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

"Uncle!" the child said in a crisp voice, twisting and turning on his father's knees while shouting, obviously he was very much loved. At that time, it was popular to hug grandchildren instead of children, so it was rare to see fathers having very intimate actions with their sons. They all kept their love deep in their hearts.

Zhang Ping'an thought that Mr. Zhou must also have such traditional ideas.

Unexpectedly!

With the child around, Master Zhou said nothing more. He opened the drawer, took a brown pill, and drank half a cup of tea before putting the child down. He smiled and said, "Be good, Dad has taken the medicine obediently. Go find your big brother and play!"

The child then jumped out of the door and thoughtfully closed the door with great effort.

When the child's footsteps could no longer be heard, Master Zhou leaned back in his chair and said, "I have received your gratitude, but words are useless. It depends on what you have done. You are just a small scholar now, without any real power. At most, you can be a rich man. When you have a position, come and find me again!"

The tone was steady, and the last sentence was clearly a farewell.

Although the words were not very pleasant to the ear, they gave Zhang Pingan the feeling that they were communicating on an equal footing. He did not feel uncomfortable because the other party was just stating a fact.

Zhang Pingan bowed respectfully and said, "Your Excellency is absolutely right. I will definitely work hard to make progress. I have troubled you for a long time today, so I will take my leave now."

Lord Zhou nodded slightly.

Zhang Ping'an then stood up and left the study. A servant was outside the door leading Zhang Ping'an out.

In fact, before coming here this time, Zhang Ping'an had already remembered that Lord Zhou was the nobleman he met in the dilapidated temple outside Yuezhou City before, and he had reminded them of the news of the fall of Yuezhou City.

From this incident, we can see that Lord Zhou has a bit of compassion for ordinary people in his heart, and he is not as cold as he appears to be.

There may be two reasons for letting himself go to him after he has a position. The first is the superficial meaning. Only when he has a position will he be useful and worthy of the formal acquaintance between the two. The second is that Lord Zhou has a complicated background. Now I am just a juren, without real power, and it is easy for him to be implicated.

After figuring this out, Zhang Pingan breathed a sigh of relief. He stopped worrying about trivial matters and went out to get in the car to go to Jinbao's house.

Jin Bao doesn't have much social life in Lin'an City. Apart from the families of Zhang Ping'an and Xiao Yifei, he rarely goes out and basically stays at home.

When Zhang Ping'an arrived, Jinbao's family was preparing to have lunch.

"Ping'an, why are you here? Come and sit down. I thought you would be very busy these days," Jinbao said with a smile.

"It's okay, not that busy," Zhang Pingan said, "I went out to do some things this morning, and stopped by your house for dinner!"

"Feel free to eat. My mother made mung bean soup today. I'll bring you a bowl," Jinbao said.

The mung bean soup was chilled in well water. After Zhang Ping'an drank a bowl of it, he felt all the heat disappear.

"By the way, have you sold any storybooks recently? My sixth sister asked me to bring two back to her to pass the time," Zhang Pingan asked.

Jin Bao pulled two books from the shelf and placed them on the table. "Here, these are the books I wrote recently. I just sold them to a bookstore. The owner said they're selling pretty well!"

Zhang Pingan usually didn't read that kind of stuff. He picked up a book and flipped through it casually, raising an eyebrow and saying, "Oh, you've changed your style. Before, it was a rich lady falling in love with a poor scholar, and now it's a young man from a noble family saving a beautiful woman and falling in love with a prostitute. Are there really men who read this?"

"I wrote all of this for ladies in the boudoir. It's just the same idea, just a different name. It's easy to get bored if I always write about rich ladies and talented men and beautiful women. How could a man read this?" said Jin Bao.

"It's full of tricks," Zhang Pingan sighed with a smile.

After having lunch at Jinbao's house, Zhang Ping'an stayed for a while before going home.

Liu Ya was very happy to receive the storybook and said with a smile: "You are so kind, little brother!"

Xu was sewing shoe soles on the side, but she didn't care. She smiled and said, "We've spoiled you at home. Let's see who will still spoil you when you get married. You'll have to suffer. Girls should be more diligent."

Wu Ya and Liu Ya said coquettishly: "I know, mother!"

After saying that, he quickly slipped back to his room.

"When they were young, your sisters were quite fierce. But since they moved to the city, they have become more and more pretty as they grow up," Xu shook her head and sighed with a smile.

"There's nothing that needs the fifth and sixth sisters to do at home anyway, so as long as they are happy," Zhang Ping'an said with a smile.

In a flash, it was the next morning.

Zhang Ping'an changed into decent clothes, washed himself clean, and went out after having breakfast.

You should still go to the literary gathering hosted by the top undergraduate student. Even though the other party may not know you, it’s good to get to know them. You must not be unsociable. You cannot stand alone. Besides, you can also make other connections, which is beneficial!

The Huo family's villa outside the city was quite large. When Zhang Ping'an arrived, there were already several luxurious carriages parked at the door.

It was only when I entered the villa that I discovered that there was a different world inside. It was a typical Jiangnan layout with small bridges and flowing water, pavilions, towers, rockery and flowing water, various green plants and flowers, etc. It looked exquisite and beautiful, and the scenery was pleasant.

Huo Jieyuan stood at the entrance of the garden to welcome the guests.

Zhang Pingan went forward and greeted them politely. After the two of them greeted each other, they could find a seat by themselves.

The table was filled with snacks, fruits and various teas, but nothing was touched.

"Brother Zhang," someone greeted Zhang Ping'an by patting him on the shoulder.

Zhang Pingan turned his head and said, "Brother Yue, you are here too!"

This person was none other than Yue Chi, who had sat next to him at the Lu Ming Banquet. He had also sent him an invitation the day before, inviting him to his own Juren banquet.

Now it was confirmed that everyone had a copy of Huo Jieyuan’s visiting card.

Yue Chi fanned himself and said, "Sitting at home is just sitting here anyway, so it's good to go out and meet more people. Besides, there's such a beautiful view to look at, how nice! There should be more literary gatherings and poetry gatherings these days, but everyone will be enrolled in school soon, so we won't have time to meet up even if we want to!"

"That's right!" Zhang Ping'an nodded and asked curiously, "Brother Yue, where are you going? Are you still going to participate in the imperial examination in February next year?"

"I used my connections to audit classes at the provincial school," Yue Chi said. "The imperial examination is next February, so of course I'll go. I have to give it a try! What about you?"

"I'm going to the Imperial College," Zhang Pingan said frankly, "My family has no connections, so going to the Imperial College is my best choice."

"The Imperial College is not as good as the best, but better than the worst. Don't be discouraged, you are still young!" Yue Chi comforted.

"I know," Zhang Pingan nodded, then pointed at the people around him and gossiped, "How many people did they invite? It's packed, definitely more than 120!"

Although the Yue Chi family was now in decline, he still knew everyone he should know. After a careful look, he said, "Many of them are former juren. I guess they want to use this opportunity to make more connections! It's not easy to get so many people together!"