Chapter 277: Always Song Jing

Chapter 277: Chapter 277: Always Song Jing

Compared to the east side of the village, the west side had become a world of extremes.

At the Ji Family home, when Ji Qingshan woke up, the sun was already dipping westward.

The first words out of his mouth were, "Have the messengers arrived?"

Mrs. Zhu said bluntly, "The messengers have already left. They were at the village chief’s house and left after eating and drinking their fill."

Ji Lianhuai tried to stop her, but he wasn’t fast enough.

However, Ji Qingshan wasn’t as upset as he had expected.

"No, I just had a dream. The fourth son really did pass the Scholar exam, the messengers for him are just lagging behind. What are you all doing cooped up in the house? Go wait at the gate. Forget it. Third Son, help me up. I’ll go wait myself."

Mrs. Zhu and Ji Lianhuai were both dumbfounded.

Aunt Kang had taken a nasty fall and had rolled around on the ground a few times, making her old bones feel like they were about to fall apart. Yet she refused to give up. She stood at the courtyard gate, facing east, and cursed without pausing for breath.

When she got tired of standing, she sat. When she got tired of cursing, she’d stop for a drink of water. She cursed until her throat was raw and she could barely speak.

Hearing a noise behind her, she turned and saw her husband was awake. She had found her backbone again.

"Husband! What are we going to do! Our fourth son’s Scholar title was st—"

Ji Qingshan waved a hand, cutting her off. "What belongs to the fourth son is his. No one can snatch it away. The messengers for him weren’t in that group; they’re in a later one. Don’t be anxious. Yeyang is a huge place, how could they deliver all the news so quickly? You have to give them some time. Let’s just wait a little longer, a little longer..."

’No matter how big Yeyang is,’ Mrs. Zhu thought to herself, ’it doesn’t even take a full day to get from the county town to Dafeng Village, even on foot, let alone with messengers on horseback.’

But after a reminder from Ji Lianhuai, she realized she shouldn’t stir up trouble at a time like this, so she held her tongue.

Aunt Kang, however, was convinced.

’That’s right, how could Fourth Son not have passed? It’s impossible! It must be those wretched messengers who are delayed! When they finally bring the good news, I won’t give them a single red envelope. Just you wait!’

Occasionally, passersby would see them still waiting and offer words of comfort, saying that Ji Liantang wasn’t that old anyway and could always take the exam again after getting married and starting a family.

In response, they not only got a face full of spit from Aunt Kang but were also cursed up and down.

She accused them of being green with envy, jealous of her family and her son. In her eyes, they all had ill intentions.

After that, who would dare say anything? They just shook their heads and walked away.

Others pointed, gossiped, and snickered in secret.

They said Ji Liantang was indeed a "half-step Scholar," but unfortunately, he never took the other half-step. In fact, the foot he’d gotten in the door had been dragged right back out.

Naturally, Aunt Kang couldn’t resist getting into shouting matches with them.

But she had overused her voice, and her combat effectiveness was greatly reduced. In the end, she couldn’t be bothered to speak anymore and just rolled her eyes at them one after another.

Ji Lianhuai leaned bonelessly against the doorframe and started to doze off. Mrs. Zhu and her three children were also getting impatient, but since Ji Qingshan hadn’t said a word, no one dared to go back into the courtyard.

So the entire family stood at the gate, craning their necks, waiting and waiting and waiting. But even as the sun set, not a single soul appeared.

They saw neither the messengers of good news, nor Ji Liantang.

Ji Mingmao was so hungry he couldn’t stand it anymore and began to cry and fuss.

Aunt Kang raised her hand to strike him, but Mrs. Zhu yanked him behind her.

"Mother! The fourth brother didn’t pass the exam. If you want to hit someone, you should hit him! Why are you hitting my Mingmao?"

Her shout didn’t seem to affect Aunt Kang much, but it completely shattered Ji Qingshan’s deluded dream.

After a violent coughing fit, he waved his hand, indicating he didn’t need support, and turned to walk into the courtyard alone.

He looked no different than usual, except that his once-straight back was now deeply stooped.

Ji Huan emerged from the earthen hut carrying a food basket, her mind full of questions.

She had no idea what had gotten into the vagrant. He had acted as if he hadn’t seen her and completely ignored what she said.

He was radiating such a gloomy aura. ’Did I do something to upset him?’

Ji Huan was grumbling to herself when she suddenly stopped in her tracks.

At the intersection just ahead, a person was standing.

The sky was getting dark earlier and earlier, and the moon had yet to rise, so she could only make out a vague silhouette.

Ji Huan stopped a few meters away, her hands behind her back, and tilted her head to study him.

Song Jing asked, "What are you looking at?"

Ji Huan replied, "I’m looking at the great Scholar. I’ve lived my whole life and never seen one in the flesh."

"Then you’ll have to stand closer to see clearly."

With that, he spread his arms, striking a pose as if to say, "Be my guest."

"No, no." Ji Huan waved her hands, feigning a polite refusal. "Mr. Scholar, you’re a legendary figure now. Better admired from a distance."

Laughter tinged Song Jing’s voice. "Mr. Scholar is what other people call me. To you, I’m always just Song Jing."

’Oh, my heavens~’

Instead of her heart filling with pink, fluffy bubbles, her mind conjured up a popular reaction meme of a comedian with a pained expression.

Only an image like that could describe how she was feeling right now.

’Once a man figures things out, he progresses at lightning speed. Compared to him, I’m such an amateur.’

Ji Huan composed herself, took a few steps closer, and pointed to the earthen hut not far behind her.

"I was just bringing food to the vagrant. It wasn’t dark when I went, but I didn’t expect it to get dark so suddenly."

This served as an indirect explanation for her being out.

After a moment’s thought, she added, "His injuries are almost healed. From the looks of it, I think he’ll probably leave in about a month or so."

Song Jing nodded. "That’s good. It’ll save you the trouble of running back and forth."

During their meeting on Nanshan, Ji Huan had already told him the general situation regarding the vagrant.

That was why he wasn’t too worried.

’What threat could a vagrant pose?’ He just felt a little uncomfortable with Ji Huan taking care of another man.

Fortunately, the man was about to leave, so Song Jing didn’t dwell on it.

Then Ji Huan suddenly started joking.

"What about you? Why are you here? ’The moon appears over the willow trees, a tryst is set for after dusk.’ Only, it seems the moon has gone on strike tonight."

Song Jing coughed into his fist, looking slightly uncomfortable.

"I didn’t mean to offend you. By the order of our parents and the words of the matchmaker, I should have waited until everything was official before coming to see you. It’s just that today... is a special day, and for some reason... I just wanted to see you."

In truth, he had regretted it the moment he arrived at her gate.

He hadn’t planned on knocking. His mind was just in a bit of a mess, and he was going to stand there for a moment before leaving. He never expected that when he turned around, the person he wanted to see would be right behind him.

Ji Huan felt a sense of helplessness.

’If Song Jing had really confessed his feelings and then refused to see me again until our wedding night, I wouldn’t know whether to laugh or cry.’

But his way of thinking wasn’t wrong in the current social context. It was she who hadn’t adapted yet.

"That’s not what I meant, it’s just..." Ji Huan’s mind raced, and she quickly changed the subject. "Actually, I wanted to see you too. It’s been such a roller-coaster of a day, my poor heart... To be honest, when I first thought you hadn’t passed, I even prepared some words of comfort."

Song Jing went along with it. "And how were you planning to comfort me?"

Ji Huan put on a serious face and first delivered the "chicken soup for the soul" version.

"There are a thousand paths in life, and the imperial exams are only one of them. Heaven rewards the diligent. As long as you work hard, one day you will be met with flowers and applause. Facing life with composure is the true path, young man."

She cleared her throat and then served up the "toxic chicken soup" version.

"Nothing in the world is difficult, as long as you’re willing to give up.

As long as you’re willing to try hard, there’s nothing you can’t mess up.

Everything is difficult at the beginning, then it’s difficult in the middle, and finally, it’s difficult at the end.

If life deceives you, don’t be sad, don’t be anxious... because tomorrow will be the same anyway."

When Ji Huan finished, the air became exceptionally quiet.

"A bit of a chill, huh? Did the poison get you?"

She thought Song Jing wouldn’t understand her deadpan humor, but he suddenly clapped his hands and burst out laughing.

"Interesting, that’s hilarious! HAHAHAHA, I actually find it quite logical."

Ji Huan: "..." ’Talk about a delayed reaction.’