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

Ever since Xu went to the county town, she has seen her daughters marry better and better each other. Now her standards have become higher. She doesn't care about the village or town at all. At the very least, she wants her daughter to marry in the county town. Upon hearing this, she said perfunctorily: "His aunt, the family is very busy right now. In ten days or so, the fourth girl will also be married. Let's talk about it after this period of work is over. There is no rush!"

Shen disapproved and said, "We're not asking you to have the wedding right now, why don't you decide on it first?"

After he finished speaking, seeing that Mrs. Xu didn't respond, he continued to say to Old Lady Xu, "Mother, don't you agree? Cousins ​​have been marrying since ancient times. What a wonderful thing!"

Old Lady Xu was a bit embarrassed. Selfishly, she hoped to strengthen the relationship so that her grandson would support her family when he became successful. However, if she didn't handle this well, she would offend others. So she said, "Third son-in-law, I think this marriage is not bad. The two children are childhood sweethearts. Wu Ya has a quiet personality. She must not be treated badly after marrying into the Xu family. What do you think?"

Wu Ya was a little anxious when she heard this and tightly grasped the corner of her clothes, but Zhang Pingan knew that her father would definitely not agree.

As expected, Zhang Laoer pondered for a while before replying, "Mother, I don't think this matter is urgent. Wu Ya and Liu Ya will have to go to the provincial capital with us in the future."

Shen said anxiously: "What does it matter? It's not something that can be decided first."

Old Man Xu cleared his throat and interrupted, "Alright, the children have their own destiny. Let's not talk about this today."

Upon hearing this, Mrs. Shen twisted her body in anger and stopped talking. Mrs. Yu sneered inwardly, knowing that this would be the result.

Wu Ya finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Seeing this, Mrs. Xu quickly changed the subject and said with a smile, "By the way, isn't our Ping'an looking for a schoolboy? Everyone, please help me find one. Several families in the village have mentioned this to me today. They all have many children and want to go to the provincial capital to have a good meal and broaden their horizons. Even the village chief has suggested to me that his little tiger should go to the provincial school with Ping'an."

Li continued, "This is a big deal. We need someone who is honest, hardworking, and not too naive."

"What my sister-in-law said is right," Xu agreed.

Zhang Laoer said in a deep voice, "Actually, I think Daqiang's little tiger is not bad. He's young, hardworking, smart, and can even read a few words. He'll be very useful when he helps deliver mail."

"Little Tiger from Daqiang's family is no good. He looks like a stick. If we need to move anything, we can't rely on him," Ma commented while eating melon seeds.

Zhang took a puff of her cigarette and said slowly, "I think Xiaohu is a good person. We are not looking for a servant to work like a slave. We just want him to help run errands and do some light work like serving tea and water."

Zhang Laoer smiled and said, "That's right, Mom. I'll go tell Daqiang tomorrow."

Upon hearing this, Ma spat out a mouthful of melon seed shells and curled her lips.

Zhang Ping'an was quite familiar with Dahu and Erhu from Uncle Daqiang's family, but he could not remember what Xiaohu looked like. Mainly because he had seldom played in the village since he went to study in a private school. Xiaohu seemed to be three or four years younger than him, and they could not play together at all.

After chatting for a while, several female relatives went to prepare dinner. The chef had already left after making lunch. Fortunately, they were all ready-made leftovers, so they just needed to be heated up without much effort.

After dinner, Xu took Zhang Laoer, Zhang Ping'an and Daya to the west wing to count the gifts. The most valuable ones were the pieces of silk and satin given by Lin Junhui, which cost dozens of taels of silver. The next most valuable ones were the gifts from the gentry and landlords nearby, which were all very substantial, either silver or cloth and jewelry.

Most of the gifts given by villagers and distant relatives are just a few or dozens of coins. Cousins ​​and real relatives give more, but no more than 200 coins at most.

Xu was dazzled by the pile of gold and silver jewelry and cloth on the table. She was reluctant to part with any of them. The worst cloth was fine cotton, and she was reluctant to give it away. "Dad, do we really want to share it? These are all good cloths. Even if we can't wear them ourselves, we can exchange them for money!"

Zhang Laoer was also heartbroken, but he saw the long-term future better than Xu. He said in a deep voice, "When we go to the capital, we'll have to rely on our eldest and third brothers to help with the farm work at home. We can't be too stingy at this time. We still have relatives at home. We should give them two feet each as a token of our appreciation. We can't take all the good things for ourselves."

Zhang Ping'an glanced at the gift list and probably had an idea in his mind. He comforted her, "Mom, Dad is right. Don't be sad. There will be more later. Keep these silks and silver. I can use them as return gifts for my classmates' banquets. It will be very decent. Divide up the remaining fine cloths as you see fit. I see there are some silver jewelry in here. This plum blossom silver hairpin is very suitable for you, and the peony one can be given to Grandma."

As Zhang Pingan spoke, he inserted the hairpin into Xu's hair, smiled and nodded, saying, "Well, it fits perfectly, Dad, Big Sister, don't you think so?"

Zhang Laoer and Daya were very supportive and agreed with a smile: "Very good!"

Only then did Mrs. Xu smile brightly and touch the hairpin with her hand: "Thanks to my son, I am enjoying myself!"

Daya laughed and said, "You know what, with this hairpin on, mother really looks like an old lady from a wealthy family."

Xu laughed and spat, "You're just teasing your mother."

Daya just smiled and didn't refute.

Zhang Pingan picked up another silver hairpin with a pomegranate pattern and handed it to Daya: "Sister, this is for you. The pomegranate pattern has a good meaning, and it means many children and good fortune."

Daya waved her hands and said, "It's too expensive. I can't accept it."

Upon hearing this, Xu quickly took it and put it in the box, saying, "Your elder sister has a silver hairpin, so this one of yours wouldn't be a problem."

Zhang Ping'an and his elder sister looked at each other and smiled helplessly. They already knew what kind of person their mother was.

"Mother, this hairpin belongs to Big Sister, and we didn't give it to her. Besides, Big Sister's husband has helped our family a lot, so of course Big Sister should accept it." Zhang Pingan took the hairpin out of the box and handed it back to Daya: "Big Sister, just keep it!"

Zhang Lao Er also said in a deep voice: "Daya, just take what your little brother gave you. It's too valuable to divide evenly, so don't tell anyone else."

Daya finally accepted it, her eyes red as she said, "Dad, I know, I've benefited a lot from my parents' family since I got married."

Seeing that both her son and her husband wanted to give it to her, Xu had no choice but to say reluctantly, "Daya, then you should keep it well. Remember the kindness of your mother's family."

"Yes, Mom, I know," Daya nodded.

"Sister, let's not talk about this anymore. Come and help mother cut the fabric. Divide it up and go home. It will be difficult to walk when it gets dark," Zhang Ping'an said with a smile.

"Okay," Daya replied with a smile.

Xu and Daya were both used to doing work, and they were very efficient and divided the materials in no time.

There were also two or three boxes of snacks given by others, which were distributed to the relatives. The Li and Ma families received the largest amounts. Ma was finally satisfied and said nothing more.

When Zhang saw that there was a silver hairpin for her, she accepted it with a smile without saying anything.

After everything was divided, Zhang Laoer and his family followed to see the guests off. It gets dark late in the summer, and there was still some afterglow in the sky, so they could still get home before dark.

Only at this moment did the banquet truly end.

Early the next morning, Zhang Laoer went to Daqiang's house and agreed to let Xiaohu be his servant. Daqiang was overjoyed and asked Zhang Laoer to take Xiaohu home that day to get to know him first.

When Zhang Ping'an was having breakfast, he saw a skinny black boy in the house. He had a typical farm boy's appearance. Although he was dark, he was energetic and his eyes were bright.