"Alright, let's do it that way."
He Shan trembled as he stood up and announced: "For this county exam, Wang Er passes as a regular student, Lv Xiucai passes as an additional student, and Song Zhe passes as an attached student."
Lv Xiucai and Song Zhe looked at each other in disbelief, not daring to believe this result at all.
"Teacher, so you mean we both passed?"
"Congratulations to teacher, congratulations to Brother Song," said Wang Er, congratulating the two of them, "Teacher, you have finally become a real private tutor."
"Haha, I passed!" Lv Xiucai laughed repeatedly and ran out like he was possessed, "I passed! I passed... From today on, I'm really a private tutor now! Haha..."
Wang Er: ...
Song Zhe: ...
Has this teacher gone crazy?
With things settled, the onlookers also dispersed.
No one expected such an uproar in this county exam, especially Ms. Li. She actually exposed Teacher Liu's cheating all by herself, and dug up an old case from many years ago... She really needed to gossip about this!
And Old Master Wu, who was just set on having Li Xian as his son-in-law, was so angry that his face turned ashen. He cursed Li Xian for being worthless, for not only failing to get him a powerful son-in-law, but now he was also too embarrassed to pursue a marriage alliance with Wang Er.
...
The news that both Wang Er and Lv Xiucai had become private tutors spread back to He Wan village faster than the wind.
As Li Yao and the others reached the village entrance, they saw the villagers had all gathered together waiting.
Da Zhuang was the first to rush up to greet them: "That's great, second brother, I knew you could do it!"
"Of course," Wang Xueshi's voice was like a loud speaker, "Wang Er has our old Wang family blood in him, he will surely become a high official in the future."
...
Amidst everyone's continuous congratulations, Lv Xiucai lightly coughed twice.
"You all seem to have forgotten that our village has produced another passer."
"Haha, Lv Xiucai, you've finally become a private tutor."
"No longer an eternal student."
"It's just that you're too old, I guess you don't have much of a chance left to become the top scholar huh."
...
Lv Xiucai's face was burning.
How come the treatment was so different when they were both private tutors?
But he had long seen through this.
Whether he passed or not was not a big deal. He had no plans to take the provincial exam or become a successful candidate. From now on he would just be an old village tutor in He Wan village, much more comfortable than being an official.
While He Wan village was celebrating, the newly built county yamen was also lit up brightly.
In the spacious hall, Song County Magistrate and his wife sat upright, while Song Zhe obediently stood in front of the two.
"You..." After pondering for a long time, Song County Magistrate finally spoke, "How could you pass the exam as a private tutor?"
Song Zhe was very speechless.
This was obviously something to be happy about, yet when it got to the old man it seemed like he had made a mistake.
"Father," Song Zhe said, "This is all thanks to Teacher Lv, Wang Er, and Aunt Li. Without them, your child really could not have passed."
Song County Magistrate and his wife exchanged a glance.
For so long, Song Zhe had been left to live in Li Yao's home. They had only hoped for him to experience life and not cause trouble everywhere, and they would burn incense and worship Buddha.
They didn't expect that with Song Zhe's exposure, he had actually become a private tutor.
This Li Yao really was their lucky star!
"Prepare generous gifts tomorrow to properly thank your teacher and Aunt Li."
"Yes!"
...
Ding-- Ding--
On a flat open space behind the mountain, two figures were engaged in a fast exchange, with the clanging of metal ringing endlessly.
Li Yao was using a slender iron sword, while Wang San'er's weapon was a heavy iron staff.
At first glance, Wang San'er's weapon seemed to have a huge advantage, but only he himself knew clearly that Mother was just letting him win.
Mother's iron sword was very light, moving like a spiritual snake. If she got serious, he wouldn't be able to last three moves.
Of course, he also had to diligently practice archery, and even more so his agility, otherwise he would just be a live target.
By now Wang San'er's staff work had taken shape, and his agility had also improved quickly. In another half month, he would go fulfill his military service, so Li Yao prepared to teach him some more things.
"Go lead your horse over."
"What do you need the horse for?"
"Starting today, I'll teach you combat on horseback."
When Wang San'er heard this, he immediately threw down his staff and went to lead two horses over from the stable. He had been waiting for this day!
In his heart, only cavalrymen on warhorses were the most valiant!
Li Yao first taught him some horsemanship, and let him practice well. In a few days she would teach him combat skills on horseback.
But after practicing for a bit, sudden low rumbles of thunder came from the gloomy sky overhead.
Li Yao looked up to see the surrounding skies covered in thick clouds, the air was also hot and humid, it looked like heavy rain was coming.
Sure enough, as she had expected, it wasn't long before cool mountain winds started blowing, and a downpour arrived swiftly.
Boom boom--
The pitch-black skies flashed and rumbled with thunder, as if the heavens were collapsing.
It was as if two years worth of rainwater was all poured down at once.
The heavy rain poured nonstop for a full day and night, and showed no signs of letting up at all. The previously elated villagers suddenly realized something was wrong.
The floods, mixed with large amounts of silt, rushed down from the mountains. The river in front of He Wan village had risen to its highest point, almost flooding the farmland.
Wang Jiafu, wearing rain gear and a conical hat, led a group of villagers busy on the riverbank.
"If it rises any more, all the rice will be destroyed!"
"Yeah, this weather is too much, either no rain at all or massive flooding, it's giving us no way to live."
"It's not so bad," someone said, "If the rice is gone, don't we still have sweet potatoes?"
Everyone thought about it and agreed.
The sweet potato fields were on the hillsides, the floodwaters couldn't reach them.
But they still felt bad if the rice was washed away.
"Sister-in-law is here."
Wang Yuanbang's sharp eyes spotted Li Yao's figure from afar.
"Li Yao," said Wang Jiafu, "With such heavy rain, why did you run to the riverside?"
"I'm free and have nothing to do," said Li Yao, "I wanted to see if I can catch some fish to raise in the reservoir."
"Catch... fish?"
Everyone didn't know what to say.
With such massive flooding, the rice fields were about to be submerged, and you came to the river to catch fish?