Yesterday, the second room mistakenly mistook a bamboo knot for a firecracker, which secretly made the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law happy all day long. They thought that people in the second room are really good at daydreaming, and they didn’t even think about it. Just anyone could pass the examination. Is it over?
Unexpectedly, just one night later, things changed drastically. The official who delivered the good news actually came.
Seeing Wu's current situation and thinking about the growing gap between the two families, Jin felt uncomfortable.
Alas, when will my home have such scenery?
…
The second day.
Just as Lao Lintou and Mr. Wu had predicted in advance, guests began to arrive one after another when it was only 10 o'clock in the morning.
The Gao family was the first to come over to congratulate. In addition to Gao Cui's father and mother, shopkeeper Gao was also present.
The bookstore is located across from several private schools. As long as shopkeeper Gao pays a little attention, he can know who has won the Guilin List in Hengxi Town earlier than others.
After hearing that Lin Yuanqiu had won the ranking and was still ranked high, Shopkeeper Gao was so excited that he could not calm down for a long time, not only for his niece, but also for his good eyesight ten years ago.
The Lu family and the Shen family came here together.
Chunmei is already the mother of two boys. Perhaps because of her happy life, her face looks rosy and she seems to be more beautiful than before she was married.
As for Chunxiu, she was six months pregnant and was worried about the bumpy carriage. Shen Zhong originally wanted her to stay at home. But for such a big happy event for her mother's family, how could Chunxiu resist coming here.
Besides, she didn't grow up pampered, so she has a strong body.
Not long after Mrs. Wang and his family arrived, many wealthy households in the city sent butlers to deliver gifts. Perhaps because of their experience last time, the housekeepers didn't stay too long. They all handed over the gift slips, put down the gifts, and left. This gave Lin Dazhu and the others no time to refuse.
Looking at the land deeds, house deeds, silver coins, cloth, silk and other items placed on the table, Old Lin felt a headache. After thinking about it, I decided to let Wu put it away first. Yuan Qiu will be back in a few days. It depends on how he arranges it then.
…
According to the instructions on the post, all candidates participating in the Deer Ming Banquet must wear the same uniform, which is a green round collar robe. This is the rule for candidates.
Time is too short, and it is definitely impossible to do it temporarily. Fortunately, there are several clothing shops selling Juren robes in the county, so just go there and buy them.
In addition to Lin Yuanqiu and Zhou Zixu, there are two other students from the Fu School who were admitted this time, one is Chen Yutang and the other is Liu Qingan.
As classmates and in the same year, there is naturally more interaction between them. In the past two days, several people often gathered together to drink tea and chat, and the four of them went shopping together.
I originally thought that there was only one kind of robe for holding a ceremony, but when Lin Yuanqiu and others arrived at the clothing shop, they discovered that although they were all blue round-neck robes, there were seven or eight types of fabrics alone.
Different fabrics naturally have different prices. After asking about the price, Lin Yuanqiu directly picked the most "affordable" fine cotton fabric.
Although it is said to be affordable, it is actually only a relative term, because this inconspicuous muslin round-neck robe also cost Lin Yuanqiu three taels of silver, and if it was made of slightly more expensive materials, it would cost five taels more.
It’s not that I’m reluctant to buy expensive ones, but it’s simply not necessary. Money was too hard to earn, so he had better spend it sparingly.
What's more, Lin Yuanqiu is not a fool. He is aware of this obvious act of taking advantage of the opportunity to raise prices.
Lin Yuanqiu thought to himself that these clothing shops must be connected with the Yamen, otherwise the Yamen would not specifically indicate on the post that they would wear Juren robes to attend the Luming Banquet.
Seeing Lin Yuanqiu choose the material of fine cotton, Zhou Zixu also chose the same material.
Chen Yutang and Liu Qing'an did not hesitate to buy fine cotton. When they came to the county this time, they didn't bring much money with them, so they naturally saved what they could.
What's more, clothes that cost three taels of silver a piece are not cheap at all.
…
As the interpreter of this provincial examination, the Lu Ming poem that started today was naturally sung by Ding Dejin, led by dozens of new imperial examination candidates.
Lin Yuanqiu and Zhou Zixu finally saw this Xie Yuanlang who only heard his name but never saw him.
He looked slightly older than him and Zhou Zixu, with a medium build. He was wearing the same cyan round-neck robe as them, but Lin Yuanqiu knew that the one on the other side was much more expensive than the one on them. .
Apart from these, the deepest impression left on Lin Yuanqiu was probably the alienation in the other person's eyes.
…
Chapter 99 Deer Ming Banquet (2)
Seeing this situation, Lin Yuanqiu, who originally wanted to chat with someone, stopped thinking about going forward.
Lin Yuanqiu didn't think there was anything to blame about Jie Yuan's unwillingness to pay attention to others.
Everyone has their own temperament, especially for people with excellent grades like this, it is normal to have their own aloofness.
Lin Yuanqiu remembered that when he was in high school in his previous life, the top student in the class was like this. He walked alone every day, didn't talk much, and devoted all his attention to studying.
So when Zhou Zixu, Chen Yutang and others came back after having hit a wall, Lin Yuanqiu was about to say that this was probably his temperament, but he heard Liu Qing'an on the side whisper softly, "Maybe we thought we were catering to him because of his family background." Him."
Family background?
Lin Yuanqiu was puzzled. Could it be that Ding Jieyuan's family was from an ordinary family?
Zhou Zixu also looked puzzled. He and Brother Lin had just learned that Ding Dejin was Mr. Wu Jing's student not long ago. As for the rest, they were not clear.
Liu Qingan and Chen Yutang did not hide anything. After the banquet was over and they returned to the inn, they told Ding Dejin that his grandfather was the minister of Dali Temple and his father was the prefect of Qingzhou.
Also, the ancestral home of the Ding family is in the county. Because there is a clear document in the court, even if the grandfather or father is an official in Beijing, his children must return to their place of origin to take the scientific examination. This is why Ding Dejin’s family lives in the capital, but he has to come here to take the provincial examination. for the sake of.
Zhou Zixu, on the other hand, couldn't help but stick out his tongue after hearing the other person's family background.
Anyone who takes the exam has a clear understanding of the official's rank and position.
Qing of Dali Temple, a third-rank official in the capital, is in charge of the trial of prison cases. The governor of Gyeongju is in charge of the government orders of the government, and is in charge of all subordinate counties. He is a fourth-rank official.
Therefore, Ding Dejin is a proper official's son, and his grandfather and father's official positions are not low.
Lin Yuanqiu finally understood why there were so many people surrounding Ding De at the banquet tonight.
He comes from a family of officials and is also a student of the great scholar Mr. Wu Jing. He is such a good friend, and those who are interested in an official career naturally do not want to miss it.
After talking about Ding Dejin, Chen Yutang and Liu Qingan, they also talked about the situation of Mr. Wu Jing's other students.
The reason why the two of them know so clearly is because they have been paying attention to Mr. Wu Jing over the years.
As for why they paid attention, although Chen Yutang and Liu Qing'an didn't say it, Lin Yuanqiu could guess some of the reasons when thinking of the "craziness" of the students when Mr. Wu Jing came to school three years ago. I think besides admiration for Mr. Wu Jing, most of them The probability is that he still desires a famous teacher.
Lin Yuanqiu shook his head. He had long since lost any illusions about having famous Confucians as his teachers.
Especially after hearing that several of Mr. Wu Jing's other students were from well-off families, Lin Yuanqiu felt that it was a wise thing for him not to have any delusions.
As the saying goes, cats have catwalks and dogs have dog paths. Only when people find the right direction that suits them will they not be confused.
Therefore, he should still rely on himself with all his strength as before.
…
After Chen Yutang and Liu Qingan left, Lin Yuanqiu and Zhou Zixu stayed in the county town for another three days, because they still wanted to wait to go to the book store to buy some papers.
One of the policy essays for this rural examination was titled "The Way to Anguo and Strengthen the Army." Thinking of their thoughts when formulating the policy, the two of them naturally looked forward to others expressing their opinions. You know, these are good materials worth learning.
"Brother Lin, let's buy a bound volume for this policy article. Although it's a little more expensive, our articles are all in it."
Zhou Zixu was indescribably excited when he thought that his policy essay would also appear in the book.
What he was thinking about at this moment was whether he should buy a few more copies so that when he returned home, he could give each of his brothers at home a copy, so that they could see how powerful he was.
Lin Yuanqiu naturally didn't know what Zhou Zixu wanted to show off, but he was in favor of buying the whole book. It was rare that his article was made into a book for the first time, so he would definitely buy a copy and keep it.
I have to say that the shopkeeper was really quick. When Lin Yuanqiu and Zhou Zixu arrived at the store, they found that there were bound policy documents on the counter, and the word "trial registration" was printed on the cover of the book.
Maybe it was because of the rush of work, but the price of trial recording was not cheap, one copy cost four taels of silver.
This made Zhou Zixu immediately give up the idea of buying more books. He just bought one honestly.
Zhou Zixu discovered that since "hanging out" with Brother Lin, he has become a lot more picky. No, every time he wanted to spend money happily, what Brother Lin said would immediately come to mind.
Brother Lin said, it’s not easy to make money. Let’s not spend it randomly. If you really can’t help it, just think about how difficult it was to copy the thick Torah book when we were copying books to make money. Ah, things still go wrong from time to time. Also, when I write letters to people in the winter, my hands are red from the cold, and I only earn five cents per letter. No, there is not so much as five cents. The cost of the letter paper, envelope, and ink has not been taken into account. Oh, and the wear and tear of the brush has not been taken into account. These are all silver.
Every time Zhou Zixu thought of these words, the hand holding out the money would be involuntarily withdrawn. He really felt that Brother Lin's words were too reasonable.
Brother Lin said that it is not shameful to be "stingy" appropriately. Brother Lin also said that you should spend the flowers when they are needed without hesitation.
It's like they take turns treating guests to fish at Yuxiangju, and they enjoy it every time.
…
Early the next morning, after packing their luggage, the group got on the carriage home.
Different from the tense strings when they came, the few people at this moment were extremely relaxed. In addition to this, Lin Yuanqiu and Zhou Zixu also had a vague feeling of returning home in rich clothes.
I feel better and the journey doesn't seem too long. Due to the early departure, when the carriage arrived at Hengxi Town, Shenshi had not yet started.
I thought that the bullock cart in the village should still be there at this time. Lin Sanzhu rejected Zhou Xing's idea of asking the driver to take them back to the village, and got off the bus directly at the South City Gate.
When the father and son quickly walked to the place where the bullock cart was parked, they saw Lin Dong. At this time, he was standing next to the bullock cart, and there were many villagers sitting on the cart. It seemed that he was about to leave for home. Village.
Seeing the two people walking closer and closer, Lin Dong couldn't help but stretched out his hand and rubbed his eyes. Was he right? The two people opposite him looked like Sanzhu and Yuanqiu.
Before Lin Dong could recover, Zhang Loquat, who was sitting on the bullock cart, had already seen Lin Sanzhu and Lin Yuanqiu, and suddenly stuttered with excitement, "Master Jujuren is back!"
In the past few days, people in the village have been talking about Lin Yuanqiu's success in the national examination. Naturally, they are particularly keen on the word "juren". Therefore, when they heard Zhang Loquat's words, everyone swung and looked in the direction of his finger.
After seeing that it was indeed Lin Yuanqiu, everyone got out of the car and greeted the father and son.
"Yuanqiu, hurry up and put the book box on the bullock cart. How tiring it is to carry it on your back. Also, Brother Sanzhu, give me the test basket and I'll carry it to the cart."
Lin Dong, who finally came to his senses, hurriedly stepped forward to take the test basket from Lin Sanzhu's hand, and then asked the two of them to get in the car quickly.
From the town to the village, the oxcart takes more than an hour. If you don't move faster, it will be dark by the time you get to the village.
"Sanzhu, you are so lucky to have given birth to such a promising child."
The person who spoke was none other than Zhang Loquat's mother. As the old man spoke, he couldn't help but look at the handsome Lin Yuanqiu and sighed in his heart. Not only was this kid good at reading, but he was also energetic.
Come to think of it, who would have thought that Lin Sanzhu, who was so careless at the time, would have such a good life.
After everyone heard this, they couldn't help but nod their heads. They were lucky. When they went shopping on the street today, they heard from the storekeepers that there were only two people in Hengxi Town. Woolen cloth.
Therefore, Yuan Qiu really stood up for their little mountain village.
The people in the cart were chatting happily, and it felt like it didn’t take long before the ox cart returned to the small mountain village.
By this time it was getting dark.
Lin Dong insisted on sending the person to the door of his house, and then drove the ox cart back.
In the past few days, everyone in the family has been paying attention to what is going on outside the hospital. Therefore, after hearing the sound of oxcart bells outside the courtyard wall, someone quickly ran out and opened the door.
