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

"This... this is just my brother-in-law's guess." Uncle Xu really didn't understand. He was a decent man, well-behaved since childhood, and had never done anything out of the ordinary. Similarly, such people generally wouldn't do anything big. They would just stay in their own little world. They could maintain the status quo, but couldn't be expected to do anything else.

Uncle Xu was much more straightforward: "Brother, no matter what, I have decided to go with my third sister's family. We have separated anyway, and I have to hurry up and sell my land to raise some money."

"You...you you you, you are a prodigal son!" Uncle Xu was so angry when he heard this.

"Okay, big brother and little brothers, you guys take your time to discuss it. We have to go. We will set off in the next two days. If you want to follow us, please pack your things. We will notify you before we leave." Zhang Laoer stood up and said.

"I didn't expect my uncle to be so decisive and want to go with us," Zhang Pingan sighed after the car drove away.

Zhang Laoer understood a bit: "Your uncle didn't get much in the family division, so it's relatively easy for him to leave. Besides, because of the previous scandal, people around him have been pointing fingers at him. He is not a person who is content with his lot, and his life is very uncomfortable. Since our family is the first to leave, of course he is willing to follow!"

"That's true," Zhang Pingan nodded.

Next, Zhang Laoer went to San Ya's house. Since the family split up, San Ya and her husband have been renting a house and have not built a new one.

Zhang Laoer knocked on the door for a long time before someone came to open it.

"Who is it, so early in the morning?" San Ya yawned.

When he opened the door and saw that it was his parents, he thought he was dreaming and rubbed his eyes: "Mom and Dad, little brother, why are you back?"

Mrs. Xu looked down upon her third daughter's slovenly appearance and pointed her finger at the sky in disdain: "Look at what time it is, and you're still sleeping? What a lazy man with a lazy wife!"

"Hehe," Sanya rubbed her hands awkwardly, "Mom and Dad, please come in!"

After everyone sat down, San Ya went to the room to wake up her husband Qian Yongde. The couple were yawning and looked like they had not woken up yet. They were not sitting properly, which made a diligent person like Zhang Laoer very uncomfortable.

After holding his breath and telling the story, Qian Yongde sobered up a bit and excitedly slammed the table and said, "Of course we will follow you, father-in-law. This family has no room for me anyway. My parents have my eldest brother as their good son, so they don't care whether I live or die. I have always wanted to follow Ping An to do something big!"

"Third brother-in-law, this is not a big business. We are going to move our whole family," Zhang Pingan frowned.

"I know, I know. It's one thing. Anyway, we will follow you. I got some land when I divided the family property. I will find someone to sell it later. This broken house doesn't have any other belongings." Qian Yongde waved his hand, so excited that he wanted to leave immediately.

Zhang Laoer knew that the matter had been explained, so he did not stay any longer and drove back to the village.

It was just noon when they got home. There was no one under the big tree at the entrance of the village. The Zhang family was having lunch. When they saw the second family returning without their luggage, they immediately thought the same thing as Liu the Butcher and asked, "Oh my God, were you robbed?"

"Let's talk about it later," Zhang Laoer shook his head and drove the car to the backyard.

"I'll go make another pot of noodles," Li said as she stood up.

After finishing the meal, Zhang asked first: "Tell me, what's the situation?"

Zhang Laoer repeated the situation for the fourth time. When his family heard it, they were immediately in an uproar. No one wanted to leave. They were all very satisfied with their current lives and did not realize the seriousness of the matter.

Only Zhang was the calmest. After taking a puff of her cigarette, she said, "Then let's go, cross the river and head south."

"Mom," Zhang Lao Da and Zhang Lao San shouted at the same time.

Even Old Man Zhang couldn't help but look over: "Old woman!"

"As long as you have money, you can live anywhere. What's more, you will be safe and famous. People will look up to you wherever you go. It's better to be safe than sorry," Zhang said lightly after blowing out a smoke ring.

"Mom, but all our relatives are here. Moving is not a trivial matter, let alone moving so far away. I have never heard of it and have never been on a boat in my life," Li couldn't help but say.

"Everything has a first time. Husband and wife are birds of a feather. When disaster strikes, they fly away separately. What's more, we are relatives. How can we leave each other for the rest of our lives? Those of you who don't want to leave can stay. I will go with the second branch," said Zhang, glancing at everyone.

"Mom, aren't you putting us in a difficult position? Besides, you and Dad are so old," said Zhang Laosan.

"You can stay and make your own choice," said Zhang, and then asked her eldest granddaughter-in-law Yingniang to come in to help pack up.

The old lady's initiative was amazing. Zhang Pingan was full of admiration.

Neither the eldest Zhang family nor the third Zhang family took any action. Old Man Zhang tried to persuade Mrs. Zhang several times, but it was of no use. Mrs. Zhang simply ignored him.

Zhang Laoer and his son went to the Liu family in the next village again. Regardless of whether the Liu family would go with them or not, they had to tell Erya.

Erya reacted strongly: "Dad, little brother, there's no need, right? We've already been replaced in the military service. Even if something happens, can't we just handle it ourselves?"

Liu's father and mother also didn't understand and felt that it was an exaggeration.

Brother Liu, on the other hand, thought for a long time after hearing this and said nothing.

Zhang Lao Er didn't force it, and stood up and said, "We plan to leave the day after tomorrow morning. If you want to leave, come to Zhangjia Village to find us."

Father and Mother Liu disagreed. Big Brother Liu stood up to see them out, frowning and saying, "Uncle Zhang, everything is fine. Let me think about it for a while before giving you a reply. This matter doesn't look simple."

"Okay, let's go," Zhang Laoer nodded.

After arriving home, Zhang Pingan was about to go to Jinbao's house when Zhang waved at the door of the main hall and said, "Pingan, come here!"

After saying that, he went into the bedroom.

After Zhang Pingan followed him in and sat down, Zhang sighed and said lightly: "Hey, Pingan, you shouldn't have come back. If I were you, I would leave by myself. I know your second house has money."

"Grandma," Zhang Pingan called out, then paused and continued, "I was born and raised here. There are so many people here who are kind to me. How could I possibly leave on my own?"

"You are still too young, like me back then. Look at you, you have to greet every household you come to and take everyone with you. Can you carry so many burdens? What's more, people are selfish and have their own little thoughts. You do good for them, but they may not appreciate it," Zhang said lightly.

"I have to try it first, otherwise I will never get over this hurdle in my heart," Zhang Pingan said firmly in a low voice.

"Okay, people have to fall before they can grow. Here are the remaining land deeds. Go find Landlord Wang from the next village and sell them to him later," Zhang nodded and took out the land deeds from her arms.

Zhang Ping'an frowned: "Uncle and uncle are not leaving. The whole family needs to make a living. We can't sell all the land. Besides, we already gave them some when we divided the family."

Zhang smiled and said, "Am I that cruel? Just go ahead and sell it. They will definitely follow. I know them too well."