, "I don't have any grudges. If it weren't for Fourth Brother bringing us food and medicine, we might have died of hunger and illness."

"If it weren't for Eldest Brother sending me to find Father, you would have suffered even more," the second brother added, "You saw, he was beaten by Uncle for us."

"Let's not talk about the past," the eldest brother, with a mature demeanor, waved his hand, "Who is closer than brothers? Nothing can shake our bond!"

"Eldest Brother is right," the brothers nodded in agreement.

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The group chatted and laughed, and time passed quickly. Soon it was the hour of Wei, and the supervisor Yuan, along with three middle-aged scholars, came out. "These three are the heads of the Ren, Yi, and Li halls. They will call out names, and those called will gather in front of their respective hall leaders!"

The three hall leaders each held a list and began to call out names. Those called finally put their hearts at ease and ran over to stand in front of their hall leaders. Those not called became increasingly anxious...

Each hall had about sixty students, and the list of 180 names was quickly read. An unbelievable thing happened... among the three Chen brothers and the two Su brothers, only Wu Lang was admitted to the Yi hall. The rest—Chen Ke, Fourth Brother, Su Shi, and Su Zhe—were not on the list.

On the contrary, all four of the Cheng brothers, except the eldest Cheng Zhi, were on the list.

"Did we all fail?" the Su brothers looked miserable, "How will we explain this when we go back?"

Fourth Brother also lowered his head, too dejected to speak.

"Not necessarily," only Chen Ke remained calm, "I think there must be another way." It would be a very dark exam if even Su Shi failed.

At first, everyone thought he was just trying to comfort them, but the next moment, Supervisor Yuan confirmed his guess, "The following names, follow me to the Central Temple."

"Su Shi, Chen Ke, Cheng Zhi... Su Zhe, Chen Yong... Song Duanping..." including these six, a total of twenty people were called, and they immediately felt like they had gone from hell to heaven, stepping out amid the envious gazes of the others.

Without further ado, Supervisor Yuan led them away from the lecture platform, up a stone path to the Central Temple. A small stream flowed beside the path, and as they walked on the stone steps, they heard the tinkling of water, but couldn't see the stream hidden by the dense forest, giving a sense of the beauty of the mountains and water.

Although the shade was thick and the scenery beautiful, the climb to the Central Temple left the students bent over with exhaustion. Chen Ke, who exercised regularly, remained composed, but he still fell short compared to the calm and collected Song Duanping.

After the students caught their breath, Supervisor Yuan reminded them to tidy their clothes and those with smelly feet to wash them first to avoid embarrassment when they had to take off their shoes inside.

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The next chapter will be around 9 PM. Please support with recommendations, dear readers...

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