Misty Rain of the Old Times

Chapter 190 Let’s Talk Later

Ten days passed in a flash, and Chen Xuan had completely adapted to the life in the academy. In the morning, he went to lectures with Gao Jingming, and in the afternoon he either did homework or read. Occasionally, he would go to Gao Jingming's classmates' gatherings to join in the fun. His life was uneventful.

After the gift was presented to Emperor Shang Xuan that day, there was no follow-up, and the gentleman never mentioned it, as if he had forgotten about it.

In fact, most of the thousands of students in the academy participated. With so many works submitted, it would take time for the teachers to screen and determine which ten works would stand out and represent the academy to present to the emperor. It was possible that the teachers would argue behind the scenes until they were red in the face.

Almost all the students were waiting for the follow-up, discussing and guessing who would get the honor.

The most popular candidates were Wei Ziyan and Ning Guiliang. They were both recognized as talented individuals, so if nothing unexpected happened, they would definitely get a spot. The discussion was about the remaining eight...

During this period, Feng San would get close to Chen Xuan whenever he got the chance, trying every way to get close to him, sometimes even without telling Gao Jingming, and he acted quite openly. Chen Xuan was happy to accompany him in his performance.

The other party was really willing to invest, and was not just talking about it. He thought Chen Xuan really regarded him as a friend. In addition to asking about Chen Xuan's well-being, he occasionally brought small gifts to Chen Xuan and even invited him to have tea and listen to music when he was free.

Chen Xuan confiscated the gifts, no matter how worthless they were. As for drinking tea and listening to music, he let it go and used the excuse that he had no time to refuse. This made Feng San feel regretful but also fully understand. After all, he was just a servant and didn't have much free time.

Of course, Chen Xuan would not just accompany him in the performance out of boredom. He pretended to be nice and gave him a little encouragement to create the illusion that he could open up to him. In fact, he was trying to get him to talk in a subtle way, which made Chen Xuan understand a lot of things.

For example, some information about Zhang Ao's family. Zhang Ao's great-grandfather once served as a county magistrate, and that's how the Zhang family rose to prominence.

The family prospered for only about twenty years. With the retirement of Zhang Ao's great-grandfather, the Zhang family began to decline. There was still some affection for the family when he was alive, but after his grandfather passed away, that affection gradually faded.

Anyway, since his great-grandfather, the Zhang family has not produced any particularly dazzling figures. The person with the highest achievements is Zhang Ao's father, who passed the special examination when the current Crown Prince of Jing State came to the throne and became a Jinshi.

The number of Jinshi candidates who passed the special examination was already very low, not to mention the Tong Jinshi candidate, which was equivalent to a runner-up. Anyway, the Zhang family tried their best and only managed to get Zhang Ao's father a position as a county magistrate in a poor county. It was difficult for him to make any political achievements, and the fame of a Tong Jinshi candidate was also embarrassing. It was probably the end of his life.

In short, the Zhang family has been on a downward trend over the years. If no one emerges to hold up the family, the decline will be inevitable once Zhang Ao's father steps down. They will be reduced from the wealthy family they were decades ago to a poor family.

From this we can see why Zhang Ao is willing to be a pawn. He also wants to make progress. Perhaps he also understands that it is too difficult for him to change the current situation of the Zhang family through the imperial examination, so he has to find another way. If he curryes favor with Wei Ziyan and others, not to mention recreating the former glory of the Zhang family, it should not be difficult to maintain the current situation. If Wei Ziyan is willing to speak up, it should not be a problem to pull his father out of the quagmire and move him to another position. The weight of a son of a noble family is there.

Then there is Feng San himself, a servant of the Zhang family. Three generations of his family have served the Zhang family. He is also lucky to have become Zhang Ao's servant. If Zhang Ao has no future, as he himself said, his life will be like this.

When Feng San said this to Chen Xuan, he himself felt a little envious. He also wanted to become successful.

To be honest, Chen Xuan himself was a little bit amused and confused. Feng San was also not satisfied with the status quo, but he had to accept his fate due to his identity. He could only pin his hopes on Zhang Ao, to perform actively, obey orders, find ways to win him over, and act in a cunning way at the critical moment, so as to achieve the goal of making Zhang Ao please Wei Ziyan and others.

This person's life is too tiring.

Anyway, Chen Xuan hasn't made any effort yet, and Feng San himself shows some signs of being close to Chen Xuan. If he works harder, it is not impossible to develop Feng San into his own spy.

When Chen Xuan and Gao Jingming talked about this in private, Gao almost laughed to tears.

In addition to these daily routines, Gao Jingming had more free time because he did not have to worry about the birthday gift for Emperor Shang Xuan. He not only confirmed the elective courses for several teachers, but also joined the agricultural cooperative.

There are not many members in the agricultural cooperative, about thirty in total, and almost all of them are students from poor families. They cannot all attend the gatherings because most of them are busy with their studies.

Among the many societies in the academy, the agricultural society is the most inconspicuous one. The president hardly cares about anything and seems to be in a bad mood. If the academy did not need it and occasionally allocated some funds to maintain it, the agricultural society would have disbanded long ago.

Anyway, when Gao Jingming joined the club, he didn't even meet the president, and Xiao Gao was the only one who joined the agricultural cooperative that year, which shows how unwelcome he was.

The agricultural society discussed things related to farming and water conservancy. Well, to put it bluntly, it was about farming. The academy even set aside a piece of land specifically for it.

Think about it, all educated people want to change their destiny through reading. How many people are interested in studying these mud-playing things?
The reason why the academy still has to maintain the operation of this society is nothing more than that it needs someone to hold up the show at critical moments. In case other academies or places come to exchange ideas and ask for advice on farming and water conservancy, someone has to stand up.

Anyway, I can’t use it, but I can’t live without it.

That afternoon, under the scorching sun, Chen Xuan and Gao Jingming were digging and weeding in the fields allocated to the agricultural cooperative by the academy. It was a way to relax after studying.

A few acres of land were planted with a few sparse crops, which looked lifeless and the weeds were more lush than the crops.

Besides the two of them, there were a few other members of the cooperative who were slacking off and not taking it seriously. No matter how hard they worked, it was impossible for them to be noticed. Gao Jingming had originally joined the cooperative thinking he would meet people with similar interests, but after a few days of seeing this, he no longer took it seriously.

"A Xuan, what would my master and mother think if they knew that they spent so much effort and money to send me to study, but I am here digging the ground and weeding?" Gao Jingming hoeed the ground and easily turned up a large piece of soil. He leaned on the hoe with both hands and looked at Chen Xuan with self-deprecating words.

Chen Xuan was pulling weeds by hand in front, his hands covered in weed juice and dust. He turned around and smiled, "I don't know what they would think if they knew, but if we don't hurry up, we won't be finished before dark."

There is a large piece of land in front, planted with beans. The beans are growing so well that even dogs shake their heads when they see them. I don’t know which agricultural cooperative’s predecessor created this, but no one cares about it and it grows wildly. If any farmer in this era grows crops like this, his spine will probably be broken.

"It's not that difficult to do. Didn't we agree that we wanted to experience how normal farmers farm? It can be done in a few strokes at most," Gao Jingming said with a smile, swinging the hoe again.

They both have good martial arts skills, so it is not difficult for them to fight seriously.

Chen Xuan was too lazy to pay attention to him and was busy working on his own. After finishing his work, he watched the show without helping him.

Feeling bored, Gao Jingming quickened his pace and said anxiously, "It just hit me on a whim. Why did I think of joining the farmers' cooperative? If I could learn music, chess, calligraphy, or painting, I wouldn't know how leisurely it would be right now."

"Actually, there's nothing wrong with the agricultural cooperative. There's no need for intrigue or racking your brains, and no one forces you to do anything," Chen Xuan said perfunctorily.

Gao Jingming nodded and said thoughtfully: "Yes, just take it as a way to relax."

After chatting, the two of them finally finished the rest before the sun went down. As for the others, they had already slipped away and no one knew where they were.

It was supposed to be a group activity for the club, but in the end, everyone ran faster than the other.

After putting the tools in the designated place and heading back to his residence, Chen Xuan looked at the fields and said with a smile, "Master, the agricultural cooperative is actually quite good. It all depends on whether you have the right idea."

"Why do you say that, A Xuan?" Gao Jingming said in silence.

Chen Xuan said calmly, "Because food is the most important thing for the people, if we can come up with something new, it will be a major event that benefits both the country and the people, and there is a chance that we will be remembered in history."

"A Xuan, you are getting more and more outrageous. This agricultural cooperative has existed in the academy for hundreds of years. The people have changed countless times, but I have never heard of anyone doing something creative and benefiting the country and the people and leaving their name in history. Do you believe this?" Gao Jingming curled his lips.

Smiling, Chen Xuan said, "It's up to you. If you ever get the position of the head of the agricultural cooperative, we can talk about this later."

"A Xuan, are you serious?" Gao Jingming's expression became serious.

After years of getting along with each other, he didn't believe that Chen Xuan would do something without a purpose. He must have an idea, just like a gift to the emperor. Although there was no clue yet, the idea proposed by Chen Xuan was brilliant.

"It's up to you," Chen Xuan shrugged. The position of president was not in his hands. Even if he really made a name for himself, it would only be a favor to others. That's why Chen Xuan would not be so active.

Limited by the cognition of people in this era, others don't know where the prospects of this road are, but doesn't Chen Xuan know it? There is great potential, but it takes time to accumulate.

Anyway, Chen Xuan will not set any goals to create pressure for himself, everything is casual.

Gao Jingming was cautious, however, and was considering whether he should find a way to become the president of the agricultural cooperative. Anyway, the current president didn't take it seriously and was already in a mess. It seemed that he hadn't found anyone to take over, otherwise he would have run away long ago.

Although he was a newcomer, he would be a veteran of the agricultural cooperative in a year or two. By then, it would not be impossible for him to win over other members and nominate himself as the president.

Putting this aside for now, Gao Jingming turned and said, "Ah Xuan, I don't know if you've noticed, but Lao Xu has been wearing an uncontrollable smile these past few days. I don't know what good things have happened to him, but everyone thinks he's secretly taken in a concubine."

Lao Xu is Mr. Xu, the head of their class. Privately, the students are very respectful to each other and have no ill intentions towards each other.

"Of course I noticed it. It must be a good thing that happened," Chen Xuan said with a smile.

In fact, Chen Xuan knew the reason. It was that Gao Jingming's painting of pine and crane prolonging life stood out from many works and would be presented to Emperor Shang Xuan as a gift on behalf of the academy. There were only ten places among the thousands of people in the entire academy, and Gao Jingming represented one of them. How could Lao Xu not be happy?

However, the academy hasn't announced it yet, so Mr. Xu can't celebrate in advance...

(End of this chapter)