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

Mingtong School has already been on holiday, and school will resume on the 16th day of the first lunar month of the next year.

When Li Yu arrived, most of the students in the school had left, and only a few were still studying.

Li Yu found Han Zheng at a glance. He was sitting in his seat reading a book. Next to him was Qin Siran, the young master of the Qin family, who was concentrating on writing something.

Mr. Shen was instructing students on their homework at the other side of the classroom. When he saw Li Yu, he nodded and motioned for him to wait.

After a while, Mr. Shen came out and asked Li Yu to talk in a secluded place. Normally, they should go to the lounge, but Li Yu was a woman, and it was not appropriate for them to be alone in the same room, so they chose a place where everyone could see them.

"The New Year is coming, and I would like to wish you a happy new year in advance." Li Yu bowed.

Mr. Shen returned the greeting and went on to talk about business.

"Next year is an important year for Han Zheng. He will take the county exam in February and the prefectural exam in April. If everything goes well, he can also take part in the imperial examination in April. If he passes it normally, he will become a scholar. As a family member, you can supervise him, especially during the New Year. Don't slack off too much."

Since he was so concerned about Han Zheng's studies, Li Yu naturally agreed.

The imperial examination system of Dayu Dynasty was the same as the imperial examination system of Ming and Qing Dynasties that she learned in modern times. Students passed the county examination and the prefectural examination to become students, passed the academy examination to become scholars, passed the provincial examination to become juren, and passed the joint examination to become jinshi. Finally, there was the palace examination, and the top three in the palace examination were commonly known as the top scholar, the second place, and the third place.

Li Yu didn't ask Han Zheng to go to the last step. As long as he tried his best, she would accept any result.

For fear of disturbing Mr. Shen, Li Yu did not ask any other questions. Thinking that the time was about up, he called Han Zheng to leave together.

Before leaving, Mr. Shen suddenly called them.

Li Yu turned around.

Mr. Shen hesitated for a while, then shook his head, "Nothing, you can go back first."

Han Zheng and Li Yu looked at each other, performed the teacher-student salute and left.

Mr. Shen looked at the two's backs and thought that he should not tell them that the first place in the county exam can be exempted from the prefectural exam and the imperial exam and directly obtain the title of scholar. Although he thinks that Han Zheng has the potential to become the first place in the county exam next year, there are many changes in the exam room, and no one can tell until the results come out. If he tells them now, it will bring unnecessary expectations to Han Zheng and Li Yu.

*

Han Zheng was on vacation, and Li Yu was completely free from external distractions.

The next morning, the three of them cleaned the house inside and out. In the afternoon, Han Zheng wrote Spring Festival couplets, Han Xiaomei lit the fire, and she fried the meat.

Li Yu prepared fried crispy pork, chicken, vegetarian meatballs, fish and fried dough sticks.

It's rare to get so much meat, the aroma of meat fills the area within fifty meters around the yard.

One of the greedy children smelled it and lay down at the gate of the courtyard to look inside. Li Yu saw it, picked up some fried chicken and put it in a bowl, and asked Han Xiaomei to take it out and share it with them.

During the Chinese New Year, except for those who are really stingy, villagers will generally give these children food to add to the joy.

*

Li Yu spent the next two days busy pasting Spring Festival couplets, cooking meat, and steaming buns. There was almost not enough firewood at home, so he had to ask Han Sheng to buy two bundles on the afternoon of the 29th.

In a blink of an eye, it was New Year's Eve. According to the custom of Huangmei Town, ancestors had to be worshipped on the morning of the 30th.

Li Yu got up at daybreak, found a newly bought bamboo basket, put apples, wine, meat, firecrackers, incense, an incense burner and a handful of paper money into it, then called Han Xiaomei and Han Zheng to get up and worship.

The Han family’s ancestral tomb was on the mountain. Li Yu and the other two paid homage to their ancestors and then burned paper for Han’s mother, Han’s father, and Han Xiuwen.

She laid out the apples and meat, knelt on one side and burned paper, while Han Zheng and Han Xiaomei kowtowed.

After all, they are children. As soon as Han Zheng and Han Xiaomei knelt on the ground, tears started flowing.

They have a shallow relationship, having lost their parents at a young age, and although they have older brothers, their eldest brother changed after getting married, and their second brother is a good man, but he died young. Even if they don't talk about it normally, they will miss these deceased people when it's late at night.

Li Yu did not stop them. He waited until they had cried enough before calling them to get up. Then he put the apples, wine and meat into the basket and went down the mountain.

At noon, the three of them had a quick meal, and after a rest in the afternoon, they began to prepare the most important dinner of the day.

*

Because there were only three of us, Li Yu planned to make eight dishes, five meat dishes and three vegetarian dishes. The meat dishes were stewed crispy meat, steamed fish, cold beef, spicy chicken, and fried yellow croaker. The vegetarian dishes were garlic greens, cold celery, peas and corn. There was also a sweet soup: rice wine dumplings.

After her parents passed away, Han Xiaomei saw such a sumptuous New Year's Eve dinner for the first time. Even though she was used to eating meat every day, she was still very happy.

Han Zheng is more stable than her, but the smile on his face betrays his inner thoughts.

All three of them contributed to this meal.

Han Zheng picked and washed the vegetables, Li Yu cut and cooked, and Han Xiaomei was in charge of making the fire.

At the beginning of the You hour (a little after 5 p.m.), eight dishes and one soup were ready.

Listening to the sound of firecrackers coming from the village, Li Yu asked Han Zheng to light the candles on the table in the main hall, put out the offerings prepared in advance, burn paper and set off firecrackers.

The crackling of cannons and the smell of sulfur in the air announced that the year was coming to an end.

After the firecrackers stopped, the New Year’s Eve dinner officially began.

*

The meal took most of an hour.

Li Yu and Han Zheng had already eaten their fill, but seeing that Han Xiaomei had a good appetite, they ate with her.

After dinner, they cleared away the leftovers and the three of them sat in the main room to chat and keep watch.

Han Xiaomei talked about the gossip and rumors in the village, Han Zheng talked about his academic matters, and Li Yu thought about it and decided to talk about Journey to the West.

It was the first time that Han Xiaomei heard this kind of fantasy story and she was listening with great interest. Han Zheng sat next to her and looked at Li Yu, and a certain guess came to his mind again.

But the atmosphere was right and he said nothing.

That night, the three of them stayed up until midnight and fired the closing cannon before going to sleep.

*

For the next half month, Li Yu lived an exceptionally comfortable life.

The original owner had no relatives, and Han Zheng and Han Xiaomei had no grandmother, uncle or the like, so they only had to wish New Year's greetings to the Han family's relatives in the village and didn't have to worry about anything else.

By the fourth day of the New Year, all their New Year greetings had ended.

During the rest of the time, Li Yu researched new dishes at home, Han Zheng reviewed his homework, and Han Xiaomei couldn't sit still, so she went outside to play with the others.

Soon, the Lantern Festival arrived.

The Lantern Festival in Dayu's Dynasty was as grand as the Spring Festival, and there was a lantern festival in the town on that day.

Li Yu likes to watch lanterns. She eats early in the evening and takes Han Zheng and Han Xiaomei to the town.

She thought they arrived early, but unexpectedly others arrived even earlier. The street was crowded with people coming and going, and it was very lively.

The roadsides are hung with lanterns of various shapes and sizes, which are dazzling to the eyes.

Li Yu held Han Xiaomei's hand and admired the view for more than half an hour. Feeling tired, he squeezed out of the crowd and found an open space to rest.

There were candy figurines being made not far away, and Han Xiaomei wanted to buy some. So Li Yu asked Han Zheng to go with her while she continued to rest where she was.

While taking a break, someone touched his hand. Li Yu lowered his head and made eye contact with a little boy.