Oscar Owed Her a Golden Statuette

If this was a test question, someone had to be hiding nearby, watching what they said and did. Even though Xu Xi had her suspicions, she could hardly say anything to Xu Xue for fear of making matters worse.

In any case, Xu Xue was a girl of upright character. She needed no reminders from Xu Xi; she only had to act as she normally would.

After speaking to her, Xu Xue looked all around and muttered, "Who dropped this purse?"

Xu Xi looked around with her.

It was quiet all around. Apart from the wind rustling through the bamboo leaves, there was no sound, and not a soul in sight.

Xu Xue looked at Xu Xi. "Sis, what should we do?"

Xu Xi hesitated, then said, "We were the first ones in, so it definitely wasn't dropped by someone taking the exam. The owner should be someone here. If this were an ordinary day and we weren't in a hurry, there'd be no harm in waiting here. But we're here for the exam, so of course we can't wait. How about..."

She looked at Xu Xue. "We pick it up and give it to the examiners in a little while, and have them ask whose purse it is."

"Mm-hmm, that's a good idea." Xu Xue nodded repeatedly.

With that, she ran over and picked up the purse herself, without troubling Xu Xi to do it.

"Take what's inside out and check it, so we know what's in there too," Xu Xi said.

Xu Xue quickly untied the cord on the purse and tipped out its contents.

Inside were three silver ingots. By the look of them, each weighed one tael, for a total of three taels.

Xu Xi marveled inwardly. If this was a test question, the organizers were a little too generous.

After all, in this era, a family of five like the Xu Family, who grew their own grain and vegetables and raised their own chickens and ducks, could cover all their expenses for a year with two taels of silver, provided they didn't have children to send to school.

If someone hid the silver instead of handing it over, wouldn't the academy take a huge loss?

The moment the thought occurred to her, she laughed at herself.

Someone was watching here, so the people at the academy would naturally know exactly who had picked up a purse and who hadn't. Once everyone went inside, they would likewise know exactly who had handed one over and who hadn't.

They could simply call out anyone who hadn't handed it over and make her take it out. There was no way the silver could be lost.

"Wow, three taels of silver!" The sweet, innocent Xu Xue could only marvel at the sight of it, her eyes shining. "It's the first time in my life I've seen this much silver."

To keep anyone hidden nearby from forming an opinion of Xu Xue, Xu Xi gave her a reproachful look. "Don't tell me you have designs on this silver?"

"No, no, no." Xu Xue hurriedly waved her hands. "How could I? I was only saying. It belongs to someone else, so how could we keep it? Whoever lost it must be worried sick."

Xu Xi had known she would say that.

She pressed her lips together in a smile. "That's right. Our family may be poor, but we aren't so shortsighted that we'd compromise our character. Our elders have taught us time and again to act uprightly and walk the straight path."

She put the purse into her sleeve pocket. "Come on, let's hurry inside and hand it over, so the person who lost it won't worry."

"Let's go." Xu Xue thought no more of it and followed Xu Xi briskly onward.

But when they turned a corner, an older woman came toward them, anxiously scanning the ground and muttering, "Where did it go? How did it disappear?"

Seeing this, Xu Xue hurried forward and asked, "Granny, did you lose a purse?"

The woman's face lit up at once, and she nodded repeatedly. "Yes, yes, I lost a purse. Young lady, did you see where it was?"

"Yes." Xu Xue turned to look at Xu Xi.

Xu Xi wanted to slap a hand to her forehead. She didn't know whether the academy would mind Xu Xue's sweet, innocent behavior.

Ignoring Xu Xue, she asked the woman, "Granny, what did your purse look like? What was inside it?"

Xu Xue might have been innocent, but she wasn't stupid. When she heard her older cousin's question, she caught on.

What if the purse they had found wasn't the woman's, and the woman simply kept it for herself when she saw the silver inside? Wouldn't they have made fools of themselves?

She immediately looked at the woman too.

The woman smiled. "The purse is made of red silk, with some flowers embroidered on it."

When the woman stopped there, Xu Xi asked, "What was inside?"

No one could blame her for being so careful. Since finding the purse was a test set by the academy, the test presumably wouldn't be as simple as "find it, hand it over." There would be more to it.

The earlier part had tested their character; this part should be testing their powers of observation and judgment.

Sure enough, when she asked, something changed in the woman's expression. Her eyes flickered and she looked flustered, but she still pretended to be calm. "My mistress gave it to me as a reward. I lost it before I had a chance to look inside."

With that, she curtsied to them. "If you two young ladies found the purse, please return it to me quickly. I have to cook for my mistress shortly, and I can't afford to be late."

Her performance made Xu Xi unable to resist applauding inwardly.

If this was a test, the woman's performance couldn't be so masterful that no one could spot a single flaw; conversely, it couldn't be so clumsy that anyone could see something was wrong at a glance. She had to get it just right, letting those who paid attention notice without making it too obvious.

In Xu Xi's view, the woman's performance just now had definitely been best-actress caliber. She had acted splendidly: there had been panic in her eyes, but it hadn't been obvious, just enough for a careful observer to notice.

Though Xu Xue was rather sweet and innocent, she was observant. Just now, Xu Xi had questioned the woman instead of taking out the purse straightaway, giving Xu Xue a hint: the purse might not be the woman's.

So Xu Xue had also noticed the slight panic the woman had shown. She immediately became wary, sensing that something was fishy.

"Since you can't say what's in the purse, we can't give it to you," Xu Xue said. "Come inside with us. When we hand the purse over to the examiners, you can confirm it. If your mistress really did give it to you as a reward, the examiners will naturally return it to you."

"Hey, why are you being so long-winded, girl? I told you I'm in a hurry to cook for my mistress. I don't have time to waste! Hand the purse over, and I'll reward you with half a tael of silver to show my thanks. Otherwise, I'll tell the examiners you stole my purse!" The woman abandoned her pleasant manner, her expression turning fierce as she threatened them.

"Going inside will only take a moment, and there's a reason for the delay. Your mistress just rewarded you, too, so even if you're held up a little, I'm sure she'll understand. All right, let's hurry along and not waste time."

As Xu Xi spoke, she whispered to Xu Xue, "Run!" She grabbed her and took off.

The woman had another scene planned: if threats didn't work, she would use force. Little girls like these generally had little strength and even less courage. Once the woman resorted to force, they would back down and hand over the purse to keep the peace.

After all, the silver in the purse wasn't theirs, and they had no need to risk their lives for it.

She truly hadn't expected these two girls to play their cards so unpredictably, taking off at the first sign of disagreement and running so fast. By the time she made as if to chase them, they had already turned a corner and vanished from sight.