Seeing Sam nod and turn to leave without another word, Ethan Bolton, already used to this silent servant, turned back. But then he suddenly remembered that Charles Brooks had once revealed something—aside from land and houses, even the servants of the The Bolton Family were given by George Washington.

But judging from Sam's attitude just now, it seemed he didn't regard Emily Brooks, the true young lady, as more important than himself?

Ethan Bolton had never doubted the integrity of his three servants—though there had been an illness that led to his transmigration, with his mother Mrs. Smith whose husband was unknown, and himself whose father was unknown, they had lived peacefully and safely in the countryside up to now, thanks in large part to the efforts of the three servants.

So, he quickly set aside this question and returned to the group of students about his own age.

The two young men in the room hadn't noticed what he and Sam had discussed. At this moment, Lucy Reed saw Ethan Bolton return and hurriedly stepped forward, saying, "Teacher, my parents said they'll host a banquet to thank you in the next couple of days! Also, in the past, you helped my family a lot so I could study with you. I promise I'll pay you back soon!"

"Let's not talk about repayment for now, and besides, it wasn't really money. I just helped you out with some food and meat."

"Teacher, that's not right!" Since he had earned the nickname Lucy, Lucy Reed was not only clever but also a bit stubborn. He shook his head like a rattle-drum. "My uncle's family has three sons. If I hadn't learned arithmetic and literacy from you, and developed decent handwriting and document-handling skills, how could I have gotten the chance to take the clerk exam over them? What's more..."

He lifted his head, his face full of pride. "In this year's civil service exam, several questions were ones you had taught before. One was about monks and bowls, though it was a bit different from your original question: four monks share one bowl of rice, five monks share one bowl of soup, and there are a total of 297 bowls. The question was, how many monks are there in total?"

"Besides that, there was the question about a vine winding five times around a dead tree, the tree being four zhang tall and six chi in circumference, asking for the length of the vine. There was also a Han Xin troop-counting problem: dividing the soldiers by three leaves a remainder of two, by five leaves a remainder of four, by seven leaves a remainder of five—what is the minimum number of soldiers?"

"When I entered the exam, I saw countless people sighing in frustration, hardly anyone could answer, but I was confident I got them right! So, after all these years of eating and learning, and now passing the civil service exam to become a clerk, of course I should repay you, teacher!"

Ethan Bolton couldn't help but laugh. These kinds of math problems would be at elementary school level in modern times, maybe not even considered Olympiad questions, but here they counted as top-level challenges. Seeing Peter Hill quickly do the mental math and report the correct answer in no time, he nodded approvingly, also feeling a bit curious about the person who set the questions.

Even though it was a civil service exam, to encounter an official who would use math problems to stump the candidates was truly rare!

However, faced with the two who were getting overly excited, he had to pour some cold water on them: "Lucy, it's great that you passed the clerk exam, but you can't slack off. There are countless minor clerks in the Shuntian Prefecture office. As a newcomer, even with your uncle's support, it's easy to get pushed aside. You need to work diligently to learn your skills, and also learn how to deal with people."

"You've also said that the girl you want to marry is a modest and gentle lady. In plays, it's always the virtuous wife supporting the poor scholar, and after he passes the imperial exam, he finds a new love while the original wife remains loyal and uncomplaining—but that's all made up! As a true man, even if you want to study, is it right to rely on a woman to support you? If you really like her, you should let her be proud of you."

At this point, Ethan Bolton looked over at the thin and weak youth, Peter Hill. If not for their ages, no one would guess that Peter Hill was actually a year older than him, though he had suffered from severe malnutrition before.

"And as for you, Little Peter, you want to take the licentiate exam, but there's only so much I can help you with. The old gentleman who secretly taught me before made sure I could recite the Four Books and Five Classics, and as for math... well, I learned a lot there too. But as for the eight-legged essay, he knows me, but I don't know him. It's completely different from the civil service and county student exams—math and the eight-legged essay just don't mix at all!"

Pfft—

Hearing such a crisp laugh, Ethan Bolton couldn't help but be stunned. He could tell at once that it was Emily Brooks's laughter, but hadn't Sam said that the young lady had already left?

However, the two in the room just assumed it was another mischievous village child eavesdropping outside and didn't pay it any mind.

Peter Hill could only give a wry smile. "The eight-legged essay is really too hard. My father spent his whole life as a county student and started teaching me the essay when I was very young. But he himself barely mastered the Four Books, so what's the use of just knowing the format?"

Ethan Bolton couldn't help but sigh inwardly. The current Ming dynasty was different from the one in history in many ways, yet the eight-legged essay was still a key to the imperial exams. Who knew what the founding emperor was thinking?

"What's more, all he left me when he died was a pile of debt and a stack of nearly tattered essays. If it weren't for you, teacher, I might have been hounded to death by creditors long ago, let alone been able to study and pass the county exam. Really, I'm already very grateful..."