CHAPTER 50: CHAPTER 50: AUTUMN AS THE THEME

Next, the young and gentle scholar gave his speech; his name is Su Jin, and everyone can call him Mr. Su.

He is responsible for arranging the subsequent affairs.

The examination would last five days, with assessments from multiple aspects. Cheaters would have their qualifications canceled on the spot. The questions and requirements would be announced unexpectedly, known only on the day. On the sixth day, the list of remaining students would be published. Today, the first day, was about "Essay Writing."

The students were divided into five groups and taken to a large study room with dozens of desks, each assigned with a number to sit accordingly.

On the desks, pens and ink were prepared, but the inkstones were not yet ground; each student had to grind their own ink.

Thankfully!

Everyone came prepared. Except for a few students who were flustered and not performing well, grinding ink was a basic task for others.

The topic for the "Essay Writing" was autumn, allowing everyone to freely compose their articles within one stick of incense time.

The text should be about three to six hundred words, with no content limitations.

They were now given a quarter of an hour to prepare, with a reminder to write their names on their papers.

Mr. Su was indeed a meticulous teacher.

Ye Zhi was grinding ink while glancing around. Shen Chen and Li Du were not in the same group with her, but Liu Qingxi was seated three seats away from her!

Is the world really so small... Why must it be this way...

Travelers’ wisdom: Keeping away from the protagonist is the only way to survive.

Liu Qingxi didn’t know about the little calculations Ye Zhi was making in her heart. Their encounter was within her expectations. She focused on using the ink stick to draw circles vertically on the inkstone.

Grinding ink seems simple but is actually complex. The force needs to be moderate, with the posture upright, maintaining the ink’s vertical and balanced position. There should be no slanting or direct pushing, using water sparingly rather than excessively, adding gradually as needed. If the grinding force is too light or too heavy, too fast or too slow, the ink will be coarse and uneven; thus, it is also a test of skill.

Soon, a quarter of an hour had passed.

On the podium, incense was lit in the bronze censer with silk-thread inlay and gold and silver ruyi patterns, and fine smoke curled upward.

Some in the seats below began to write quickly, while others had not even finished grinding their ink, showing disparity.

Ye Zhi wrote an approximately three hundred-word essay on the topic of autumn...

Indeed, she just met the minimum standard!!

It was merely a simple essay about how the leaves of the parasol trees gradually turned golden, and the fields full of golden rice looked like a vast sea, with the heavy rice grains bending over. Don’t forget, her literacy here was equivalent to primary school level...

The handwriting she ended up with was still relatively neat and legible.

The incense in the bronze censer extinguished.

Mr. Su tapped the podium twice with a small ruler to signal everyone to stop writing. Then other teachers led them out of the study room to take a short break elsewhere.

Nearby, senior brothers and sisters from the Imperial College assisted in collecting the essays one by one. The sheets of paper were stacked neatly on the podium.

Soon, another batch of examinees arrived to start their exam again!

The moment they finished and stepped out of the doorway, everyone sighed in relief.

It felt like surviving a disaster.

Ye Zhi glanced secretly at Liu Qingxi, who had a confident expression, making her sigh that the protagonist is indeed the protagonist.

To be honest, she had no confidence herself.

If worst comes to worst, she would ask her dear old dad to pull some strings; that was the only way out.

She remembered after dinner yesterday, her father pulled her to the back of the rock garden, mysteriously saying: "Ah Zhi, I’ve already arranged it. Just go through the motions of the exam. Don’t worry, I’ve never done anything for you, my dear little Ah Zhi, but the position of Lord Minister is not just for show."

Oh, could Dad have used his power to coerce the examiners!!??

She accidentally spoke her mind aloud.

Father Ye tapped his daughter’s forehead firmly: "How could I be that kind of person... I just asked the examiners to relax the standards for you. Just take the exam with peace of mind, but also give it your all to achieve good results. My daughter, Ye Yuan, certainly won’t fall short."