Transmigrated as a Stepmother: Time to Bring the Family to Prosper!-Chapter 204 - 203: Re-examination

Seeing the newcomer panting as he walked into the courtyard, the Dragon and Phoenix Twins shouted excitedly, "Father!"

Da Lang and Second Lang exchanged glances, feeling a bit anxious, wondering if their father had passed the preliminary test.

One of the brothers went forward to take Liu Ji’s luggage, while the other went to the kitchen to fetch bowls and chopsticks for the main room.

There were still some dishes left, and since Qin Yao didn’t have much of an appetite today, there was about a bowl of rice remaining, enough for Liu Ji’s meal. 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

Liu Ji hurried all the way home and was famished, he gave Qin Yao a forced smile, quickly washed his hands, and took the food Da Lang handed him, sitting down to eat voraciously at the table.

Qin Yao waited for him to finish eating before asking, "Have the results of the preliminary test come out?"

Liu Ji took the handkerchief his daughter Si Niang handed him to wipe his mouth, took a deep breath, burped, and then nodded.

So, the mother and her four children all gathered around him, holding their breath in anticipation of his results.

Liu Ji asked Qin Yao, "There’s good news and bad news, which do you want to hear first?"

Upon hearing this, Qin Yao felt a foreboding sense of unease, "The good news first."

Liu Ji chuckled, "I passed the preliminary test."

The mother and her four children all raised their eyebrows with surprise and joy; he actually managed to pass the preliminary test.

Qin Yao didn’t forget there was still bad news. She suppressed her joy and cautiously asked, "And the bad news?"

Liu Ji sighed, "I have to retake the test."

He now only regretted not buying a yellow talisman before entering the examination hall, otherwise, he wouldn’t have been so unlucky!

The mother and her four children asked in confusion, "Retake?"

Liu Ji nodded heavily, "It’s a long story," he said, making it brief.

He had found connections for the preliminary test, arranging his seat near top-performing students, and since the invigilation wasn’t strict, passing by the skin of his teeth didn’t surprise Liu Ji at all.

But he never expected that less than an hour after the list was announced, someone reported cheating in the preliminary test, contesting the list results, and the government canceled the previous preliminary results, conducting a retest.

The students on the list all need to be reassessed, and the final results will be based on this retest.

After hearing the whole story, Qin Yao didn’t know what expression to put on when facing this unlucky Liu Ji.

In the end, she could only accept reality and asked him, "When is the retest?"

Liu Ji looked pained, "The day after tomorrow."

This schedule barely gives him any time to prepare, practically like driving ducks onto a perch.

Qin Yao sighed and then stood up, "Alright, let’s start threshing the wheat first as a family!"

Liu Ji: "!!!"

The four children, seeing their stepmother’s calm demeanor, felt their ups and downs settle inexplicably, and the family of six began a challenging period of wheat threshing.

Qin Yao brought over a large stone mill, grinding again and again.

The Dragon and Phoenix Twins were responsible for picking up the cleanly ground wheat straw and taking it outside.

Da Lang and Second Lang were responsible for sweeping the threshed wheat grains into baskets.

Finally, Liu Ji used a sieve to completely separate the wheat grains from the chaff, pouring them onto the drying mat to dry.

The wheat was harvested in two days by two short-term workers, and Qin Yao settled their wages, twenty-five cents per acre, totaling two hundred and fifty cents.

The silver amounted to more than two maces, and Liu Ji felt a bit pained watching it, but considering the effort saved, once the two short-term workers left, he immediately praised Qin Yao with a thumbs-up, "Well done, wife!"

As Liu Ji suddenly returned, curious villagers asked whether he passed, one group after another, all were recruited by Qin Yao as helpers.

Want to know the result?

Alright, help with threshing this pile of wheat first.

Still curious about how the preliminary test was held?

Sure, cleanly sift these threshed wheat grains and you’ll find out immediately.

Liu Ji watched Qin Yao’s maneuvering, without needing her reminders, he entered a mysterious smile-without-speaking state, only answering questions with a smile, until the people helped with the work, then he would give a few ambiguous replies.

So, after Liu Ji returned home for two days, the villagers still didn’t know whether he had passed or not.

Even the folks at the Liu Family’s old house were in the dark.

However, Old Liu had a clear understanding of his son, likely assuming he didn’t pass, because if Old Third had passed, he would have made sure the whole town knew with his nature.

This low profile wasn’t his style at all.

But just when Old Liu was sure of his assumption, Qin Yao and Liu Ji, as a couple, headed to the county town on the afternoon of Liu Ji’s return home, driving a cart.

Before setting off, they even took Da Lang and Second Lang to the old house, saying the wheat at home was still drying, while they went to the city for a few days, if it rained, they asked the old house for help keeping an eye on it.

The Da Lang Brothers and Sisters still had one day off tomorrow, so they could dry half of it, only needing to worry about the other half.

At the same time, they handed over the house’s main keys, facilitating the retrieval of the ox cart and the transportation tasks for picking up and dropping off school.

Finally, before leaving, Qin Yao gave an extra half a tael of silver to He, as compensation for the hard work and for the Da Lang Brothers and Sisters’ meals.

It wasn’t until the couple drove the cart, carrying nineteen improved Divine Power Book Boxes from the factory warehouse, out of Liu Family Village, that everyone at the Liu Family’s old house realized what was going on.

Old Liu grabbed the fleeing Da Lang and Second Lang, suspiciously asking, "Why are your parents going to the county town?"

Da Lang, lacking confidence in his father’s retest results, and since there was no outcome yet, dared not speak recklessly, only responded, "Mother is going to the county to sell the Divine Power Book Boxes."

Old Liu clearly didn’t believe it, "Selling book boxes requires several days?"

"You two, honestly tell me, did your father fail the preliminary test?"

Da Lang showed the same conflicted expression Liu Ji had when he first returned home two days ago, sighed like a little adult, nodded, then shook his head, leaving everyone at the Liu Family’s old house perplexed.

However, Da Lang kept his mouth shut, no matter how the old house folks pressed him, he wouldn’t mention Liu Ji needing a retest, offering only vague words, "Wait until Aunt Yao comes back, and you’ll know."

Second Lang chimed in, "Wait until Mother returns, then you’ll find out, no rush."

No rush?

How could they not be anxious!

Old Liu rubbed his brow, pondering the significance of the imperial examination, bewildered at how Old Third’s family could be so composed in this situation.

The old gentleman waved them off, letting the two grandsons return home first.

"Hold on!" he called for Liu Bai too, deciding to accompany his two grandsons back home to check on the wheat.

Qin Yao’s ten acres had yielded over nineteen hundred catties.

After deducting forty percent for rent, they had over eleven hundred and fifty catties left in hand.

It was indeed an excellent field, despite the pest damage reducing yields by thirty percent.

Compared to the majority of the clan members’ per-acre yields in the village, it was an envious figure.

Old Liu and his son spent nearly an hour at Qin Yao’s home, helping the four siblings move the wheat into the courtyard and covering it with drying mats before heading back.

Returning to his doorstep, Old Liu stood on the stone slab at the entrance, gazing at the dusty wheat fields in the village, hoping that Qin Yao and her husband would bring back some good news from the city, dispelling the gloomy mood in the village.

Before the city gates closed, Qin Yao and her husband drove their cart smoothly into the county town of Kaiyang County.

After paying the sanitation management fee, they drove the cart into the city, stopping in front of Manager Fan’s restaurant.