Chapter 216: Zhou Jin

Shandong.

Yanzhou Prefecture.

After a sudden summer rain, the sky over Yanzhou Prefecture returned to its previous bright appearance. The distant mountains, like dark pigment, were washed by the rain until they were dripping with verdant green, shrouded in white mist as if they were a fairyland.

On the wet mud ground, green fallen leaves could be seen everywhere, mixed into the yellow clay. When people stepped on them, the leaves were embedded into the yellow clay, instantly trampling the yellow mud into a patch of green.

At this time, outside the city of Qufu County, a middle-aged Scholar of about forty years old, wearing a straw raincoat and lifting the hem of his patched long robe, trotted toward the interior of Qufu County with a swaying gait.

A cold wind swept by, lifting the middle-aged Scholar's cloak and revealing a face full of weathering beneath it.

The middle-aged Scholar was named Zhou Jin, a Scholar from Zhoujiazhuang outside Qufu city.

In his youth, he had been quite talented, passing the child examination at twenty and officially becoming a Scholar of the County School.

He had originally thought he would display his grand ambitions and have his name inscribed on the gold list.

Fate, however, loved to tease people; in the twenty years since, he had taken the Imperial Examination several times, all ending in failure. By now, his temples were frosted with white, his back was hunched, and he had an elderly mother above and a wife and children below.

He simply gave up the idea of the Imperial Examination and became an accountant at a restaurant in the city.

Yawning, he walked numbly into Qufu County, and following his memory, Zhou Jin stepped on the bluestone floor and headed toward the east of the city.

Before long, he arrived at the entrance of a restaurant about three zhang high with a sign that read "Chunlai Restaurant."

Shaking the rainwater off his body, Zhou Jin took off his straw raincoat and stepped over the threshold.

Because it was still early and there had been a heavy rain last night, there were no customers in the restaurant yet, only a few servants in short jackets cleaning up.

At this moment, seeing Zhou Jin enter in his long gown, a mean-spirited servant tilted his head and quipped in a slick, oily tone: "Master Zhou, why are you so late today? Don't tell me you were studying and overdid it again."

The other workers also stopped what they were doing and joined in the laughter.

Zhou Jin gave an awkward smile, ignored them, and walked straight to the account desk, bowing his head to make the abacus click loudly. Seeing that he was no fun, the servants shook their heads and went back to their own business.

Unknowingly, more than an hour had passed.

Zhou Jin felt a bit tired; he frowned, yawned, and stretched his body.

At this moment, a commotion suddenly came from outside the door. Looking up, he saw more than twenty Scholars bustling in.

Most of these people were on the older side.

The person in the lead was about the same age as him, both in their early forties.

As soon as this group entered, they quickly drew the side-glances of the customers in the shop. A sharp-witted servant stepped forward and smilingly ushered them to a large table by the window on the first floor to be seated.

Then, after serving fine wine and food, he hurried back.

Watching them talk loudly and boast, Zhou Jin couldn't help but mutter to himself: What is going on lately? The Provincial Examination and Metropolitan Examination have both ended; these guys are huddled together all day, eating and drinking wildly—where do they get the money?

But that was their money, and they could do whatever they liked.

Just as he was thinking this, a passionate voice suddenly rose from the pile of Scholars: "Gentlemen, entering the path through the Imperial Examination is truly difficult. Think about it, going from a Scholar to a Provincial Graduate is already like a thousand armies crossing a single-plank bridge. The subsequent Metropolitan Examination is held once every three years, taking only two hundred people, while there are more than a million scholars in the world; it really is one in ten thousand."

"However, it is different now. Songjiang Prefecture is currently selecting officials. Even a Scholar can take the exam, and once you pass the assessment, you are directly given a job. If you perform excellently in the assessment, you can even be granted an official rank." The onlookers around were immediately attracted by the man's grand talk and urged him to continue.

The Scholar smiled and continued: "When I came, only a thousand people had signed up, but they had already distributed over three hundred hats. As long as you go, dip your feet in ink and step on the answer sheet, you could still knock out half the people."

"Hahaha!" Hearing this, the crowd burst into loud laughter, clearly hooked by this absurd metaphor.

Then, the Scholar continued to talk about the benefits of the Songjiang Prefecture assessment.

From the salary in silver to housing, and then to future promotions, in a thousand words it all boiled down to one sentence: Trust me, go take the exam; as long as you pass, there are only benefits and no drawbacks.

Unknowingly, Zhou Jin walked out from behind the counter, squeezed into the crowd, looked at the boasting Scholar, and asked: "You say that as long as you pass, you can be registered with the Ministry of Personnel and receive at least five taels of silver as a monthly salary?"

"Ah, yes." The middle-aged Scholar nodded, turned his head to look around, and added, "And you all know Songjiang, right? It borders Suzhou on the left and the sea on the right; the people there are so rich that even their farts could pop out gold flakes."

At this, Zhou Jin was moved.

His current monthly wage was only one tael of silver, and he spent his days in a daze.

It would be better to go and take the exam; if it didn't work out, finding a job in Songjiang Prefecture would still be better than wasting his life here.

Thinking this, Zhou Jin bowed to the man and silently retreated back into the crowd.

"Sigh, if you, my good brother, want to go, you can go with the big boat from Huating County; it doesn't cost any money," the Scholar said, quick-handed, grabbing Zhou Jin by the shoulder to remind him.

This was hard-earned Silver Dollar; how could he let him leave so easily?

Zhou Jin hadn't expected that even travel expenses could be saved, and this time he was even more interested in the exam. As soon as he finished his shift that day, he hurried home and told his elderly mother and wife about the matter.

Upon hearing this, his wife remained silent.

His elderly mother sighed repeatedly, and after a long while, she shook her head and said: "My son, you have already taken the exam seven times. Don't you know yourself whether you are a seed for studying or not?"

Zhou Jin's face was full of determination as he replied in a low voice: "Mother, fewer people are taking the exam this time, I will definitely pass. And after passing, the local government will even provide housing, and then I will bring you all over."

"Well, all right then." Seeing her son like this, his elderly mother couldn't bear to discourage him further and could only agree.

Zhou Jin took a step back, his knees went soft, and he knelt before his elderly mother, kowtowing heavily three times. Then, he stood up and entered the inner room to pack his luggage.

Zhou Jin's wife followed closely behind.

Watching her busy but clumsy husband, his wife shook her head, stepped forward to take the bedding, and folded it carefully: "I knew it, you could never forget about being an official master. Go then, if it doesn't work out, at worst you can just find another job."

Hearing this, Zhou Jin felt a sourness in his nose.

His wife was only sixteen when she married him; through twenty years of wind and rain, she had managed everything inside and outside the house. And he remained that down-and-out scholar who turned a deaf ear to everything outside the window and only read the books of the sages.

"Xiuniang, if I don't pass this time, I will never take the exam again for the rest of my life." Zhou Jin hugged his wife from behind and said with a face full of guilt, "From now on, I will manage this home together with you."

"You're just saying that, you'll still go take the exam when the time comes!" his wife muttered, but her heart was sweet.

(End of chapter)