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

The few of them were chatting and joking, feeling relaxed and comfortable. Time passed quickly. When they saw the old man who was guarding the door come over to help Mr. Luo bring in the teapot and cups, they realized that class was about to start.

However, Zhang Ping'an was a little puzzled as to how Master Luo knew the time here. Since arriving in this world, the Zhang family, including the villagers, had always judged the approximate time by the weather. There wasn't even a night watchman. Master Luo was having a class here, so the time should be more accurate. Thinking about it, he asked.

"I know about that," Luo Fuan answered quickly. "The teacher has a clepsydra here. It drips water, and when it stops dripping it represents an hour. The teacher is the only one in our village who has it. I heard he bought it specially from the county town. My uncle Luo, the teacher's son, teaches at the county school. He's quite impressive!"

"Wow!" The classroom was once again filled with the envious exclamations of a group of little kids, including Zhang Pingan. It was the dream of every countryman to be able to work in the county town, not to mention a decent job like teaching.

"There must be a lot of delicious food in the county town," Jinbao said longingly, licking his lips unconsciously.

"Oh, and my uncle Luo is a scholar, the only one in this area," Luo Fuan said, puffing out his belly with pride when he saw his friend so proud. "But he's married in the county and usually stays there, only coming back for Chinese New Year. Now, there's only the teacher and his wife here, plus Uncle Liu and his wife, helping with housekeeping and cooking."

"You know a lot," said Liu Shuisheng.

"Of course, we are from the same village and are relatives," Luo Fuan said proudly.

"You just heard what your grandparents said. You don't usually come here. You just run away when you see the teacher," Luo Fugui rolled his eyes and said.

"Where did I slip away? Where did I slip away? I just had something to do, okay?" Luo Fuan defended himself with a red face, a little angry.

"Hahahahaha", Liu Shuisheng laughed wildly after hearing this, with an expression that said I see through you.

Luo Fuan was so angry that he gritted his teeth and wanted to fight again!

"Stop laughing, the teacher will be here soon," Zhang Ping'an observed the situation and stopped him in time. He couldn't hit the hands anymore. The teacher should have gone to Class A and B first, and he might come in at any time.

Speaking of this, Zhang Pingan really envied Mr. Luo. What an easy and high-paying job!

He observed that there were about twenty students in the private school. Even if calculated based on the cheapest tuition, the annual salary was more than fifty taels. This was pure income with no other miscellaneous expenses, enough for the whole family to live a good life.

What's more, the actual working hours are only about six or seven hours a day, which is not tiring, and you have a certain social status. It's really too good to be true! !

As soon as he finished speaking, Master Luo walked in and several people immediately sat up straight.

"No noise during class!" Mr. Luo sat down and knocked on the table with his ruler to show his authority. He then said, "First, let's go over what we learned this morning, one by one, starting with... Luo Fuan, you go first!"

Luo Fuan stood up and recited haltingly, "When people are born, their nature is good. Nature...nature...natures are similar, but habits differ! This sentence means that people are all kind when they are born, and their personalities are similar...um...but their habits differ greatly. Um...Master, I've finished reciting."

"Well, sit down. If you don't understand the explanation well enough, I will explain it again later and check it before school is over. If you still can't explain it clearly, come up and get punished with a ruler! Do you understand?" Mr. Luo stroked his beard and said seriously.

"I understand, Master!"

"Next, Luo Fugui!"

Although Luo Fugui looked thin and delicate, he was very smart and had a good memory. He recited it fluently. Master Luo nodded with satisfaction: "Not bad, not bad. Sit down!"

Next were Liu Shuisheng and Liu Shengyuan. They had obviously learned well. They stood up with their heads held high and recited with confidence, passing the test smoothly.

Not to mention Zhang Pingan, after all, he had the memory of his previous life, so it was not difficult for him. Although Jinbao stuttered a little, Zhang Pingan studied with him for a long time in the morning, and he memorized it all while reciting and recalling!

Mr. Luo was quite satisfied with the result and then began to explain the stroke structure of each character. He not only explained how to write horizontal and vertical strokes correctly, but also used imagination to connect the meaning of each character's structure to facilitate memorization. For example, the character for "人" (person) can be imagined as a head on top and two legs walking on the bottom. Then, connect them together to form the character for "人".

Zhang Ping'an also listened with great interest. Mr. Luo did not only teach in an old-fashioned way. Sometimes he would tell some historical stories to deepen understanding, just like listening to the modern lectures, which made learning not boring.

After explaining the twelve characters, Master Luo stood up and said, "Next, you should carefully understand the stroke structure of the twelve characters I just taught you. Also, continue to review what we learned this morning. We will have a spot check together before school ends. You are not allowed to make any noise while I'm away. Understand?"

"I know!" several people answered together.

After confirming that Mr. Luo had gone far away, Luo Fuan was the first one who couldn't help but speak: "Oh my God, do you know, I was sweating all over while memorizing the lesson just now. The teacher is so scary!" He patted his chest as he said this.

"What's so difficult about that? It's a piece of cake, okay?" Liu Shuisheng seized the opportunity to laugh, but in fact it was not as easy as he said. He had memorized it many times in the morning, and he didn't stutter after listening to Luo Fugui reciting it first.

"It's not easy for everyone to come to the private school. You must study hard. There are only three or four children studying in our village. We must cherish them," said Liu Shengyuan.

"That's because they are poor," Luo Fuan said indifferently.

Zhang Pingan saw that Luo Fuan had never suffered hardship since childhood and his family had some money, so he felt very superior and could not understand the difficulties of poor families. It was useless to tell him about this. He could only start from the areas that he cared about. "But if you don't study hard, you may become the last in the class. The last one definitely can't be the boss!"

"Yes, how can the last one be the boss? I definitely won't accept it!" Liu Shuisheng was the first to respond positively.

"That's right," Jin Bao and Liu Shengyuan also echoed.

"You were the only one who didn't recite it completely just now. I guess there's a high chance that you'll be at the bottom in the future, hehe," Luo Fugui said with a smile as he sat next to him. He was still angry about what happened in the morning and didn't want to speak up for his cousin.

"You, do you believe I will beat you up?!" Seeing that even his cousin was trying to sabotage him, Luo Fuan couldn't hold it in any longer and was so angry!

"Don't use force. Didn't we agree before that whoever gets first place in the monthly exam will be the boss? Do you want to go back on your word?" Zhang Ping'an deliberately provoked him.

“Whoever regrets it is a grandson. How can I be afraid of you? With my big head, I must be smarter than all of you. I didn’t study seriously just now and forgot. When I check after school, you will see that I can recite it better than all of you!” Luo Fuan has been a leader among children since he was young. He is very competitive. He can’t stand the thought of being the last in the class and being humble in the class. In order to be the boss, he will fight for it!!!

Then he picked up the book.

Seeing that his competitors were so serious, Liu Shuisheng also started to study with great concentration. Liu Shengyuan and Luo Fugui were relatively quiet and obedient children, so they dared not disobey the teacher's order to check.

Zhang Pingan and Jinbao also started to review, and for a while the learning atmosphere in the classroom was unprecedentedly strong.

Zhang Pingan was very happy to see this happen. A good learning atmosphere was so important. After all, they would be together for several years, so they had to change the atmosphere right from the start. Haha, let's get started together!