Traveling through ancient times, I led my family to prosperity

The sound of firecrackers came from far away and Xiaolan's family thought something had happened, because at this time, the sound of firecrackers was deafening at the door of their house.

The family hurried out of the house and saw several people standing at the door, all of them setting off firecrackers. One of them was Sheng Jiaxing, and next to him stood several young people and two or three people dressed as officials.

When Sheng Jiaxing saw Xiaolan and the others coming out, he hurried over.

"Congratulations to uncle and aunt." Since Xiaoyan hadn't gotten engaged to him yet, he naturally continued to address her as he had before. "Brother Xiaowen won the prize," Sheng Jiaxing raised his voice and congratulated Sheng Xuan and Zhang.

"Ah?" Sheng Xuan and Zhang were slightly stunned, as if they didn't understand what Sheng Jiaxing said.

"Brother Jiaxing said that Xiaowen passed the exam to become a scholar." When Xiaolan heard Sheng Jiaxing say this and saw the scene outside, she immediately guessed that Xiaowen might have passed. After hearing Sheng Jiaxing say these words, she knew that Xiaowen had passed without a doubt.

Hearing their daughter say this, Sheng Xuan and Zhang came back to their senses. The couple were a little excited at this time. Sheng Xuan was still better, after all, he was now a seventh-rank agricultural official, and he was still somewhat calm. But Zhang's eyes were red.

"What about my Xiaowen?" Zhang asked.

"We're in the back and will be here soon. We're here to congratulate uncle and aunt." Sheng Jiaxing said.

At this time, several young people who came with Sheng Jiaxing also bowed and congratulated Sheng Xuan and Zhang, and auspicious words poured out like water.

"When Brother Wen passed by the county government office, these officers also came over to report the good news. These other people, some from the town and some from the county, all came over to report the good news and share in the joy." Sheng Jiaxing stepped aside and spoke to Xiaolan and Xiaoting in a low voice.

Xiao Lan immediately understood what Sheng Jiaxing meant. These people followed him here to get some money for the wedding. This kind of situation often happens when a wealthy family holds a wedding. These people don't do anything for the host family, they just come to get some money for the wedding. Some people don't even do anything else on weekdays. They just go around the world to find out which family is going to have a wedding. Then they dress up and go to the door of the family to say some auspicious words and ask for money. Such people must not be offended. If you don't give them money or give them too little, they will say some unpleasant words to make the host family unlucky.

Generally, the host will be generous when there is a happy event. Those who want to curry favor will naturally be generous in giving out tips.

Thinking of this, Xiao Lan hurried back to the house and took out some copper coins. She didn't want to worry about who got more and who got less, so she gave all the copper coins to Sheng Jiaxing and asked him to distribute all the money.

Seeing that the reward was generous, those people thanked him repeatedly, and the auspicious words they said became even more pleasing.

Knowing that Xiaowen was behind and would arrive soon, the family hurried home to tidy up, cleaned the front hall and the yard, and then dressed neatly and walked to the door. Then everyone stretched their necks to look at the official road.

Soon, two horse-drawn carriages appeared in their sight. They followed the carriages all the way to the village entrance. At this time, they could see more clearly. They saw a group of people gathered in front and behind the carriages, including Sheng Yugui, the head of the village and other villagers.

The carriage stopped at the door of the house. Xiaowen got off the carriage, greeted everyone, and was then brought to the living room by everyone.

Now that Xiaowen has passed the examination, it is no longer Xiaolan's family's business. Although Xiaolan's family has not seen Xiaowen for a long time and misses him very much, they want to get closer to him for a while and talk about private matters, but with so many guests coming, they still have to find the guests first.

After everyone sat down, the topic naturally revolved around Xiaowen's passing the imperial examination.

If one passes the examination to become a scholar, he can be exempted from the poll tax for one person and does not have to kneel when seeing the county magistrate. Scholars need to take part in the annual examination every year. If they perform well, they can receive rice from the court.

At this time, someone asked Xiaowen what place he got, who was the top candidate in the same case, who was the academic official sent to supervise the exam, what the exam questions were, and how difficult the questions were. Xiaowen answered all these questions one by one.

Xiaolan was listening nearby and was very happy for Xiaowen, knowing that Xiaowen had ranked 40th in the exam, which was right in the middle.

After a while, Bao's family, Zhao Dongjia, Xu and others got the news and rushed over. Then several village heads and elders from other neighboring villages also came to congratulate Xiaowen.

With so many people here, it's natural for us to stay at home for a drink in the evening.

Zhang, Xiaolan, Xiaoting, Xin, Fu, Liu and Xiaoyan all came out, as well as Zhao, Sheng Yugui's family, Jiayu, Xiaoye and Xiaoye's mother who came to help. These people were needed to arrange the evening banquet.

"Mom, should we just order a few tables of ready-made food in town, or make it now?" Xiao Lan discussed with Zhang.

"Let's make it now. We have a food store at home, so there's no need to go to town to order a banquet. We can just invite everyone to the food store." Zhang said, "We have all the ingredients at home, enough manpower, enough space, and tables for the banquet. With so many people, we can make it in a short time."

Zhang was very happy and wanted to cook a few of her signature dishes herself.

"Mom, I just counted the number of people and estimated that more people will come later. How about we prepare for six tables first?" Xiao Lan said.

On this occasion, the mothers and the female guests were not allowed to sit at the table. They could only eat after the men, young and old, had finished their meal. So Zhang made a rough estimate and felt that six tables should be enough.

Zhang discussed with Fu, Liu and others what dishes to cook.

Six chickens, six ducks, and six big fish were killed, and each table was preparing plates of hand-cut mutton, braised pork, steamed meat, fried eggs with black fungus, cabbage stewed with tofu, fried peanuts, and a plate of pig head. The staple food was homemade steamed buns made from flour ground from wheat grown at home.

The banquet was set up in the food shop. When the banquet was served, some people came to congratulate, all of whom brought gifts. Of course, those who came to congratulate earlier also brought gifts, so no one came empty-handed. As a result, the six tables prepared were full. Sheng Xuan took out six jars of good wine, put one jar on each table, and said that everyone could drink as much as they wanted.

Then everyone was eating and drinking happily. By the time Xiao Lan and her friends had finished their meal, the crescent moon was already high in the sky, and the guests gradually dispersed.

At this time, the family can really get together and talk about private matters.

Before Zhang could even open her mouth, she hugged Xiaowen in her arms, and her eyes instantly turned red. "My good son, you really bring honor to me." Zhang said, shedding tears.

Everyone began to frantically try to comfort Zhang, and it took a lot of effort to calm her down.

"Mom, you've cried several times today," Xiao Lan teased Zhang, and then said to Xiao Wen, "Xiao Wen, you've worked hard."

"Second sister, there's nothing so hard about this. I can study now and have where I am today thanks to you. If it weren't for you, our family wouldn't be able to live the life we ​​have now. Even if I like reading very much, I wouldn't have any books to read." Xiao Wen said.