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

Li and Ma were quick and efficient and quickly prepared lunch.

There were many people and time was tight, so Li couldn't cook a big dish herself. She didn't use too much oil or salt. She just made a pot of dumpling soup, which was eaten with pickled radish. It was refreshing and appetizing, and there was no need to stir-fry.

I used both the front and back pots to make two large pots.

Li was careful and saw that there were not enough bowls as she had to set up a banquet in the evening, so she quickly told Dazhu to go back and bring all the bowls and plates from home.

I have to say that when it comes to getting things done, the Li family is much better than the Ma family.

Although lunch was simple, no one complained about it. We had all been through hardship, and white noodle dumpling soup was a good meal.

No one sat down to eat at the table. The men and women gathered together, each standing, and finished the food in a few mouthfuls.

"Sister-in-law, come with me to buy groceries later. You have good eyesight, know how to pick things, and bargain. Let's buy more and have a good meal in the evening to have some fun," said Mrs. Xu with a smile on her face.

"Okay, I'm good at buying groceries," Li responded with a smile. The two sisters-in-law were very close for a while, and left Ma out.

Ma felt jealous and sour, but she didn't want to make things uncomfortable, so she moved over and stood next to Shen, and the two of them ate and talked.

"Your eldest daughter-in-law is quite sensible. It's been about a month since your second daughter-in-law came back. Aren't you going to think of a solution?" Ma nodded at Wang, Shen's eldest daughter-in-law, and gossiped.

After hearing this, Shen Shi was no longer worried. She said stubbornly, "You can come back if you want. If you don't, that's fine. I'll marry my second son to a girl from the city. Look how precious she is. Humph, our status is different now. Why should we be afraid of a family of peasants like them?"

He looked very serious when he said this, and it seemed that he had really thought about it.

Although Ma is narrow-minded and competitive, she is much smarter than Shen.

Hearing this, he lowered his voice and advised, "Don't be silly and say such things out loud. In the final analysis, your family is somewhat at fault. Ping'an seems to have his own ideas when it comes to doing things, and my second brother and his wife always give in to him. Don't act recklessly and offend their family. After all, we still have to cling to this thigh in the future!"

"Yeah, I know. We have a good relationship, so I'll tell you about it," Shen nodded, and the two of them huddled together and whispered.

After dinner, Zhang Laoer drove the mule cart out to buy offerings, and Xu also took Li out to buy vegetables. The market was closed in the afternoon, so fresh vegetables were not available, but the meat stalls were also open in the afternoon. Further south in the city, some families had vegetable gardens in their yards and grew a lot of vegetables themselves, which could be bought from their homes.

Mrs. Zhang and Old Man Zhang stayed at home to guard the door, and the rest of the people who had things to do went back home first and came back later. After all, they also had a lot of things to do at home, so they could come back to help later.

Zhang Ping'an said to Zhang, "Grandma, please stay home and look after the house. I'll take this opportunity to tell Jin Bao, Xiao Yifei, and Guo Jia the good news. We all have a good relationship, so I'll invite them over for dinner tonight to liven things up. And my classmate Lin Junhui has been very helpful, but I guess he's very busy right now and won't have time to come. I wrote him a letter and asked the messenger to deliver it while I'm out."

Zhang nodded: "You can arrange it yourself!"

The expression on his face was much gentler than usual.

After Zhang Ping'an came out of the alley, he called a mule cart and went to the East City Posthouse, where he mailed the letter.

But today was particularly unfortunate. Guo Jia was not at home and had gone out to buy something. After leaving a message, Zhang Ping'an went to Jin Bao's house in the north of the city.

Jinbao was also concerned about this matter today. Seeing that no one came to report the good news, he was ready to go directly to find Zhang Pingan.

Now, upon hearing that Zhang Pingan had really won, he was even more excited than the person himself. He almost wanted to jump three feet high and said excitedly: "Pingan, I knew you could do it!"

Jinbao's parents were extremely envious after hearing this, but they were both optimistic people and easily satisfied. They knew their son's capabilities and did not force him to do anything. They had watched Zhang Ping'an grow up since he was a child, so they were happy for him. Who knows, their son might benefit from his success in the future!

"Ping'an has made great progress. Please take good care of our Jinbao in the future. He is just a child and hasn't figured things out yet," said Jinbao's mother with a smile.

"Aunt, Jinbao is very smart," Zhang Pingan said with a smile, "By the way, I have to tell Yifei to come to my house for dinner tonight. It's not a formal banquet, just a family-friendly feast!"

"Well, I'll go with you," Jinbao said, standing up.

The two families were close to each other, so they arrived there in a short while. The courtyard door was not closed, and Xiao Yifei was practicing martial arts in the courtyard. His father, as a county lieutenant, knew some kung fu, and was good at using spears and swords. Xiao Yifei followed his father to learn kung fu since he was a child, and he also knew a few moves. There was a test for martial arts skills when taking the examination. As the examination was getting closer, Xiao Yifei practiced hard at home every day, hoping to pass it in one go.

After entering the yard, I saw diapers hanging on the bamboo poles. Xiao's mother and the hired maid were in the room taking care of the baby.

"Yifei, you are really hardworking. You are still practicing boxing and kicking in the yard at noon. Aren't you afraid of getting heatstroke?" Zhang Pingan shouted.

Xiao Yifei was so engrossed in his practice that he only noticed the two of them at this moment. He quickly stopped, wiped the sweat from his forehead, grinned, and said cheerfully, "It's okay, I'm used to it. My mother asked the doctor to prescribe some herbal tea to help with the summer heat. I have to drink two large pots of it a day!"

After saying that, he invited the two of them to sit in the main hall and asked with a smile, "Are you two here to tell me the good news?"

He also remembered that today was the day when Zhang Ping'an's results were announced.

"You're right! I specially came to invite you to my house for dinner tonight," Zhang Pingan said, and pointed at Xiao Yifei's face: "But you're so tanned now, I wonder if my parents can still recognize you!"

"Go away, stop teasing me. I'm a real man, and I'm not afraid of being a little bit black. I will definitely go to join in your wedding. I'll say hello to my mother and let her know, and then I'll go with you later," Xiao Yifei said as he stood up.

After talking to Xiao's mother, she naturally agreed and asked her son to bring a generous gift.

Xiao Yifei thought about it and took out a piece of good cloth. This was brought by his stepmother on the day of his last scholar banquet. It was a good thing and practical.

After chatting for a while, they saw that it was almost time, so they went to Zhang Ping'an's house.

When I got home, Xu and Li had already returned and bought a lot of vegetables. My eldest brother-in-law Liu Sanlang was killing chickens in the yard, two at a time, and my second brother-in-law Liu Husheng was helping to kill fish. They were all busy.

Li and her two daughters-in-law were busy helping to pick, wash and cut vegetables with great skill.

Zhang Laoer bought a lot of paper money, paper ingots, paper clothes, incense, candles and other offerings. The quality was much better than what he had bought before.

At this time, offerings were being reverently placed in the main hall.

After a while, Xu started to cook. She cooked the meat dish first, and the aroma filled the whole yard. The greedy children circled the kitchen door, asking for food from time to time, and refused to go out to play.

After everything was done, Zhang Laoer brought a plate of each meat dish and placed it in front of the altar. The offerings were then complete. The altar was filled with melon seeds, dried fruits, wine and food, and even a pig's head. Especially the pig's head, which Zhang Laoer had spent a lot of money to buy.

After Zhang Lao Da and Zhang Lao San brought all the male members of the family over, the ancestor worship ceremony began. Everyone stood respectfully in front of the altar. Led by Old Man Zhang, they kowtowed and burned incense, solemnly muttering words to pray for the ancestors' blessings. The others also had serious and pious expressions on their faces.

Zhang Ping'an is no exception. He would rather believe it than not. Besides, he can travel through time. With the blessing of his ancestors, nothing is impossible!

After everyone has offered incense in turn, they begin to kneel on the ground in a circle and burn paper money, paper clothes and paper ingots. This way, the ancestors down there will have money to spend, otherwise they would really become poor ghosts.

Zhang Laoer bought a lot of paper money, several thick bundles. Zhang Ping'an suspected that he had emptied out other people's shops. It took him half an hour to burn them all.

After the ancestor worship, the meal was ready. Zhang instructed everyone to set up the table and dishes. The weather was good today, so they could set up the table in the yard and enjoy the cool air at the same time.

The atmosphere at the dinner table was very good and everyone was in a good mood. While eating, they talked about interesting things in the village in the past and Zhang Ping'an's future, which was more than Zhang Ping'an had imagined.

Xiao Yifei talked about the embarrassing things that happened when he was practicing martial arts, which made everyone laugh.

Jinbao also joined in the fun and told many jokes. His language was vivid and his facial expressions and body movements made Zhang Pingan laugh so hard that he couldn't straighten his back and clapped his hands in admiration. Why hadn't he discovered that Jinbao had a talent for telling jokes before? What a funny guy!

Zhang Laoer was drinking so much that his face was flushed with rosy red. Apart from the protagonist Zhang Pingan who was the most popular today, the next most popular couple was Zhang Laoer and Xu's parents. As the saying goes, a father is honored by his son, a mother is honored by her son, this is not just talk!

When the banquet was almost over, Zhang Lao Da invited everyone to have dinner at his house the next day as Li had instructed. Zhang Lao San followed and said that his family would have dinner the day after tomorrow.

Zhang Pingan said with a smile, "Uncle, Third Uncle, tomorrow night I have to attend the Deer Singing Banquet held by the prefecture for the newly elected candidates. The chief examiner, the academic commissioner, and academic officials of all levels will also be in attendance. How about we change it to the night after tomorrow and the night after that?"

"Luming Banquet? What is that?" Xu asked, not understanding.