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

Qian Yongde was very disappointed when he heard this. He really wanted a son, but he hoped it would be a healthy and strong boy, not a disabled child who might not be able to be raised and could not even carry on the family line.

All the fatherly love in his heart was completely extinguished at this moment, and he even felt a little resentful about San Ya for giving birth to such a child to humiliate and torture him.

There's no point in saying words of comfort in this situation.

Daya was silent for a long time before she said, "I'll go get a basin of hot water and give the child a wash. My piglet has an old coat that I can tear apart to make a blanket for the child. The child won't be able to stand the cold when it gets cold."

Xu wiped her tears and said, "Go ahead. You don't need a coat. Your third sister and the others have prepared a blanket."

After saying that, he took San Ya's big bag from the car and opened it. Inside was a thick navy blue blanket made of fine cloth, which felt very warm.

Daya came over with some hot water to clean the baby. Just as she was about to put on a new swaddle, Sanya, as if she had just realized something, snatched the swaddle away and threw it out of the car, yelling, "What swaddle? This isn't for him. He's not my son!"

He roared so hard that his voice was broken, and he started coughing after he finished shouting.

Xu wiped her tears and frowned as she advised, "Even if you don't like it, it's you who gave birth to it after all. You can't just throw it away!"

Zhang also scolded, "What are you crazy about? This is all your own fault. Who can you blame? No one owes you anything. You've been busy all day and haven't even gotten any sleep. A bunch of people are keeping you busy, and you're feeling wronged!"

Zhang Pingan picked up the blanket that had fallen on the ground, patted it, and handed it to Daya, saying, "Sister, wrap the child up quickly!"

Daya nodded and wrapped the child up neatly.

After being scolded by several people, San Ya stopped talking and just shed tears silently. The tears flowed from the corners of her eyes into her hair, which was heartbreaking to see.

Qian Yongde didn't even mention holding the child. He walked to the side, squatted down, and looked into the distance blankly.

Mrs. Zhang was old and very tired after all the work. Zhang Ping'an went over and helped his grandmother back to the car in front to rest.

He said, "Grandma, we need to have a set of rules for the rest of our journey. Without rules, there will be no order. We need to pick a few leaders to take charge, otherwise there will be chaos when something goes wrong."

Zhang nodded: "Yes!"

After saying that, he patted his grandson's arm and continued, "What we're facing now is nothing serious. Everyone has their own ideas, which is normal. I even expected it before, but so what? There's no point in saying it out loud. They have to go through it and know how to be afraid before they can listen to advice."

"Everyone will definitely take this as a warning after what happened," said Zhang Pingan.

"We lived too comfortably before, so they thought things were very simple. You are a kind-hearted child, and nothing serious happened. Everyone was fine, so of course you had no way to establish your authority. But this time it will be different. You should show some courage," Zhang whispered.

"Grandma, I understand," Zhang Pingan nodded.

"Grandpa Jinbao is quite knowledgeable, and his elder brother Shuisheng is also smart. In the future, you three can discuss things more often. The team will listen to you three and won't make any mistakes. If there is anything that needs to be done, let Sanlang do it and give him some practice. Otherwise, it would be a waste of such a big guy. He needs to be trained," said Zhang.

Zhang Pingan admired: "Grandma, you are quite good at allocating resources!"

"Resource allocation? What's that?" Zhang asked, but she could guess the general idea and smiled, "Your grandma is also educated. Besides, if you don't understand this at all after living to this age, then you've lived in vain."

Everyone had to continue on their journey, so Zhang Pingan didn't waste any time and went to find Grandpa Jinbao and Brother Liu to discuss the matter. "We need to come up with a set of rules. Who should we obey after we make them? What should we do if they don't obey? We need to be more forceful. This is a refugee, not a game. If things go wrong, people will die!"

Brother Liu nodded and said, "We need a set of rules."

Grandpa Jinbao pondered and said, "Many of us have rarely even been to the county town in our lives, so our experience is limited. In addition, there are many relatives and many women, so sometimes it's not easy to speak too harshly. This really needs to change."

"My idea is that in the future, when encountering problems, it will mainly be the three of us who will discuss it, plus my grandmother. After all, she has experience in escaping famine. There will be no such thing as offending anyone in the future. We are all relatives, so just say what you want to say directly. If you insist on being stubborn, then we can only go our separate ways. There is no banquet that will last forever," Zhang Pingan said decisively.

After a pause, he continued, "To be honest, we've come this far now, and have avoided so many disasters. As long as a few of us can make up our minds, the others won't be able to cause any trouble."

Grandpa Jinbao agreed, "Yeah, alas, we are still too soft-hearted. We have been living a good life for too long and our heads are all fuzzy. It's also my fault for not insisting before."

Brother Liu thought that what happened this time was quite good, and said: "Even if this thing didn't happen, there would be a next time. I think it's a good opportunity to get the rules now!"

So while everyone was having breakfast, Zhang Pingan gathered everyone together and said with a cold face, "You all saw what happened this time. Even if we hadn't encountered that Xiangxi man, those fake bandits alone would have been enough for us to deal with. The world is difficult now and people's hearts are treacherous. We still have a long way to go to continue eastward. We must be more vigilant in the future. Since you have chosen to flee with me, it means you trust me. I also hope that everyone will listen to me in the future and we can all get to Lin'an smoothly!"

Grandpa Jinbao replied, "Ping'an, you have read the most books and are a scholar. You are well-informed and knowledgeable. We will definitely listen to you."

Brother Liu also echoed, "Yes, Ping'an. Honestly, if we hadn't chosen to follow you across the river to the south, we wouldn't be alive now. The north is full of chaotic soldiers now, it's scary to think about it!"

Zhang said calmly, "You are the leader, so we should listen to you. Everyone has seen the consequences of not listening to advice."

Liu Sanlang said ashamedly, "Ping'an, I'm so sorry. I should have listened to you and not followed them in making trouble."

"Our journey has been quite smooth, and we haven't seen any bloodshed. It's normal for everyone to be optimistic, but luck won't always be on our side. We should be more vigilant. It's also my fault for not thinking it through and not being firm enough," said Zhang Ping'an.

"But we can't do this anymore. If anyone is still stubborn and refuses to listen, and insists on coming, then we should go our separate ways. The road is wide open, and we each walk our own way. We can't let seventy or eighty people accompany us on this adventure, or even die together!"

Zhang Pingan said this last sentence very seriously. Everyone knew who he was talking about, and they all responded: "Okay, no problem!"

This incident also scared everyone. It was more terrifying than hearing about people eating each other outside Yuezhou City!