The dust has settled, and the top scholar has emerged from the Li family.
Such a joyous occasion naturally deserves a grand celebration.
The literary culture flourished in Tianwu, and everyone took pride in reading.
If someone gets promoted or becomes wealthy, publicizing and celebrating it can easily draw criticism.
But if this top scholar doesn't celebrate lavishly, the court and the people will probably find it strange!
Such a glorious and joyous occasion cannot be celebrated in any way that is not extravagant!
The entire Li family was busy preparing for the celebratory banquet.
Over at Suijintan, they were also slaughtering pigs and sheep, working up a ruckus.
As the eldest son of the Earl's family, Jiaren's wedding banquet was naturally to be held at the Earl's mansion.
Li Lao Er, the father, was beaming from ear to ear as he welcomed and saw off guests offering their congratulations.
Liu Zhiheng, Lord Xing, and Mr. Peng all arrived early to help.
Even the Marquis himself was in the mansion, keeping watch and talking with the guests.
Meanwhile, in the village, Li Laosan and Li Laosi were entertaining the elders and villagers from the four villages.
Compared to the city guests who are particular about etiquette and hospitality, the villagers are much more down-to-earth. Plenty of meat and wine are provided, which is enough to make everyone happy and cheerful.
Jiayin had been helping her sister-in-law for most of the day, and seeing the sun setting behind the western mountains, she wanted to hurry back to Suijintan to take a look.
Just then, Mr. Wen finally returned, weary from his journey.
Perhaps it was his good-for-nothing older brothers who almost ruined his promising disciple's path to success that made Mr. Wen feel so guilty.
In just a few days, Mr. Wen lost a lot of weight, and he developed more wrinkles around his eyes.
Fortunately, he heard that Jiaren eventually became the top scholar in the imperial examination, which relieved him greatly; otherwise, he would have been too ashamed to face the Li family again.
Others might not know, but as a teacher, he knew all too well how much hardship Jiaren had endured for this day.
Because this child is missing two fingers on his right hand, he has to learn to write with his left hand from scratch, and he also has to study as hard as others. He has to put in twice the effort.
Moreover, the Li family had a low starting point. Compared to those students from scholarly families, Jiaren was born with less accumulation of knowledge and experience.
It's fair to say that this kid played a terrible hand, which everyone could see he had, into something amazing!
Jiaren felt sorry for his teacher. Seeing how haggard the teacher looked, he quickly stepped forward to bow and then personally helped the teacher inside.
"Teacher, you must be tired from your journey. We were worried you'd miss the festivities at home, but thankfully you're back now. Hurry up and wash up and change your clothes; everyone at home is waiting for you to have a drink."
Mr. Wen felt touched by his words, gently patted his arm, and said nothing more.
By this time, the guests had long since left, leaving only family members and close friends.
Because Madam Wen brought her child, she went to Quanzhou with Old Lady Li and the others.
Therefore, Mr. Wen often came back to stay with Li Lao Er for a short time.
The Li family also provided him with his clothes, shoes, and socks. They even brought him two sets of seasonal clothes when they were arranging them for the next few days.
Now, a brand-new dark blue long gown was found, and Wen Hai, the servant, took care of Mr. Wen's washing and dressing.
When Mr. Wen reappeared in the hall, he finally looked different, less haggard.
Everyone invited him to sit down, but he took the initiative to bow and apologize to Li Lao Er and the others.
The incident in the examination hall happened suddenly. He was both anxious and angry, and he immediately took his family members away.
Afterwards, when Jiaren took the exam, he, as the teacher, was unable to be there to guide and help him, and he felt really guilty.
The Li family had no complaints about Mr. Wen at all. They met on the road when they were fleeing famine, and he had devoted himself to teaching Jiaren all these years. It could be said that he had fulfilled half the responsibilities of a father.
The Li family is only grateful; how could they forget their years of friendship over such a trivial matter?
Li Lao Er quickly helped him sit down.
Jiaren and Lige knelt down and kowtowed to thank Mr. Wen for his guidance.
In a short time, everyone cleared up their misunderstandings and unresolved issues.
Wan'er quickly led her maids and servants back to the banquet. Everyone accompanied Mr. Wen and ate a little less. The joy and liveliness were beyond words.
Seeing this, Jiayin was relieved and hurried back to Suijintan before the city gates closed.
As usual, Mu Xu drove the carriage, Ye Shan accompanied him, and Shui Ling and Shui Yun served him. The family was not worried about Jia Yin's safety.
In the village, the large stove was still steaming, and the aroma of the stewed pork wafted far and wide.
The village chief and Uncle Zhao, along with other prominent men from various villages, drank until their faces were flushed.
Upon hearing the good news, without the village chief's instruction, the villagers of the new village stepped forward to speak, subtly forming two human walls to keep the villagers from other villages outside.
This is to prevent someone from getting drunk and doing something shameful that might spoil the good news.
Jiayin knew everyone meant well, so she chatted and laughed with them for a few moments before going into the backyard.
Li Laosan and Li Laosi were both drunk and fast asleep on the kang (a heated brick bed).
Fortunately, Li Yong remained sober and was drinking a hangover tea while waiting for the villagers outside to disperse.
When Jiayin returned, Li Yong was relieved. After chatting for a few minutes, he went to sleep.
That night, around midnight, the crowd dispersed.
Because they were going to see Jiaren, the top scholar, parade through the streets on horseback the next day, the village chief and the others quickly went to sleep.
The village, which had been bustling all day, finally quieted down...
The next morning, the Li family gathered around the dining table for breakfast. After hesitating for a moment, Li Laosan said to Jiayin, "Fu Niu'er, do you have any better corn seeds or potatoes?"
"Jiaren and Lige are both well-known in the gang, this is a great thing."
“I asked some friends with whom I do business, and they said that when wealthy families in the city encounter this kind of thing, they would usually go to the temple to donate incense money, or give away porridge and medicine.”
“But after thinking about it, neither of these is suitable for our family. However, spring planting is just around the corner. If we could share some good seeds, the villagers would be happy, and we could harvest more grain in the fall.”
Jiayin never expected that her quiet third uncle could come up with such a good idea.
It's clear that in the years since he took charge of the college cafeteria, Uncle San has grown a lot and is no longer the taciturn farmer he once was.
She quickly replied with a smile, "Great idea, Uncle! I have some good seeds here, which will yield at least 10% more grain than ordinary seeds. Uncle, see how much you need, and I'll prepare some too."
Li Laosi patted his brother on the shoulder and laughed, "Third Brother is so thoughtful. I don't have the patience to think about these things."
“You’re the one destined for great things. Just kill more barbarians and take back our homeland as soon as possible. I’m the most useless one in our family. I can handle these small matters.” Li Laosan spoke sincerely, without a trace of jealousy towards his brother.
Li Laosi glared and immediately retorted, "What are you saying, Third Brother? Without you and Second Brother keeping watch at home, how could Eldest Brother and I have the mind to go out and about?"
Li Laosan chuckled and said nothing more.
After discussing it, everyone decided to take out 20,000 catties of seeds, with each farmer who wanted them limited to 10 catties.
Ten catties of corn seeds are enough to plant two mu of land. In the autumn, with an extra ten percent, the grain will be at least three or four hundred catties, enough to feed two people.
Jiayin naturally gave her full support. When she had nothing to do before, she planted several crops of corn in her space, and now she has accumulated hundreds of thousands of kilograms.
If it weren't for the concern about being too conspicuous, I wouldn't have found it difficult to weigh 20,000 jin, let alone 200,000 jin.
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