"Brother Chen, have you finished steeping your Xianglong Grass?" Jiang Hu walked towards the head of the governnt officials with a package of Xianglong Grass.
Head Chen was nearly forty years old, very tall and strong. Having practiced martial arts for many years, his muscular build gave a group of frail scholars a strong sense of security.
"Brother Jiang, thank you! You are always so considerate. Drinking water boiled with Xianglong Grass really refreshed us in the afternoon, and the students didn’t suffer from heatstroke."
Head Chen graciously accepted the Xianglong Grass from Jiang Hu. Before setting off, the County Magistrate had instructed him to take care of Jiang’s family mbers, and being straightforward, Jiang Hu got along well with everyone.
Besides the Jiang family, there were other people traveling together, mostly academy students. So rented a carriage together, while others were escorted by family servants.
These individuals were on their own way to participate in the academy exam, different from those recomnded by the academy and County Magistrate.
Being recomnded by the County Magistrate involved being chosen internally by the county’s academies, followed by an exam. Only those who passed would be escorted by officials, without having to worry about expenses for food, accommodation, and travel.
Of course, so students from well-off families, even if traveling with officials, would have family servants alongside to take care of them.
As for those following on their own, not having passed the county’s exam but wishing to try the academy exam, they would have to bear their own expenses.
However, being scholars, traveling with the officials, the County Magistrate had instructed the officials to look after them, ensuring their safety.
A grand group of over a hundred people occupied quite so space during rest.
The wealthy students were well-prepared and generally didn’t stay too close to others.
Jiang Hu and company drove their carts and ox carts, following the officials and usually stayed together during stops for rest.
After giving the Xianglong Grass to Head Chen, a few students saw this and gave Jiang Hu a distant salute, expressing their gratitude.
After all, after gulping down the Xianglong Grass water, everyone felt much more invigorated.
Jiang Hu waved his hand indicating it was nothing, turned and saw Jiang Yu returning, waved: "Yu’er, take these and give them to those classmates. This heat is unbearable; they’ll feel better after drinking them."
By classmates, he ant the self-funded students who had joined the journey, even though they appeared older than Jiang Yu and Liu Ze, in Jiang Hu’s eyes, they were still children.
The intense heat was truly hard to bear.
"Alright." Jiang Yu put down the firewood in his hand while Liu Ze had already set up a makeshift clay stove, and Second Mother was grabbing grain, preparing for lunch.
Jiang Hu carried a large wooden bucket to fetch water; this journey they embarked on was nearly akin to moving house.
When Jiang Hu returned with a bucket of water, he noticed sothing amiss.
Second Mother and Xiaoxue were preparing to cook lunch, Jiang Wei was helping out nearby, and Jiang Yu and Liu Ze were tinkering with sothing, at least they were near Second Mother, but where were the other two?
"Second Mother, where are Xiaomi and Zi’ang? I can’t see them anywhere," he did a round of inspection, but couldn’t find them.
Jiang Yu didn’t even lift his head: "The two of them just took their bows and ran off; probably went hunting."
The two siblings had been hunting every day recently, almost never returning empty-handed, which they were used to.
Jiang Hu frowned slightly, although the children often went into the mountains, the hills near the official road generally didn’t have any wild beasts, but considering they were kids, their sudden disappearance naturally caused so worry.
But since he didn’t know where they were or how to find them, he had to wait for now.
He poured the water into the pot, two clay pots — one for boiling water, the other for cooking. Once the water was boiled, soup could be made, and the wild vegetables dug up last night hadn’t been finished, so there was no need to forage for lunch today.
After helping for a bit, Second Mother suggested he take so rest, and having no alternative, he went to see what Jiang Yu and Liu Ze were doing, only to find them busy with two embroidery needles, so thread, and bamboo poles nearby.
Jiang Hu was surprised: "Are you planning to fish?"
Heating the embroidery needles, cushioning with the sleeve, and bending them could make a fishing hook, which wasn’t difficult; back ho, Uncle Liu’s fishing rods were all made just like this.
"Yes, Dad, when we were gathering firewood just now, we found a place by the river sheltered by a big rock. It’s very calm there; surely there are lots of fish."
As they spoke, the two fishing rods were completed, and Jiang Yu called out to Liu Ze: "Little Ze, let’s go! If we catch fish, we’ll have extra for today!"
Though they had brought grains, the vegetables could only co from roadside forage or pickles. Initially, they considered bringing eggs, but the scorching sun threatened to spoil them along the way.
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