Chapter 67: Prefectural City

Chapter 67: The Prefecture City

The insect-repellent and moisture-proof cabinets kept Dukou Town buzzing for three days.

With so many people around, not only were many of these cabinets ordered, but many other wooden items in the shop were also sold or ordered in large numbers.

On the fourth day, knockoffs of the cabinets appeared in other carpentry shops, and Carpenter Wang's shop indeed felt the impact.

Although Carpenter Wang was regretful, he had been mentally prepared and took it quite well.

He had prepared thoroughly in advance and received many orders, so even with the knockoffs appearing, it was enough to satisfy him.

In just these few days, he had earned what would normally take his shop three years.

It could be said that joy brightens one's spirits. Faced with the knockoffs, Carpenter Wang was not gloomy at all—in fact, he was beaming with joy.

Since Gu Chaoning was going to the prefecture city for the prefectural examination, Carpenter Wang carefully calculated the money and prepared to give Gu Wen his share first.

The shop had originally made sixty-six cabinets in total, symbolizing "six-six great fortune."

Each cabinet was priced at eight taels, which came to five hundred twenty-eight taels.

As agreed with Gu Wen at the time, excluding the cost, the split was seven for Carpenter Wang and three for Gu Wen.

That came to one hundred fifty-eight taels and four qian.

Apart from these cabinets that were made and sold in advance, an additional two hundred eighty-six were ordered ahead of time.

With two taels of deposit collected for each, that came to five hundred seventy-two taels.

That money had to stay put for now.

On the fifth day, Carpenter Wang distributed the money from the sixty-six cabinets to Gu Wen in advance. Gu Wen, beaming with joy, pocketed the money and headed home, then handed it to Chen Youyan.

Chen Youyan knew well that this was the share from the sixty-six cabinets.

He gave it a quick count and immediately saw the amount was off.

It was ten taels more than the one hundred fifty-eight taels and four qian they'd figured.

Gu Wen knew what he meant just by looking at his expression. He grinned and said, "It's a bonus from Master because he was happy."

Who wouldn't be happy about free money?

Chen Youyan smiled too.

Counting what they already had, the two now had a total of one hundred eighty-three taels and eight qian, along with some spare coppers, forty-six wen.

They then counted out seventy taels to give to Gu Chaoning.

Parting with such a large sum at once made even the two of them, despite being prepared, grit their teeth.

This imperial exam really drains the wallet.

The prefectural examination and the court examination were not far apart in time. If one passed the prefectural exam, he'd have to stay until the court exam was over before coming back.

Roughly speaking, at least a month, at most three.

Thinking about that, Gu Wen fell silent for a moment: "This amount of silver should be enough, right?"

As the saying goes, "poor at home, rich on the road"—if it ran short, they'd be in trouble in no time.

Chen Youyan couldn't say for certain either. After thinking it over, he added another fifty taels, and only then did he and Gu Wen head over to Gu Chaoning's room.

Seeing so much silver, Gu Chaoning was startled. After listening to both his dads' worries, he was both amused and deeply moved.

He figured that his dads had only about one hundred seventy to one hundred ninety taels in total.

In his previous life, his family had cobbled together thirty taels for the trip. Back then, he was young and didn't think twice about it. Now that he thought about it, it was likely every last penny his dads had.

In this life, with the cabinets changing things up, the family had more money, yet his dads were still just as sincere and devoted to him.

The exam didn't need that much money. Gu Chaoning only wanted fifty taels, but Gu Wen and Chen Youyan were worried. After going back and forth three times, he accepted seventy taels.

Of the five who had banded together for the county exam, forget their scores—every single one of them passed.

So this time, the five went together for the prefectural examination as before.

But the elders at home just couldn't relax, so they went out of their way to find a merchant caravan in town and had the five travel with the town's caravan. Once they reached the county seat, they'd hook up with a bigger caravan that had hired escort guards.

All five were scholars, and one of them was even the top scorer in the county exam, with money to spare. The caravan was more than happy to have them along.

They set off on the sixteenth of the third month.

Bright and early on the sixteenth of the third month, Gu Chaoning, Gu Rong, and Xu Huaisheng were led by their elders to Dukou Town.

Both Gu Chaoning's and Gu Rong's families had oxcarts, and this time, as always, anyone who had time came along.

Xu Huaisheng hitched a ride on Gu Rong's family's oxcart.

When everyone arrived, Chen Hengdao and Shen Zhenghao were already there.

Gu Wen gave Gu Chaoning a pat on the shoulder: "Don't stress yourself out too much. If money runs short, hire someone to send a message."

Chen Youyan stood nearby, about to say that pass or fail, he'd always be the pride of his dad's heart, but he thought that sounded like a jinx, so he held back.

Wang Xiuxiu and Gu Daniu also couldn't find the right words. The Gu family had all seen how hard Gu Chaoning worked, and they were afraid saying too much would pile on the pressure.

Wang Xiuxiu thought a moment, then drew Yin Hongxue and Gu Muan aside.

Yin Hongxue looked at Gu Chaoning: "Chaoning Ge, when you get back, tell me what folks in the prefecture city are wearing."

Gu Chaoning couldn't help chuckling at that.

This was his way of worrying he'd study himself ragged, gently hinting he shouldn't stress too much and should get out more.

With such thoughtful intentions from Xue Geer, Gu Chaoning readily agreed.

Gu Muan planted his hands on his hips: "Bro, don't forget to bring me back some good eats. I promised Liu Geer I'd buy him some prefecture city pastries!"

Gu Chaoning: "...Got it."

He gave the little guy's hair a good ruffle.

The caravan wasn't going to wait around forever for them to say their goodbyes. Once everyone had said their piece, the five climbed into the hired carriage.

The adults watched until the group faded from sight, then turned and headed off.

Gu Wen headed to the carpentry shop as usual, Yin Hongxue headed to Painter Cen's place, and Gu Chaoning made his way to Huichun Hall.

Gu Daniu urged the mule cart along with Wang Xiuxiu and Chen Youyan back to Xiaohe Village.

After dropping the two off at home, Gu Daniu still had to go to Chenjia Village.

Landlord Chen's estate was getting ready to plant spring sweet potatoes, and since this was the first year of planting, they needed to build two special rooms to store tools and the sweet potatoes.

This time, not many hands were needed, so Gu Daniu brought only five men.

But to his surprise, Landlord Chen was there too.

After greeting him and having a drink of water, they picked up their tools and got ready for work.

Gu Daniu looked over the spot the steward had roughly pointed out and got ready to measure it out.

"Gu Daniu, your grandson passed the county examination and went to the prefectural city?"

A voice suddenly came from right beside him, startling Gu Daniu so much that he nearly dropped the measuring rope in his hand.

He turned around and saw Landlord Chen, who had a sour look on his face but was trying to force a smile.

Landlord Chen was startled too, frowned, and snapped with a sour face, "You scared me!"

How is it you got scared? I'm the one who got scared!

Remembering what Landlord Chen had said last time, Gu Daniu paused, then said, "I didn't expect Master Chen to pop up behind me like that, so I wasn't ready, and it ended up startling us both."

Hey! Where did he get the nerve to blame me! Landlord Chen's face was now not just dark but also pulled long, making his displeasure obvious at a glance.

"Hmph!" He held back for a moment, then asked again, "Your grandson passed the county examination and went to the prefectural city?"

"Yes, he just set off today." That will make you jealous, you old fool.

Sure enough, Landlord Chen's face turned even darker.

He clearly remembered the fake words he'd said to Gu Daniu last time. The two stared at each other. Seeing Gu Daniu's barely hidden smugness, he flicked his sleeves and walked off.

So what if he passed the county exam? There's still the prefectural exam and the academy exam to go!