After seeing that his son's face was rosy and full of energy, Lin Sanzhu felt a little relieved, "Don't forget to rest when you start studying, and don't stay up late. After all, we are still young, even if we don't pass the exam this time. It doesn’t matter.”
Lin Yuanqiu smiled and replied, "Don't worry, Dad, my son goes to bed before midnight every night."
Staying up late is the most harmful thing to the body, so Lin Yuanqiu will naturally not do it.
After thinking about it, Lin Yuanqiu asked about his family's purchase of paddy fields. On New Year's Eve, he heard his grandma talk about it, and he didn't know what happened now.
Lin Sanzhu shook his head, "It's not easy to find. Now that life is peaceful, who will sell a good piece of land? There are a few paddy fields in other villages that are sold out, but they are a bit far away from our small mountain village. If you buy such land, , it’s really inconvenient to take care of at ordinary times, so our family doesn’t want it.”
Therefore, if you want to buy paddy fields, you may have to do so slowly.
"Dad, can we buy the hill behind our house? My son thinks that if we can't buy paddy fields, we might as well buy the hill."
The mountain Lin Yuanqiu mentioned was not far from his home. It could be reached by walking in about half a quarter of an hour.
Although it is said to be a mountain, it is actually not very high. It looks like a big hillside.
Maybe it's because it's too close to other people's homes and the villagers often go up there to cut firewood and log trees, so the trees on the mountain are not lush.
Because of this, it will be much easier to cultivate the land. Wouldn't it be great to plant beans, corn, etc. by then?
What's more, there are five or six wild persimmon trees growing on the mountain. If they buy the mountain, these persimmon trees will belong to their family.
After listening to his son's suggestion, Lin Sanzhu thought that if he bought the mountain, he could buy some persimmon saplings and plant them on the mountain.
And if the persimmon tree is cared for well, it will bear fruit in three or four years. By the fifth year, it will be in full fruit period.
As long as Lin Sanzhu thought of the scene where the mountains of persimmons were being made into persimmon cakes and sold for money, he couldn't help but get excited. He thought that after the beginning of spring, there might be sapling sellers in the town coming to sell business. In a few days, you can buy a persimmon tree and plant it on the mountain, so you can pick the fruits early in the morning.
The more he thought about it, the more he felt that there was no need to delay, so Lin Sanzhu left the words "Dad will go home to discuss it with your grandparents, uncle and the others" and left with a smile on his face.
Seeing Lin Sanzhu's hurried back, Lin Yuanqiu thought to himself that his father might have thought of a better idea.
As for Lin Sanzhu, after returning home, he mentioned the matter of buying a mountain to his father, mother, eldest and second brothers, and told everyone the idea and benefits of planting persimmon trees.
In the past few days, Lao Lintou has been worrying about buying paddy fields. When he had no money before, he thought about saving money to buy paddy fields every day, but he never thought about the time when he could not buy paddy fields.
Yuanfeng's wife has been diagnosed with pregnancy, and Yuansong is getting married this year. She may have children soon after the marriage. In the future, the family will definitely become more and more prosperous, so how can it be done with only six acres of paddy field.
As for the four acres of dowry land given to the eldest grandson's daughter-in-law, it was given to her daughter by her in-laws, and could not be counted among the public.
Yesterday, Lao Lintou went to Yangjiacun, ten miles away, to inquire, but he still didn't hear about anyone selling paddy fields.
At this time, Old Lintou had completely run out of ideas. He could only wait patiently.
But at this moment, after hearing what the third son said, Lao Lintou's eyes suddenly lit up. Yes, why didn't he think of it? Since he couldn't buy paddy fields, he could buy the mountains first. Just like what the third son said, after buying Planting persimmon trees on the mountain can make money generate money, which is better than letting money sit dry.
Wu, who was on the side, immediately thought of the mushrooms and wild vegetables on the mountain, and thought that if she bought it, then these things would belong to her family.
Then you can dig as much as you want and pick as much as you want.
Lin Dazhu and Lin Erzhu definitely agreed with the third brother's good idea.
In their opinion, if they buy a mountain, they can not only plant persimmon trees, but also plant other crops under the trees, such as edamame, corn, and various vegetables.
Therefore, buying a mountain seems to be a good deal.
After making up his mind, Lao Lintou went to Li Zheng's place.
In the next few days, we measured the mountain land, paid silver, and then went to the Yamen to register the title deed.
The price of the mountain land was calculated based on the number of acres. There were fifteen acres on that hilltop, at twenty taels per mu, and a total of thirty taels of silver was paid.
On the day when the mountainous land was measured, many villagers came to watch. Everyone had different thoughts. Some felt that it was a pity to spend money on buying barren mountains. Some felt that buying mountainous land would be worse than buying paddy fields. Most people were surprised. They were really surprised. I didn't expect the embroidery business to be so profitable. Look, Lin Dagui's family actually bought the entire hilltop.
…
To be on the safe side, Zhou Xiucai asked the students taking the county examination to go to the county seat seven days before the start of the county examination.
As for Zhou Xiucai himself, he planned to go there the day before the exam started.
Lin Yuanqiu and five other Class A students came to the door to see them off.
When the carriage was about to start, Zhou Zixu poked his head out of the window and smiled at Lin Yuanqiu, "Brother Lin, wait."
Lin Yuanqiu didn't react for a moment, wait? What are you waiting for? What are you waiting for?
The daze only lasted for a moment, and Lin Yuanqiu soon understood what Zhou Zixu meant. He was waiting to eat Zuixianglou's signature dish.
It is said that morale is affected by fighting, and the same goes for exams. Lin Yuanqiu had a strong hunch that based on Zhou Zixu's full confidence when he spoke just now, he would definitely pass the county exam this time.
The absence of his roommate gave Lin Yuanqiu space to paint again, and he felt that the fatigue of doing exercises all day long could be relieved to a great extent after painting an ink painting.
Lin Yuanqiu was funny. He was learning how to make money at the same time.
After saving six paintings, Lin Yuanqiu took the time to go to Hexi Street. From the enthusiasm on Shopkeeper Hu's face, Lin Yuanqiu could guess that his paintings should be among the best-selling ones.
Six four-foot landscape paintings were sold for a total of three to six dollars. When he came out this time, Lin Yuanqiu took all the money with him and planned to ask the shopkeeper to exchange them for silver notes.
I originally thought that ten taels of silver was the minimum denomination of the banknote, but shopkeeper Hu told Lin Yuanqiu that there were still five taels and two taels of silver. In the end, Lin Yuanqiu exchanged two pieces of five taels of silver.
"I wonder if your uncle can help me draw a portrait of Bodhisattva?" Shopkeeper Hu asked.
Bodhisattva portrait? Lin Yuanqiu didn't understand. Okay, why should I help draw the picture?
Seeing Lin Yuanqiu stunned, shopkeeper Hu realized that he had not spoken clearly and hurriedly explained, "It's like this. A few days ago, a customer came to the shop and ordered a picture of Bodhisattva..."
Lin Yuanqiu suddenly realized that the calligraphy and painting shop can also do private customization.
However, painting a picture of a Bodhisattva definitely requires colored paints, and Lin Yuanqiu, who has enjoyed a fortune in selling ink paintings, has no plans to spend more than a tael of money to buy paints yet, so he will definitely not be able to accept this order.
But before Lin Yuanqiu could shake his head and refuse, shopkeeper Hu took out all the supplies for painting from the counter, including paper, brushes, inkstones, color palettes, and more than a dozen kinds of paints including cinnabar, as well as sandalwood. Three.
Only then did Lin Yuanqiu know that in the Dajing Dynasty, painting Bodhisattva portraits was very particular. All painting tools must be new, and before painting, you must wash your hands and burn incense to show respect for the Bodhisattva.
After hearing that the salary for this Bodhisattva painting was five taels of silver, Lin Yuanqiu was already deeply moved.
In order to add some motivation to himself, Lin Yuanqiu pointed to the brushes and inkstones, as well as the paints in the dozen small porcelain boxes, and asked, "What about these..."
Sure enough, I heard Shopkeeper Hu say, "These are all included in the wages, but if you don't use enough paint, you can only buy it yourself."
How could it not be enough? Lin Yuanqiu looked at the paints again and felt that there would be no problem in painting six or seven Bodhisattva statues.
Therefore, if he accepts this order, not only will he get five taels of silver as wages, but all the used painting tools, including the remaining paints, will belong to him.
Lin Yuanqiu felt that only a fool would refuse such a great thing.
So, after paying a deposit of twenty taels of silver, Lin Yuanqiu put everything into the book box. Since he was carrying money today, Lin Yuanqiu came here carrying the book box.
Looking at Lin Yuanqiu's retreating back, shopkeeper Hu was really relieved.
You know, this Bodhisattva portrait has been ordered for more than ten days. Shopkeeper Hu has asked many people in the past few days, but no one is willing to take it. In fact, I don’t blame them. It’s really that the old lady outside the member Lu is too picky. She had ordered this Bodhisattva portrait from another shop before, but the painting did not satisfy her. In the end, she didn’t even want the painting, and she didn’t pay the remaining wages.
If the store clerk hadn't taken the order without knowing it, shopkeeper Hu wouldn't have done such a business even if he beat him to death.
Shopkeeper Hu originally thought that if no one picked up after today, he would be shameless and give the deposit to Mr. Lu and return it.
Unexpectedly, by such a coincidence, I met this boy selling paintings today.
Thinking of his "uncle's" painting skills, Shopkeeper Hu felt that he might be able to look forward to it.
Lin Yuanqiu would definitely not know about these twists and turns.
After dinner, he went directly back to his dormitory, planning to paint the Bodhisattva statue while his creative urge was overwhelming.
On the way back from Hexi Street, Lin Yuanqiu began to conceive of this picture, including the look of the characters, the layout of the entire painting, and the color combination.
It can be said that at this time, Lin Yuanqiu already had a complete picture of Bodhisattva in his mind.
When drawing a picture of a Bodhisattva, the most important thing is definitely the facial expression, especially the eyes, which must be separated by two parts and closed by eight parts. Such eyes imply two parts for viewing the outside, eight parts for viewing the inside, two parts for viewing the world, and eight parts for viewing oneself.
These are not difficult tasks for Lin Yuanqiu, an art student who specializes in art. When painting the face of the Bodhisattva, Lin Yuanqiu also specially used some sketching techniques, so that the facial features painted in this way are more three-dimensional and give the body a more three-dimensional appearance. The feeling of lifelike people.
Not surprisingly, when Lin Yuanqiu sent the painted Bodhisattva picture to the calligraphy and painting shop, shopkeeper Hu had nothing but amazement in his eyes.
In Shopkeeper Hu's view, this painting is impeccable in terms of coloring and compassionate expression on the face. Coupled with the smooth lines, as well as the good fortune and the dragon girl beside the lotus seat, how can anyone No surprise.
Logically speaking, for a customized painting like this, the person who ordered the painting must be satisfied before the labor can be paid, but shopkeeper Hu directly paid five taels of silver.
The store clerk was surprised, shopkeeper, aren't you afraid that Mrs. Lu will not take it?
Shopkeeper Hu rolled his eyes, "What are you afraid of? If she doesn't want it, we might be able to sell it for more money if we hang it in the store."
…
Unlike Lin Yuanqiu who came back directly after taking the county examination, Zhou Zixu and the others came back after the results were released.
This time, among the dozen students in Ziqing Hall, two were successful, including Zhou Zixu.
And the results of two candidates on the list are quite good.
Therefore, although Master Zhou still looked calm, Lin Yuanqiu could clearly feel his joy from his brisk steps.
Zhou Zixu kept his word and treated Lin Yuanqiu to a meal from Zuixianglou that night. They ordered the food directly and ate it in the dormitory.
Lin Yuanqiu didn't order too many dishes, a jade jade soup, a plate of braised fish tail that both of them liked, and crispy scallion pork, plus two bowls of white rice. The two of them ate with gusto, and finally finished them off Light.
Touching the empty money bag, Zhou Zixu sighed, it is really easy to spend money but hard to make money.
Soon, the county government posted a notice for registration for the prefectural examination, which was scheduled for April 28th.
Counting the two who passed the county exam this time, there are eight students in Class A who took the prefectural exam this time.
Because he was worried about his son, even though Mr. Zhou was leading him when he went to the county town to register, Lin Sanzhu still went with him.
…
Chapter 58 Government Examination
In addition to Lin Sanzhu, Zhou Zixu's father, Zhou Xing, was also following him to Fucheng. The child was still young, so there was no reason for the father not to follow him.
Also today, Zhou Xing finally saw Lin Yuanqiu, the roommate his son often talked about.
Before that, Zhou Xing had often heard of his son's roommate, but had never met him.
Since last year, every time Zhou Xing came home for vacation, he would hear his son talking about his roommate, saying how nice the roommate was and how he got along with him, and even talked about his love for eating fish tails. He also told me that his roommate taught him how to write poems and compose poems.
All these made Zhou Xing very curious.
He knew that his son had a bad temper, and he would catch some grasshoppers and keep them in the dormitory from time to time. Such behavior would make his roommates hate him, so they couldn't get along well with him.
But now Zhou Xing looked at the person in front of him. He was wearing a small blue robe. His hair was combed to the top of his head and then tied into a high bun with a hairband. Looking at his fair skin, he didn't look like a peasant boy. Son.
