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

Luo Fuan was not here to eat glutinous rice cakes, so he waved his hand and said, "Grandma, no need. I've already had breakfast and am very full."

But Jinbao's grandmother didn't listen. She had already lit the fire while she was talking and fried more than a dozen rice cakes in one go. Luo Fuan forced himself to eat two and couldn't eat any more. The same went for Zhang Pingan, who had just eaten breakfast and was still full!

Seeing that the two children's stomachs were indeed bloated, Jinbao's grandmother stopped trying to persuade them. Zhang Ping'an took the opportunity to invite Jinbao to Liujia Village to watch others dig lotus roots and catch fish.

Although the water system is well developed here, there are no decent lotus ponds or fish ponds in Zhangjia Village. There are only a few wild ones scattered around. Zhang Ping'an has never seen what a dry pond looks like and is very curious. Jinbao also wants to go, as he is an energetic child.

Grandma Jinbao couldn't coax him any more, so she nodded and agreed, "You can go. Ask your grandfather to accompany you. He's taking a walk at the village head. Let's go find him. Be good when you go out to play, and don't make any noise."

After saying that, he stood up and wrapped the remaining glutinous rice cakes in oil paper. He also grabbed a handful of fried peanuts and put them in the pockets of each child. Then he stood up, locked the door, and led the children out.

Jinbao was so happy that he was about to fly. He didn't have many relatives visiting him, so he loved going out.

"Hurry up, grandma," Jinbao ran to the front and turned around to urge.

"Here I come!"

Watching the children playing and fighting, Grandma Jinbao's usually harsh expression softened a lot.

Grandpa Jinbao was indeed at the entrance of the village. After listening to his grandson's words, he didn't show any impatience and responded, "Then let's wait for Fu'an's father and take his family's car over there together."

Not long after, Luo Fuan shouted to a fat young man driving a mule cart, "Dad! Dad! Here!"

Zhang Pingan took a closer look and found that Luo Fuan's father was quite young, of medium height, with few wrinkles, and fair skin. He was a little fat, and looked a bit like his second uncle Wang Fugui.

"Here he comes! This is your classmate, right?!" Father Luo said as he stopped the mule cart.

"Well! This is Zhang Ping'an, and this is Zhang Jinbao. They are both my good friends. They went to Liujia Village with us." Luo Fuan nodded and introduced.

"That's great, they all look like smart kids, come up," Father Luo said enthusiastically.

Grandpa Jinbao said politely, "You are the eldest son of the Luo family, right? I've been to your house to buy oil before. My son runs a tea stall on the edge of town. He owns Zhang's Tea House. These two children are still young and at a mischievous age. I'm afraid you can't take care of them, so I'm going with you so I can look after them."

"Oh, so you are the father of Shopkeeper Zhang. I know him. He asked me to deliver cooking oil several times before. We are very close. What you said is right. It's not a good look for three children with too many people. It will be nice if you go with us so that we can take care of them. Thank you very much!" Luo's father often delivered oil around the town and was good at talking. I guess the old man was just worried about him, so it would be okay for him to go with us.

Several people got in the car and happily went to Liujia Village.

Liujia Village has the most ponds among the nearby villages, but few fields. In order to make a living, almost every household raises fish or grows lotus roots. Dried drunken fish and lotus root powder are the specialties of Liujia Village.

After entering the village, Zhang Ping'an noticed that every household had many preserved fish hanging from their door eaves. The wind carried a strong smell of salted fish. Luo's father explained, "It's almost Chinese New Year, and they're drying the ponds so they can sell the lotus roots and fish for a good price before the New Year. Some fish die before they can be transported to the town, so they make dried fish and then ship them all off to Ezhou Prefecture."

Zhang Ping'an nodded in understanding. At that time, there was no oxygenator, the roads were difficult to travel and transportation was inconvenient. It was extremely difficult to transport the live fish to Ezhou Prefecture, and there was no need for it.

Luo Fuan wanted to go to Liu Shuisheng's house first. Grandpa Jinbao had been there and knew the way, so Luo's father arrived in half a minute driving a mule cart.

Liu Shuisheng has a day off today and is killing fish in front of his door with a desperate look on his face. His family has many fish ponds and now is the time to dry the fish, so the whole family joins in.

He started helping to kill fish when he was five years old. They were all cooked, so he was not afraid of getting hurt, but it was really boring to do the same thing over and over again.

"Liu Shuisheng!" Luo Fuan shouted loudly.

Liu Shuisheng suspected he had misheard. He turned his head and looked around before he saw a few people. He said in surprise, "Luo Fuan, Zhang Pingan, Zhang Jinbao, why are you guys here?!"

"We're here to play with you," Luo Fuan said, smiling as he jumped out of the car and then stopped. "Can you come over here? Your place is full of fish intestines and it smells so fishy!"

"Okay, wait, I'll wash my hands first!" Liu Shuisheng replied.

There were two women killing fish with Liu Shuisheng, one very young and the other older. The younger woman saw a few people coming over, washed her hands, and then greeted them with a smile: "You are Shuisheng's classmates. I am his sister-in-law. You are having lunch here at noon. I will bring you food."

The older woman was also very happy to see the children. She called out to her grandson's wife, "Give them a handful of the pine nut candies I bought last time in town."

Liu Shuisheng introduced with a smile: "That's my grandma."

Several people shouted sweetly: "Hello, Grandma Liu!"

"Okay, okay," Grandma Liu replied with a smile.

Seeing the children having fun, Father Luo said to his son, "An An, I'm going to buy some lotus roots. You guys play here by yourselves. Don't run around. I'll come pick you up later."

Then he exchanged a few words with the elders of the Liu family and drove away.

Grandpa Jinbao had been to the Liu family several times before and was considered an acquaintance. He pulled up a small stool and sat down to chat with Grandma Liu.

Liu Shuisheng said excitedly: "Let's go find Ayuan, and then I'll take you to dig lotus stems to eat, they're so tender. My third uncle's pond is dry now, and we can also go pick up fish. He definitely can't ask us for money, hehe!"

After saying that, he turned to Grandma Liu and said, "Grandma, we don't want to eat candy anymore. Let's go play with Ayuan!"

Then several people ran away!

Zhang Ping'an discovered that Liujia Village might be even richer than Zhangjia Village, because there were more families building blue brick and tile houses here. Liu Shuisheng's house was a house with six blue brick and tile rooms. When he arrived at Liu Shengyuan's house, he found that Liu Shengyuan's house was even more exquisite, with a high courtyard wall surrounded by ivy, and the wall was covered with ivy, the leaves of which were now a little yellow.

Liu Shengyuan's father is very strict and doesn't allow him to sleep in even on his day off. At this moment, Liu Shengyuan is practicing calligraphy at home.

Looking at the quiet courtyard, Jin Bao and Luo Fuan were a little afraid to go in. Liu Shuisheng didn't have so many thoughts. He walked into the courtyard and shouted, "Ayuan, Ayuan!"

Liu Shengyuan's father was reading in the study. When he heard the shouting, he came out and asked, "Shuisheng, what's wrong? Ayuan is practicing calligraphy. Can you come and play with him in the afternoon?"

"Uncle, our classmates are here. We want to go out and play with Ayuan, and then practice calligraphy in the afternoon, is that okay?" Liu Shuisheng scratched his head and tried to get it.

Father Liu then noticed a group of children peeking at the door. He felt a little headache and said, "Come in first!"