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

After the mule cart had gone far away, Zhang Laoer said, "This Mayor Yuan is quite good."

Zhang Ping'an nodded and said, "Mr. Yuan is a man who knows how to act. Yuan Ziang has a good personality, and his family is a local of the prefectural city. They have been doing business here for generations, and their in-laws are intertwined. Making friends with them will only benefit the family. My fifth and sixth sisters are about to get married, and we don't have any connections in the prefectural city. Perhaps this is an opportunity."

Thinking of his two daughters' marriages, Zhang Laoer also sighed. People always strive for higher positions. Now that he has come to the provincial capital, he doesn't want to marry his two daughters back to his hometown. However, he has no connections in the provincial capital, and he is very worried!

The mule cart sped all the way home. Xu had already prepared dinner. She knew that the father and son had gone to sell the son, and she didn't know what the result would be. She was waiting at the door, and only breathed a sigh of relief when she saw her own car coming from afar.

After the people entered the yard, he whispered, "How's the situation? Has it been sold?"

Zhang Laoer said in a deep voice, "Let's talk inside."

After entering the house and sitting down, Zhang Laoer told the general situation. After that, he took out the 35 taels of silver he had earned today and asked Xu to keep it. Boss He would give the remaining 50 taels next time.

Holding the warm silver in her hands, Mrs. Xu said happily, "That's great! Our family will be much better off. I never thought my son was so smart. He just casually made something and actually sold it for money."

Zhang Pingan smiled and said, "Mom, let's eat first. You can put this money away later."

"Hey, you guys eat first, I'll go put the silver away," Xu waved her hand.

Zhang Lao Er smiled helplessly and said, "Let your mother go. Let's go eat first."

After they had almost finished eating, Wu Ya and Liu Ya suddenly said, "Dad, the epidemic is almost under control now, and we don't have much to do at home. Why don't my sixth sister and I go back to the embroidery workshop to learn embroidery?"

Zhang Laoer looked at his two daughters who were becoming more and more beautiful, and said thoughtfully, "You two are old enough to get married. I don't expect you to do anything. Just stay at home for a while. When you are sure that everything is OK, you can return to the embroidery workshop."

"Hey," Wu Ya and Liu Ya responded.

"Fifth sister and sixth sister, do you feel bored at home?" Zhang Pingan asked with a smile.

Wu Ya smiled shyly: "We just can't sit still. We used to be able to wander around in the countryside, but now there's nowhere to go and it's a bit boring. At least going to the embroidery workshop means we can have more people to talk to."

"That's right," Zhang Pingan understood. "How about I teach you two to read? Jinbao gave me several of his storybooks. You two can read them to kill time later."

Wuya and Liuya hesitated: "We are so old and still need to learn to read. We will be laughed at."

Zhang Lao Er also disagreed: "A woman's virtue lies in her lack of talent. They are all daughters of ordinary families. They should just find a good family to marry into peacefully. Why bother learning to read? By then, your mind will be distracted and you'll be thinking about things you shouldn't."

"Dad, you've been to the provincial capital, why are you still so conservative?" Zhang Pingan said helplessly.

Zhang Laoer put down his chopsticks and sighed, "It's not that Dad is conservative, we're just an ordinary family, there's no need. If you're talking about literacy, your grandma knows a lot more words, even better than your grandpa, and she even knows some kung fu. But look at any of the younger generation she taught to read, they all lived unhappy lives."

"My grandma can read," Zhang Ping'an and Wu Ya and Liu Ya asked curiously. They had never heard of her before. They only knew that she knew some martial arts and no one could beat her in a fight in the village.

"I heard this from your grandfather when I was a kid. Your grandmother wasn't particularly close to any of the children. Maybe your third uncle was a little better. She never told us about her childhood," Zhang Laoer recalled. "But there's one thing your grandmother said that really stuck with me. She said the more you know, the more troubles you have."

"But the situation in our family is different now. Daughters of wealthy families are required to learn to read and write. My sisters also have time, so why not give it a try?" Zhang Pingan thought for a moment and said.

"So are you two willing to learn? Well, if one of you is willing to teach and the other is willing to learn, I won't stop you," Zhang Laoer said finally.

Wuya and Liuya hesitated and replied, "Then let's learn it and give it a try."

After Xu came out after hiding the silver, she realized that such a big thing had been decided. Although she was very unhappy and worried that it would delay her son's studies, as long as it was something that her husband and son had already decided, Xu usually would not refute it. She only muttered, "Why should two little girls learn to read? It's because our conditions are good now and we have a good life. If we were in the countryside, we would have so much work to do that we would never have the time to do it."

Wu Ya and Liu Ya smiled, knowing Xu's character, and did not refute.

In this way, Zhang Ping'an began to teach his two sisters some simple words, starting with the Three Character Classic. Wuya and Liuya were already quite old, and their comprehension ability was much stronger than that of children, so it was not too difficult to teach them. However, their memory was not very good. What they learned today they would forget tomorrow, so they could only practice repeatedly. Wuya and Liuya had bitter faces every day when practicing calligraphy.

Later, Zhang Ping'an came up with an idea. He took out a book with fewer words from the storybook that Jinbao gave him and showed it to the two of them. Jinbao had listened to Zhang Ping'an's advice. The storybook came with illustrations, and the two of them could understand it halfway. They also wanted to know the specific content, so their enthusiasm for learning came up.

One day, Zhang Pingan was about to go home after class when Professor Han suddenly called him: "Ping'an, come to my study."

Zhang Ping'an guessed that it was related to the last mention of recommending Mr. Han. More than ten days had passed and Professor Han had not made any move. He thought the matter was over.

After sorting out his mood, Zhang Pingan went to Professor Han's study. Professor Han smiled and said, "Sit down. You should have guessed why I'm looking for you."

Zhang Pingan bowed and said, "Is it about the introduction I mentioned last time?"

"That's right," Professor Han said, stroking his beard. "I've already mentioned this to my cousin, but he's been busy with official duties. He only confirmed it today, saying he'll be free tomorrow. We'll go visit him after school tomorrow."

"Thank you, Professor Han, for your trouble," said Zhang Pingan.

"Okay, I don't have anything else to do. You can go home and prepare first," Professor Han said with a smile.

"Yes," Zhang Pingan replied, then said goodbye and left.

Becoming a disciple can be said to be a turning point in one's life. Having a good teacher can help one avoid many detours. Now Zhang Ping'an's mood is comparable to when he was preparing for the college entrance examination. There is a hint of nervousness and a hint of anticipation.

Such a big deal definitely needed to be announced to the family. Zhang Laoer and Xu were both surprised when they heard this: "What? You're planning to take a scholar as your teacher?"