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

When Zhang Laoer returned home, before he even entered the yard, he heard a commotion inside, the cries of children, both big and small.

"What's wrong? What's wrong? What are you arguing about?" Zhang Laoer stepped into the yard.

I saw several daughters with disheveled hair and their hair bangs all pulled askew, fighting with Dahe and Erhe from Zhang Laosan's family. Although Dahe and Erhe were boys, the girls were not afraid at all. They used their hands, feet and teeth together and even gained the upper hand. They were very aggressive.

Ma was pulling Erya's hair, but after several attempts, she couldn't get it loose. She angrily said to Zhang Laoer, "Second brother, you're back just in time. Look at how rebellious these girls are. They even dare to hit the boys in the family. Look how they bit our Dahe."

Zhang Laoer took a look and saw that there were indeed teeth marks.

"Daya, what's going on? Why are you so ignorant?" Zhang Laoer felt a little embarrassed after hearing this. Without asking any questions, he turned around and scolded Daya and the others.

Then he walked over and pulled the children apart.

"Dad! Don't blame us. I happened to see Third Aunt and Dahe and Erhe stealing meat in the kitchen. I wanted to pack some for Mom but Third Aunt wouldn't let me. It was you who brought it back, Dad!" Erya complained angrily. Although she was only 7 years old, she was the most articulate among her sisters.

"Third sister-in-law, this is just a joke between the children, don't make a fuss about it." Zhang Laoer was not stupid. After hearing what his daughter said, he understood what was going on. The meat he brought back would definitely be eaten by his family first.

After saying that, he turned to his eldest daughter and said, "Daya, go and serve some food to your mother, and put more meat in. Your mother is not feeling well now and needs to eat something good to nourish her, otherwise she will have no milk."

"Okay, Dad!" Daya responded loudly, and looked at Dahe and Erhe proudly.

After his daughter swiftly brought the meal in, Zhang Laoer walked to the window of the woodshed, knocked on it, and asked, "Sanniang, how are you feeling today? Is the baby okay?"

"It's okay, but our Ping'an always sleeps. He is too thin and rarely wakes up. I don't know if he can sleep like this all the time," Xu Sanniang replied in the house with a little worry.

In fact, Xu had heard the noise in the yard just now. The noise was so loud that it was hard not to hear it. However, she was still very weak and didn't have the energy to speak, so she didn't say anything.

I'm too lazy to argue with Ma now. I'll wait until I'm out of confinement and feel better. There's nothing better than Ma. Xu was always a fierce woman in her family. She's been suppressing her temper for the past few years and has been giving in everywhere. Now she can finally hold her head high! From now on, Ma can never act so arrogantly in front of her again. Humph!

"Mom has experience. Let her take a look after dinner," Zhang Laoer replied, also a little worried because this was his only child.

"Okay, I'm fine, your father. Please take some time these two days to replace the straw mattress on our bed with a new one. I'll move back to our west wing after you're done. I can't sleep well in the woodshed," said Xu Sanniang.

"Okay, we have new straw at home, I'll replace it tomorrow morning," replied Zhang Laoer.

"Well, there's too much salt in this meat. I can't feed my baby. I'll ask Dayu to take it out and you can eat it. Ma did it on purpose," said Xu angrily, pounding the bed.

"How can a grown man like me eat alone? It's the busy farming season and everyone eats together every day. If you can't finish it, just share it with Daya and the others. Don't serve it out. There are so many people at home and it might not be nice if they see it. I'm going to go and get busy now," Zhang Laoer replied and walked away.

In the woodshed, the eldest, second, third, fourth and fifth daughters were sitting around Xu. When they heard what their father said, they looked at Xu eagerly. They hadn't eaten meat for a long time. Xu was actually very good at cooking, but she was just too lazy to pay attention to it and just ate whatever she had.

Seeing her daughters like this, Xu was too impatient to talk and handed the bowl to Daya, letting her daughters divide it among themselves. She thought to herself that it was a pity because she couldn't finish it all. It was such a waste of meat that these girls got it for free.

Daya brought the bowl over and acted like an older sister. She used chopsticks to pick up a piece of meat for each of her four younger sisters, and then picked up a piece of meat to eat herself.

"Mom, the meat smells so good," Daya said with her eyes narrowed. She chewed the meat very slowly, afraid that she would swallow it accidentally. It was not easy to eat the meat, so she had to savor it carefully.

"Yes, mother, the meat is so delicious! It would be great if we could eat meat every day." Erya ate her own food while supporting Wuya. Wuya was still young and couldn't walk steadily. She got oil all over her body and face as she ate the meat in her hands.

"Second sister, what are you dreaming of? How can we eat meat every day? It's good enough to eat it once in a while." San Ya rolled her eyes. After quickly finishing the meat in her mouth, she said to Xu coquettishly, "Mom, can I have another piece? I can't taste the meat yet."

San Ya is 5 years old now, at the lovely age, with a pair of eyes like black grapes. Unfortunately, Xu Sanniang's heart and eyes are full of her son now, and she has no patience for her daughters. "Go find your eldest sister, don't bother me all the time."

"San Ya, don't bother your mother, I'll feed you meat," Daya said, and then she picked up a piece of meat for each of the younger ones. There wasn't much meat in a bowl, so each person got a piece.

Si Ya was only three years old. She hadn't finished the meat in her mouth yet, so she held it with her hands. As a result, San Ya snatched a handful away and ate it. Si Ya was small, and it took her a while to react. She knew she was at a disadvantage, and she sat on the ground crying and kicking her legs angrily, "Wuuuuu... Give me back my meat, give me back my meat, San sister is bad, big sister will beat her."

The child's voice was shrill, and his crying was like a devil's sound piercing the ears. Both babies woke up and started whimpering, and Liu Ya also started crying.

Xu was so angry that she pulled Sanya over and spanked her several times. "I told you to snatch it, you are the reincarnation of a starving ghost, you short-lived ghost."

Not satisfied after beating her, he pulled Si Ya up from the ground and said viciously: "Don't cry anymore, do you hear me? If you cry again, I will throw you at the door and sell you to someone else."

After hearing this, Si Ya was so scared that she covered her mouth and couldn't stop crying and hiccuping.

"Mom, I won't cry anymore. Please don't sell me out." Si Ya knew that this was not a nice thing to say.

Zhang Ping'an was awakened by crying sounds. He realized that these must be his sisters. There had been intermittent voices in the woodshed over the past few days, and he had figured out roughly how many people were in the family, but he didn't know anything else.

The baby's body was extremely sleepy, his eyes were blurry, and he was rarely awake. But he could feel that his mother in this life loved him very much. She often held him in her arms and rocked him, affectionately calling him "baby" or "safe." This made Zhang Ping'an feel particularly warm. It was just that his mother in this life had rough hands, often touching his face until it hurt.

But no matter what the situation is at home, just make the best of it. Having a father and a mother is the greatest happiness. As a baby, there is no need to think too much, Zhang Pingan thought.

After Zhang Ping'an woke up, he would unconsciously put his hands in his mouth and suck them. This is a baby's instinct. His eyes rolled around, but he didn't cry.

San Ya happened to see this and said in surprise: "Mom, my little brother is awake. Look, he is sucking his fingers!"

"Hey, dear mother, why didn't you cry when you woke up? Are you hungry?" After hearing this, Xu quickly let go of Si Ya and spoke gently to the baby.

As he said this, he picked up Zhang Pingan and prepared to feed him.

"Mom, is this my little brother?" Erya also came over.

"Yes, look how handsome he is," Xu said lovingly.

"Why does he look like a little old man, all red?" Erya didn't see what was so handsome about him.

"It will be fine once it grows up. All children are like this," said Mrs. Xu.

"Yes, look how bright my little brother's eyes are. He will definitely be handsome when he grows up," said Daya as she patted Siya's pants.

"Daya is really smart," Mrs. Xu said with a smile, very satisfied with Daya's words. Her son looked handsome no matter how she looked at him.

"Mom, my little sister is crying too. Is she hungry?" Daya came over and gently picked up Liuya. The little sister had been crying for a long time. Seeing that her mother had no intention of caring, Daya felt a little sorry.

"I know. Leave it there and feed it later," Mrs. Xu said calmly, lowering her head and gently patting her son in her arms.

She dislikes her little daughter very much. The feeling of despair she had when she gave birth is still lingering in her mind. Moreover, it is because of her little daughter that her son is so thin. It would be much better if she only had a son.

Zhang Ping'an listened to his sisters' words while instinctively grabbing Xu's breast to drink milk. It seemed that there were many sisters in his family in this life, and there were many disputes. It seemed that his own mother was a bit biased towards boys.

Thinking of this, Zhang Pingan couldn't help but recall his past life. Born in 21st-century China, he was abandoned in an orphanage, with no idea who his parents were. He struggled through junior high school, but before his life could fully begin, he died in a chain reaction accident. He was less than 15 when he died.

I thought everything was gone when I died, but for some reason, when I regained consciousness, I had turned into a baby. Zhang Pingan was also very surprised.

Children who have lived in orphanages since childhood are probably a little cold-hearted. They learn to fight in their bones and are best at protecting themselves. In his previous life, Zhang Pingan lived a good life among so many children in the orphanage.

Although I don’t know how to get along with so many sisters at home, family love is what I have longed for for a long time. So no matter what happens at home in this life, as long as my parents are there, it’s good. My sisters seem to be pretty good too, and I am also the treasure of the family!

Zhang Ping'an fell asleep again while drinking milk.

"Mom, why is my brother asleep again?" San Ya asked in surprise.

"Shh, babies are like this, don't wake up your brother," Xu said softly.

"You all go out and play, my brother wants to go to bed," Xu drove them away.

"Okay, Mom, then don't forget to feed my little sister," Daya said as she took her sisters out.

"I know, I know. I don't want you to take care of it," Xu immediately became impatient again and frowned.