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

In the evening, the whole family sat together to eat. There is no rule in farmers' homes that one should not talk while eating or sleeping.

Ma brought over the dishes and started talking about the fight among the children in the afternoon. She said in a sarcastic tone, "Dad, Mom, you have to eat more of this meat. Dahe and Erhe were protected with great difficulty. Now second brother only has his wife and children in his heart. He brought back a piece of meat and I, as their aunt, cooked it for you to taste. But the Dayas refused and wanted to give it all to their mother. Second brother didn't care. Look how the Dayas bit Dahe and Erhe", and then she rolled up her son's sleeves to show Zhang. This matter could not be let go like this.

Zhang took a look and was quite angry. She knew Ma's temper very well. Things were definitely not as she said. However, the eldest daughter-in-law also needed a lesson. The girl was still very arrogant. As long as she was there, the daughters-in-law would not be able to turn things around.

"Well, mother knows, Dahe and Erhe are usually filial. Come, come to grandma," Zhang waved her hand and asked the two children to come over. She stuffed a piece of meat into each of the two children's mouths, making the two children smile with joy.

“Does it smell good?”

"Grandma, it smells so good, the meat is so delicious," Dahe Erhe replied.

"Okay, come and eat." After feeding the two children the meat, Zhang sent them to the kitchen to eat.

"Mom, you are so good to Dahe and Erhe. Only boys can be filial," Ma immediately flattered with a fawning smile.

"Mom, I don't mean to be disrespectful to you and Dad. This meat was specially brought back by Sanniang's second sister for Sanniang to nourish her body during her confinement. It was not bought by me. I have no objection to everyone sharing the meal after the busy farming season, but you should at least leave a bowl for Sanniang. Don't you agree? Daya and the others were just playing around as children. It's not worth mentioning. I also talked to Daya about it this afternoon." Zhang Laoer replied after hearing what Ma said. He was the one being singled out, so he definitely had to explain.

"Sister-in-law, it's normal for children to quarrel and fight. There are many children in our family, so it's inevitable that there will be quarrels. Dahe and Erhe have pulled out a lot of their hair. As adults, we adults shouldn't interfere in children's affairs," Zhang Laoer said to Ma after explaining.

In this family, Zhang Laoer looks down on Ma the most. She is always busy and lazy, and likes to stir up trouble. She is afraid that others will not see her, so she controls the men in the family very tightly. The third brother is a henpecked man and doesn't care about her either.

Zhang Laoer is a very patriarchal person. In his opinion, men are the king in the family and women are not allowed to rule over them. Even when he just got married and his relationship with Xu was the best, everyone in the family listened to him. Xu was also very aggressive when she first got married and seemed powerful, but in fact, Zhang Laoer was still the one who made the decisions in the family.

"Oh, second brother is here to protect me now. I never saw you care about me before," Ma said sarcastically. She was still not satisfied with what happened in the afternoon.

"Okay, stop talking and go eat. Why are you butting in when our parents are here?" Zhang Laosan pulled Ma's sleeve. Why is this woman so stupid? It's not like her mother didn't hear it, but she still keeps talking.

"I'm not deaf, go and eat quickly," Zhang scolded in a bad mood.

"Hmph," Ma didn't dare to say anything else. She snorted softly and went to the kitchen. It was different with a son. The second brother had the confidence to speak like that. The old woman was partial to her own son. There was no good person in the family.

But when she went to the kitchen, she found that everything had been eaten, leaving only some cabbage soup and no meat scraps. Ma was so angry that her nose was crooked. God must have let her down! She had deliberately buried the meat under the cabbage. Her sister-in-law was so cunning!

"Sister-in-law, why didn't you wait for me? I finished eating so quickly," said Ma.

"Third sister-in-law, you have to finish your meal quickly before it gets dark so that you can get back to work. I'll invite the children to eat. Don't blame me, I've saved some food for you," Li said with a smile. Those who come first will eat first. There's meat today, so she won't be polite.

"There's only soup left," Ma shouted.

"There is oil in the soup today, and cabbage soup is also a delicious dish. Sister-in-law, don't you want to eat it? If not, I will share it with the children," Li said as she ate. It would be unreasonable if she didn't eat it all, and Ma would definitely make a fuss. There was no soup left, and the rice was very fragrant with the soup.

"Who said I don't want to eat? I'm still hungry, of course I'll eat!" As she said this, she went to get some rice. She saw that there were basically only peas and soybeans left in the pot, with some rice grains stuck to it. All the dry rice had been scraped away. Ma became even angrier, but she knew it was no use saying anything more, so she got the rice and ate it obediently. While eating, she thought to herself that this was not okay. She had to divide the food and cook separately. It was too much of a loss for the whole family to eat alone.

He glanced at his two daughters' bowls and saw that there were roasted radishes and beans in them, and he took them all without hesitation.

"You little girl, you don't even know to pick some food for me," Ma scolded. Actually, she was talking to her elder sister-in-law Li. She couldn't bear to scold her son, so she could only take it out on her daughter.

The two daughters were clueless and cried when they saw the food in their bowls being taken away, "Woo, Mom, my food..."

"What do you mean by yours and mine? I have spent so much money to raise you," Ma said impatiently.

The two little ones whimpered a few times, but seeing that it was no use, they just continued to eat. Li pretended not to hear, because it wasn't her daughters who were being talked about. After dinner, Li cleaned up the kitchen, and the two sisters-in-law divided the work of cooking and washing dishes.

Ma came out and sat next to her husband to work, and whispered, "When are we going to divide the food? It's too disadvantageous to eat together now, and no one can get the good food."

"Probably in the next two days, the threshing is almost done," Zhang Laosan replied lazily. To be honest, he also wanted to eat separately earlier so that he could eat something better if he cooked his own food.

"My sister-in-law only left me soup for dinner today. I didn't even feel full. I have lost several pounds this month," Ma said aggrievedly, acting coquettishly to Zhang Laosan.

"My wife, you've worked hard. After the grain is distributed, I'll take you and the children to the market. We can buy some more meat for our family," Zhang Laosan consoled her, feeling a little distressed. His wife seemed to have lost weight; it wasn't as comfortable to touch her at night, and her breasts had shrunk. This wasn't good. He needed to eat more and try to have another son this year.

Although Old Man Zhang is over 50 years old, which is considered a long-lived person in ancient times, he is still in good health, with clear ears and eyes, because he does not worry about anything, is generous with himself in food and drink, and has a smooth life. He has good health and is estimated to have no problem living another ten years.

The third brother and his wife talked openly, and he heard it. To be honest, he also wanted to eat separately as soon as possible. The big pot meal was not comfortable and it was inconvenient to eat anything.

After tapping his pipe, Old Man Zhang said, "Eldest, Second, Third, the rice has almost been threshed. We will distribute the grain to each family tomorrow. The rice is still very moist after being threshed. Each of you should go to the threshing ground to dry it. I will take care of it. Then we can cook separately as usual."

Everyone agreed. In fact, each family also wanted to eat separately. With more than 20 people in a family, eating a meal was like fighting a war and was very tiring.

The next morning, after getting up early and having breakfast, Old Man Zhang gathered his sons together and started to pack sacks and weigh grain. This year was a bumper year with a good harvest. He harvested more than 12,000 kilograms of rice from 40 acres of land, and 700 to 800 kilograms of soybeans and mung beans from the edge of the field. The land was all their own, so there was still a lot left after paying taxes.

After weighing the grain, everyone was very happy. This was the time of the year when they felt the most satisfied. There was no need to worry as long as there was food at home.

Old man Zhang divided the grain according to the amount of land of each family and the expenses of food and drink during this period, and then distributed the remaining grain according to his estimate. Since it was a division of families but not households, Old man Zhang was still the one who made the decision on grain distribution every year. Fortunately, the overall situation was similar, so no one said anything.

You have to know that compared with other families in the village, this family is much happier. At least the small family can be in charge of their own affairs and no one interferes with anyone else.

Zhang Laoer moved the sacks to the yard near the west wing of his house. The sight of more than twenty large sacks made him feel comfortable.

He wiped the sweat off his face, then turned around and went outside to his own haystack, brought in a bundle of new straw, and shouted, "Daya, Daya, come here."

"I'm here, Dad. What's the matter? What did you call me for?" Daya was washing clothes by the well in the backyard, and was watching Wuya. When she heard Zhang Laoer calling for help, she quickly wiped her hands and came over.

"Please beat the straw with a laundry pestle. Once it's softened, replace the straw on our bed. Your mother and your brother will move back tomorrow."

"Okay, Dad, I'll do it after I finish washing the clothes," Daya responded crisply.

After Zhang Laoer finished giving the instructions, he went to the village to find the village chief to arrange for the threshing ground. The grain at home had to be dried quickly. Their family only had a stone mill in the front yard, which could be used to thresh and dry the grain. But their eldest brother would definitely use it first. His eldest brother had a lot of grain, and it was not known how many days would pass before it was their turn. The threshing ground in the village was much larger, so they had to go to the village threshing ground to reserve a piece of land for drying the grain.