This year's county exam had two thousand candidates, the most of any year. Just lining up to enter the exam hall took half a day.
The exam hall gates haven't opened yet. Outside, candidates of all stripes are waiting, some alone with huge bundles on their backs, already giving off a strong sour smell.
These are the more ordinary candidates. Many only arrived yesterday and don't even have money to stay at an inn, instead sleeping on straw mats and blankets outside the exam hall.
Some are dressed lavishly, with several attendants in tow, and even maidservants.
And some are even lining up in carriages.
There are also families seeing them off, helpers carrying belongings, and peddlers selling water and dry rations... In short, it's chaotic, even livelier than a marketplace.
Li Yao couldn't stand the mixed smells, so she had Wang Er and Song Zhe line up while she took Little Yanran and the maid to rest in the shade of a roadside tree.
Wang Er and Song Zhe were adults, so this little thing didn't need saying. They took their belongings and squeezed through the crowd to line up.
"Brother Wang Er."
They had just lined up when Xu Youcai and several candidates walked over.
"Brother Xu."
"Brother Wang Er," today Xu Youcai was exceedingly courteous, "do you remember what I reminded you about last time?"
He was referring to the entry permit.
Wang Er certainly hadn't forgotten something so important. He smiled, "Thanks for your concern, Brother Xu. I got it long ago."
"Good, good," Xu Youcai said, "Otherwise if you couldn't get in, you'd miss your chance this year."
Having said this, Xu Youcai didn't linger. He walked straight ahead toward the front with some candidates from his hometown.
"How come they don't have to line up?" Song Zhe asked.
"It's not that they don't line up," Du Xiao Hui explained next to them. "They paid people to line up for them. They probably came last night and got the best spots up front."
"You can even do that?"
Song Zhe felt that he and Wang Er were too honest. Why didn't he think of this good trick? Having to stand here and suffer for so long!
"Have patience," Wang Er laughed. "If an exam candidate can't even line up themselves, what kind of candidate are they?"
"You have a point." Song Zhe didn't complain anymore. He said to Wu Tong who was following them carrying things, "Kid, I'll pay you to go buy us a few bowls of cold water to drink."
"Sure, I'll go right now!"
"Wait--" Before Song Zhe could take out money, Du Xiao Hui said, "Don't casually eat things from outside. What if you get sick?"
"It can't be that dangerous, right?"
"Yeah, Sister Xiao Hui," Wu Tong said. "I know the guy selling the water over there. He's very clean."
Du Xiao Hui furrowed her brows. "I said no means no. If you want water then drink what you brought."
Song Zhe secretly stuck out his tongue. He whispered in Wang Er's ear, "Bro, your future wife's going to have you on a tight leash."
Du Xiao Hui overheard clearly and shot him an annoyed glance.
Actually she wasn't usually like this. But for some reason today she felt exceptionally irritable, so her tone was worse than usual. Maybe it was because of the chicken soup with laxatives that morning.
Just thinking about someone trying to sabotage Wang Er's exam made her tense as a drawn bow.
"Right," Du Xiao Hui said, "check your belongings again for anything missing."
"We already checked a few times..."
"Then check again!"
Du Xiao Hui opened Wang Er's bundle and started carefully examining every item.
Rations, water, blanket, brush, ink, inkstone... it seemed complete.
Just as she was about to breathe easy, her heart skipped a beat.
"Where's the entry permit?"
Wang Er was also surprised. "It was definitely in the bundle before. It's not there?"
"It's not!"
Du Xiao Hui panicked. She checked everything again but still nothing!
Wang Er hastily searched his clothes, but they were empty!
Song Zhe also hurriedly checked his bundle, but oddly his permit was neatly inside.
"Crap!" Du Xiao Hui was extremely anxious, beads of sweat pouring down her head, but she still struggled to stay calm. "Don't panic. Let's think carefully about the last time we saw the permit."
"I think when we got off the carriage."
"Stay in line here. I'll go check the carriage!"
Du Xiao Hui rushed back in a panic. Obviously she didn't find it there either.
Without the permit they couldn't enter the exam. What to do?
Du Xiao Hui was so anxious she nearly cried. She ran to where Li Yao was resting in the shade.
"Auntie, trouble! Wang Er's exam permit is missing!"
Li Yao, who was playing with Little Yanran, couldn't help but twitch her mouth.
This was like studying bitterly for twelve years then losing your college entrance exam ticket right when you were about to take the test. Speechless!
Of all things, why lose this?
"Where did he lose it?"
"It was there when he got off the carriage. Just now when we lined up, it was gone."
"Just a hundred paces distance," Li Yao said. "Did you already search the whole way?"
"Searched already. It's not there."
"Along the way, did you bump into anyone?" Li Yao asked. "Bumping chests, that kind of contact?"
Du Xiao Hui racked her brain. She and Wang Er had squeezed through the crowd for a long time. But the only physical contact she remembered was with someone who had a large black mole above his left mouth corner, so she still recalled him.
"Also, after we lined up," Du Xiao Hui said, "Xu Youcai came to exchange a few words with Brother Wang Er. A lot of people were with him, surrounding Brother Wang Er at the time. I didn't see clearly. But Xu Youcai specifically asked about the entry permit. I suspect even if he didn't steal it himself, it's related to him!"
Using this method to defeat your strongest competitor?
Although her impression of Xu Youcai wasn't great, Li Yao felt it wasn't necessarily him.
Young people, especially those called the top scholar in Yizhou City, definitely had some arrogance.
But now wasn't the time to consider this.
It takes a thousand days to be a thief but only one to be a victim.
Someone put laxatives in the soup this morning, and now someone stole the permit. Clearly someone didn't want Wang Er taking the exam.
If they didn't find this person, there would probably be more trouble later.
So she pulled Du Xiao Hui aside and took something out of her sleeve, pressing it into her hand.
"This is..."
"Shhh--don't say it out loud," Li Yao said. "I swapped it when getting off the carriage. Take it to Wang Er, but keep it quiet."
"Mm."
Du Xiao Hui nodded heavily. She was amazed that Auntie was so capable, realizing someone was deliberately targeting Wang Er and swapping out the permit early!
The stolen one was fake!