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

When they got home, Xu had already prepared a sumptuous lunch. Liu Shuisheng had also returned from visiting the shopkeeper. According to Chinese New Year customs, one cannot go hungry during the first month of the year, otherwise one will go hungry for the whole year.

During the meal, Zhang Ping'an talked to his family about the apprenticeship banquet and decided to hold it on the tenth day of the first lunar month.

Xu was so shocked that she even put down her chopsticks and asked, "Son, is it true? It won't change this time, right?"

Zhang Lao Er also put down his bowl and chopsticks and frowned and asked, "Mr. Han, are you sure you want to accept me? If so, we need to prepare the apprenticeship gift."

Zhang Pingan had no choice but to repeat what happened again and said with a smile: "Dad, Mom, don't worry, there shouldn't be any problem this time."

Zhang Lao Er grinned upon hearing this and stood up, saying, "This is truly thanks to our ancestors' blessings. If we were in the village, we could go to the ancestral graves to pay our respects. We don't have the facilities for this in the capital, but we still need to offer sacrifices. Sanniang, there's a chicken we haven't stewed yet. Steam it after dinner. We have to pay our respects to our ancestors."

Mrs. Xu was already grinning from ear to ear. "Okay, we have some bacon, fish, and wine at home. It's quite a feast, enough for our ancestors to eat their fill."

Zhang Pingan pulled his father to sit down and said helplessly: "Dad, let's eat first. We can still do these things after dinner."

Zhang Laoer then sat down and said with a smile, "Listen to my son!"

Liu Shuisheng laughed and said jokingly: "Ping An has really made it big now. Brother, I will rely on you from now on!"

"What are you talking about? Let's eat," Zhang Pingan said with a smile and rolled his eyes.

After the family finished lunch, Zhang Laoer asked Wuya, Liuya and Xiaohu to help him fold gold ingots. That was to cut yellow paper into small squares and fold them into the shape of ingots. They had already folded some for the ancestor worship yesterday on New Year's Eve, but Zhang Laoer thought it was not sincere enough, so he took out the remaining paper, cut it and asked them to fold it together.

When Yuan Ziang came to pay New Year's greetings, he saw a pile of folded gold ingots in the main hall and exclaimed in surprise: "Wow, folding gold ingots on the first day of the Lunar New Year!"

Zhang Pingan smiled helplessly and said, "There's still some paper left to fold. I have nothing to do today, so I might as well fold it. It can be regarded as a way to show my sincerity to my ancestors."

"That's right," Yuan Ziang smiled, "My master also ordered his servants to fold a bunch this year!"

The Yuan family is a local family in the provincial capital with a large population. There are a lot of relatives in the family, so Yuan Ziang was very busy on the first day of the New Year. After sitting in the Zhang family for a while, he said goodbye and left.

Starting from the second day of the first lunar month, Zhang Ping'an stayed at home, practicing calligraphy and reading books every day, which was quite comfortable.

On the sixth day of the first lunar month, Mr. Han sent his servants to inform the Zhang family to simply prepare the six ceremonies of becoming a disciple, and invited the whole family to go to the Han Mansion on the tenth day of the first lunar month. The banquet would be hosted by Mr. Han's eldest disciple.

Zhang Laoer and Xu were a little uneasy. They always felt that they had taken such a huge advantage that it would be inappropriate to do nothing.

"When the time comes, we can just pay a visit according to the etiquette." Zhang Pingan himself was a little nervous, but his parents were already so panicked, he couldn't show it too. The teacher gave him the impression that he was very reliable, so there shouldn't be any problem.

In a blink of an eye, it was the tenth day of the first lunar month. Zhang Laoer and Xu got up before dawn, washed up and changed into their most decent clothes. Xu put on all her jewelry, but still felt it was not perfect enough.

"Dad, do you think I can do this? Will I bring shame to my son?" Xu said nervously. She was even more nervous than when she gave birth.

Zhang Laoer was also nervous. He glanced at it and nodded: "Not bad, very good."

When Zhang Ping'an got dressed and stood up, the two of them were already waiting in the main room, and Xiaohu was eating breakfast nearby.

"Dad, Mom, why did you get up so early?" Zhang Pingan was shocked.

Zhang Laoer urged in a deep voice, "Hurry up and wash up and eat. Don't waste time. If you're late, it will give others a bad impression."

Seeing his parents so nervous, Zhang Pingan stopped talking nonsense and went to wash up quickly.

Finally, the family went out just after the hour of Chen.

Xiaohu is driving the car in front. After practicing a few times, he has become very skilled at driving.

After the three of them arrived at the Han Mansion and revealed their identities, the doorman immediately and enthusiastically led everyone to the main hall and said, "Young Master Pan came here yesterday to prepare for the apprenticeship banquet!"

"Who is Young Master Pan?" Zhang Pingan asked.

The doorman replied enthusiastically, "Master Pan is the master's eldest disciple, and will be your senior brother from now on."

Zhang Pingan nodded, understanding what was going on.

When I arrived at the main hall, I found that a handsome young man was already waiting there.

Zhang Ping'an exchanged glances with the other person to confirm their identities, then bowed and said, "This must be Senior Brother Pan. I'm Zhang Ping'an, your new disciple. Next to me are my parents."