The first snowfall of the year was especially heavy.

Amidst the swirling snow, Jason Brooks was sitting comfortably inside a carriage, heading toward Bijia Mountain. Accompanying him was the owner of the carriage, named “Franklin Warren”, courtesy name “拂台”.

Franklin Warren was also a licentiate, but his family background far surpassed that of Jason Brooks—he was from the landlord class, owned a hundred acres of fertile land, and could be considered a wealthy young master.

Of course, whether someone is considered wealthy depends on the comparison. All in all, the Wang family were merely landlords among commoners, at the level of rural gentry, and could not be compared to the truly powerful aristocratic clans.

Jason Brooks and Franklin Warren were from the same hometown, studied at the same private school in the village, and, coincidentally, both earned their licentiate titles in the same year and were admitted together to Minghua Academy in Jiangzhou. As a result, they shared a certain camaraderie as classmates.

Franklin Warren, to be sure, had inherited his father’s calculating and stingy nature, but he was not one of those arrogant, bullying playboys who oppressed the villagers. He rarely did anything to harm the local people, which was rather commendable.

However, at present, Jason Brooks did not have much fondness for him.

This had nothing to do with family background, but was purely due to ingrained habits of thought from the Earth dimension.

Although the Chen family was poor, Jason Brooks had been well-versed in the Four Books since childhood and was known as a “child prodigy.” In this officialdom-oriented world where “the imperial examination changes one’s fate,” such a title was extremely useful. Anyone with a talent for writing the eight-legged essay, no matter how humble their origins, was not to be underestimated—who knew when a poor boy might pass the provincial exam?

Passing the provincial exam often meant becoming an official.

Throughout history, countless examples have shown that, at that point, it was time for the poor boy to settle old scores, repay grudges, and return favors.

Therefore, the lives of Jason Brooks and Mo Sanniang had always been relatively peaceful, with few troublemakers daring to bother them. On the contrary, they often received enthusiastic help from their neighbors.

When Jason Brooks placed first in the county exam and became a stipend student at Minghua Academy, the status of the Chen family rose dramatically; Jason Brooks himself was now respectfully addressed as “Master Chen.”

—In the Tiantong Dynasty, the status of licentiates also varied. The main distinction was by age: those under forty were considered “promising talents” and held in higher regard; those over forty tended to be on the decline, and by the time they reached their sixties, they were “old licentiates.”

What did “old” mean?

Dim eyesight, failing memory, and little hope of passing the provincial exam; if one was old and poor, it was even more miserable…

Jason Brooks had earned his licentiate title at sixteen. While this was not as impressive as the rare “prodigies” who passed at twelve or thirteen, it still marked him as “a young man with boundless prospects,” making him someone the villagers were eager to befriend.

This included even the landlord class among commoners.

For example, the Wang family.

Franklin Warren was twenty-nine this year and had taken the children’s exam ten times before finally qualifying as a licentiate, truly stepping into the ranks of scholars. In terms of talent, he was naturally no match for Jason Brooks, and after entering Minghua Academy, he was just an ordinary student. Therefore, he felt it necessary to use their classmate relationship as a bridge to establish a good rapport with Jason Brooks early on, rather than waiting until he made the honor roll—by then, it would be too late to curry favor.

Moreover, in this world where transportation was difficult, local ties were always highly valued.

So, Franklin Warren set out early in the morning, went to Jason Brooks’s home, first presented a valuable zitan wood book case as a gift, and then invited Jason Brooks to Bijia Mountain to enjoy the snow.

The zitan wood book case was two feet long and nine inches wide, exquisitely crafted and easy to carry. It could hold the four treasures of the study—brush, ink, paper, and inkstone—making it a formidable tool for any scholar. As for the zitan wood itself, it was dark in color, naturally fragrant, insect- and moth-resistant, and truly a rare item—priceless and hard to find.

Franklin Warren’s generous gift greatly surprised Jason Brooks, who accepted it with some reluctance but was genuinely fond of the book case. From then on, he could use it and burn his old, rough wooden one for firewood.

A book case was an essential item for scholars traveling away from home, far superior to a simple bundle. It was sturdy, spacious, and even had a pole with a cloth canopy for sun and rain protection—a true multi-functional item. Scholars of status and means usually had their book cases carried by a servant, but for now, Jason Brooks had to carry his himself.

For some reason, when he put his ink, paper, inkstone, books, and talismanic pens into the case and tried carrying it for the first time, he suddenly recalled the classic film “A Chinese Ghost Story,” where Leslie Cheung’s character Ning Caichen carried his book case with such grace and elegance.

This zitan wood book case was not large, but because of the material, it was quite heavy. If Jason Brooks hadn’t trained physically, it would have been difficult to carry.

In fact, when giving away the book case, Franklin Warren felt a pang of heartache, but he couldn’t find a more suitable gift. Heartache or not, as long as he did this favor, he could expect to reap double the rewards when Jason Brooks succeeded in the future.

Unfortunately, his calculations were sound, but he could never have predicted that there could be such a thing as transmigration in this world.

—If the old Jason Brooks had a 50% chance of passing the provincial exam, the current Jason Brooks had only a 1% chance—practically nonexistent.

The carriage was lined with thick brocade and had a brazier for warmth, making it very cozy. Jason Brooks and Franklin Warren sat around the brazier, chatting idly about this and that.