Who is Lao Chen from The Examination and what is their importance?

Lao Chen, also called Two Brother, is the older brother of Lao Hong. At a very young age, Chen showed a remarkable ability with language and writing. Tutored by his educated mother, Chen soon outshone all the other children in his village, to the resentment of the local schoolmaster. At the age of seventeen, Chen took the district and county examinations, a series of written tests on classical Chinese learning, and passed them, earning him the title "Flowering Talent." His goal to continue taking the provincial, municipal and palace examinations seems impossible until his younger brother Hong finds the money to support the trip to the provincial capital for the first of the exams.