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

After everyone had finished buying eggs, Zhang Pingan smiled and asked, "Old man, do you know if there is a boat from Quzhou City that can go to Lin'an?"

"Take a boat? Old man, I have never taken a boat before, and I don't know where to take a boat. Every time I go to the city, I just go to the South Market to sell some small things in exchange for some copper coins to buy oil and salt. But there seems to be a dock in the city," said the old man.

Zhang Pingan thought for a moment and then asked, "What are the conditions for entering the city? What's the situation in the city like?"

"Well, there's no real requirement. My home is in a nearby village. I just need to pay five copper coins to get into the city. It's quite lively there," the old man replied, then lamented the difficulties of the world: "Life is so difficult nowadays. It used to only cost two copper coins to get into the city, but now it's expensive and the security is not as good as before. Last time I came to sell sesame seeds, someone even stopped me on the road and robbed me. That's why I brought my son with me this time. Sigh!"

After saying this, he asked his son to pick up the empty basket, and the father and son walked away slowly, swaying from side to side.

After listening to the old man's words, Zhang Pingan felt deeply moved. Is there any place in the world where things are good now? In comparison, this place is actually quite stable. The chaos in other places is even worse, with human tragedies happening every day.

After showing their passes and paying the entrance fee, they entered the city smoothly and found that the city was indeed quite lively. The shadow of war seemed to have not affected this place. There were still beggars kneeling on the ground begging in the city, but there was also a mixed atmosphere.

There are shops on both sides of the street, and various hawking sounds can be heard everywhere.

Everyone hadn't seen such a lively scene for a long time and felt quite uncomfortable. They pulled at their clothes and the women even combed their hair, trying to appear decent and not be looked down upon by others.

Even though no one might notice them.

Zhang Ping'an walked along the street, asking around for the location of the dock. During the journey, he met a few gangster-like people who looked at them unfriendly. However, seeing that although they were dressed simply, the men were strong and had fierce eyes, he did not dare to provoke them easily.

I finally found out where the pier was, but when I got there I discovered that there were very few ships going to Lin'an, and the fare was expensive, so many people were huddled near the pier waiting for a spot.

There were many snack stalls on the pier, with steam rising from them and a rich aroma. It was already noon, and the children were staring at the food on the stalls with fierce eyes, almost pouncing on them. Zhang Pingan picked a noodle stall, went over and sat down, and said, "Let's eat first, and we'll talk after dinner."

The stall owner was a middle-aged couple with two children helping out. Seeing the huge business coming in, they said cheerfully, "What would you like to eat? My fish noodles are famous far and wide. The broth is made with fresh fish broth made fresh this morning. It's so delicious that it'll make your tongue drop!"

Shen curled her lips and muttered, "How can I eat noodles if my tongue is so tender!"

The proprietress pretended not to hear.

The stall was not big enough, so everyone sat down against the cart and let the children eat first after the noodles were ready.

Over the past two days, life has returned to its previous standard. As Donkey Egg ate, he asked, "Mom, is this the end of our hardships? Do we have to keep running away?"

Daya smiled, touched the child's head and said, "Don't run away. Let's go to Lin'an slowly. Once we get to Lin'an, mother will stew some meat for you."

The children all laughed when they heard this. They felt very miserable when they first fled, but as they endured the hardships all the way to Quzhou, they seemed to feel that the hardships were over. They soon regained their vigorous spirits and became chattering again.

The proprietress was a talkative person. When she heard that everyone wanted to go to Lin'an, she laughed and said, "That's not easy. The boat to Lin'an is in short supply!"

Xu pointed at a fleet of large ships not far away and asked in confusion, "There are so many large ships over there, how come there is no ship?"

"Those are canal ships, used for big business. Ordinary people like us can't get on them," the proprietress shook her head.