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

"Mom, don't worry. I guess this matter might be handled by Sun's parents. Brother Sun himself may not be aware of it. As far as I know, he is not that kind of person," Zhang Pingan comforted.

Although Zhang Laoer was a little upset, he still looked at the long-term and said, "There are many people in the family, and there are many disputes. That's how it is. The Sun family is a very good family. What's more, Sun Liulang himself has studied for a few years and is good-looking. It would be easy for him to find a girl from the county to marry. If our son had not been able to study and passed the examination for a Tongsheng, this marriage would have been impossible no matter what. It is not the time to increase or decrease the betrothal gift. We have to wait and see."

Zhang Ping'an also felt that Sun Liujin was still worthy of his fourth sister. The most important thing was to have a good life in the future. The betrothal gifts were all for the time being. "Mom, no one is perfect, and it's even more impossible to have the best of both worlds. As long as Brother Sun treats Fourth Sister well, that's enough. It wouldn't be good to make a fuss now. I trust Brother Sun's character. He is knowledgeable and has a handsome son. He comes from a rare good family."

Xu felt that she had been cheated and cursed: "I knew that old man Sun was not a good person. His eyes were gleaming with vileness and he was calculating in his bones. I was wondering why he was willing to give eight taels of silver as a betrothal gift. It turned out that he was waiting here!"

Zhang Lao Er felt that Si Liang was barely acceptable, and said in a deep voice, "Don't tell anyone about this, especially in front of my in-laws. Let's wait and see!"

The family of three calmed down and went out to greet everyone with a smile. Ma came forward to help carry things and said flatteringly, "Second sister-in-law, let me help you!"

Xu knew that Ma had always looked down on her, and her sudden enthusiasm was definitely a case of a weasel paying a New Year's visit to a chicken with ulterior motives, so she didn't respond at the moment.

It wasn't until dinner time, when Ma came to the kitchen to help chop vegetables, that she said, "Second sister-in-law, I really envy you. Your daughters all married well, unlike my family, who have no connections. Dahua could only marry in the village, and now the whole family is still working in the fields to make a living!"

Xu said calmly, "As long as they are diligent and willing to work, their lives will be good."

Seeing that Xu didn't respond, Ma simply expressed her thoughts directly: "Second sister-in-law, you know a lot of people in the county, can you help my daughter Erhua keep an eye out for someone? I don't ask for someone as good as Si Ya, but someone in the county will be fine."

"I'm just a woman who does laundry and cooking at home every day. How could I have such an ability? My fifth and sixth daughters are about to get married," Xu replied with a roll of her eyes.

"Oh, second sister-in-law, I know you are very capable. You underestimate yourself too much. After all, she is your niece. If she lives a good life, you will also benefit from it in the future," Ma said with a flattering face. In fact, she was cursing Xu in her heart at this moment. Isn't she just relying on giving birth to a good son?

The two of them were arguing with each other, and Xu simply stopped talking. Li tried to smooth things over, saying, "Alright, alright. There are many good families. Our daughter won't have trouble finding a husband. Today is Si Ya's big day. Let's not talk about this anymore. Second brother and sister-in-law will definitely help keep an eye out."

Ma then stopped talking and secretly vowed to find a good family for Erhua.

Early the next morning, after Xu invited everyone to have breakfast, the families of Zhang Lao Da and Zhang Lao San drove back to the village, and Zhang Ping'an returned to the academy to continue his classes.

At noon, Zhang Ping'an, Jin Bao and Xiao Yifei were eating in the cafeteria. Suddenly, there were bursts of thunder outside, and soon it started to rain heavily. Zhang Ping'an put down his bowl and chopsticks, walked to the window to look at the sky, and said worriedly: "It seems that this rain is not small. I don't know how long it will last. Our medicinal herbs will be harvested in the next few days. This will definitely affect the harvest."

Jinbao comforted: "It's okay, the weather in May is just like a child's face, it changes every moment."

Xiao Yifei has been well-off in terms of food, clothing, housing and transportation since he was a child, but he is not ignorant of the sufferings of the world, and he also comforted: "Farming means relying on the weather for food, and God will not bear to not give us food."

"I hope so," Zhang Pingan could only pray silently.

When school was over in the afternoon, Zhang Laoer was already waiting at the gate of the academy. He came specially to bring an umbrella to his son. When he got home, Xu had already prepared dinner. The family ate in the kitchen while watching the crackling rain, all with worried looks on their faces.

Xu was worried, "What should we do? This crop of herbs is almost ready to be harvested, and we can't let the rain soak them!"

Zhang Laoer sighed and said, "What can we do if God wants it to rain? Let's wait and see for two days. If the rain doesn't stop, I will drive back to the village in the rain to check on the situation in the fields. If we dig some more ditches to drain the water, maybe we can still save the fields."

Zhang Ping'an disagreed: "Dad, no, it's too dangerous to drive in the rain. What can you do if you go back now? It's raining and we can't harvest the herbs. My grandma will definitely arrange the drainage. Don't worry, we can wait until the rain stops."

Zhang Lao Er and Xu sighed together: "Ah!"

While the family was waiting anxiously, the rain continued intermittently until early June, and the medicinal herbs harvested in May this year were completely gone.

Zhang Laoer and Xu Shi had been unable to sleep for more than ten days because of the rain. As soon as the rain stopped, they immediately returned to the village, took Si Ya with them, and asked Zhang Ping'an to go to Jinbao's house for dinner in the next few days.

Zhang Laoer was gone for four or five days before returning. The news he brought back was not good. The medicinal herbs from May this year were indeed finished. They had been soaked in water for too long and mold had grown on the roots, making them completely unusable.

The whole family was heartbroken, but there was nothing they could do. God simply wouldn't give them food this year. Zhang had grown the most crops, and Mrs. Li was so heartbroken that she almost fainted. If this were converted into silver, how much rice and oil would it cost?

Among the family, only Zhang and Zhang Laoer quickly accepted this reality. They pulled out all the medicinal herbs while the soil was still soft, so that they could be ready to plant the next crop. Zhang Laoer also hired two people to help, which was another expense in the past few days.

"Dad, things have come to this. Let's prepare to plant the next crop. I'm worried that the weather will be inconsistent this year, and the grain harvest won't be very good. We don't grow grain at home, so we have to buy it. It's best to buy more grain and keep it in stock." Zhang Ping'an said worriedly.

Zhang Laoer had not thought of this yet. He nodded and wiped his face and said, "You are right. As long as there is food at home, there is no need to worry. Let's leave it this way regarding the medicinal materials. I will go out and buy some food to store. I will ask someone to take a message to your uncle and third uncle someday. We have to buy some for our family as well. It will be cheaper for them to buy it in our village."

The family had lost a large sum of money, and Xu's mood was similar to Li's. However, she felt that she was now the mother of Master Tongsheng, and it would be inappropriate to cry any further, so she forced herself not to cry. However, she became more and more concerned about the money, and the most obvious thing was that the standard of food at home plummeted.

There was only one meat dish per meal, and this meat dish was specially prepared for Zhang Ping'an and Zhang Lao'er. She and Si Ya didn't eat it. Even so, she was still muttering, "If it weren't so embarrassing to go out and dig wild vegetables, I would have just dug some and cooked some porridge. Anyway, Si Ya and I don't do much at home, so we don't need to eat so well."