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

After hearing this, Wu Ya lowered her head and said nothing, and her facial expression could not be seen clearly.

"Don't think that your parents are harming you. Only when you raise a son can you understand the heart of your parents. It is difficult to repay the kindness of your parents when you raise a daughter. Your father and I have never expected anything from you. As long as you are well, it's okay. The most important thing for a woman is her reputation," Xu grumbled.

He then earnestly analyzed the pros and cons, "The countryside is different from the city. There are many gossipers. Some people say things that are unpleasant to the ear. Even if they don't say anything to your face, they will gossip about you behind your back. It would be better for you to go to a nunnery and practice asceticism for a while. When you have calmed down and know how to live your life from now on, you can come back with a clear mind. After all, as long as your brother is an official in the court, no one will dare to bully you."

"Do you think I've brought shame to you and am a drag on you, so you want to abandon me?" Wu Ya raised her head and asked steadily.

"If we really think you are a disgrace, would we help you out again and again? If it weren't for us, would the Fang family let you go so easily? And give you so much property? You should be conscientious in what you say and do. Your father and I don't owe you anything, and your younger brother owes you even less!" Xu frowned when she heard this and became unhappy.

Wu Ya pulled the corners of her mouth, with a hint of sarcasm in her eyes, and stopped talking. After a long while, she said calmly: "Okay, I'll go, mother, you don't have to say anything more!"

At this moment, she felt that her parents were really hypocritical. They had clearly already agreed with grandma to send her to the nunnery, leave her at home, and not take her to the capital. Now they were still saying that it was for her own good. It was so fake!

"Oh, that's right, as long as you figured it out," Xu said with relief, without thinking too much about it.

He touched Wu Ya's hand and comforted her, "Whether you go to the capital or not, you still have a bunch of cousins ​​at home. They all rely on your little brother's face to make a living. It's impossible for them to treat you badly. You can't live a hard life. It's also because you girls are lucky to have such a promising brother as a backer. As a human being, you should cherish your blessings!"

Wu Ya didn't react much after hearing this.

Seeing this, Xu said no more. She had to figure things out on her own. Finally, she said, "Okay, it's settled. I'll send you over after the homecoming banquet is over!"

Then he went out.

After Xu left, Wu Ya stood up and turned around a few times before making up her mind.

At this time, Aunt Zhang came in with her son and grandson.

As soon as he entered the door, he was greeted with exaggerated laughter, "Dad, Mom, big brother, second brother, third brother, I'm here to see you!"

Zhang had already expected that her little daughter would come over, and she said "hmm" lightly.

Zhang Laoda and the others were quite polite and asked a few questions, "Why didn't you bring the rest of your family to the feast so they can get some of the grease too?"

Upon hearing this, Aunt Zhang waved her hands and said, "Brother, I'm divorced now. We, an orphan and a widow, will be counting on you to take care of us. Although Shunzi doesn't talk much, he's very capable. And my grandson, Xiaojinzi, is so smart. I think he'll be a good student and official in the future. He might even be as good as Ping'an!"

"Aren't you afraid that your tongue will be blown away by the strong wind? Do you think you can become an official just because you are a human being?" Zhang Laosan said speechlessly.

"Haha, you can't predict what will happen in the future," said Zhang Xiaogu, not caring at all and being extremely shameless.

Zhang saw all this and sighed inwardly. She gave birth to four daughters. Except for Aunt Zhang who looked a bit like her, the other three daughters were not very promising and had nothing to show for themselves. They were not very smart at all, but they were full of clever tricks.

This is completely inherited from the Zhang family.

"Siyun, you are in your forties. Since divorce is a decision you have made, you can't complain in the future. You have to live your life carefully. Don't just think about it. Your parents' home is not a place where you can rely on it for the rest of your life," Zhang said.

After saying that, he was too lazy to say any more and walked into the main room with his crutches.

Aunt Zhang was too familiar with her mother's character, so she continued to eat snacks with her grandson without any concern. These words did not hurt her at all.

"Why did you get divorced? Never mind, since you're here, just stay for two days." Zhang Laoer was also surprised, but thinking of his younger sister's personality, he didn't ask any more questions.

Then he remembered something: "Oh, right, you said before that the Sanyun family went to the mountains and became mountain dwellers. Do you know which mountain specifically? Now that our family is prosperous, everyone in the clan is benefiting from it, but they may not even have enough to eat. If we can find them, we have to help them!"

"That's right," Zhang Laosan nodded. "With our family's reputation, even if we do nothing, our third sister and her family will still have a much better life. Living in the mountains is too hard."

Aunt Zhang rolled her eyes upon hearing this and said without hesitation, "Well, I heard about it too. How would I know which mountain it is? Although there aren't any famous mountains or rivers nearby, there are still many hills. I'm busy at home now, so I'll ask Shunzi to look for it when there's a chance."

After saying that, he rushed to the kitchen and rolled up his sleeves, saying, "Brother, I'm going to the kitchen to help!"

"We don't need you!" Zhang Laoer shouted, but didn't call the person back.

Knowing that this little girl might want to go to the kitchen to have a snack, I shook my head and didn't bother her anymore.

"This kind of thing will happen frequently in the future. Forget it, we are all relatives," Zhang Laosan advised.

After Xu came out and found out, she was a little dissatisfied and couldn't help complaining to Zhang Laoer, "Look at all the relatives you have. They never get enough of taking advantage of us. When we were in trouble before, no one offered to help. But now they are eager to take advantage of us. It's my eldest and second sisters who are the cause of pity. They have been helping us since we got married, and they gave us free meat. But when we were fleeing, I couldn't help them. Now I don't know whether they are dead or alive. I feel so bad!"

As she spoke, Xu couldn't help wiping away her tears. She felt really sad when she thought about her poor elder and second sisters who were suffering somewhere.

"Didn't Ping'an say that he had sent people to inquire? And Si Ya, there will definitely be news soon. Don't cry, you are an old lady now, and crying is not appropriate," Zhang Laoer comforted, stretching out his rough big hands to wipe away Xu's tears.

I feel helpless too.

He wanted to help and didn't mind contributing some money and effort. After all, his two elder sisters-in-law were really good to his family. It was his second sister-in-law who arranged Daya's marriage. But he couldn't find anyone, so how could he help?

Xu also knew this, she was just venting her dissatisfaction.

It will be fine on its own in a while.

"By the way, where's Ping An? Why haven't I seen him for so long?"

"Oh, he and Jinbao just went to Luojia Village. They wanted to get together with Fuan and Ayuan. They have been friends since childhood, and it's not easy for them to get together after so many years," explained Zhang Laoer.

"Yeah, our family is quite lively, it would be nice to go out and get together," Mrs. Xu nodded and agreed.

Then he told Zhang Laoer about Wu Ya's situation and said that everything was going well.

"She's okay. She listened and agreed. After the homecoming banquet is over, we'll let her stay in the nunnery for a while and teach her a lesson. Can we really let her become a nun?" There was some relief in Xu's tone. She felt that Wu Ya was quite sensible.

Zhang Lao Er frowned after hearing this, feeling that something seemed amiss. "She didn't make a fuss? That's not like her!"

"I thought she would make a fuss and was ready to get angry. Fortunately, she was quite obedient and knew that we were doing this for her own good," said Xu with a smile.

Then he rolled his eyes at Zhang Laoer and said, "Why, isn't it good enough that our daughter is obedient? Are you expecting her to make a scene or something? Okay, okay, don't think too much. We have guests outside to entertain. Our son is not here, and it would be rude for the two of us not to show up!"

When Zhang Laoer heard this, he thought about it and realized that Wu Ya was a weak woman and could not cause any trouble. So he stopped thinking about it and went out to greet the guests.

Today, prominent families from all over the country come to visit and give gifts. Regardless of whether they accept the gifts or not, the reception must be thorough.

The reputation of an official family is very important, and Zhang Laoer is very aware of this.

Treat visitors politely and give generous gifts in return.

He looks like an old man.

I was busy until the evening, when I could finally relax after dinner.

Walking in the village, you can smell the strong aroma of meat coming from every household.

The greedy child's saliva was all over the floor.

Everyone coming and going greeted Zhang Laoer warmly with a respectful tone.

This pleased Zhang Laoer very much, and he paced slowly with his hands behind his back.

After finding his grandson playing under the big willow tree at the entrance of the village, Zhang Laoer stopped and waved, "Xiao Yu'er, come on, come home with me. We have to eat. I made this soup especially for you!"

"I'm not hungry. I told you I won't eat." Little Fish was having a great time and didn't want to go home.

Zhang Laoer persuaded him to go back.

Watching the grandfather and grandson walking away with the servants, some children were extremely envious and said through sniffles, "Xiao Yu'er is so lucky. He has people to coax and persuade him when he eats. In my family, everyone has to fight for food. If they can't grab it, they will starve. Maybe they will have to eat bamboo shoots and fried pork."

"Forget it, forget it. You also said that he is lucky and cannot be compared. My family is eating meat today, so I am going home too."

"Then I'll go home too. My family eats meat too."

After a while, all the children under the big willow tree dispersed.

Only then did Wu Ya sneak out from the backyard and secretly walk towards the official road in the town with her maid.

The maidservant looked worried and kept whispering to Wu Ya to go back.

Unable to bear Wu Ya's determination, he said impatiently, "Are you annoying? If it weren't for the fact that you've been with me for a few years, I wouldn't be bothered to take you with me. Say one more word and I'll sell you out tomorrow!"

Upon hearing this, the maid shrank her shoulders, made a bitter face and dared not say a word. She could only pray that the Zhang family would find out sooner rather than later. She knew better than her master Wu Ya how treacherous people are.

You have a good life but insist on going out to suffer. Isn't this mentally ill? You really don't know how to enjoy life. It would be better to let her come. Alas!

……

The first person to discover that Wu Ya was missing was Zhang Xiaogu.