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

Today is the first day of cooking separately. Daya picked an old pumpkin from her own vegetable garden behind the house and cooked a big pot of it with old rice. The pickles were ready. She just took them out of the pickle jar, cut them, and fried them in the pot. No salt was needed.

When Xu was not around, Daya didn't dare touch the oil and salt when cooking, for fear of being beaten. Farmers regarded these as very precious, and Xu was always mean to children.

After a simple meal, Zhang Laoer walked into the woodshed and prepared to help Xu clean up the delivery room so that they could move the twins back to the west wing.

This was the first time the couple met after Xu gave birth. In fact, it had only been three or four days, but Xu felt as if they hadn't seen each other for a long time. Especially now that they had a son, the atmosphere between the couple seemed different from before. Xu couldn't put its finger on why, but she felt that life was more hopeful.

In reality, Xu was in a state of disarray. She was filthy, her hair greasy and sticking to her scalp. She couldn't touch water after giving birth, so for the past three or four days, she'd just had Daya fetch her some water so she could lightly wipe her face and body. Plus, it was hot, and the children urinated and defecated indoors, and she had to nurse two children, so she didn't smell very good. But her eyes were bright, and she looked much more energetic than before.

"Sanniang, is our son okay?" Zhang Laoer asked, sitting down beside the bed, ready to hug the child.

"Our baby is fine. He looked so thin that I was worried a few days ago, but he has been eating vigorously these past two days and the baby has gained weight," Xu Sanniang said with a smile. Although she was not good-looking, she exuded a maternal glow and was very gentle.

As he said this, he picked up the child and handed it to Zhang Laoer.

Zhang Ping'an was still awake at this moment, his eyes were rolling around. This was the first time he saw his father in this life. The baby's eyes were still unclear and misty, and he could only see a rough outline.

It can be seen that Zhang Laoer is a very strong man with a square face, heavy stubble, and rough and strong hands. However, he was very careful when picking up Zhang Pingan.

"Son~, son~, I am your father. Our family has finally waited for you. From now on, you will be called Ping An, okay?" Zhang Laoer lowered his head to talk to his son, touched his son's forehead with his big forehead, and said affectionately.

He didn't care whether the baby could understand or not, he just laughed himself silly. "When you are one month old, Daddy will give you a good full moon banquet. When you grow up, Daddy will send you to school so that you can live a respectable life in the future."

"Our son is still young. Why are you saying these things to him at this time?" Xu Sanniang said gently, but she felt sweet in her heart when she heard these words, and there was a smile on the corners of her eyebrows and eyes.

The baby seemed to understand and made a few "ah ah ah" sounds and waved his little arms.

Zhang Ping'an could feel the love in his parents' conversation. It seemed that his parents in this life wanted to give him all the good things. Even if he didn't understand history, Zhang Ping'an knew that being able to study was the best way out in ancient times. Hearing that his parents wanted him to study in the future, he felt a lot more at ease. It seemed that this family was in good financial condition and would not face a devastating start.

"Okay, you take the two children over first. I'll clean up the dirty things in the delivery room and let Daya take them out and burn them," said Xu as she stood up.

The delivery room must be cleaned. In winter, the woodshed must be filled with firewood for the winter. The cloth bags of wood ash must also be opened and washed. In the past few days, Xu has been discharging some lochia. Her mother-in-law Zhang and sisters-in-law will not help with these things.

Women from farming families weren't so delicate. They'd basically be working in the fields two or three days after giving birth; it was impossible for them to stay in bed for a month. Old Zhang's family was relatively well-off; at least they didn't have to work in the fields anymore.

However, Xu was not prepared to touch cold water during the confinement period. She felt obviously much weaker after giving birth and needed to take good care of herself. Her son was still young and she had to live well. Now that she had a son, she felt confident. Even if she used firewood to boil water, she believed that her husband would not say anything.

"Okay," Zhang Laoer responded and carefully carried his son out.

"Da Ya, Da Ya, come here!" Xu called out. "Take the straw off the beds and burn it."

"I'm coming, mother," Daya replied. As the eldest daughter in the family, Daya basically has no free time.

After finally finishing all this, Xu returned to the west wing. She felt much more comfortable. The bed in the west wing was replaced with new straw, which smelled of sunshine. The mattress was also replaced with a new one. Although it was made of coarse cloth, at least it was a flat bed that would not hurt her back.

Xu was a quick person. After putting the two children to bed, she took Daya to the kitchen to boil water and wash the remaining sheets and diapers. The sun was strong and they could be dried in half a day.

"Hey, second sister-in-law, you get out of bed now. Why don't you rest for a few more days?" Although they separated, they still lived in the same courtyard and saw each other every day. Li and Zhang Lao Da were drying rice in the courtyard. After seeing Xu, Li greeted her.

"Sister-in-law, I won't rest anymore. I felt much better these two days, so I got up. How can I rely on Daya alone for everything? There is still a lot of work to do at home," Xu replied while hanging clothes.

"That's true, second sister-in-law, you have always been diligent. Oh, your delivery that day was so dangerous, it was scary. Fortunately, there was no danger and it turned out to be a blessing in disguise," Li said with a smile.

"Yes, I really didn't expect it to be twins, a boy and a girl. Who would have thought I was pregnant with two? I have to thank my sister-in-law for running around that day. When we go to the market tomorrow, I will ask the father of the children to buy two pounds of meat. I will make stir-fried meat with beans and ask Daya to send a bowl over as an extra dish for the children." Xu replied. She knew that her sister-in-law was taking credit for it, but it was indeed thanks to her sister-in-law's help that day, and she gave the meat away willingly.

"Haha, that's great. I've been waiting for it." Li thought that her second brother's wife was quite sensible and it was worth it for her to help for so long. She must make her accept her favor.

"Okay, sister-in-law!"

"Oh~, I wonder if anyone will send me stir-fried beans and meat," Ma said sourly in the east wing after opening the window.

Xu didn't care to pay any attention to it. She just pretended not to hear it, packed up the wooden basin, put it under the eaves, and went back to her room.

"Tsk~ look at what she can do." Seeing that she couldn't get the upper hand, Ma slammed the window shut with a deafening noise.

"I was wondering how the couple in the third family could actually lie down. While other families were busy working, they were sleeping at home. The grain must be dried quickly," said Zhang Lao Da in amazement, whispering to Li.

"What do you care? What kind of pot should be matched with what kind of lid? The third sister is too lazy to bother. Her parents don't care, so why are you interfering? I guess she is definitely waiting for her brothers from her mother's side to come and help." Li saw it clearly and knew what was going on.

"How come he's even lazier than me?" muttered Zhang Lao Da. Although he knew what kind of person Zhang Lao San was, he really admired him for being able to sleep so peacefully during the busy farming season every year.