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

After a while, Professor Han came in, and the two of them immediately sat up straight to listen to the class. The weather was too cold, so Professor Han also put on a fox fur cloak, but because he was thin to begin with, he did not look bloated, but instead had a touch of luxury.

Even though the weather was cold, Professor Han stood tall and straight and spoke slowly during class. The morning passed quickly. After class, Zhang Pingan and Yuan Ziang went to the cafeteria to eat together and discuss the details of the cooperation.

"Zi'ang, duck down mainly refers to the fluff distributed on the duck's abdomen and wings, which is in the shape of reed flowers. Under normal circumstances, the good down from a duck is only about six to ten baht. If you want to make a two-jin duck down quilt, you need about seventy or eighty ducks. Your family has connections in this regard. You can send people to collect it and then make one to try. We want to sell it to wealthy families with some money, so the fabric used to make the quilt cannot be sloppy. Silk and satin should be selected. What do you think?" Zhang Ping'an said.

Yuan Ziang nodded. "That's no problem. There are only a few families that make a living by raising ducks. I'll go back and ask my dad tonight, and then ask someone to collect them. I don't think they'll cost much."

"Well, thank you for your hard work," Zhang Pingan said with a smile.

"Oh, that's nothing," Yuan Ziang said with a smile, waving his hands. "Oh, by the way, today is my birthday, and my dad brought back a lot of fresh sea bass from the market. They were all caught by fishermen after the river ice broke. They're very delicious. Bring one back when you go back tonight for your uncle and aunt to taste."

"Wow, we can catch sea bass in this weather, that's really rare," Zhang Pingan said in surprise. Although there are many water bodies in Ezhou Prefecture, the fish sold in winter are basically some home-raised fish, such as common fish like silver carp, crucian carp, grass carp, etc. There are basically no fish like sea bass and sturgeon that grow in the river. The reason is simple. The ice on the river is too thick in winter, and the risk of fishing is extremely high. If you go into the water, you may catch a cold and lose your life.

Yuan Ziang thought it was normal and said nonchalantly, "Those fishermen make a living by fishing. Those with money are fine, but those without can barely afford to eat. They don't care whether the weather is cold or not. Their lives are worthless. Besides, the price of fish caught in winter is much higher than usual. It's people buying that saves their lives."

Zhang Pingan sighed and looked up, saying, "The world is cruel like this. Only the fittest survive. You have a point, but the reason is that most people are too poor. I hope that one day everyone can have enough to eat."

"How is that possible?" Yuan Ziang stared with his eyes wide in disbelief.

Zhang Pingan smiled and said nothing. China had basically achieved this in the previous life. As long as people were not lazy, there would be no problem in having enough food.

Classes were held as normal in the afternoon, but when the get out of class was over, Professor Han suddenly came in to announce something. After discussion, the officials of the provincial school and the professors decided to start the New Year holiday early starting from tomorrow. In other words, there was no need to come to the provincial school for classes starting tomorrow. Classes would start on the 16th day of the first lunar month next year.

This news undoubtedly made everyone very excited. The atmosphere became much more lively after school, which made Zhang Pingan breathe a sigh of relief. At least he could concentrate on his down jacket and down quilt business.

Yuan Ziang held a grand birthday party this time. In addition to Zhang Pingan, he also invited seven or eight classmates with whom he had a good relationship, and asked everyone to get in the car together.

Some of them had rickshaw drivers at home who drove them to attend the class, so in the end they separated and sat in three or four carriages to go to Yuan's house together.

A group of young people were chatting and laughing in a very good atmosphere. After arriving at the Yuan family, the eldest brother of the Yuan family helped to greet the guests at the door. There are three brothers in the Yuan family. Yuan Ziang is the second oldest. He has a younger brother who is only ten years old and has sparse hair. However, he is still young and looks quite cute.

The Yuan family's house was a large house with three courtyards and a large courtyard. According to etiquette, everyone first went to pay their respects to Old Master Yuan and Old Madam Yuan, who were Yuan Ziang's grandparents, followed by Yuan's father and mother.

The elders of the Yuan family were very welcoming. Old Master Yuan said with a smile, "You young people are lively and active. Don't be restrained. Just treat it like your own family."

Old Madam Yuan had a round face and looked very kind. She had many pearls and jade in her hair, and she looked very graceful. It was obvious that she had never suffered hardship. Her hands were better maintained than those of Mrs. Xu. She enthusiastically ordered the servants to serve tea to everyone.

The Yuan family also invited Yuan Ziang's cousins, about twenty people in total, sitting at three tables.

Most of the birthday gifts given by people were calligraphy and paintings. Zhang Pingan also painted a picture of plum blossoms by himself and asked the calligraphy and painting shop to frame it and gave it to Yuan Ziang. Yuan Ziang liked it very much when he saw it and said he wanted to hang it in his study.

Dinner hasn't started yet, and everyone is drinking tea and chatting in Yuan's large study, while some are gathered in groups of three or four to play chess.

However, there are always discordant voices everywhere. One of Yuan Ziang's cousins ​​insisted on playing chess with Yuan Ziang, and he kept trying. Yuan Ziang knew this cousin too well and usually kept his distance from him. He didn't want to play, so the cousin said with a frown, "Ziang, what do you mean? I came here with good intentions to congratulate you on your birthday, and you won't even play chess with me. Do you look down on me? I have to talk to my aunt about this."

Yuan Ziang had no choice but to sit down and play chess with his cousin. After three games, his cousin completely destroyed all of Yuan Ziang's black pieces. Yuan Ziang's face turned black and he didn't want to play anymore. But his cousin still refused to give in and said sarcastically, "Ziang, I'm not your brother, but if you can't afford to lose, don't play with me. You're spoiling the fun!"

Yuan Ziang was really angry now, and said coldly, "Who asked me to play chess with you just now?"

The cousin replied, "I saw that you were alone and I was worried that you would lose face, so I invited you to play chess. Your kindness is being taken for granted!"

"You...you you you..." Yuan Ziang was almost angry to death. How could someone be so shameless.

The other party was surprised and said, "Hey, Ziang, when did you develop a stuttering problem? How come I didn't know about it? You need to see a doctor right away!"

There was quite a commotion here, and soon everyone gathered around and asked, "What's wrong? What's wrong? Let's talk it out nicely!"

Zhang Ping'an had just been looking at some rare books on the bookshelf, which were rarely seen. He came over after hearing the noise. He listened to everyone's chatter and had a general understanding of the situation. Seeing that Yuan Ziang looked like he was about to spit blood with anger, he stepped forward and said with a smile, "Brother Zhao, I see that you are a superb chess player. I wonder if you would do me the honor of playing a game with me?"

Cousin Zhao raised his eyelids, took a look at Zhang Ping'an, and said arrogantly, "Alright, it's boring to just sit there anyway!"