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

A few days later, Xu was going to the market and specially cut a piece of dried meat, preparing to visit her parents' home. Last time, the Liu family gave her half a side of pork as an engagement gift, and apart from giving some to the close relatives who came, the rest was made into dried meat, which was a good thing to give as a gift or to eat at home.

It happened that Zhang Ping'an was on leave, so Xu took him with her. One reason was that he could have something good to eat when he returned to her parents' home, and the other was that Old Man Xu liked this grandson very much, and he would definitely be happy to take the child with him.

When Xu returned to her parents' home to make boxes for Daya, she was not prepared to pay according to the market price. She tried to make Old Man Xu happy so that the price would be easier to negotiate.

Zhang Laoer harnessed the donkey cart early and took the mother and son out together. After entering the town, Zhang Laoer went to set up a stall, and Xu went back to her parents' home. They separated at the market. The Xu family was at the edge of the town, not far away.

Since getting married, Xu has not had many opportunities to come to the town. Now, she is holding her son's hand and walking and looking around. She feels very happy even if she doesn't buy anything.

Zhang Ping'an had no choice but to follow along. Not wanting to spoil the fun, he was bored when he suddenly saw a familiar figure. He pulled Xu's sleeve and said, "Mom, look over there, it's my uncle!"

Xu was looking at a jewelry stall. There is no woman who doesn't love these things. After hearing what her son said, Xu looked up and found that it was true!

Just as I was about to walk over to say hello, I saw an unfamiliar woman standing next to Uncle Xu. She had her hair in a bun and didn't look young, but she was dressed very seductively.

The two walked one in front and the other behind, perhaps trying to avoid suspicion, but anyone with a discerning eye could tell that their relationship was unusual.

Xu frowned. What's going on?!

"Let's go and take a look," said Xu, holding her son's hand tightly.

The mother and son followed Uncle Xu all the way to the south of the town, and finally stopped at the door of a house with a red lantern hanging. Before going in, Uncle Xu looked around to make sure there was no one around, and then he went in.

The mother and son turned their backs and hid behind a tree. After seeing Uncle Xu go in, they turned around and stood still. Zhang Pingan looked up and asked, "Mom, do you want to go in?"

"There's no point in going in. There's nothing good in there. Let's go!" Xu spat.

Zhang Ping'an could probably guess where it was, but he was just a child, so he let the adults worry about such things!

It was already daybreak when they arrived at the Xu's house. Old man Xu was planing wood in the yard, and the ground was covered with sawdust. He smiled when he saw his little daughter coming with his grandson. He patted the sawdust off his body and made sure there was no residue before he squatted down and picked up Zhang Pingan. After weighing him, he said, "You've become heavier. When you grow up, grandpa won't be able to carry you anymore!"

"Grandpa, I'm grown up now and can walk by myself," Zhang Pingan said with a smile.

"Haha, good boy," Old Man Xu praised, and carried Zhang Pingan to the kitchen. Old Lady Xu was making fried rice. Once fried and dried, it can be stored for a long time. When eating, just soak it in hot water. It is delicious and convenient.

Seeing her grandson coming, Old Lady Xu was also very happy. She put down the work in her hands and came over to ask, "You are here Ping'an. You haven't had breakfast yet. Grandma will make you some egg noodles. They are delicious!"

"Thank you, grandma!" Zhang Pingan said sweetly.

"It will be fine in a moment. Go out and play for a while. Your cousins ​​are out. I'll call them back to play with you later."

"No need, grandma. I can play by myself. I want to watch grandpa do things. It's quite interesting to see the wood slowly become the desired shape." Zhang Pingan shook his head and said there was no need to call his cousins ​​back.

Grandpa Xu went into the room and gave his grandson a handful of malt sugar to eat. Then he continued with his work and asked his youngest daughter, "Has the date been set for Daya? Your second sister came by a while ago and said she had mentioned the third son of Liu the Butcher's family."

Xu poured herself a glass of water and replied, "Yes, it's settled. It's the eighth day of the next month. I came back just for this matter. I have to make a pair of boxes for Daya so that she can marry in a decent manner."

"Well, that's the reason. Is it a trick or something? Don't worry, we will charge you according to the price of the wood and won't charge you more." Old man Xu nodded and asked.

Xu was silent for a moment and said, "His father and I don't have the ability to build a whole set. Just two boxes and a wardrobe are not too few."

Old Man Xu was a little surprised: "Don't you want the bed and table anymore?"

"No, even if my family doesn't charge me for the labor, the wood alone will cost a lot of money. There are many children in the family, and the expenses will be huge in the future," replied Xu.

"Yeah, that's right!" Old Man Xu didn't say anything else.

Xu didn't want to talk about this anymore, so she changed the subject and asked, "Where are the other people at home? Why are you and mother the only ones here?"

"Your eldest brother went to the shop, your eldest sister-in-law went to buy vegetables and hasn't come back yet. Your youngest brother said he was going to pick up your sister-in-law, but we don't know what's going on yet," Old Man Xu was also worried.

"What happened to my younger brother and his wife?" Xu asked with a frown. No wonder she saw her younger brother going there in the morning. He even lied to her father that he was going to pick up his wife. What a shameless guy.

Old man Xu didn't want to elaborate, waved his hand and said: "Children and grandchildren have their own blessings, I can't control him. If he doesn't want to live a good life and walk the right path, sooner or later he will suffer. It's good that he has learned a lesson."

After hearing this, Xu didn't dare to ask any more questions. She knew that her own father rarely talked about other people's gossip, and he would not say anything too harsh even when it came to his own son's affairs.

After a while, Mrs. Xu came back from shopping. Seeing Xu, she said enthusiastically, "Oh, I was wondering why the magpies were calling when I went out today. I guess they knew you were coming back. You're a rare guest!" Then she gently pinched Zhang Ping'an's face and said, "Ping'an has grown a lot. He looks much taller than he did during the Chinese New Year."

Zhang Pingan: Can you please stop pinching my face? It’s so embarrassing!

The aunt and sister-in-law sat together and talked. In recent years, Xu's life has been much smoother than in the past few years, and she has the confidence to go back to her parents' home. When they chatted, they didn't care about what to say and had a pretty smooth conversation.

It was not until lunchtime that the younger children came back from playing. The older children were already helping in the shop. Mrs. Xu's first two daughters were already married, and now the family would send lunch to the shop at noon.

I didn't see Uncle Xu come back, and no one at home mentioned it.

After dinner, Xu prepared to go back. She had been holding it in for most of the day, but she couldn't help it anymore and secretly mentioned what happened in the morning to Xu's mother in the kitchen. Unexpectedly, Xu's mother was not surprised. She sighed and said, "Everyone has his own destiny. I guess he has been up to something recently. Your sister-in-law went back to her parents' home two days ago. Let's see what he does in the next two days!"

After saying that, he snorted twice and continued, "He thinks that's someone like that, and that it's so easy to get away with it. He doesn't know what the right path is unless he suffers a little. Don't worry about it, just live your own life."

"Mom, I know, you don't have to worry about me," Xu replied.

When Xu and Zhang Ping'an were halfway there, they saw Zhang Laoer driving towards them from a distance.

"Why are you coming here? We can just walk there by ourselves. It's not far," Xu said angrily when the person came closer.

"Haha, it's okay. The party is about to disperse. I guess you guys should have gone back by now, so I came over to pick you up so you don't have to walk any more," Zhang Laoer said with a naive smile.

When they passed by a dyeing workshop on the way, Xu took the clothes there to be dyed, and then the family went back.

Xu's good mood vanished after she returned home. Looking at the mess on the ground, she angrily asked, "Who did this?"