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

"Someone is in trouble!" Liu Shuisheng said coldly.

"It's okay, Luo Fuan, no one is isolating you. How about you come early tomorrow and the six of us can study together?" Zhang Pingan spoke up to help.

"Yes, Luo Fuan, come over earlier and we'll go together," Liu Shengyuan responded seriously.

"Well, I will ask my mother to wake me up early tomorrow. Thank you!" Luo Fuan felt a little embarrassed.

"We are classmates!" Liu Shengyuan said with a smile.

Luo Fugui accepted his cousin's apology awkwardly, and then they all continued to study together.

Zhang Ping'an had finished reading the Three Character Classic given by Master Luo, and could understand the general idea, but he was not good at writing. In his previous life, his handwriting was not good at all. Moreover, now it is traditional Chinese characters, and many characters are different. He was also not used to the ancient writing order from right to left, so he had to learn it all over again.

The importance of good handwriting is self-evident. Zhang Pingan secretly decided to focus on practicing calligraphy this semester and speed up his learning progress after laying a solid foundation.

Before we knew it, it was noon. Mr. Luo was still in another classroom and had not come over. Uncle Liu came in and said that the get out of class was over and his family had brought him food.

Several people went out together. Luo Fuan and Luo Fugui were going home. Liu Shuisheng's second brother had already brought them food, and also brought Liu Shengyuan's food. Jin Bao looked at the door disappointedly: "Ah, my food hasn't arrived yet..."

"Maybe it's delayed, don't worry," Zhang Ping'an comforted him. The meal delivery would not be so punctual, but the food would be better and it would save some food expenses. Eating in school is really not cheap.

"Oh!" Jinbao squatted down and poked the ant.

"Zhang Ping'an, Zhang Jinbao, why don't you come over and eat my food first? I'll share some with you. I can't finish it anyway," Liu Shengyuan invited.

"Oh, okay..." Jin Bao stood up and answered, but before he could finish his words, Zhang Pingan grabbed him tightly.

"Liu Shengyuan, you eat first. Don't worry about us. Our meal will be here soon," Zhang Pingan waved his hand and replied.

Liu Shengyuan said regretfully: "Okay, Brother Shuisheng and I will go in first!"

"Ok!"

Jin Bao watched the two of them leave and said with a bitter face: "Ping An, why don't you let me speak?"? !

"How dare you agree to this? One meal is definitely not enough for three people. Our meal will be here soon. There's no need!"

Jinbao had no choice but to continue squatting and poking the ants: "Oh!"

A quarter of an hour later, Erya finally brought the meal over: "Ping'an, Jinbao, you've been waiting for a long time. Something happened at home today, so I'm late. Come on, take it!"

Zhang Pingan and Jin Bao took the food and asked casually, "Second sister, what's the matter?"

Xu was very concerned about delivering meals. According to Zhang Ping'an's estimation, it would usually be delivered early rather than late, but today was special.

"Oh, it's nothing serious," Erya fanned her face with her hands, "You'll know when we get back. I'm leaving first," and then she ran away.

Zhang Pingan didn't ask any more questions. He pulled Jinbao into the classroom and opened the lunch box. He found that there was a chicken leg on top of his meal today. It must have been fished out of the chicken soup. This was really unbelievable. His mother actually killed a chicken!!!

"Ping'an, you have chicken legs to eat today," Jinbao came over.

"Well, I'll give you some," Zhang Ping'an tore off a piece of chicken leg meat and gave it to Jinbao.

Jinbao picked it up and chewed it: "Hmm, it smells so good! I'll share one of my meatballs with you."

The two finished their meal quickly.

Liu Shengyuan and Liu Shuisheng had finished eating long ago. Liu Shengyuan asked, "Zhang Ping'an, do you want to take a nap?"

"We're not sleepy yet, what's the matter?"

"I brought Yan Jitu here, do you want to play with me?"

"Okay!" Zhang Ping'an pulled Jinbao over. He was curious about what toys children in ancient times played with. His only toy was the rattle that Zhang Laoer brought back from Ezhou Prefecture. Now that he had grown up, he no longer played with it.

Liu Shengyuan handed it over generously and said: "Here, Brother Shuisheng and I have played with it, so you can play with it first"!

Zhang Pingan took it and looked at it. Isn't this just a modern tangram? The wood in his hand was polished very smoothly, with rough carvings, and each piece was engraved with the serial numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7.

Hey, I haven’t played for a long time!

After Zhang Ping'an took it, he showed off his skills and put it together in no time, leaving the remaining people stunned.

Liu Shengyuan asked doubtfully, "Ping'an, have you ever played this before?"

This is definitely something he can't admit, and he can't find a reasonable excuse. Zhang Pingan can only say against his will: "Hey, no, I just think it should be played this way!"

"Then you are so smart!" Liu Shuisheng said admiringly.

“Let me try,” Jinbao thought it wasn’t that difficult and couldn’t wait to try it out. “Hmm, why can’t I put it back together?”

"Actually, there are a lot of tricks to this. Let's take out the three largest ones first, and then find combinations for the remaining four smaller ones. It'll be quick!"

Jinbao finally finished it with the help of several people, but he lost interest in the game. "It's too difficult. I don't want to play it anymore. You guys play it!"

Several of them started to discuss while playing with great interest. When Luo Fuan and Luo Fugui came back from dinner, they were immediately attracted to it. Liu Shengyuan didn't put it away until class was about to start.

"My dad bought me a lot of toys. Next time I'll bring you something more fun. Let's go to class first! Don't let toys ruin your spirit."

"Okay," Luo Fuan said reluctantly.

In the afternoon, Mr. Luo taught arithmetic and asked Uncle Liu to give six persimmons to each person.

When Zhang Ping'an came in the morning, he saw that there were only a few fruits left on the persimmon tree. He thought that the teacher had picked them for his own consumption or to give to others. He didn't expect that they would be used in class.

"Now take out the small wooden sticks you brought and place them one by one on the table," said Master Luo.

Several people did as they were told.

"Anyone who can count to 20, raise your hand."

Everyone in the class raised their hand except Jinbao, which made Jinbao hesitate and not sure whether to raise his hand or not.

Zhang Ping'an was not surprised at all. Both Liu Shuisheng's family and Luo Fuan's family were in business. Seven years old was not too young in ancient times. He could already help with many things. It was normal for him to know some basic arithmetic through learning from his parents. It went without saying that Liu Shengyuan's father was an accountant.

"Okay, I understand. Put your hands down," Luo Fuzi said gently, looking quite satisfied. "Since you know basic arithmetic, you can talk more in this class. Zhang Jinbao, your foundation is not strong, so remember to listen carefully."

Mr. Luo also prepared a small wooden stick and began to explain the rules and methods of arithmetic, applying them to real life in a simple and easy-to-understand manner.

Then, Mr. Luo asked everyone to practice simple addition and subtraction with small wooden sticks. Everyone learned very seriously. At the end of the practice, except for Jinbao whose brain was like a paste, everyone else had a good grasp of it.

The afternoon passed quickly. When school was over, Mr. Luo said that everyone could take the persimmons they had received back home, which surprised everyone.

When Zhang Laoer came to pick him up and heard about it, he also praised Master Luo as a good teacher who was very kind to his students.

After Zhang Pingan got home and put down his school bag, he suddenly found that there were many gift boxes in the house. They were all colorful and it was obvious that they were not things he would buy at home. He couldn't help but ask Xu: "Mom, where did all these things come from?"

Xu said with a delighted look, "The matchmaker brought it here."

Zhang Pingan was stunned: "Matchmaker? Is my elder sister engaged?"

According to local customs, if the man sends a matchmaker to propose marriage, the woman will not accept the gifts if she doesn't like the man. My mother is so happy that she even kept the gifts. Does this mean it's settled?