Take a test

Three years later

 One night, Shuang Zhizhi sat and talked with his mother before going to bed as he did every day. But Shuang Zihua sensed that her child had something on her mind. She waited for him to tell her himself rather than asking. She had noticed for several days that he didn't seem confident in talking about this matter, so she didn't want to push him. Her son finally spoke up.

" Mother, Master wants me to take the noble exam this year. So I want to ask Mother's permission first. " Shuang Zhizhi looked at Mother's face after finishing speaking. He didn't know if his mother would agree or not. Because his mother had never been eager for him to study like other parents.

" Do you want to take the exam or not, Lao Zhizhi? " Shuang Zhihua smiled faintly and asked his son again.

" I, I want to take the exam, Mother. " Shuang Zhizhi gave Mother a determined look. He wanted his mother to be more comfortable than she was today. She had toiled to raise him all by herself for many years. He could only see her like this and feel sad. He didn't dare ask Mother why he didn't have a father like everyone else. He was afraid.. He was afraid that Mother would be sad. Since Mother never mentioned Father So he thought his father might be the one. It hurt my mother's feelings so much that she never mentioned it. Or his father would have died a long time ago.

" Then I allow it. Zhizhi, you remember this, child. That I want nothing more from you than for you to be happy. If you want to take the exam yourself Mother won't stop you. But if you take the exam because of someone else's desire Mom won't agree. Do you understand? " Shuang Zihua told her son as she thought. She didn't want other people to influence his decision. She wanted him to learn to make decisions for himself.

" I understand, Mother. Thank you mother for teaching me. "

 The little scholar who started acting like an adult in front of Shuang Zihua was so cute and adorable. Shuang Zihua got up and walked over to hug his son and put him to bed. She saw that he was more at ease than in the past few days. Just this, she was happy.

 Shuang Zhizhi's examination that the teacher had told him about earlier. The first round, he will have to take the exam here first. If you have passed the exam He would have the official position of Tong Sheng, which would allow him to enter the Imperial Court's Academy. If he has passed the exam The teacher would take him to take the Xiucai exam in Pei City, which was a higher level city than the border city he was from. And if he still passes the exam The teacher would take him to take the Zhuren exam in Hebei Province. As for going to take the examination in the capital, He hadn't thought of it to that point yet. He felt that he was still very young. And he didn't want to leave Mother here alone.

 A week later, Shuang Zhizhi took the exam with ease. He received encouragement from his mother before entering the exam room by hugging and kissing his cheek until he was nearly bruised. This entry-level exam only takes one day. So he didn't have any pressure.

 Shuang Zihua sent her son into the exam room and then she went to prepare snacks to open the shop like she did every day. Zhizhi had already told her that she didn't have to wait to receive him. If the exam is over, he will come see her at the shop himself. Shuang Zihua, who saw that his son was better at taking responsibility for himself than other children his age, didn't think much of it. She didn't want to raise him like an angel's child like everyone else. She was afraid that one day the mother and daughter would be in dire straits. He couldn't accept that situation. Since she had gone through that miserable life before So she had to teach him to be able to take care of himself as well.

 Shuang Zhizhi left the exam room with confidence. He walked back to Mother at the shop as he had told her. The teachers waiting for the students to leave the exam room asked how they did on the exam. Shuang Zhizhi only smiled lightly and replied that he could do a bit and then asked to leave before anyone else. He didn't want to show off to anyone. Mother taught me not to reveal my abilities to the point of causing others to think badly of me. So he never told anyone how talented he was.

 Two days later, the exam results announced that Shuang Zhizhi had ranked first in this border city. And he had to prepare to take the exam at Chiang Mai a month later. They will have to travel in advance to prepare for the exam. Shuang Zihua first wanted to travel with her son. But he told her he would Traveling with teachers and many friends Shuang Zihua could only prepare things and money for him. She secretly stuffed several one-hundred-tael bills of exchange into his cloth bundle.

 Before her son traveled Shuang Zihua told him to keep the money she hid carefully in case anything unexpected happened. At least he could still hire a car to come back to her in this border town. Shuang Zhizhi promised his mother that he would take good care of himself over the years. The uncles taught him some martial arts as well. He also trained diligently to strengthen his body and protect Mother if anyone bullied him.

 Shuang Zihua sent his son to the academy. In front of the educational office today there were quite a few parents who had come to send off their children. There were 13 students who passed the examination in the academy this year. There were four teachers in charge of the students this time. They still had to prepare the students two to three weeks before the exam date. Because the journey to the city, which was not that far away, would take no more than a week at the most. Until finishing the exam and waiting for the results, they still had to stay in Chiang Mai for nearly two months.

 Shuang Zihua, who had come to drop off his son, tears flowed down his face, feeling heartbroken. When her son was actually about to take the exam, she suddenly felt lonely, so much so that Shuang Zhizhi had to wipe away her tears and promised his mother that he would come back soon after the exam was over. And from now on, he would never leave her again. Shuang Zihua sobbed and nodded to her son. Then she sent him off in a carriage with a book bag she had sewn for him and wrapped in clothes with lots of money in it.

 The teachers and parents who saw the mother and daughter like this felt no small amount of pity for her. They all knew that she had always been a single mother. And she herself had never been apart from her son before. But this time there were only men who were all traveling. If she followed along, it wouldn't be very convenient. So they reluctantly left her alone for a while, waiting for her son to return two months later.

 Some elders who were friends of Shuang Zihua walked over to comfort Shuang Zihua and promised that she would visit the dessert shop often so that Shuang Zihua could relieve his feelings. Some sons Shuang Zihua nodded and thanked his son's mother. Because Shuang Zihua had a deep wound in his heart. Therefore, she had never been more intimate with anyone than was appropriate before. Plus, she never trusted anyone except her son.