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

The next morning, Grandpa Jinbao brought Jinbao over. Jinbao's parents had already returned to town, and the tea shed couldn't remain closed. Grandpa Jinbao was taking Jinbao over today, and since the two families were traveling together, Zhang Laoer, driving his donkey cart, could bring him along.

Moreover, today was the official day for him to enroll and become a disciple. In addition to the tuition fee, he had to give the teacher six gifts: dried meat, celery, dried longan, lotus seeds, red dates, and red beans. These were all customary gifts. Zhang Laoer had already prepared these.

"Nephew, I'm sorry to bother you today," Grandpa Jinbao said with a smile.

"Uncle, what's the problem? We're all relatives, so don't talk nonsense." Zhang Laoer helped take the things and put them in the car. In fact, the two families were already five generations apart, not real relatives, but the two children got along well, so they were treated as uncle and nephew, which made them look close.

When I arrived at Master Luo's house, a number of children had already arrived, ranging from seven or eight to fourteen or fifteen. The school was in a row of houses on the east side, divided into three rooms, each labeled A, B, and C. This was probably to divide the children of different levels into three classes for separate instruction.

It was the same old man from last time, but this time he welcomed them to his study. This was also the first time Zhang Ping'an saw what an ancient scholar's study looked like. To be honest, there weren't many books in it, only about thirty or so, which was far from comparable to modern ones.

But the entire room was immaculately clean and quiet, permeated with the scent of ink. The study was decorated with several ceramic vases, each containing a few sprigs of fresh osmanthus, which emanated a subtle fragrance. This was the first time Zhang Ping'an had seen vases in someone's home, demonstrating that scholars were different, and that this Mr. Luo must have a deep love for life.

After waiting for a while, the sound of students reading came from the classroom in the east, and then Mr. Luo came over.

"Sorry to have kept you waiting for so long," Master Luo greeted them with a smile. Zhang Laoer and Grandpa Jinbao immediately stood up, exchanged greetings with the master for a while, and then began to pay their respects to him.

The ceremony was very simple. They first bowed three times to the portrait of Confucius in the study, and then Master Luo used a brush to draw a red mole in the middle of their foreheads, which meant enlightenment. This concluded the ceremony.

Mr. Luo also gave each person a copy of the Three Character Classic, which he had copied and bound by hand.

After leaving Shu Xiuli, Zhang Laoer and Grandpa Jinbao gave the two children a few words of advice: study hard and don't be naughty, and someone would bring lunch at noon. Then they went back. School didn't end until Shenshi, which is 4 pm in modern times.

Then Mr. Luo led the two into Class C. There were already four children inside. Presumably because Mr. Luo was away, they were chatting away. When they saw Mr. Luo come in, they immediately sat up straight. There were two empty tables, presumably meant for the two of them. Mr. Luo asked them to sit down and then began the lesson.

"Okay, sit up straight, keep your backs straight, and don't look around. Anyone who doesn't listen will be spanked. Today we will start with the Three Character Classic. Read with me first, and then I will explain the meaning of each word. You can go home only after you have memorized it before school is over. Open the first page of the book!" Mr. Luo said while knocking on the ruler. He was not as easy to talk to as he usually seemed. He had a stern face and looked very serious.

Zhang Pingan took a look and frightened the children so much that they were stunned and no one dared to act rashly.

"When a man is born, his nature is good." Mr. Luo sat at the top and read slowly.

"Man is born good." Several children also read along, shaking their heads.

"Natures are similar, but habits make them different."

"Natures are similar, but habits make them different."

"What this sentence means is that when people are born, they are inherently kind. Their innate qualities are not much different, but the different environments and educations they receive lead to huge differences in their habits. It's like children of your age, you can study here, but some of them can only help with farm work at home, the environments you are in are different..." Mr. Luo explained the meaning slowly, and the old man who was guarding the door in the middle came in to refill the tea.

About half an hour later, Master Luo stood up, brushed the hem of his clothes and said, "Continue to recite these two sentences. This is what we will learn today. I will come to check before lunch." Then he walked out with his hands behind his back.

After confirming that the teacher had gone far away, the boys in the front row couldn't help but look around. One of the chubby boys with a particularly big head turned around and asked, "Hey! Where are you two from? What are your names? How old are you?"

Jin Bao was a little at a loss when he heard this. He looked at Zhang Pingan and felt a little scared in the unfamiliar environment.

Zhang Pingan replied crisply, "We're both from Zhangjia Village. My name is Zhang Pingan, and his is Zhang Jinbao. We're both five years old. How about you?"

"My name is Luo Fuan. I am from Luojia Village. I am seven years old this year. Our names both have the character 'An' in them," the big-headed little fat boy replied. It was obvious that he was not shy and was very brave.

Then he pointed to the boy sitting next to him and said, "He is my cousin, Luo Fugui, also seven years old."

"He's your cousin?" Jin Bao interrupted, "You two don't look alike. Your head is so big, and his is so small."

Zhang Ping'an also looked at the child named Luo Fugui. He was obviously two different types from Luo Fuan. Luo Fuan had a big head and thick neck, and his skeleton looked big and fierce. Luo Fugui was much more delicate, with a small head, a melon-shaped face, willow-shaped eyebrows, and was much shorter than his cousin.

"Hey, he looks like my aunt. He didn't like to eat since he was a child, just like a cat, so he is small. My grandfather said that boys should be like me," Luo Fuan patted his chest.

"No one will think you are dumb if you don't speak," Luo Fugui finally spoke, but he was obviously angry. He moved his textbook and chair far away, lowered his head and said nothing, indicating that he was drawing a clear line between himself and his cousin.

"Tsk, the stingy guy drinks cold water and gets angry every day." Luo Fuan didn't care and rolled his eyes.

"Hey, what are you two called?" Luo Fuan said as he went to harass the other two children.

"My name is Liu Shuisheng, his name is Liu Shengyuan, we are both from the nearby Liujia Village, and we are also seven years old."

Zhang Pingan looked over. The child named Liu Shuisheng was very thin and tanned like a loach. He even had a faint fishy smell on his body. His eyes were bright and he looked very lively. The one named Liu Shengyuan was obviously from a better family. He was well-dressed and well-mannered, and seemed to have been well-educated.

"Okay, now we all know each other. There are only six freshmen in our class this year. From now on, I will be your boss, do you understand? I will protect you if anything happens," Luo Fuan said domineeringly.

"Why are you the boss?" Liu Shuisheng was the first to disagree.

"I'm from Luojia Village. You go to school in Luojia Village, so of course I'm the boss!" Luo Fuan said as a matter of course, with his hands on his hips.

"Tsk, who said that! My dad said whoever is the most powerful will be the boss. Can you beat the five of us? If you can, I will recognize you as the boss," Liu Shuisheng said, standing up.

This is also a troublemaker, Zhang Pingan thought, where there are people, there are rivers and lakes, even if there are only a few children!

But do we have to fight to decide who is the boss? It’s a headache!