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

The next day was New Year's Eve. Although we had just settled down in Lin'an and everyone was busy, we still had to have the reunion dinner together.

The entire Zhang family, including the first, second and third wives, gathered in the small courtyard shared by the first and third wives to have the New Year's Eve dinner in the evening. Li and her two daughters-in-law were mainly in charge of cooking, while Xu and Ma brought a few main dishes to add to the dishes. This was also the rule of the reunion dinner in previous years.

No matter adults or children, they tried their best to dress neatly and cleanly before dinner. Perhaps considering that her two daughters were getting married and her son was working in the provincial school, which was a respectable job, Xu also specially went out to buy new cloth to make new clothes for everyone in the family. Outsiders could tell that they were living a good life.

The table was filled with dishes, including chicken, duck, fish and meat. Although they were not delicacies from land and sea, they were very rich and full of thought.

As the head of the family, Old Man Zhang picked up his wine glass first, cleared his throat and said, "It's not easy for our family to settle down in Lin'an. Although life has been a bit hard this year, the days ahead will definitely get better and better."

Everyone agreed and raised their glasses, and the atmosphere was quite good for a while.

The third room's little grandson blinked his eyes and said in a baby voice, "Grandpa, I want to eat meat."

This caused everyone to burst into laughter. During the Chinese New Year, adults always try their best to meet the various requests of children.

After Old Man Zhang started eating, Ma quickly picked up a piece of braised pork for the little guy.

The others were not to be outdone and started to pick up their chopsticks, leaving shadows behind. Soon all the meat dishes were picked out.

Everyone then started to slow down and eat the vegetarian dishes. The vegetarian dishes with the flavor of meat were very delicious and fragrant. It was the best meal of the year!

The New Year’s Eve dinner ends very quickly, and after eating, everyone has to stay up until the early hours of the next morning before going to bed. Therefore, this is the time for everyone to have fun and relax the most.

Because of Zhang Ping'an, Gobang has become popular at home. There is no need to buy a chessboard. Just draw a few squares with charcoal and find a few stones to play.

Zhang Chenyang, the eldest great-grandchild, was the first to suggest playing Gobang, and the other children followed suit, picking up stones and placing their pieces on the makeshift chessboard.

Erzhu Dahe and others who were watching nearby were talking at the same time and pointing at their own children. Some said here, some said there. It was very lively.

Li saw this and joked, "With so many of you giving orders, don't confuse the boys!"

The crowd burst into laughter again.

Erhe was one of the only two educated people in the family and had once worked as an accountant. He looked down on the games played by other family members and insisted on dragging Zhang Pingan to play to make up twenty-four points.

This was also what Zhang Ping'an taught them. He had almost mastered it so much that it was not difficult for him at all.

Although Zhang Ping'an had no interest in it, it was boring to just sit there, and his cousin Erhe was very interested, so he had to play this little game with his cousin while staying up all night.

After the women finished cleaning up the kitchen, Li brought out a basin of dough that she had kneaded in advance, found a place, and asked the women to roll out the dough and make dumplings together, chatting as they made dumplings. They were just killing time. After freezing it, they could serve it to guests during the first month of the lunar year.

This continued until the sound of firecrackers rang out in the alley. The men realized it was already early morning, so they put down their work, took the boys out, and set off firecrackers as well. Only then did New Year's Eve come to an end!

Everyone's face was filled with a happy and satisfied smile.

After staying up all night to celebrate the New Year, Zhang Laoer took his family back home.

Zhang Ping'an only slept for two or three hours, and got up early in the morning to follow his father to pay New Year's greetings to several familiar families.

First of all, our own family members come first, with our grandparents, uncles and third uncles' families definitely ranked first, followed by our uncle Xu and Jinbao's families. Our eldest and second sisters' families have to wait until the second day of the New Year to go back to their parents' home to pay New Year's greetings. Although they are close to each other, Xu and Zhang Laoer are very particular about these things and will not allow the rules to be broken.

When Zhang Ping'an went to Jinbao's house to pay New Year's greetings, he actually ate the fried mung bean rice cakes made by Jinbao's grandmother. The texture was soft and glutinous, and the salty filling of mung beans was added. Zhang Ping'an ate three of them in one breath and also had a bowl of soaked fried rice.

Grandma Jinbao likes to watch the younger generations eat with big mouthfuls. It looks festive. When she sees Zhang Pingan put down his chopsticks after finishing his meal, she still wants to persuade him to eat more.

Zhang Pingan patted his stomach: "Grandma, I'm really full. I can't walk if I eat any more. We still have to go to the Xiao family!"

When I came, I agreed with Jinbao that we would go to the Xiao family and the Lin family to pay New Year's greetings together. Since they are young, they should take the initiative.

"Okay," Jinbao's grandmother said with a smile, and then instructed her grandson, "Jinbao, when you go out later, bring your rabbit fur scarf and hat. You know, your cold hasn't fully healed yet, so you must not be exposed to the cold wind."

"I know, grandma," Jinbao replied with a smile, adding a bit of liveliness to the New Year.

"Dad, I'm leaving too," Zhang Ping'an said goodbye to his father before leaving with Jinbao.

After leaving the house, Jin Bao sneezed and quickly tightened his hat and scarf. "Ping An, it's fine for us to go to the Xiao family, but why do you want me to go to the Lin family with you?"

"Don't play dumb with me. Why?" Zhang Pingan said with a smile. "We're new to Lin'an City, and among all the people we know, Lin Junhui is the most successful. If we don't get to know him, what if we need help from him in the future? It's a waste not to hug someone who's already there. It's just a New Year's greeting, it won't be a big deal!"

"I understand. I just feel it's a bit vulgar and a bit embarrassing, as if we are inferior to him," Jinbao pinched his nose and muttered.

Zhang Pingan glanced at Jin Bao and said indifferently, "We are just a level lower than him now. You still think we were studying at the academy. Besides, he is really a good person and worth making friends with!"

"Yeah, that's right," Jinbao nodded.

The two went to the Xiao family first. Xiao Yifei had been waiting for them at home. Not many people came to their family to pay New Year's greetings. Xiao Yifei had already visited his stepmother and stepbrother early in the morning, but was sent back after a few words.

Xiao's mother was still as enthusiastic as ever. She asked the two of them to have lunch here before leaving. She praised Jinbao again and again, making Jinbao feel embarrassed!

Zhang Ping'an suggested: "Yifei, why don't we go to the Lin family to pay New Year's greetings first, and then come over for lunch later. It's still early, and there's no time. We are all classmates, so it's better to go and complete the formalities."

Xiao Yifei had no objection and nodded, saying, "Then let's bring something. I'm afraid the Lin family won't be interested in ordinary gifts."

"Today is the first day of the Lunar New Year, and the purpose of New Year's greetings is to have a festive occasion. Let's each bring a few bags of good snacks and follow the normal New Year's greeting customs," said Zhang Ping'an. He didn't even think about pretending to be rich.

The three of them then went to Lin's house again.

There were many visitors in front of the Lin Mansion. It couldn’t be said that there were endless visitors, but there were indeed quite a few of them. This showed that Lin Junhui was indeed quite popular.

The housekeeper and servants at the door were busy welcoming and seeing off guests.

Zhang Pingan thought that judging from the situation, Lin Junhui was so busy that he definitely had no time to entertain them, and they should be able to leave after putting down the gifts.

Unexpectedly, after seeing the few people in the flower hall, Lin Junhui laughed and said, "It's better to arrive at the right time than to arrive early. Ping'an, Yifei, Jinbao, you three came at the perfect time. I've been busy this morning and I'm sweating profusely. The house is really stuffy. I've made plans with some friends to go ice skating on the nearby Jingyue Lake. Why don't you come too!"