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

"Uh," Zhang Pingan was stunned by the question. After thinking for a while, he replied, "To be honest, it's quite ugly, but these are just superficial injuries. I think they will be healed in two or three days."

Xiao Yifei lowered his head and said sullenly, "Actually, I don't want to fight. It's just that Du Zijing's words were so harsh."

Zhang Pingan really couldn't help with this matter, so he could only comfort her: "Even if he speaks harshly and you feel bad, it won't change the facts. When you have strength and fame, he will naturally not dare to speak nonsense in front of you. You have to win back your face and dignity by yourself."

Xiao Yifei nodded: "I know, my mother also told me this, thank you! I feel much better after being comforted by you."

"I'm glad I helped you. If you're done eating, we can go back to the classroom together." Zhang Ping'an invited him. Although he couldn't help him, he could still walk together.

Everyone returned to the classroom together.

The days of study always pass quickly. In a blink of an eye, more than a month has passed, and it is almost the Mid-Autumn Festival on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month. The entire academy is closed for one day on this day.

The Mid-Autumn Festival is a very grand festival for ordinary people. Jinbao's parents specially closed their tea stall and stopped business for a day, and came to the county town to spend the Mid-Autumn Festival with their three generations of grandparents and grandchildren.

The osmanthus trees in Jinbao's yard are in full bloom now. Xu went over to pick a bowl of them and brought back to make osmanthus wine dumplings. Zhang Laoer simply invited Jinbao's family to come and celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival together. The two families were very lively and had each other's company in the county town.

After dinner, they ate rice dumplings with fermented glutinous rice. Everyone was very full. Seeing that it was still early, Zhang Pingan suggested, "This is our first time celebrating Mid-Autumn Festival in the county town. I heard from my classmates that the Mid-Autumn Festival in the city is very lively. Why don't we go out and release river lanterns? We can also guess lantern riddles while we are there."

Jinbao had no problem answering these questions and said excitedly, "Great, great, Ping'an, you're so good at guessing riddles, you'll definitely win a few lanterns."

Jin Bao's father was a quick-witted man who loved the hustle and bustle. He was very excited when he heard this suggestion and said, "Why don't our two families go out together to see the hustle and bustle and broaden our horizons!"

Zhang Lao Er was not one to spoil the fun. He nodded and prepared to drive the mule cart out, but Zhang Pingan stopped him and said, "Today is Mid-Autumn Festival, there must be a lot of people in the city. Our cart can't move on the street, and even if we do, there's nowhere to park. It's better to walk there. It's more convenient and helps digest the food."

Jinbao's grandparents were old and didn't want to go out and join in the fun, so Zhang Laoer and Jinbao's father took the two families out and walked to the city in two quarters of an hour.

During the Mid-Autumn Festival, some wealthy people in the county donated money to raise funds, and they made colorful lanterns and hung them on the trees along the Jiuqu Bridge all the way to the Jiuqu River Ferry. The road was brightly lit on both sides, and the streets were bustling with people, all out to join in the fun. It was the first time that Si Ya and the others, as well as Jin Bao, saw such a scene, and they exclaimed in amazement!

In the countryside, people usually go to bed after dinner. It is pitch dark all around and there is no nightlife to speak of. Now it’s really an eye-opener.

In fact, it was the first time for Zhang Laoer and Xu, as well as Jinbao's parents, to witness such a luxurious Mid-Autumn Festival. However, they had lived for another ten or twenty years and were unwilling to open their mouths in amazement like children. They pretended to be calm and not show any fear.

Although Zhang Ping'an lived in an orphanage in his previous life, he often went out for charity sales. Moreover, Beijing, as the capital, is the most prosperous place. The National Day military parade, as well as the New Year's light show and fireworks show are all shocking. These lights are not enough to amaze him.

Slowly walk forward to the bustling center, there are many vendors selling lanterns, you can also guess the lantern riddles, if you guess correctly, you will get a lantern directly, free of charge.

This is a favorite activity for literati and scholars, including scholars. Not only can they earn fame and show off their talents, but they can also win a few lanterns on the Mid-Autumn Festival to bring good luck.

Zhang Ping'an stopped in front of the first few stalls and looked at them. The riddles were not difficult and the lanterns looked very ordinary. The difficult ones should be at the stalls with the best locations.

Zhang Laoer and his friends, however, didn't think the lanterns were ordinary. They looked at them and praised, "This rabbit lantern is really well made. It won't break even after years of use!"

The boss, a middle-aged man, smiled and said, "Our family has been making lanterns for eight generations. Of course, the inherited craft is excellent! What do you think? Would you like to buy one, or let the young master try to guess the lantern riddles?"

Zhang Laoer looked at his son hesitantly. He didn't know whether his son could guess it.

Jinbao also looked over expectantly. Among the few people, Zhang Pingan was the best at guessing riddles. If he couldn't guess them, the others would have no chance at all.

"Then let me try," Zhang Ping'an said with a smile. He then pulled out a riddle from the lantern and read out: "Frosty clothes, snowy hair, and jade beak, a group of fish are caught in the shadow of the stream. Startled, they fly away, reflected in the green mountains. A pear tree blossoms fall in the evening wind. Guess the name of a bird."

Although Jinbao had been to school for several years, he felt dizzy after hearing the riddle. "What is this?"

Instead, Jin Bao's father asked tentatively: "Pigeon?"

Zhang Ping'an shook his head and replied: "It's a heron."

The boss smiled and nodded: "Yes, it's a heron. It seems that the young master has studied hard for a few years. This is a lantern riddle posed by a poet in the previous dynasty. Only scholars can solve it. This lantern belongs to the young master!" Then he took down the lantern and handed it to Zhang Ping'an.

Si Ya was the oldest of the girls. Zhang Ping'an handed the lantern to her and said, "Fourth sister, you carry this lantern!"

Si Ya was very happy. Many girls coming and going on the street were carrying beautiful lanterns, and she wanted one too. It would be best if she could win one without spending any money.

Zhang Ping'an didn't catch any boss and try to extort money from him. They were all small businesses, so there was no need to do so. It would be bad if he ended up in a quarrel with the boss.

We continued walking forward. The further we got to the center, the brighter it became. The colorful lanterns on both sides of the street were even more exquisite, some even decorated with red beans as ears, which was very beautiful! There were also fishermen's daughters carrying baskets, selling fresh lotus seeds and osmanthus cakes.

The price was very cheap, two cents for a handful. Zhang Pingan paid six cents for one, which weighed almost one pound, and they shared it with everyone.

The fisherman's daughter who was selling lotus seeds was very pretty. Seeing that Zhang Ping'an didn't try to bargain, she felt good about him and gave him an extra handful.

Fresh tender lotus seeds have a crispy and sweet taste and are full of fragrance in your mouth.

But not every customer was as easy to talk to as Zhang Ping'an. Before they had gone far, they heard the screams of the fisherman's daughter behind them. It turned out that two or three hooligans came to cause trouble, threw the fisherman's daughter's basket to the ground, and demanded to collect stall fees.

Even though the fisherman's daughter cried and said again and again that she was only selling things today for the festival and that she did not sell things on the bridge on normal days, it was useless. Some thugs even tried to touch her.

A passerby who couldn't stand it stepped forward to stop them and was beaten black and blue.

Zhang Ping'an knew that these people could openly collect protection fees in the county, so they must have some background.