The sky had just turned bright, and several stars still lingered on, refusing to leave for the time being.
The wind was blowing, the morning dew was rippling, and everything was growing. The whole world seemed to play up to Li Muyang, who had just gotten up.
He stood in front of the window, stretching his body, and then quickly walked about the room, following the method of the “Qi-breaking Technique”. He found that he could study well only if he was healthy. He could not do anything if he was in a daze all day long—unless he had a nap.
In ancient times, a great man had said that the body was the capital of the revolution.
After Li Muyang got sweaty, he went into the bathroom to take a shower and changed into the new clothes that his mother had prepared for him.
Looking into the mirror, he found that he was much whiter than before. In the past, he looked as dark as ink, but now his skin was bronze with a bright luster.
“Am I like Gu Tianle, the idol of the empire?” Li Muyang asked in front of the mirror.
He blinked and grinned.
The smile quickly disappeared, and he scolded scornfully, “You are dreaming. Shame on you.”
It was still early, but Li Muyang was not going to review.
He opened the pen box and checked it out. After packing the bag, he sat at the desk and looked at the plants in the yard. He looked at the stars in the sky, the black clouds rolling, and the white clouds covering the sky.
The sky turned bright, and then yellow. A red sun shyly and slowly appeared in the eastern sky.
If it were a month ago, Li Muyang would not have had to worry about this at all.
“What does it have to do with me whether there is an exam or not?”
He would sleep until he woke up naturally as usual, then grab two steamed buns and walk around the examination room or have a rest again.
If others handed in their papers, he would do that as well. If others went home, he would go home too.
There was no hope, so there was no expectation.
It had only been a little more than a month, but he was ready for the liberal arts exam. He was going to compete with the students who had been hard-working for many years, fighting for rare positions.
When he looked back at the past, he didn’t even dare to recognize himself now.
When chicken and dogs started barking, the yard began to liven up.
His mother got up to wash, and his father went to practice martial arts. Unexpectedly, Li Sinian also got up, standing in front of the windowsill and slowly reading ancient poems.
“Li Muyang…” Li Sinian shouted as she stood in her room.
“Sinian, don’t call your brother. Let him sleep a little longer.” Luo Qi, their mother, lowered her voice and said.
“Mom, I’m already up,” Li Muyang popped out of the window and said with a smile. “I’ve been up for a while.”
“Mom, I knew that my brother had gotten up. He could not sleep well because of today’s exam,” Li Sinian said with a proud face. “Are you ready, Li Muyang?”
“Everything has been prepared,” Li Muyang said grinning, “As for the rest, it will be up to god.”
“Hee hee, you will succeed in the exam.”
“Why?”
“Because I made a wish for you before I went to bed last night.” Li Sinian looked as if it was a matter of fact. “My wishes always come true. I said you could stand up, then you did. I said you could be smarter, then you became smarter. I said you could not look better than me, so you look like Coal.
“…” Li Muyang often doubted that his younger sister was his biological sister. Otherwise, why would she always taunt him to death?
“Hey, brother,” Li Sinian suddenly exclaimed.
“What?” Li Muyang asked curiously.
“Brother, why are you getting whiter?” Li Sinian stood in her position where she could see that Li Muyang was bathing in the rising red sunlight. His eyelashes were long, his features were deep and clear, and his skin was as delicate as green celadon. His back was straight, and his smile was gentle and confident.
He was no longer timid and wretched, and he did not look so thin like he could be blown away by a gust of wind as before.
A layer of soft light emanated from his body as if he were an immortal walking out of the bright sunlight.
“…”
“You are really white,” Li Sinian danced happily and said. “If you don’t believe me, you can ask mom and dad to have a look. You didn’t secretly use my medicine frost, did you?”
“…”
Luo Qi had finished cooking breakfast. In order to cater to the ancient proverb, she prayed for good luck for her son’s exam. She specially cooked two eggs and a fried dough stick for Li Muyang.
Li Sinian looked at the breakfast in Li Muyang’s bowl, and said to her mother Luo Qi with a sly look, “Mom, the two eggs and one fried dough stick you prepared for Brother mean you want him to get one hundred points in the exam?”
“Yes.” Luo Qi nodded with a smile. “And you have the same breakfast.”
“But my brother is going to take three courses today.” Li Sinian looked very embarrassed and said, “Do you want him to take only 100 points for all the three courses? If not, you have to prepare six eggs, and three fried dough sticks for him so that he can get 100 points for each of the courses.”
“Ah? So many?” Luo Qi was a little embarrassed and said, “Then I’ll prepare…”
Li Muyang’s mouth was full of eggs, and his cheeks bulged high. Hearing Li Sinian’s words, his face turned green. He grabbed his mother’s arm and said, “Mom, you can’t listen to Sinian’s nonsense. If you give me six eggs and three fried dough sticks, I won’t have to take the exam. I’ll die at home because I am too full.”
Luo Qi hit Li Sinian’s hand with her chopsticks and said angrily, “You little girl, you only know how to bully your brother.”
“Just kidding.” Li Sinian stuck out her tongue at Li Muyang and said, “I am just trying to make it easy so that my brother will not be nervous.”
“I’m nervous as soon as you start to talk.” It was not easy for Li Muyang to swallow the egg, and he said angrily, “You’d better stop talking. You can scare people to death.”
“Stingy,” Li Sinian said in a low voice.
After breakfast, Li Muyang bid farewell to his parents and was ready to go to the examination room with his schoolbag.
Li Yan was going to send Li Muyang over, but he was refused. Li Muyang had already been to the examination room, so there was no need to send him.
Li Muyang felt refreshed and light-footed. He was not nervous at all before the examination.
“Maybe I am too well-prepared,” Li Muyang said to himself.
When he thought about it, he felt that the well-known liberal arts exam that everyone feared was nothing more than this.
As soon as he walked to the yard with his school bag, a man in a black robe descended from the sky.
“It seems that I came at the right time,” said the man in the black robe smiling gloomily and staring at Li Muyang.
…
In Guantang Tea House.
The rich child, Yan Xiangma, was sitting near the window on the second floor, drinking tea. The tea was good—it was the most famous Lion Peak Dragon Well tea in Jiangnan City. Next to him was a singer in a blue embroidered cheongsam singing a pipa tune. The soft voice made his heart almost melt.
He liked this kind of tone, which was the style that a learned and virtuous rich young man should have.
Those guys, who had nothing to do every day, flirting with good women with a group of servants, could only be regarded as hooligans. Although he also wanted to be such a hooligan, he was afraid that his father would break his legs—or his mother would.
“Young Master, we have asked around about it. This is the only way for Li Muyang to take part in the Liberal-arts Exam… Young Master, you only need to look outside from time to time. It is clear whether he has come or not.” A middle-aged man in a black coat stood next to him, bending his back with a flattering look.
“I’m your master and I’m born to enjoy. I have a beauty in my eyes, a good song in my ears, and delicious tea in my hands, but you ask me to look outside and get distracted. If I split my mind into two parts, is this beauty still a beauty? Is this good song still a good song? Is this delicious tea still delicious? They will become vulgar.”
“Yes, yes, yes. I am wrong,” the middle-aged man quickly apologized. “Young Master, you can appreciate the beauty and listen to the song, leaving the rest to us. I have already sent people to guard downstairs. I will accompany you to wait upstairs—as long as Li Muyang comes over, I will rush forward to hit him with a stick, put him into a sack, and carry him away.”
“You’re smart.” Yan Xiangma gently tapped his fingers with his eyes closed. “Even if he takes the exam, he won’t be able to enter Xifeng University, but we should make sure that it won’t happen. Besides, what if he succeeds? I will knock him out so that he can’t go to Xifeng University or Capital Heaven. Then, I’ll give him an admission notice to Jiangnan University. Do you think he will accept it or not?”
“Yes. Of course, he will,” the middle-aged man laughed and said. “Jiangnan University is a famous university. I have failed three times to enter it.”
Yan Xiangma’s face changed greatly, and he said, “Even if you take 30 years, you won’t be able to get in. Can an idiot like you enter such a big university like Jiangnan University?”
The middle-aged man thought of the educational background of his young master, and he quickly changed his words and said, “Yes, yes, yes, not to mention 30 years, I can’t pass the examination even if I have 300 years—it will be self-humiliation for me to enter Jiangnan University. It is simply impossible.”
“Well, don’t talk nonsense,” Yan Xiangma waved his hand and said. “Don’t ruin the romance.”
“Yes, yes, yes.”
“I told you to shut up.”
“Yes.” The middle-aged man covered his mouth and did not dare to speak again.
An hour had passed. Yan Xiangma looked up at the sky outside and asked with a puzzled expression, “Why hasn’t the boy come yet?”
“Master, can I speak now?” The middle-aged man asked cautiously.
Yan Xiangma was so angry that he pointed at the man and shouted, “Are you shitting now if you are not speaking?”