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

Almost all students from various academies signed up to participate in the ritual and music part, which also opened Zhang Ping'an's eyes. Most people chose the guqin or guzheng, and a small number chose bamboo flute or xiao, as well as Hulusi, pipa, yueqin, and gusheng.

My next-door neighbor Li Mingxuan chose the flute, and he played it quite well, but the music sounded a bit sad, which didn't quite fit the atmosphere of today's competition.

After the rituals and music, it was calligraphy. Zhang Pingan didn't dare to show off, but that didn't stop him from observing other people's calligraphy. After the four people who were eating took a circle, Zhang Pingan stopped in front of the long table in Bailu Academy.

Liu Shengyuan knew Zhang Pingan very well, and commented: "This calligraphy is really good! It is a copy of the "Lanting Preface" by a famous calligrapher of the previous dynasty."

Zhang Pingan nodded and replied, "This book has both the standard and neatness of regular script and the smoothness and naturalness of cursive script. The characters are more flexible and the strokes are coherent. It is comfortable and grand to read."

Although Jin Bao and Xiao Yifei couldn't put their finger on what was so good about it, they nodded in agreement, "It's indeed well written."

Zhang Pingan approached the students at the White Deer Academy and asked, "Which student at your academy created this calligraphy? Can we make some friends?"

The man at the table was a student from the outer dormitory of Bailu Academy, who had been brought in to help. He seemed to have a good temper. He glanced at the booklet and said with a smile, "This was written by Li Mingxuan from our academy, but he's not here now. I don't know where he went."

It's really a coincidence, Zhang Pingan thought, "Okay, thank you for your trouble, let's meet again next time if we have the chance"!

Bailu Academy is wealthy, the school facilities are very new, and the flower gardens are well-maintained. The poinsettias and camellias are in bud, and many buds have already formed.

"Ping'an, Ayuan, Yifei, you've seen enough. Why don't we go wait for Luo Fugui at the door and then go eat together," Jinbao suggested.

After walking around for the whole morning and watching a flute performance, there was no place to sit, so I was really tired.

"Okay, okay," Xiao Yifei was also a little hungry. He was tall, ate a lot, and got hungry quickly!

Liu Shengyuan didn't care. He didn't care that much about eating.

Zhang Pingan thought that the next few people didn't have any talents to perform. It was already lunch time, so it would be better to go eat early to avoid having to wait in line when there were too many people.

The weather is nice today, with sunshine, so it is not too cold at noon. The sunshine makes people feel a little lazy. The four of them waited at the gate of the academy for a quarter of an hour, and then they saw Luo Fugui running over in a hurry, "I'm sorry, I just spent a long time strolling with my classmates, and it's not good to interrupt others suddenly. I hope you have been waiting for a long time."

Zhang Pingan understood very well and shook his head, saying, "That's fine. It's quite comfortable for us to bask in the sun at the door. Let's go!"

The five of them then walked towards the foot of the mountain. Some students had already come out to look for food. There were three or two students sitting in front of each stall. Zhang Pingan asked them for their opinions: "What would you like to eat? Is there anything you cannot eat?"

Luo Fugui shook his head: "Anything is fine with me, as long as it's not too spicy."

Xiao Yifei scratched his head and said, "Look at you guys, I'm not picky about food either."

After walking around for a while, the five of them found a stall that made casserole dishes and sat down. They ordered five dishes and a bowl of rice. The taste was pretty good.

The stall owner saw that Xiao Yifei was wearing a satin jacket and knew that he came from a wealthy family. He kept trying to sell him side dishes and hot drinks, and kept praising him. Xiao Yifei was shy and after refusing twice, he felt really embarrassed and asked for a pot of egg drop rice wine and a plate of braised dishes. The stall owner saw that his sales promotion was successful and left satisfied.

Zhang Pingan, Liu Shengyuan and the others were all on the other side, all looking down and trying not to laugh. Seeing this, Xiao Yifei was furious: "You guys don't even help me speak up!"

Zhang Pingan joked, "Other stall owners have said so many nice things to you, how can we interrupt? Besides, you look like a wealthy man, so why would you come to us instead of selling to you? Just think of it as Master Xiao treating us today!"

Xiao Yifei was just joking: "Hahaha, those words from the stall owners are just polite words, how can we take them seriously? Let's eat it while it's hot!"

When everyone was growing up, the last table of food and a pot of rice wine were eaten up.

At this time, more and more students came down the mountain to eat, walking side by side in twos and threes. Zhang Pingan said, "Let's walk up the mountain slowly first, take a walk to digest the food, and free up the table, otherwise the other students will have no place to sit later."

Jinbao burped: "Okay, I ate a little too much and my stomach is so bloated"!

Luo Fugui smiled and said, "Jinbao, you are still the same. You can't change your habit of gluttony. It must be so uncomfortable if you eat too much."

Liu Shengyuan continued, "I don't think he'll ever change in his lifetime. He just loves to eat. But being able to eat is a blessing, and it's not a big problem."

"Hehe!" Jinbao touched his belly and laughed.

When everyone was walking up the mountain, they met Li Mingxuan walking down. Unlike other students who were walking together, Li Mingxuan was alone and looked a bit pitiful. After the two met again, they nodded to each other as a courtesy.

Xiao Yifei looked at Li Mingxuan's back as he walked away, and said thoughtfully, "I thought he looked familiar this morning. I seemed to have seen him somewhere before. I just remembered that we did know each other when we were kids, but we weren't very close. His father was a scholar who used to work in the county government. Unfortunately, he fell into the water and died a few years ago."

Luo Fugui was surprised and said, "Xiucai is a person of certain status. His father worked in the county government. At least his family should have some wealth. I see that the clothes he wears are worse than mine."

Xiao Yifei didn't know the details either: "I don't know. His maternal family seems to be pretty good, but his father passed away, and there's no man to take over the household. Life for an orphan and a widow must be difficult for them, and studying is expensive anyway."

Zhang Ping'an really didn't know that Li Mingxuan's family had such a background. No wonder his mother could make such complicated embroidery to support the family. It was impossible for a daughter of an ordinary family to have such a skill. Moreover, he was able to be admitted to Bailu Academy based on his own strength at such a young age. He really has the capital to give it a try in the future imperial examination.

After returning to the academy, everyone found a pavilion to rest for a while. When it was almost time, they went to watch the afternoon's imperial horse archery and arithmetic competitions.

To be honest, the horse archery competition was nothing special. Although they borrowed a few decent horses from the Inspection Office for this competition, everyone's riding and archery skills were average. In the end, the winner was a student from Bailu Academy, who was also Xiao Yifei's half-brother. They had met each other during the Mid-Autumn Festival before. After all, the son of the county lieutenant was better than others.

However, Zhang Ping'an might be the only one who thought so. Jin Bao and the others were still watching with great interest. In comparison, Zhang Ping'an felt that the arithmetic competition was more interesting. In class, the teacher taught the Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art and the art of brocade pudding, including the use of an abacus. Students who learned well were no worse than modern students at mathematical operations. Zhang Ping'an discovered that there was a student in Jingui Academy who was very proficient in the abacus. When he used three abacuses together, his fingers were almost leaving afterimages. Zhang Ping'an asked himself if his abacus skills could catch up with this student.

"It is said that eight generations of their ancestors have been accountants, and their abacus skills are well-known throughout our academy." Luo Fugui came over and said.

"Would you mind introducing me to someone like him? I must get to know this person, he's a real talent!" Zhang Ping'an exclaimed.

"I'm not very familiar with him, but I can introduce him to you," Luo Fugui said with a smile.

After the two sides got to know each other, Zhang Pingan learned that this man's name was Sun Liujin. The name was very interesting. All the brothers in his family were named according to numbers, and he had a biological brother named Sun Sanshi.

The academy competition was basically over by the time of Shenshi. Zhang Pingan didn't expect that the participating students could still get something. All the students who signed up for the talent show received a pen holder jointly branded by the four academies, and the top three received Duan inkstones.

Zhang Ping'an was not greedy and was very happy to get the pen holder. Since it was not on their way, they said goodbye at the gate of the academy and went back.