Chapter 448 I Must Be Dreaming
The village chief of Taohua Village sat on a chair in the main hall of his house, his fingers trembling slightly.
He never dreamed that he would see more than forty students emerge from the village in his lifetime!
"Old woman, pinch me!" The village chief suddenly looked up at Duan, who was sewing shoe soles, with a look of disbelief in his eyes. "I'm afraid I'm dreaming."
Duan rolled her eyes at him and poked him hard with the embroidery needle in her hand.
The village chief hissed.
"Are you awake? Now you know it's not a dream, right?" There was a hint of anger in her tone, but no one knew that she was very happy in her heart.
They are all good children in the village. As a member of Taohua Village, she will have face when she goes out in the future.
Ever since Gu Jiayue told the village chief the test results, the old man has been like a lost soul, sometimes grinning foolishly, sometimes in a daze. She was afraid that he would faint from excitement.
"You're still standing here questioning your life, while the Li family is already preparing to open the ancestral hall to worship their ancestors!"
"What!" The village chief stood up suddenly, knocking over his chair. "The first place winner is from our Gu family. I haven't even opened the ancestral hall yet, how dare the Li family get ahead of me?"
As he spoke, he ran out, "Quick, go inform all the members of the Gu family and tell them that I'm going to open an ancestral hall to comfort our ancestors! Let them all come and witness the glory of our Gu family!"
Seeing how he was in such a hurry that he even forgot to put on his coat, Duan shook her head helplessly, picked up the chair on the ground, and followed him out.
This old man gets more anxious than anyone else when it comes to matters concerning the Gu family's reputation.
On the other side, Third Uncle was standing in front of the altar in the main hall, staring at the seats of his sons and daughters-in-law on the table, his eyes red.
He had no big ambitions in his life. He always thought that it would be good enough if Gu Huangan could learn a few words in school and find a light job as an accountant in the county town when he grew up.
But now, everyone in the village is telling him that his Huang An has become a student and has even ranked first in the county examination!
"Are you blessing Huang An in the underground?" Third Uncle murmured to himself in front of the tombstone, his voice full of emotion.
If his son and daughter-in-law were still alive, they would definitely be happier than Huang An to see his success.
"Grandpa, I passed the exam and became a Tongsheng student. Aren't you happy?" Gu Huangan walked in from outside with the Tongsheng certificate he had just received in his hand. Seeing his grandfather staring at the ranking in a daze, he asked in a low voice.
Third Uncle came back to his senses and reached out to touch Gu Huangan's head. The calluses on his hands rubbed against Gu Huangan's hair, and his voice choked with sobs. "Happy, why wouldn't I be happy? It's just... it's just that your parents can't see what happened today. It's such a pity."
Gu Huangan pursed his lips, not knowing how to comfort his grandfather.
Since the last plague, my grandfather's health has been much worse than before. He often coughs and walks much slower.
This is also one of the reasons why he studied so hard. He wanted his grandfather to see him pass the imperial examination and gain fame in his lifetime, and wanted his grandfather to live a good life and no longer worry about his livelihood.
"Grandpa," Gu Huangan held his third uncle's hand, his tone firm, "Father and Mother are watching from Heaven, they must be happy for me. Don't worry, I will continue to work hard and pass the exam to become a scholar next year, and a juren the year after. I will let you live a good life and make Father and Mother proud of me."
Third Uncle smiled, the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes drawing together in a look of relief. "Good boy, taking the imperial examination isn't just about making a good life for your family. You must remember, 'If you're an official and don't serve the people, you might as well go home and sell sweet potatoes.' You're still a farmer's child. If you become an official, don't forget your roots and the hardships of the people."
"Grandpa, I remember everything and will never forget it." Gu Huangan nodded heavily.
As the grandfather and grandson were talking, the village chief, Gu Ping, rushed in, shouting, "Third Grandpa! Third Grandpa! You're home!"
"Ping boy, why are you so anxious? What's the matter?" asked the third uncle.
"Oh, didn't Huang An take the top spot in the county exam?" the village chief panted, pointing at Gu Huang An. "There are other young men in our clan who also passed the exam. There are more than twenty Gu children in total! I'm thinking of opening an ancestral hall to comfort our ancestors, so that they can also be happy and share in the joy."
Third Uncle nodded immediately: "Of course! This is a great event for our Gu family, and we must let our ancestors know."
"Then you let Huang An change into new clothes first, and I will go to notify other tribesmen. We will gather at the ancestral hall in half an hour!" After the village chief said this, he ran out in a hurry again.
Half an hour later, the Gu Family Ancestral Hall in Taohua Village was crowded with people.
Among the forty-one students who passed the county examination this time, twenty were children of the Gu family.
At this moment, they were all wearing new clothes that they only wore during the Chinese New Year. They stood neatly in three rows in the ancestral hall, their backs straight and their faces full of pride.
On the altar in the center of the hall were placed three sacrificial animals: a pig, a chicken, and a fish. Incense was burning in the incense burner, and smoke was curling up.
Village chief Gu Ping stood before the altar, holding a long eulogy. He cleared his throat and began to read: "May our ancestors bless future generations... Today, twenty of our clan members have passed the examinations for Tongsheng (Tongsheng), with Huang An of the Gu family taking first place in the county exam... This is a great honor for our clan. I offer my condolences to our ancestors. May they continue to bless us, and may our descendants achieve even greater success..."
The ancestral hall was completely silent, and no one thought he was being noisy. Everyone, young and old, listened intently, their eyes filled with solemnity and pride.
Many villagers gathered outside the ancestral hall, looking at the scene inside and whispering:
"Look, the one standing in the middle of the second row is my boy!" A woman pointed at the children in the line, her tone full of boasting.
"The children of our Gu family are really promising!" an old man sighed, with tears in his eyes.
"We have to thank Jiayue for this!" said another villager. "If it weren't for the school she founded, how would our children have the opportunity to study and take the exam to become a Tongsheng?"
"That's right!" someone echoed, "Before Jiayue came, I didn't dare to imagine that my child could go to school and take the imperial examinations. Maybe he could even pass the examinations to become a scholar or a juren! I used to hope that my child could get married and live a stable life. Now I feel that my child's future has countless possibilities!"
"Not only are the boys promising, the girls are no slouch either!" a woman said with a smile. "My daughter is learning to make glass ornaments at school. She's so beautiful! All the ladies in the county are vying to buy them!"
With the joint efforts of Ye Yuntang and Gu Jiayue, glass was developed a long time ago.
However, they felt that the glass manufacturing process was not complicated and were afraid that selling it on a large scale would cause trouble, so they first let the girls in the school use it to practice and make some accessories such as hairpins and earrings.
These glass ornaments are crystal clear and more beautiful than jade. Once they are sold in the shops in the county town, they attract many upper-class ladies and young ladies to buy them, and the business is booming.
I heard that the price of this thing increased tenfold after arriving in Juzhou City. With so many people coming to inquire about it, Gu Jiayue had no choice but to let Kangzi open another shop.
Looking at the glass shop crowded with customers, Kangzi suddenly felt that doing business was not that difficult, as simple as eating and drinking water!
It would be better if the lady wasn't so extravagant with her money.
But then he thought again, the money he earned was not piled up in the warehouse to gather dust, but was used by the young lady to buy books, hire teachers, and educate the children. This was more meaningful than simply making money.
"My daughter is not bad either!" another woman took over the conversation. "Her embroidery skills are among the best in the village. Yesterday, matchmaker Wang came to our house and said that the owner of a cloth shop in the county town wanted to marry my daughter."
"Hey, your daughter is only 14 years old? And someone has come to propose marriage?"
"That's right!" The woman sighed, "But I didn't agree. The shopkeeper was attracted by my daughter's craftsmanship, not by her genuine affection. His ulterior motives were too strong, and I didn't want to let my daughter down."
"You're doing the right thing!" someone nearby advised. "The girl is still young, so just take your time looking for a husband. Your Yan Zi is pretty and has great skills, so why should you worry about not finding a good husband?"
The sacrifice in the ancestral hall was in full swing, and the villagers outside the hall were also chatting animatedly, talking about everything from the children's future to the family's livelihood, from the girls' marriage to the crops in the fields, full of the atmosphere of life.
Gu Jiayue stood in the crowd, listening to the village chief reading the eulogy and the villagers chatting, feeling warm in her heart.
This is the life she wants, safe and peaceful, lively and bustling, where everyone has hope.
"Jiayue! Jiayue! The village chief is calling you!" The aunt next to her pushed her and reminded her.
Gu Jiayue finally came to her senses and looked up, only to see the village chief Gu Ping waving at her in the ancestral hall, motioning her to go in.
She pointed at herself in confusion.
Is this to let her in?
But the ancestral hall is the important place of the Gu family clan. According to the rules of the village, women are not allowed to enter the ancestral hall.
The village chief nodded with a smile, waved his hand, and told her to go in quickly.
Gu Jiayue could only walk into the ancestral hall slowly with doubts, still muttering in her heart: Since the village chief agreed, it shouldn't violate the rules, right?
Although she did not agree with the custom that "women cannot enter the ancestral hall", she did not want to challenge it actively.
Respecting local cultural customs is a basic principle of being a human being.
"Village chief, elders." Gu Jiayue walked into the ancestral hall and bowed to the village chief and several elders sitting beside them.
"Jiayue, come and sit down." The village chief smiled and waved, pointing to an empty seat next to him. "Look, I just discussed with a few elders that we'd like to hold a three-day banquet for the children who passed the Tongsheng exam, so that the whole village can have a good time. Do you have any objections?"
Gu Jiayue scratched her head and said a little embarrassedly: "It's up to you to decide on this matter. I don't have any objection."
"Look at what you're saying!" The village chief waved his hand, his tone sincere, "You're the lucky star of our Taohua Village! These children's achievements today are all thanks to your guidance. Your opinion is very important."
An elder also spoke up, "Our main concern is whether holding a three-day banquet will disrupt the children's studies. After all, they have to take the college entrance examination in April. If they miss out on studying because of the hustle and bustle, it would be a loss."
Everyone nodded.
The academy examination is much more important than the county examination. If you pass the academy examination, you will become a scholar. Not only will your family be exempt from taxes, but the status of the entire family will also be different.
It's equivalent to changing one's allegiance, which is a big deal.
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