200 counties tried
After the Chinese New Year, the county examination will be held on February 2nd, and one has to go back to his or her registered place of residence to take the examination.
After the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, Sun Wen accompanied Ping An to Jiao County. Naturally, they were accompanied by Erqiang, Lin Feng, Xiaowu and Dawu.
Yuan Qing also has an exam this time, and he has to go back to his hometown, so Ping An arranges for Tong Lin, Qing Shi and others to follow him.
Wan Changsheng originally wanted to accompany his son, but Ping An considered that his sister was still young, his father was studying medicine with his uncle, and the teacher had agreed to go with him, so he did not let him go.
Wan Changsheng thought about it and agreed. Mr. Sun was a very calm person. It would be reassuring to have him accompany the child. He was more suitable than himself.
Ping'an really hopes that his mother will give birth to a boy for his stepfather. No matter how filial he is, he is not a biological child after all. In ancient times, people still attached great importance to boys.
But my sister is almost three years old, and there is no sign of stomach movement in my mother, who has eaten a lot of medicinal food. The master said that this cannot be rushed.
My biological father has been married for more than a year, and I heard that he had a daughter not long ago. He has never been to the capital, nor has he seen his stepmother, but his stepmother has sent him clothes for four seasons, which is thoughtful.
At the end of last year, his master returned to Beijing to celebrate the New Year, so he asked his master to bring him some New Year gifts. He also brought a small gold lock and a small gold bracelet for his little sister, and that was about it.
The older sister, Xier, is now two and a half years old. She can talk and laugh, and she sticks to him with her little mouth. She is especially attached to him and also pleases him very much.
He saved two hundred taels of silver for Xier every year, and the money was kept with his mother. Although it was not much, it was a token of his love.
Since he was eight years old, he had not discussed his income in detail with his parents, and they never asked. In the past two years, at the end of each year, he would give them 500 taels as household expenses, and he did not care how they used the money.
He gave his uncle twenty taels of silver every year as a token of filial piety, and occasionally bought him some clothes and snacks. Sun Hongyu always accepted them with a smile, his mouth grinning from ear to ear.
He is not short of money, but what he values is the love of children.
On the evening of the 20th day of the first lunar month, Sun Yat-sen and Ping An and others moved into the inn that Doctor Sun had already booked.
One superior room and two medium rooms.
The next day after arriving in the county town, Doctor Sun went to the inn with his cousin Daqiang.
Ping'an hasn't seen his cousin for four years. The fourteen-year-old boy at that time has already grown tall and strong, dressed in a long gown, and looks calm and dignified.
Erqiang walked excitedly to his elder brother's side. Although they had only been separated for two months, he missed him very much.
Ping An greeted Doctor Sun, and when he saw him talking to the gentleman, he hurriedly started chatting with his cousin.
Cousin Daqiang has been studying medicine with his father-in-law for three years. He has no problem treating common minor illnesses, but he still has trouble with more complicated lesions.
Ping An smiled and said, "Brother, this is normal. A good doctor cannot become one without studying for ten or eight years. You are doing very well.
How are my grandfather and his family? How are my eldest and second uncles?"
Daqiang smiled and said, "They are all good, but the weather has been bad in the past two years, and my second uncle's business has not been doing well. He returned home last year and now goes up the mountain with my parents to collect herbs. My grandfather said that we can open the shop when the weather gets better.
Your third cousin is almost twelve years old this year, only two months older than you. He will also try out for the county exam this time, but he will not come until two days before the exam, and will live in my courtyard until then."
The small courtyard of his eldest cousin was the wedding gift that Ping An gave him. It was just a courtyard with five main rooms, several side rooms, and courtyards in front and back. It was not expensive. Wan Changsheng came to buy it personally and spent eighty-five taels.
Ping An came to take the exam this time, and his eldest cousin originally wanted him to live in the small courtyard, but Ping An considered that it would be inconvenient for his husband to live there, and there were four of them along with Er Qiang.
He hardly remembers Sanqiang. They rarely met when they were children. He vaguely remembers that he was a gentle and quiet person.
"That's perfect, big cousin. I want my second cousin to go back home and stay for a few days tomorrow. Do you want to come with us?"
Erqiang shook his head hurriedly: "It's safe, just go back and stay for one night, and we'll go home together after you finish your exams."
"That's fine, you can use the carriage." There were six of them, and they only brought one carriage, which caused a lot of trouble.
After the exams, Ping'an plans to go back and visit his grandparents, who are both in their fifties.
Let’s talk about Changjia Village and Wanjia Village later.
The house in Wanjia Village was given directly to Wan Qing, who is now sixteen years old, when Wan Changsheng came back to attend Daqiang's wedding last time.
Wan Qing is already engaged and is planning to get married in June next year, and Wan Changsheng will also be back by then.
Ping'an is not familiar with the children of Uncle Wan, but his father still has some feelings for his nephews, especially the two older ones.
Since what you said is good, he will ask his father to bring a gift back next year. Ten taels of silver would be enough. It is impossible to give him the same gift as Daqiang.
In the past two years, with the income from the braised food shop, prescriptions, and alcohol, excluding expenses, he has a net income of more than 20,000 yuan every year, and now it is almost 51,000 yuan.
The master only let him keep one thousand taels, and let Uncle Ming deal with the remaining fifty thousand for him. He didn't have to worry about anything, as he would be given a detailed statement of income and expenditure at the end of the year.
Of course, these properties are still registered with the master for the time being, and the contract can only be signed after he turns twelve years old.
It doesn't matter.
To be honest, in his heart, the master is closer to him than his two fathers. Out of the 365 days in a year, the master and the apprentice are together for more than 300 days.
I haven't seen my biological father since he left, but he writes to me every two months without fail, and at the same time, he also sends me clothes bought by my stepmother.
He has a very harmonious relationship with his stepfather Wan Changsheng, but there is a lack of casualness. It is just a normal father-son relationship, with kindness from the elder and filial piety from the younger. But he is very satisfied with this.
After seeing off his eldest cousin and his friends, Ping An followed his teacher to study behind closed doors. Three meals a day were delivered to his room by Lin Feng and his friends.
The gentleman will also take the provincial examination in October, but with more than half a year left, the time is very tight.
On February 2, the dragon raises its head.
At dawn, Ping'an followed his master, Erqiang, Xiaowu and others and walked to the examination room. The inn was only a quarter of an hour's walk away, and as it was dark and crowded, it was better to walk safely.
Two days ago, my second uncle brought my little cousin to meet me.
My second uncle was just as I remembered, gentle and kind, with a calm and warm personality. Ping An had a good impression of him.
The little cousin is about the same height as him, and they have similar temperaments. I heard that he is also a good student.
Not long after Ping'an and his friends arrived at the examination room, they saw their second uncle and eldest cousin escorting their younger cousin over.
Ping An shouted, and several people came over with smiles on their faces.
Half an hour later, Ping An lined up and passed the careful inspection of the yamen runners, and finally entered the examination room.
The county examination lasts for five days, with one session per day.
On the first day, students will be tested on pasting scriptures, which is a modern fill-in-the-blank test.
The second day tested you on Mo Yi, which is to pick out some sentences from the Four Books and Five Classics and ask you to explain their meaning. These two days tested your memory.
On the third day, we took the test on both pasting scriptures and the meaning of ink, which was a bit more difficult.
The fourth day is about questions on the meaning of the scriptures, which are equivalent to modern reading notes. These are a bit difficult and are also questions that can increase your score.
The last day was a test on poetry and prose. Ping An had no intention of hiding his knowledge. He planned to make some slight changes to a simple and famous poem or prose he remembered from his previous life and make it his own.
In the past two years, his master has been training him in poetry. He has kept many poems of various types. When he comes across a suitable one, he can just write it down.
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