The daily life of a peasant girl taking the imperial examination

Zhuge Yunshu and Zhuge Yunli: "..."

It was so sudden, appearing in front of everyone under these circumstances was incredibly awkward.

When Grandpa Zhuge saw Dahua and Shuanzi, a smile spread across his face. He beckoned them over and said, "Dahua, Shuanzi, everyone in the house is an elder. Just call them Grandpa, Grandma, Uncle, and Aunt."

After speaking, he looked at the old man opposite him and introduced them warmly, "Father-in-law, these two younger ones, the older one is from the second son's family, and the younger one is from the third son's family. They are studying at the clan school and their grades are quite good. You see, my nephews and his younger brother have been close to their uncle since they were young. Because of the fourth son's matter, they insisted on asking the teacher for leave, and no one could stop them."

Zhuge Yunshu and Zhuge Yunli stepped forward to greet the elders in the room one by one, preparing to step aside and become background figures.

After all, today's protagonist is my uncle, Zhuge Laigui.

Although their idea was good, as the two who suddenly eased the awkwardness, how could anyone let them off so easily?

Grandma Chen gently took their hands and said with a smile, "Father-in-law and mother-in-law, look how well these two children are raised. Our Zhuge family, let alone anything else, is better than many other families when it comes to treating our grandchildren. In our family, we never mistreat girls; all the dirty and hard work is done by the men..."

Old Madam Li glanced at Zhuge Yunshu and Zhuge Yunli. At such a young age, they were already well-mannered and knew how to behave. In particular, the girl Dahua was even attending the clan school. It must be said that apart from their poor conditions, the Zhuge family was not the kind of family that would mistreat their daughters.

Grandma Chen continued, "Take this year's clan school entrance exam, for example. Each Zhuge family can only have a maximum of three places, but this year there are six eligible children in my family, three boys and three girls. There was no other way, but the old man wanted to make sure his grandchildren could compete fairly so as not to disappoint them. As you all saw, in the end, it was Shuanzi and Dahua who did well and got into the clan school. Dahua, in particular, got the top score in the clan school and entered the first class. She's so smart. The clan school teacher even gave her extra tutoring."

Zhuge Yunshu quickly stepped forward and humbly bowed, saying, "My granddaughter's achievements today are all thanks to the good teaching of her grandparents, parents, uncles and aunts, and my uncle, especially my uncle. Without his patient guidance, my niece would still not know what studying is."

After saying this, he bowed to Zhuge Laigui.

Are the members of the Zhuge family, especially Zhuge Laigui, the family members that Da Hua is talking about?

The Liu family members looked at each other in surprise, and then turned their gazes to Zhuge Laigui. They hadn't expected their son-in-law/brother-in-law to be so capable. Had he been hiding his abilities for too long?

Zhuge Laigui looked at everyone's gaze, especially his father-in-law and mother-in-law's family, and suddenly felt a chill run down his spine: "We're all family. These little things are not worth mentioning. The main thing is that Da Hua is talented and smart, especially in terms of memory. She can basically memorize a book after reading it a few times."

"Ahem!" Old Master Liu quickly interrupted his three sons who were about to speak.

There was nothing he could do. His three sons were not good at studying themselves, so he pinned his hopes on them. But his sons were not good at studying either. As a result, they especially liked other people's children who were good at studying. Whenever such families brought their children to the rice shop, his foolish sons would give them a discount. After this happened, he had tried to beat them and scold them, but nothing worked.

"Father-in-law and mother-in-law, our purpose in coming here today is very clear: it is about the marriage of my daughter and your son. We would like to share some thoughts on this matter. What do you think?" Old Master Liu went straight to the point.

“Father-in-law, please speak,” said Old Master Zhuge.

Old Master Liu gave Old Lady Li a look, and Old Lady Li immediately understood her husband's signal and spoke up:

“In-laws, we’re thinking that Lai Gui’s job is in town, and he only has 3 days off a month. After he and Xiao Lan get married, it won’t be good for him to keep going back and forth like this, and it will also affect the relationship between the young couple. Do you think we could help them buy a small house in town? It doesn’t have to be big, just enough for the two of them to live in.”

The Zhuge family: "..."

They had considered the worst-case scenario: their in-laws would ask them to help Zhuge Laigui build another house in the village so the couple could move out. But to their surprise, their in-laws had such a huge appetite; their poverty had limited their imagination.

Seeing the startled expressions on the faces of the Zhuge family members, Old Master Liu said, "Father-in-law, we know you are in a bit of a predicament, so we discussed it among ourselves and decided that half of the cost of the house will be paid by the bride's family. Do you think that's feasible?"

Grandma Chen, along with her father and several uncles, were quite surprised to hear this. It was the first time they had ever heard of a daughter's family giving money to buy a house after she got married.

Old Master Zhuge immediately refused, "My dear in-laws, you can see our family's circumstances. We've been farmers for generations, and our savings are simply not enough! How about we rebuild a house for them in the village first?"

After the old man said that, the members of the Zhuge family realized what he meant. "That's right, do they have no shame? Making their father-in-law pay for the house? What kind of talk is that?"

But when did they agree to build the new house? Why don't they remember?

"Father-in-law, we know your family's difficulties, but we have this plan for the good of the young couple. After all, Lai Gui is not young anymore, even two years older than my daughter. Such a long period of separation will also affect the offspring..." After saying this, Old Madam Li glanced at the Zhuge couple.

Although Old Li didn't say everything, everyone understood what he meant.

These words were a fatal blow to the Zhuge couple, since children in their village who were the same age as Zhuge Laigui were already several years old. How could they not be worried?

Seeing his grandparents' reaction, Zhuge Yunshu couldn't help but sigh that, whether in modern times or ancient times, it is still best to marry someone of equal social standing.

She could understand her future aunt's parents' actions. After all, she was a girl who had been pampered at home. If she suddenly had a brain fart and fell for a poor farm boy, any parent would probably plan for her future.

"Does your in-laws have a house in mind? What's the price?" Old Master Zhuge knew his in-laws' words made sense. He thought that if the price was within his family's budget, he could accept it. After all, the Zhuge family didn't only have one son, the fourth son. Not to mention anything else, his betrothal gifts had already cost the whole family most of their savings.

Although the elderly couple favored their youngest son, they couldn't let that discourage the other three families.

“I have indeed found a small house that I like. The price is right, the house is new, and most importantly, it’s very close to the restaurant where Lai Gui works. Since we’re old acquaintances, it’s only 100 taels,” said Old Master Liu.

The Zhuge family members: "..."

They were absolutely stunned by the price; it must be an enormous house!

Especially Old Chen, who manages all the family's finances, how could she not know how much wealth the family has?

Besides, although they were not familiar with the town, they still knew that 60 taels of silver was more than enough to buy a small courtyard house in the town.

Looking at the fourth brother, Lai Gui, sitting below him, looking wilted and dejected, he couldn't help but feel angry.

Old Mrs. Chen thought that there was no hope for this either, since she was already being controlled by her in-laws before the marriage was even finalized.