The answer sheets for the county examination also had strict requirements for penmanship.

Each page had twenty rows, with twelve characters per row. Any smudges, stains, or damage would result in the paper being treated as a case of cheating.

Therefore, one had to be extremely cautious when transcribing, allowing for not even the slightest mistake.

This was far more mentally draining than composing the essay itself. After he finished transcribing the entire piece from beginning to end without a single error, Zhao Jing let out a long, deep breath.

It was now time for lunch.

The bowl of vegetable noodles and three eggs he’d eaten that morning had long since been digested. Zhao Jing was desperate for some hot water and a warm meal to soothe his parched and weary body.

Fortunately, he had lit his small stove before the examination began. There were still some glowing embers inside, and the water on the stove was hot.

Zhao Jing quickly retrieved his pot, added the hot water, and poured in the rich broth he had brought. As steam billowed up and the thick aroma of meat filled the air, he dropped in the noodles his mother-in-law had made by hand.

The noodles had a warm yellow hue because eggs had been added to the dough, giving them a beautiful color. As he sat quietly watching the noodles tumble in the boiling water, Zhao Jing’s agitated heart gradually began to calm.

Just as the noodles were about to finish cooking, he added some greens, mutton, goji berries, and wood ear mushrooms. And with that, a bowl of mutton noodle soup, perfect in color, aroma, and flavor, was ready.

As Zhao Jing carefully ladled out the noodles to eat, the tormented examinees nearby couldn’t help but sniff the air loudly.

It was well known that the first session of the county examination wasn’t particularly difficult. However, whoever took first place in this session was almost certain to be the top scorer in the subsequent ones as well. The underlying competition, one could say, was absurdly fierce.

Many students, in order to excel in this session, didn’t even plan on eating lunch.

They had only brought along various pastries, planning to just make do with a few bites if they got hungry.

After all, it was just for one day. Skipping a proper meal wouldn’t kill them.

In fact, this was the mindset of the majority. People like Zhao Jing, who would actually eat mutton noodle soup in the middle of an exam, were few and far between.

After all, didn’t one need to expend a great deal of energy to write an outstanding essay? If you spent all your energy on eating and drinking, what mental fortitude would you have left for writing?

Still, if others were slacking, it was a perfect opportunity for them to get ahead. Perhaps this time, the top scorer would be one of them—the diligent ones.

The nearby examinees tried their best to suppress their desire to eat, holding their breath as they attempted to work on their answers.

But they were too hungry. With no energy to fuel them, it felt as though their brains had ground to a halt.

They hadn’t brought noodles or meat, nor did they have any broth. All they had were some pastries that had been broken into crumbs... ’Guess I’ll just have a few bites and make do,’ they thought.

When the fragrant aroma of mutton noodle soup reached Chen De’an, he had also just finished the first question.

He had wracked his brains, pouring every ounce of his knowledge into his answer, and felt as if he had drained himself of all his lifeblood. 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

’If I still can’t pass after all this, will I even have the courage to try again?’

Just as Chen De’an was pondering how to approach the second question, his stomach began to rumble.

At that moment, the aroma of food in the air wafted past his nose and seemed to burrow deep into his very organs. Chen De’an let out a huge sneeze, and then smiled.

’Heh heh, I was the one who personally supervised the simmering of this broth, watching over the stove while I read.’

’Mother had even suggested freezing it into a jelly so it would be easier to bring, but spring had already begun and things wouldn’t stay frozen. In the end, we had no choice but to use wineskins, and she packed some for each of us.’

’Only Jing and I have this mutton broth. That must be Jing cooking his noodle soup right now.’

’It seems Jing isn’t far from me.’

This was the first conclusion Chen De’an reached. Soon, he arrived at a second one.

’Jing is eating now, so he must have finished the first question. Don’t even ask why not the second question—Jing isn’t that fast. And even if he was, he wouldn’t be so reckless at this stage. He’d definitely proceed with caution.’

The thought that Jing had already finished the first question and was starting his lunch made Chen De’an anxious.

He hadn’t even started making his own meal yet.

’I need to hurry up and cook my noodles, get something warm in my stomach.’

’Then I can get back to the questions. Otherwise, if I don’t finish before it gets too dark, it’ll be a disaster.’

When the aroma started wafting from Chen De’an’s station as well, the examinees sitting nearby were cursing in their hearts.

One person cooking noodles, they could tolerate. But two people cooking at the same time, using the very same broth—the combined aroma was a massive assault on their senses.

At this point, without a bowl of noodle soup to fill their stomachs, who could possibly continue writing?