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

Xu was not stupid. She understood the situation immediately. The eldest sister-in-law wanted to rely on her family! The family was small. If a man and a woman lived alone in the same yard, there would be a lot of gossip, which would be bad for the reputation of the daughter's family. Since the two families were relatives, she could only marry the girl from her own family!

Seeing this, Zhang Laoer's face turned dark. He immediately turned around to pull the mule cart and said in a deep voice: "Sanniang, take Juhua with you. I will send her back now."

Xu said anxiously: "It will be dark by the time we reach the town. The road will be difficult to walk on and too dangerous. How about we go tomorrow morning?"

Zhang Laoer shook his head: "Today."

Juhua's bewildered mind finally understood that her uncle-in-law was sending her back home. Her mother had repeatedly urged her to stay in the county town for a few days. She glanced at both sides, ran over, hugged the pillar under the porch, and shouted, "Uncle-in-law, I'm not leaving. I want to stay in the county town for a few days."

The noise in the yard also attracted Erya and Sanya from the room. Liu Husheng and Qian Yongde were both outside looking for a house and were not at home.

Erya asked curiously, "Mom, what are you doing? Why is cousin Juhua here?"

Xu didn't want to say anything too harsh, so she said with a gloomy face, "Juhua wanted to come to the county town to play for a few days. She secretly hid in a basket and came here. Her family doesn't know about it yet. Your uncle and aunt must be worried. Your father and I have to send her back now."

Sanya rolled her eyes. She saw things more clearly than Erya did. She said disdainfully, "I'm afraid that the eldest aunt has some evil intentions and wants to rely on our little brother!"

Xu frowned and said, "San Ya, what nonsense are you talking about? Your cousin hasn't even said anything about her yet!"

San Ya crossed her arms and sneered, "That's right! I think although cousin Juhua didn't say anything about others, she is even thicker-skinned than a married woman like me. Any girl with any dignity should go home immediately and not stay here hugging the pillar"!

Juhua's face turned red and white after being told this by San Ya, but she still refused to let go and was determined to stay here. She had already made a showdown with her aunt's family, so this matter had to be done. They were all relatives, and her aunt couldn't do anything to her.

San Ya was even more disdainful when she saw it, and said sarcastically: "Haha, I was right, cousin Juhua is really shameless. I think the next step will be to climb into bed and make the matter a fait accompli."

Zhang Laoer couldn't stand it any longer. The words were too harsh to hear. He could not help but yell, "Shut up, Sanya!"

San Ya's words cut Juhua's heart into pieces. Tears welled up in her eyes. She didn't say a word, but still held on to the pillar tightly. It was obvious that she was determined to keep denying the claim.

Erya frowned and advised, "Cousin, what are you doing? It's the parents' orders and the matchmaker's words. This matter should be discussed with my uncle and aunt."

Upon hearing this, San Ya sneered disdainfully and went into the house.

Erya was slow to react. Her parents would definitely not agree. Her younger brother was now a student and would most likely become a scholar in the future. Cousin Juhua, an illiterate peasant girl, was indeed not worthy of him. It was normal for her parents to look down on her.

After all, they are cousins. Erya stepped forward and grabbed Juhua and said, "Go back quickly. Don't be silly. Your uncle and aunt love you and will definitely find a good family for you."

Juhua cried, "I won't leave, and my mother won't let me go back." As she cried, she hugged Zhuzi even tighter. If anyone tried to pull her away, she would scream like a pig being slaughtered, making a fuss and threatening to die. Even the Li family next door came to knock on the door, but Xu brushed them off.

Xu and Erya were helpless. As Zhang Laoer was a man and her uncle, it was even more inconvenient for him to get close to her.

This dragged on until dinner time. When Zhang Ping'an got home from get out of class, he found his house in another mess. The recent series of events gave him a headache. With the college entrance examination approaching, he had no time to distract himself. What's more, this time, cousin Juhua was clearly targeting him. If anything happened, the consequences would be disastrous.

Not to mention that Zhang Ping'an doesn't want to get married now. Even if it really comes to the stage of marriage, he will not marry his cousin. After all, he has received modern education, and the idea that close relatives within three generations cannot marry is deeply rooted in him.

Rubbing his aching temples, Zhang Ping'an said calmly to his parents, "Dad, Mom, if cousin Juhua wants to stay in the county town, let her stay here for a few days. We're all relatives, so don't let my aunt say we're being inconsiderate. I'll sleep with Jinbao tonight, and I'll move to the academy tomorrow. It'll be a good time to study for the exam. The academy is both nearby and quiet."

Xu said anxiously, "How can that be? Son, you won't be able to eat or sleep well in the academy. Don't ruin your health."

Zhang Laoer was a little reluctant, but when he thought about the mess at home, which would take time to clean up, and that living at home would affect his son's homework, he thought it would be better to live in the academy. So he nodded and said, "Okay, you can live in the academy. Come back when the house is quiet."

Juhua was dumbfounded when she heard this. This was not possible. She came to the county town just to get closer to her cousin. Her mother said that as long as the two of them fell in love, marriage would be easy.

"Cousin, you're leaving right after I arrived. What are you doing?" Juhua cried, raising her hand to wipe away her tears. She had cried this afternoon, more than she had in the past thirteen years of her life. Her eyes were swollen from crying, but no one in her family felt sorry for her.

Zhang Pingan ignored him, didn't eat dinner, picked up his clothes and went to Jinbao's house.

Liu Husheng and Qian Yongde had already returned. Seeing that his wife's in-laws had also come to cause trouble, Liu Husheng felt that his family's arrival had indeed caused a lot of trouble for his father-in-law's family. Moreover, his brother-in-law was still preparing for the exam and had almost finished looking at houses today. He immediately said to Zhang Laoer, "Dad, I've almost finished looking at houses today. Erya and I will move out tomorrow. I'm sorry to bother you for the next two days."

Zhang Laoer waved his hand and said, "Let's not talk about this anymore. We are all relatives. Let's eat."

Xu was feeling very upset and asked her third son-in-law, "Yongde, how is your house search going today?"

Qian Yongde laughed dryly and said, "Mom, it's almost time, it's almost time. Nothing we saw today is suitable. As long as we find a suitable one, we will move out immediately."

Mrs. Xu sneered: "It's okay to stay for a few days. If you want to stay at my parents' house and eat and drink for free, don't blame me, your mother-in-law, for being ruthless and kicking you out with a broom."

"No, mother, don't worry," Qian Yongde shrank his neck and smiled apologetically.

Erya went over and grabbed Juhua: "Come down quickly. Aren't you tired after holding Zhuzi for the whole afternoon? It's dark now, and you can't go back to town. Come over and have dinner!"

Juhua thought about it and felt that it made sense. As long as she wasn't driven away, it would be fine. So she followed Erya to eat, sobbing.

Mrs. Xu used to have a good impression of her niece, but now she dislikes everything about her. "Chrysanthemum, I'm not saying anything bad about you, but you're short, and your skin color is like your mother's, yellow and dark. You have spots on your cheeks, and your teeth are crooked. You're just plain ordinary. You should just find a farmer to live with and be happy. Stop overthinking."

Zhang Laoer interrupted in a deep voice: "Eat, don't talk!"

Only then did Xu purse her lips and remain silent!

Lying in bed at night, Xu tossed and turned, unable to sleep. She whispered to Zhang Laoer, "It's impossible to reason with that girl Juhua. She throws a tantrum whenever I mention sending her away. I think we should just tie her up and send her back tomorrow!"

Zhang Laoer sighed and said, "At first, I also thought about forcibly sending her back. After all, it's not convenient for Juhua, an unmarried girl, to live here. But after calming down, I think it's not a good idea. If I tie her up and send her back, not only will we completely break off relations with your family, and we won't be relatives anymore, and we'll also sever our relationship with your parents, but Juhua's own reputation will also be ruined. How can she find a decent family in the future? We can't harm her. This is too much."

"You're right. I'm just angry that one or two of them come to cause trouble," Xu said angrily.

"She is just a little girl and can't cause any trouble. If anything really happens, she will be the only one to suffer. Let her stay here for a few days first. Send a letter to your brother and sister-in-law to ask them to come and take her back. Let's see what their attitude is. We should use courtesy first and then force. If they want to stay again, they will have no way to stand. Then I can confront your eldest brother. Now that the family situation is safe, it is better for her to live in the academy than at home," said Zhang Laoer lightly.

"Well, go to sleep and talk about it tomorrow." Xu felt relieved when she heard that the head of the family had a plan.