Farming and reading family

Gao E laughed when she saw Chen Jie's reaction.

In fact, Tao Meiyu's yard had been deserted for a long time and became deserted even faster. She had to write a letter to Tao Meiyu to talk about this and see what arrangements she had.

"You will have a big yard in the future." Gao E said with a smile.

Chen Jie thought for a moment and shook his head: "There are only a few of us in my family, and it's good to live in this yard now."

If he also had a big yard, the eldest brother would definitely feel even more disappointed.

"I just think it's a pity that the yard is empty." Chen Jie explained.

There is still some food at home now, and we can save some food by going down to the river to catch some fish.

By then, nothing will be of any use, and the amount of fish caught will not be enough to cover the cost of fishing.

People say there will be a three-year drought, because after three years the drought is unbearable.

That day, Gao E was thinking about whether to start building a road, so that she could hire some people and alleviate the tenants' food shortage.

Chen Fansheng, whom I hadn't seen during the Chinese New Year, actually came.

He has become much thinner and doesn't look very energetic. I heard from my second son that my father-in-law has been taking tonics for the past two years. How did he become like this?

"Dad." Gao E came out to greet him. "But are you not feeling comfortable living in He County?"

Chen Fansheng stood in the courtyard without entering the main hall. "With the weather being this good this year, it's better to send the second son to the capital earlier so that he doesn't miss next year's imperial examination."

Gao E thought that this was still a year away, and Chen Fansheng began to worry about it: "This is such an important matter, Dad has to talk to my husband."

Chen Fansheng glanced at Gao E when he heard her say this, feeling that the second son had been completely controlled by Gao Shi these years: "You are his wife, so you should pay attention to these things."

Gao E thought that if Chen Ke failed the exam this time, it would be quite embarrassing.

"And Zhengyan and his marriage." Chen Fansheng raised his voice. "Get married soon and expand the Chen family."

Gao E complained in her heart that the Chen family was not a big tree and had no roots, so what was the point of talking about branching out?

"Please persuade your elder brother. Since he has divorced Yang, he should let her go quickly. He can find another one himself. What's the point of doing this now?" Chen Zhengyan felt bad just thinking about it.

"If Dad wants to take care of these things, just do it directly. I can't do anything even if you tell me." Gao E spread her hands.

"You can't even take care of Zhengyan's affairs?" Chen Fansheng looked unconvinced.

"Zhengyan is the eldest grandson of the Chen family, and his marriage must be handled with great caution. What kind of girl can he find now? It would be better for him to find a good girl after he has achieved some success." Gao E suggested.

Chen Fansheng thought so too. If his second son had not been a scholar, he would not have been able to marry the daughter of a landlord.

But what's the point of marrying a landlord's daughter? You will still be oppressed.

But he didn't say that.

I still think that marrying a girl from a better family would also be a help.

"I really can't talk about my husband." Gao E said helplessly, "If I talk too much, people will say that I married my husband just so he could become an official. That would be so unpleasant."

"There's no point in talking about my eldest brother's affairs. It's not right for a younger sister-in-law to ask about her brother's family affairs." Gao E wanted to laugh.

Chen Fansheng thought for a moment and said, "After all, you don't care about anything in this family?"

"I'm managing this family well." Gao E was puzzled. "Dad said I don't care, it's just that he doesn't want to solve some problems, so he lets me, who has nothing to do with these things, solve them."

Chen Fansheng glared at Gao E. Although she was no longer noisy, she was still irritating.

He thought about it and turned and left.

"Goodbye, Dad." Gao E said with a smile.

Chen left the second brother's house and went straight to the academy to find Chen Ke.

Chen Ke saw his father coming and hurriedly poured water.

"Don't be busy." Chen Fansheng was a little impatient.

I thought to myself, it takes ten years of hard study, so why are you already imitating the behavior of these officials before you even get into high school?

Chen Ke was a little embarrassed: "Dad is not comfortable living in He County."

"If you want me to feel at ease, then come back and get the top scorer in the imperial examination next year so that I can die with peace of mind." Chen Fansheng said directly.

Chen Ke almost knocked over his teacup: "Now there are refugees everywhere..."

"Don't worry about whether they are refugees or not. What does being a refugee have to do with your success in the imperial examination?" Chen Fansheng lost his patience. "I've talked to your wife and asked her to prepare for you early. You've already been delayed once, so there can't be any problems this time."

For this reason, Chen Fansheng would rush to the clinic to see a doctor whenever he felt a little unwell in the past two years, and even if he was not sick, he would get some tonic medicine.

He was very worried that any problems he might encounter would affect his second son's imperial examination performance.

After hearing what his father said, Chen Ke pondered for a moment: "There is still a year left before the imperial examination. The atmosphere in the academy is good, so I can take advantage of this time to study hard."

"Isn't the capital better than here?" Chen Fansheng was angry. "This is where the emperor lives, why don't you go and get some dragon energy?"

"It's too expensive to go to Beijing," Chen Ke explained.

"It's a small amount of money. Our family could afford it before, and we can afford it now." Chen Fan said generously.

Chen Ke didn't want to think about his previous trip to the capital.

Although I was in Beijing, I lived in the worst room. I had to lean sideways to walk through the aisle. I couldn't even eat enough steamed buns. When I woke up hungry at night, I could only drink cold water.

Maybe it’s because life is better now, Chen Ke feels that he can’t live like that now.

He couldn't tell his father about this, as he felt it was embarrassing.

"That's different." Chen Ke said in a low voice.

"What's the difference?" Chen Fansheng looked at Chen Ke. "You always wanted to go to the capital earlier before. What's wrong now?"

Chen Ke wanted to say that he might not be destined to be an official, but saying so would disappoint his father: "I'll think about it carefully."

"What's there to worry about?" Chen Fansheng said angrily, "You don't have to worry about family matters."

Chen Ke said nothing.

"It's settled. I'll go find a fortune teller to calculate an auspicious day. You pack up and leave." Chen Fansheng said and left.

Chen Ke saw his father off, feeling that this time he couldn't avoid it.

He was just a small scholar before, so it was normal that he was not on the list.

He is so famous now, and he will definitely be laughed at if he fails.

Chen Ke felt a headache just thinking about these things.

Gao E and Luo Qing'er selected fabrics together to make small clothes for Luo Qing'er's children.

"My sister-in-law used to make the best clothes..." Gao E paused and said, "I was quite ignorant before."

Luo Qing'er smiled and said, "Did Big Brother really divorce Big Sister-in-law?"

"Let's not talk about this." Gao E said directly, "You don't have to do so much. Children grow up quickly."

Luo Qing'er nodded: "Listen to my elder sister."

The two were chatting when Chen Ke came in from outside. He didn't say anything and didn't leave. Luo Qing'er understood and left.

"What's the matter, sir?" Gao E motioned Chen Ke to sit down.

"Did Dad come to see you?" Chen Ke asked in a low voice.

"Yes." Gao E nodded and then told everything.

"Dad is really..." Chen Ke couldn't complain. "It's not that I don't want to go to the imperial examination. In the current situation, if I encounter rebels on the road, I might lose my life."

"Ah?" Gao E was shocked. "Then you can't just go out like that."

Chen Ke heaved a sigh of relief when he heard Gao E say this: "But Dad only wants me to take the imperial examination. He even said he would ask a fortune teller to find an auspicious day for us to set off."