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

Time flies like a white horse, and it passes by unknowingly.

Five years later, in early summer, Luojia Village.

After finishing the class, Master Luo announced the end of school. In the past two years, everyone in Class C has been promoted to Class A. Master Luo is getting older and older. He is almost 70 years old and is one of the longest-lived people in the area within dozens of miles. He no longer gives individual lessons to the students in the school, and starting this year he will no longer accept new students.

"Hey, Ping'an, what do you think the teacher meant by calling all the parents on the day we had a day off?" Jinbao asked in confusion. A few years had passed and Jinbao had grown a lot. He had become taller and thinner. Now he was only slightly fat, and with his fair complexion, he could be considered a handsome young man. However, what had not changed was that he was still Ping'an's die-hard fan, and he would ask Zhang Ping'an first if he had any questions.

Luo Fuan also came over to join the conversation: "Yeah, why are parents being called for a day off all of a sudden? Is the school closed?"

It's no wonder that everyone has this doubt. Master Luo is no longer accepting new students this year, which is actually a sign.

"Even if the teacher's school continues to operate, we can't continue studying here. Before the Chinese New Year last year, the teacher asked Ayuan and me to go to the town or county to find a new teacher to continue studying. But we want to consolidate what we have learned and go to the new school in the fall. Then our entrance test scores will look better," Zhang Pingan said slowly.

Jin Bao was very sad, supporting his chin and said, "Hey, but I think Master Luo's place is great!"

Liu Shuisheng continued, "Master, this place is great, but we're old enough now, so it's time to make some new considerations. I'm almost 13 now, and will soon be able to get married. Originally, my mother only wanted me to study for three or four years and then find an easy job, but now I've studied for two more years. Should I find a job or continue studying? We're already discussing this at home."

Liu Shengyuan said calmly, "I will continue my studies. Changing schools is only a matter of time. My father has been looking for a place for me for a long time. I will go to the county school this fall. As for which school I will go to, I'll have to wait and see my test scores."

Luo Fugui accepted the situation calmly and said as he packed his school bag, "I want to continue studying too. My parents have agreed."

In fact, the Luo family originally planned to let the two children study for four or five years and then take over the family business. However, Luo Fugui's horizons have been broadened a lot after studying in school for a few years. Compared with Zhang Pingan and Liu Shengyuan, two classmates who are determined to make progress, his ideas have gradually changed.

He also wanted to continue studying and take the imperial examinations, or at least give it a try, otherwise he would not be satisfied. In recent years, the gap between his monthly test scores and the other two has been getting bigger and bigger, but he thinks he is not stupid and has been working hard to catch up.

Fortunately, the family conditions were good and Luo's father loved his children. After discussion, the family agreed to support him until he was 18 years old. If he still had no achievements by the age of 18, he could go home and work.

Luo Fuan was surprised when he heard this: "When did you discuss this with your uncle and aunt? How come I didn't know about it?"

"We just discussed it." Luo Fugui didn't say much.

"Then I want to continue reading too," Luo Fuan said immediately.

Everyone had to continue studying, and if he was the only one not studying, he would always feel inferior to the others, which was unacceptable. Moreover, Luo Fuan thought his family was well-off, and since Zhang Jinbao and Zhang Pingan both had educations, there was no reason why he couldn't study.

After thinking about it, he added: "I will tell my father and grandfather tonight that I will also go to the county to study."

This depends on personal circumstances. After all, the tuition for studying in the county town must be very high. Zhang Pingan didn't say much. The few of them packed up their things and separated at the school gate.

Now that they are all grown up, they can go home by themselves and don’t need anyone to pick them up.

On the way, Jinbao seemed a little worried, "Ping'an, do we really have to go to the county to study? We can also study in the town!"

"You can study in both the town and the county, but we have already learned the Four Books. Ayuan and I have even learned the classics. In the town, you can only find a teacher for a student, and it is difficult to become a scholar. But in the county, you can find a scholar. If you pass the examination to become a student or a scholar, you can go to the county school. There are even teachers for Juren. It is better to go directly to the county town to avoid changing places in the future," Zhang Pingan analyzed slowly.

"Oh, I really don't want to be separated," Jinbao felt depressed.

"All good things must come to an end," Zhang Pingan replied calmly. There was nothing that could be done about it, and one had to always look forward.

As they were talking, they arrived at Zhangjia Village. Grandpa Jinbao was already waiting at the village entrance. Although there was no need for anyone to go to the school to pick him up, Grandpa Jinbao would still wait at the village entrance.

"Grandpa!" Jinbao ran over after seeing the man.

"Hey!" Grandpa Jinbao responded happily, his temper as good as ever.

After parting at the door, Zhang Pingan walked into the yard and went to the study to put down his schoolbag.

The Zhang family had a large courtyard. In order to make it easier for his son to study, Zhang Laoer later built a small room next to the west wing of the courtyard, which was used specifically for reading and had good lighting.

"Son, you're back. Can we have soup noodles tonight?" Mrs. Xu was cooking in the kitchen. She came out and asked when she heard the noise.

In recent years, the family has made a lot of money from growing medicinal herbs. After becoming rich, Xu has been more willing to spend money on food and drink than in the first few years. Basically, every meal at home is white rice and stir-fried dishes, and occasionally noodles or soup noodles are eaten in the evening.

"Okay, Mom, you can do it," Zhang Pingan replied loudly. After that, he began to do his homework. Although he had memories of his past life and his comprehension ability was much better than that of ordinary children, he still had to start from scratch to prepare for the imperial examination. There were no shortcuts or laziness, and he could not slack off in his homework every day.

Zhang Laoer came back from weeding in the fields. He saw through the open window that his son was so focused on doing his homework. He didn't dare to disturb him, so he tiptoed into the backyard to fetch water to wash his hands.

When Si Ya saw this, she stepped forward to help put away the farm tools.

San Ya got married two years ago. She married the youngest son of a grocery store in the town. He was also the wife of Liu the butcher, and Daya's mother-in-law helped to arrange the marriage. The villagers thought this was a very good marriage, at least she wouldn't have to work in the fields.

Li was extremely envious. In the end, Dani found a husband for an ordinary family in a nearby village. Although Li still looked down on them and felt that the Zhang family was not as well off as them, she could not delay her daughter's marriage because her blooming period was short. In the end, she married Dani off before she turned fifteen.

Erzhu got married a few years ago. He now has two children and his wife is pregnant with another, which makes Li very satisfied.

The most dissatisfied one was Dazhu. He was in his early twenties and didn't even have a child. He refused to listen to anyone, which broke Li's heart. Now she didn't know how to take care of him anymore. So she simply divided the family property between the two sons at the beginning of this year, but did not separate the households.