Chapter 28: Someone Is Waiting for Brother Xiao
Winter had arrived.
The weather grew colder and colder.
Every morning when Xiao Mo woke up, he could see a thin layer of frost on the tree branches outside.
During this period, Xiao Mo had been studying every day.
He read from day to night, and after sleeping, he would wake up and continue reading.
Xiao Mo felt that he hadn't worked this hard even for his college entrance exam in his previous life.
As for daily living expenses and the cost of writing materials, Xiao Mo had saved some silver before, which was barely enough.
The Village Chief also sent over some food every day, saving Xiao Mo time for cooking and a portion of expenses.
One morning, Xiao Mo woke up early, feeling that today was much colder than before.
He put on his clothes and went out to wash up.
As soon as he opened the door, Xiao Mo saw the outside covered in silver, with large, goose-feather-like snowflakes slowly falling from the sky. A cold wind blew, and Xiao Mo couldn't help but shiver.
"Brother Xiao, I've come to bring you food!"
Outside the courtyard, a little girl's voice came.
The little girl was chubby and ran over, holding a food box.
"Little Ying, thank you."
Xiao Mo took the food box and patted her head.
The little girl who delivered the food was the Village Chief's second daughter—Wang Ying.
Originally, the Village Chief wanted his eldest daughter, Wang Yan, to deliver food to Xiao Mo.
However, four years had passed, and Wang Yan had grown from a nine-year-old girl into a young maiden in her prime, her figure gradually developing.
To avoid suspicion, Chen Yi had the three-year-old Wang Ying come to deliver the food.
Anyway, everyone in the village knew each other, and the two families weren't far apart, so there would be no danger.
However, three years ago, when Xiao Mo learned that Chen Yi was pregnant again, he was quite surprised. The Village Chief truly was hale and hearty in old age.
Xiao Mo took a bun and handed it to Wang Ying. The chubby Wang Ying was not polite and took the big bun from her big brother. One big and one small sat on a stone, munching bite by bite.
"Brother Xiao, I noticed that when you eat, you always look at that mountain. Is there something on that mountain?" Wang Ying raised her round head and asked curiously.
"On that mountain..." Xiao Mo looked up at the distant, snow-covered mountain. "Someone is waiting for Brother Xiao."
"Sister, eat a little more."
"Little Qing, I can't eat anymore."
"Eat one more!"
"I've already eaten so many mice."
"Sister, eat a little more."
"I really can't eat anymore!"
Inside the cave, Little Qing brought two dead mice in front of her sister.
The two snakes, one white and one green, had bulging bellies and looked a size plumper.
Ordinary snakes would have already begun to hibernate.
However, when snakes gain sentience and embark on the path of cultivation, their hibernation period shortens. The higher their Realm, the shorter their hibernation.
Even so, Little Qing had started to feel sleepy three days ago.
But Little Qing had been worried about her sister and was trying to stay awake.
"Little Qing, go to sleep. Sister is really fine." Seeing her sister's snake head drooping with sleepiness, White Snake persuaded her.
Little Qing shook her head vigorously: "But Sister, how can I not worry about you? What kind of snake sheds its skin in winter?"
At this moment, Bai Ruxue's clear vertical pupils seemed to be covered with frosted glass, and the edges of the white scales on her belly curled up, like cracks in a dry riverbed.
Fine cracks appeared on the scales at the tip of her snout, like a dried clay embryo, and the transparent mucus secreted enveloped her entire body, giving off a waxy sheen.
"It's fine. Sister is a snake that can transform, unlike ordinary snakes."
"But Sister..."
"There are no 'buts.' Go to sleep quickly, or else Sister will get angry." White Snake feigned anger.
"I won't..."
"Thump~"
When Little Qing stubbornly refused to sleep, White Snake's tail secretly coiled around a stone, and then, while her sister wasn't paying attention, tapped her from behind.
Little Qing's eyes rolled, and with a "plop," she fell down.
"Little Qing, see you in spring."
The tip of White Snake's tail touched Little Qing's head, and then she also lay down beside her sister, her head facing out of the cave.
"What is he doing now?"
"He should still be studying, right?"
Looking at the heavy snow outside the cave, White Snake's thoughts gradually drifted, and sleepiness also gradually set in.
"It's been so long since I've seen him."
"Will he forget me?"
White Snake curled up into a ball.
"After shedding my skin, can I grow bigger?"
"Probably?"
"What kind of expression will he have when he sees me after I've grown up?"
"Can I be as tall as him?"
As the sleepiness grew heavier, White Snake's last thought was like a kite with a broken string. She completely lost consciousness and fell into a deep sleep.
Inside the cave, the two snakes lay tightly together.
Outside the cave, the heavy snow blew through the mountain forest.
After an unknown amount of time, the wind and snow gradually subsided.
Until the sky cleared.
Spring arrived.
On this day, Xiao Mo was going to Qingshan Countyto take the examination.
The country Xiao Mo was in was called Qi.
Qi's preliminary examination was different from ancient China's.
Qi's preliminary examination could be taken annually, with three rounds of exams required in one month, but all three rounds were held in one place.
This was done to reduce the burden on candidates, who did not need to travel back and forth between the county town and the prefecture.
Those who passed the first two rounds of exams became 'Tong Sheng' (Child Scholar).
Those who passed all three rounds became 'Xiu Cai' (Cultivated Talent).
If one did not pass the Xiu Cai exam, they could continue to take it the following year without needing to take the first two rounds.
Passing the Xiu Cai exam meant having a certain status.
Xiu Cai in Qi could see officials without kneeling, were exempt from corvée labor and torture, could open private schools, and write documents, but they were not exempt from land taxes.
Moreover, because there were more and more Xiu Cai in Qi, jobs like private schooling and document writing were highly competitive.
In present-day Qi, there were many poor Xiu Cai, such as the Village Chief.
"Village Chief, I'm leaving." At the village entrance, Xiao Mo bid farewell to the Village Chief's family.
"Take these travel expenses." The Village Chief stepped forward and handed a bundle to Xiao Mo.
Chen Yi snorted and turned her head away, but said nothing.
The Village Chief ignored his wife and instructed Xiao Mo: "Study hard, don't put too much pressure on yourself. With your talent, you should be able to pass. I await your good news."
"Yes." Xiao Mo bowed to the Village Chief's family, turned, and walked away.
This year's preliminary examination location was Qingshan County, and fortunately, it was not far from Shiqiao Village, only a day's journey.
After arriving in Qingshan County, Xiao Mo had a good night's sleep.
Two days later, Xiao Mo took the examination.
The preliminary examination had no age limit.
There were children as young as eight or nine, and elders as old as fifty or sixty.
These elders had been taking the exam for so many years, yet they were still 'Tong Sheng.'
Just a preliminary examination was so competitive, let alone the subsequent provincial and metropolitan examinations.
One of the Book of Hundred Lifetimes' tasks, "Becoming an Official at Court," was truly not easy.
"Could it be that I'll have to take exams my whole life and still not become an official?"
Xiao Mo thought to himself.