The format and content of the Qi Kingdom's child scholar examination were similar to those of the Ming Dynasty in ancient Huaxia, but there were also many differences.
The first round of the examination was relatively simple, testing the memorization of the Four Books and Five Classics and the annotation of various passages. Finally, a topic was assigned from the *Four Books* for which candidates had to write a complete eight-legged essay, a style that emphasized a strict eight-part structure.
The second round wasn't difficult either. It involved memorizing longer passages from the classics and writing another eight-legged essay, though the topic was harder and drew from both the Four Books and Five Classics. The last section presented several excerpts from the classics and asked for the candidate's interpretation, with no restrictions on format.
Xiao Mo successfully passed the first two rounds of the exam, officially becoming a Child Scholar.
The third round would be held in fifteen days, giving the candidates some time to rest.
Xiao Mo thought for a moment and decided not to return to the village.
He would just stay in Qingshan County to study and prepare for the third round.
「Meanwhile, on She Mountain, north of Shiqiao Village.」
Inside a cave, a white snake slowly opened her eyes.
She felt her vision was blurry, and the thing stuck to her body was very uncomfortable.
The White Snake rubbed and scraped vigorously against a nearby rock.
After a great deal of effort, even scraping off a few of her newly grown scales, the White Snake finally emerged from her shed skin.
"I'm so long..."
Bai Ruxue looked at her body, estimating that she was probably seven feet long now, and much thicker than before.
With a shake of her body, she transformed into her human form.
The young woman ran out of the cave to the edge of a pool.
The pool's surface was like a mirror, reflecting the young woman's slender and graceful figure.
"Wow... I'm so tall... And so pretty..."
Twirling a couple of times by the pool's edge, Bai Ruxue watched her skirt fly, completely satisfied with her current appearance.
'I must be taller than him now, right?'
'Next time he sees me, he's sure to be surprised.'
A faint joy blossomed in Bai Ruxue's heart as she imagined the astonished look on Xiao Mo's face when he saw her.
She skipped lightly back to the cave. Xiao Qing was still sleeping.
"You have to grow up big and tall too when you wake up, Xiao Qing~"
Bai Ruxue gently patted Xiao Qing's head, then skipped out of the cave again.
The young woman went to the path he always took up the mountain and sat on the same rock by the side of the path.
She propped her chin in her hands, gazing into the distance and waiting for his return.
One day.
Two days.
Three days... four days...
Bai Ruxue waited and waited, tossing one stone after another.
She lost count of how many stones she had thrown.
She lost count of how many blades of grass she had plucked.
She lost count of how many passing mice she had eaten.
But still, he did not return.
'He hasn't forgotten about me, has he?'
'Will he ever come back?'
"He will come back!" Bai Ruxue shook her head hard and clenched her small fists, encouraging herself. "He promised. He said he would definitely come back to play with me..."
Another ten days passed... Bai Ruxue still saw no sign of him.
"You stinky Xiao Mo, if you don't come find me soon, I'm going to get mad!"
So the young woman said that day.
But Xiao Mo still did not return.
On the twentieth day of waiting for Xiao Mo, at sunset...
Bai Ruxue stood on the rock, cupped her small, fair hands around her mouth, and shouted down the mountain path, "Stinky Xiao Mo! I'm giving you one more chance! If you don't come back, I'm really going to get angry!"
On the twenty-first day, the sun set, and darkness gradually filled the sky.
The young woman was still standing on the rock, shouting, "Xiao Mo, I'm giving you one last, last chance. If you don't show up tomorrow, I'm really, truly going to get angry."
The twenty-second day...
"Xiao Mo, I'm really, really, *really* angry now! And you won't be able to coax me out of it!"
The young woman's voice echoed through the mountain forest.
The twenty-third day...
"Xiao Mo! I'm never talking to you again!"
The twenty-fourth day, the twenty-fifth day...
Every day, Bai Ruxue would sit on that rock and wait.
And as she left in the evening, she would always shout insults at Xiao Mo, her voice echoing through the mountain forest.
"Xiao Mo... where are you..."
On the evening of the twenty-sixth day, as night's curtain fell across the sky, the young woman sat on the rock, hugging her knees and burying her head in her lap.
"Why haven't you come back yet..."
The young woman's crystalline tears slowly soaked her dress.
In the night sky above, countless stars glittered, as if the Creator had sprinkled the entire firmament with grains of luminous sand.
The clear moonlight drifted down from the sky, tracing a faint halo around the young woman.
The young woman didn't know when she had fallen asleep.
Nor did she know how many times she had cursed "stinky Xiao Mo" in her heart.
But still, she waited there, refusing to go anywhere else.
'He said he would come back...'
CHIRP CHIRP CHIRP...
On the morning of the twenty-seventh day, the sky was once again painted white.
The birds in the forest chirped and chattered.
A lizard crawled to the young woman's feet and looked up, but as if sensing some movement, it scurried away with a WHOOSH.
On that same small path, the figure of a man appeared.
Xiao Mo walked forward, one step at a time.
He should have returned much earlier after this examination, but the newly appointed County Magistrate had insisted on having meals with the new Scholars and holding various banquets.
Xiao Mo wouldn't have dared to refuse.
The result was that after the exam results were posted, Xiao Mo was delayed in Qingshan County for a full six days.
'I wonder if she's grown anxious waiting for me.'
Thinking of the little white snake, Xiao Mo couldn't help but quicken his pace.
When he reached the halfway point of the mountain, Xiao Mo looked up and saw a young woman sitting on a rock, hugging her knees with her small face buried in her lap.
The young woman seemed to be asleep.
Xiao Mo wasn't sure if it was Ruxue.
Because judging by her figure, this was a grown young lady, not a little girl in the bloom of her youth.
Xiao Mo walked closer and called out softly, "Miss?"
Hearing his voice, the young woman's shoulders trembled slightly as if she were waking up.
She lifted her gaze, and for a moment, Xiao Mo was completely captivated.
The young woman looked to be about sixteen. Her eyes were like a spring breeze brushing through branches, causing a whole tree of blossoms to bloom. The outer corners of her eyes curved naturally upward, like the most delicate curl at the tip of a peach blossom petal.
Her pupils were a clear, lustrous black, yet seemed to hold the depths of a tranquil pool within.
Her long, thick eyelashes were like the wings of a butterfly, casting a small, soft shadow beneath her eyes when they fluttered. This only served to enhance the glimmering light in her gaze, which held a clarity and innocence unique to a young woman.
When her eyes moved, they would inadvertently reveal a hint of natural allure, yet it was firmly anchored by that underlying clarity, leaving only a captivating liveliness and gentle grace.
She looked dazedly at the man before her.
As the young woman's eyes focused on the man's features, they grew brighter and brighter.
But on her fair, tender cheeks, there were faint tear stains, and the corners of her eyes were red from crying.
"Ruxue?" Xiao Mo asked.
Bai Ruxue's throat moved, wanting to respond.
But in the end, as if in a pout, the young woman turned her head away, her small lips pursed as she said resentfully:
"I'm not Bai Ruxue."
"I don't know you, you stinky Xiao Mo."