There Is Someone Waiting for Brother Xiao

Winter had arrived.

The weather grew colder by the day.

Every morning when Xiao Mo woke up, he could see a thin layer of frost coating the branches outside.

During this time, Xiao Mo spent every day reading.

From dawn until night, then sleeping, then getting up to read again.

Xiao Mo felt he hadn't even worked this hard for the college entrance exam in his past life.

As for daily expenses and the cost of brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones—

Xiao Mo had saved some silver before, barely enough to get by.

The village chief also sent over meals every day, saving Xiao Mo the time and expense of cooking.

One morning, Xiao Mo woke up feeling that it was much colder than before.

He dressed, went outside, and washed up.

As soon as he opened the door, Xiao Mo saw the world outside draped in silver, with goose-feather snowflakes drifting slowly down from the sky. A cold wind blew, and Xiao Mo couldn't help but shiver.

"Brother Xiao, I've brought your meal!"

From outside the courtyard came a little girl's voice.

The chubby little girl was carrying a food box as she ran over.

"Xiao Ying, thank you."

Xiao Mo took the food box and patted her head.

The little girl delivering meals was the village chief's second daughter—Wang Ying.

Originally, the village chief had wanted his eldest daughter, Wang Yan, to bring Xiao Mo his meals.

But four years had passed, and Wang Yan had grown from a nine-year-old girl into a maiden of thirteen or fourteen, her figure gradually developing.

To avoid any impropriety, Aunt Chen had the three-year-old Wang Ying deliver the food instead.

After all, everyone in the village knew each other, and the two households weren't far apart, so there was little danger.

Still, Xiao Mo had been quite surprised three years ago when he learned Aunt Chen was pregnant again. The village chief really was still vigorous in his old age.

Xiao Mo took a steamed bun and handed it to Wang Ying. The chubby little girl didn't stand on ceremony; she took the big brother's big bun, and the two of them sat on a rock, one big and one small, nibbling away.

"Brother Xiao, I noticed that when you eat, you keep looking at that mountain. Is there something on that mountain?" Wang Ying lifted her round little head and asked curiously.

"That mountain..." Xiao Mo raised his head, gazing at the distant peak covered in thick white snow. "There's someone waiting for Brother Xiao."

"Older sister, have a little more."

"Xiao Qing, I can't eat any more."

"Just one more!"

"I've already eaten so many mice."

"Older sister, just a little more."

"I really can't eat any more..."

Inside the cave, Xiao Qing carried two dead mice over to her sister.

The two snakes, one white and one green, had round bellies, both looking a size plumper.

Ordinary snakes would have already begun hibernation.

But when a snake clan awakened their intelligence and set foot on the path of cultivation, their hibernation time shortened. The higher their cultivation level, the shorter the hibernation.

Even so, three days ago, Xiao Qing had started feeling drowsy.

But Xiao Qing kept worrying about her sister and was stubbornly staying awake.

"Xiao Qing, go to sleep. Your sister is really fine." Watching her little sister's snake head drooping with drowsiness, Xiao Bai urged her.

Xiao Qing shook her head forcefully. "But sister, how can I not worry about you? What snake sheds its skin in winter?"

At this moment, Bai Ruxue's clear, vertical pupils were clouded like frosted glass. The edges of the white scales on her belly were lifting, like the cracked pattern of a dry riverbed.

The scales on her snout showed fine cracks, like a parched clay mold. A transparent mucus secreted from her body wrapped around her, giving off an oily, waxy sheen.

"It's fine. Your sister is a snake that can take human form, not like ordinary snakes."

"But sister—"

"No buts. Go to sleep now, or your sister will get angry." Xiao Bai pretended to be upset.

"I won't."

"Thump~"

When Xiao Qing stubbornly refused to sleep, Xiao Bai's tail quietly curled around a stone, and while her sister wasn't paying attention, she knocked her from behind.

Xiao Qing's eyes rolled, and with a "plop," she collapsed.

"Xiao Qing, see you in spring."

Little White Snake's tail tip brushed Xiao Qing's head, then she too curled up beside her sister, her gaze fixed toward the mouth of the cave.

"What's he doing right now?"

"He's probably still reading."

Staring at the heavy snow outside the cave, Little White Snake's thoughts gradually drifted, and drowsiness crept in.

"It's been so long since I last saw him."

"Will he forget about me?"

Little White Snake coiled her body into a tight ball.

"After I shed my skin, will I grow bigger?"

"I should be able to, right?"

"What kind of expression will he have when he sees me grown up?"

"Will I be as tall as him?"

As sleep weighed heavier, Little White Snake's last thought snapped like a kite's broken string, and she completely lost consciousness, sinking into slumber.

Inside the cave, the two snakes pressed close together.

Outside the cave, the blizzard swept through the mountain forest.

No one knew how long passed, but the wind and snow gradually weakened.

Until the sky cleared.

Spring arrived.

That day, Xiao Mo was to head to Qingshan County for the examinations.

The kingdom Xiao Mo lived in was called Qi Kingdom.

The Imperial Examination for Children in Qi Kingdom was different from that of ancient Huaxia.

In Qi Kingdom, the Imperial Examination for Children could be taken every year, requiring three rounds in a month, but all three rounds were held in one place.

This was done to lighten the burden on examinees, so they wouldn't have to run back and forth between the county and the prefecture.

Those who passed the first two rounds became Child Scholars.

Those who passed all three rounds became Talented Scholars.

If one didn't pass as a Talented Scholar, they could retake the exam the following year without needing to retake the first two rounds.

Becoming a Talented Scholar meant gaining a certain status.

In Qi Kingdom, Talented Scholars could meet officials without kneeling, were exempt from corvée labor and torture interrogation, could open private schools, and write documents for others—but they were not exempt from land taxes.

Moreover, as the number of Talented Scholars in Qi Kingdom grew, even private schools and document-writing jobs became fiercely competitive.

Nowadays, there were many impoverished Talented Scholars in Qi Kingdom, such as the village chief.

"Chief, I'm off." At the village entrance, Xiao Mo bid farewell to the village chief and his family.

"Take these travel expenses." The chief stepped forward and handed a bundle to Xiao Mo.

Aunt Chen snorted and turned her head away, but said nothing.

The chief ignored his wife and instructed Xiao Mo, "Do your best in the exam. Don't put too much pressure on yourself. With your talent, you should be able to pass. I'll wait for good news."

"Yes." Xiao Mo clasped his hands in a bow to the chief's family, then turned and walked away.

This year's Imperial Examination for Children was held in Qingshan County. Fortunately, it wasn't far from Shiqiao Village—only a day's journey.

After arriving in Qingshan County, Xiao Mo got a good night's sleep.

Two days later, Xiao Mo took the exam.

The Imperial Examination for Children had no age limit.

There were children as young as eight or nine, and old men in their fifties or sixties.

These old men had taken the exam for so many years yet remained "Child Scholars."

If even the Imperial Examination for Children was this fiercely competitive, the subsequent Provincial Examination and Metropolitan Examination were beyond imagination.

One of the tasks in the Book of a Hundred Lives was "Enter Officialdom"—this really wasn't easy.

"Could it be that I'll spend my whole life taking exams and never become an official?"

Xiao Mo thought to himself.