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

Liu Sanlang's driving skills were better than Zhang Ping'an's, and he returned to the official road after more than a quarter of an hour.

"How's the situation?" asked Zhang Laoer. He had been looking forward to it, fearing that something might happen.

Zhang Ping'an explained the general situation and concluded, "The boat fare is too expensive, and we can't rely solely on one tree. So I thought we'd send two or three people to Guojia Ferry and Heifeng Ferry to ask. Let Brother Liu take the lead. He's experienced in dealing with outsiders and has more experience in dealing with people in the capital."

"Five taels? Isn't this blatant robbery?" Wu Ya couldn't help but covering her mouth. In her opinion, this was a huge sum of money.

"There's no other way, we have to take the boat," Zhang Pingan also felt it was expensive, but there were no other options during this special period.

Brother Liu, feeling rather guilty about his night duty, stepped forward and said, "Alright, I'll take the lead. It's up to the other two to decide who will follow me."

Zhang Laoer thought for a moment and said, "Jin Bao's father has been doing business for a long time. He is very smooth in his work and behavior. I think we can let him come along. Besides, the eldest son of Liu the Butcher is also good. He is strong and sturdy. He will give him courage if he comes along."

After that, he discussed with Liu the Butcher: "My dear relative, what do you think?"

Butcher Liu also thought it was feasible: "Ping An is right. We can't all hang ourselves on one tree. Let my eldest son go with us. When we go out, we all have to work together!"

Jinbao's father also agreed.

So, Zhang Ping'an took his brother-in-law back to Tangjiadu and waited to see which side would bring good news.

Qian Yongde ate the dry biscuits and pickles he brought with him, and smelled the strong aroma of meat coming from the houses in the village. He sniffed and felt that the dry biscuits were even more tasteless. He kept staring at the chickens pecking at the haystack in the distance with burning eyes. He was eager to make something, but he almost couldn't hold it back.

"Oh, when can we eat chicken every meal? If that happens, I will wake up laughing in my dreams. I can only blame myself for not being able to reincarnate," Qian Yongde sighed.

"Eating chicken for every meal? You really dare to dream like that," Liu Sanlang shook his head. He had never had such a beautiful dream. At most, he dreamed of eating eggs for every meal, which was a more realistic dream.

Zhang laughed and said, "Everyone has their own destiny. By the time you start eating chicken every day, you might get tired of it."

"How is that possible? I won't get tired of eating it for a hundred years. If this dream really comes true, don't fight with me for it." Qian Yongde rolled his eyes, took a bite of the pancake angrily, and sighed in his heart that his life was so miserable!

More than an hour had passed, and the boat from Tangjiadu still hadn't returned. Zhang Ping'an was disappointed and anxious. Fortunately, Jin Bao's father came over and told everyone to go back: "There's a boat, let's go!"

"Which ferry terminal is it and how much is the fare?" Zhang Pingan asked.

Jin Bao's father was a little proud: "At Black Wind Ferry, there is no need to pay for the boat. When the time comes, we can just give them our mule carts and ox carts, as well as the luggage that cannot be taken away."

"Let's go, let's talk about it in the car," Zhang Pingan said as he stood up.

"Should we say hello to the village chief and others? Didn't we agree to take their boat? This way, others won't have to wait for us," Liu Sanlang asked hesitantly.

Qian Yongde had already jumped into the car and sneered at the words: "What's the point of agreeing on this? We must focus on our own business first. Besides, they may not really wait for us. We have been sitting for so long and they didn't even offer us a sip of hot water. I think they are very cunning. You can rest assured!"

"Don't worry, they have another wave of guests coming," Zhang also said, "Hurry up and get in the car!"

After we got in the car, Jin Bao's father told us in detail about what they had inquired about up ahead: "The first ferry we went to was Guojia Ferry. Just like you said, the people in that village were very timid, and the boats were not very big. They were hesitant. We argued with their village chief for a long time but got no result. So we didn't delay any longer and went to Heifeng Ferry, which is further upstream and the water is deeper, so fewer people take the boats. There are bare mountains on both sides of the river, and there are no good farmland. They are very poor. In the end, we negotiated with them."

"What are the people like there? Do they make money honestly?" Zhang asked.

After Jin Bao's father finished drinking the water, he continued, "They are a little poor. The people in their village seem to be quite tough and fierce, but I don't think they are vicious people. They are just people who earn their money honestly. After we told them that we were going to the provincial capital, they initially quoted a price of one tael of silver per person. I calculated that this would be more than 70 taels. Even if we can bargain, the amount we can get is limited. We are in a hurry. Besides, I heard Ping An say that we can't take our livestock with us. It's better to just give it to them and save some money when we go to the provincial capital to take a boat across the river. After all, we still need money to live in the south, so we should save as much as possible!"

"Uncle, your bargaining skills are still as good as they were back then. I remember when Jinbao and I were just starting out, we went to a bookstore to buy pens, ink, paper, and inkstone. You managed to haggle over 20 coins from the shopkeeper, and then you went to buy a roast chicken for Jinbao and me," Zhang Ping'an said with a smile.

"Hahahaha, a hero never brags about his past achievements. We are in a hurry and we are afraid that the people behind us will also want to take the boat, otherwise I can stall for a while longer," Jinbao's father laughed, and it can be seen that he is quite proud of having accomplished this task.

When they returned to the caravan, they stopped resting and hardened their hearts, whipping the mules to speed up and rush towards Black Wind Ferry.

It was already past midnight, and more than half an hour later they arrived at Heifeng Ferry.

Just like what Jinbao's father said, this place is indeed very poor. Looking around the village, most of the houses are adobe houses with thatched roofs. Only a few have tiled roofs. It is not as good as Tangjiadu.

The head of Liu the butcher's family was waiting here and had already contacted the boatmen, more than twenty of them, ranging in age from twenty to forty.

The weather in February was still very cold, and half of the people were still wearing straw boots, without even socks, and their feet were only wrapped in a layer of oil paper.

My hands, face and ears were covered with frostbite.

At this moment, Zhang Pingan understood why the people in this village were so ruthless. It was because they were too poor. Without such ruthlessness, they could not survive without fighting for their lives!

Jin Bao's father had been here a while ago and walked to the front to introduce them to everyone: "This is the village chief. We have already agreed that we will leave the mule cart with them and the luggage we can't take with us to pay for the boat fare."

It was obvious that the village chief was very satisfied with this deal. After everyone got off the bus, he immediately arranged for someone to take the mule and cow back to the village to give them water and food. Seeing the red whip marks on the mule, he felt very distressed and instructed: "Take good care of it when you take it back. Don't whip it!"

A younger man smiled and replied, "Uncle, don't worry. I promise to treat it better than my own parents. I'll keep it in the main room so it won't get cold."

"Well, that's more like it," the village chief nodded.

Then he said to the crowd, "Come with me. Everything is ready. The sheepskin raft has just been fully inflated."