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

In this family, Ma was most afraid of her mother-in-law Zhang, so she dared not say anything after hearing this.

Fortunately, Zhang spoke up, otherwise Xu would have started to curse. Her son passed the imperial examination and a bunch of people came to take advantage of him. Not only did they take advantage of him, but they also complained that the benefits were not enough. It was infuriating just thinking about it.

Sure enough, the villagers came again in the afternoon. Zhang Ping'an was so upset by the noise at home that he said hello to his grandparents and parents, then quickly slipped out, just in time to go to Luojia Village to see Luo Fuan.

Luo Fuan has now begun to slowly take over the family oil mill. He was very surprised to see Zhang Pingan coming over. "Ping'an, when did you come back? Congratulations, I know you passed the exam and became a scholar. It was such a big deal when the yamen runners came to announce the good news a while ago. My father even said that I didn't have such a brain. We were all taught by the same teacher, and in the end, we were worlds apart, hehe!"

Zhang Pingan smiled and sighed, "You and Uncle Luo haven't changed at all. You're both open-minded people. No matter what you do, you can live a good life. Sometimes I envy you."

Luo Fuan showed off his arms and said loudly, "Of course they haven't changed. Look at my arms. They're more than twice as strong as when I was in private school. Lately, I've been following my father every day to pick and carry sesame seeds. He doesn't allow anyone else to help me, saying that if the oil mill is handed over to me in the future, I might get cheated by the people working there."

"Hahaha, this is something Uncle Luo would do," Zhang Pingan said with a laugh. "By the way, is Fugui back? Has their academy had a farming holiday?"

Speaking of Luo Fugui, Luo Fuan said worriedly, "They had a farm holiday a few days ago. My second uncle originally said he would go to the county to pick him up, but he didn't want to go back. I heard from my second uncle that he studies very hard and stays up very late every day. He is also very thin. I am really worried that he can't bear it."

"I saw that he was in good spirits during the academy competition last year. I will have a buffet at my house tomorrow. When you come over to the banquet, I will give you the notes I took at the academy. You can give them to Fugui then. They may be of some help," Zhang Pingan comforted him.

Luo Fuan grinned and said, "That's great. When we were in private school, you were the one who took the best notes."

"You're not bad, and after all these years of studying, you should have no problem finding a job in town or the county."

"No, my grandparents are old, and my parents are getting older. I am the eldest grandson, so I have to stay at home to help them. We can discuss things as a family," Luo Fuan shook his head.

"That's right," Zhang Ping'an understood, and suddenly remembered the food issue, and advised: "By the way, your family should remember to stock up more food this year, and don't sell too much. The price of medicinal materials has been rising since last year, and generally, the price of food will follow suit. Especially this year, the earthquake hit the north, and the price of food is estimated to be even higher. I estimate that this year's autumn grain tax cannot be offset by silver, so it is better to be cautious."

Luo Fuan was surprised and asked, "Can't we use silver to pay for it? Why?"

Zhang Pingan shook his head without further explanation: "My family sells medicinal herbs, I'm just guessing."

"No wonder, there are so many rice shops in the countryside collecting grain in the past two days, and the price is nearly 10% higher than last year. Many people in the village have sold a lot of grain, thinking that they can use the silver to pay the autumn grain tax, and have some extra money to buy coarse grains to eat," Luo Fuan scratched his head.

"You can give a hint, but there's no need to say more. Smart people will have their own plans, and it's useless to say more to stupid people," Zhang Ping'an said with a faint smile.

"That's right! Let's not talk about this anymore. Come on, I'll take you to pick some melons. Our family planted a lot of melons this year, and they are ripe now." Luo Fuan looked very happy as he pulled people towards the melon field.

Finally, Zhang Ping'an ate three melons in a row in Luo's melon field, and his stomach was full. When he left, Luo Fuan packed another bag of melons and a jar of sesame oil for him to take back and share with his family.

"Do you think I look like someone who can carry this bag of melons?" Zhang Pingan said with a wry smile, holding his stomach. He thought that if he carried this bag of melons on his back, all the food in his stomach would be squeezed out.

Luo Fuan slapped his forehead in frustration: "Oh, that's right, I forgot, you are not like me. I have no trouble carrying this bag of melons now. Then I will take you back!"

It was embarrassing to eat and take the food at the same time, so how could he let Luo Fuan take it back? Moreover, it was almost dark. After much persuasion, Zhang Pingan finally poured out half a bag and carried the remaining half back on his back.

Fortunately, there were many people at home, so half of it was eaten in one go. Xu planned to use the remaining half to entertain guests tomorrow.

It was destined that I would not have a good sleep tonight. The villagers kept chatting until the moon was at its highest point before they went back. They boiled several pots of tea and the ground was littered with peanut shells and melon seed shells. After I finally fell asleep, everyone in the family got up before the hour of Yin. They were going to slaughter a pig soon, and the chef who was preparing the banquet would probably be here soon. If I didn't get up when all the people who were working had arrived at the host's house, I would be laughed at.

Sure enough, Liu Dalang arrived soon, and Liu Sanlang came with him.

Xu was surprised and asked, "Why are you two here? Didn't Sanlang say he wanted to rest at home?"

Liu Sanlang said innocently, "I...I'll come over early to help. Daya will come with me...my father and the others later."

Xu smiled and said, "We've hired a chef to prepare the banquet this time, so we can just help out. It's much easier. We don't need your help. You're the guest, so just eat at the banquet later."

Liu Sanlang just smiled and said nothing. When the pig was being slaughtered in the rice field, he went forward to help. He grabbed the pig's tail, leaned its back against the door panel, and tied up its four hooves. Then Liu Dalang slaughtered the pig. Li had already prepared a large wooden basin and placed it underneath to collect the pig's blood. These were all good things.

After slaughtering the pig, Liu Dalang casually threw the pig's bladder to the children watching on the side, causing a group of children to scramble for it.

The three Liu brothers were all tall and strong. Liu Dalang was also tall, and his face was 60% similar to Liu Sanlang, except that he looked older. He didn't talk much, but he was very efficient in dividing the meat.

After the chef who was in charge of preparing the banquet arrived, he began to arrange for people to pick, wash and cut vegetables, and they were busy in full swing.

Xu claimed that she was the mother of the scholar, and she would not do any work today. She would only help to entertain the guests. Otherwise, it would be too embarrassing if the guests saw the scholar's parents still washing and picking vegetables. Not only did she not do it herself, she also did not allow Zhang Laoer and several children to do it.

In Xu's words, "It would be so embarrassing if a guest saw it!"

Ma was very dissatisfied, but Zhang nodded in agreement. "Today is a peaceful day. Maybe his classmates and friends will come over for the feast. If the second brother's family doesn't want to go, then forget it. We've already hired a chef, and I think he's got seven or eight apprentices. Together with the family, he should be able to handle it."

Seeing someone backing her up, Xu couldn't help but feel more confident: "I have to change into nice clothes and wash myself properly so that I can entertain the guests."

After saying that, he turned around and went back to the west wing of his house.

Last night, Zhang Laosan told Ma to build a good relationship with the second house, and she responded well at that time, but now she finds that it is too difficult for her!

My mother-in-law is so unfair!