The Daily Life of a Rich Peasant's Boy in the Imperial Examination

孙山咳嗽一声，明明讲李四和张姑娘的爱情故事，怎么讲着讲着小黑妹就挨揍呢？

Sun Shan realized at this moment that both the chubby girl and the dark-skinned girl were troublesome.

One is secretly mischievous, and the other is secretly mischievous.

Looking at Huming again, Huming was still the easiest to deal with and the one who won the hearts of Sun Shan and Sister Yun the most.

Sun Shan asked Granny Wang to continue her story.

Adhering to the principle of "doing a good deed to the end and seeing it through to the end," Li Si escorted Miss Zhang home, truly fearing that she might try to commit suicide again the moment he turned around.

As they walked and talked, Li Si learned why Miss Zhang had jumped into the river.

Just as Lord Sun predicted, the young master of the landlord's family, to whom she was engaged, wanted to break off the engagement, making up all sorts of excuses.

Seeing that the Zhang family was truly oblivious, the only recourse was to take the initiative and personally go to their home to break off the engagement. This was because the young master's fiancée was eager to marry him and didn't want to wait any longer.

Li Si stared wide-eyed and asked, "What? The landlord broke off the engagement, and you just accepted it? Oh dear, why don't you come over and make a scene? If all else fails, go to the yamen and find Lord Sun, and let him uphold justice for your family."

He paused, then added, "Don't worry, Lord Sun is a good man and will definitely stand up for your family."

Zhang San had the courage to steal his cloth, but not the courage to go and complain.

Bah, you cowardly little man!

Upon hearing this, Sun Bomin smiled憨厚ly and said, "This Li Si is good; he knows how to judge people and understands the good qualities of my Shanzi."

Su also had a good impression of Li Si, whom she had never met, simply because she had spoken well of Sun Shan.

He said cheerfully, "Of course, my Shanzi is an honest, fair and upright official with a good reputation. He's completely different from the corrupt officials outside. This Li Si is good; he has a conscience."

Sister Yun looked at Sun Shan with sparkling eyes, and knew that her brother Shan was a good official.

However, after just over a year in Yuanlu County, the locals all know that Brother Shan is a good person and that they did not marry the wrong person.

Gui Ge'er said happily, "Brother Shan, Li Si is not bad. Although he is a bit of a slacker, he is still a good person overall. He has a discerning eye and knows how good you are, Brother Shan."

Hu Ming looked at Sun Shan with admiration and muttered to himself: "My godfather is the best. I like my godfather the most."

When the people heard the common folk praising Sun Shan, it was as if they were hearing the common folk praising themselves, and they felt very happy.

Only Uncle Sun rolled his eyes secretly: What ignorant people! They only know one side of the story. Shanzi is good? That's just a good act.

If you don't have money, hehe, don't even think about getting close to the government office, let alone within a mile.

Uncle Sun desperately wanted to expose Sun Shan's true colors, but he was already on a pirate ship and had no choice but to go down the dark path.

When Li Si pressed her for an explanation as to why she hadn't filed a complaint, tears streamed down Zhang's face.

She said shamefully, "The landlord already knows about my brother stealing your cloth. He said that if I don't break off the engagement, he'll expose my brother's shameful deeds."

The landlord had connections in the government office, and that's how he found out about Zhang San's crime.

Zhang San made one mistake after another. He intended to steal cloth to make a dowry for his sister, but unfortunately, he got involved in a lawsuit and ended up being punished.

What's even more tragic is that the landlord's family found out about this.

I don't know if the landlord's family has a conscience or not.

To say he had any conscience was an understatement, because he chose to keep the matter a secret and didn't publicize it, only secretly threatening the Zhang family to break off the engagement. This could be considered preserving the last bit of face for the Zhang family.

To say he lacked conscience is an overstatement, because the root cause of Zhang San's mistake was the landlord's demand for an exorbitant dowry, which led to the subsequent events.

In the end, the Zhang family had no choice but to accept the landlord's rejection of the engagement and sever all ties with the family.

Upon hearing this, Sun Shan sighed and said, "It seems that one should never make a mistake. One wrong step can lead to consequences. Alas, poor Miss Zhang, her engagement has been broken off just like that."

Uncle Sun listened to the gossip while cracking sunflower seeds.

Hearing this, they all sighed and said, "Poor Miss Zhang, she missed the chance to marry into a landlord's family. Her wealth and glory are gone just like that. She will continue to be a village girl, marry a farmer, and live a hard life. Alas, all the good fortune her father accumulated is gone just like that. How pitiful."

Then, staring intently at Sun Shan, he said, "Shanzi, my father is truly amazing. He was kind and righteous in life, and became an immortal after death. That's why he chose you to protect you. Unlike Grandpa Zhang, tsk tsk... useless, unable to protect his descendants. His granddaughter almost died."

Upon hearing this, Sun Bomin and Su nodded repeatedly.

Suddenly remembering something, Madam Su said nervously, "Husband, should we bring Father's memorial tablet to Yuanlu County so that Father can bless Shanzi more closely?"

Sun Bomin thought for a moment and said very seriously, "Yes, we must. After the summer planting season, we'll talk to Master Zhang and see how best to invite him. Father is far away in Sunjia Village, so it would be better to invite him to Yuanlu County."

Uncle Sun slapped his thigh and said in disagreement, "Brother, sister-in-law, how can you say that? Father is just staying in Sunjia Village to bless Cowboy and the others. How can you ask them to come all the way to Yuanlu County? Shanzi doesn't need any blessings. Shanzi is very smart. He can manage on his own."

Sun Bomin and Su were displeased when they heard this, and they grabbed Uncle Sun and gave him a good scolding.

It's simply that Sunjia Village owes its current prosperity entirely to Sun Shan, and everything must be done with Sun Shan's help so that future generations can prosper.

If Sun Shan is not protected, and something happens to him, Sun Family Village will also suffer.

He berated Uncle Sun for being selfish and unable to prioritize.

In the very end, the two against one were completely defeated—no, it should be said that N against one. All the guards of the Sun family attacked together and gave Uncle Sun a severe beating.

Sun Shan & Sister Yun: ......

How did things get so far off track? How did it get so absurd?

Little Fatty and Little Blackie watched with wide eyes as Uncle Sun was scolded, and couldn't help but pat their little chests.

Luckily, I obeyed, otherwise they would have been the ones scolding me.

Sun Shan coughed, pulling everyone's thoughts back, and said, "Perhaps the landlord family is still thinking about how Old Master Zhang saved the old landlord, which is why they haven't spread the story of Zhang San so loudly. They're just trying to save some good karma for themselves and leave the Zhang family with some face."

In fact, the landlord could have taken advantage of Zhang San's theft of the cloth to preemptively announce the matter and achieve the goal of annuling the engagement.

The reason they chose to threaten each other privately now, to part ways amicably, and not to go all the way, is perhaps because of some remaining affection for their elders.

Of course, it's possible that they knew they were in the wrong and didn't want to go to extremes.

However, Miss Zhang thought that because of her marriage, she would implicate her brother and damage her family's reputation by breaking off the engagement, so she didn't think of drowning herself.

Li Si escorted Miss Zhang home and explained the whole story.

The Zhang family, young and old, wept bitterly, and Li Si couldn't help but cry along with them.

The Zhang family solemnly apologized to Li Si, and Li Si, seeing that Miss Zhang had tried to commit suicide, forgave Zhang San.

Over time, Zhang San and Li Si became acquainted despite their initial misunderstanding, and they would greet each other occasionally when they met.

Their relationship deepened further after the incident of "buying bird droppings fertilizer on credit".

Li Si insisted on buying on credit, while Zhang San hesitated.

Li Si slapped Zhang San awake: "Just by the fact that Lord Sun didn't embezzle that Ding Niangzi cloth, we can tell that Lord Sun is different from other officials. Lord Sun must have his reasons for letting everyone use fertilizer."

In short, just follow Lord Sun. Oh dear, no wonder you couldn't even figure out how to steal the cloth back then! Tsk tsk, Brother Zhang, your brain is beyond saving!

Zhang San was very unconvinced, but then he realized that what Li Si said made some sense.

So, at Li Si's insistence, the Zhang family bought fertilizer on credit.

So, when Zhang's father saw the sacks of millet piling up after the summer harvest, he thought Li Si had vision and courage, and thus betrothed Zhang's daughter to Li Si.

And what about Li Si?

He's an older single man, notoriously unreliable in the surrounding area.

Even with Lord Sun's letter of commendation, everyone still believed that "it's easier to change mountains and rivers than to change one's nature."

Naturally, no girl was interested in him.

Since they finally had the chance to get married, the Li family agreed without hesitation.

Besides, Miss Zhang is pretty and capable; she wouldn't have married Li Si if she hadn't been rejected by her fiancé.