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

The real estate agent who was responsible for taking a few people to see houses was quite reliable. After listening to the situations of each family, he recommended four courtyards with one entrance. The largest courtyard had a well, and although the remaining three did not have wells, they were not far from the public well.

"Those of you with large families, like Mr. Zhang, can live in one courtyard by yourself, and the two Mr. Lius can each live in one courtyard. The remaining courtyard can be shared by the three families with smaller families, so the rent can be shared equally, which can also reduce expenses," said the broker.

Jin Bao's father wasn't too keen on sharing a house, nor did he want to save money on rent. He was more concerned about the living experience, so he said, "The elderly at home are light sleepers, so sharing a house might not be suitable. Do you have a smaller yard suitable for five or six people? One with a well would be best!"

The dealer thought for a moment and said, "Yes, there are some, but they're definitely not cheap."

Jin Bao's father said, "Then please take us to have a look first."

"Okay, it's not far from here, I'll take you there," the broker replied. If four courtyards could be rented out at once, it would be a good deal.

"This yard is nice," Zhang Pingan said after looking at it and felt that it was indeed more convenient than the big yard.

Although it is not big, with only three rooms, it has a small courtyard and a well. It is really nice and must be comfortable to live in. The walls on both sides are shared with the neighbors.

Jin Bao's father was also very satisfied after seeing it. He nodded and said, "It looks okay. Who are the people living next door? Are they decent people?"

The broker said, "Don't worry. The neighbors are all decent people, and there are no bad people. The owner of this house used to sell cakes and preserved fruits. They use a lot of water, so they spent a lot of money to dig a well in the yard. The furniture in the house is well used and preserved. If his son hadn't been admitted to Yuelu Academy, where they planned to make a living, this house would not be rented out!"

"Oh, so this house has a literary atmosphere," said Jinbao's father with a smile.

"That's right. Yuelu Academy is very famous here. Even many students from other provinces come here from afar to study. Those who can pass the exam will have limitless future prospects," the broker smiled.

"How much does it cost per month?" asked Jinbao's father.

"Seven hundred wen."

When Jinbao's father heard the price, he narrowed his eyes. It was not cheap and there was a lot of room for bargaining.

Uncle Xu couldn't help but say, "That five-room house was only 600 wen, and the rooms were bigger than this one. This one only has three rooms and costs 700 wen. It's too expensive!"

It's no use just saying it's expensive. The bargaining still depends on Jinbao's dad. Jinbao found a lot of faults in everything, from the location to the size and orientation of the room, as well as the type of room, without going into a fight with the broker. He said a lot of nice things and spent half an hour bargaining to finally get the price down from 700 wen to 550 wen.

Zhang Pingan was amazed. At this price, he also wanted to live there with his family.

The broker had lost his temper after being harassed by Jin Bao's father, so he told Zhang Ping'an the lowest price and introduced a courtyard six or seven houses down the alley. The house type was the same as this one, and it only cost 500 Wen.

The big yard that my eldest brother-in-law and second brother-in-law liked was also reduced by several dozen cents.

"I've never seen anyone so good at bargaining," the broker shook his head at Jinbao's father.

Finally, each family signed the lease, paid three months' rent and secured the house, and they can move in tomorrow.

When they returned to the inn and heard that the room had been booked, Daya and Erya felt a little distressed. "If we had known that it would be so easy to book a room, we wouldn't have stayed in the inn. It would have been a waste of money to spend an extra day."

"Sisters, that's not the case. The house still needs to be cleaned up tomorrow, so we can't move in right away. Besides, if so many of us go to see the house with our luggage, the agent will know that we are anxious to move in, and he will definitely not bargain down the price. So if you calculate it this way, we still make a profit," Zhang Ping'an said with a smile.

Mrs. Xu nodded and said, "Ping'an is right. Now that we've decided on a house, I'm going to take my five daughters and six daughters to buy some household items tomorrow. We also need to buy some cloth to make clothes. We've almost lost all our luggage on the way here. After all, we're people of status, so we can't dress so shabbily!"

Now that they had safely arrived at their destination, Xu felt relieved. After her previous anxiety faded away, she began to act like a scholar's mother again.

Zhang Laoer and Zhang Pingan didn't care either.

Everyone finished dinner early and went to bed.

After getting up the next day, everyone had breakfast outside.

The food in Yuezhou tends to be salty and spicy. Most of the breakfast sold is made of flour and noodles, topped with a layer of pepper oil. It smells nice, but tastes unbearable.

Everyone was frugal and couldn't bear to waste food, so they ate and drank water at the same time. Some children were so numb that they fanned their mouths with their hands and sweat broke out on their faces. The adults were also so numb that their faces turned red.

The stall owner saw this and said embarrassedly, "You guys are from out of town, right? Some people can't get used to it, while others find it delicious. If you can't eat it, tell me in advance next time and I can leave it out."

"No...it's okay...hiss," Zhang Pingan replied.

In his previous life, he could actually eat spicy food. Sometimes when the orphanage was short of funds, the director would buy some unknown brand of spicy strips to go with the children's meals. Two or three spicy strips could make a bowl of rice, which was more convenient and cheaper than cooking. He was not used to it at first, but his stomach felt like it was on fire after eating it, but he gradually got used to it.

After finishing the difficult breakfast, everyone walked towards the north of the city together. It was already past midnight.

When I passed by the pawnshop, the pawnbroker from yesterday was drinking tea in the front hall.

He immediately recognized Zhang Pingan and his companions, put down his teacup, and said, "Mr. Zhang, you are so lucky! You saved twice as much on the rent in one night! I thought I had made a good deal yesterday!"

"What do you mean?" Zhang Pingan was puzzled.

The broker stroked his beard and said, "You probably don't know yet, but I heard that the Sixth Prince and his personal guards arrived in Yingzhou City yesterday. It's said that he was defeated in Changyuan, and the emperor is about to send troops to attack. This news spread like wildfire, and it spread throughout Yingzhou City in half a day. Now everyone over there wants to cross the river and hide here. Not only have the boat fares skyrocketed, but our rents are also going up. People in the market say that it will double first, and it's not impossible that it will double or triple later. So I say you are lucky!"

Zhang was very relieved to hear this and asked, "Is the news reliable?"

"Whether it's reliable or not can be seen from the people who take the boat across the river. Now more and more people are coming here. Fortunately, it's peaceful here," the broker sighed.

Jin Bao's father smiled and said, "No matter what, we have signed the deed. This is God helping us!"

"Who says it isn't?"