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

Guo Jia finished his tea and left.

Zhang Laoer and Xu were discussing the menu and what to buy for the Juren banquet in the main hall. The weather was hot and many dishes could not be kept, so they had to go early in the day to buy them.

Zhang Ping'an sat down in the main hall and mentioned the news Guo Jia had just mentioned.

After hearing this, Xu suddenly became worried and said, "I went to see a matchmaker a few days ago. She did have a few suitable candidates, but if they want to decide on one quickly, then we, the woman, would seem too hasty, which is not good!"

Zhang Laoer was also worried. He had originally planned to find a good family for his daughter, but plans really cannot keep up with changes.

"Well, then I'll ask your mother to ask other matchmakers tomorrow. A good man will never have trouble finding a husband, and she's very pretty. The main thing is that your fifth sister is a widow, which will have an impact on the marriage. If your fifth sister doesn't get married, your sixth sister won't be able to get married either, so they all have to get married together," sighed Zhang Laoer.

"There are so many matchmakers in the city, we can't just rely on one tree. If we spend more money and ask more matchmakers, we will have more choices," Zhang Ping'an thought for a while.

When they woke up the next morning, the whole family sat together in the main room, which was rare, waiting for Mrs. Hu to bring breakfast.

Mrs. Xu drank her tea and said, "I've been married to the Zhang family for over twenty years, and this is the first time I've had to wait for someone to serve me breakfast. I feel quite uncomfortable."

Wu Ya smiled and said, "Mother, it would be nice to let you enjoy yourself!"

"Of course it's nice to be served by someone," Xu also smiled.

"By the way, little brother, are you going to Jinbao's house today? Has he published any storybooks recently? If so, can you bring two back for me?" Liu Ya asked.

Zhang Pingan put down his teacup and said, "I have plans this morning. I'm going to visit a friend, so I don't have anything to do this afternoon. Our house is pretty close to Jinbao's now. I'll take a detour and ask for you on my way back."

"Hey!" Liu Ya responded happily.

After arriving in Lin'an, Wu Ya and Liu Ya basically did not do any work and stayed at home all the time. Their skin, which had been tanned during the escape, was covered up again and is now much whiter.

In addition, Xu made them some new clothes. As the saying goes, "clothes make the man." Now the two sisters no longer look like country girls. Their temperament is much better than that of their previous sisters, and they have a bit of the charm of beautiful girls from a small family.

I don’t know what kind of family I will talk about in the future.

It was the first time for Mrs. Hu to make breakfast. She was not sure what her family would like, so she followed the habits of her previous host family and made a pot of egg noodles, fried pickled mustard greens, and baked scallion pancakes. Soon they were on the table.

Xu tasted it and found it tasted pretty good. The rolled noodles were very chewy, and the scallion pancakes were tastier than the ones she made herself. However, she felt that there was too much oil in them. Xu felt distressed, but was too embarrassed to say it out loud, fearing that the servants would think that she, the mother of a juren, was petty, so she could only bear it!

Zhang Ping'an and Wu Ya and Liu Ya didn't think too much about it and ate with great relish.

Just as everyone finished eating, Old Man Lu came in with a letter and bowed, saying, "Master, someone sent a letter. Please take a look."

Zhang Pingan was so embarrassed by this that he didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He was already a master at the age of sixteen. However, he was also quite curious about who would post a message for him. He stood up, took the message and said, "Let me see."

When he opened it, he found that Huo Zongqi, the top scorer in this provincial examination, would hold a literary gathering at his own villa in the suburbs the next day and invited Zhang Pingan to attend.

It was estimated that every new scholar had a copy of this visiting card, so Zhang Ping'an put it down after reading it.

He said to Zhang Laoer and Xu, "Dad, Mom, Lord Zhou helped a lot when the pleasure boat was attacked last time. I've always kept this favor in my heart. It wasn't convenient for me to go and thank him then, so I never went to visit him. Now that the provincial examination is over, I tossed and turned half the night thinking about it. I think I have to go. I may not be back for lunch, so I'm telling you this."

Zhang Lao Er nodded and said, "Okay, got it!"

After saying that, he thought for a moment and then warned, "They are officials, and they are much older than you. No matter what they say, just listen to them. Don't offend them!"

"Okay, Dad, I'll be leaving then," Zhang Pingan replied.

Old Man Lu could drive a carriage, so Zhang Ping'an asked him to drive in front and took him to Lord Zhou's house.

This matter is a private matter. Going to the Canal Transport Office would attract too much attention and be inconvenient. Today is the Canal Transport Office's holiday day, and Zhang Ping'an chose this day on purpose.

The Zhou Mansion is also in the east of the city, but its geographical location is much better. It belongs to the core area of ​​the east city. The two houses are not too far apart and you can arrive there in a short while.

The entrance was not as ostentatious as Zhang Ping'an had imagined. Instead, it looked very low-key, with a sense of solemnity faintly revealed in its restraint.

Zhang Ping'an tidied his clothes in the car before getting out, and then walked towards the gate with the thank-you gifts he had prepared on the way.

When he arrived at the mansion gate, he handed over his business card and the servant quickly led him in with a very polite attitude.

Entering the mansion, the layout is similar to Lin Junhui's house, but the colors are much darker, with a rough and simple style, not gorgeous, and all the servants are basically expressionless. There are only servants, no maids, which looks creepy!

After the servant led Zhang Ping'an to the flower hall, he told the other servants to serve tea and then turned around to report.

He came back after more than a quarter of an hour, bowed, and invited Zhang Ping'an to go to the study.

Zhang Pingan suddenly became a little nervous. After entering Zhou Mansion, his heart was pounding and he felt uneasy. It seemed that something was not right in this mansion!

When he arrived at the study, Master Zhou was reading in the study. Seeing Zhang Ping'an coming to visit, his face showed no surprise. He just raised his hand and made a gesture of invitation, saying lightly: "Sit down!"

"Sir Zhou, I came here today to thank you for your help on the Wutang River that day. You also helped us a lot when the pleasure boat was attacked. I will always be grateful for this kindness," Zhang Pingan said respectfully.

"The past is over, there is no need to mention it again," Lord Zhou raised his hand to stop talking.

Then he looked at Zhang Ping'an and suddenly asked, "Now that you have passed the provincial examination, what are your plans?"

As a powerful official of high rank, Zhang Ping'an was not surprised that Lord Zhou would pay attention to the list of successful candidates in the provincial examination.

I don't know what the point of asking this is now.

After thinking for a moment, he answered truthfully, "Of course I will continue to study hard, hoping to achieve success in the imperial examination next year."

Upon hearing this, Lord Zhou nodded and praised, "Very good!"

Just as I was about to continue, a three-year-old child suddenly pushed open the study door and ran in, saying in a loud, baby voice, "Daddy, Grandpa asked me to supervise you taking your medicine. Don't be lazy and not take it!"

When Lord Zhou saw the child come in, his expression softened considerably. He patted his son's head lovingly, picked him up and placed him on his lap, introducing him to Zhang Ping'an, "This is my second son, named Shu."

After saying that, he lowered his head and said to the child, "Shu'er, call me uncle."