Chapter 126 Chapter 126 Congratulations
When Yu Li and Fu Wenxiao returned to the county town, Mr. Wang also went back with them.
They had a lot of luggage, including things they bought in the city, as well as local gifts prepared for them by the Xuan and Yao families.
In the evening, the boat arrived at the county town.
The servants of the Wang family received the news and were already waiting at the dock. They sent two carriages to pick them up.
"Madam asked us to come pick up the master and send Mr. Fu and Ms. Fu back at the same time."
They came back from the provincial capital and must have brought a lot of luggage with them, so Mrs. Wang sent an extra carriage to take Yu Li and the others home.
I have to say that Mrs. Wang is very considerate in her work.
Yu Li did not reject Mrs. Wang's kindness and decided to go to the Wang family to thank her another day.
After saying goodbye to Mr. Wang, the two got on the carriage and returned to Shuying Lane.
When the Wang family's carriage entered Shuying Lane, it attracted a lot of attention. When people in the lane saw Yu Li and Fu Wenxiao coming out of the carriage, they started shouting.
"Oh, it's Mr. Fu and Ms. Fu who are back!"
"Mr. Fu, congratulations! I heard that you are the top scorer in this provincial examination again!"
"Congratulations!"
“…”
Although Yu Li had caused a lot of trouble in Shuying Lane before and scared a lot of people, she had been away for nearly a month this time, so everyone's fear of her had been eased a lot. Not to mention that Fu Wenxiao was the top scorer in this provincial examination. This news was so exciting that everyone wanted to come and share in the good news.
Because Yu Li and his companions had something to do, they stayed in the city for a few more days, while the other scholars who went to take the provincial examination had already returned.
These people also brought back the results of the provincial examination.
When people in Shanping County learned that the top scorer in this provincial examination actually came from their county, they were very happy. Even Magistrate Zhang was pleasantly surprised. He did not expect that a top scorer in the provincial examination would come from his jurisdiction. This could be counted as one of his achievements.
If Fu Wenxiao had not been at home for some time, I am afraid that the threshold of the Fu family would have been trampled down by people coming to congratulate them.
Even the villagers of Qingshi Village were very happy. The village chief had sent people to the city many times to see if Fu Wenxiao had returned, and wanted to discuss with him about holding a banquet in the village.
Such a happy event happened in the village, so we must celebrate it.
Now that Fu Wenxiao has returned, no matter what conflicts people have had in the past, they all come to congratulate him sincerely.
All the people living in Shuying Lane are scholars, and what they care most about is their future in the imperial examination. Their lane had a top candidate, who also took the top spots in the county and prefectural examinations. This made the people in the lane very happy and they valued the Fu family very much.
Some even wanted to come and share in the joy.
In response to everyone's congratulations, Fu Wenxiao politely returned the greetings.
Seeing them all rushing over, some were about to touch Fu Wenxiao and wanted to touch him to get some good luck, Yu Li reached out to stop them and said, "Just congratulate him, but don't touch me."
As she spoke, she looked up at Fu Wenxiao, and saw him looking at her with a smile and moving towards her. She knew that he didn't like being touched casually.
No one likes this kind of thing, right?
Yu Li put herself in her shoes. If someone dared to touch her casually, even if it was in the name of joining in the celebration, she would not like it.
The crowd was stopped by Yu Li, who not only stopped them but also forced them to retreat involuntarily. They finally remembered her terrible strength and dared not push forward.
They all stepped back in a hurry, smiling awkwardly, "Madam Fu, we didn't intend to do anything."
"Yes, yes. We just want to take part in the good times. We really don't intend to do anything."
"Don't be angry..."
As they spoke, everyone smiled at her ingratiatingly.
They didn't dare to provoke Madam Fu, but they all felt a little sympathy for Fu Wenxiao.
So what if he was the first in the provincial examination? He actually married such a terrible wife. He would definitely not dare to have any other thoughts in the future, otherwise the consequences can be imagined.
In the past they thought that Mr. Song was quite pitiful, but now compared with Mr. Fu, Mr. Song was actually quite lucky. Although Mrs. Song kept saying that she wanted to break Mr. Song's legs, she was just talking and would not really do it.
If it was Madam Fu, that’s hard to say. It would be easy for her to break a man’s legs, right?
If a man has a shrewish wife, he can only obey her.
At this time, the door of the Fu family opened from the inside.
Zhou came out and was pleasantly surprised to see Yu Li and Fu Wenxiao coming back: "Mother Li, Brother Xiao, you are back!"
"Mom!" Seeing her, Yu Li's tense face broke into a smile, "We are back."
As she said that, she pulled Fu Wenxiao over and gave Zhou a hug.
She had been away from home for so long that she missed Zhou too much and missed the food she cooked. The Xuan family's cook was indeed very skilled, but she just couldn't make the food taste like Zhou's. After a while, she missed it too much.
Zhou smiled and looked at the two of them. Seeing that they looked good and not thin, she felt relieved and quickly invited them in.
The two children just came back and must be tired. How could anyone continue to disturb them?
When the Wang family's servant saw that the Fu family's door was open, they helped move their luggage in.
When Zhou saw this, she was shocked, "Why are there so many things?" She clearly didn't bring much luggage when she went there.
Yu Li said: "This is the earthenware ceremony prepared by the old lady of the Yao family and the Xuan family."
After all the things were moved in, Yu Li politely thanked the Wang family's servants and sent them away.
Then the door was closed, blocking out all the disturbances.
When the scholars who had heard that Fu Wenxiao had returned and had wanted to come over to congratulate him saw this, they looked a little unhappy, but they did not dare to knock on the door, for fear that the person who opened the door would not be Mr. Fu, but Ms. Fu holding a stone.
"Uncle, aunt, you are back!"
Fu Yanhui and his sister rushed over to the room.
Yu Li hugged them, put his cheeks close to theirs, then unpacked their luggage and gave them the toys he brought back from the city.
This time in the provincial capital, she bought a lot of things, many of which were toys specifically for children, which were not available in the county town.
Some were for Fu Yanhui and his sister, and some were for Yuzhu.
Sure enough, the toy instantly attracted the attention of the two children. They cheered happily, thanked Yu Li sweetly, and then took the toys to the side to play.
Zhou smiled and said, "Mother Li, Brother Xiao, are you hungry? Eat something first."
She brought over a plate of white rice cakes for Yu Li to fill his stomach, and then went into the kitchen to cook dinner.
Yu Li was not hungry. There were a lot of food on the boat, all prepared by the Yao family. She ate a lot and was not very hungry now.
She washed her hands and went into the kitchen to help Zhou cook.
After a while, Fu Wenxiao also came over.
Zhou said hurriedly, "Xiao brother, what are you doing here? Go and rest first." Then she said to Yu Li, "Li Niang should also go and rest. I will call you when the meal is ready."
The two children just came back today. They must be tired after the long journey. How can I bear to let them do anything?
The two were driven out by Zhou, looked at each other, and decided to listen to her.
They went to pack their luggage first.
After carrying the luggage back to the room, Yu Li looked at Fu Wenxiao's tired face, took his hand and transferred some supernatural power to him, and said, "Do you want to go to bed and sleep for a while? I'll call you when it's time for dinner."
"No need." Fu Wenxiao said, "It's getting dark soon. It won't be too late to rest after dinner."
After hearing what he said, Yu Li said nothing more and turned around to clean up.
She didn't let Fu Wenxiao help and asked him to sit there.
Seeing her busying around, Fu Wenxiao poured her a cup of tea and said softly, "Mother Li, thank you for being outside just now."
Yu Li: "It's nothing, I can't let you really be touched by them, right?"
Fu Wenxiao smiled and continued, "Fortunately, Li Niang is here."
Yu Li also felt fortunate to have her there, otherwise he wouldn’t know what it would be like to be squeezed by those people.
This person is now in weak health and has a bit of social anxiety. He will definitely not be able to withstand those enthusiastic people.
As a "wife", she naturally has to protect him. After he recovers, she will let him practice more so that he can handle these things on his own in the future.
Fu Wenxiao looked at her quietly, and seeing the matter-of-fact look on her face, he couldn't help but laugh again.
She looked at him in confusion, not knowing what he was laughing at.
"It's nothing, I just feel so good to have Li Niang around!" he said softly.
Yu Li paused, feeling something was wrong. Could it be that he wanted to become more dependent on her? Could it be that he also wanted to become a real couple with her?
-
Soon Zhou called them over for dinner.
During the meal, Yu Li briefly talked about what happened in the capital city. Naturally, she only talked about the good things. She did not mention the Kang family, let alone what she had done to Mr. Kang Qi.
Ahem, this kind of thing definitely can’t be told to anyone, it would be bad if it scares my mother-in-law.
Zhou said, "All the other scholars who went to take the provincial examination have returned, but you haven't come back yet. I was worried. Fortunately, the Wang family sent someone to say that you had something to do in the provincial capital and would be delayed for a few more days, so I don't have to worry."
Yu Li felt a little guilty, "Mom, I made you worry."
"It's okay, it's okay." Zhou smiled, "I'm not that worried. I just want to know that you are fine."
Zhou didn't ask them what happened in the city, or why it took them nearly ten days to come back.
After dinner, I urged them to go to rest.
The two slept until dawn.
After breakfast, Yu Li and Zhou sorted out the things they brought back from the city yesterday, keeping what belonged to them and dividing the rest, which were to be given away.
There were so many things brought back from the provincial capital this time. Both the Yao family and the Xuan family knew that Yu Li loved to eat, so the gifts they sent were mainly various foods.
While packing, Zhou said, "Since the news came that Xiao Ge'er won the first place in the prefectural examination, many people came to our house to congratulate him. Even the county magistrate sent people over specially. However, since Xiao Ge'er was not here, they left their gifts and left."
When she said this, a relieved look appeared on her face.
Although she knew that this provincial examination was nothing to Xiao Ge'er, she was still very happy to hear that he had won a good ranking.
Then Zhou told Fu Wenxiao who had sent gifts and what the gifts were.
Fu Wenxiao had to decide all these things by himself, including how to return the gifts and which people he needed to visit in person.
Thinking of something, Zhou returned to her room and took out a box: "Xiao'er, this was sent by Mr. Liu. There are three hundred taels of silver in it."
"Three hundred taels of silver?" Yu Li asked curiously, "Why did Mr. Liu ask someone to send money over?"
She remembered that Mr. Liu was the person who bought Fu Wenxiao's paintings before.
Zhou said, "I didn't want to accept it at first, but Mr. Liu said it was a reward for Xiao Ge'er."
Fu Wenxiao was calm and said to Yu Li in a subtle way, "It's the money for that painting."
Naturally, his paintings were worth more than two hundred taels. Mr. Liu was well aware of the value of the first place in the provincial examination, so he quickly added another three hundred taels, which was also a good deal for him.
Yu Li was amazed again, calligraphy and painting are really valuable, scholars are really good at making money.
When Fu Wenxiao handed the money to her, she was very happy, thinking to herself that he was indeed a gold nugget. She had made the right decision to save him in the first place. Now that he hadn't even fully recovered yet, he had already started making money for her to spend.
Zhou watched this scene with a smile on her face, and didn't think there was anything wrong with Fu Wenxiao giving the money to his wife.
When Yu Li returned to her room, she said to Fu Wenxiao, "Brother Xiao, you are right. The money in the family should be kept by the wife. She can spend it however she wants. Men should not be too stingy."
Fu Wenxiao blushed, "Mom, I know."
After packing up his things, Yu Li went to give gifts to relatives and friends in the county.
Zhou asked, "Mother Li, won't you take a rest for a while?"
"No, I'm not tired." Yu Li said enthusiastically. It was boring to stay at home.
Fu Wenxiao followed her out, "I'll go with you, it's a good opportunity to go out for a walk."
Yu Li looked at him, did not refuse, and said: "If you are tired, just tell me, there is no need to be stubborn."
He smiled and said, "Okay."
When I went out, I met a lot of people from Shuying Lane. They still congratulated me enthusiastically, but no one rushed over to me as excitedly as they did yesterday.
With Yu Li around, no one dared to touch the case to get some good luck or anything like that.
After they left, some people murmured quietly: "This Madam Fu is too protective, as if she is afraid that others will get close to Mr. Fu. She is indeed a jealous woman."
This dog doesn't guard his food as closely as she does.
However, no one agreed with this.
Some even said, "What's the point of you saying it here? If you have the guts, go and say it in front of Madam Fu!"
"That's right! In fact, it's only right for her to protect Mr. Fu. I don't believe that you just want to take advantage of Mr. Fu because he's so good-looking."
The man immediately became angry and said, "Nonsense, how could I possibly take advantage of a man?"
"That's hard to say."
The others laughed out loud, thinking that this was true.
With Mr. Fu's appearance, anyone with eyesight would be willing to take a few more glances at him. Nowadays, anyone who is good-looking, regardless of gender, may be taken advantage of.
"With a husband like this, isn't it normal for Madam Fu to protect him? What kind of jealous woman is this?"
"That's right. If it were me, I would also protect a husband like this."
"If you protect your husband, you are a jealous woman. There are many jealous women in this world."
“…”
Seeing that these people actually understood Yu Li, those who had previously said that Yu Li was a jealous woman felt a little confused.
Have they forgotten what Madam Fu had done? Have they forgotten the fear they felt so quickly?
“This cannot be reduced to a conversation.”
"Yes! You only see Madam Fu protecting her husband. Don't you see that Mr. Fu is a clean man and his eyes and heart are full of Madam Fu?"
"If my husband treats me the same way, what's wrong with being a jealous woman?"
They are quite afraid of Yu Li, but as long as they don't provoke her or gossip about her, I believe Madam Fu will not hit them for no reason, right?
From this point of view, Madam Fu is actually a reasonable person.
**
Yu Li and Fu Wenxiao went to the dock first to deliver things to Yu Jin and the others.
The morning market had ended at this time, and there were not many people coming to the store to buy things, so the two of them would not disturb their business if they went over.
When they arrived, Yu Jin, Liu, Sun Fangniang and Sun Zheng were all there.
Seeing them, everyone was surprised.
Yu Jin pulled her sister to look around, making sure she was okay, and asked, "Sister, when did you come back?"
Sun Fangniang and Sun Zheng came over to congratulate Fu Wenxiao, congratulating him on passing the examination and getting the first place in the provincial examination.
Liu was also very excited, because the top winner of the provincial examination was her son-in-law. Now that she had returned to the village, she walked with such a breeze, and she didn't know how many people envied her.
In the past, everyone sympathized with her for giving birth to four daughters, but now fewer people sympathize with her, and only envy remains.
Her daughters are all very capable and her son-in-law is promising. Who wouldn't be envious?
Yu Li and Fu Wenxiao entered the store together and sat in the yard.
"We arrived at the county town yesterday evening." Yu Li said, taking out the things for them from the backpack, "This is for you, it's a specialty from the prefectural city."
Yu Jin was very happy: "Thank you, big sister."
Liu, Sun Zheng and Sun Fangniang hurriedly served them tea and water, and brought them snacks to entertain them.
Although they were very happy, they were still a little restrained when facing Fu Wenxiao.
In the past, Fu Wenxiao was just a commoner, and they felt a little uncomfortable in his presence, as if they were from a different world. Now that he has achieved fame and honor, they feel even more restrained.
The three of them chatted for a few words and then went to guard the shop in front.
Only Yu Jin's attitude remained unchanged.
No matter what Fu Wenxiao becomes, he is still their brother-in-law, and that remains unchanged.
Yu Jin asked them whether their trip to the provincial capital was smooth, and also asked them why they came back so late.
All the other scholars had returned, but her sister and brother-in-law had not. She was somewhat worried. She had been going to Shuying Lane quite often these days. In addition to visiting the three generations of the Zhou family, she also asked them when they would be back.
Yu Li said: "I have some things to do in the city, so I will be delayed for a few more days."
Although Yu Jin was puzzled about what happened, he tactfully did not ask and said to Fu Wenxiao, "Brother-in-law, congratulations."
"Thank you, second sister." Fu Wenxiao said politely.
After chatting for a while, Yu Jin suddenly remembered something and said, "Sister, my second cousin failed the exam."
Yu Li said "oh" with a calm expression.
"But Chen Zhongxun, who took the provincial exam with my second cousin, made the list." At this point, Yu Jin couldn't help laughing and said, "Big sister, you may not know, but my aunt has always wanted to marry Qin Niang to Chen Zhongxun. This time, when she heard that Chen Zhongxun passed the exam, she wanted to arrange a marriage for them."
Yu Li still had a lukewarm reaction and showed no interest in it.
Seeing this, Yu Jin stopped talking about this and started talking about other things, such as how the villagers were very happy when they learned that Fu Wenxiao had passed the examination and asked if their family wanted to hold a banquet to celebrate.
“…You don’t know, someone went to ask grandma whether our family should hold a wedding banquet, but grandma kicked him out.” When Yu Jin said this, he couldn’t stop laughing.
Old Mrs. Yu angrily kicked the man out of the house.
This is easy to understand. There are two scholars in the Yu family. One did not even pass the county examination, and the other passed the county examination but failed the prefectural examination. The two of them are just like the eldest brother Yu back then. They both failed the examination and are still white people.
It just so happened that Yu family's son-in-law Fu Wenxiao passed the exam with excellent results, ranking first in both the county and prefectural exams.
The contrast is too tragic. There is no way that Old Lady Yu and others can be happy.
Some people also say that a son-in-law is half a son. As the son-in-law of the Yu family, the Yu family should be happy that Fu Wenxiao can pass the examination and become a student.
This is also the reason why the villagers would ask the Yu family whether they would hold a banquet.
But Mr. Yu and his wife and the eldest wife of the Yu family had already fallen out with Yu Li, so how could they be happy?
Even if Fu Wenxiao is the son-in-law of the Yu family, he is just a son-in-law after all, and not the blood of their Yu family. No matter what he passes the exam, it has nothing to do with the Yu family.
"I heard that grandpa and grandma are not willing to go out now." Yu Jin said this with a mocking look on his face, "and uncle and his family, I guess they won't dare to go back to the village in the future."
Starting from the eldest uncle, the Yu family has been supporting the eldest son's education for decades.
Their parents treated them as if their only purpose of living was to support the eldest daughter's studies. Even when the eldest sister forced the Yu family to split up, their grandparents still said that if the eldest daughter became successful in the future, they should stay out of it.
Yu Jin found it funny at the time. His uncle had studied for so many years but couldn't even pass the exam to become a student. How could they believe that the eldest son would have a bright future?
As expected, both of my cousins failed in the county and prefectural examinations.
Even if they can take the exam again in the future, compared with Fu Wenxiao, who topped the county and prefectural exams, no matter what title they get, it will pale in comparison.
When she learned that Fu Wenxiao was the top scorer in the provincial examination, Yu Jin made a special trip back to the village and took a walk around the main courtyard of the Yu family. Seeing the ugly faces of her grandparents, she felt relieved.
Unfortunately, the people from the first wife's house were not in the village, so she couldn't see how they reacted.
But I guess the mood won't be very good.
Yu Jin said happily, "Sister, Ah Yin and Zhu Er said that when you come back, they will come to the county town to see you and congratulate brother-in-law."
The happiest people are the Yu Jin sisters.
Fu Wenxiao is their brother-in-law. If he is well, their eldest sister will be well, and they will be happier.
Yu Li hummed, "When they come, I'll take you to eat something delicious."
"Okay!" Yu Jin agreed with a smile.
The two sisters talked for a while, and then Yu Li and Fu Wenxiao left together to go to Shuangrong Lane to deliver something to Yu Xiaogu.
Aunt Yu was also very happy to see them. She pulled Yu Li aside and kept talking to him, praising Fu Wenxiao.
The more she looked at Fu Wenxiao, the more satisfied she became. She felt that Old Lady Yu had done one thing right in her life. Of course, her original intention was still disgusting.
Then they went to the butcher's.
Everyone in the butcher shop was there, and when they saw the two of them, they came over to congratulate them. Zhang Fu even said that he would treat them to a meal to celebrate Fu Wenxiao becoming the top scorer in the provincial examination.
"No need." Yu Li waved at them, telling Zhang Fu not to spend too much money.
Fu Wenxiao also refused.
Zhang Fu felt a little regretful, but he didn't force it. He heard that there would be a college examination in August after the provincial examination, so it wouldn't be too late to celebrate after he passed the examination and became a scholar.
After delivering the things, the two returned to Shuying Lane.
Song Xiucai and others also came to congratulate and ask Fu Wenxiao for advice.
Fu Wenxiao was willing to give some guidance to scholars like Song Xiucai who were dedicated to learning. Every time after receiving his guidance, Song Xiucai and others benefited a lot.
After being instructed by Fu Wenxiao many times, these scholars have realized how good his knowledge is. No wonder Mr. Wang respects him so much.
With his level, not to mention being a scholar, he could easily become a juren.
They felt sorry for him. If he had not been ill before, he would have become a juren long ago, and might even have had a chance of becoming a jinshi.
After seeing off those scholars, the village chief also came to Shuying Lane.
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