The happy little days of the Ye family

As soon as the three brothers returned to the academy, the teacher informed them that they would be moved from the original class for students to the class for scholars.

There are not many people in the class for young students, and after spending more than three months together, everyone has a pretty good relationship.

When they went back to move things, the three brothers specially brought a lot of cakes from home to share with everyone.

But some classmates who usually seemed warm and friendly became jealous when they saw Chenchen and the other two passed the imperial examination at such a young age.

One by one, they said something sour, and some even said that since the three brothers had passed the imperial examination and became scholars, they might have used some crooked means to do so.

Xiao Qi had a bad temper and immediately took back the pastry in his hand.

Humph, it would be a waste to give these pastries to them.

Just as he was about to go up and argue with them, Little Stone behind him patted his shoulder and pulled him aside:

"These people are jealous. Don't bother with them. You might as well go back and read more books."

Chenchen, on the other hand, distributed the collected pastries to some other people who were more friendly.

Before going to take the college entrance examination, the three of them moved most of their things back home, leaving only some rice paper for practice and some seldom-used items.

After packing up their things, Xiaoqi calmed down, and the three brothers came to the scholar class next door, chatting and laughing.

This is the highest level class in the entire Qingsong Academy, and the teachers who teach are all at the juren level.

Including the three brothers, there were a total of 11 people in the scholar class, all of whom were scholars preparing to take the imperial examination.

And the age span is also wider. The youngest is 14-year-old Chenchen, while the oldest two look to be in their 40s.

In the original class for young students, there were two young students who were about twelve or thirteen years old. Unexpectedly, when they arrived at the class for young students, the three of them were the youngest.

Seeing these three young scholars aged fourteen or fifteen, people around them cast envious glances at them.

Facing everyone's gazes, Xiao Shitou and Chenchen couldn't help but become shy. Not only did their faces turn red, but even the tips of their ears were slightly stained red.

Xiao Qi, who is lively and always likes to entertain people, is so excited that his tail is about to rise to the sky, with pride and satisfaction written all over his face.

The three of them were added temporarily and were arranged by the teacher to sit in the last row.

When they first sat down, the three brothers were quite excited, but when the class officially started, they couldn't laugh anymore.

Compared with the examination for a scholar, the difficulty of passing the examination for a juren is several times greater. The articles studied are even more obscure and difficult to understand, and the knowledge involved is also more extensive.

During class, Chenchen, the most talented student, could only barely keep up, while Xiaoqi and Xiaoshitou were obviously struggling.

The three brothers also quietly looked at the new classmates who were sitting in front of them and were several years older than them.

The students in the front row, closest to the teacher, looked at the teacher with their heads held high and their spirits puffed out, and raised their hands confidently to speak from time to time.

The people near the back row were in a similar condition as them. They seemed to have difficulty listening and were distracted from time to time.

Unexpectedly, the three people who had always been in the front row and were highly valued by the teacher have now fallen to the back row due to their poor qualifications.

Knowing that they were not talented enough, the three brothers had to study harder in order to keep up with their classmates.

After finally getting a half-month's rest, the three brothers went back to their days of sleeping later than dogs and getting up earlier than chickens.

Every day, the three of them were either reading books and solving problems, or asking the master for advice. Even the speed of changing brushes was much faster than before.

However, some things will not be rewarded just by hard work. In the first monthly exam, the three brothers all got a C grade.

The three of them tied for third from the bottom in the class.

Although he was not the worst in the class, it was the worst grade the three of them had ever gotten.

The three brothers were in a bad mood the whole day, even Xiaoba and Yangyang, who were always naughty, did not dare to provoke their elder brother.

At night, the three brothers quietly avoided their family members, hugged each other and cried for a long time before they slowly adjusted their mood.

The arrogance and complacency brought by passing the imperial examination at a young age were crushed to nothing at this moment.

There are always people who are better than you. The three of them can only turn pressure into motivation and work hard to catch up.

The next day, the three of them got up early. Before the roosters crowed, in two houses not far apart, there were already diligent students writing articles.

After working diligently for a year, the three brothers finally caught up with other classmates who entered school earlier than them and got a satisfactory B grade.

The three brothers got B grades, and they felt both relieved and unwilling.

Fortunately, this year's hard work has finally produced some results, at least there has been some progress.

But there is still a big gap from the A grade that the three people want.

Time flies, and after two years of diligent work, the three brothers finally got first class.

So with the teacher's nod of agreement, they took part in the imperial examination together that year.

There were three other classmates taking the exam together, and the five of us formed a guarantor to take the exam together.

Among the five people traveling together, one passed the imperial examination, but unfortunately the three brothers all failed.

Chenchen was fine, at least he made it to the second exam, but Xiaoqi and Xiaoshitou were both eliminated in the first exam.

The three of them realized from this exam that their current level is still far from being a juren.

The three brothers who returned from the examination room are now quite old. The youngest, Chenchen, is already 18 years old, while Xiaoqi and Xiaoshitou are both 19 years old.

At this time, the elders of each family finally began to get anxious and started looking for marriage partners for the three people.

Men should get married when they are old enough, and women should get married when they are old enough. The three brothers did not refuse, but instead felt a little excited.

The next day, when the three brothers got together, they thought more and more that something was wrong.

Little Stone sighed first, then said gloomily:

"My mother said she wanted to find a match for me. I was very happy yesterday, but the more I thought about it at night, the more uneasy I felt. What do you think I will do to support my wife and children after we get married?"

"I have been studying in the academy with you guys since I can remember. After thinking about it, it seems that there is no other way to make a living except copying books to earn some money."

Although the Wang family is considered a wealthy family and landlord class in the village, their financial situation is not as good as the Ye family and the Tang family, and they have more people.

Xiao Shitou felt uneasy when he thought about the fact that he would not be able to support his own family or provide for his parents in the future.

"No wonder they say scholars are good for nothing."

Xiaoqi and Chenchen are both very stupid. They usually just focus on studying and don't think too much.

Originally they just felt a little uneasy, and the two brothers thought they were afraid that their future wives would be difficult to get along with. After hearing Xiao Shitou's analysis, they also felt a strong sense of uneasiness.

If I think about it carefully, it seems that I really have no other means of making a living except studying.

You can indeed make some money by copying books, but it's okay to earn some pocket money when you are young, but it is not enough to support your family.

My family has some money, but I have my own hands and feet, so it’s not good for me to have to support my wife and children at home, right?

The three brothers got together to discuss for a whole morning, and finally they all got a job at the academy and became teachers for young children.

The monthly salary of two taels of silver could not only support the family, but also allow him to continue studying in the academy. It was simply killing two birds with one stone.