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

Nearly an hour later, Xiao Yifei came to the inn again. He had obviously run here and was still panting.

Zhang Pingan poured a cup of tea and handed it over: "Don't be impatient, drink some water first and then talk slowly!"

After drinking some water and recovering, Xiao Yifei said, "Master Zhou and the others were having dinner just now, so I didn't want to disturb them. After they finished eating, I went up to Master Zhou and quietly mentioned this matter to him. Master Zhou was quite interested and wanted to discuss it first. If the matter is settled, he promised to arrange a place for you on the next passenger ship to Lin'an."

Although Xiao Yifei said it simply, Zhang Pingan knew that he must have said a lot of good things to recommend him. Most officials are not so easy to deal with.

"Thank you very much," Zhang Pingan said solemnly, "Did Master Zhou say when the exam will be held?"

"Lord Zhou told me to arrange it as soon as possible. Let's go now without delay," Xiao Yifei said. He was worried that something might happen if he delayed, after all, their canal transport ship would be returning tomorrow.

Zhang Pingan nodded: "Okay, wait for me for a moment!"

After saying that, he quickly picked up a cloth from the shelf in the room and wiped it carefully. Then he changed into clean and decent clothes, shoes and socks, combed his hair, and looked at himself in the water in the basin to see if there was anything wrong before saying, "Let's go!"

Fortunately, I was prepared and washed my face and hair in advance, otherwise I would have wasted more time.

Xiao Yifei praised: "You are still as meticulous and thoughtful as ever!"

"As the saying goes, respect the clothes first and then the person. Dressing decently and cleanly can also make a better impression on people. For unknown people like us, we must pay attention to our appearance," Zhang Pingan said as he walked.

Xiao Yifei stroked his beard and laughed: "That's true, but if you stay on the boat for a few days, you won't notice it anymore!"

Zhang Ping'an shook his head and stopped arguing, and the two of them rushed to the dock.

When we arrived at the dock, Mr. Zhou was not in the special office of the Grain Transport Bureau. Instead, he was standing on the deck of a large ship waiting, with his hands behind his back, looking into the distance.

This is a standard pretentious posture!

The cold wind whistled and felt like a knife on my face.

Zhang Ping'an secretly complained that winter was the time when class differences could be most clearly seen. Lord Zhou was wearing a thick fur hat and a cloak that reached his ankles, so he was definitely not cold. However, he and Xiao Yifei were almost frozen to death!

Why not just have this conversation in the warm office with a brazier?!

He thought so in his heart, but he had to appear calm as he walked forward with Xiao Yifei to pay his respects to Lord Zhou.

Hearing the two voices, Lord Zhou turned around and nodded slightly.

Zhang Ping'an finally saw Lord Zhou's appearance clearly. To his surprise, he was very young, no more than twenty years old. At this age, he could be promoted to Tongpan, a powerful figure, which meant he had a successful career.

Although Lord Zhou is young, his eyes are very intimidating. Zhang Pingan didn't dare to look at him more closely, but he always felt as if he had seen him somewhere!

"It's not convenient to talk in the office. There are so many people talking, and walls have ears," Mr. Zhou said something like an explanation, and then said, "Xiao Yifei has already told me about your general situation. Come with me!"

After saying that, he led the two of them to the cabin where he usually rested on the ship. It was clean and tidy, with a bed, a table and stools, tea sets, and even a wool carpet with intricate patterns. It was obvious that he paid great attention to the quality of life and knew how to enjoy it!

After a few people sat down, Lord Zhou's followers silently served tea to everyone.

Mr. Zhou didn't exchange many pleasantries. He first asked a few simple arithmetic problems, and Zhang Ping'an answered them fluently.

The difficulty of the questions then gradually increased, involving some complicated calculations of land taxes and issues about trading costs and profits. After Zhang Pingan understood the meaning of the questions, he still answered them accurately.

Lord Zhou couldn't help but show admiration in his eyes.

Then he took out an account book with disorganized income and expenditure data on it, saying that the recent canal transport accounts were a bit messy, and asked Zhang Pingan to sort it out on the spot.

Zhang Ping'an took the account book and looked at it carefully. He quickly figured it out and reported the clear results to Lord Zhou.

Lord Zhou smiled faintly, "You are indeed a talented person. You have passed the test. The accounts for the grain transport are numerous. After returning to Lin'an, I will have Xiao Yifei invite you to the Grain Transport Bureau to handle them. It may take some time. As a reward, I will also arrange a boat to Lin'an for you and your family as promised."

After saying this, he instructed his followers to arrange a ship and cabin space for the Zhang family, which would also depart tomorrow, a little earlier than the canal transport ship.

Zhang Pingan hurriedly thanked him and felt a little happy in his heart. Finally, he didn’t have to drive bus 11 anymore and didn’t have to continue fleeing!

Xiao Yifei was also very happy. After coming out, he patted Zhang Pingan on the shoulder and said, "Now I can finally feel at ease."

"Yeah," Zhang Pingan nodded.

I am about to start a new life in Lin'an.