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

Then look at the expressions of the other people in the room.

Grandpa Zhang seemed drowsy and was taking a nap.

My uncle, my third uncle and my father all looked moved and sympathetic.

The others were mostly silent, their expressions expressionless, indifferent, with a hint of hidden impatience.

The one who showed her emotions most openly was Third Aunt Ma, whose face revealed a hint of gloating and a sense of superiority.

It seems that he really dislikes this person.

Seeing Zhang Ping'an coming back, the old woman reacted quickly. Without even wiping her tears, she stood up and rushed over, ready to grab Zhang Ping'an's sleeve.

She said excitedly, "Ping'an, I am your fourth aunt. You are back. If you don't come back, you will have to find a rope to hang yourself. This bitter life is really unbearable. God has opened his eyes and let the Zhang family produce a promising person. You have seen it since you were born. You are a blessed person. You are suffering...!"

The last "ah" was drawn out very long.

It has everything from singing, reciting, acting and fighting, and the expressions are very rich!

Zhang Ping'an couldn't help but think of the old woman who cried at funerals in the village when he was a child.

Although he was thinking this in his mind, Zhang Pingan's body reacted very quickly. Seeing the other party rushing towards him, his first reaction was to move to the side.

So the old woman didn't hit anyone at once and fell forward to the ground.

"Ouch!"

The old woman covered her chin and buttocks and screamed. Her expression suddenly became a little ugly, as if she was about to curse.

But seeing that everyone was looking at him, he quickly adjusted himself, found a way out, and said with an embarrassed smile: "Look at me, I'm so happy to see my nephew succeed, hehe... hehe...!"

"Is it okay? Look at you, you are so old, but you are still so reckless in doing things, alas!" Zhang Laoer said and ordered the servants to help the man up.

He sometimes shook his head and sometimes sighed, and his expression became a little complicated.

"Fourth Aunt?" Zhang Ping'an frowned slightly and asked uncertainly.

"Yes, this is your Fourth Aunt," Xu introduced calmly. "But our two families haven't been around much, and later, your father and I often accompanied you to study abroad. You didn't see her much, so naturally, you don't have a deep impression of her!"

After Xu finished her last sentence, Zhang Xiaogu's face was embarrassed for a moment, but soon returned to normal.

She was obviously remembering that the relationship between the two families was not very good in the past. She had often made sarcastic remarks about Xu in front of her.

But things are different now. Zhang Xiaogu is going to pretend to have lost her memory. She wipes away her tears and prepares to continue speaking.

Zhang stopped him: "Alright, are you here to visit or to mourn? You should have cried enough! If you want to talk, talk nicely. If not, get out!"

It was obvious that Zhang Xiaogu had cried enough.

"Mom, of course I'm coming back to visit my parents' home. I'm so happy!" Aunt Zhang said with a flattering smile.

He didn't care about his mother's cold face.

Zhang has never been close to her children since they were young. To be honest, her daughters are like her. Since they got married, they have never been close to their parents' home.

In the past, apart from necessary social interactions, we rarely went out.

This is inseparable from Zhang's education and family environment.

But the daughters also inherited some of Zhang's intelligence. None of them was a good person. Even the second and third aunts, Zhang, who seemed the most honest and decent, were able to establish themselves firmly in their husband's family and control their husbands and sons. When there was no chaos, although the lives of the families were not as good as Zhang's, they were not bad either.

After not seeing each other for more than ten years, Zhang Xiaogu recognized her family at the city gate and immediately came back to visit. It is obvious what she was thinking.

Everyone knows it.

Therefore, everyone had mixed feelings.

Zhang Ping'an also found the shadow of Zhang Xiaogu from the corner of his memory.

Because of her behavior at the full moon party, he really didn't have a good impression of this Fourth Aunt.

But considering that from the perspective of etiquette, my aunt is one of the "closest relatives within the five degrees of mourning", it would be disrespectful not to have any contact with her.

The other party hasn't done anything excessive yet.

Zhang Pingan thought for a moment, then politely bowed as a junior, pretending to suddenly understand, "It's my aunt, please take a seat!"

Aunt Zhang was a little flattered. She rubbed her hands, pulled at the corner of her clothes, and sat down. Then she praised: "Well, well, Ping An is really polite!"

In the end, I stopped crying.

Zhang Laosan was relieved after seeing this. He felt a little pity for his younger sister, but also a little afraid that she would be taken advantage of. He and Zhang Xiaogu were the closest in age, and he knew her best.

This little sister is much more selfish than her older sisters. She can be unreasonable and is good at making trouble.

Seeing that his mother Zhang and the others had no intention of explaining, he took the initiative to speak to Zhang Pingan and explain the situation.

It turned out that during the war years, Zhang Xiaogu lost her husband, two eldest sons, daughter-in-law, and eldest grandson. After peace finally came, only her youngest son and daughter were left alive.

Later, in order to find a wife for her son and to find a support for the mother and son, she remarried and sold her youngest daughter as a child bride.

Being a stepmother is not easy, and life is indeed difficult.

After the establishment of the new dynasty, life gradually became much better, and she is now a grandmother.

Ever since she accidentally saw Zhang Ping'an in a carriage at the city gate when she went to the city to sell vegetables, she has been asking around to find him.

Almost as soon as Zhang Ping'an left, she came over with her son and grandson.

She has been crying until now, telling everyone about her difficulties.

Having said that, Zhang Laosan raised his chin and pointed to the corner.

Only then did Zhang Ping'an see that there was a tall, thin man with an unshaven beard sitting in the corner holding a little boy of three or four years old.

The little boy had a big head and a small body. He was chewing a piece of cake in his hand intently. His hands were covered with cake crumbs and he didn't care at all about the conversations of the people in the hall.

The father and son were silent, without any movement, and their presence was very weak.

Compared with Zhang Xiaogu's behavior, they don't look like a family at all.

Seeing Zhang Ping'an looking over, the man pulled up the corners of his mouth into a stiff smile, then quickly lowered his head again.

He hugged the child tightly in his arms again.

"Ping'an, it's not easy for me to live to this day. If it weren't for my family, I would have died long ago and there would be no need to waste food," said Aunt Zhang choked.

"Life will always get better and better. This time I finally get to go home to visit my relatives. The clan will definitely have a banquet in a few days. My aunt can bring her family to join the banquet. Then we can discuss how we can help everyone," Zhang Pingan said politely.

Then he asked about the others: "I wonder where the eldest, second, and third aunts are now. I didn't seem to see their names when I looked in the county's yellow book."

"Your eldest aunt and second aunt have passed away. Their two villages were burned down. I haven't heard any news from their families in the county or in the town in the past few years. As for your third aunt, her family hid in the mountains during the war and never came down. They have become mountain dwellers and now I don't know whether they are dead or alive," explained Aunt Zhang in a calm tone without any sadness in her voice.

"As for the Yellow Book..." At this point, Aunt Zhang felt a little embarrassed again, "It's mainly to avoid the population tax. No one knows what the situation will be like in the future. Many old women like me in the village have avoided being listed in the Yellow Book!"

"Then how did you get into the city? You can't enter the city without a household registration card," Zhang Pingan frowned.

"I used my daughter-in-law's," Aunt Zhang explained in a low voice, "not my own daughter-in-law, but the eldest daughter-in-law of your uncle's previous son. She's only slightly younger than me, and no one has specifically checked, so it's been mixed up like this!"

Zhang Pingan nodded, understood, and advised: "We still have to register our household registration someday!"

"Hey, I'll listen to you. We must go up now!" Zhang Xiaogu responded repeatedly.

After Zhang Ping'an found out the situation and saw that it was nothing serious, he took his food and went out again, politely sending away the gentry who had brought him gifts.

Then he invited Zhang Xiaogu and her family to have dinner.

At the banquet, the cousin was relatively restrained, but Aunt Zhang and her grandson Xiao Jinzi ate voraciously, gobbling up everything in sight, and only picking out the meat dishes.

After a while, a pile of bones appeared in the plates in front of the two men.

Little Jinzi was only three years old, but he ate three bowls of rice in a row and still asked for more.

Zhang frowned and stopped him: "Siyun, do you want to starve your grandson to death?"

Aunt Zhang then wiped her greasy mouth, picked up her grandson and took him to the side, saying casually, "No more eating, go out and play!"

Little Jinzi was also tough and didn't make any noise. He ran to the yard to play.