Traveling Through Farmhouses: Taking the Baby on a Famine Escape

time flies!

Before long, the following spring arrived.

In the past six months, the abandoned village has developed very well. Not only have all the houses been rebuilt into brick and tile houses, but a square has also been built in the village.

Even the school has been expanded because so many students have come from far and wide that the original school was no longer sufficient.

Because the vermicelli factory in the deserted village is doing very well, now every month, the dividends alone amount to ten taels of silver per share.

This doesn't even include the wages for the workers and the money from selling the sweet potatoes. Although the price of sweet potatoes has dropped to one cent per kilogram due to the large quantity available, it doesn't affect the villagers' income.

Now almost every household in the village has savings of no less than two hundred taels of silver, and the villagers live a very prosperous life.

Zhang Xixi's family now earns nearly 10,000 taels of silver every year and no longer has to worry about making a living.

Early that morning, several horse-drawn carriages were parked at the village crossroads. In a few days, it would be the imperial examination for this year, and Zhang Wenbo had organized the students who were going to take the preliminary examination to go to the county town to take the exam.

There were six students in the school participating in the preliminary examination. Apart from Wang Wenzhi, the others were all children from the village, including Zhou Fu's eldest son.

This time, Zhang Wenbo and Zhao Juren from the academy led the students and their parents. As for the accommodation, Zhou Yuhao had already rented a large courtyard in the county town in advance.

Once everyone had arrived, Zhang Wenbo called out loudly, "Let's go!"

Zhang Xixi, Zhou Yuhao, and Da Bao followed behind in a carriage, escorting Zhou Yujie and the others to the prefectural city to take the imperial examination for scholars.

When they arrived in the county town, Zhang Wenbo was waiting for them.

"Little sister, brother-in-law, I'm leaving Zehui in your care!" He then cupped his hands in a respectful gesture.

"Brother, don't be so polite! We will definitely bring Zehui back safely, don't worry!"

After exchanging a few more pleasantries, the group parted ways. Zhou Yuhao drove the carriage to a teahouse, intending to park the carriage first and then pick up Zhou Yujie and the others.

I didn't expect to see Erbao in the yard as soon as I went in.

"Erbao, you're back! We were thinking of waiting a bit before we came to pick you up!"

Erbao was also very happy to see Zhang Xixi and the others, and explained, "Mom, the teachers at the academy gave us an early holiday so we could come back and relax."

"Your husband is quite considerate; what about your uncle and cousin?"

"They're resting inside; they were too excited last night!" Erbao glanced at the back room.

"Then let them rest!"

Zhou Yuhao overheard this conversation as he put the carriage and his belongings away: "Let's go out and buy some food!"

Da Bao then shouted, "Hurry up, hurry up, I'm starving!"

"Let's go!" Zhang Xixi also felt a little hungry.

The family of four first went out to buy some steamed buns to fill their stomachs, and then went to a restaurant to order some dishes to take home.

Zhou Yujie and Zhang Zehui had woken up from their nap at the teahouse and ran into Zhang Xixi and the others as soon as they stepped outside.

"Sister-in-law, Aunt, Uncle!"

"You're awake! Time to eat!"

Zhou Yuhao also invited Lao Wu and the others to come over for dinner.

The next day, Zhang Xixi and her group drove their carriage to Fucheng Lingcheng.

The carriage was quite large. Zhou Yuhao drove outside, while Zhang Xixi and the other three sat inside, which was just the right size.

Although there are still seven or eight days until the exam, I'm going to the prefectural city early mainly because I'm afraid I won't be able to find a place to stay if I go too late.

Every year, many people go on scientific expeditions, and restaurants and inns are always full.

Upon arriving in the prefectural city, Zhang Xixi and her group rented a quiet courtyard so as not to disturb Zhou Yujie and his group.

In the days leading up to the exam, Zhang Xixi and Zhou Yuhao took charge of everyone's logistics, ensuring they didn't have to worry about daily chores.

It wasn't until the day before the exam that Zhou Yujie and his friends went out for some fresh air. However, they only went out to sit by the small river for a while and didn't go to crowded places, for fear of encountering any unexpected events.

The exam would take five days, so after sending the children into the exam hall, Zhang Xixi and Zhou Yuhao went for a walk around the area.

After they finished their exams and rested in the prefectural city for a day, they returned to the deserted village.

The exam results won't be available for another two months, so there's no need to wait here.

After returning home, it was time for spring plowing, and the villagers were busy planting rice and sweet potatoes.

Zhang Xixi's family was busy for two months before they could plant the rice and sweet potatoes in the fields.

In early June, officials came to deliver the good news.

Both Erbao and Zhang Zehui passed the imperial examination and became scholars. Erbao ranked fifth, while Zhou Yujie and Zhang Zehui ranked fiftieth and seventeenth, respectively.

The ranking is not bad; the school in the desolate village is going to become famous.

All six children who took the preliminary examination last time passed. Although their rankings were low, they were already junior students, and they were all around fourteen years old.

Upon hearing this good news, Zhou Dashan and the clan elders were overjoyed and decided to hold a grand celebration in the village.

Zhang Xixi and the others were also happy for the two children.

After the celebration, Ms. Chen brought up Zhou Yujie's marriage.

"Daughter, Yujie is already sixteen years old, and he has now passed the imperial examination to become a scholar. We can start thinking about arranging his marriage!"

"Mother, I said the same thing to my husband yesterday!"

Madam Chen quickly asked, "What did my son-in-law say?"

"In a couple of days, once the betrothal gifts are ready, we'll find a matchmaker to present the betrothal gifts."

After hesitating for a moment, Chen asked, "Have you thought about how Yujie will live after he gets married?"

Zhang Xixi pondered for a moment and said, "I have thought about this. I was thinking that my sister-in-law has lived in the city since she was a child and may not be used to our rural life. Yujie will also be studying in the county town. I was thinking of buying them a house in the county town so that they can live in the city in the future."

Mrs. Chen exclaimed in shock, "You mean to divide the family property? Your son-in-law has no objection, right?"

Zhang Xixi quickly explained, "I guess so! It was my husband who brought this up. I think it's a good thing. Besides, we just divided the family property so that Yu Jie's wife could have an income from managing the household in the county town. We didn't write any documents to divide the family property."

Chen thought that in this situation, even without a written document, the family had already separated, so it didn't matter whether a document was written or not!

However, having less interaction with her sisters-in-law also means less trouble for the daughter.

"We should talk to Yujie about this and get his opinion to avoid any conflicts later."

"I know, mother!"

After returning home, Zhang Xixi inventoried all the family's assets and checked all the account books before showing them to Zhou Yujie.

They also discussed the betrothal gifts with Zhou Yuhao and decided that, apart from the betrothal gifts, the remaining family property would be divided into three parts, with one part going to Zhou Yujie, which would be handed over to him to manage after his marriage.

The remaining two portions are for Zhang Xixi and Zhou Yuhao, to be left to their two children after they pass away.