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

Time flies and it is the end of the year. The school has given students a clothing holiday after the monthly test, which is equivalent to the modern winter vacation. Students will not go back to school until the 16th day of the first lunar month.

Therefore, today's exam is also the last test of the year. Among all the children in Class C, Luo Fugui should be the one who is most concerned. He has been looking forward to it for a long time and has been secretly working hard for this exam for a long time.

The monthly test mainly includes literacy, writing, recitation, dictation and simple arithmetic, and is divided into two sessions in the morning and afternoon, which is similar to the modern test.

In fact, in ancient schools, teachers would also organize tea parties similar to modern parent-teacher meetings at the end of a semester. This was also an established rule. On the one hand, it was to announce the monthly test results and provide feedback on the learning results of the past one and a half years. On the other hand, parents would take this day to give the teacher New Year gifts in advance.

Ever since Zhang Ping'an mentioned the tea party a few days ago, Zhang Laoer started preparing in advance, making sure not to be rude. In the past six months, Master Luo has indeed been dedicated and has helped a lot.

The next morning, when Zhang Ping'an was about to go to school with his father, he realized that his parents had really put a lot of thought into this tea party. There were not only cured chicken and cured meat, but also dried cured fish. They also packed a cloth bag with this year's new rice and homemade sesame candy.

In addition to food, the most eye-catching things are several long bamboo mats, all made by Zhang Laoer using new bamboo, and they smell of the fresh scent of bamboo.

"Dad, why do you bring several rolls of bamboo mats? They are of no use in this cold weather." Zhang Ping'an felt a little distressed and a little touched. The weather was already very cold and his fingers would be frozen from making bamboo mats.

Zhang Lao Er seemed very happy and explained with a smile, "Didn't I go to ask Master Luo about his medicinal herbs last time? I saw that the bamboo mats hanging on the wall of his study were very old, so I quickly made a few new ones and brought them over to replace them. This one is for hanging on the wall, not for sleeping on."

Zhang Ping'an didn't expect that at that time, people in rural areas were generally not rich, and it seemed that he had only seen Master Luo hanging bamboo mats on the wall.

"Dad, you are so thoughtful"!

"Hey, what's the big deal? It just so happens that we have this skill at home, and the teacher can use it as a gift." Zhang Laoer felt a little embarrassed when his son praised him.

At this moment, Jin Bao's father also came over in a mule cart. He had come back yesterday specifically to attend the school tea party. Before he even got close, he shouted, "Brother, I'm here. I guess you've been waiting for a long time!"

Zhang Laoer waved his hand and replied, "No, I just finished it."

As he said this, he pretended to glance casually at Jinbao's father's car and found that there didn't seem to be anything particularly valuable in the car. He couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief, otherwise the gifts he gave would be too different, and it would be too embarrassing.

Jinbao was as cheerful as ever. He was wearing thick clothes and a dog-skin hat. I guess he wanted to wear it for a few more years, so the jacket was made very big, making him look fat and inflexible. He almost fell when he jumped out of the car.

Zhang Pingan quickly took two steps over to help, and said helplessly: "Slow down!"

The weather was too cold now, and Xu was afraid that her son would be cold, so she made a very thick coat for Zhang Ping'an. Zhang Laoer even used a bamboo tool to exchange two rabbit skins from a hunter in the mountains, and asked Xu to make him a rabbit skin hat and a rabbit fur scarf. So Zhang Ping'an was not cold at all, and he was thin, so he didn't look bloated even if he wore more clothes. He looked snow-white and cute.

"Hehe," Jinbao laughed nonchalantly.

He reached into his pocket and took out some jerky wrapped in oil paper and handed it to Zhang Pingan, "Ping'an, this is for you!"

"Your father brought it back, right?" Zhang Ping'an took it, tasted a piece, and put the rest back in his pocket. He had just finished breakfast and was not very hungry.

"Well, my dad brought back a lot of delicious food. I'll bring some over to you and share some with you, and we'll eat together." Jinbao was very happy when he thought that he would have a holiday after today. He finally didn't have to get up early.

"Ping'an, Jinbao, get in the car, we are going to school," Zhang Laoer tied up his things and urged the two children to get in the car, it would be bad if they were late.

Jinbao insisted on riding with Zhang Pingan, and in the end they both got on Zhang Laoer's donkey cart. When Jinbao's father saw this, he sighed that the two kids had a good relationship and were closer than brothers.

In just a moment, they arrived at the school. Several people went to the study to pay their respects to the teacher. Uncle Liu helped to move all the things out of the car. He was no longer surprised by these things.

After the few people exchanged greetings, Master Luo said gently: "Please sit for a while, we will start once everyone else arrives."

Then he called Uncle Liu over to pour tea.

Jin Bao's father was a good talker, and with him around, there was no dull moment, and the atmosphere was quite harmonious. About a cup of tea later, several other students and their parents arrived.

Zhang Ping'an had met Luo Fuan's father before. Perhaps in order to save face, he wore a long silk coat today, and also wore a gold ring and a jade ring. He was dressed like a rich landlord, completely different from the last time he delivered oil.

Although it was the first time they met Luo Fugui's father, anyone with a discerning eye could tell that he and Luo Fuan's father were brothers. The reason was that they looked too similar, both with round faces and green eyes.

I guess Luo Fugui’s mother was quite pretty, otherwise she wouldn’t have given birth to such a handsome child like Luo Fugui, Zhang Ping’an thought.

It was Liu Shuisheng's eldest brother who came to visit him this time. I wonder if something delayed Liu's father. Liu was only seventeen or eighteen years old, and standing among a group of elderly people seemed very awkward, but he himself didn't care at all and was very calm and composed.

Liu Shengyuan's father was still as gentle and elegant as ever.

Several people took their seats one by one with their children.

Mr. Luo first talked about the results of yesterday's monthly test. It was the same as the last monthly test. Zhang Pingan, Liu Shengyuan, and Luo Fugui were A, Liu Shuisheng and Luo Fuan were B, and Jinbao was C.

Although the ratings were different, Mr. Luo patiently analyzed the strengths and weaknesses of each student, and his comments were very pertinent. He did not treat students differently based on their grades, so both the children and their parents were very happy to listen.

Because it was promised in the previous class that if the grade was A, extra classes could be given, so Mr. Luo also suggested that Luo Fugui could take the extra classes when school started again in the new year.

Luo Fugui was so excited that he almost jumped up.

In fact, Mr. Luo really didn't think about this at first. He was old and his memory was not as good as before. There were a lot of trivial matters in the school. Moreover, he had been teaching for so long. As a teacher, he was very clear about the talents and personalities of each student. Luo Fugui was not suitable for taking extra classes to learn quickly, and it would be very difficult.

But the child kept staring at him with burning eyes, and the expectation in his eyes was obvious. As a teacher, there was no way for him to ignore it, and he couldn't bear to discourage him. He could only wait until the beginning of the year to give the child extra classes and let him experience the difference and face the reality.

After the tea party, the atmosphere among the parents was very good and their relationship with the teacher seemed to have become closer, so it ended successfully.

Mr. Luo prepared a handwritten copy of the Hundred Family Surnames as a return gift, which saved the students the burden of buying books. It was a very practical return gift.

Even though today is a complete holiday, the kids are still reluctant to leave. They can only wait until the 16th day of the first lunar month next year to see each other again!