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

But when he ran to the door of the west wing, he was dumbfounded again. He saw Li and several other unfamiliar women blocking the door. This made Liu Sanlang very troubled because he was the worst at dealing with women.

Xu was anxious watching from the side. This silly boy was quite smart at the door just now.

It turns out the women blocking the door were just pretending to do so. Firstly, they wanted to make the girl look precious and not someone who could be married off casually. Secondly, they wanted to get a red envelope. This was a good job, usually assigned to families with close relationships.

Fortunately, the wedding party arrived and asked Liu Sanlang to give a red envelope, and then they were allowed to go.

After entering the room, I saw the bride sitting in front of the mirror, covered with a red veil, but from her clenched hands, I could tell that the bride was also very nervous.

The lady combing hair stood aside, and said with a smile to warm up the atmosphere: "Oh, this is the eldest son-in-law of the Zhang family. He has a good physique and it seems that he will never have to worry about food. The bride will enjoy a good life in the future!"

Mrs. Li was very happy to receive the red envelopes. Moreover, the boys in the family probably got quite a lot today. This money was earned so easily. At this time, they also joined in to flatter and say auspicious words, saying, "That's right. He and our Daya are a perfect match. There is no one more suitable than them!"

As he said this, he walked over, took Daya's hand and led her to the groom.

Liu Sanlang looked at Daya who was walking towards him, his face suddenly turned red, and he was nervous and held it in for a long time before he said, "Mother...mother...mother...mother!" After that he let out a long sigh!

The clever young man among the people helping to welcome the bride quickly chimed in, "Wow! Look at our Sanlang! The bride is so nervous she can't even speak clearly. Hurry up and lead her to kowtow to her parents, or else we'll miss the auspicious time."

After hearing this, Mrs. Li quickly joined in: "That's right, that's right. Then let's go to the main hall quickly. Her parents are waiting here!"

After saying that, he helped support Daya and followed Liu Sanlang to the main room.

Everyone in the main hall had been waiting for a long time, and the tea was ready. Li led the two of them to stand in front of Zhang Laoer and Xu, and then handed them two straw cushions. Liu Sanlang took them and knelt down with a "bang". The shaking sound attracted everyone's attention. Daya knelt down slowly with Li's help to prevent the veil from falling off accidentally, which would be a bad omen.

After they both knelt, Li brought a tea tray and handed each of them a cup of tea. After Liu Sanlang took it, his face flushed red, and he shouted, "Dad... Dad! Mom... Mom!"

Daya also shouted: "Dad! Mom! Please have some tea."

Xu and Zhang Laoer quickly took it, took a symbolic sip, and said with a smile, "You are all good children. Live a good life in the future! Your parents wish you a long and happy life together and a son soon!"

After saying that, he and Zhang Laoer each gave a red envelope.

After completing these procedures, it was time to officially leave the house. Dazhu walked forward and half squatted down. Li helped carry Daya on her back, and then they walked towards the sedan chair together with the groom.

The people welcoming the bride also breathed a sigh of relief, and the suona started playing again, which was so joyful that it made people happy to listen to it.

A group of people went out in a lively manner. When they crossed the courtyard gate, Daya couldn't help crying. Li handed Daya a handkerchief to wipe her tears and said with a smile: "It's good to cry. A bride should cry when she gets married. Don't be afraid. You still have to go back to your parents' home in three days!"

After sending Daya to the bridal sedan, the Liu family scattered handfuls of wedding money to the children who were gathered around. The happy children screamed and rushed to grab it. The villagers who came to the banquet saw this and praised their generosity.

The Liu family members who helped to welcome the bride said some auspicious words to Li, and then they got into the sedan chair and returned to the town.

The Zhang family then had a feast. Nothing else to do, everyone was bustling with activity and joy, except for Ma. Ma was now lying on the kang in the east wing, furious. Why wasn't she allowed to block the door to the west wing?

It would have been fine if Xu and Zhang Laoer were against it, but even her own husband disagreed. Zhang even threatened that if she dared to cause trouble during the wedding, she would be in trouble.

God knows what I've done! It's a shame that no one in my family supports me.

The lively banquet outside made her feel uncomfortable and she simply didn't want to join in the fun. She wouldn't be able to get a seat at the table even if she went out.

Outside, Zhang Laoer and Xu Shi didn't care about all this. They both had very happy faces. The feeling of being watched and congratulated by everyone made them feel comfortable all over. Especially Zhang Laoer, he toasted each guest one by one. In less than one round, his face turned red and his neck became thick. He was drunk.

When Xu saw that the situation was not good, he quickly asked Zhang Lao Da and Zhang Lao San for help. As brothers, they had to help at this time.

The feast lasted until mid-afternoon. By the time the three brothers were done, they were so drunk they could barely stand up, so Zhang sent them back to their rooms to sleep. Old Zhang had also had a few too many drinks today, so he'd gone back to bed long before anyone told him to. Zhang Ping'an and his friends were sent out to play; Zhang thought they were in the way and would be busy cleaning up afterward.

At this time, the women who helped in the kitchen had finished their meal and said they were leaving. Li quickly put the dishes she had left behind and gave each of them a large bowl. The women politely declined for a moment before accepting it with a smile. The dishes for the banquet were delicious, full of oil and water. The women said cheerfully, "Eldest wife, please let my son return the bowl later. We will leave first."

"Oh, you've worked so hard today," Li said a few polite words before sending the person away.

Then it would be the turn of the other women in the family to sit at the table and eat some leftovers. Erya led her sisters out, and they were followed by Da Ni from her uncle's family and Da Hua and Er Hua from her third uncle's family. They had been washing vegetables so hard that their backs were almost numb, and they also had to help with chores in the backyard. They were so hungry that their chests were sticking to their backs.

Erya had sharp eyes and picked a table with a lot of leftovers. However, there were only a few leaves on each plate, and the soup was not very good. People were hungry now, so there was basically nothing left after the meal. Erya didn't mind. She mixed the leftovers from several plates together with rice and ate without even raising her head. The others followed suit and sat down to eat.

When Mrs. Li saw this, she went to the kitchen and brought out a casserole of carrot and bone soup. This was specially left here, and there were still quite a few bones in it. Mrs. Li scooped a large spoonful into each child's bowl.

Several girls laughed happily.

Zhang called out to Dahua, "Dahua, go get your mother to come out and help clean up. She's been so lazy all day that she's fallen asleep before mother-in-law even goes to bed!"

Dahua held the bowl and said "Oh" and ran to the east wing to call for help. Ma was not asleep at all and heard what her mother-in-law said. She secretly cursed at the old woman for not wanting to see her daughter-in-law doing well.

When Dahua came in, Ma covered her head with the quilt and pretended not to hear anything. No matter how Dahua called out, she didn't respond.

Dahua had no choice but to come out with the bowl and timidly said to Zhang: "Grandma, I can't wake up my mother. I've been calling her for a long time. She might be sick."

"Sick?" Zhang sneered, dropped the rag in her hand, and went to the east wing. She thought to herself that it seemed that she had been too kind to her daughters-in-law in recent years, and those ignorant ones really thought it was her turn to be the boss. But too much good life will always make you tight-lipped!

Zhang came to the door of the east wing and kicked it open. The loud noise scared Ma so much that she trembled, but she forced herself not to move, otherwise her trick would be exposed.

Unexpectedly, Zhang didn't care whether she was really asleep or not. She opened the quilt, grabbed Ma's hair and pulled it out. Ma tilted her head in pain and begged for mercy: "Mom, mom, please let go, it hurts so much, I'm getting up, I'm getting up now, I really didn't hear you just now, I'm not feeling well today, really, mom!"

Li and Xu ate their own meals, not saying a word to plead for mercy. There was no need; lazy people are often punished by ruthless ones, and their mother-in-law was no pushover. The younger children, needless to say, ate quietly, fearing bad luck. Dahua wanted to go and see, but after a moment's hesitation, she decided not to.

Zhang was tall and had learned martial arts since childhood. Although she later fell into poverty and fled to Zhangjia Village, her foundation was still there, and her body was still strong after all these years. She grabbed Ma like a chicken, pulling her hair all the way to the backyard, and then threw Ma to the well and said lightly: "All the washing work today is yours. You are not allowed to go to bed until you finish washing. You dare to let the little ones help you behind my back? Just wait and see how I deal with you. I can go and learn the tricks of those evil mothers-in-law in our village."

After saying that, he strode away, leaving Ma in tears in front of a pile of dirt. What a huge loss!