Chapter 2

Where should he check in, and what kind of supplies did he want to obtain?

Those were excellent questions.

The rewards Gang Gye had received so far, such as cooking oil and candy, were all useful items in everyday life.

The container of cooking oil, in particular, would have been quite expensive to purchase.

Under normal circumstances, the family had to use oil sparingly whenever they cooked.

Households that were especially careful with their expenses sometimes used only a brush to spread a thin layer of oil over the surface of their cooking pots.

However, there was a problem.

Gang Gye couldn't easily show the items he had obtained to other people.

The Gang family was a large household, and the women took turns preparing meals. Everyone had a general idea of what supplies the family possessed.

Among the children Gang Gye usually played with, the oldest was seven and the youngest was five. They were all old enough to understand what was going on around them.

If Gang Gye suddenly brought out some candy, they would undoubtedly ask where he had gotten it.

Apart from Haenghwa, one of the two girls, the others wouldn't be particularly easy to fool.

If any of them went to their parents and started pestering them to buy more candy, his secret would immediately be exposed.

Gang Gye was only a little over four years old. Not only was he limited in what he could do, but it would also be difficult for him to come up with convincing lies.

After thinking about it for quite some time, Gang Gye finally decided on a goal.

He wanted to obtain books from this world.

More specifically, he wanted books that would help him prepare for the Imperial Examination.

It had been four days since he arrived here, and he had already learned quite a lot about this world.

This was a fictional era that didn't belong to any dynasty he knew from history.

However, the traditional social hierarchy of scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants remained unchanged.

Scholars were highly respected and admired.

Meanwhile, ordinary commoners like the members of his family were required to perform compulsory labor and pay taxes every year.

Of course, Gang Gye had another reason for wanting to study.

The heroine's husband was a scholar who would eventually pass the provincial examination and become a juren, gaining considerable influence in the village.

Since his mother and the heroine didn't get along, once the heroine's husband began targeting their family, the villagers would gradually distance themselves from the Gang family out of fear of offending the heroine's household.

The Gang family had lived in this village for generations. If such a situation arose, their lives would become difficult in many ways.

They didn't have any influential relatives or friends they could rely on, either.

The only solution was for Gang Gye to study and take the Imperial Examination himself.

If he could eventually surpass the heroine's husband in status, all their problems would naturally be resolved.

Gang Gye had always been confident when it came to taking examinations.

Although he hadn't started studying yet, the thought of the Imperial Examination didn't particularly frighten him.

However, pursuing an education required money.

And money wasn't the only problem.

Someone could spend ten, twenty, or even more years studying without achieving anything.

For ordinary commoners, educating a child was by no means an easy undertaking.

Gang Gye believed that the chances of the Gang family agreeing to pay for his education were extremely low.

After all, the family was already supporting one child's education.

That child was Gang Hae, the eldest son of the first branch and Howa's older brother.

Gang Hae's childhood nickname was Daejang, and he had been studying for four years.

Howa's formal name was Gang Ha.

However, the villagers generally called the two brothers by their childhood nicknames, Daejang and Howa, rather than their formal names.

The eldest couple, particularly Daejang's mother, Madam Oh, attached great importance to their son's education.

Even if Gang Gye demonstrated his own talent, it was doubtful that the eldest branch would be willing to give up their son's opportunity in his favor.

Moreover, Gang Gye knew that he wasn't related to the Gang family by blood.

He would feel guilty if he used his talent as an excuse to disrupt the household.

However, he couldn't simply give up, either.

That was why he had decided to see whether his Attendance System could provide him with books related to the Imperial Examination.

If he could obtain his own books, he would be able to study in secret.

He had no idea what would happen in the future, but there was no point worrying about something so far away just yet.

At the very least, he wasn't going to give up before he had even begun.

It also seemed like a good opportunity to test whether the location of his check-in affected the system's rewards.

The Gang family didn't have a room that could properly be called a study.

Daejang studied in his bedroom.

He had placed a desk beside the window, where he usually read and practiced writing.

Since everything related to education was valuable and expensive, only Old Madam Gang and Daejang's mother, Madam Oh, were allowed to enter his room.

Young children like Gang Gye were especially forbidden from going inside.

That was precisely why Gang Gye wanted books of his own instead of borrowing Daejang's.

If the adults discovered him carrying Daejang's books around, there would be a huge commotion.

Daejang was currently away at his lessons and wouldn't return until the afternoon.

For now, Gang Gye had no choice but to wait.

He would only be able to enter Daejang's room after his older brother came home.

Time passed quickly, and before long, it was afternoon.

The eldest son of the Gang family went to the town to pick up Daejang just as his lessons at the private school were ending.

Gang Gye had been squatting by the entrance, waiting impatiently.

As soon as he spotted Daejang and his father approaching, his eyes lit up.

"Brother Daejang!"

Daejang certainly lived up to his nickname, which meant Big and Strong.

He was so sturdily built that he looked almost twice the size of an ordinary child his age.

He also had an excellent personality. He was cheerful, outgoing, and loved playing tricks.

Even though Gang Gye was much younger than him, Daejang never treated him carelessly. Instead, he always greeted his little brother enthusiastically.

"Little Six, what are you doing sitting here? Come on. We're having meat buns today!"

The moment he mentioned meat buns, Daejang unconsciously swallowed.

He had pestered his father into buying two meat buns.

He had already eaten one of them.

As for the remaining bun, he had decided to share it with his younger siblings to maintain the respect they had for him as their eldest brother.

It wasn't as though Gang Gye had never eaten meat buns in his previous life.

Quite the opposite.

In modern times, he had enjoyed not only meat buns but also plenty of meat.

However, ever since he entered this novel, he hadn't even caught a glimpse of meat.

Consequently, the mere mention of meat buns made him instinctively swallow.

"Okay!"

Daejang took his little brother by the hand and led him into the house, shouting as he entered.

"I'm back! Howa, Munsaeng, Dohwa, Haenghwa! Hurry over! Let's eat meat buns!"

"Big Brother!"

"Brother Daejang!"

The children came running and quickly surrounded him.

Daejang waved his hand.

"Come on. Let's go to our room and share it."

No matter how large a meat bun was, there was a limit to its size.

After all six children had taken a bite, the bun quickly disappeared.

Nevertheless, every child wore a satisfied expression.

Even after putting the meat in their mouths, they were reluctant to swallow it, wanting to savor the taste for as long as possible.

Gang Gye also enjoyed his meat bun immensely.

However, even while he was captivated by its delicious flavor, he didn't forget his original objective.

He wanted to check in from Daejang's room to see whether he could obtain books related to the Imperial Examination.

And right now, they were standing directly in front of Daejang's desk.

Gang Gye glanced around for a moment and noticed the chair beside the desk.

Hoping to increase his chances of success, he sat down.

He even reached out and touched the paper on the desk.

Then, he began picturing books in his mind.

Of course, the image of a meat bun briefly slipped into his thoughts as well.

It was so delicious...

That meat bun...

A moment later, a system notification appeared.

[Check-in successful. You have received Meat Buns ×10 as a reward.]

"..."

Gang Gye was momentarily speechless.

This... This is a little troublesome.

After finishing the meat bun, the children quickly dispersed.

As the Gang family's only hope for future success, Daejang still had things to do after returning from the private school.

He had to complete the homework assigned by his teacher and memorize his lessons.

His mother, Madam Oh, was very strict about his education and supervised him every day to ensure that he completed his assignments.

As soon as the children left, Madam Oh entered his room.

A moment later, her voice could be faintly heard.

"Daejang, how much did your teacher teach you today? How far did you get in your lessons? And what homework did he assign?"

Daejang was extremely nervous whenever he was in front of his mother.

He didn't dare lie and obediently answered all her questions.

Before long, the sound of Daejang reading aloud came from inside the room.

He was required to read aloud every day after returning from the private school.

Since Gang Gye hadn't managed to obtain any books through his check-in, he didn't go far.

Instead, he stayed in the courtyard and listened to Daejang reading, silently repeating the passages in his mind.

As he did so, Gang Gye suddenly realized something.

Perhaps it was because he had crossed into another world, but his memory seemed to have improved considerably.

As long as he concentrated, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that he could memorize something the moment he heard it.

Even when Daejang read fairly long passages, Gang Gye could remember every word.

He was astonished.

His memory hadn't been bad in his previous life, but it had certainly never been this extraordinary.

Back then, he had mostly relied on understanding things to remember them.

Whenever he wanted to memorize something, he had to spend time deliberately studying it.

He had never been capable of instantly memorizing an entire passage without even fully understanding its meaning.

Discovering this ability filled him with joy.

After all, anyone who wanted to take the Imperial Examination had to memorize an enormous number of books.

In fact, scholars were generally expected to know the contents of those books so thoroughly that they could recite practically any passage, even backward.

Some examiners were particularly fond of setting questions known as jieda questions.

These involved taking a few characters from two different passages and combining them to create a new phrase.

Sometimes, the resulting phrase wasn't even a proper sentence. It might not make any sense at all, making it extremely difficult to understand.

Unless a scholar had memorized the original texts perfectly, it would be difficult to identify where the two fragments came from or understand what each one meant.

Moreover, if the scholar failed to connect the original sources with their meanings, they might approach the essay from the wrong perspective.

Naturally, that could lead to failure in the examination.

Therefore, possessing such an extraordinary memory was an enormous advantage for Gang Gye.

He continued listening attentively.

After hearing Daejang read the passages several times, Gang Gye had memorized everything.

Since Daejang seemed likely to keep reading the same passages, Gang Gye eventually stopped listening.

He stood up and went to play the stone game with the other children.

Quite some time later, Madam Oh's furious voice came from inside the room.

"What on earth do you study at school every day? Why can't you recite what you learned yesterday when I ask you to repeat it today?"

Daejang was so frightened that his voice trembled with tears.

"I forgot..."

"You forgot? You forget what you study every single day, so why don't you ever forget to pester us to buy you meat buns?"

Madam Oh picked up a switch as she spoke.

Scenes like this were hardly unusual in the Gang household.

In fact, something similar happened almost every other day.

Daejang didn't enjoy studying, nor did he possess any remarkable academic talent.

Whenever he was told to memorize his lessons, he would fidget in his seat as though he had been thrown into prison.

He simply couldn't sit still.

And sometimes, Madam Oh would give him a good beating for it.

Naturally, the other children couldn't continue playing when this happened.

Dohwa whispered,

"Mother must be hitting Big Brother again."

Dohwa was the youngest daughter of the eldest branch and was six years old.

The eldest branch had three children: Daejang, Howa, and Dohwa, who were nine, seven, and six years old, respectively.

The second branch had Munsaeng, who was six, and Haenghwa, who was five.

As for the third branch, Gang Gye was their only child, and he was four years old.

Howa spoke indifferently.

"Brother probably couldn't memorize his lessons again. I'm really glad I don't have to go to school."

He shuddered as though he could deeply sympathize with his older brother's suffering.

If he had been required to study as well, his brother's miserable present might very well have become his own future.

Dohwa shot Howa a sideways glance.

"Even if you wanted to go to school, the family probably wouldn't send you. Once Big Brother passes the Imperial Examination and becomes an official, he might even be able to go to the capital."

"Don't be ridiculous."

Howa responded without the slightest hesitation.

"Just look at our maternal grandfather. He's been taking examinations for decades, but he's still only a tongsheng. And that person from the Zhao family has been studying for more than ten years, hasn't he? I heard his teacher praises him every day, but he's still just a tongsheng. With our brother's brain, how many years do you think he'll have to keep taking examinations?"

After all, the teacher at the private school had never praised his older brother even once!

Gang Gye silently reflected on how remarkably filial Howa sounded when talking about his maternal grandfather.

A tongsheng was someone who had passed the county and prefectural examinations.

To obtain the title of xiucai, a scholar had to pass the county examination, the prefectural examination, and the academy examination.

Only after becoming a xiucai could a scholar be considered to have earned an official academic distinction.

In truth, the title of tongsheng wasn't particularly impressive. It wasn't even something worth talking about in the village.

In most people's eyes, a tongsheng wasn't much different from a scholar who had never passed an examination at all.

After listening to Howa, Dohwa felt that his words made sense.

She nodded.

"I wish they'd just use that money to buy us meat buns instead."

Just thinking about it made her heart ache.

Studying was far too expensive.

In their entire village, only three families were formally educating their children: the Gang family, the Zhao family, and the village chief's family.

Before long, the children's conversation shifted to other topics, and they all began reminiscing about how delicious the meat bun had been.

Gang Gye thought about the ten meat buns still sitting in his system inventory.

Since he couldn't think of a reasonable excuse to bring them out and share them with the other children, his face turned red with frustration.

Besides trying to obtain books, I should check in from the mountains next time.

If I do that, maybe I'll receive something like a rabbit or a pheasant.

If that happened, he would finally have a reasonable explanation for bringing his rewards home.

He could show everyone what he had obtained without worrying about arousing suspicion.