"Changxing hasn't slept yet?" He's mother sat by the bed, apparently getting ready to go to bed.

"No, it will be a while." Father He came in, closed the door and sat down beside the bed.

"How come there's nothing to do even during the holidays? Can your body handle this?"

As He's father got into bed and lifted the quilt to cover himself, he said, "Why can't you bear it? Didn't we just ask the doctor to come and see us two days ago? They said that our son's health is much better than before." Seeing his son's enthusiasm, He's father knew that if he failed the exam again, it would be his fate.

I don't know what's going on in Jingzhi's mind, he can come up with so many ideas. His son's speed in completing a test paper has increased by 30% compared to before. At first, he was wondering why An Jingzhi asked him to collect so many Tongsheng test questions.

I thought maybe it was for his son to read and refer to other people's good articles, but I didn't expect that he was thinking of the question types of his own comprehensive test paper, and then figured out a lot of questions by himself. From what the son said, even the teacher was very concerned about their situation, and thought that if his son really passed the exam, he would discuss with An Jingzhi whether this method could be promoted to the school.

…

This holiday is only two days long, and An Jingzhi has to go back to the county this afternoon.

When he was about to leave, he saw his aunt Song holding a basket of boiled eggs. They were all ready for him to take to school to nourish his body. There was no place to cook for him in the school, and he would feel embarrassed to trouble the teacher and others to settle down. Since they would not go bad in the middle of winter, he cooked them for him in advance.

Looking at the eggs, An Jingzhi suddenly had an idea. "Auntie, I remember we have quite a bit of lime at home, right?"

Song asked in surprise, "Yes, what do you want that thing for?"

The lime had been stored for several years and was piled up in the An family's yard. A lot of it was used when the house was built. An Jingzhi's room was later built specifically for him, and a lot of lime was used to make it bright and shiny.

But their house was built with mud, and after applying lime, the lime fell off quickly, making the whole place gray. So the An family waited for the lime to fall off and stopped repairing it. The prepared lime was just piled there.

An Jingzhi and Song were squatting in a corner of the front yard, whispering to each other.

After a while, looking at the round thing in An Jingzhi's hand, Song was surprised. What is this thing? Can it be eaten?

"Is that all?"

"Aunt, just trust me. This time, we'll make five. If it's successful, you can keep making them. I've already told you how to eat them. You can just give them to everyone to try. This business doesn't cost much. The duck eggs are all freshly harvested from our own ducks. You can discuss the specifics of how to make them."

The An family not only raised chickens, but also raised a lot of ducks.

An Jingzhi taught the Song family to make preserved eggs, which have no cost and can be eaten by their family even if they cannot be sold. It is currently the most suitable product for the An family.

They were reluctant to spend any of the An family's money and saved it all for An Jingzhi to use for the imperial examination.

After all, it was An Jingzhi's idea, and the An family still gave him face. At most, it would be a waste of a few duck eggs. Didn't Jingzhi also say that these duck eggs could be eaten later?

After returning to school, An Jingzhi spent another two months there. He did not have a holiday in the last month. The teacher decided to save all the holidays until the New Year. When An Jingzhi did not come back, the An family naturally came to ask the reason. After finding out, An Lao San personally drove a ox cart to deliver silver, money and pancakes to his son.

By the way, I told him that the preserved eggs were ready, but some people couldn't stand the taste, so they started selling them at home. People in the village knew that the preserved eggs were the idea of ​​An Jingzhi, a student, and they loved buying a few to give to their children at home, thinking that eating the preserved eggs would give them a taste of the student's literary spirit. The family business wasn't big, but it was doing well.

With the income of preserved eggs, the An family's New Year's Eve dinner this year was much richer. After An Jingzhi, who stayed in school until he returned home for the New Year, wrote a pair of couplets for his family, An's mother and An Laosan went out to publicize them, attracting many people in the village to come and see. They didn't recognize the words, but they could still understand whether it was good or bad.

In the past, the An family would buy ready-made couplets for the New Year in the town, or ask those poor scholars to write them. They didn't think of disturbing the original owner. This time, An Jingzhi wrote it himself. There are literate people in the family, so how could he let outsiders make money?

Perhaps it was because An Jingzhi was so approachable, smiling and letting the villagers look at him, that some, though hesitant, bravely asked if they could write a couplet for their own family. After An Jingzhi nodded, the others began to rush to ask if they could write a couplet for their own family. They would pay two cents per couplet.

Generally, those who set up stalls on the street and have studied for a few years would charge one cent to write for each page. The two cents they paid was because of An Jingzhi's academic achievements.

So the scene we see now became what it is. The gate of the An family's courtyard was opened, and many people in the village lined up with their own red paper. At the front of the line was An Jingzhi, who was sitting on a stool with a table in front of him covered with several strips of red paper.

"Uncle Cai, what's the meaning of this pair of associations in your house?"

"Your uncle doesn't understand what the meaning is, just write as you see fit."

"Let me ask this another way. Do you want a happy and peaceful family or more money next year?"

"Whether you can make money or not, it's just a pittance. I don't count on it anymore. Jingzhi, please write me a plan for a peaceful and happy family next year."

An Jingzhi leaned over to get some ink, placed the tip of his pen on the red paper of the couplet, and finished writing in one go.

"Uncle Cai, let me read it to you: A harmonious family brings a hundred blessings, and the word peace is worth a thousand gold. The horizontal scroll means everything is renewed. This is a blessing for your family to be blessed and safe in the coming year."

Uncle Cai rubbed his hands together in delight, "Okay, okay, this is it."

"Then Uncle Cai, take it home and stick it up. Be careful not to touch it. The ink hasn't dried yet."

"Okay, thank you, uncle."

The village butcher came up, his face full of fat, the kind that could stop a child from crying, and his smile was even more terrifying.

"Uncle Dali, what kind of blessing would your family like to write?"

"Hey, you know your uncle is a butcher. I hope our family can get rich."

Without thinking, An Jingzhi leaned over, dipped his brush in ink, and started writing on the red paper.

"Uncle Dali, listen to me read it to you. The first line is, 'Living high in a precious place, wealth is flourishing'; the second line is, 'Blessings shine upon the family, bringing prosperity and splendor'. The horizontal scroll is, 'May all your wishes come true.' How's that?"

"Jingzhi's writing must be good. It sounds very auspicious because it has both wealth and blessings, and it also means that all wishes will come true. Okay, okay, I'll put the money here, and then uncle will take it home."

"It's my turn! It's my turn!"

It’s good that there is someone in this village who can write couplets. They don’t have to run around asking others to write for them. They just have to take whatever others write. They don’t have time to explain it to them patiently like Jingzhi did and ask them what they want to write about.

At first, the An family was worried that this would affect An Jingzhi's studies, but An Jingzhi himself said that it was no problem. Since that was the case, they were happy to show off to the villagers.