The journey of the only child of a peasant family to take the imperial examination

Liu Shengyuan stepped forward and said in a gentle voice, "Old man, this is clearly a pheasant. How could it be your chicken? And why did you bring a chicken up the mountain for no reason?"

"This is the chicken I raised. I was planning to take it down to sell after picking mushrooms. It just ran out of my backpack. I looked for it everywhere and found that you had roasted it." The old man insisted that this was his chicken.

As she spoke, she began to cry and cried out, "My poor chickens, I raised them to such a big size, but I couldn't bear to eat them when my grandson was sick."

Seeing that the man was crying pitifully, Xiao Yifei didn't want to argue and asked, "How about this, just treat it as your chicken. 50 cents will be enough to compensate you, right?"

The old man continued to cry, "If I put this at the market, it would have to sell for at least 60 or 70 wen. Besides, my chicken is still laying eggs, and the loss is more than just this one chicken." He even thought 50 wen was too little.

Zhang Pingan was amused. He was now certain that this was a scam. Seeing that these people looked like scholars and were easy to talk to, he said, "Yifei, wait a minute!"

After Zhang Ping'an finished speaking, he stepped forward and said, "You just said that the chicken ran out of your basket. Can you let me see the basket?"

The old man asked cautiously, "Why are you looking at my basket?"

"Since you said the chicken ran away from your backpack, there must be chicken feathers in the basket. Besides, chickens are straightforward. It's not a long way from the foot of the mountain to here, so there must be chicken droppings in the basket. Let me take a look and I'll know whether the chicken is yours. If it is, we will definitely compensate you. If not, then we have to talk it over. We might even have to take you to see the official and let the county magistrate make a judgment. Anyway, we have plenty of time." Zhang Ping'an said slowly.

Jinbao also reacted and agreed, "That's right, since you say the chicken is yours, show us the basket."

The old man defended himself by saying, "I just washed the basket and went to pick mushrooms."

"That doesn't prove that the chicken belongs to you. There is no witness or evidence. Why should you ask us to pay compensation? We are not afraid even if you sue the county magistrate," Liu Shengyuan also said.

When Xiao Yifei saw that this person was trying to extort money, he immediately said angrily, "You old man are so mean. You actually want to extort money. You should be taken to the authorities."

The old man saw that he was exposed and could no longer fool people, so he immediately changed his expression and said, "Maybe I saw it wrong. I don't want you to pay me back."

"What on earth are you doing in the mountains?" Zhang Ping'an put away his smile and asked coldly.

This time the old man really protested: "I really came here to pick mushrooms. Matsutake and morels are picked in season now and can be sold at a good price." After saying that, he put down his backpack for everyone to see.

Zhang Ping'an took a look and saw that they were indeed morels and matsutake mushrooms. Seeing that the old man's hands were dry and cracked with mud, he knew they were indeed the hands of a farmer. He said, "You old man have bad intentions. You ran into us this time, but you won't be so lucky next time. You should behave yourself."

The old man kept nodding and bowing: "Yes, yes, young master is right."

Liu Shengyuan waved his hand and said, "Let's go quickly. Our chicken is about to burn."

The old man then left quickly.

Xiao Yifei said angrily: "Hey, this really is a problem that can happen anywhere."

"That's why we should pay attention to safety when we go out. It's not as peaceful as we think out there. If you are not careful, you will be targeted," said Zhang Ping'an.

Liu Shengyuan thought of what happened on the way to the provincial examination last time and nodded with a sense of sympathy.

"Let's not talk about this anymore, let's eat chicken," Xiao Yifei called out, took a dagger to cut the chicken, and distributed it to several people.

Zhang Ping'an took a few bites and found the meat to be quite tender and not as fishy as he had imagined. It was just a little bland because it lacked salt.

The pheasant was not very big, and the four of them finally shared the pheasant and ate it all. Then they washed their faces and hands by the river before going down the mountain.

It was a lively place at the foot of the mountain. Some people brought Go boards and played them, some were discussing academic matters, and if they were hungry, there were free meals. It was not until the afternoon that everyone slowly dispersed.

Liu Shengyuan was going back to the county school. Xiao Yifei's home was in the east of the city. They said goodbye at the gate of Donghu Lake. Zhang Pingan and Jinbao took a car home.

After arriving home and doing his homework for just half an hour, an unexpected guest came to visit. Zhang Pingan hurriedly stepped forward and bowed, saying, "Brother Sun, long time no see!"

The person who came was Sun Liujin. The two first met at the competition among the four academies. Zhang Pingan was quite impressed by Sun Liujin's good calculations, and that was how the two got to know each other.

"Brother Zhang, there's no need to be so polite. I know that your Qingsong Academy went to Donghu for an outing today. You must be free today, so I came to visit you," Sun Liujin said with a smile.

Zhang Laoer was not at home today as he had gone back to the village to collect medicinal herbs. Only Xu could entertain the guests. The family had already sent a matchmaker to the Sun family at the beginning of the month. Xu guessed that the boy from the Sun family must have come for this matter. She didn't know what to say, so she could only quickly pull her son out to entertain the guests.

After boiling water and serving a pot of tea and a plate of snacks, Sun Liujin stood up and said politely, "Thank you, Auntie!"

Xu smiled and said, "Don't be polite, just treat it as your own home. You and Ping'an talk first. I'll go out to cook. We'll have dinner here tonight."

Zhang Pingan poured Sun Liujin a cup of tea and asked with a smile, "Brother Sun, I wouldn't come here for no reason. Are you here to discuss marriage?"

Sun Liujin was able to play well with Zhang Ping'an and had an open-minded personality. He smiled when he heard this and said, "That's right! Before, your father and mother sent a matchmaker to my house to propose marriage. At first, my family was confused and didn't know which family it was. After listening to me, they understood. After all, it concerns my third brother's lifelong event, and my parents wanted to find out before making a decision. That's why it's been delayed until now. I hope you can forgive me if they are sorry for anything."

Zhang Pingan replied, "That's perfectly normal. I understand. However, your father and mother should have asked a matchmaker to talk to my parents about this matter. Why are you the one coming here?"

Sun Liujin felt a little embarrassed and said awkwardly, "It's like this. My third brother later said that he already had someone he liked. So, his marriage with your sister is definitely off the table. But I think you're a really good person, and your sister isn't much worse either. So, I'd like to have me be the one to propose marriage. Is that okay? Of course, I have to come here in person to make the proposal to appear sincere!"

Zhang Pingan almost spit out his tea: "Brother Sun, you are only 14, right?"

Sun Liujin corrected him, "She'll be 15 in June."

"Then my fourth sister is almost two years older than you"!

"If a girl is one year older, she'll have a golden rooster in her arms; if she's two years older, she'll have a jar full of gold. That's nothing," Sun Liujin disagreed.

"Do your father and mother agree?" Zhang Ping'an was a little hesitant.

"My parents respect my ideas very much. If there are no problems with my brother's family, I will let my parents propose marriage," Sun Liujin had thought it through.

"Marriage is a serious matter, it's the parents' orders and the matchmaker's words. My parents have to make the decision on this matter. My father has returned to the village now. Let's do this. After he comes back and the family has discussed it, we will let the matchmaker go to your house to make the decision," said Zhang Ping'an.

"Okay, then I'll wait for good news. I really want to be your relative," Sun Liujin said solemnly with his hands clasped together.