Brittany quickly stood up with the plate and moved to the back.
Steve Rivers' face was flushed. "Hurry up. I'm sure Sam hasn't eaten yet. Oda, go and cook a few dishes for Sam."
The wife of the third son of the Rivers family, Oda, agreed but did not leave. She looked at Sam Rivers with sparkling eyes.
She wasn't as careless as Steve Rivers. She had long realized that there was something strange about Sam Rivers' return before the exams were over.
Old Mr. Rivers looked at Sam Rivers with a dark expression.
Under everyone's gaze, Sam Rivers said calmly, "Grandfather, Grandmother, Mother, Uncle Steve, Aunt Woods, Uncle Scott, and Aunt Oda, I'm sorry."
"The day before the exam, I had a stomachache and couldn't enter the exam for the first round. I lay in the inn for three days before I felt better and then sent for a chaise to return home."
After he finished speaking, the entire hall fell silent.
Everyone in the family looked like they had suffered a huge blow.
Only Brittany was hiding in a corner, still eating.
Her body was extremely weak now. She had to seize the opportunity to eat her fill.
Perhaps it was because her behavior was too different, Sam Rivers glanced at her.
After a long while, Steve Rivers said, "You didn't take the exam?"
Sam Rivers nodded.
Mrs. Long was shocked, but she quickly came back to her senses and touched her son's back. "Are you feeling better? Do you want to get a doctor? I find that your face has sunken in."
Sam Rivers looked at Mrs. Long, and his eyes softened. "I'm much better now."
"If you didn't take the exam this time, then wouldn't we have to wait for three years before you can take it again?" Steve Rivers suddenly shouted.
Mrs. Oda muttered: "Alas, how can you be so careless, getting sick?"
The third son of the Rivers family, Scott Rivers slapped his thigh fiercely. I told you to let me go with Sam. It's all because you can't bear to spend the money. You said that one more person would cost more. Now, it's all over!"
These words made the atmosphere in the room even more stagnant.
Brittany held her plate and looked at Sam sympathetically. He seemed to be the sinner of the family now.
She knew what these people were thinking. It was just that the cost of studying was high. Sam Rivers did not pass the imperial examination this time, and his family had to support him for three years. It was a huge expense.
Things would be different if he could pass the imperial examinations, naturally, there would be people who would send money and land to seek his help. The whole family could live a good life.
Brittany had already finished her meal. She quietly went out from the back door. As soon as she stepped out, she heard Madam Cook's curses. "It's all that jinx. She cursed my eldest grandson to death and then cursed David and Sam. What can I do? How am I going to live out my days..."
Brittany sneered. She took the plate and went to the kitchen from the back of the house. She knew that if anything bad happened in this family, it could all be blamed on her. She was a scapegoat.
Sam stood in the central room, neither happy nor sad.
He already knew what was waiting for him when he returned.
Madam Cook was just scolding the locust while pointing at the mulberry.
In this family, he was treated like a young phoenix. It wasn't because these family members loved him, but because he was profitable.
Now that his family's hopes had been dashed, his days in the next three years should not be too good.
Mrs. Long was also disappointed, but she was more concerned about her son's health. She pulled Sam to sit down and said, "It's fine that you're back. Let's have a meal first."
She turned around and called out to her daughter, "Susan, go and get a plate of noodles for your brother."
"Forget it, I'll get it. I'll fry some eggs for your brother."
Mrs. Long then reached out her hand to Madam Cook. "Mother, give me two eggs."
Madam Cook slowly raised her eyelids. "We still have to save up for the eggs to exchange them for money when we go to the market. Why are you eating eggs? Aren't there still vegetables?"