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

The families of Zhang Lao Da and Zhang Lao San are still the same, with no major changes. As soon as you enter the yard, you will see diapers hanging on the bamboo poles.

Mei Zi and her second cousin's wife were washing dishes with their backs turned in the makeshift kitchen set up in the yard.

When Zhang Ping'an entered the main room, he saw Zhang Laoer was drunk and his face was red.

Zhang Lao Da and Zhang Lao San were not in much better condition. They reeked of alcohol and it was obvious that they had drunk a lot.

The three of them collapsed in their chairs, snoring loudly!

When Mrs. Li saw Zhang Ping'an coming in, she clapped her hands quickly, stood up and walked forward with a smile. She took the gift from Zhang Ping'an and said, "Ping'an is here, come and sit down. Look at you, your father has brought gifts, and you brought so many more. It's too expensive!"

After putting the things away, Li turned around and made tea.

Zhang Ping'an saw a basket of hickory nuts in front of the chair where his aunt had just sat, with peeled walnut kernels in a small winnowing basket next to it, and walnut shells all over the ground around the basket.

Li noticed Zhang Ping'an's gaze and casually explained, "I remember your mother said you liked eating pecans, so she asked your brother Erzhu to buy a basket. I'll peel them today, and you can take them away tomorrow morning. It's cold now, but they can still be stored and eaten for a long time!"

"Aunt, you are too polite. Besides, peeling walnuts is too tiring. When I want to eat them, I can just go back to Ci County and buy some. You can leave these for Chenyang and the others!" Zhang Ping'an said politely.

"Okay, don't be polite to your aunt. These are all worthless things. To be honest, your second branch is getting better and better, and we have benefited a lot from it in the past few years. And your grandparents should have been served by our first branch, but now they have gone to Ci County, and your eldest cousin's wife and a little kid are living with them. It costs a lot to feed and accommodate them, so our first branch has gotten a great deal. Your aunt knows all this. You have everything you need now, so your aunt can only prepare these little things as a token of my appreciation," Li said earnestly.

Having said that, Zhang Pingan had no intention of embarrassing his aunt. He smiled and said, "Okay, thank you, aunt. I'll take it!"

"Oh!" Li breathed a sigh of relief and responded with a smile.

At this time, the sound of a baby crying was heard from inside the house.

Li frowned, went into the house, carried the crying child out, and while helping to change the feces, she scolded him impatiently: "Cry, cry, cry, all you do is cry. You're either peeing or pooping all day long. How many diapers do I have to wash for you? You're really a debt collector!"

The baby cried loudly at first and his face turned red, but he became fine after his butt was wiped and his diaper was changed, and he started sucking his fingers.

Zhang Ping'an's eyes twitched as he looked at the poop-stained diaper on the ground. It was indeed very smelly. If it happened three or five times a day, it would really test his patience. No wonder his aunt had a bad temper.

All the necessary formalities were completed, and Zhang Ping'an saw that the time was almost up, so he said goodbye and left.

Mrs. Li knew that Zhang Ping'an was busy, so she didn't force him to stay. She carried the child to the door and said with a tired look, "Next time you come back and have plenty of time, I will prepare a nice feast for you. You are the most promising person in the family now. If you have the chance in the future, don't forget to help your cousins. They are all incompetent people! Alas!"

When she said the last sentence, Li sighed softly.

Zhang Ping'an nodded and left.

Next, I went to the homes of a few classmates and just sat there briefly to show my respect. It didn't take long.

Jin Bao's house and Xiao Yifei's house were not far from each other, and the three of them drank a few glasses of rice wine at Xiao's house to reminisce about the past.

"Ping'an, you see, my parents are now eager to introduce girls to me whenever they meet someone. It's terrible," Jinbao complained.

You can see he's really distressed!

"Who told you not to hold on tight?" Zhang Ping'an asked back. He understood Jinbao's parents' anxiety and worry too well.

Xiao Yifei chuckled a few times on the side.

Zhang Pingan looked at his friend whom he hadn't seen for a long time, nodded and said, "You've grown stronger again. It seems the food in the camp is good!"

"Then didn't you see that I'm still darker? Look at the wound on my arm, it's the glory of a man," Xiao Yifei said loudly.

"You still have a good foundation. You were good at kung fu when you were in the academy," said Zhang Pingan.

"Maybe I was born to do this," Xiao Yifei said with a smile, then he became a little depressed, "I heard that the court and the north are fighting now, and it seems that the momentum is quite good. I wonder when we can return to the capital city!"

After he finished speaking, he paused and murmured, "I don't know what happened to my father."

"Yeah, I wonder how they are doing?" Zhang Pingan thought of his relatives in his hometown, and his mood became depressed in an instant.

He didn't know what had happened to them. After hearing the spy's secret report in his father-in-law's previous letter, he didn't even dare to think about their current situation.

Jinbao also heard in the past two days that the front line is not peaceful.

I don’t know what to say to comfort my two friends.

I could only sigh.

Xiao Yifei's son can walk now, but he is not very stable yet. He is fair and handsome, and is playing in the main room.

From time to time, she would come over and hug her father's legs to look at Zhang Ping'an and Jin Bao, looking ignorant and cute.

When Zhang Pingan saw this, he couldn't help but pick up the child and sit him on his lap to play with him for a while. The little kid didn't cry or make a fuss, which made people's hearts melt.

Seeing that Zhang Ping'an liked children, Xiao Yifei joked, "I wonder if your future child will be a boy or a girl. If it's a girl, maybe we can get married in the future!"

"I dare not make the decision on this matter. It's not that your son is not a good person. Marriage is a serious matter and it is a person you will spend your whole life with. I plan to let my children choose their own partners in the future. It depends on their fate," Zhang Pingan said with a smile.

"That's right!" Xiao Yifei replied without saying anything more.

When Zhang Ping'an came out of the Xiao family, it was already dark, so he went directly to the Lin Mansion.