Jingzhe was also feeling depressed.

He originally came to check on Aunt’s condition, but as soon as she woke up and saw him, she fainted again.

What if Aunt just dies like this, who would be responsible?

"Jingzhe, you better leave quickly. You’re a Scholar now, and your aunt sees you and thinks of Ruinian failing the exam, isn’t that like stabbing her in the heart?" Aunt Qin said to Jingzhe.

Everyone echoed, urging the newly appointed Scholar, Jingzhe, to stay away from Mrs. Jia.

At the same time, the onlookers’ impression of Ruinian plummeted even more, as his own mother took a beating for him, yet he stayed hidden inside and refused to come out.

When Mrs. Jia saw Jingzhe, she fainted, and when the doctor revived her with acupuncture, she was so angry at Aunt Qin’s words that she spat out a mouthful of blood.

Jingzhe shook his head and walked out of the main room.

"Jingzhe, Jingzhe." Mr. Gu pulled Jingzhe aside, his anxious face filled with pleading, "Can you help me get Ruinian to open the door? He’s locked himself in, and maybe he’ll open the door for you."

"Help me talk some sense into him, tell him this year’s exam was just an accident, and that he can try again next year."

Jingzhe sighed lightly, wondering how his grandfather would react if he knew that Ruinian’s exam "accident" was self-inflicted.

Jingzhe originally didn’t want to bother with Ruinian, but upon hearing Mr. Gu’s plea, he couldn’t bear to refuse, so he headed to Ruinian’s door.

"Ruinian, open the door."

Jingzhe was prepared to call out symbolically a couple of times; if Ruinian didn’t open the door, he planned to leave the old residence without making a fuss.

With a bang, the door swung open.

Ruinian stood inside the room, looking at Jingzhe with a sneer.

Jingzhe felt that this cousin seemed both familiar and unfamiliar, his eyes appearing to harbor resentment towards him.

"Ruinian, Grandpa asked me to persuade you to open the door. Your mother has fainted, you should go check on her," Jingzhe said.

As for Mr. Gu’s request for him to persuade Ruinian to retake the exam next year, he had no plans to mention it.

Ruinian sneered, "Are you happy now?"

Jingzhe was puzzled and asked, "Happy about what?"

Ruinian said, "You topped the list, while I failed. Now everyone in the clan and village is saying you’re better than me. Are you satisfied, pleased? Don’t think I don’t know why you knocked on my door. You just wanted to laugh at me, to remind me that you’re the top scorer and I’m the failure."

"Don’t think you’re better than me, your success is just luck."

"So what if you topped the list, you’re just an old-fashioned bookworm. Even if we meet in the court someday, I’ll beat you. You shouldn’t get too cocky too soon."

The more Ruinian spoke, the more agitated he became.

Jingzhe felt that this cousin was beyond help, speaking a bunch of nonsensical words.

Jingzhe understood that this cousin thought he failed due to bad luck, while Jingzhe’s success was entirely due to luck.

"Ruinian, you’re wrong. I’ve never considered you a rival."

Jingzhe, still young at heart, hadn’t intended to pay attention to Ruinian, but after considering it, he gave him a scornful look and then left the old residence.

Ruinian was speechless, and once he came back to his senses, he was furious.

What did that mean?

It turned out that Jingzhe had never even considered him.

Mrs. Jia took five acupuncture needles to regain consciousness and couldn’t stop crying after waking up.

The acupuncture plus medicine cost five hundred coins, and Mrs. Wei gave the doctor silver.

"Where did you get the money for the medicine?" Mr. Gu asked.

Mrs. Wei said, "I borrowed it from Aunt."

Old Mrs. Gu was discontent, saying, "She ought to pay it. If both had failed the exam, your mother-in-law wouldn’t be so dissatisfied."

"Don’t think Tong Dajiao lent you money out of kindness, she’s probably laughing at your second house. Her son is the top scorer now, she’s in high spirits, would she lend you money otherwise? It’s unbelievable that her son could actually top the list, that title should have been Ruinian’s."

Mrs. Wei was speechless, she couldn’t understand Old Mrs. Gu’s logic.

Unhappy herself, and not wishing the best for the main family.

Mrs. Wei didn’t want to say a word, taking the leftover food from the main family on the table outside to warm it up, while Xiao Xue silently started the fire.

The old residence’s dinner, apart from porridge, consisted of these leftovers.

The whole family sat around the table, everyone with a long face, the atmosphere so heavy it sapped their appetite.

"Fengnian, go call Ruinian for dinner." 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

After Jingzhe left, Ruinian shut the door again.

He couldn’t stay shut in and not eat forever, so Mr. Gu told Fengnian to call Ruinian.

"Let him starve."

Gu Youtian cursed angrily, grabbing two steamed buns as he left.

He was afraid that if he saw his younger son, he might lose control and act out, so he preferred not to see him at all.

Just as Gu Fengnian was about to stand up, he saw Ruinian coming in.

"Ruinian’s here, sit down." Mr. Gu invited Ruinian to sit on his left, keeping him a bit away from Gu Youtian.

Ruinian sat silently in front of the table.

Had he not been starving, he wouldn’t have come out.

Although the table was set with leftovers from the main family, it was untouched and well-cooked meat dishes, richly aromatic, paired with a basket of big white steamed buns on the side, making Ruinian eager to dig in.

Only now that he failed the exam, he couldn’t justifiably hog the food like before.

Gu Honglian snorted, but Old Mrs. Gu glared at her and then placed a chicken leg into Ruinian’s bowl.

"Ruinian, you need to nourish yourself well. From now on, you still have to study hard."

"Look at how overjoyed your Aunt is with Jingzhe topping the list, throwing parties and inviting guests. Just thinking about it makes me angry. Doesn’t she know how upset our Ruinian is about failing? She has to rub salt in the wound. Ruinian, I’m telling you, you were just unlucky this time. Study hard, and next year get the top spot, and later win the Champion Scholar, Second Rank, or Flower Ranking, making your Aunt furious."

Ruinian’s face darkened.

If he didn’t know that Old Mrs. Gu cherished him, he might think the old lady was actually mocking him.

Mr. Gu kicked Old Mrs. Gu under the table.

"Why did you kick me? Wasn’t I right? Tong Dajiao has always disrespected us, and with her son topping the list, she’s even more dismissive of us. I’m telling Ruinian to study hard to put a stop to Tong Dajiao’s arrogance, so what’s wrong with that?"

Mr. Gu said, "Enough, stop talking, Ruinian’s already upset about failing, don’t make it worse for him."

Only then did Old Mrs. Gu realize that her words inadvertently hurt Ruinian instead of targeting Hua Qiong, so she closed her mouth, and again picked the fattiest fish belly and placed it in Ruinian’s bowl.

Ruinian’s face was gloomy, but that didn’t stop him from stuffing chicken legs and fish into his mouth.

After devouring the chicken leg and fish belly, his chopsticks swiftly and accurately picked at the plate, as if it was raining.

Ruinian, accustomed to being a Yaozu in his previous life and always the family’s hope in this one, was mercilessly grabbing good meat and dishes with each chopstick maneuver, ignoring the other family members at the dining table.

Mrs. Wei felt a wave of nausea.

If this was the same as before, it would be fine, but now, clearly having failed the exam and knowing the family’s poverty, aware that no one else had eaten, he was still hogging all the food.

"Ruinian, if you can’t pick dishes, then don’t." Mrs. Wei set her chopsticks down with a snap.