Chapter 729: The Third Examination (1)
Grinding the ink, holding the pen, Sun Shan began to write.
The examination room was very quiet and everyone was answering the questions seriously.
Although the first examination lasts for three days, students can hand in their papers after noon on the second day.
Of course, you can also keep writing until noon of the third day and hand in the paper.
There were not many restrictions on the time of the imperial examination, unlike the provincial examination where students were not allowed to leave early.
Sun Shan planned to finish the easy questions first and leave the most difficult ones for later.
However, after studying for twenty years, passing five exams, defeating six generals, and becoming a juren, it would be difficult to hand in a blank paper.
Unless you give up, you won't do anything. Now that you're in the exam room, you must give it your all.
Sun Shan had been working hard, and just as he finished writing the first essay of the Four Books, the bell rang.
It's time for lunch.
Putting down his brush and ink, Sun Shan clasped his hands together and blew out air from his mouth.
I was so focused on doing the test that I didn't feel cold. But when I stopped, I felt so cold.
Sun Shan poked his head outside. The sun was shining brightly, but he was in a dark corner and the sunlight couldn't get in. It felt quite cold, like a late spring cold snap.
Sun Shan carefully put the paper he had just finished aside, thinking he would keep it well and copy it in the evening.
Soon, the servant brought the food.
What Sun Shan couldn't stand the most was the noodles in the capital.
Steamed buns, flower rolls, and flatbreads. After eating these, I feel like I haven't eaten anything.
Fortunately, I lived in the He family, which could provide Lingnan food even though we were in the north.
However, locals like Jiujin grew up in other places, and their taste has gradually deviated from the Lingnan taste. They like to eat big steamed buns and white flour soup.
And he actually likes to eat salty tofu pudding with marinade.
That’s right, instead of talking about Jiujin Tofu Pudding, they talked about Tofu Brain.
Whenever he saw Jiujin eating salty tofu pudding in big mouthfuls, Sun Shan wanted to give him a few spoonfuls of brown sugar water to drink.
I really can't stand people eating salty tofu pudding!
Sun Shan shook his head. His thoughts were scattered too quickly. When he saw food, he began to think about random things.
The staple food for lunch today was big white steamed buns, as big as two adult fists. Sun Shan felt that he would be full after eating just one.
The only dish was fried meatballs with eggs.
Add a bone soup, only soup and no bones in sight.
Sun Shan curled his lips. The food here was even worse than that for the provincial examination.
Not only was it poor, there was no rice!
Eat steamed buns in the morning, eat steamed buns at noon, do you also eat steamed buns at night?
We ate steamed buns on the first day of the first game, and on the second and third days as well?
Sun Shan became even more desperate when he thought of this.
After despair, continue doing what you should do, even if the steamed buns are not to your taste, you still have to eat them.
If people are hungry, let alone steamed buns, they will even chew on tree bark.
After lunch, continue to do the questions. And you have to speed up the speed of doing the questions. It is a bit slow to finish one question in half a day. It is best to finish all the questions by noon the next day, so that you don’t have to rush on the third day.
Sun Shan continued to do the questions. During this time, occasionally some candidates would ask to go to the toilet. As for the smell in the toilet, perhaps because of the cold weather, the smell was not very strong.
It was not like the provincial examination, where the stench was so strong that it lingered in the nose, mouth and brain.
Even after using cooling oil, the foul smell still lingered in my nose and I had to endure the nausea.
From the first ray of sunshine in the morning to the dim afterglow of the setting sun, the sky quickly darkens.
The servants continued to deliver meals to the candidates.
Sure enough, there was still a big white steamed bun in the evening, and Sun Shan was very depressed.
Your clothes can be tattered, but you must eat well.
This is the lifelong pursuit of every Guangnan person.
Nowadays, in the imperial examinations, people are always given steamed buns. This is so unfair.
Why don’t you take into account the tastes of the candidates whose staple food is rice?
Could it be that because His Majesty likes to eat steamed buns, the Imperial Examination Hall only thinks about steamed buns?
Sun Shan put away the papers, picked up the steamed bun, and ate it bite by bite.
The steamed buns in Beijing are really big, solid, chewy, and have rich layers. They are not the kind of fluffy buns.
So Sun Shan didn't eat many bites, but he felt very full.
Put the steamed buns away and wait to eat toasted buns in the evening.
I plan to stay up late to write an article tonight. While the environment is still good, I will finish the article as soon as possible.
After a whole day, Sun Shan had already written three eight-part essays, and there were four left to be completed in the evening and during the next day.
Check and fill in the gaps tomorrow evening and the day after tomorrow at noon.
The first exam was said to last three days, but in fact it lasted only two and a half days. Compared with the provincial examination, the time given was much shorter.
The servant took away the dishes and chopsticks again. By this time it was already dark.
The cold wind blew over, carrying with it the stench of the toilet. Sun Shan inadvertently inhaled a puff of it.
Ugh~~~Ugh~~~
Hurry up and take out the cooling oil that is essential for home and travel and apply it.
After I applied it, my whole body shivered. Ouch, it's really a cooling oil. It feels so cold after applying it.
If I had known earlier, I would have made some gentler version of the cooling oil.
In very cold weather, applying this coolant will make you feel even cooler.
Sun Shan trembled his legs and quickly lit the candles and then the fire.
I used an iron pot to scoop some water from the wooden barrel and prepared winter honey and ginger tea.
All the necessary materials for the exam were prepared by Mrs. He.
According to her, this tea is a secret recipe passed down from her family, which has the effects of "dispelling wind and cold, warming the stomach and harmonizing the middle, relieving exterior symptoms and removing dampness, regulating the liver and regulating qi".
This tea is made from Chaoshan's hundred-day dried ginger, Phoenix single-cong tea, old winter honey, chrysanthemum, lotus leaves and other ingredients.
Madam He said that Minister He was able to pass the imperial examination and become a Jinshi because he drank the winter honey and ginger tea she prepared.
After hearing this, Sun Shan and He's cousin were moved beyond measure. Their eyes were shining with tears. They looked at Madam He with deep affection and there was only gratitude between heaven and earth.
He Shujun curled his lips and muttered: "Last time, the grandma said the same thing, but they still failed. It's okay for the grandma to fool the newbies, but to fool the old hands like them, huh, dream on!"
These words happened to be heard by the traitor Jiujin. Old Madam He was furious and He Shujun begged for mercy again and again.
Finally, the situation was resolved after a few big bags appeared above my head.
Mrs. He was from Chaozhou. According to her, it is unknown why the century-old secret recipe was passed down to her.
But in front of the Imperial Examination Hall, when Sun Shan was chatting with Chairman Liu Zhiyan, he discovered that Chairman Liu had also brought this tea into the hall.
From this we can see that the secret recipe passed down from generation to generation that Old Madam He mentioned is actually a common recipe. Nine out of ten Chaozhou people, if not eight, know this secret recipe.
In any case, Sun Shan fully received Madam He's kindness.
After making a big pot of winter honey and ginger tea, I gulped down a bowl of it and felt much better.
My body felt warm and my mind suddenly became clear. It seems that this tea has the effect of refreshing the brain.
Sun Shan quickly took out the test paper and seized this moment of clarity to quickly finish the questions.
If you miss this village, you will miss this shop. If I don’t write now, when will I write?
The next day, Sun Shan missed breakfast because he stayed up late the night before. When it was time for lunch, some people had left.
Sun Shan admired this very much.
How come these people are so fast?
It only took a day and a half to finish the test?
Could he be a genius among all the literary stars?
Leng Mojun next door did not leave. It seems that like Sun Shan, he is just a literary star, not a gifted child with the strongest brain.