"Mr. Wang, what are you doing here?"
The man Zhao Jing called "Mr. Wang" was none other than Wang Chengde, the government-sponsored scholar who had served as his guarantor when he took the Scholar examination.
This Mr. Wang had been an inseparable friend of Mr. Zhao's. He was an upright man and quite learned, but seeing him here at this time meant he must have been unsuccessful in the recent examinations.
When Wang Chengde saw Zhao Jing and De'an, his face lit up with excitement. But the excitement quickly gave way to embarrassment. He covered his face with his sleeve and said, "I'm so ashamed. I came away from the autumn examinations completely empty-handed. I've lost all face."
Before Zhao Jing and De'an could say a word, the other scholars sitting in the main hall chimed in, "Every last one of us here has come away empty-handed! If we'd had any success, we'd be honored guests of the Lord Prefect right now, not heading home in such a sorry state."
