Elder brother's garrison

Page 1115

"..." The old man scrutinized Xiaobai's face.

"..." Xiao Bai was sweating and nervously looked at the old man's face.

“…You.” The old man finally spoke to Xiaobai.

"I, I'm here!" Xiaobai quickly responded, her body stiff and her expression tense as she looked at the old man in front of her. "Grandpa, is there anything I can help you with...?"

"Persimmon cakes." The old man opened his mouth and solemnly uttered the three words.

"……what?"

"Do you like persimmon cakes?" the old man asked seriously, his hands clasped under his nose.

"...?" Xiaobai blinked. "Uh...excuse me, what is a persimmon cake...?"

"It's a cake-like food made from dried persimmons," the old man said with a serious expression. "It tastes very sweet."

"...Is it very sweet?" Xiaobai asked.

"It's very sweet," the old man affirmed.

"Uh... well, then... they should like it, right..." Xiaobai answered cautiously, "if it's sweet..."

Although it's not quite clear what the old man meant by "persimmon cake".

It's unclear why, at this peculiar juncture, the old man suddenly asked himself if he liked persimmon cakes or something similar...

But if it's sweet.

Xiao Bai doesn't really dislike sweets.

After listening to Xiaobai's reply.

The composed old man lowered his arms.

Subsequently.

Under the watchful eyes of Xiaobai and the ship girls.

The old man's extremely serious expression transformed into a kind expression of great relief in just one second.

"Hahaha, little girls, so you like persimmon cakes! That's great! I thought I didn't have any desserts to offer you."

The old man laughed heartily as he bent down, opened the cabinet under the table, and took out a plate of golden persimmon cakes stacked in the shape of a pyramid, placing it on the table.

"Little girl, you've never had persimmon cakes before, have you? Come and try some." The old man waved to Xiaobai, his eyes narrowed, and he smiled with exceptional kindness. "I also have some tea leaves here. Brewing some tea to go with the persimmon cakes would be delicious. Would you like to try some?"

"..." Little Bai stared blankly at the old man who suddenly seemed like a different person. "Uh... Grandpa, what's wrong with you..."

"Hahaha, Ella was a naughty girl who used to run away from home. These past few times, it's really been a hassle for you to take care of her. Thank you for your hard work." The old man pushed the plate of persimmon cakes toward Xiaobai. "You're so young, but you've got a lot to offer. Here, have a cake."

"Uh……"

Looking at the wrinkles on the old man's face, which were almost squeezed together, Xiao Bai pondered for a long time before finally concluding that the old man was welcoming him.

Xiao Bai glanced down at Ella, who was hugging him.

Ella looked up with a smile and met Xiaobai's gaze.

“Although Grandpa is very serious when he reads, he’s actually very easy to talk to!” Ella said to Xiaobai with a smile.

"...Uh, I see..." Xiaobai felt a weight lifted from her heart. She looked at the old man who was trying to sell her persimmon cakes, smiled at him, and said, "Then...thank you, grandpa..."

Xiao Bai walked to the table, picked up a persimmon cake with both hands, and carefully took a bite.

It's soft yet chewy when you first taste it.

You can taste the texture of the persimmon pulp fibers.

Really sweet.

It also has a very strong and unique persimmon flavor.

"Ah...delicious." Xiaobai held up a persimmon cake that had been bitten into and smiled at the old man.

"It's good that it tastes good. Sigh, to be honest, I don't usually have any visitors here, and I don't have the habit of hoarding snacks. I only eat a little bit occasionally when I'm tired from thinking." The old man smiled a little embarrassedly as he said this, then picked up a thermos from the cabinet, skillfully brewed a pot of hot tea in front of Xiaobai, and poured a cup for her. "Here, little girl, have some tea."

"Oh... thank you."

Xiao Bai quickly picked up the teacup, blew on it a few times, and took a couple of sips.

Ella's grandfather's favorite tea, when brewed, produced a slightly bitter brew that Xiaobai disliked. The old man's tea-brewing skills weren't as refined as Lexington's, so the astringency in the tea was relatively stronger.

Fortunately, the rich sweetness of the persimmon cake hadn't dissipated from Xiaobai's mouth, so drinking it with tea wasn't a bad experience; in fact, it had a unique flavor.

"It's delicious, thank you Grandpa." Xiaobai smiled at the old man.

The old man's white beard trembled. He stroked his beard and let out a series of "ho ho ho" laughs at Little White.

Xiao Bai held a cup of tea and half a persimmon cake, looking at the old man stroking his white beard.

--Um.

—He seems like a very approachable old man…

--Very good.

Xiao Bai breathed a slight sigh of relief.

"Little girl, how did you like the persimmon cakes?"

"Hmm...it's quite delicious."

"These persimmon cakes are supplied directly to me; they're the highest quality batch. It's a pity they're not in season now, so we missed the best time to eat them. It's such a shame you didn't get to taste them, little girl."

"……Well……"

"How about I save a few boxes for you next year when it's in season?"

"Ah? This...this is not necessary, really not necessary." Xiaobai quickly waved her hand.

"I see." The old man nodded, but didn't say anything more.

Xiao Bai felt relieved and quickly ate the persimmon cake in her hand.

Xiao Bai tilted his head back and drank the remaining hot tea in one gulp.

"Little girl, are you feeling alright?"

"Ah, very good."

"Shall we do some practice problems to relax?"

"Okay...wait, grandpa, what did you say?" Little White was taken aback.

Just now, Xiaobai seemed to hear a word that had been out of reach for a long time.

Xiao Bai looked at the old man, somewhat bewildered.

The old man smiled at Xiaobai and the others, then silently bent down and, as if reaching into a treasure bag, pulled out a stack of snow-white test papers from under him with one hand.

That's right.

It's an exam paper.

"Do...do a test paper??" Xiaobai looked at the test paper in the old man's hand and was suddenly shocked.

"Heh, heh heh." The old man stood up with a smile, walked to the front of everyone, and then handed out the test papers to Little White, Lorelei, Ella, and even the ship girls behind her.

"As the saying goes, one is never too old to learn, and life is a continuous process of taking exams. Humans and ship girls are the most intelligent beings on this land, and we can't afford to waste this inherent attribute." The old man said as he sat back down. "Anyway, please answer the questions first."

"Huh? Answer sheet???" Xiaobai looked down blankly at the answer sheet in his hand.

The first question on the test completely baffled Xiaobai.

"The first section is a multiple-choice question. In the first sub-question, which of the following runes does NOT have the meaning of activation?"

Below the question, the four options were filled with a dazzling array of runes.

Look down again.

Multiple choice questions, fill-in-the-blank questions, and short answer questions.

It's full of profound questions related to rune knowledge.

The novice, a complete novice, was utterly bewildered and astonished.

"Huh??" Little White held the question blankly. "This... isn't this rune knowledge?"

"Yes," the old man said with a smile.

"But...but, I'm sorry, I actually know nothing about runes...I can't answer these questions..." Xiaobai looked up apologetically.

Then, the smiling old man handed two books, each as thick as a brick, to Xiaobai.

One of them is the "Great Dictionary of Runes".

The other book is "Commentary on Advanced Runes".

"?"noob.

"The exam is open-book," the old man said to Xiaobai.

He then gave a kind smile.

Chapter 1434 The Secret of Runes

Exams are a really distant thing for a complete beginner like me.

Holding the two thick reference books in his hands, feeling their weight, Xiaobai couldn't help but recall his past.

My last exam experience.

It seems like it was just the second day after I arrived at the newbie naval base and became the world's number one admiral.

Back then, in order to solidify his hastily prepared admiral knowledge, Lexington created an admiral exam for himself to test his abilities.

Lexington had said he would test her for a period of time, but after she finished one test, she never mentioned the test again.

Xiao Bai always thought that it was the last time he would ever take an exam, and that from then on, he would be free from the sea of ​​suffering and get rid of the boring test papers and topics.

But I never expected this.

It hasn't even been a full year yet.

I was at Ella's house, and Ella's grandfather forced me to relive the days when I was under the rule of exam-oriented education.

Xiao Bai felt a mix of emotions.

"Xiao Bai." Just then, Ella, who was beside Xiao Bai, tugged at his sleeve apologetically.

"Hmm? Ella, what's wrong?"

“Well…” Ella smiled shyly, her index fingers tapping awkwardly together, “Because runic language is a kind of knowledge that relies heavily on the learner’s talent, in order to ensure that the number of people in the world who have mastered runic knowledge does not decrease, my grandfather would always invite any new face he met who he felt was good to learn about runic knowledge. So… there are occasional exams and the like.”

Ella trailed off, a little embarrassed, her fair face flushing red with embarrassment.

Xiao Bai looked down and weighed the two huge reference books in his arms with his arms.

"Uh... Ella, you mean...?"

"Well, that's the only thing my grandpa does. Xiaobai, just play along with him for a bit, take a look at these reference books, and do some practice tests, okay?" Ella said cautiously. "Oh, by the way, the books Grandpa gave you are rare items that you can't find outside. Xiaobai, just take a look at them for the novelty."

"A rare find..." Xiao Bai looked down at the large characters related to runes in the reference book and couldn't help but smile.

makes sense.

These two books don't look like the kind of books you can easily buy in human society.

Xiaobai, on the other hand, is quite interested in rune knowledge.

Little Bai never expected that his first encounter with rune knowledge in modern times would be through an exam...

Forget it.

Anyway, Ella's grandfather is one of the few super-powerful people in the world who has mastered rune knowledge, and I just ate his persimmon cake, so I still have to give him face.

Thinking of this, Xiaobai closed the book in her hands.

"Hmm... Although I don't understand these questions right now, since it's an open book, it shouldn't be too much of a problem. I'll give it a try."

Ella breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that Xiaobai had so easily agreed to her grandfather's capricious request.

"That's great! My grandpa always likes to make people do tests, so many people who meet him for the first time are scared away. I was just worried that you would be like that too, Xiaobai... Thank you so much, Xiaobai, for agreeing to grandpa's request!"

"You're welcome, you're welcome."

Xiao Bai nodded with a wry smile.