Traveling to an ancient peasant family: I got rich by doing business

Mingtong School is located in the north of the town. It was opened by a scholar in his early twenties. His surname is Shen. Although he is young, he has first-class academic ability.

The school is divided into a class for tongsheng and a class for xiucai. The class for tongsheng mainly accepts people with no learning foundation, while the class for xiucai accepts people who have passed two examinations of the county government and become tongsheng and are about to take the examination for xiucai.

When Li Yu and Han Zheng arrived, Shen Xiucai was teaching a class for students who were not yet qualified. They did not disturb him but stood under the osmanthus tree in the yard waiting. At this time, the osmanthus flowers had not yet all fallen and the fragrance was fragrant.

There are two classrooms in the school, one in the east and one in the west. The small room in the middle is where the teacher marks lessons and rests.

About half an hour later, a young man in a blue shirt with delicate features walked out from the east study room. It was Mr. Shen.

Since he had informed them in advance, Shen Xiucai directly asked the two to follow him to the lounge.

Li Yu waited for him to sit down, then signaled Han Zheng to bring the wine.

"Don't worry about that." Shen Xiucai raised his chin and pointed to a table on the inside of the door and said, "I heard that you studied for two years before. There is a set of questions over there. Show them to me after you finish them."

Han Zheng and Li Yu looked at each other and walked over according to Shen Xiucai's instructions.

There were six questions on the test paper, some of which were purely recitation questions, some of which were policy essays and poetry writing questions. Han Zheng glanced over the paper before starting to write.

The number of questions was not large, and Han Zheng had finished them in less than quarter of an hour. After a quick check, Han Zheng gave them to Shen Xiucai.

Shen Xiucai picked up his pen to make comments. After a while, he asked with a complicated expression: "Did you really only study for two years before? Did you study on your own during normal times?"

The questions in his test paper covered the entire contents of the Four Books, and the questions that required filling in the original sentences were real questions from the college entrance examinations in recent years, and this kid actually got them all right.

Han Zheng told the truth: "In response to your question, sir, I studied for two years when I was young, but later my family had a change, so I put my studies on hold. As for self-study, I dare not hide it from you, sir. I studied privately in the first two years of school. Later, I didn't touch it, and only picked up the books again after I came in."

Shen Xiucai looked at him seriously, and seeing that he didn't seem to be lying, he nodded and said, "You've done very well. You can come tomorrow and study with the Xiucai class."

Li Yu felt relieved. Although she knew that Han Zheng's admission was a foregone conclusion, she could not truly feel at ease until he was admitted.

Mr. Shen had to continue his class, so Li Yu and Han Zheng didn't want to disturb him, so they handed in their tuition and said goodbye and left.

*

It was already mid-afternoon when we returned to the village.

It is not the busy farming season now, and there are many people talking by the stone mill in the center of the village.

Seeing the two of them, someone waved and greeted them, "Where have you been?"

"I went to the town." Han Zheng replied: "My second sister-in-law knew that I liked reading, so she took me to Mingtong Academy to become a disciple."

Everyone in the village knows Mingtong School, which is the best school in the town. If a child can go to school in Mingtong School, the family members will feel more confident when speaking outside.

The villagers were a little bit unbelievable for a while. Education is very expensive, and the tuition fee for one year is almost equal to the annual expenses of an ordinary family. Is Li Yu really willing to spend this money?

Han Zheng wanted to take this opportunity to show everyone how good Li Yu was, so he continued, "My second sister-in-law has already paid the tuition for me, so I can go to study tomorrow."

The villagers looked at each other in bewilderment, thinking that they had never expected Li Yu to have such courage!

Several people admired Li Yu on the spot. She became a widow on the first day after getting married, and she could still treat her brother-in-law like this after being dragged down. Most people could not do that.

There were also some who were jealous and said in a neither-too-loud nor-soft voice: "Studying is not that easy. Some people cannot pass the exam to become a scholar even when they are in their 50s or 60s. If you start studying in your teens, you may not pass the exam to become a student until you are 20."

Li Yu looked at the person who was speaking. It was Qian's sister-in-law Feng. This person had the same personality as Qian and couldn't stand others being better than her.

Li Yu knew the truth of killing someone and destroying his heart, so he slowly raised the corners of his lips and said to Feng: "Aunt Feng is right, but the teacher said that Han Zheng is good at studying, not to mention passing the examination for a scholar, it is a sure thing that he will pass."

Feng: “…”

"It's getting late, I won't disturb you all. Han Zheng, let's go."

The two walked away side by side. The villagers looked at them, and finally someone laughed dryly, "The Han family is going to be prosperous."

Feng clutched the handkerchief tightly in jealousy.

*

Li Yu walked not far away and let out a sigh, "Han Zheng, I just wanted to piss off Feng, don't take it to heart, don't feel pressured in studying, we'll just let it go with the flow on the exam."

Han Zheng said gently: "I know, but don't worry, second sister-in-law, I am confident that I can pass the exam and become a scholar." Let alone a scholar, even if he had to risk half his life, he would pass the exam and become a Jinshi so that his second sister-in-law would not have to suffer for the rest of her life.

Li Yu smiled and said, "Okay, then I'll wait for you to become the first scholar with an honor in the village."

The next day, the family of three went out together for the first time.

There was no time to make breakfast, so after going to the street, Li Yu bought two sesame cakes, cut some meat into them, and let Han Zheng have breakfast. Fearing that he would choke, she also bought him a bowl of rice porridge.

"It's still early, take your time eating, and go to school by yourself after you finish. Xiaomei and I will go sell the braised food first." There were customers waiting to buy braised meat, Li Yu gave them a few instructions and quickly walked back to the stall.

Han Zheng's eyes became sore as he looked at the thick meat in the sesame bun and the steaming rice porridge.

*

On Li Yu's side, regular customers found that there were more pork heads and braised spareribs today, so they all chose to try the new dishes. And because the pork heads were fatter and cooked with Li Yu's secret seasoning, the flavor was rich, so they sold out faster than the pig intestines.

The two pig heads produced a lot of meat, but there were many buyers, so when Mr. Hu, a regular customer of the stall, arrived, there was still a small piece left.

Boss Hu took it without hesitation.

This guy came almost every day. Li Yu thanked him and put a few pieces of braised pork ribs in the bag when wrapping it in oil paper.

"You are a good businessman." Boss Hu took it with a smile, but did not leave as usual. "Boss Li, I want to cooperate with you on a business. I wonder if you are willing."

Seeing that there were not many customers, Li Yu waved to Han Xiaomei to take over first, and she invited Boss Hu to talk in a teahouse not far away.

After ordering a pot of tea and two snacks, Li Yu said, "Thank you, Boss Hu, for remembering me. What's the business?"

Boss Hu was very satisfied with Li Yu's attitude, and he said directly without keeping the secret, "I have a friend who runs a restaurant in the state capital. He came to Huangmei Town yesterday and wanted to buy your recipe after tasting your braised meat. Of course, you don't have to worry about the money, he is willing to pay this price."

Boss Hu showed two fingers.

"Two hundred taels is not a small amount. I personally think that Mr. Li can consider it carefully. Besides, my friend only sells in the state capital and the county, and it will not affect your business in Huangmei Town."

This price is indeed not low. Some villagers may never see so much money in their entire life.

But... Li Yu said: "Boss Hu, can I meet your friend?" She could sell it, but she needed to know what kind of person the buyer was and whether it was worth selling.

Boss Hu was not afraid of her seeing people, and said, "Wait a minute, I'll go home and ask him to come over."