399 Everything goes according to plan

The next morning, Ping'an asked Xiao Wu to buy a mule cart. The carriage could be a little better. With an extra tael or two of silver, it would be more upscale and more presentable.

Erqiang took Xiao Ming to buy meat and candy, and they had to divide the meat into portions. They could buy more meat for their brother's grandfather and uncle's families, and the same went for the families of the patriarchs of the two villages.

The village chiefs and clan leaders of Chang and Wan villages are from the same family. At this time, as long as you are not too bad, this kind of position is basically passed down from generation to generation, and no one will gossip.

Mei Niang also checked the gifts again and marked them one by one, telling whose this one was, whose that one was, and which ones were prepared.

When she straightened up, she sighed, "Husband, I feel like we are like rich people. It's really troublesome to go home once."

Wan Changsheng hugged his son and said happily, "Isn't he a wealthy man? You see, the villagers can't save a few taels of silver in a year. Not to mention that your husband is not very capable, but your son alone gives you more than 500 taels a year. If he is not a wealthy man, what else can he be?

Rich lady, can I ask you for some reserve funds? A little change will be enough.

Mei Niang smiled like a flower: "Why are you pretending to be pitiful? You have at least three taels of silver in your purse, and you have already bought the things. What do you need so much for?"

"My husband, it's not that I'm being too picky, we really need to keep a low profile. There's no need to talk about Yuanwailang or the wife of a seventh-rank official in the village. It will really cause trouble."

Wan Changsheng was silent.

It is true that he cannot show off, but it doesn’t matter, there is no one special for him to show off.

It’s the exact time of Chen.

When Wan Qing came over and looked at the new mule cart that Ping An bought for him, he didn't know what to say. He could tell at a glance that this mule and this cart were the best.

"What should I do?"

Wan Changsheng smiled and said, "Ping An insisted on giving it to your cousin, what can I do? Just keep it after you buy it. It will be much more convenient for you to run between the county town and the village in the future. Wan Qing, wait a little longer and then leave. Ping An will take San Qiang to the government office to get the scholar documents."

Wan Qing said, "Ping An and San Qiang are both amazing. When the news came a few days ago, the whole county was shocked. Da Qiang and I went home to report the good news. My father was so happy. Da Qiang said that his grandmother and the others cried."

Wan Changsheng raised the corner of his mouth. Ping An was indeed a rare genius in a century. This genius was also his son. The fact that he was one of the top three candidates to be admitted as a scholar was also due to the contributions and hard work of both of them. In the past three years, he had basically been picking him up and dropping him off regardless of weather conditions. On the contrary, his son Ping An had done nothing for him.

This is also the knot in his heart.

Quarter of an hour later, Ping An brought San Qiang back. The county magistrate gave him and San Qiang some gifts. He got thirty taels of silver and a set of fine pens, ink, paper and inkstone. San Qiang got ten taels of silver, also a set of pens, ink, paper and inkstone, but the quality was much worse.

"Dad, the county magistrate wanted to attend my banquet, but I said it was too late. He insisted on inviting us to dinner in the county on the last day. I had no choice but to accept."

"Okay." Wan Changsheng wanted to hold a banquet, but the time was really tight. The banquets for the top three and Wan Qing were all squeezed together, and both sides had to offer sacrifices to their ancestors.

When his son passed the imperial examination, he would go home and hold a banquet no matter what.

Wan Qing was afraid that he couldn't control the new mule cart, so Erqiang volunteered to drive it and teach him how to use it. They were about to get home, and he felt more and more regretful that he didn't bring Lengyue back, otherwise he could have gotten married in the next two days.

It was already mid-morning when they arrived at Hejia Village. Wan Changsheng put the two children down and took Ping An, Erqiang, Lin Feng, Xiaowu, Tong Lin and Xiao Ming with him and drove to Wan Village.

Erqiang, Xiaoming and Tonglin were asked to distribute the purchased meat and sugar to each household. Before distributing them, they must first go to the clan leader's house and inform the clan leader of Changjia Village that Ping'an will come to worship the ancestors at noon tomorrow.

In Wan Village, Wan Changsheng originally wanted to take Ping'an to the mountain to worship his parents and ancestors, and tell them that he had a new son.

But the patriarch and his son, the village chief, had already made preparations when they learned that Changsheng was going to bring Ping'an back. They immediately struck the gong and opened the ancestral hall, where the meat and candy were available for each family to take home.

Wan Changsheng had no choice but to let Erqiang put down the gifts for the villagers of Wan Village and take people to Chang Village first.

A quarter of an hour later, all the villagers who could come had arrived, and more than half of them came one after another.

Ping An found out that there were now 32 households in Wan Village, so he asked Lin Feng to count out 32 gifts and give them to the village chief, asking him to distribute them on his behalf.

The village chief agreed happily. Changsheng had just brought Ping'an to his house, and the gift he brought was quite a bit.

More importantly, Ping'an is a minor among the top three, and his household registration is still in Wancun, so the meaning is different. In the future, even if the yamen runners come to Wancun, they will be much more polite.

Since he is one of the top three candidates in the imperial examination, how long will it take for him to pass the imperial examination and become an official in the future?

The designation won’t be far away.

The village chief's father, the old patriarch, personally opened the door of the ancestral hall. It is only opened on the first day of the first lunar month every year, and today is an exception.

The ancestral hall in Wan Village is a bit old, but there are people who clean it regularly, so it is kept clean.

Ping'an followed Wan Changsheng, knelt beside the clan leader, and kowtowed three times and nine times to the ancestors.

At this moment, Wan Changsheng was excited and his eyes turned red. The child next to him was his eldest son, the son who would take care of him in his old age and see him to the end of his life, and the backbone of his younger brothers and sisters.

Ping'an had a lot of thoughts. Since he took his stepfather's surname Wan at the age of seven, he considered himself a native of Wan Village.

He is somewhat repulsed by Changjia Village. It's not that all the people here are bad, but there are too many uncomfortable memories here. Despite this, because of his biological father, because he is his true root, he will go to pay homage tomorrow.

After leaving the ancestral hall, Ping An took the small wooden box handed over by Lin Feng. This was exchanged at the silver shop yesterday afternoon, and there will be one in Changjia Village tomorrow.

He opened the wooden box and found twenty silver ingots, each weighing five taels. They shone brightly in the sun, dazzling people's eyes.

"Grandpa, clan leader, this is what my father and I have agreed on. It is to be used for clan expenses. We don't care how it is used. It is entirely up to you, clan leader."

Wan Changsheng was shocked. The brat didn't say it before, probably because he was afraid that his mother would not be willing to let him go. If Wan Cun gave it away, Chang Cun would not be able to escape.

Two hundred taels of silver were spent in one go.

He had to say that the child was generous.

He smiled and said, "Uncle clan leader, just listen to the child. This is also his intention."

All the villagers were staring at the shiny thing. With so much silver, each household would have more than three taels of silver. After working hard for a year, some of them still had less than three taels of silver left even though they were hungry and cold.

This peace is really worth giving up.

Wan Changsheng took the opportunity to ask the clan leader to record his youngest son Wan Pingxuan in the family tree.

After the ancestor worship, everyone returned home.

Wan Changsheng took Ping An and the others to the cemetery in the back mountain. Wan Changgeng's family and the village chief naturally accompanied them.

"Brother, I'll visit your house after we go down the mountain."

Wan Changgeng whispered, "Ping An paid a lot of my medical expenses three years ago. Why did he buy a mule cart for Wan Qing today? I'm afraid it will cost more than twenty dollars."

Wan Changsheng looked at his brother and smiled. All the complaints and resentments he had felt in the past were gone with the wind, leaving only the deep family affection.