The daily life of a peasant girl taking the imperial examination

For the past two weeks, Zhuge Yunshu, Wang Yi, and Zhang Hao have had a very fulfilling time, sleeping later than dogs and waking up earlier than chickens every day.

Even so, none of them complained.

Even if they complained, it was just a verbal rant, and afterwards they continued to take the lessons assigned by Master Wang seriously.

They experienced both pain and joy; that perfectly describes them.

"Tomorrow is the town's school's monthly rest day. You've all worked hard for the past two weeks, so why not take this opportunity to rest for three days?" Master Wang sat at his desk, rhythmically tapping the table with his right hand, his eyes looking at the three people below him.

Upon hearing this news, the three of them immediately brightened up. After half a month of grueling training, everyone wanted a day off to relax.

At this moment, Zhuge Yunshu was thinking, "When I'm really sleepy, someone brings me a pillow."

Unlike the others who wanted to relax, she was going back to attend her uncle Zhuge Laigui's wedding.

Originally, thinking that the county school joint competition was too short, Master Wang might ask them to stay and continue studying, so Zhuge Yunshu even prepared a draft of her request for leave.

However, it was not put to use.

Zhuge Yunshu couldn't help but sigh, "Master Wang truly is a good teacher who balances work and rest."

"Rest is rest, but even at home you must make time to read. Don't forget everything when you return to school in three days; that would be putting the cart before the horse," Master Wang admonished.

Looking at the excitement of his three disciples, he shook his head helplessly; they were still just children who hadn't grown up.

If he hadn't been busy these past few days, he might have been hanging his head in despair.

Upon hearing this, Zhuge Yunshu, Wang Yi, and Zhang Hao quickly assured each other that they would definitely make time to read when they got back.

After bidding farewell to Master Wang, the three walked back to their dormitory, happily discussing their plans for the next three days.

"Junior Sister Yun Shu, Junior Sister Wang, what are your plans for the next few days?" Zhang Hao asked curiously.

"Go home and spend some quality time with Dad, then sleep in for three days straight, and continue studying during the day," Wang Yi told the two of them about her plan.

From childhood to adulthood, apart from Junior Sister Yun Shu, well, Senior Brother Zhang could also be considered, she had no other friends. Every day, besides studying, she would learn from her father how to use an abacus and keep accounts.

"You're so boring! Do you know the Yuexin Teahouse in town? The storyteller there is famous throughout the town. Come on, your senior brother will treat you to a story and tea tomorrow." Zhang Hao sincerely invited the two of them.

After spending the past month together, he felt he had successfully integrated into the friendship between his two junior female classmates; they were now best friends. Aren't good friends supposed to study together, improve together, play together, and always think of each other when something good happens?

"Senior brother, thank you for your kindness, but my uncle is getting married the day after tomorrow, and I need to stay home to help out for the next few days. You and Senior Sister Yi should go instead!" Zhuge Yunshu politely declined.

Although she had never been to a teahouse in town, she was very interested in Zhang's suggestion, but she could only wait until next time.

After returning to their dorm and quickly tidying up, the group went home.

After asking around on the street, Zhuge Yunshu finally found their family's two-courtyard house in town. And let me tell you, in the past two weeks, her parents had done a great job of promoting the reputation of the matchmaking shop—or rather, the Qianli Yinyuan Pavilion—and it had a very good word-of-mouth.

You can tell from the way the older women she asked praised her repeatedly.

Zhuge Laifu and his wife were very excited to see Zhuge Yunshu walk in. They quickly got up to greet him, saying, "Dahua, Master Wang has granted you leave."

It's not surprising that they acted this way, because the couple had previously visited the town's school, where Zhuge Yunshu told them that due to their heavy workload, they might not be able to get leave.

“Father, Mother, yes, the Master said we’ve worked too hard these past two weeks, so we’re entitled to three days off as normal,” Zhuge Yunshu explained.

Knowing the reason, the couple quickly took Zhuge Yunshu on a tour of their courtyard.

“Dahua, what do you think of this courtyard? Your parents know you like quiet, so they reserved a larger room in the backyard for you. Your mother and I even combined the room next door with yours to make a study, so it will be convenient for you to read and study. Your uncles even built bookshelves. Take a look and see if you like it,” Zhuge Laifu said.

Zhuge Yunshu looked at the courtyard and thought, it really is quite big. Even if her grandparents came to town, they could squeeze in and stay there.

But to her surprise, the landscaping in the yard was also very good, especially outside her study, where there was a particularly large osmanthus tree.

Entering the room and looking at the furnishings, one has to admit that her parents really put a lot of thought into it.

"Father and Mother, your daughter likes it very much. Thank you for your trouble," Zhuge Yunshu said, moved.

She always knew that although her parents were a bit lazy, they were genuinely good to her, which was the kind of family life she had always wanted in her previous life.

"Silly child, if your parents don't treat you well, who else can we treat well?" As she spoke, Madam Lin affectionately patted her daughter's head.

Seeing the atmosphere, Zhuge Laifu quickly changed the subject: "Alright, Da Hua must be hungry too. So much has happened at home lately. Let's go to the front hall and eat and talk."

That evening, through the introduction of Zhuge Laifu and his wife, Zhuge Yunshu learned that although his Qianli Marriage Pavilion had only been open for a few days, it had already completed five transactions.

In particular, there was a case involving the eldest son of the wealthy Mr. Hu in the town. Because of his demanding requirements, he was still unmarried at the age of 22, which greatly worried Mr. and Mrs. Hu.

So, with no other option, he went to Qianli Marriage Agency and told them his son's requirements. To his surprise, they actually found a suitable candidate. They arranged for the two young people to meet in private, and they unexpectedly hit it off.

This delighted Master Hu, and in his excitement, he not only gave him one tael of silver as a referral fee, but also an extra ten taels of silver as a reward.

As a result, the Qianli Yinyuan Pavilion, run by Zhuge Laifu and his wife, became famous throughout the town.

The most impressive thing about him was that his parents arranged the marriages of his eldest cousin and his eldest sister.

Adhering to the principle of keeping the good things within the family, the couple inquired around and found two good families in the town to arrange the marriage.

My future cousin's wife's family is in the fabric business and they want a literate, good-looking, and capable son-in-law. My future cousin's husband's family is in the tea business and they want an educated daughter-in-law who can manage the household.

These two families are relatives. Although they are considered wealthy in town, their sons are all disappointing and none of them are good at studying. So they wanted to find a family with a high level of cultural refinement to improve their family's image.

They spent some time looking around in town, but either the girls they liked didn't like them, or other girls liked them but they didn't. It was all very frustrating.

Upon hearing their troubles, Zhuge Laifu and his wife had a sudden inspiration: weren't these conditions exactly what they were referring to for their family?

So the families sat down together, and after some thought, they revealed their secrets and arranged for their children to meet in private. Unexpectedly, this led to two marriages.

Zhuge Yunshu couldn't help but admire the brilliance of her parents; she could even imagine the joy her aunt would feel upon hearing the news.

You see, the families she contacted before were all people she had asked in the neighboring villages. The difference was stark, and anyone with eyes could see the difference.