A Dazzling Array of Food

The reporters had already started queuing to enter.

Meanwhile, Fang Zheng went directly to meet with the outer curtain official responsible for the examination site's exterior.

The outer curtain official was a temporary official responsible for matters outside the examination hall, as well as some internal affairs, such as distributing and collecting papers.

As soon as the outer curtain official saw Fang Zheng casually walking toward him, he immediately went to meet him, saying anxiously: "Minister Fang! Why are you so late?!"

"Mr. Zhang and the others arrived ages ago! We're just waiting for you!"

Fang Zheng asked in confusion: "Oh? You know me? Why wait for me? I'm only responsible for proctoring! Don't try to assign me extra work!"

The outer curtain official responded with a wry smile: "I've seen you in the palace! I don't know what you're talking about... they're inside urging us to find you! Please go in quickly!"

Fang Zheng nodded and was about to go with him when he suddenly heard a commotion behind him. He couldn't help turning to look.

The outer curtain official also glanced over and volunteered an explanation: "Oh! Some student probably brought unauthorized items inside. This happens often. It should be resolved shortly. Minister Fang, shall we go?"

As Fang Zheng kept watching, his expression became somewhat twisted.

Why were all the onlookers reporters from the newspaper office? Was it their professional habit?

Or perhaps it was the newspaper's reporters arguing with the inspection officers.

With this doubt in mind, Fang Zheng shook off the outer curtain official and walked straight toward the crowd. The outer curtain official hurriedly followed.

Looking closer, it was indeed someone from the newspaper! It was Shen Yi.

Perhaps due to the chaos, he had been shoved and was now sitting on the ground, looking somewhat dejected as he picked up scattered items.

Fang Zheng quickly helped him up and turned angrily toward the petty officer: "What's going on here! Why push an examination candidate to the ground!"

Seeing their backbone had arrived, the reporters spoke over each other explaining the situation to Fang Zheng.

"Minister Fang! They say our items don't meet regulations and want to throw them away, otherwise they won't let us in!"

"How are they non-compliant! He can inspect however he wants, we haven't concealed anything!"

"Exactly! There's no rule against bringing food! He just pushed Shen Yi down!"

The petty officer didn't recognize Fang Zheng, but seeing his official robes, he knew this was someone important. He quickly explained: "Sir! It wasn't intentional! There were too many people surrounding us earlier... I accidentally... their items don't comply with regulations! Yet they insist on entering!"

The outer curtain official, seeing him caught up in this commotion, also stepped forward urgently: "Minister Fang! Leave these trivial matters for them to resolve! Such situations happen every time, it's very normal."

"Unacceptable! You must explain what doesn't comply with regulations! How can students take exams without food! Will you take responsibility if they perform poorly?" Fang Zheng pointed at Shen Yi and shouted.

The food the reporters carried was prepared at his instruction. There couldn't possibly be any non-compliant items!

The food in the examination cells was served twice daily, but it was both poor and scarce, generally not enough for more than a few bites, so candidates usually brought their own dried provisions.

To prevent cheating, larger dried foods like flatbread would be cut into pieces for inspection.

He had already inquired about the eggs, jerky, and snacks he prepared, and they were completely permissible in the examination hall!

The petty officer, seeing his aggressive demeanor, dared not respond.

The outer curtain official, who had clearly experienced Fang Zheng before, stepped forward and grabbed Shen Yi's basket, saying: "Minister Fang, let me inspect it! After inspection, we can quickly be on our way!"

Saying this, he opened the cloth cover of the basket, and various items immediately came into view. The variety was so extensive that the outer curtain official was dumbfounded!

He picked out a square-shaped item and asked Shen Yi: "What is this?"

Shen Yi smacked his lips, seemingly savoring the taste of this item: "It's called instant noodles, fried noodles."

These instant noodles were specially prepared by Fang Zheng for the reporters. He had found about ten cooks to make noodles, which were then uniformly fried. The reporters had already sampled them and unanimously praised them!

"This... this... this doesn't comply!" The outer curtain official clearly had never seen instant noodles before. This one item alone was non-compliant!

Fang Zheng snatched the noodle cake and said: "How doesn't it comply! Look... each noodle strand is clearly visible. How could it possibly contain hidden items! It complies!"

The outer curtain official examined it carefully for a moment, muttered something, and knowing he couldn't win against Fang Zheng, reluctantly said: "Fine, fine, fine! It complies!"

Then he lowered his head and took out a piece of jerky, sniffing it.

Fang Zheng frowned: "Are you hungry!?"

The outer curtain official's face immediately turned red with embarrassment, stammering: "No... why does this smell like beef..."

Fang Zheng also pretended to sniff it a couple of times: "This is pork jerky!"

"Pork jerky?" The outer curtain official looked confused.

"Yes! Pork! Have you ever even eaten beef? What does it matter what meat it is! Does it have anything to do with the exam?!"

"Uh... good... fine!"

The outer curtain official was at a loss. He had supervised two examinations but had never seen anyone bring such elaborate items!

Fang Zheng leaned close to him and pointed at the items in the basket, describing them like a connoisseur: "This is qiegao! This is prawn crackers! This is seasoning! This is called sachima..."

The watching scholars were all stunned, looking down at their own raw rice and flatbread, feeling a wave of sadness...

The outer curtain official swallowed hard. Was this guy coming to take an exam or for a picnic?!

He then picked out two black, hard objects from the basket and asked Shen Yi: "And what are these? These can't be food, they're unrelated to the exam and should be thrown out!"

Shen Yi held his chin, examining them for a moment: "It's abalone, dried abalone."

The surrounding people's jaws dropped in unison as they stared blankly at the two pieces of dried abalone, with various emotions churning inside them.

"........."

The outer curtain official remained silent for a moment before finally exploding, unable to help shouting: "Why the fuck would you bring abalone to an exam?!! What exactly is your purpose in coming to the examination hall?!"

Fang Zheng quickly patted his shoulder, comforting him: "Why so excited, why so excited... aren't there kitchen staff and cell attendants in the examination hall to help candidates prepare food? Can't someone eat abalone if they want to? I don't believe there's a regulation against it."

"There! Isn't!" The outer curtain official squeezed these words through his teeth, and continued inspecting with a stiff face. He found a package of thin, colorful things that looked like paper slips, grabbed a handful, and held them up to Shen Yi's face, angrily saying: "I suppose these aren't food either?!"

"Sir, these are called dried vegetables. Once soaked in water, they become fresh vegetables... I plan to have the cell attendants add them when they cook noodles for me, so the taste and texture won't be too plain," Shen Yi explained honestly.

Outer curtain official: "⊙.⊙........."

Fang Zheng smiled proudly.

The dehydrated vegetables were made by having servants in his mansion slice them, then roast them over a stove while fanning, not unlike the dehydrated vegetables from later times, just requiring more effort.

To ensure the reporters ate well, he had truly put his heart into this!