Transmigrated as a Peasant Baby Who is Pampered by All

Chapter 456: Chapter 285: Preparations

After eating and drinking their fill, they hurriedly loaded the remaining game onto the carriage. Before leaving, they specially made several large basins of ice to put in the last carriage, with all the game inside.

They rushed and rushed, finally making it to the city gate before it closed. First, they took the Jiang family to the hot pot restaurant. The game was mostly prepared in advance, so they moved it directly back in.

After Yingying left, Wang Fu came over, calling for a waiter to help while saying to Jiang Hu’s Second Aunt, ”The family delivered everything today.”

”Really,” Second Aunt was delighted. ”Great, we can sort it out tomorrow. The day after is the exam.”

Seeing the game they brought back, Wang Fu was also very surprised. Upon learning that Xiaomi and Wei Ziang had caught a wild boar, he was even more astonished and found it unbelievable.

After his initial surprise, he quickly asked the waiter and Master Yang to help process it.

Wild rabbits are more common, but wild chickens are rarer, especially wild boar and porcupine, which are exquisite game. After consulting Xiaomi and Wei Ziang, they decided to sell most to other restaurants.

They run a small business here, and no one is willing to splurge on this kind of food, so it’s better to sell to other restaurants.

Of course, they kept some for themselves. Just as deer jerky was running low, Second Aunt planned to make some pork jerky overnight for Liu Ze and Jiang Yu to take to their exam.

The next day, they were busy at home sorting out the things Liu Ze and Jiang Yu needed. Each had a suitcase and a bamboo basket filled with pens, ink, paper, clothes, and food.

They also had to ensure that the constables could conveniently inspect the food while maintaining its cleanliness and integrity.

After all, even a steamed bun would be torn apart to check if anything was hidden inside.

Therefore, Jiang Yu and Liu Ze’s food was specially prepared for easy inspection.

They each got twenty eggs, which were chilled along the way and delivered quickly, just in case they went bad if left too long in the heat.

The deer jerky and wild boar jerky were thinner than fingers to ensure nothing could be hidden inside.

They didn’t mention rice and noodles, and the dried vegetables were cut small. Second Aunt even considered steaming buns, drying them, and crushing them so they could be rehydrated with water when hungry.

But she gave up on it, knowing the Government Official would check by directly handling it.

They also prepared each with two pounds of mung beans, half a pound of rock sugar, and two ounces of fragrant dragon grass specifically for cooling down and boosting energy.

Liu Ze’s health had improved a lot and now looked only slightly weaker than Jiang Yu’s. He could eat other foods, but not too much for long periods.

This is why Madam Liu went through the trouble of sending these supplies. At least they had enough food to last until they returned home.

Jiang Yu and Liu Ze looked at the things Second Aunt had packed with mixed feelings.

”Mom, it’s just nine days, only nine days, do we need to bring so much?”

Ten pounds of fine rice, ten pounds of noodles, two pounds of jerky, two pounds of mung beans, a pound of vegetable oil, coarse salt, rock sugar, and dry vegetables totaling three pounds, and twenty eggs—isn’t that enough for a month?

Even the bag of copper coins they specially exchanged weighed at least two pounds!

Jiang Yu was about to take some items out, but Second Aunt slapped his hand away.

”You don’t understand; when traveling, you prepare abundantly. Once you’re in the exam room, you can’t come out. It’s a full nine days. If you don’t finish, bring it back, but what if there’s nothing to eat?”

Jiang Yu reluctantly pointed to the twenty eggs.

”Can we at least take ten eggs out? Xiao Ze can’t eat too much jerky; he can eat more eggs for nourishment. I don’t need that many, just one a day is enough.”

Of course not, they would just carry it unfinished!

Xiaomi, sitting next to her second sister, rested her chin in her hand, watching the others. The literary cases meant for books and writing supplies were now crammed with clothes.

Fortunately, the clothes were summer ones, light and thin, so they fit in.

But it could only hold clothes.

The two sets of food their mother prepared were in two large baskets, with the eggs on top to prevent them from getting crushed.

Jiang Yu argued with Second Aunt, trying to bring fewer items, while Liu Ze reconsidered the things Second Aunt prepared.

”Auntie, we still need a fire starter and some charcoal.”

They say the charcoal provided in the exam hall isn’t very good, hard to burn, and expensive, so everyone buys it outside.

Second Aunt smacked her forehead: ”Oh dear, how could I forget that?”

As she was about to turn around, Jiang Hu came over with a large bag in one hand: ”Here it is, thirty pounds each, all high-quality, long-burning charcoal. It should be enough.”

Even Liu Ze was startled: ”Wha—why so much?”

A big bag of charcoal, a bamboo basket of food, along with their book cases, how could they manage?

Luckily, Jiang Hu had already considered this: ”Don’t worry, we’ll send it to the exam hall entrance. Just one copper coin, and someone from the hall will help carry it in.”

Liu Ze breathed a sign of relief. That’s much better.

He didn’t worry about Brother Yu, but he knew himself well enough; just those thirty pounds of charcoal were daunting.

Xiaomi nudged Xiaoxue with her elbow: ”Second sister, aren’t you worried?”

Xiaoxue was absorbed in studying flower patterns that Liu Ze had drawn for her.

Yesterday, at Yingying’s family courtyard, she saw how beautiful the flowers were, some she hadn’t seen before, and exclaimed wishing she could embroider them.

That just happened to be overheard by Liu Ze, who drew several pages of patterns for her, and Xiaoxue was now pondering how to embroider them.

Hearing Xiaomi, Xiaoxue glanced up at them, Jiang Wei was also joining in the enthusiasm. They were all talking about tomorrow’s matters.

”They said this year is just for familiarizing with the scene; there’s no rush to worry till next year.”

Having said that, she continued studying the pattern booklet.

Xiaomi: ”...”

She hadn’t expected her second sister to be calmer than herself. She was still worried about whether her older brother and Ze would feel anxious or unadapted in the exam room.

Jiang Hu’s Second Aunt checked their things several times, afraid they missed anything, constantly reminding them to buy water if it ran out, buy charcoal if it ran out, and to buy ice if they got hot, not to skimp.

In addition to the copper coins, she stuffed a few ounces of broken silver in each of their pockets, fearing they’d run short if they wanted to buy something in the exam room.

As the time came, Jiang Yu and Liu Ze felt a bit anxious.

After all, it was their first time; even though they kept telling themselves it wasn’t about passing, just gaining some experience, they couldn’t fully control their feelings.

Still, the night flew by, and in preparation for the upcoming nine-day examination, even though they were nervous, Jiang Yu and Liu Ze had a good sleep.