Chen Qi'an spent two days at home and went to Xuzhou Mansion to take the provincial examination.

Only candidates who have passed the Tongguò County Examination are eligible to participate in the prefectural examination, which is conducted in Xuzhou Prefecture, which has jurisdiction over the county, and is presided over by the prefect. The form of the prefectural examination is similar to that of the prefectural examination, and it is also three in a row, and if the prefectural examination is passed, you can participate in the subsequent hospital examination. The hospital examination is a show talent, so that he can participate in the future township examination, imperial examination, and palace examination.

Xue Jiao secretly thought, isn't this just the same as the entrance exam in her previous life, high school, university, graduate school, doctorate, it takes all the effort to read all the way.

There are a total of seven students in the private school who participated in the county examination, only Qi An and Han Xingjian were able to participate in the government examination, which is not easy for the rural private school, many students do not study to take the Xiucai examination, but to know a few words, Huang Xiucai personally sent Qi An and Han Xingjian to participate in the government examination, and the school took a few days off.

Qi An came to the house for two sunny days, and it rained again not long after leaving.

An autumn rain and a cold, the day and place outside are full of golden leaves, and the fog makes people faint. Li went to help Cai's tailor Xueyan, Xue Ru and Jing Hao were drawing patterns, and Huang Dragonfly was also there today, sitting next to Jing Hao embroidering a flower skirt of his own, and from time to time he and Jing Hao discussed some tricks and lock the edges, Xue Jiao and Qi Ping sat in one place to draw big characters, and when they were tired of depicting the two of them, they played with the sieve.

The house was full of joy.

Everyone naturally talked about the Qi'an Mansion test.

“…… I heard that the government exam will take up to twenty people, and the students of the whole prefecture and city will gather together to take the exam, and I don't know if my brother will pass. Xue Ru frowned.

"I heard Master Huang say that my brother's basic skills are solid, and he belongs to winning while maintaining stability, I think there should be no problem." Xue Jiao passed the high school entrance examination and college entrance examination in her previous life, and her tragic Cheng dù was no less than the current government entrance examination. In such an exam, it is usually not the kind of students who are outstanding on weekdays to achieve rankings, but those students who usually do not show their dew but play steadily are easy to get ahead, according to her observation, Qi An belongs to that kind of person, so she is confident that her brother will win this government exam.

"My cousin has been studying hard day and night, and this time I will definitely be able to pass, I will listen to my mother. The eldest uncle was the county test, the government test, and the hospital test once. I heard that my uncle was still the head of the hospital examination. Jing Hao was chopping silk threads in his hands, wrapping them around his hands.

Dad was still the head of the case back then, and Xuejiao heard it for the first time. I can't help but look at my dad with admiration.

Huang Dragonfly raised his head when he heard this: "My father was the twelfth in the college examination that year, and he took the imperial examination twice, and he landed. However, I happened to hear that Master Qin was the youngest champion of this dynasty. ”

The youngest champion? Xue Jiao's heart suddenly moved.

"How could the youngest champion build a private school in our place?" Xue Ru and Jing Hao's eyes widened, the country girls of this era were shallow. Naturally, I couldn't figure out Master Qin's past, I only felt incredible.

"Your cousin is so good. This time, the county took the first place in the exam. When Huang Dragonfly said of Qi Lin, there was unconcealed cheerfulness in his tone.

Recently, Chen Qilin has been discussed in the village, which is nothing more than saying that he is young and handsome, and his future is immeasurable. looks like the material of being an official, and even overshadows Chen Xiucai's limelight of making a fortune outside. This is not a good thing for the Chen family's big house. These days, there have been rumors in the village and outside the village that the Chen family has made a fortune. People often see Li and Xuejiao's children to listen to the meaning of the family, after a long time, everyone is annoyed, and it is best to take the first place in the Qilin County test to withdraw the attention of the villagers from the big house.

"My cousin was smart when he was young." Chen Xuejiao praised in front of the dragonfly.

Who knew that Huang Dragonfly was interested in Qi Lin, and chattered endlessly, Xue Jiao was not familiar with this cousin, where did she know that he had so many things, so she had to stagger the topic with a perfunctory sentence.

Qi Ping heard Xue Jiao say that the imperial examination had to go through so many exams, and he frowned immediately: "I don't take that thing, I will help him plan with my father in the future." ”

After reading the book for half a year, I still don't forget the jì abacus. Every time Li and Xue Jiaopan embroidery workshop accounts, he sat by his side and listened attentively, and sometimes even calculated the numbers quickly and accurately.

Xue Jiao smiled when she heard his childish words: "Who let you take the imperial examination, the main purpose of studying is not to be a slaughterer for officials, but to be rational and literate, for example, you want to learn from your father in the future to run a business outside, you are illiterate and do not distinguish between right and wrong, it is extremely likely to be deceived, if you read the book and understand reason, it is not easy for others to fool you." ”

"I know, I mean the exam is difficult, and I didn't say I won't go to school." Qi Ping pouted, Xue Jiao covered her mouth and smiled, he probably forgot who got up every day to read and lose his temper.

The rain outside was falling quickly and densely, and the leaves were whirlwind and fluttering in the yard.

The original house seeped water when it rained, and the wall skin fell off with rainwater to become mottled, and the house was just freshly painted, and the roof was newly added with clay and stones, so no matter how heavy the rain was, there was no water seepage in the house. It's just that the house is a little small now, and Chen Xiucai handed boxes of clothes and fabrics to the house, and those boxes had nowhere to put them, so they had to be stuffed under the bed. Xue Jiao, Xue Ru, and Jing Hao were three girls crowded into a bed, and a circle of wooden planks was added to the edge of the bed, which creaked when stepped on. Xue Jiao did not agree with Li's idea, if a room was built, it would be impossible to expand into the yard, but only to expand to the vegetable garden at the back, so that the old lady Chen in the upper room might not be able to make some trouble, rather than making such a fuss, it is better to buy it outside as soon as possible, and move it over with the door and courtyard, these three old houses are not wanted, and now that they are separated, others can't say any gossip.

The water vapor outside was spilling down layer by layer, and Li had a knee pain when it rained on a cloudy day under the old lady Chen's hard work in the early years. Xue Jiao came up with a way to sprinkle quicklime on the four corners of the walls, and the moisture in the house was sucked away by the lime, and the whole house dried.

Xue Jiao and Qi Ping clapped their palms and played with the sieve, and the table was full of melon seeds, Jiang rice noodles, children's crisps and other food, and Qi Ping's cheeks were bulging, like a small meat bun.

Qi Ping kicked the quilt last night, and he had a fever when he got up in the morning, and he was much better after drinking a bowl of ginger soup. It's just that his body is still a little weak, so Li won't let him go out, for fear of blowing the wind and catching the cold. After playing for a while, Xue Ru went to bring four bowls of ginger soup and placed them on the table, this ginger soup was boiled in the morning and hung in the stove It was still hot at this time, and beckoned to his younger brothers and sisters: "It's cold." Drink a bowl of soup to get rid of the cold. Qi Ping took the rim of the bowl with both hands. With his eyes closed, he quietly grabbed a piece of children's cake and slid it into the center of the bowl. Mixed with ginger soup, he lifted it up and drank it all in one gulp, the spicy feeling choked out of his throat, and he coughed twice. Hand the bowl to the table: "It's spicy, it's spicy." He grabbed a honey bean in his hand and stuffed it into his mouth.

Xue Ru, Xue Jiao, and Jing Hao were all laughed by Qi Ping.

A cup of tea. Li walked in, although the north wing and the west wing were only separated by one road, but because of the dense rain, half of the courtyard was also covered with moisture.

Xue Jiao's eyes quickly brought a dry handkerchief. After sucking up the rainwater on Li's head and body, Xueru handed over a bowl of hot tea, and Li drank all the hot tea. Leaning on the pillow to watch Jing Hao draw patterns: "Jing Hao's hand is skillful, such a stroke." All the flexibility has come out, no wonder you dare to teach others, it turns out that others have learned your stitching, but they can't embroider such flexibility. ”

Jing Hao put down the pattern in his hand, touched the needle, and said with a smile: "Look at what the eldest concubine said, you have been to the third concubine for more than half a day, you must be hungry, eat something first to see what I describe." ”

Xue Ru brought a plate of osmanthus cake early, Li stuck a piece and ate it, and laughed: "If people are really more and more delicate, what was our family like in the past, not to mention osmanthus cake, even white-flour steamed buns are rare to eat a few times, at that time a meal could last for two days, and now a meal can't last for two hours, and it has to be filled in the middle." ”

Li these days, his smile has become softer and more cheerful, and his face is like a layer of honey, counting the days when Chen Xiucai returns home are only these two days, can she not be happy.

Xuejiao had something to discuss with the Li family, and when she saw that the Li family ate osmanthus cake and drank a bowl of hot tea, she said: "Mother, when my father comes back, I think we might as well start the business of salted duck eggs, just like an embroidery workshop, make a workshop, and hire someone to do the work." ”

Li knew that Xue Jiao had a big idea, and she thought about everything thoroughly, so she thought about it and frowned: "The yard is so big and ...... place."

Xue Ru also nodded, the family had discussed this matter before, but it was because the yard was too small, and if the workshop was opened, it would have to occupy the boundary of the big house, so this matter was put on hold.

Now the embroidery workshop is booming, there are entries every day, many daughters-in-law ask Li to enter the embroidery workshop to embroider, but the embroidery workshop is full of lonely and widowed people, if they go to the fear of the villagers gossiping, Li will refuse one by one. If you open a salted duck egg workshop at home, not only will the business expand, but also allow the villagers to earn a few pocket money.

"Mother, we can ask the village to discuss, there is so much idle land in the village, it is enough to rent a piece casually." Xue Jiao already had a plan in her heart.

Li Shi thought about it sideways: "This matter is not urgent, but your father will come to the house." ”

The Li family looked forward to it every day, counting on her husband to come back after selling cloth, and the August Festival was coming, and there was no reason why the family should not be reunited.

Chen Xiucai took a boat from southern Sichuan to sell Shu brocade back, because the fog of the Jialing River hindered the trip, and when the river was passed to Yuhang to sell Shu brocade, the account was settled slowly, he had the intention to come back in Qi'an County when he tried it, and he dragged it out to wait for the county test to pass just after the account, and hurriedly hired a boat to Xuzhou Mansion to rush to Yangzhou, cut off the waterway, and changed the cart to hurry up.

Li bought new cloth and hurriedly made a complete set of clothes, the previous patches were tired and patches could not be worn, Li did nothing at home, and the clothes for the four seasons were all done, and the new clothes and shoes in the box were already full.

The family prepared a complete August festival early, and the meat and vegetables were set early, and Zheng Huozi pulled it over in a car, half a sheep, two pairs of chickens, and ten catties of pork, even if the New Year was not so abundant.

After so many years of suffering, I have a good life today. Xue Jiao remembered that when she first came here last year, she was thankful for drinking a bowl of pimple soup, where did she think that she would have such a good life. In addition to herself, what she is most grateful for is Chen Xiucai's father, she never thought that Yi Xiucai would be willing to put down his body and go out to run business.

I must have suffered a lot outside.

The sky was overcast and it was going to rain again, and the Li family wrapped dumplings, pork and cabbage filling, and served them hot, and Qi Ping ate with his mouth full of oil.

Xue Jiao spoke next to Li: "Mother, my father is coming back, and my brother will end tomorrow, our days can be regarded as bitter." ”

Li pursed his lips and smiled, and stroked Xue Jiao's head: "I just hope that the future will be safe and secure, and I don't want it to be rich and rich." ”

After eating the dumplings, everyone washed up and went to bed to rest.

It rained again at night, the dense rain crackled and fell, and the eaves crackled, and as soon as Li finished blowing the lamp, she heard a knock on the door, she put on her clothes and walked to the door and asked, "Who?" ”

Outside the door was Chen Xiucai's voice: "me, it's me." His voice was full of joy, and Li ran out to open the door when he heard that it was still raining outside. (To be continued)