"Dinner's ready!"
Seeing that everyone had returned, Lin Xue greeted the crowd at the courtyard gate.
"Second sister-in-law, you can take the fire out of the stove now!"
Lin Xue ladled the last dish of pickled fish from the pot into a serving bowl and called out to Zhang, who was tending the fire.
"Alright, third sister-in-law, your cooking smells so good! I've been cooking for ages and I'm practically drooling!"
Recently, Zhang noticed that Lin Xue was easier to talk to than before, and was occasionally willing to lend her a hand.
However, she knew that Lin Xue was going to do embroidery, which was very precious. If her hands had calluses, it would be easy to snag the fabric, so she didn't dare let Lin Xue do anything.
At most, I'll do some light work that won't hurt my hands.
"Second sister-in-law, you must eat more later. Put all the sweet potato and brown rice from that pot into a rice bowl and take it to the main room!"
"I'm going now, Second Sister-in-law, hurry up!"
Lin Xue carried the fish to the main room, reminding Zhang Shi to come over quickly.
"That's good!"
Zhang scooped all the brown rice from the pot into a wooden bowl, then used a spatula to scoop up all the burnt rice from the bottom of the pot, stacked it into a long strip, and cut it into pieces with a cleaver, placing them on the side of the rice bowl.
My child likes to pick up a piece of rice crust and eat it after finishing his meal.
Making them into small pieces like this makes them easy for children to take and prevents them from being wasted.
"Father, Mother, the teacher told me that I can take the prefectural examination in three months, and asked if I want to participate this time!"
Huang Dehai relayed what the academy teacher had said, mainly to solicit the opinions of his family members to see if they had enough money.
"Our family has saved up some money in the past two years, which should be enough for you to take the prefectural examination!"
"Third brother, what are your thoughts? Are you confident about participating this time?"
Old Huang explained his family's situation and then asked his third son for his opinion. After all, it was his son who was going to take the prefectural examination. If he wasn't confident, he could take it two years later.
You should know that participating in a prefectural examination requires at least twenty or thirty taels of silver.
Most importantly, the trip to the prefectural city was quite expensive.
Especially during the prefectural examination period, the accommodation cost was dozens of times higher than usual.
It must be said that the ancients also knew how to make money off these scholars.
Throughout history, students' money has always been the easiest to earn!
Especially for parents who hope their children will succeed, they might not be able to afford to eat meat even once a year, but they are willing to eat and stay in even the most expensive inns so that their children can perform consistently.
"I feel pretty good about it, and..."
I specifically consulted my teacher, and he said that if I can perform consistently this time, passing the imperial examination shouldn't be difficult!
When the topic of scholarship comes up, Huang Dehai's face lights up with a confident smile.
He might not be good at mundane family matters, but when it comes to academic pursuits, he is among the most outstanding in the academy.
"Since the third brother is confident, we will definitely give him our full support. You need to study hard these next few months and hopefully you can pass the exam on your first try!"
Seeing his son's confident demeanor, Old Huang felt more certain.
"It's not enough to just do academic research; you also need to work on your physical fitness. You must know that the imperial examinations are no joke. If you don't have a good body, you might collapse before you even finish the exams!"
Although Lin Xue had never witnessed the imperial examinations in person, she had heard about them to some extent.
In particular, from the original owner's memories, it was learned that when Huang Dehai went to take the imperial examination for the third time, several of the students in his batch had to be carried out.
"My wife is right, having good health is indeed very important!"
"So, I set aside one or two hours every day for physical training!"
In fact, the academy also has special physical training programs for students.
For example, the academy also offers special courses in swordsmanship and boxing, teaching students some self-defense skills.
However, these courses are not free; students need to pay for them themselves.
This explains why, during scientific expeditions, some people can walk out calmly, while others need assistance, or even faint and have to be carried out.
"Doesn't your academy have swordsmanship teachers? I think you could enroll in a course like this. It will not only improve your physical fitness but also teach you some self-defense skills!"
"Whether you go to the prefectural city to take the exam or go out to become an official, having a certain level of martial arts skills will give you some ability to protect yourself!"
Lin Xue picked out a piece of fish, removed all the bones, and then put the fish into Huang Cuijuan's bowl.
It's often said that daughters are their mothers' little cotton-padded jackets, and Lin Xue thinks that's absolutely true.
In this family, the eldest son wasn't very close to her, but the little girl liked to stick to her all the time.
Girls deserve to be pampered, and Lin Xue was happy to dote on her.
"Thank you, Mother!"
Huang Cuijuan ate differently from Huang Zhixin; she ate slowly and carefully, taking small bites, much slower than the boys in the family.
"Cuijuan, eat more, and you'll grow taller!"
After Lin Xue finished speaking, she scooped another spoonful of fish soup into Huang Cuijuan's bowl.
"Mom, I want one too!"
Huang Zhixin saw that his mother was only focused on cleaning the fish bones from his younger sister and ladling fish soup for her to drink.
He suddenly felt a little sad. Why did his mother only serve food to his younger sister and ignore him?
"Can't you serve yourself? A real man shouldn't let his mother serve him rice."
"Your sister is a girl, she's weaker than you, a man. As the strong, we must protect the weak, don't you think?"
Lin Xue did not serve Huang Zhixin fish soup, but instead began to lecture him on profound principles.
It's often said that girls are pampered while boys are raised roughly, but Lin Xue doesn't hold any preference for boys over girls.
She favors the more obedient and well-behaved child. As long as the boy doesn't go too far in the general direction, he still needs to be trained to have a sense of responsibility and accountability.
"Then I'll serve some food to my sister too. I've picked all the fish bones out, so you can eat without worry!"
After listening to Lin Xue's words, Huang Zhixin seemed to understand but not quite. Nevertheless, he picked up a piece of fish with his chopsticks, carefully removed the bones, and then put the fish into Huang Cuijuan's bowl.
"Our Zhixin is so great, he even knows how to take care of his little sister!"
Seeing her son's performance, Lin Xue praised him generously.
Kids are always good to be praised.
"Mom, I will take good care of my little sister from now on!"
Hearing Lin Xue's praise, Huang Zhixin proudly raised his head, which drew laughter from the whole family.
"I will take care of my brother too!"
Seeing the smiles on her family's faces, Huang Cuijuan couldn't help but smile happily as well.
She really likes the atmosphere at home now; everyone talks very kindly, and everyone has a smile on their face.
This was different from the atmosphere at home before. Little Huang Cuijuan didn't know what had happened, but she felt that she really liked this Huang family.
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