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

Dazhu stood there in a daze, not saying a word.

When Zhang Ping'an got closer, he found that his cousin Dazhu's face was full of tears and his eyes were red. This was the first time he could remember seeing his cousin cry.

My eldest cousin is 28 years old this year, which is considered middle-aged in ancient times. Many people of his age already have children who are in their early teens and are almost ready to get married, but he just welcomed his first child today. How can I not be moved!

I remember when my eldest sister got married, my eldest cousin was still a young man full of vigor and vitality. He was very caring towards his younger brothers and sisters, and he didn't talk so little at that time.

Time flies so fast. Years are like a butcher knife, and every stroke makes us grow old!

Zhang Pingan walked over and patted his eldest cousin's arm, pretending not to see his tears. He smiled and congratulated him, "Brother Dazhu, congratulations, it's a son. The full moon banquet must be lively!"

Dazhu came to his senses after hearing this, turned his back and wiped his tears with his sleeve, then turned back and laughed heartily: "Of course, you are the most knowledgeable person in our family, and you have to name our nephew!"

"Okay, I'll think of one carefully when I get back," Zhang Ping'an said with a smile.

The names of the children in Erzhu's cousin's family were chosen by his aunt Li at his request. Chenyang, Chenxi and Chenrui came one after another, sounding like they were a family and had good meanings. His aunt was very satisfied and even gave him a few more red eggs.

After a while, the midwife and Zhang and Li came out, and the eldest sister-in-law Yingniang stayed in the woodshed to clean up.

Because the grandson she gave birth to was also the first child of her eldest son, Mrs. Li was not stingy and was generous for once. She gave the midwife sixty copper coins and ten eggs, which was ten cents more than originally agreed.

Zhang had been busy for a long time and was already tired. She didn't care about the rest of the matter and went back to her room to rest.

Seeing her husband and son coming to pick her up, Xu said goodbye as she had nothing else to do.

Mrs. Li said happily, "Thank you for your hard work today. You've been busy all day. I'll save a special dish for you when we have the full moon banquet!"

Xu was not polite and said with a smile: "Okay, then we go back!"

On the way back, the rain stopped again and I didn't use the umbrella.

The three of them walked home together.

Mrs. Xu smiled and said, "I never thought that Meizi, who looked so thin and small, would give birth to a son weighing over seven pounds. Now your aunt can finally put her worries to rest!"

After saying that, she looked at Zhang Pingan again and said, "After you finish the provincial examination, I will arrange marriages for you three siblings at the same time. It's not good to wait until you are older!"

"Mom, I'm not even 16 yet!" Zhang Pingan held his forehead. Was he going to be pressured into getting married before he was even 16?!

Xu corrected him, "You're already 17 in lunar age, not young anymore!"

"Uh..." Zhang Pingan was speechless.

When the three of them got home, Wuya and Liuya had already gone to bed.

Zhang Laoer and Xu simply washed up and went to bed to rest. They also warned: "Son, don't study too late. Take care of yourself!"

"I know!" Zhang Pingan replied.

I still followed my old habit and studied until after the hour of Xu before washing up and going to bed.

The next morning, before Zhang Ping'an even left the house, his cousin Dazhu started sending red eggs to each family. People are in high spirits on happy occasions, and their faces look rosy, completely dispelling their previous dejection.

The red eggs were freshly cooked in the morning and were still hot. Zhang Ping'an ate the two red eggs for breakfast.

After arriving at the provincial school, he attended classes as usual. During the break, a classmate came to ask Zhang Pingan if he wanted to participate in the outing at the end of the month. He needed to write down the number of people in advance so that they could book a pleasure boat.

Master Huang mentioned this a few days ago. It is also a major feature of various universities. Every year in May and October, they will set aside a special day off for students to go for an outing.

However, the standards of the provincial school's outing were very high. Zhang Ping'an had heard people talking about it during breaks these days. Not only had they booked an entire garden in the suburbs, with food, drinks and entertainment, but they also planned to spend half a day in the painting studio and stroll along the river in the afternoon.

It is called a garden, but in fact it is a holiday villa built on a hilltop facing the lake. It covers a vast area and has beautiful scenery. It is very famous among literati.

Not to mention the pleasure boats, there must be singing girls playing musical instruments, which costs a lot of money.

The only consolation was that the state society would subsidize part of the fees. In addition, there were many wealthy classmates in the class, and one of them stepped forward and said that he would cover it all and no one else needed to pay, so Zhang Pingan could use it for free.

Although he felt it was boring and that he wouldn't gain anything except eating and drinking, Zhang Ping'an didn't want to seem out of the ordinary, so he nodded and said, "I'll go!"

"Okay, I'll take note of it," said the classmate.

After a busy day of study, it's time to go home from school.

When Zhang Ping'an arrived home, Xu and her sister-in-law Li had just returned from shopping and had bought a lot of things.

Dinner was made by Wu Ya and Liu Ya.

Some of the boxes looked quite high-end, unlike his mother's style. Zhang Pingan casually asked, "Mom, what did you buy? Why did you buy so many?"

Xu had been walking around for most of the day, and her feet were sore. She rubbed her legs and said, "These are all gifts. I spent so much money today, I'm so heartbroken!"

"A gift? There's no need to give so much for my aunt's full moon party," Zhang Ping'an wondered.

Xu shook her head and laughed, "How could that be possible? When you held your full-month banquet, your aunt's family only gave you a red envelope of 100 wen. I'm sure I only gave them 100 wen for their full-month banquet too. How could I possibly give them so many gifts? She's so beautiful! Your two cousins ​​are engaged, and I heard the Jinbao family is getting engaged soon, so I simply bought the gifts together. It's only a matter of time."

"Are cousins ​​Tianshou and Tiancai engaged? When was it decided and which family did they choose?" Zhang Pingan asked curiously.

"Your uncle came to our house today and asked us to go with him the day after tomorrow to place a deposit and have a meal. That's it. I don't know much about the girl's family, but I heard they are from the south of the city and their situation is similar to your uncle's. Anyway, we are all poor, so no one will look down on anyone," said Xu.

Then she complained again, "Gifts cost a lot of money recently. They're all piled up. After your two cousins ​​got engaged, it's probably Jinbao's family. Then I heard from your eldest sister and second sister that the eldest son of Liu Dalang's family and the eldest son of Jiang Sheng's family are also talking about it. These are all recent events. We don't know when we can get the wedding money back!"

Zhang Pingan saw that the topic was about to be brought to himself again, so he quickly slipped away. He couldn't afford to be urged to get married!