Chapter 1992: Chapter 1994: Fanning the Flames
About two quarters of an hour passed, and Yang Ming was brought back.
The Proctor who had left the room whispered something into the ear of the Proctor sitting at the front.
The sitting Proctor stroked his beard repeatedly, then handed Yang Ming’s exam paper and ink back to him, and said, "Take it back and continue your exam. Answer well."
"Thank you, Proctor, I will certainly answer the questions well," Yang Ming said firmly.
Then he returned to his seat with a smile.
The Proctor actually asked Yang Ming to answer the questions well, and this statement shocked all the examinees present. What does the Proctor mean by this?
Could it be that Yang Ming has been favored? But it’s not quite like favoritism.
Is it just the Proctor’s perfunctory remark? But would such a high-ranking Proctor say such things to a student?
Detecting the odd reactions, the Proctor at the front scolded, "What are you looking at? Have you all finished writing?"
Upon hearing this, everyone immediately bowed their heads again and continued writing vigorously.
Yang Ming returned to his seat, arranged his inkstone, laid out his test papers, dipped his brush in ink, and continued answering the questions he was interrupted from.
It was as if nothing had affected him.
This attitude of Yang Ming made the young gentleman sitting beside him extremely resentful. He had hoped that such an interruption would delay Yang Ming, preventing him from returning to the exam since he supposedly brought something unauthorized into the room, which should have led to a body search and, if nothing was found, severe interrogation. How could he have returned so easily?
Unreconciled, very unreconciled, wouldn’t this render his actions useless?
However, despite his unwillingness, he was powerless. This was the exam hall where strict checks were carried out upon entry. He could only make small moves, but truly bringing something in was impossible.
He gritted his teeth and continued answering the questions.
Finally, time was up. Someone announced, "Pen down, time is up. No one is allowed to move, wait for your papers to be collected."
No one dared to move, sitting there, waiting for their exam papers to be gathered.
Once the papers were collected, the Proctor left.
Seeing him leave, the examinees began packing up their belongings one by one. Regardless of how they performed, the exam was over, and Yang Ming did the same.
The young gentleman watched Yang Ming packing up, getting more agitated the more he thought about it, especially knowing that Yang Ming calmly continued his exam even after returning and finished before time was up. This angered him immensely.
Seeing some examinees still lingering, he had an idea and loudly asked Yang Ming, "Brother Yang, did you offend someone? How did someone accuse you of bringing unauthorized items in?"
This question caused everyone to look in Yang Ming and the young gentleman’s direction.
Before Yang Ming could respond, the young gentleman continued, "I thought you were in big trouble this time, since it could mean disqualification from the exam. I didn’t expect you to come through unscathed so quickly. The Proctor seemed to show you more respect; does your family have influential connections? Does this mean you’ll surely pass this exam?"
The young gentleman was envious of Yang Ming, both for his knowledge and his current wealth, which made him extremely jealous.
Today, he couldn’t bring Yang Ming down, so he had to say something to disgust Yang Ming.
After all, with so many examinees present, everyone saw what happened earlier. As long as he added fuel to the fire, Yang Ming would have a hard time.