Hearing the knock, Wang Qingchen and the others assumed it was Aunt Xu; after all, it was so late, who else would come calling besides her?

Wang Qingchen thought the same, but when he went to open the door, he realized it wasn't Aunt Xu, but Steward Xu.

Wang Qingchen hadn't seen Steward Xu in quite some time. In the period leading up to the county examinations, Steward Xu and Boss Xue, and perhaps others, must have worried about distracting Wang Qingchen from his studies, so they hadn't come looking for him at all during that stretch. After that, Wang Qingchen had gone to the provincial capital for the examinations, only returning to the county seat today. Still, they hadn't been back long; how could Steward Xu have known so quickly, and even come in person?

Steward Xu, standing outside the courtyard gate, saw Wang Qingchen looking a bit stunned, and burst out laughing. "Haha, you're back! Boss Xue and I heard about your success in the examination long ago. We were just waiting for you to return so we could celebrate properly. Boss Xue even predicted you wouldn't be back so soon, and he was right."

"Uh... Uncle Xu, how did you know we were getting back right around this time?" Wang Qingchen asked, puzzled.

"That's simple enough. We had our servants keeping an eye out. Not long after you arrived, a servant reported that you were home. Boss Xue and I immediately planned to invite you out for a proper celebration tomorrow evening. We were initially going to send a formal invitation via a servant, but then I thought, since you’re here, and I haven't seen you in ages, I decided to come myself." As he spoke, Steward Xu pulled an invitation from his robes and handed it to Wang Qingchen.

Wang Qingchen dazedly accepted the invitation, then suddenly seemed to snap back to reality. "Uncle Xu, please, come inside and sit for a while. I haven't seen you folks in ages either; we must catch up properly."

Steward Xu immediately waved a hand. "You've just returned; I know you must have a mountain of things to unpack and organize. I won't come in and cause trouble. Besides, I really just came under the guise of delivering this invitation to see if you were doing alright. Now that I see everything is well, I can rest easy. I won't stay. If we truly want to chat, we'll have plenty of time tomorrow night. Boss Xue will be there too; he hasn't seen you either and has been constantly talking about you these past few days, wondering why you hadn't shown up yet since you should have been back by now. But now that you're here, he can finally relax."

Hearing this, Wang Qingchen felt a little embarrassed. "I appreciate your concern. Things were actually quite fine in the provincial capital; fortunately, I was staying with some elders who looked after us, so I didn't suffer any hardship there."

"That's good to hear. As long as you are well, that's the best thing. I should be going now, so I won't delay your unpacking. We'll meet up tomorrow night!" Steward Xu made to take his leave.

Wang Qingchen understood that it was truly inconvenient to host guests at this moment. Although the rooms were mostly organized, there were still many belongings yet to be sorted, not to mention they hadn't even eaten dinner yet!

With this in mind, Wang Qingchen stopped insisting, merely nodding. "Then I won't keep you, Uncle Xu! Thank you for taking the trouble to deliver the invitation in person."

Steward Xu waved his hands repeatedly in dismissal and then left with his attendant.

Only after Steward Xu departed did Wang Qingchen return to the courtyard. Those inside, seeing Wang Qingchen enter alone with no one following, looked at each other in confusion. "Who was knocking just now? We heard you talking at the gate, but we didn't see anyone come in?"

Hearing their confused murmurs, Wang Qingchen finally explained, "Oh, it was an acquaintance I made back in the county seat. He came to deliver an invitation to go out and gather tomorrow evening. He saw that the residence isn't fully organized yet, so he didn't come inside; he left right after giving me the note."

Upon hearing this, the others set aside their doubts and immediately began discussing where to settle for dinner.

Ultimately, considering everyone was quite tired from the journey, they decided that dinner should be a quick affair, so they planned to find a food stall nearby.

Coincidentally, their rented residence was close to the County Academy, which always had numerous such stalls nearby, so the group decided to head there for their evening meal.

What they hadn't anticipated was that precisely because their chosen spot was near the Academy, many scholars would be coming and going—some of whom they already knew. Seeing Wang Qingchen and his group, those who knew that Wang Qingchen and Zhao Cheng had passed the examination immediately approached to chat. This served both as a congratulation and an attempt to build goodwill.

Given these exchanges, one can imagine how slowly Wang Qingchen and the others ate their dinner. In the end, held back by endless conversations and unable to eat properly, Wang Qingchen and Zhao Cheng hastily packed up some food to finish back at the residence, and then returned with the rest of the group.

The next day, everyone slept in quite late since they had been exhausted from the previous day's travel. However, Madam Huang was an exception. She had already slipped back into the role she played in the provincial capital, proactively taking charge of preparing meals for Wang Qingchen and the others.

So, when Wang Qingchen and the others finally woke up, Madam Huang had already arranged breakfast and everything else, giving them a sudden feeling that they were still in the provincial capital.

After eating, Zhao Jing started packing his meager belongings, preparing to return to Qingshan Town. Luckily, he had only stayed one night with Wang Qingchen's party, so most of his things were still packed away, meaning very little required attention. Thus, Zhao Jing soon emerged with his travel bundle, bid farewell to the group, and prepared to leave immediately.

Hearing Zhao Jing say he was leaving, Liu Hao and the others felt a pang of reluctance. They had lived together in the unfamiliar environment of the provincial capital for days—studying, taking the county exam, seeing the results, and enduring the subsequent disappointments—all together. They had grown very accustomed to Zhao Jing being among them. Now that he was departing, a strange feeling settled over them.

"Oh, come on, it's just back to Qingshan Town," Zhao Jing chuckled. "Once you all finish up here, won't you be going back too? We can just gather again then in Qingshan Town!"

The others naturally understood this logic and didn't press the issue further. After all, they knew Zhao Jing was different; he already had a wife and even a child, so his heart would naturally pull him toward home.

Seeing that Liu Hao and the others had come to terms with it, Zhao Jing bid his farewells and turned to leave, with Wang Qingchen quickly following him.

Since there were plenty of carriages heading from this county seat to Qingshan Town, there was no need to hire one in advance; they could secure one right now, so Zhao Jing had no worries about finding transport.

As Zhao Jing was leaving today, Wang Qingchen naturally insisted on seeing him off. Setting aside the friendship forged over these past days, Zhao Jing was also a relative. Wang Qingchen felt he couldn't possibly let him go alone; he needed to see him safely onto the carriage before he could feel at ease. So, the two of them went out to look for transport together.

Soon, Wang Qingchen and Zhao Jing found a carriage heading to Qingshan Town. Conveniently, two other people were also going to Qingshan Town, allowing them to split the fare significantly. After negotiating the carriage price, Zhao Jing turned to Wang Qingchen, who had come to see him off. "Qingchen, you don't need to come further. I'm about to board. You should hurry back. Once you all return to Qingshan Town in a few days, we'll have plenty of time to gather."

Wang Qingchen smiled and nodded. "That is a certainty. Once we are back in Qingshan Town, we will certainly meet up. When you return, please send my greetings to your parents, and of course, send my regards to Cousin as well."

Zhao Jing smiled and nodded upon hearing this. "Ah, I absolutely will. Hurry back now!"

Wang Qingchen watched until Zhao Jing's carriage disappeared from view before returning to their rented residence.

With Zhao Jing gone, Liu Hao and the others felt a momentary dip in spirits, but they quickly recovered. This wasn't because they suddenly stopped caring, but because of their dinner near the County Academy the previous night; some of the students there had learned of their return, and word had naturally spread, informing many others that they were back in town. Consequently, visitors began arriving in an endless stream.

Although many of the visitors were specifically there for Wang Qingchen and Zhao Cheng, Wang Qingchen knew many people whom Liu Hao and the others were also familiar with. Thus, whenever guests arrived at the residence, Liu Hao and the others were obliged to keep them company. Being constantly occupied, they simply had no time to dwell on Zhao Jing's departure.

And so, that entire afternoon passed for Wang Qingchen's group amid waves of visitors. By evening, Liu Hao and the others could finally look forward to some rest, but Wang Qingchen had an engagement to keep. Alas, he had agreed too readily yesterday, not anticipating that so many people would come calling today. However, this was the direct consequence of their small slip-up last night; had they not eaten near the County Academy, few people would have known of their return. But now, regret was useless.

Wang Qingchen looked at the invitation in his hand. Despite feeling somewhat weary, he nevertheless took the time to groom himself carefully, shook off his fatigue, stepped out the courtyard door, and prepared to honor the invitation from Boss Xue and Steward Xu. Having now successfully passed the examination to become a Juren, Boss Xue and Steward Xu were certainly planning a grand celebration for him tonight, though he couldn't guess how long it would last.