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

There are not so many details in the same village. Everyone is a clan member. For a small matter like drying the threshing ground, Zhang Laoer didn't carry anything and went straight to the village to find the village chief.

The current village chief is of the same generation as the old grandfather. His name is Zhang Diande. He is very old, probably in his 60s. He studied in a private school for a few years. He likes to take advantage of his seniority and speaks in a pretentious manner. He is never happy to be asked to do anything. He always goes around in circles to hint at gifts from others and tries to get some benefits out of them. He has a lot of ulterior motives, which has led to disunity in Zhangjia Village. According to seniority, Zhang Laoer has to call him "Second Grandfather".

When you walk to the center of the village, you can see a row of eight blue brick and tiled houses with tall chimneys. The house with two red lanterns hanging at the gate is the home of the village chief Zhang Diande.

The lanterns were probably hung up during the Chinese New Year and have never been taken down, so they are covered with dust.

The village chief's house and Zhang Laoer's house are the only two houses in Zhangjia Village that are so magnificent. At that time, blue bricks and tiles were expensive and difficult to obtain. They also had to find good wood to make beams, and the areas around the front and back yards of the patio usually had to be paved with stone slabs. Building a house is a big project, and once it is completed, it usually has to be passed down for several generations.

The house of Zhang Laoer's family was built by his great-grandfather. It is more than 60 years old and has been repaired throughout the period. It still looks very solid.

The door was not closed, so Zhang Laoer stepped in and shouted, "Second Grandpa and Second Grandma, are you busy?"

Only the old man and the old woman were at home. The others should still be busy working in the fields. When they saw Zhang Laoer coming, Old Mrs. Ye looked up and saw that Zhang Laoer had nothing in his hands. She didn't even respond, but just sat on the chair without moving, and continued to pick beans in the winnowing basket with her head down.

Ye was skinny and wore navy blue fine cloth. Her face was full of wrinkles like dry tree bark. She had a pair of dim eyes and a pair of round gold earrings on her ears. Her eyes were cold when she looked at people, which always made people feel that she had bad intentions and was not a kind old lady.

The village chief Zhang Diande was sitting in a rocking chair nearby. He was also thin and fanning himself with a palm-leaf fan in his left hand. Even in the hot weather, he was wearing a black long-sleeved silk jacket with the top button buttoned. His snow-white beard was neatly combed. He was drinking tea from a small purple clay teapot in his right hand, acting like a landlord and country squire.

"Well, the second brother is here, please sit down!" said Zhang Diande.

"Second Grandpa, I won't sit down. I'm still busy at home. I came here to mark out a space in the threshing ground to dry the rice. Let's dry it quickly while the weather is good." Zhang Laoer waved his hand, walked over, picked up the big teapot next to him and helped Zhang Diande add tea.

"Well... well... everyone is busy with the autumn harvest now, and the space in the threshing ground is very tight," Zhang Diande said in a long tone, taking another sip of tea.

"Second Grandpa, when I first came here, I saw there was still space next to Tugen's house on the dam. That piece of land is enough for me. Can we just mark out that area?" Zhang Laoer knew that the old man was pointing fingers at him because he didn't bring anything, so he pretended not to understand, touched his head and smiled foolishly.

"Someone else wants to use the land next to their house, so that's not possible," said Zhang Diande, shaking his head.

"Haha, Second Grandpa, which family needs it? If not, I'll go ask and change the time with others. If that doesn't work, I'll ask my dad to come and ask. You know he's a very stubborn person. I'm afraid that this matter will get out of hand," replied Zhang Laoer.

Zhang Laoer was getting impatient with the trivial matter being discussed in a rambling way. The reason he didn't bring anything with him was because he thought the matter was not serious. Besides, he had many brothers and cousins, and they were no pushovers in the village. They were not those poor people, so the village chief couldn't really do anything to him. At most, he could just delay the matter.

If Old Man Zhang came over, he would have something harsh to say. The two were of similar age and had fought many times when they were young. Even though the village chief was a generation older, Old Man Zhang didn't care about seniority and would just fight if he couldn't get his point across. Later, he married Zhang, who was tall, well-built, and skilled in kung fu, and became a bully in the village.

"You kid, I haven't finished talking yet, why are you talking about your father?" Zhang Diande said unhappily.

"Haha, I'm just afraid that my dad will come and you two will have a bad quarrel. We can't persuade him. He is a very stubborn person. He might think you are deliberately making things difficult for him. Besides, Daqiang and Erqiang have to go with my third brother to sell mountain products later. We all have to go to the dock together. It's not good to make things awkward, don't you think?" Zhang Laoer said with a simple smile, a gleam in his eyes.

Daqiang and Erqiang are the grandsons of the village chief. They also do some work selling mountain products and carrying bags at the dock. They don't make a lot of money, but they do it to supplement their lives. However, they are not as smart as Zhang Laosan. When they go out to discuss business, they have to rely on Zhang Laosan to take the lead.

"Forget it, it was originally allocated to someone else. You can use it first, and I'll talk to you when the time comes," said Zhang Diande, and then he closed his eyes, meaning to see him off.

"Oh, thank you for your help, Second Grandpa. When you are done, please come to my house to have the full moon wine. I'm leaving first." After saying that, Zhang Laoer went out.

We were delayed for a long time when talking, so we hurried back to dry the grain while the sun was still strong.

It was already noon by the time all the grain was moved to the threshing ground. Even Zhang Laoer, a grown and strong man, was very tired.

"Daya, Daya," Zhang Laoer poured a bowl of tea and shouted after drinking it.

"Hey, Dad!" Daya responded, walked out of the west wing and patted her clothes. She had just finished washing clothes and had been pounding straw in the room, and now her body was covered with straw residue.

"Where are Erya and Sanya?"

"Dad, the two of them took Si Ya out to collect firewood. Tell me what you want to do."

"We need to dry our grain quickly while the sun is shining. I've already moved the grain to the threshing ground, next to Uncle Tugen's house. Go call them back and ask Erya and Sanya to help watch over it and keep the birds away. I'll use a bamboo rake to rake the grain apart."

"Okay, got it, Dad." Daya nodded in response.

"Is the bed made?"

"It's ready, Dad. I hammered it several times. It's soft now. It doesn't prick my hands at all."

"Be good, since your mother makes it inconvenient for you, as the eldest sister, you have to work harder. When you are done with your work, dad will take you to the market." Zhang Laoer was very satisfied and said to Daya with a smile. His eldest daughter could already help a lot.

"Dad, is that true? You're so kind! I'm not tired, but Mom is," Daya said happily, her face full of smiles. Children's happiness is so simple.

"Well, of course it's true. Remember to cook dinner when Erya and Sanya are called back. Starting today, each family will cook their own meals," said Zhang Laoer.

"Okay, Dad, I'll go out and call them now."

The threshing ground in Zhangjia Village is very large and has been completely ground by stone mills, so the ground is very flat. Children from every household are watching over the threshing. The children wear tattered straw hats and hold thin bamboo poles with rags tied to the tops. When they see birds landing, they wave the poles to drive them away.

In fact, this job is very difficult. There is no shade from the trees, and the children's faces are all red and dry from the sweat.

Erya and Sanya brought two small stools and sat next to their own food. Erya felt that she was the older sister and the younger one should listen to the older one. Whenever a bird landed, she would always order Sanya to chase it away. After going back and forth several times, Sanya refused to do it anymore and said, "Second sister, why do I always have to go? I don't want to go. I'm tired~".

"You are younger than me, so shouldn't the younger one listen to the older one?" said Erya.

"I can't always go," San Ya curled her lips.

"I'm the older sister after all. When Si Ya grows up, you can order her around, hehe," Erya said proudly.

At this time, a tanned boy with a big head and a thin neck came over. It was Goudan'er from Uncle Tugen's family next door. He was the only one in the threshing ground and was so bored that he came over to Erya and said, "Erya, I heard your mother gave birth to twins, a boy and a girl. Do you have a brother now?"

"Yes, I also went to my mother's room to see my brother and sister. They are both very handsome. I have a son now!" Erya replied. Although she thought her brother was ugly, she certainly could not admit it in front of outsiders. Erya knew the difference between right and wrong.

"Oh, I thought your family would have all seven fairies sooner or later, hehe." Goudan had no stool to sit on and it would be too hot for his butt to sit on the ground, so he squatted beside it and laughed.

"Your family only has seven fairies. If you dare to say that about us sisters again, I will beat you to death!" Erya said angrily with her hands on her hips, waving her fist at Goudan.

Although she is not very old, Erya is very crazy when fighting. Even if she is beaten and lying on the ground, she will bite the opponent. She is also very articulate, and the children in the village gradually stop provoking her.

"Hey, hey, I'm just asking," Goudan said as he took a few steps back for fear of being beaten.

"Hmph," Erya snorted and stopped talking. She didn't know when her brother would grow up. When that time came, she would take him out for a walk around the village and slap them in the face.