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

On the first day of attending the provincial school, Zhang Laoer and Xu were very worried. After returning home, they asked about their son's life. Zhang Ping'an gave them a brief introduction to the situation at the provincial school. When they heard that their son had made friends on the first day, they felt relieved.

Xu stewed a bighead carp with tofu today and called her son to come and eat. "Son, don't you like fish? I specially picked a big bighead carp to stew today. Fish here is actually cheaper than in our county town!"

"The city has a dock and big rivers, so there is no shortage of fish to eat. Of course the price of fish is cheap," Zhang Pingan said with a smile.

"That's right," Zhang Laoer replied in a deep voice.

After Wu Ya and Liu Ya set the table, they sat down to eat together. They made a big pot of fish soup, which was enough to feed the whole family.

"Dad, Mom, now that we have settled down, we can take some time to find out if there is a suitable embroidery workshop nearby and send our fifth and sixth sisters there to learn the craft. It is better than just playing at home," said Zhang Ping'an while eating.

Xu was a little unhappy: "Your fifth and sixth sisters are old enough now and can meet other people. Do you still want to send them to learn a craft?"

Zhang Lao Er replied in a deep voice, "Send it over. I'll go and ask around in the next two days."

Seeing that both father and son supported the gift, Xu had nothing to say and muttered, "They all have money to burn."

In this way, a month passed in the blink of an eye at the provincial school. The more than 30 scholars in the outer dormitory also formed their own small groups. Zhang Pingan had a good relationship with everyone, and the one he was closest to was Yuan Ziang.

"Mr. Zhang, we have a day off tomorrow. Our dormitory is organizing a literary gathering at Lingbo Lake. Do you want to join us?" asked a scholar next to him.

No matter where you are, there are always activists. The activist in Waishe is a local student named Du Zhong. He is the most active in group discussions and class roll calls. His academic knowledge is indeed quite good. It is said that he has good friends in Zhongshe and Shangshe.

Zhang Pingan didn't want to be too unique, so he replied, "Yes, do I need to contribute money?"

Du Zhong waved his hand and said, "No need. I have already arranged everything. Yuan Ziang's father is the mayor of the city, so he will be responsible for providing the ingredients. You Youwei from our outer residence runs a restaurant, so he will be responsible for preparing the ingredients and providing tea and snacks. He Zhuoran's father is the wine officer, so he will be responsible for providing the wine. This way, we have everything we need."

Zhang Pingan carefully looked at his classmate after hearing this. What a talent! He had already mastered resource integration at such a young age. He couldn't help but admire him and said, "Thank you for your hard work, Mr. Du. You have really considered everything. We should take you as the leader in our outer residence's affairs."

There was a hint of pride on Du Zhong's face, and it was obvious that he was quite proud of this matter, but he still said modestly: "No, no!"

After saying this, he went to inform other scholars.

Zhang Ping'an came close to Yuan Ziang and whispered, "Brother Yuan, are you going to pay for the ingredients by yourself or..."

Yuan Ziang felt dizzy after an afternoon of classes and had just returned from the toilet. Upon hearing this, he lazily said, "No need to pay." After saying that, he gave Zhang Pingan a look that said, "You understand."

Zhang Ping'an was not stupid and understood it immediately. He felt that he was lucky.

After getting up at noon the next day, Zhang Ping'an changed into a more decent satin robe and tidied himself up. He didn't want to show off, but at least he didn't look too bad.

Zhang Laoer took Xiaohu back to the county town to collect debts and help out. Since Zhang Ping'an passed the imperial examination and became a scholar, Doctor Fu no longer accepted tributes and introduced two medical clinics to the Zhang family. Since this was the first collaboration, Zhang Laoer still had to do a lot of things himself.

Wu Ya and Liu Ya have also gone to the embroidery workshop now, and only Xu and Zhang Ping'an are at home these two days.

"Son, you should eat more. I see that you have lost weight these days. Studying is too hard for you." Mrs. Xu couldn't help but persuade her son when she saw that he put down his chopsticks after eating only half a bowl of porridge and a bun.

"Mom, I'm really full. There will be food at the literary gathering later. I will eat by myself when I'm hungry," Zhang Ping'an said helplessly, touching his stomach.

"Okay then," Xu stood up to collect the dishes and prepare the rest to heat up for lunch.

At this moment, a middle-aged woman's voice suddenly came from the yard next to her: "You stupid girl, why haven't you finished washing your clothes yet? I asked you to do something and you're still dragging your feet. I'll beat you to death and teach you a lesson for being lazy!"

As the words fell, there was the sound of something heavy hitting someone's back, and the girl's sobbing, "Mom, I didn't, I wasn't lazy!"

"You dare to talk back? If you keep being lazy I will sell you out tomorrow" and other words like that are heard all the time.

Xu and Zhang Ping'an have been accustomed to hearing this for the past month, and they can clearly tell whether he is lazy or not.

"Oh, what a sin! San Ya said that I was partial to those girls. If I was partial to them, they could still live a good life. Compared with the girls next door, I am really the Bodhisattva. If they were born in my belly, they would be blessed," Xu sighed.

"Mom, I know you are the best mother and you have a kind heart," Zhang Pingan flattered with a smile.

This made Xu laugh out loud: "Okay, stop flattering me, let's go quickly, don't be too late!"

Zhang Ping'an went out and called a cart to go to Lingbo Lake. The distance was a bit far, on the outskirts of the city. It took him almost half an hour to get there. There were already a few students who had arrived earlier.

Du Zhong came forward and said, "Mr. Zhang, why are you here just now? Come and sit down."

After saying that, he arranged a seat for Zhang Pingan, right next to Yuan Ziang.

Zhang Ping'an looked around and found that this literary gathering was quite well organized. Sixteen low tables were placed on the wide lawn not far from the pavilion, with eight tables in a row, just enough for people to sit opposite each other. There were flowers in vases on the tables, wine, cakes, and sliced ​​chicken, duck, fish and meat. It was already a little cold, but fortunately the weather was hot, so it was not a big deal.

"This literary gathering is quite decent," Zhang Ping'an said to Yuan Ziang in a low voice while turning sideways.

"His father is a temple official, and his grandfather is the Taichang Temple Secretary. He has been influenced by his father since he was a child and is very good at organizing this kind of activities. He and I were in the same academy before, and he was also so active in the academy and could chat with everyone. Although he likes to show off a bit like a peacock, he is not a bad person. If you ask him for something, as long as it is not too much, he will help," Yuan Ziang whispered to Zhang Pingan.

"The Minister of Taichang Temple is a sixth-rank official, so he has some background," Zhang Pingan nodded and understood.

"His grandfather is in the capital now, and his father was born out of wedlock. The ancestral hall official has little real power, so it's actually like that. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been in the same academy with me before," Yuan Ziang explained.

Zhang Pingan really looked up to this friend: "I can't believe you know so much. Don't you usually just like reading storybooks?"

Yuan Ziang chuckled, "I heard this from my father. When I was in school, he told me which people I shouldn't mess with and which I shouldn't be afraid of. He gave me a good idea of ​​who I should be."

Zhang Ping'an was filled with emotion when he heard this. Soon almost everyone had arrived. Zhang Ping'an didn't expect to see an unexpected person.