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

The house was originally well maintained, and after Zhang Laoer asked someone to renovate it, it looked even more grand.

The high threshold, the screen wall behind the entrance, and the exquisitely maintained pavilion and flowers in the courtyard all demonstrate the uniqueness of the Zhang family.

Compared with the south of the city, it's like heaven and earth.

Wu Ya and Liu Ya entered the room and saw it, and they liked it immediately.

Liu Sanlang said enviously, "This house is really big. It must be comfortable to live in."

"I'm really promising," Liu Husheng also sighed.

This house is considered a dream house in the eyes of ordinary people. You have to know that there are more than 30 people in the families of my eldest brother-in-law and my second brother-in-law, and the yard they share is much smaller than this one.

Now that there are only five people living in such a big house, you can imagine how spacious it is.

Zhang Laoer had already planned everything out. He smiled and said, "There are six main rooms. One will be the main hall, one will be a study for Ping An, and the remaining rooms will be bedrooms. It will be more than enough for us to live in!"

Just as he finished speaking, there was a knock at the door. Liu Sanlang went out to open the door and found that someone had come to deliver the plaque. He shouted into the yard, "Dad, Mom, little brother, the person who delivered the plaque is here. They want to know whether we should hang it up now or put it in the yard first?!"

Zhang Laoer hurried out and said, "It's been delivered so early, so let's hang it up now! This plaque can't fall to the ground, hang it up now!"

Zhang Ping'an and Xu also followed out.

I saw two guys lifting a plaque covered with red cloth from a cart, while another guy brought a ladder down from the cart. It took several people working together to hang up the plaque.

After hanging it up, he asked again, "Gentlemen, is it time to open the plaque now?"

Zhang Laoer said in a trembling voice: "Open now!"

After saying that, he immediately said: "Wait!"

Then he turned to his son and asked, "Ping An, are we going to open now?"

Zhang Pingan took out a piece of silver from his pocket and said to Liu Sanlang with a smile: "Brother-in-law, please go buy some firecrackers and some candy. Since we are moving, we have to celebrate it. Let's set off some firecrackers. It will be more ceremonial to open the plaque when setting off the firecrackers!"

"Hey," Liu Sanlang replied, and then ran away like a gust of wind.

The guys who delivered the plaques didn't rush them. They all smiled and said some auspicious words of congratulations to Zhang Laoer and Zhang Ping'an, which made everyone very happy.

There is a grocery store not far from the alley entrance. The grocery stores in the east of the city sell higher-end items, including firecrackers. Liu Sanlang quickly came back with the items.

Zhang Ping'an asked his father to light the firecrackers. When the firecrackers crackled, the family prepared to open the plaque. Zhang Ping'an and his father each pulled one end and pulled off the red cloth.

On the plaque were two large gold-plated characters "Wenkui" on a black background, and next to them were small gold-plated characters indicating the date of success and ranking.

This also has its own rules. The first place is written as "Jieyuan", the second place is written as "Yayuan", the third, fourth and fifth place are written as "Jingkui", and the sixth place and subsequent places are written as "Wenkui".

Zhang Laoer and Xu were moved to tears by the sound of firecrackers.

Liu Sanlang and Liu Husheng, who were watching from the side, clenched their fists and were extremely excited. They only hoped that their sons would be able to do as well as them in the future.

Zhang Ping'an went into the house and took out a tray. He put candies on the tray and distributed candies to the guys who delivered the plaques. He also grabbed a handful of wedding money. The happy guys congratulated him repeatedly before leaving.

The sound of firecrackers also attracted nearby neighbors and children who got up early, who all gathered around to watch.

Most of the families who could live in the east of the city were knowledgeable. They knew that the family had made great achievements just by looking at the plaque. They came forward to congratulate and asked about the Zhang family's background in a tactful way.

Zhang Ping'an distributed the remaining candies to his neighbors and also scattered several handfuls of wedding money.

Then he bowed and smiled, "My dear neighbors, I am honored to have you here in my humble new home. I hope we can live in harmony with each other in the future. If I have disturbed you, please forgive me."

The neighbors also smiled and returned the gifts. Some of them were generous and polite and immediately ordered their servants to buy a package of wedding cakes and send them over.

The excitement lasted for a while before gradually dissipating.

Zhang Laoer and Xu always got very excited at such moments when everyone was in the spotlight, fearing that they might not handle the situation properly, and their faces became stiff from smiling.

Before they could breathe a sigh of relief, the bearded broker from yesterday arrived with the servants he had bought. As soon as they met, he bowed to Zhang Laoer and Xu and said, "Old Master, how are you, Old Madam? I've brought you the servants that Mr. Zhang bought yesterday. Please take a look!"

After saying this, he asked the old woman and the old man following behind him to kneel down and salute.

Zhang Laoer was shocked.

He couldn't help but look at his son in confusion.

Zhang Pingan slapped his forehead and said, "Dad, Mom, I went to my uncle's house for dinner yesterday and forgot to tell you that I have already hired servants. From now on, they will be responsible for the housework and running errands!"

Xu was still a little unaccustomed to it: "You bought it so quickly!"

"It was introduced by an acquaintance, so I bought it if I liked it," said Zhang Ping'an, and then gave the broker a handful of copper coins as a fee for running errands.

This is also something that is learned and applied at the same time. When you reach the level of Juren, there is an unwritten rule that you have to give rewards for whatever you do, no matter how much it is, to show the difference in status.

Zhang Ping'an just followed the crowd.

The bearded man took the reward and left.

Although Zhang Laoer was also uncomfortable, he adapted faster than Xu. Thinking that the money had been spent, he quickly directed the two men to work.

After the servants came into the house and started working, Zhang Laoer whispered, "Sanniang, you have to adapt quickly. Look at how comfortable the other neighbors were when they ordered their servants around. We can't look like country bumpkins. Even if we don't know how to do it, we have to pretend to know how to do it, okay?"