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

Jin Bao Niang was exhausted from working on this meal. The kitchen was like a furnace in this hot weather, and she was in a hurry, so she kept working non-stop. Now that the guests had left, she could finally come out and take a break.

"Second brother, thank you so much for your help today. It's such a coincidence. We don't get to meet guests like this many times a year." Jin Bao Niang sat down and drank a sip of tea, poured a cup for Zhang Laoer as well, and said with a smile.

"But these guests are very generous and gave a few hundred more coins, so it's worth it. You can tell they are important people at first glance," said Jinbao's father, who also sat down and said.

"Zhaocai, Zhaocai, bring the fan over. Can't you see that your mother is sweating from working so hard? You stupid girl, you only know how to eat." Jin Bao's mother fanned herself with her hands and shouted to the outside of the door.

"Come here, Mom. I just gathered up the leftover fodder." Zhaocai ran in and said.

"You silly girl, go get the fans quickly, get two, one for your second uncle," Jin Bao's mother glared at her and scolded.

"Girls are useless. They need boys. Just now, those customers teased Ping'an and rewarded him with a silver bean. My girl has never received any reward money!" Jinbao's father picked up a peanut and ate it while talking. To be honest, he was a little envious and his words were a little sour. However, he felt relieved when he thought that his store had also received a few hundred coins in rewards today. One cannot have all the good things to himself.

Zhaocai ran over with two fans. After hearing what his father said, he glared at Zhang Pingan. If he hadn't been there, maybe the silver beans would be his, and his parents would look up to him a little more.

"Why are you glaring at me? You're so serious, you little girl. Go wash the dishes quickly." Jin Bao's mother took the fan, hit her daughter on the head and scolded her.

"You naughty girl, if you don't get punished for a day you'll go up to the roof and tear off the tiles, you're so disobedient," Jinbao's father also echoed and said to Zhang Laoer.

Zhang Laoer echoed a few words: "The child is young, so you have to teach him patiently."

Zhang Pingan couldn't stand it anymore. This wasn't diligent enough!

"Dad Jinbao, it's getting late today and you guys have been busy enough. I'll go back first while there are not many people here in the afternoon and I can take a break. Thank you for your hospitality today. Come to my house for dinner when you return to the village tomorrow," said Zhang Laoer as he stood up. He had wasted enough time today and usually he would be home by this time.

"Hey, second brother, don't be in a hurry to leave, come and sit down," Jin Bao Niang tried to keep the guest.

"Really? I have a lot of things to do at home," Zhang Laoer refused.

"Okay, since you say so, I won't stay. I'll go pack some food for you to take back. You can't refuse this. It's getting awkward if you keep pushing it around. We're too busy today, so we have to trouble you, second brother," Jin Bao's mother said readily, and quickly packed up a few cold dishes, including pig ears, meat patties, and braised peanuts.

After handing it to Zhang Laoer, he lowered his head and instructed Zhang Pingan, "Ping'an, play well with Jinbao in the village. Tell him that his father and I will go back to see him in a few days after the autumn harvest. Bring him some candy and tell him not to be naughty. Also, don't fight with the older kids in the future. If he gets bullied, go find his grandparents, okay? This morning, we heard from the villagers that he was bullied by Dahu. His father and I were so worried. Jinbao is a bit naive and not as smart as you. Can you take care of him a little more?"

"Yes, aunt, I will. I will definitely not let Jinbao be bullied," Zhang Pingan nodded heavily.

"Be good, come and play with your aunt more often when you go to the market with your father in the future. Your aunt will get you some delicious food!" Jin Bao's mother said with a smile.

"I will, thank you, aunt! Then my dad and I will go home. I will share the meat pie with Jinbao. I also brought him some candied haws today." Zhang Ping'an said obediently.

"Be good!" Jin Bao's mother smiled even more happily after hearing this.

The donkey cart was not moving fast, so it was quite late when we got home, and we would have to have dinner in an hour or so.

Xu was still working in the fields. Daya saw her father and brother come back and quickly came over to help. She could smell the aroma of meat and asked, "Dad, are you buying any meat?"

"No, I didn't buy it. Jinbao's parents gave it to him," Zhang Laoer replied.

"Jinbao's parents are so generous," Daya said in surprise.

"Dad, this is for you. Please put it away for me. I'm going to play with Jinbao. I'll eat the meat pie and candied haws with him," Zhang Ping'an said as he took out the silver beans and handed them to his father. He was in a hurry on the road and forgot to put them away for his father.

"Okay, Dad forgot about this because he was in his hurry. Dad will help me put it away and you can use it when you study," Zhang Laoer took it and said with a smile.

"Okay! Dad, I'm going out," he said and ran away.

Zhang Ping'an searched for a while before finally finding someone under a jujube tree at the west end of the village. Jin Bao was drooling over the tree with a group of little kids. The jujubes on the village trees were tiny, only slightly larger than lotus seeds. The lower branches had been completely plucked, leaving the ones at the top impossible to pick. One could only wait for the jujubes to turn red and fall, which was useless.

"Jinbao, what are you doing? I brought you some delicious food, stop drooling over the dates," Zhang Pingan said disdainfully.

"Ping'an, you're back from the market!" Jinbao ran over happily when he heard the voice.

"Yes, I keep my word. I even brought you some candied haws. Here!"

"Ping'an, you are so nice!" Jinbao took it and took a bite immediately. It was sour and sweet, and no child could resist this taste.

"Don't worry, no one's going to snatch it from you. I also brought some meat patties. Let's go to the back hillside to eat them. The meat patties were given to us by your parents."

"Oh, you went to my parents' house," Jinbao mumbled while eating.

"Yes, my father and I were passing by on our way back from the market. Your mother saw me and called me over. She also said that she would come back to see you after the autumn harvest and bring you some candy."

"Really? But it seems like we'll have to wait a long time for the autumn harvest. It'll take many tomorrows, right?" Jinbao counted for a long time but couldn't figure it out.

"Well, it's almost there. Let's go. Be careful or they will come to snatch it away," Zhang Ping'an said when he saw several children looking at him while sucking their fingers. Candy and meat are fatal temptations for children in the village. It is not good to be so greedy for others.

"But I want to eat it here," Jinbao said as he took another bite of the candied haws, not wanting to leave. He enjoyed the envious look, but after he broke it into pieces, half of it fell out of his mouth. A quick-eyed and quick-handed five or six-year-old child immediately picked it up and put it in his mouth.

"Safe~" Jinbao was dumbfounded and looked at his good brother.

"It's no use looking at me. It's your fault that you fell down. Let's go." Zhang Ping'an had already eaten it and there was nothing he could do. Besides, it was dropped on the ground and picked up by someone else.

"Oh..." Jinbao was dejected and held the rest in his mouth tightly.

"Jinbao, can you give me one? I can take you to play horse riding and fighting games," finally a dark and thin little boy came forward and asked.

"Ah?!" Jinbao hesitated.

"Jinbao, I can do it too. I can also take you to catch dragonflies."

"Jinbao, if you give me some to eat, I'll share the lotus pods my brother picks for me with you."

"Ah?! This..." Jin Bao felt a little dizzy after being hugged by so many people, "Then you can't finish it all!"

"Yeah, we definitely won't finish it," a group of children responded and came to get it.

"Don't take it. I bought it for Jinbao! Jinbao, come here!" Zhang Ping'an saw that the candied haws was about to be lost, so he shouted, rushed over, grabbed Jinbao and ran away.

A group of children followed behind. The older children who were playing under the banyan tree also noticed it and joined in. Zhang Pingan pulled Jinbao and ran into his home until they were safe.

"Huh...Huh..." He ran too fast and Zhang Ping'an leaned against the door to catch his breath.

"Huh... Jinbao, you haven't suffered enough. You've forgotten how much food they took away from you in the past. Now I'm helping you, and I'm going to become their public enemy, huh..." Zhang Pingan said angrily.

"Be low-key, you know? Look at our village, who doesn't tie the door when they eat meat?" Zhang Pingan continued, concluding: "Be low-key, you know? Don't show off every day."