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

After the meal, a maid brought over a tray with a hot towel and mouthwash.

In order to avoid the embarrassing incident from happening again, the housekeeper specifically instructed the servants to serve and explained the purpose of the tea.

Fortunately, it was explained, otherwise Zhang Lao Da, Zhang Lao San and others would really drink it.

Zhang Ping'an was a little drunk, his face flushed red.

Minister Qian did not keep them for long and ordered the housekeeper to prepare return gifts.

Then he took out two handwritten letters from his arms and asked his servant to give them to Zhang Ping'an.

Zhang Ping'an held the letter and looked up hesitantly.

Minister Qian said calmly, "This is the letter of recommendation I wrote to the Imperial College's chief academic officer and the provincial school administrator. You should drop out of the Imperial College tomorrow and join the provincial school. They'll understand what I mean after reading this letter. I've heard a bit about the Imperial College's academic style, and it might not be suitable for you. Master Zhu, who's in the provincial school's upper dormitory, is my classmate and very knowledgeable. With his guidance, it's possible for you to pass the imperial examination next February!"

"Thank you, father-in-law." Zhang Pingan immediately sobered up after hearing this and hurriedly bowed to express his gratitude.

"There's no need to be so polite between you and me, the father-in-law and the son-in-law," Minister Qian waved his hand gently, indicating that there was no need to say more.

At this time, the housekeeper had already asked the servants to load all the return gifts onto the Zhang family's carriage.

"Master, everything is done."

"Well, then you should go back early. If you have any problems in the future, you can come to my house to find me," said Minister Qian, standing up.

The other members of the Qian family also stood up and saw the guests off together.

This time, Minister Qian was escorted all the way out of the mansion, which was considered very important from a courtesy perspective.

Zhang Ping'an bowed to everyone again at the door and said goodbye before leaving with his family.

At this time, the alcohol seemed to be taking effect, and my head was a little dizzy. Everything that happened today was like a fleeting display in my mind, and it seemed so unreal.

The voices of my father and others were vague and unclear.

Seeing that his son was very dizzy, Zhang Laoer hurriedly helped him lie down in the car.

It wasn't until they were far away from the Qian family and could no longer see anyone that Dazhu called out, "Old Man Lu, hurry up! I have to go back to the toilet! I'm dying of suffocation!"

Erzhu also hunched over and said anxiously, "Me too, Mom, my stomach is going to explode!"

Zhang Lao Da and Zhang Lao San were not much better either, and they all wanted to go to the toilet.

Old Man Lu was completely confused. He was having his meal with the servants and had no idea what was going on. Seeing how anxious the Zhang family members were, he didn't ask any questions and quickly waved the whip a few times to speed up the carriage.

After arriving home, everyone ran to the toilet without even saying hello to Mrs. Xu.

Xu was stunned for a moment: "What's going on? Are you all having stomach problems?"

Zhang Laoer didn't drink much water and felt fine, so he didn't rush to the toilet. After hearing Xu's question, he was too embarrassed to tell the truth and just said, "I drank too much water and I have to pee!"

After saying that, he carried Zhang Pingan down from the car and put him in the room.

Mrs. Xu followed into the room and touched her son's forehead. "It's okay, not hot. Let him sleep for a while. He must be tired today. I'll make him a bowl of hangover soup when he wakes up."

"Not only is he tired, I'm exhausted too," said Zhang Laoer as he sat down.

"What's wrong?" asked Xu. She rarely saw her husband complain of being tired.

Zhang Laoer said, "I'm so short, I'm so tired!"

Xu curled her lips: "What to do, the marriage is already decided, just get used to it!"

At this time, Boss Zhang and his companions finally solved their three urgent problems and felt relieved.

Zhang Laoda stood in the yard and shouted, "Second brother's wife!"

"Here you are. What's the matter, brother?" Xu responded quickly.

"Sister-in-law, we haven't eaten enough yet. Please ask Mrs. Hu to make us a bowl of egg noodles," said Mr. Zhang without being polite to Xu.

After all, it was because of the second wife's affairs that I went hungry.

Xu guessed that everyone was upset today, so she didn't dare ask more questions and quickly asked Mrs. Hu to go downstairs.

After eating the noodles, they distributed some of the return gifts prepared by the Qian family to several families. Jinbao also got some. They were all good things that could be presented on the table. Xu was reluctant to give more, just a token of her appreciation.

Zhang Laoer had a long-term vision and distributed silver locks engraved with the twelve zodiac animals to each family. This was specially prepared by the Qian family after they inquired about the children in each family.

The workmanship is fine and you can tell at a glance that it is not a cheap product from a small shop.

After receiving it, Zhang Lao Da and Zhang Lao San immediately smiled and quickly said goodbye and left.

Xu stamped her feet but said nothing.

Zhang Ping'an slept until night.

When I woke up, I was very thirsty. I drank two large glasses of water before I felt better. I no longer had a headache and felt very energetic.

Zhang Laoer and Xu were about to rest, but upon hearing the noise, Xu got up again, put on her clothes, and came over to ask, "Son, what do you want to eat tonight? I'll ask Mrs. Hu to make it for you now."

"Mom, no need. I'm not very hungry. You go to sleep," Zhang Pingan replied in a hoarse voice and cleared his throat.

"Really?" Xu hesitated.

"No, go to sleep!"

"Okay, the bath water in the pot is warm enough, I'll go to bed then," said Xu, and then went back to the room.

Zhang Ping'an stood up and took out the two letters in his arms and stroked them for a few times. The words on them were written with strong strokes and iron-like strokes. It was obvious at a glance that the person who wrote them had a hard temper.

I didn’t expect to be able to go back to the state school again!

After washing up and reading for a while, Zhang Pingan went to bed.

This time I slept well all night!

After breakfast the next day, he went to the Imperial College early.

After reading the letter, the chief priest looked Zhang Ping'an up and down and easily agreed to transfer schools.

Hua Wanli knew that Zhang Ping'an was reluctant to transfer schools, but he also understood the importance of future. In the end, he just patted Zhang Ping'an's shoulder and said, "Come back to see us more often in the future!"

"Of course I will. We are not far away," Zhang Pingan said with a smile.

"Oh, I expected that you would transfer schools," said the girl with green eyes slowly, waving a fan.

Zhang Ping'an knew that although he was a snob, he was not a bad person at heart.

After saying goodbye to everyone one by one, Zhang Ping'an went to the provincial school.

Thanks to the recommendation of Minister Qian, his admission was very smooth.

When he learned that Zhang Ping'an had returned and gone to Shangshe to study, the person who was most surprised was Master Lu.

"Good boy, you are really capable!"