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

Xu looked around, found a sheltered alley, pulled Daya in, and then spoke carefully, "Daya, you are the eldest sister at home, so you have always done more work than your younger sisters. We are all family, so it's okay to suffer a little loss. But it's different in your husband's family. If you always work silently, no one will appreciate your kindness. They will just think you are stupid. In the future, they will throw everything to you. After a long time, they will think it is their due. If you go to argue with them again, they will say you are nitpicking. So don't be stupid and rush to do anything first. Your husband's family hasn't split up yet, and you still have two sisters-in-law above you. It's not your turn to act like a big shot, understand?"

Daya was a little helpless. She took Xu's hand and comforted her, "Mother, it's not as serious as you think. In fact, my in-laws are all very nice to me. Usually, my two sisters-in-law will help me with anything."

"Hmph, you're suffering now for not listening to the old people. Your two sisters-in-law are definitely not as good as you think. It's no coincidence that you have to do all the work. I think they are teaming up to intimidate you and want to control you. You'd better be more careful," said Xu, feeling a little disappointed.

"Mom~" Daya didn't want to talk about this anymore. She was still very satisfied with her married life. "Actually, Sanlang treats me very well. He's very accommodating to me and is willing to buy me everything. There are some things I don't want to get too hung up on. Talking too much about them will only hurt the relationship. After all, I'm still a new bride, so I can't be too stubborn."

Upon hearing this, Mrs. Xu's expression softened. "It's good that you have a plan for success in your heart. I'm afraid you're living a miserable life. But you do have a point. I think the most important thing for you right now is to have a child. With a child, you'll have a foothold in this family, and your son-in-law will be more supportive of you and think more about your family."

Daya felt a little embarrassed after hearing this, and lowered her head and whispered, "Mom, why are you saying this?"

"Forget it, forget it. Just remember what I said," Mrs. Xu waved her hand. Then she changed the subject and said, "I'll wait for you here. Go home and take out the wedding dress from the basket and give it to me. Your second sister will wear it when she gets married."

"Hey, Mom, I'll go back now. I've put all the clothes away," Daya nodded in response.

Before he had taken a few steps, Xu came from behind and reminded him, "If my in-laws ask me, just say I have a headache and am resting at the clinic. Please give my regards."

"Don't worry, Mom, I know what to say."

Daya ran back and soon took out the wedding dress and gave it to Xu. This time, Xu didn't talk much and went directly to the market to find Zhang Laoer. The couple came to the market together in the morning, and now Zhang Laoer was still selling bamboo utensils at the market.

After arriving at the market, I saw from afar several old women surrounding Zhang Laoer's stall, picking things. One of them was particularly good at bargaining, and she made Zhang Laoer sweat.

Xu hurried forward to help, pretending to buy something. After picking a few, she pretended to be casual and said, "Oh, auntie, I think the winnowing basket in your hand is good. It is made of strong bamboo. It is just right for me to use to dry vegetables. You have been bargaining for a long time. If you think it is too expensive, you might as well give it to me!"

In fact, all older women are very savvy when buying these little things. Comparing products from different stores is the most basic thing for them, and they know clearly which products are good.

The old woman was also impressed by Zhang Laoer's good craftsmanship, but she didn't want to pay a few cents more, so she kept finding faults and bargaining, and refused to leave until she got a deal. Zhang Laoer was most afraid of meeting this kind of customer.

It was almost noon and this was the only small winnowing basket left. The old woman saw that someone else had also taken a fancy to it and wanted to buy it sincerely. After hesitating for a moment, she said unhappily, "I was the first one to take a fancy to this winnowing basket. You are so unreasonable. I didn't say I didn't want to buy it." After saying that, she took out twenty coins, handed it to Zhang Laoer, and left with the winnowing basket.

Zhang Laoer took the money but he wasn't very happy. He seemed a little worried. When Xu saw the old woman walking away, she leaned over and asked, "Dad, what's wrong with you? It seems like something's wrong with you."

Zhang Laoer frowned and said, "When I delivered the herbs to the clinic this morning, Doctor Dou told me that he might not need to collect them in bulk in the future. He now has three more doctors and a lot more patients than before. The businesses specializing in supplying medicinal materials are willing to supply them in small quantities."

"What? The family will lose a lot of income," Mrs. Xu became anxious after hearing this.

Now the family no longer sells only herbs such as honeysuckle and wild chrysanthemum. These flower herbs are out of season when the weather gets cooler. Later, Doctor Dou taught Zhang Laoer to recognize commonly used rhizome herbs such as Panax notoginseng, Coptis chinensis, Angelica sinensis, and Atractylodes macrocephala. Although the purchase price given by the clinic is very low, farmers have too few ways to make money. Now the income of more than 100 wen from medicinal herbs every month has become one of the main sources of income for Zhang Laoer's family.

Now that she was suddenly going to lose this stable income, Xu really couldn't accept it and she felt depressed.

The couple waited until noon when the gathering was over and drove their donkey cart home. Xu was still a little unwilling to give up. After thinking for a while, she said to Zhang Laoer, "Then what do you think? Let's talk to Doctor Dou and get a lower price."

Zhang Laoer shook his head. "I told him that, but Doctor Dou said it's not about the money. It's mainly because our supply is unstable and we can't guarantee the clinic's daily consumption of herbs. He has many more patients now, and the demand for herbs is much greater than before. We can only find a merchant who specializes in wholesale herbs. And the merchant is willing to supply him with small quantities. Everyone is happy. If we send more, it will be too much trouble for them to collect it."

After saying that, he sighed and continued, "But Madam Dou is quite nice. She said that if we still have unsold herbs at home, we can take them to her and sell them, so that we don't have to work in vain."

Xu was at her wit's end and could only sigh.

When Zhang Ping'an returned home from school in the evening, the house was still gloomy and even Erya had a rare sad look on her face.

"Second sister, what's wrong with you guys?"

"Oh, Ping'an, our family is going to lose a lot of money," Erya sighed as she sat at the table, and then told the whole story.

Mrs. Xu was also depressed and could not eat. "We can earn more than one hundred coins a month by selling medicinal herbs. That's more than one tael a year, and more than ten taels in ten years. Oh, I can't calculate it. It makes my heart ache if I continue to calculate. Anyway, it's a lot of money. What should I do if I can't sell it now?"

Zhang Ping'an sat at the table, thinking for a while, then looked up and said seriously, "Dad, Mom, have you ever thought about setting aside a piece of land to grow medicinal herbs? The teacher said that our area is actually suitable for growing a lot of medicinal herbs, and we don't need to grow rare ones. After all, we are not a family that specializes in growing medicinal herbs, so we can just grow the common ones that are easy to grow. It will definitely make more money than growing crops."

Zhang Laoer listened thoughtfully, still a little worried: "But we've never grown anything before. We have no experience and don't know how to care for herbs. Besides, we're not sure what to plant. On the bright side, once the herbs are grown, who are we going to sell them to? Doctor Dou certainly won't need that much."

"This really needs to be considered carefully, but we can go ask Doctor Dou first. He must know more about medicinal herbs than we do. If we grow them ourselves, we can focus on growing two or three commonly used ones with large quantities, and then lower the price a bit. The town clinic will definitely be happy to buy them." Zhang Ping'an expressed his thoughts.

"Will this work?" Xu was also a little tempted.

"Whether it succeeds or not, our family won't lose anything. It's better to have more opportunities than just sitting at home like this." The more Zhang Pingan thought about it, the more feasible it seemed.

However, people are always a little timid about things they have never done before. The most capable people Zhang Pingan has met here for so long are Master Luo and Liu Shengyuan's father.

So he suggested, "Dad, I think you could actually ask Master Luo. He knows a lot, and since my senior brother is a teacher at the county school, he has more information. Let him help analyze it, and you'll have a better idea of ​​what to do. The teacher is a very good person, and he will definitely be willing to help us."

If he were asked to ask Doctor Dou right away, Zhang Laoer really had no idea what to say. After all, they didn't spend much time together and were not that familiar with each other. However, they met Master Luo often, and he was a reliable person. He was like an elder to Zhang Laoer, so it would be best to have Master Luo to help analyze the matter.

Zhang Laoer was even more excited.