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

"Yes, the taller one is my second sister, and the shorter one is my sixth sister. My sixth sister and I are twins, a boy and a girl!" Zhang Pingan said proudly.

"I really envy you. I only have two brothers in my family. They are both very rude and not nice to me at all. Humph! I really want a sister who is nice to me and gentle. It would be so nice."

"Your brother is nice to you. Didn't he bring you food just now? Which brother is that?" Zhang Pingan asked. He saw that the boy who brought food to Liu Shuisheng just now was a big boy, probably about fourteen or fifteen years old, also dark-skinned, and his facial features were very similar to Liu Shuisheng. He was probably his brother.

"That's my second brother. My eldest brother and my father went to work at the dock of Ezhou Prefecture, and brought some dried drunken fish to sell. My father said that there are some places in the north where fish cannot be eaten, so they have to be transported by boat and then sold to them. But my eldest brother only beats me every day at home and orders me to do this and that. It's not nice at all!" Liu Shuisheng complained, and then stretched his head over and said, "Whatever your family cooks, we take turns eating it."

"Then let's go back to the classroom. It's so tiring to squat at the door to eat." Zhang Ping'an saw many older children squatting to eat, and his knees felt tired just thinking about it, so he suggested.

"Okay, let's go in quickly," said Liu Shuisheng, and helped Liu Shengyuan from the same village to bring the lunch box in.

When he opened the food box, he saw that Xu had carefully covered the bowl with a plate to prevent it from getting cold too quickly. After removing the plate, Zhang Pingan took a look and found that the food sent by his family today was obviously better than usual. There was fried radish, bacon, tender pumpkin, and a fried egg on top. The rice was pure white rice, without any additives, and it was greasy and delicious.

Jinbao couldn't wait to open his lunch box. Zhang Ping'an took a look and found that Jinbao's grandparents were even more generous and actually roasted a chicken!

"Wow, your food is so good," Liu Shuisheng was so envious. He opened his lunch box and saw that it was indeed dried fish and vegetables again, but there was also eggplant and minced meat, which could be considered a meat dish. "Hehe, my mother still loves me. She cooked eggplant and minced meat today. I haven't eaten meat for a long time."

Liu Shengyuan joined in, pushing his bowls together and whispering, "You can try my dishes." Liu Shengyuan's dishes were a mix of meat and vegetables, including a bowl of winter melon and pork rib soup. It was obvious that his family was quite particular about dining.

Several people gathered together to eat, each tasting each other's food, and the atmosphere was quite good! Zhang Pingan could see that Liu Shuisheng was not a bad person, very loyal, and would not take advantage of others. He just picked up two chopsticks to taste the flavor, and after eating, he exaggeratedly exclaimed: "It's much better than what my mother cooks. My mother steams dried fish and boils vegetables every day!"

"Does your family have a fish pond? Why do you have so many dried fish?" Jinbao asked curiously while eating.

"Yes, our family has two large fish ponds, which we mainly raise silver carp, carp, pomfret, and large grass carp. Before the Chinese New Year, we will drain the ponds and sell the larger fish. My parents will make the remaining fish into drunken dried fish, which we can eat from the beginning of the year to the end of the year. I am almost sick of it." Liu Shuisheng frowned.

"But I think your dried fish is delicious. It has a smell of wine and is quite fragrant." Zhang Ping'an just took half of it and ate it. He thought it was quite fragrant. It would be even better if you could add some chili.

"Let me tell you to try eating it every day," Liu Shuisheng complained!

"Haha," Zhang Ping'an thought that Liu Shuisheng was a very interesting and clever kid.

"Look, we are now eating from the same bowl. When that fat guy challenges me in a duel later, you have to stand on my side," Liu Shuisheng said after finishing the remaining rice in a few mouthfuls.

"You're still coming? It doesn't hurt when the teacher hit you with the ruler just now. My hand is still burning," Liu Shengyuan disagreed at first.

"Yes, I think we are here to learn. The leader shouldn't be a contest of strength, but who studies better," Zhang Pingan agreed. This was exactly what he wanted. He was still thinking about how to stop the two from fighting!

"But the class starts today," Liu Shuisheng said reluctantly.

"We have tests every month, and we can see the results then."

"what……"

"The three of us all agree to let the results take into account. Are you afraid?" Zhang Ping'an said while pulling Jin Bao and Liu Shengyuan together. The two did not want to cause trouble in the private school, so they all agreed. After some provocation, Liu Shuisheng immediately said, "Who's afraid of who? I'm not afraid. Then let's see the results. I will definitely be first." At the end, he felt that this was a bit exaggerated, so he changed his words and said, "I'm definitely better than that fat guy Luo."

After a short chat, Luo Fuan and his cousin came over and actually brought a bag of lotus seeds for everyone. "Please have some lotus seeds. They are all grown by my family. They are very sweet."

They were all well-behaved children. Several of them thanked him and took a few to eat. Zhang Pingan said, "Luo Fuan, we discussed this while we were eating. We can't compete to see who's the boss. We're here to learn knowledge. We have to look at our grades. We all respect those with good grades. Whoever has the best grades will be the boss. Do you agree?"

"What? Why did you change after dinner? Didn't we say it was a one-on-one duel?" Luo Fuan was a little dumbfounded. He was in a hurry to get here and was sweating all over his forehead in the hot weather.

"The minority should obey the majority. I think that's okay," Luo Fugui said at the side, with a gloating look on his face.

"We all think it's okay," Liu Shengyuan also said.

"What do you think?" Luo Fuan asked Liu Shuisheng, who was his strong competitor.

"Well, they all think it's okay, so let it be. I'm not afraid of you," Liu Shuisheng said contemptuously, without giving in at all.

"Who's afraid of who? I'm not afraid of you. Let's see who's the boss in a month. Don't cheat then."

"Whoever cheats is a puppy"!

"become"!

Seeing that the two most difficult troublemakers had calmed down, the others felt relieved and talked to each other.

"Liu Shengyuan, who gave you your name? It's different from ours," Zhang Pingan asked. He guessed that there must be someone educated in the other party's family, and this name was considered cultured for a country person.

"My father gave it to me. He said he hoped I would have lofty ambitions in the future," Liu Shengyuan scratched his head and replied shyly.

"His father is the accountant of the town government office. He is very good at math. We ask his father to help us look at the important accounts of our village," Liu Shuisheng interjected.

"Then why don't you study in town?" Wouldn't that make you a left-behind child like Jinbao?

"My father doesn't go to town to work every day. He only goes there when it's busy, like when he's collecting taxes after the autumn harvest or putting them into the treasury."

"Then your father has quite a leisurely life." It turns out that it is much easier to make a living by relying on knowledge. I'm so envious!

"Oh, I'm so envious! If I can get a job as an accountant in the future, it would be a great honor for my ancestors. It's easy, decent, and I can earn a lot of money," Liu Shuisheng also sighed with his chin in his hand!

"That's great! My father said that if I don't study well, I should go home and work with him in the oil mill. I don't want to do that. It's so boring to work in the oil mill, and I have to work hard," Luo Fugui also came over and said.

Only then did Zhang Ping'an know that the Luo family ran an oil mill. No wonder Luo Fuan was so fat. Moreover, both of them were quite fair and it was obvious that they rarely worked in the fields.

"That's great!" Luo Fuan sighed along with the others, not knowing whether he understood what they said or not.

"Oh, it's not as good as you say. Besides, we can study hard on our own. It will be much easier to find a job in the town or county in the future. My father wants me to work in the county in the future." Liu Shengyuan waved his hands and saw several classmates sighing at him. He didn't know where to put his hands and feet, and his face turned red with shame.

It can be seen that everyone is looking forward to coming to study at home!