The Farm Life Of a "Fool"

Chapter 47

Any examinee had to go through a body search before entering the examination room. While not all of them intended to cheat in the examination only for students, some examinees were unable to avoid cheating. They hid their notes in a variety of places, including among their hair.

Worse, some people would dare to scribble keys on their arms. These people were too dumb, Xu Ran thought as he rubbed his nose. They had no idea that the words written with a writing brush were so large that they could easily be seen by anyone. And if they could get by, how would they know if they'd be able to get the content for the keys?

In fact, things would be different if the papers were required to be answered with a ball-point pen in modern times. A small piece of paper can hold a lot of information. It would be extremely helpful in this situation if even a small piece of paper was brought in.

When it was Xu Ran's turn, he went through the body-search honestly, and did everything cooperatively as he was instructed like turning around, raising his hand....

Xu Ran passed through the check and into the examination room. Within, there were already a large number of people. Lin Hua and Zhao Chen were sitting in the corner, and Xu Ran noticed them. Lin Hua smiled and waved at him, and Xu Ran nodded to express his greetings. Then he sat down and waited for their invigilator to arrive.

Having not taken any test for a long time, Xu Ran felt a little nervous. This feeling was just like when he took the college entrance examination in modern times.

The examination room was deafeningly silent. No one made a sound, perhaps because the people present didn't know each other. Just a couple of them continued to recite something in hushed tones. An invigilator entered shortly after, holding a scroll. He first emphasized the exam's rules before inspecting each examinee's desk. He finally opened the scroll.

There were only a few words on the list, "In all walks of life, filial piety first."

The first, as per ancient sages, was filial piety, but filial piety was divided into many forms. Everyone, according to Xu Ran, should be filial, but not blindly filial.

The ancients also said that since ancient times it was hard to be both loyal and filial at the same time. Therefore, filial piety was not so easy for one to observe.

After showing the scroll to the examinees, the invigilator began to speak, "Today's topic, as you may have seen, is filial piety. This is your test item. That is what I'd like to remind you of as today's invigilator. Please begin the test right away!"

The imperial examination in this area was not what Xu Ran had expected. The test lasted three days and included six subjects, with two subjects per day. Thesis, Historical Records, and The Four Books were the subjects of the inquiry.

The only thing that was the same was The Four Books.

The Thesis was simple but also difficult, and it was hard to judge.

Therefore, many people began to whisper and sigh.

Hearing the voices from below, the invigilator banged the table and shouted, "Silence! Answer your paper."

Apart from the challenge of writing ancient Chinese, Xu Ran considered himself to be in good shape. He was a firm believer in filial piety, but not blind filial piety. When it comes to the issue of loyalty and filial piety, people should realize that without a country, there is no home.

After thinking about the topic for a while, Xu Ran picked up his writing brush and wrote quickly.

The other examinees also began to quieten down and answered the papers in front of them.