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

"Ah, I didn't give you an answer," the disappointment on Xu's face was beyond words.

Zhang Laoer, upon hearing this, advised, "No reply means there's still hope. Why rush? Just do what needs to be done. A solid foundation of knowledge is more important than anything else."

"Well, Dad, I know," Zhang Pingan said with a smile, "By the way, I won't be going home for dinner tomorrow night. Tomorrow night is Yuan Ziang's birthday party, and I have to go there."

"Do you have enough money to buy gifts? The Yuan family helped us a lot last time, and you two have a good relationship, so the gift you give can't be too shabby," Zhang Laoer nodded.

"Dad, that's enough. I know what I'm doing," Zhang Ping'an said with a smile.

Mrs. Xu said proudly, "My son is very smart. He knows exactly how to do things. Okay, it's getting late today, so let's go to bed early!"

After a good night's sleep, Zhang Ping'an woke up early the next morning and found that everything outside the window was white. After opening the window, all he could see was snow. Heavy snow was falling from the sky, which was also the first heavy snow since the beginning of winter.

"Son, close the window quickly. It's very cold. Don't catch a cold," Zhang Laoer shouted from the kitchen roof. He got up early in the morning and was now shoveling snow on the roof, worried that the snow would collapse the kitchen roof.

Zhang Ping'an then noticed his father, and quickly closed the window, got dressed and got up.

Xu was in the kitchen making breakfast, and Xiaohu was helping to light the fire. When she saw her son get up, Xu quickly brought over the fire basket she had prepared in advance. Inside was ash and partially burned charcoal, which felt warm in her hands. "Son, hurry up and warm your hands with this. It's so cold out here."

Wu Ya and Liu Ya usually get up early to embroider some handkerchiefs to supplement the family income and earn a few copper coins in pocket money. Now they are stamping their feet in the main room because of the cold, let alone needlework.

"Mom, we have never seen such heavy snow in the county and the countryside in previous years. It's such a thick layer. I guess it snowed all night," Zhang Pingan said in surprise.

Xu frowned and said, "Who knows? It will probably be very cold when it thaws!"

Zhang Laoer finished shoveling the snow off the roof and started shoveling the snow in the yard. Hearing this, he said, "Sanniang, go to the grocery store and see if there's any cotton for sale. If there is, buy some and bring it back to add some new cotton to the cotton-padded jackets of the family. Especially Ping'an's jacket, we need to add more cotton to prevent him from freezing."

"Okay, I think so too," Xu replied. Now that the family is much better off, Xu is willing to spend money on food, clothing and shelter.

After breakfast, Zhang Ping'an went to the provincial school with an umbrella. When he arrived at the classroom, there were only seven or eight people there. Yuan Ziang was actually wearing a mink cloak and did not take it off after entering the classroom. He was also holding a hand warmer in his hand. Unlike the fire basket in Zhang Ping'an's home, the hand warmer was more delicate and would not burn hands, so it could be placed in the arms.

Seeing Zhang Pingan coming over, Yuan Ziang shivered and said, "Pingan, you're here. This horrible weather, with snow and wind, is giving me a headache."

Zhang Pingan was speechless: "Master Yuan, you have a mink cloak and a hand warmer, and you're still cold?"

"I just entered the classroom. There was a wind outside just now, which made my neck feel cold and my face red. I didn't know it would snow so heavily. My boots were not lined with mink fur, so my feet are very cold now," Yuan Ziang said while stamping his feet.

"The New Year holiday is just a few days away, just hold on," Zhang Pingan comforted him. He himself felt okay, the cotton-padded jacket was quite warm, and the rabbit fur scarf around his neck was also very warm.

"Oh," Yuan Ziang sighed.

"Okay, stop sighing. I haven't wished you a happy birthday yet. May everything go well for you and may you be blessed with good fortune every year," Zhang Ping'an said with a smile.

Yuan Ziang then smiled and replied, "Thank you very much!"

Zhang Ping'an's heart moved, and he asked, "Do we have any local geese farmers? I've read that goose down is the warmest. Since you're so afraid of the cold, you could add some goose down inside your clothes. It would probably be much better."

Yuan Ziang scratched his head and said, "Really? Goose down has this function, I haven't heard of it before. But we locals don't eat goose very often, so there are very few families who raise geese. Even if there are some, they usually only have two or three to keep as guardhouses."

"There must be a lot of people raising ducks, right?"

"Many people raise chickens and ducks, but chicken feathers are generally used to make chicken feather tendons or feather dusters, and the outermost layer of duck feathers is used to make waterproof straw raincoats. I heard that some poor families also use duck feathers or reed catkins to make quilts to keep warm, but they smell very bad and are prone to lice," Yuan Ziang thought for a moment and replied.

Zhang Ping'an had heard of this as well, but he said, "That's because they didn't process it properly. You're not short of money. Choose the closest layer of duck down and process it properly to make a quilt that will definitely keep you warm. No matter how rich your family is, they can't possibly cover your entire bed with mink down or a mink quilt, right?!"

Zhang Ping'an had heard that mink fur was very expensive. Mink fur was sold from the Northeast. It was not only expensive but also rare. It was a top-quality cold-proof product that wealthy families scrambled for. A mink quilt required at least more than twenty furs. It was too luxurious!

Yuan Ziang chuckled, "Not really. I have a large family, so how could it be my turn? But my grandparents do use mink fur as cushions and mink quilts as covers. Besides, we have a floor heating system at home, so it's not cold at all. Every year after it snows, my grandparents never go out."

Zhang Pingan choked: "Well, poverty limits my imagination..."

In fact, when he was in a private school in the countryside, Zhang Ping'an had considered using duck down to make clothes and quilts to keep warm, and even selling them to make money. However, there were many lice on the chickens and ducks in the countryside, and they would have a strong smell if not handled properly. Duck down had to be collected on a large scale and disinfected. In the end, the cost would definitely not be low, and the price would naturally not be cheap. He could only sell it to wealthy families, so he gave up after thinking about it.

Now that Yuan Ziang had thought of this matter again, and now that he was in a different circle, Zhang Pingan thought it was feasible, so he suggested: "How about we give it a try? You'll be responsible for collecting the duck down, and I'll be responsible for dealing with the problems of lice and odor. Then we can make the finished product and see how it works. If it works well, we can find an embroidery workshop to cooperate in this business."

Yuan Ziang was a quick-witted person, and upon hearing this, he said excitedly, "Is it really effective? Okay, let's work together and make some money for the New Year!"

"I just have to find a reliable embroidery workshop. This thing is easy to imitate, and you can only make money from the first batch," Zhang Pingan thought.

Yuan Ziang waved his hand: "That's not a problem. My grandma's dowry includes an embroidery workshop. My grandma loves me the most, so she will definitely be able to help."