Chapter 58: Li Gui Meets Li Kui, Part Three

However, after Cao Chuan obtained these people's files and then filtered them using the hidden condition "has a complete family" — a criterion known only to himself — only two groups of people remained.

There was no helping it; he couldn't send a family man with elders above and children below off to the Ming dynasty — that would be too cruel, and the future troubles endless, unless he took the whole nest. Yet this was Hangzhou, not Africa; he didn't have the nerve for that.

After looking over the files one last time, Cao Chuan pointed at a photo on the screen: "This is the one."

Li Douzhan stood up, walked around behind Cao Chuan, looked at the person he was pointing at, and was a little surprised: "Oh, the guy from Group B. I thought you'd pick the one from Group A. You'd better think again — the Group A guy is a classical Chinese researcher, can write eight-legged essays, and his appearance has a high match rate with the sample, reaching ninety-two percent!"

"I've thought it through. The Group B guy. Hurry up and set up a situation — be careful, don't leave loose ends. Pay him first, then have him deliver goods to Africa." Cao Chuan smacked his lips, then replied.

Li Douzhan gave a hehe smile and studied the screen carefully: "An antique painting dealer? Practically half a colleague. Fine, just wait for news."

Even though this Group B candidate's appearance match rate with the same-group xiucai was only eighty percent, Cao Chuan still resolutely decided in the end to invite this comrade to join the great crossing-over enterprise.

This person had two hidden attributes that earned him extra points.

First: both men in Group B were surnamed Huang. Once "Mr. Li Gui" went to the Ming dynasty, he wouldn't even need to change his surname to take over the ancient xiucai's identity. Was this important? Cao Chuan believed it was very important — using one's real surname versus changing one's name to go undercover, for an ordinary person with no training, the psychological acceptance is completely different.

Second: hairstyle. In the photo, this Huang candidate had an artistic hairstyle, with hair reaching his shoulders. Over in the Ming dynasty, it was already late June by the lunar calendar; in just over a month, the autumn provincial examination would come. Given this guy's hair length in the photo, with another month or so of growth, he could just barely tie it into a topknot by then, no wig needed.

And so the matter was settled.

Just as certain wicked people stretched out their demonic claws, the person in question remained utterly oblivious.

So when, a few days later, Huang Zhicheng was dragged out of a shipping container and saw a crowd of strange monks and laymen surrounding him, his first reaction was that his friends were pranking him.

While Comrade "Li Gui" Huang Zhicheng was urgently undergoing the "Post-Crossing Stress Response Soothing Treatment," over at Wansong Ridge west of the city, in a guest room at Zhiguo Temple, the xiucai Huang Ping was also greeting the greatest turning point of his life — Nan Wang, Master Nan, had come calling again today.

Huang Ping was a man of Taizhou, born at the foot of Taishan, and had passed the xiucai examination at the age of twenty. Huang Ping was by nature wooden and taciturn, not good with words, so after passing the exam, his days at the County School were not pleasant.

The year after he passed the exam, a great plague struck; within a mere ten days to a month, seven or eight out of every ten villagers died. Huang Ping went back in the aftermath to handle the funeral affairs, buried his family members together, then sold off his family's few acres of thin fields, quit the County School, and had been traveling and studying abroad ever since.

So-called "traveling and studying" was in reality going to one's seniors to seek patronage and sponge off them. Since Huang Ping was poor at socializing, the results of his sponging were naturally not very good. As time passed, Student Huang recognized the situation, and so settled down in Hangzhou, lodging at a temple, half working and half studying, making a living by selling calligraphy and copying scriptures for others.

Three years ago at the Provincial Examination, Huang Ping returned home crestfallen. These past few years he had contentedly pursued his studies in poverty, and the learning in his belly had increased somewhat. Now that the triennial examination year had come again, he naturally could not miss it. Aside from rushing back to Taizhou Prefecture a while ago to take the preliminary exam and secure his Provincial Examination qualification, Huang Ping had recently cleared his mind of all other thoughts. After returning to Hangzhou, he devoted himself to intense study, quietly awaiting the exam.

This kind of background was exactly what the transmigrator valued — relatives and schoolmates, the kind of people who interact daily and have both the ability and motivation to expose "Li Gui's" flaws, simply did not exist around Huang Ping. This was precisely the most important reason he ultimately stood out from over ten candidates.

Yet Master Huang knew absolutely nothing of all this. The only thing he knew was that the friend Nan, who had come to Wansong Ridge a few days ago to sightsee and had inadvertently chatted so happily with him, becoming a bosom friend over wine — that Master Nan had come up the mountain again today, wine in hand, to visit him.

It was rare for someone to overlook his woodenness and, in just a few words, discover his bellyful of talent. Huang Ping was deeply moved, and that very day had taken Licentiate Nan as a bosom friend. Now that Nan Wang had come again, Huang Ping was naturally overjoyed. Wine, meat, and a bosom friend — the key three things all free of charge — for a time, Xiucai Huang beamed with smiles, his mood soaring.

When the wine had reached a pleasant half-drunkenness, learning that Huang Ping had been cramming hard for the exam lately, Nan Wang slapped his thigh: "A man like you, brother, so full of brocade and talent, ought to show your skill in the examination hall! So that in days to come you may win an official rank and a start in life. Your younger brother here wishes you in advance that your name be called from the cassia roster."

Huang Ping grinned and thanked him profusely.

After a pause, Nan Wang first looked around the four walls, then put on an expression of heartfelt distress: "Those bald donkeys at Zhiguo Temple are truly hateful — they have eyes but cannot see, failing to recognize your great talent, brother. How can a shabby room like this be fit for habitation?"

Without waiting for Huang Ping to explain, Nan Wang continued with righteous indignation: "Your younger brother still has a quiet courtyard in the city, sitting idle anyway. If you do not scorn it, brother, you could go stay there for a spell. That residence is not far from the Examination Hall — most suitable for exam preparation."

Hearing that his good buddy had a residence to lend, Huang Ping could not help but be overwhelmed by a surge of mixed emotions, his lips quivering, unable to speak — by this time in Hangzhou City, the tens of thousands of scholars who had come from various prefectures for the Provincial Examination had long since rented every inn and civilian room clean. Even if there were vacancies, how could a poor xiucai like him possibly afford them?

Thinking of this, Huang Ping said no more. He stood up and made a deep bow, his expression and movements both very practiced — in short, it was the kind of body language that said a great kindness needs no thanks, but a rich reward would surely come in the future. Startled, Nan Wang hurriedly rose to support him. For a moment, the deep friendship between buddies was a moving scene.

Entirely unaware that he had just escaped a calamity, Huang Ping, urged on by Licentiate Nan's feigned drunkenness, immediately began packing his luggage, preparing to bid farewell to this broken-down temple.

In the contingency plan of the mastermind behind the scenes, had Huang Ping just now put on airs, or sensed something fishy and been unwilling to descend the mountain, then they would have had no choice but to resort to force. That would have meant tearing off all pretense, and who knew if, in the aftermath, they would have had to throw in the lives of a few monks from this broken temple; Huang Ping's own fate naturally would not have been good either. Even if he kept his life, a decade or so of confinement would have been necessary.

This way was much better. As long as Xiucai Huang boldly strode forward along the path the transmigrator had designed for him, in the future he would at the very least land a position in the new dynasty's establishment — wouldn't that be a hundred times stronger than the title of Provincial Graduate from the soon-to-be-bankrupt Great Ming Company? Besides, given his meager ability, in the history of later generations there had never been such a Provincial Graduate as him anyway.

Once Huang Ping followed Licentiate Nan down the mountain and into the city, arriving at a quiet courtyard within Bao Xin Fang, he never wanted to leave again — a decent-looking maidservant, a tall and simple-minded handyman, a bosom and wealthy good friend, a courtyard... what more could a man ask for?