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

It was already 3 p.m. when they finished renting the house, so they definitely couldn't go back today. Fortunately, Zhang Laoer and Xu had the foresight to bring two beddings with them, so they could live directly in the rented house today. Xu rolled up her sleeves and cleaned all three bedrooms.

Zhang Laoer and Zhang Ping'an helped to sweep the yard and the kitchen, and after a simple tidying up, the house was ready for living. It was already the end of June, so it was no problem to use it for one night.

After cleaning, Zhang Ping'an suggested with a smile: "Dad, let's take Mom to eat the mutton hotpot we had last time. It's very delicious, and Mom hasn't tried it yet. When our whole family moves to the county, we can bring our sisters over to try it too."

Zhang Laoer was also in a good mood and responded without hesitation: "Okay, let's go eat mutton hotpot."

Mrs. Xu, on the other hand, was a little hesitant and said, "It's so expensive to eat in a restaurant. Why don't we just buy a few pancakes and make do with it. Besides, I just cleaned the room and I'm covered in dust and dirt. Others will laugh at me if I go in."

"Mom, what are you talking about? We are guests here, there is no reason to drive business away, don't worry," Zhang Pingan took Xu out, Zhang Laoer followed behind, and the family went to the restaurant they had eaten last time.

When she entered the restaurant, the waiter was very enthusiastic, and Xu finally breathed a sigh of relief. To be honest, this was the first time she spent money to eat out, except for the banquets in the countryside. In the countryside, you had to fight to get the good dishes, but now she could just wait patiently for others to serve the dishes. Such relaxing and comfortable moments were too rare.

The restaurant first served a few cold dishes, which tasted average, but with a few drops of sesame oil in them, Xu ate them with great praise: "Well, these dishes that cost money are delicious."

Zhang Pingan smiled and said, "Mom, the cold dishes were sent by others. If you like them, please eat more."

It would have been better if she hadn't said it. After she did, Xu regretted it immensely and whispered, "What? They're sending cold dishes? If we had known earlier, we should have ordered less. What a loss! What if we can't fill our stomachs? I don't know if we can take it all away."

Zhang Pingan frowned: "Mom, I can't take it away, so you should eat more. The mutton here tastes very good."

Zhang Laoer didn't say anything, just smiled foolishly.

The family ate for more than half an hour. In the end, Xu came out holding her stomach because she was reluctant to leave the cold dishes and vegetables that the store gave her. She had to eat them all before she would leave. Zhang Ping'an and Zhang Laoer said nothing, but she refused to listen. Xu was very persistent in this regard.

The next morning, Zhang Laoer went to the cloth shop again to cut a few feet of the sky-blue fine cotton cloth he had set his eyes on, and then drove the mule cart home.

People are in high spirits when they are happy, and the whole family is very happy. After arriving home, Xu couldn't wait to casually tell Ma in the yard that she had eaten mutton hotpot in the county town. Ma felt very jealous when she heard it. Xu used to have the worst life among the sisters-in-law. She didn't get married until she was 18 years old when she was still in her parents' home. She almost became an old maid who couldn't get married. How could she have expected that she would have the glory she has now.

This year the weather was good and the harvest of medicinal herbs at home was also very good. Zhang Laoer hired a few people in the village to help harvest the herbs. Because the time for harvesting herbs was staggered with that for harvesting grain, and it was not yet the busy farming season, the villagers were also happy to earn some money to supplement their family income. There were many people who wanted to come and do odd jobs, so Zhang Laoer picked a few acquaintances from his family.

Boss Zhang had the most land and grew the most medicinal herbs. Li wanted to help her natal family, so she called her brothers and nephews to help every year and did not hire anyone else.

On this day, Zhang Ping'an was having dinner at the door of the west wing. He threw the bones he had finished eating on the ground, but suddenly a little boy with a big head and a thin neck rushed over from the main room, picked up the bones and put them in his mouth.

After picking up the bones, he didn't leave or say anything, just stood there.

Xu took a quick look and said, "Are you a child from the Li family?"

The little boy nodded. Although he was thin, he looked very energetic. He looked about five or six years old and it was obvious that he grew up in the mountains.

Zhang Ping'an waved his hand and said with a smile, "Come here, I'll give you some food. I haven't seen you in previous years. What's your name?"

Zhang Ping'an knew that his aunt lived a frugal life. Even if she had money, she was still very stingy with oil and salt. Even if her brothers from her mother's side came to help, at most they would provide a little better than usual. It would be difficult for this little boy to eat meat in the eldest house.

The little boy didn't come forward when he heard Zhang Ping'an's call, but stood by. No matter how he called, it was useless. When Zhang Ping'an finished eating and threw the bones on the ground, he picked them up and put them in his mouth. It was a bit sad to see people like that. Even Xu couldn't stand it, "What a sin! What kind of life is this? Look at how greedy the child is, but he is still quite well-mannered."

Zhang Ping'an picked up the empty plate beside him, picked up some dishes and walked over. The little boy didn't take it. He just looked at him with his big dark eyes. The more he walked forward, the more he backed away. This reminded Zhang Ping'an of his life in an orphanage in his previous life, which was also miserable.

At this time, Li came into the yard carrying a large basket of herbs. Her face and back were wet with sweat. After seeing the situation in the yard, she said, "Silly boy, you must be hungry. Auntie will cook right away."

Seeing that his aunt had also returned, Zhang Ping'an handed the dishes to her and said, "I saw that Shadan seemed to be very hungry just now and was picking up bones from the ground to eat. I said to pick up some dishes for him to eat first, but he refused to take them. You should give them to him so that he won't starve."

Mrs. Li glanced at the plate, which contained several pieces of meat and bones, and took it with satisfaction, saying with a smile, "Ping'an has changed since he started studying. I want to thank you on behalf of Silly Dan. He was born dumb. He's six years old and still can't speak. He's just a blockhead. Please don't be offended."

Six-year-old can't speak?

Zhang Ping'an turned his head and observed carefully again. The child's eyes were very clear and he was definitely not a fool.

But after all, they are not my relatives, so I can't do too much about it.

When Li dragged Shadan'er into the backyard, Si Ya complained, "Little brother, why did you give him the bones to eat? He's just a fool, and we don't have enough to eat ourselves."

Zhang Pingan said calmly, "We are relatives after all. We sit at the table to eat, and he picks up the bones we have gnawed on the ground. Do you think it looks good? Our family has a good meal now, and we basically have meat to eat every day. This is not worth mentioning."

Mrs. Xu also nodded and said, "That's right! What will happen if it gets out? We don't lack food, so don't learn from your third sister's greed!"

Si Ya curled her lips and stopped talking.

In a blink of an eye, it was early August. All the medicinal herbs at home had been harvested, and the next batch had not yet arrived, so Zhang Laoer prepared to move.

Zhang Ping'an was packing up at home when Jin Bao ran over excitedly. Holding his stomach and catching his breath, he said excitedly, "Ping'an, I want to go to Qingsong Academy with you!"