Chapter 268: Chapter 268: Farewell
268 Farewell
Zhao Yue’s eyes suddenly lit up. He anxiously glanced outside and urged, "Mother, is everything ready? I need to go."
After saying this, he eagerly hoisted his luggage box onto his back.
"Father, Mother, I’m leaving." After bidding his parents farewell again, Zhao Yue bolted outside.
Mrs. Yang was very concerned and followed him out, constantly instructing him, "Don’t run so fast! When you arrive at the Qiao Clan, remember to thank them properly for letting you use their carriage."
"Also, don’t be nervous when writing the essays; just perform as you normally would."
"Mm-hmm, I know, Mother." Zhao Yue nodded in agreement and waved his hand. "You should go back inside. I’m going to Qiao Muchen’s house with Tongtong."
Zhao Yue walked up to Zhao Zhitong and said, "Zhao Zhitong, let’s go!"
As her son walked further away, Mrs. Yang wiped her teary eyes, feeling both anxious and relieved. Her son had passed the Elementary Scholar exam twice.
Even though his scores weren’t as good as Little Master Qiao’s, her son often said he had passed the Elementary Scholar exams twice purely out of luck. But Young Master Qiao was an extraordinarily smart child. It would be unreasonable to compare her son to him. Her son just needed to pass, and that alone would make her extremely happy. After all, many people didn’t even pass the Elementary Scholar exam in their entire lifetime.
Thinking of this, Mrs. Yang’s face filled with pride. Suddenly, something occurred to her, and she slapped her thigh. "Hey, child’s father, let’s go! Quickly, come with me to pray to Buddha for our son to pass the examination and become a Scholar."
Saying this, she insisted on dragging Butcher Zhao to pray.
The situation at the Qiao household was no less hectic than at Butcher Zhao’s.
Mother Qiao was worried about her son’s frail health, fearing he might get too cold or overheat. She had prepared both thick and thin clothes and kept instructing him to wear thicker clothes if it was cold and thinner ones if it was hot.
It made Qiao Muchen feel like a three-year-old who didn’t know enough to put on more clothes when cold or take them off when warm.
Old Lady Qian was also there, busying herself with packing.
While organizing things, Mother Qiao instructed, "Chen, don’t be nervous. Just perform as you normally would, alright?"
"Oh, Old Lady Qian, this garment won’t do. It can’t have embroidery; it needs to be a plain-colored one. Old Lady Qian, quickly help me find another."
As she spoke, she took out the garment and continued to fuss over her son.
"Mother, when I think of you spending a night alone in the examination hall, my heart just fills with anxiety."
Qiao Muchen packed his books and smiled. "Mother, I’m eleven now; I’m a big boy. Don’t worry about me. I’ll take good care of myself. You just need to take good care of yourself, and then I’ll be perfectly fine."
Old Lady Qian brought over a thick garment and also tried to reassure her, "Yes, Young Lady, our Little Master is right. You shouldn’t worry about Little Master. Otherwise, he’ll have to worry about you during the exam, and that will distract him."
Upon hearing this, Mother Qiao immediately responded, "Alright, alright, I won’t worry anymore. Chen, you just focus on your exam and don’t worry about me. I have Old Lady Qian to take care of me, you see."
While they were talking, they heard a knock at the door.
Mother Qiao said, "Old Lady Qian, please get the door. It’s probably Zhao Yue."
Sure enough, when Old Lady Qian opened the door, Zhao Zhitong, Zhao Yue, and Zhao Yu were standing on the doorstep.
Seeing Old Lady Qian, the three of them greeted her politely.
Old Lady Qian’s face instantly beamed with a smile. She stepped aside and said, "Quickly, come in, quickly! Our Muchen is waiting for you."
With that, she quickly ushered the three of them into the yard.
As soon as Qiao Muchen heard their voices, he rushed outside.
"Tongtong, Zhao Yu, Zhao Yue, you’re all here!"
Qiao Muchen trotted out, smiling and greeting them.
Zhao Yu laughed heartily. "Of course! Good brothers are about to depart; we must come to send you off."
Zhao Zhitong nodded her little head, mimicking her Xiao Ge’s posture by cupping one fist in the other, affecting an air of chivalrous righteousness.
Qiao Muchen couldn’t help but be amused. "Truly good brothers."
The group broke into laughter.
Zhao Yue, meanwhile, had already set his somewhat heavy luggage box on the ground. "Qiao Muchen," he asked, "how’s your packing coming along?"
Qiao Muchen replied, "It’s almost done. Now that you’re here, we can leave right away."
With that, everyone went into the room, where Mother Qiao was making the final arrangements.
They immediately greeted Mother Qiao. Zhao Zhitong then took out the knee pads Sun Mei had given her, presenting one to Zhao Yue and one to Qiao Muchen.
Smiling, she said, "These are knee pads my mother made for you. She hopes they’ll keep you warm and focused during the exam."
Zhao Yue and Qiao Muchen quickly stepped forward to accept the knee pads.
Zhao Yue, looking quite pleased, said, "Aunt Sun is too kind! She already made us knee pads for the previous two exams, and those are still perfectly usable."
Qiao Muchen, also holding his knee pad, added happily, "I’ve taken mine to every exam. It’s really warm!"
Zhao Zhitong said, "Then you must bring them this year too, so they can keep you all snug and warm!"
"Come, Chen, give me the knee pads. I’ll put them in for you." Mother Qiao chuckled as she took the knee pads from Qiao Muchen. She said to Zhao Zhitong, "Your mother is truly skilled. These knee pads she made are both good-looking and warm."
She then tucked them into Qiao Muchen’s luggage.
"Alright, Country Gentry Wei has arranged for his family’s best coachman to take you. Go on, it’s time for you to leave."
Country Gentry Wei’s son was also taking an Elementary Scholar exam today, though he was in the first round. His family was extremely anxious, but unfortunately, Wei Zijian himself didn’t seem to take it very seriously.
When they all went to Country Gentry Wei’s house, they saw two horse carriages waiting at the entrance. One belonged to the Qiao Clan, to take Qiao Muchen and Zhao Yue to Xuzhou.
The other was Country Gentry Wei’s family carriage, to take Wei Zijian and Wei Zihan to the county town. Wei Zihan, the son of Country Gentry Wei’s second younger brother, was also disinclined to study. Both were heading to take the first round of the Elementary Scholar exam.
Country Gentry Wei’s family had helped find the coachmen, as they were more familiar with the roads.
Qiao Muchen and Zhao Yue loaded their luggage boxes onto their horse carriage and then turned to chat with Zhao Zhitong.
Just then, as if hearing their voices, the window flap of the other carriage was suddenly lifted, revealing Wei Zijian’s rather dim-witted looking face.
He waved at Zhao Zhitong, calling out, "Zhao Zhitong! Zhao Zhitong! Come over here!"
Zhao Zhitong had no intention of acknowledging him.
However, the other party kept calling insistently, "Hurry up and come here! This young master has something to ask you."
Reluctantly, she walked over to his carriage window and said seriously, "Young Master Wei, you must try hard in this exam, alright?"
Wei Zijian agreed readily enough, but his mind was clearly elsewhere. He asked in a low voice, "Zhao Zhitong, I heard from Zhao Yue that you dissected a human body? You’re so brave! When you dissect a corpse, can you see all the different things inside the body? Can you teach me? Hey, I also heard he said you can draw all the human bones. Teach me that too, okay?"
Wei Zijian’s mouth was like a machine gun, rattling off questions without stopping.
Zhao Zhitong maintained a stern little face and said seriously, "You’re so talkative. This time, just focus properly on your exam. You know I don’t like to play with stupid people."
Wei Zijian wasn’t angry in the slightest; instead, he became quite excited. "Don’t you worry! This young master will definitely do well in the exam this time!"