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

Time flies, and soon it is New Year's Eve. The whole family has to eat the New Year's Eve dinner together.

Each family prepared a few delicious dishes and gathered together. Two tables were set up in the main hall. The men sat at the large table, while the women and children sat at the small table. Throughout the year, this day was the happiest for the children, and adults rarely beat them.

After a happy meal, Old Man Zhang and Mrs. Zhang went to bed first because they were old, and the other three families stayed up in the main hall to celebrate the New Year. Mrs. Ma was a talkative person, and she cracked a lot of melon seed shells at her feet. Later in the chat, the topic turned to the children.

Ma said proudly, "Second sister-in-law, how is your Ping'an doing with his studies? My Erhe is praised by the teacher at school every day, saying that he is smart and talented."

Xu raised her eyelids and said lazily, "My Ping An is so smart, the teacher even gave him extra lessons. When he was a child, the monks who passed by read his fortune and said he was a blessed person with great luck."

After saying that, she poked the charcoal in the brazier with the tongs, and sparks and carbon ash flew out, all landing on Ma's shoes and skirt. Ma was so angry that she yelled, "Second sister-in-law, what are you doing? My new shoes and my clothes, you did it on purpose!"

Xu denied it outright, "No, who told you to get so close?"

"You!..." Ma saw that Xu was doing this on purpose. After looking around, she pulled her eldest sister-in-law Li out and said, "Sister-in-law, you have to take care of this matter."

Mrs. Li was already feeling upset. She had spent a lot of money on medical treatment and medicine for her eldest daughter-in-law, but there was no effect. She couldn't even hold her grandson, and she quarreled with her son and daughter-in-law about this every few days. She also had bad luck with her youngest daughter's marriage. Everything was going wrong for her, and now she was dissatisfied with everything and had become quite depressed.

So he didn't say anything and said calmly, "I was mending shoe soles. I didn't see anything. Don't look for me. If you have any problems, go find our mother. Who am I? It's not my place to take care of family affairs."

Ma became even more upset when she heard this, so she turned away and kept silent. Just then, Dahua came over and asked, "Mom, do you have any more melon seeds? I've eaten all my share."

Ma immediately exploded and scolded, "What are you eating? Why are you so greedy, little girl? Is there a mountain of gold or silver at home? You're so greedy!"

Dahua burst into tears when she heard this. She would be 10 years old after the Chinese New Year, and was already at an age where she felt ashamed. She felt very aggrieved when her mother scolded her for being greedy in front of so many people.

But Ma was not able to think of so much, nor was she so tender-hearted. She frowned and said, "You still have the nerve to cry? It's New Year's Day, aren't you feeling depressed? Go out and cry if you want."

Dahua couldn't even cry anymore. She wiped her tears and forced herself to hold them back.

After dinner, the men took the boys out of the family and now they are lighting a bonfire in the rice field at the door, which means a prosperous new year. The bonfire is lit with straw and some dead branches. Firewood has to be added from time to time. It must not be extinguished and must burn until dawn the next morning.

The oldest male grandchild in the family is Dazhu. In fact, he is only 17 years old now. He has not become a father yet, so he has a bit of a young boy's mentality. After the bonfire was lit, he dragged a few large tree stumps from the woodshed and threw them into the fire. He also took out a few radishes and half a bag of chestnuts and walnuts and put them in the fire.

When Zhang Laosan saw this, he glared at him and said, "Hey, Dazhu, you're quite smart. You didn't take anything from home, but took your uncle's mountain products."

Dazhu wasn't afraid at all. It wasn't worth much anyway, and Third Uncle wouldn't do anything about it during the New Year. He smiled slyly and said, "Hey, Third Uncle, you're the elder after all. It's New Year's Day, and we, the younger generation, can't eat your mountain products. Besides, Dahe and Erhe will also need to eat them. I'm not taking them just for myself."

Zhang Laosan was indeed just talking. After that, he came over and used tongs to pick out chestnuts from the fire to eat. The roasted chestnuts were very sweet and soft, but they were difficult to peel.

Zhang Ping'an prefers to eat roasted walnuts. Roasted walnuts have an oily aroma and are crispy.

Zhang Laoer was not interested in these foods, but when he saw that his son liked to eat them, he helped peel the shells.

Seven or eight adults and children sat around the fire, not feeling cold at all. They shared the roasted food and ate it together. Everyone's mouth was black. Zhang Pingan finished eating and looked around, unable to help laughing.

At midnight, they had to set off firecrackers. My family was a bamboo craftsman, so the bamboo was ready. Zhang Lao Da was the eldest son, so after Zhang Lao Da set off the firecrackers, the others went back to rest.

Before entering the house, Zhang Laoer threw a few dead tree stumps into the fire to ensure that the fire would not go out.

The next day is the first day of the Lunar New Year, and the main purpose is for each family in the village to pay New Year's greetings. However, money has been hard to earn in recent years and taxes have been heavy, so the snacks prepared by each household are much simpler than in previous years.

Finally, Zhang Ping'an and his cousins ​​went to Jinbao's house. Jinbao's parents were there. Seeing that the Zhang children were very enthusiastic, they invited them to have dinner with them. Dazhu, Erzhu and Dahe were all grown up, so they politely declined. But Jinbao's mother was very enthusiastic. She quickly made a bowl of fried rice for each of them and added sugar. Seeing that they could not refuse, they took the food and ate it.

Jinbao was so happy to see his good brother Ping'an coming over. He came over and said, "Ping'an, I was just about to go to your house. My dad is going to take me to the town to watch a variety show later. Do you want to go?"

Zhang Pingan was stunned: "There will be acrobatics in town on New Year's Day?"

Jin Bao's father, cracking melon seeds nearby, laughed when he heard this and said, "Of course there are. It's quite lively. Jugglers make a living from their skills, wandering around everywhere. Their lives are far worse than ours. They don't care whether they celebrate the New Year or not, as long as they can make money. The first month of the year is a good time for them to make money."

Zhang Ping'an was a little tempted, and Dazhu and the others were also tempted and wanted to go along.

In the end, the two families drove two cars and left together. When they were about to set off, Zhang Ping'an found that Uncle Daqiang had also brought Dahu and Erhu. It turned out that Dahu and Erhu also wanted to go, and Uncle Daqiang couldn't persuade them, so they came together.

Along the way, the children, both big and small, were playing and fighting. Time passed quickly and it felt like we arrived in town in no time.

The three families first parked their cars in the parking lot, and then went to the circus performance area.

The most crowded place in the town is at the bridgehead. The jugglers have all visited the place in advance and also set up stalls at the bridgehead.

It was almost noon when we arrived at the place. The circus stall was surrounded by three layers of fences inside and outside, making it impossible to get in. These days, people didn't have many entertainment activities, so everyone was willing to join in the fun when something rare happened.

It took a long time to finally get to the front row. Zhang Ping'an, Jin Bao Dahu and others were all watching carefully. Zhang Laoer held his son's hand tightly, fearing that he would be kidnapped by the kidnappers because of the large crowd.

There are many kinds of jugglers, including those who break rocks with their chests, breathe fire rings, hang ladders, and balance bowls on their heads.

The most eye-catching thing was a little boy, probably about two years old, who climbed up a ladder to the top of the ladder. There were more than thirty steps. The ladder was held by a big man. After climbing to the top, he stood upside down and held a bowl on his head. There was still water in the bowl, which could not be shaken out.

The children who watched were terrified and their hearts were in their throats.