Chapter 2480: Rising Above the Rest

“I understand, Uncle Chief, please do me a favor and handle this quickly.” An Que steeled himself, gritting his teeth, and slipped some taels of silver into the Chief’s hand.

When you ask someone for help, you have to give them something nice, right? Ever since he passed the exam to become a scholar, when had he ever had to bribe someone with money? It was always others seeking him out for help.

The Chief looked down, somewhat bewildered, at the taels of silver in his palm.

Just how urgent was An Que’s matter that he had to resort to handing over silver? Still, he sneered silently. How could An Que expect county government officials to act with just one tael of silver?

Did he think the county office staff were all vegetarians? One tael of silver—how could he have the audacity to offer such a meager amount?

The others witnessing this exchange from An Que were also full of disdain. The people in the county office were vulture-like, weren’t they? If the Chief really passed along just one tael of silver, the issue might not get resolved at all.

However, it wasn’t their concern. The Chief always had ways to handle things well.

“Alright, alright, I’ll make a trip to the county office right away.”

He wouldn’t reject silver that was already in hand, so he accepted it gladly and then walked out with his things.

Seeing there was nothing left for them there, the villagers also found excuses to leave. They had their own work to tend to—they couldn’t waste time standing around.

“Whew!”

Once everyone dispersed, An Que let out a deep sigh.

Now it was all fine. He could finally feel at ease. As long as this matter was sorted out, he was sure he would achieve great success.

But thinking that Brother Ziyu had shared this matter with Brother Qing Ke made him a bit displeased. That poor scholar became a scholar yet was still grubby in the fields. What future could he possibly have?

But after this ordeal, Qing Ke’s prospects might end up being similar to his, right?

Thinking about it now, he realized how advantageous it had been for Qing Ke. If he had known earlier, he would have stopped Brother Ziyu from visiting Brother Qing Ke and instead had him stay over for tea and a meal at his own house.

He completely forgot that if he hadn’t seen Brother Ziyu visiting Brother Qing Ke’s house, he wouldn’t have believed what Brother Ziyu said was true.

“Brother Ziyu is truly foolish. He could have kept the upper hand himself but naïvely shared the news with myself and Brother Qing Ke. People like him are sure to suffer losses in the future!”

He let out a slight snort, stepping into the courtyard and exhaling lightly.

Now that the matter was settled, he could feel at ease, preparing for the exams in earnest. He was determined that he would certainly pass the civil service exam in the future.

“Que’er, have you finished your business?”

The elderly woman came out of her room, looking listless as she asked.

“Grandmother, what’s wrong? Who upset you?” Seeing his grandmother looking so spiritless, An Que couldn’t help but express his concern.

He was very clear in his mind that, in this family, he wouldn’t have achieved what he had without his grandmother’s favoritism.

Nothing must happen to Grandmother now; otherwise, his future days wouldn’t be as easy, and even his aunts wouldn’t support his studies anymore.

“Grandmother’s fine.”

The elderly woman waved her hand to dismiss his concerns.

“I just feel that giving those fields back to them is such a pity.”

Her heart ached, for it was so much land. Just giving it back like that, all that grain—she could almost see the bountiful wheat harvest around the corner.

She felt even worse, thinking if only they could have waited a little longer.

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