I grabbed his hand with some uncertainty, "Do you really want to go to the army?" ”

His eyes showed confusion: "What do you do in the army?" My grandfather was in a troubled era, and he was invincible to martial arts, but the country must be strong, and civil and military forces must be equal. [And while I respect my grandfather, I would like to fulfill my father's wishes.] Besides, I prefer reading books to force, Lan, or you know me best. ”

I really don't dare to take the last sentence seriously, who knows what he thinks when he expresses vaguely and vaguely? But it's best not to go to the army, I'm worried about his safety, let's go to Beijing to catch the exam, at least there is no risk between exams, but it's just a problem of not taking the exam.

Later, the original room of the widow was sorted out and used as a library, which made room for our room, and only a few books he wanted to read were left in the room.

From this day on, I was sorrowful and ...... There is an indescribable anxiety. The sad thing is that Ah Ping, this kid is like being beaten with chicken blood, and he has become a nerd completely. Sometimes I can be so serious that I forget to sleep and eat, and I can't see my butt move after shouting a few times, so I have to bring the food to the room.

Once I woke up hazy at night and found that there was no one around, so I subconsciously touched the edge of the bed, because in the past, he ran away from the bottom of the bed when there was no one around. But the feeling was wrong, and his eyes squinted a line, and he saw a figure sitting on his back under the oil lamp.

As the sleepiness faded, I sat up from the bed, my eyes blurred.

The anxiety in my heart has always been suppressed, because I don't want to influence his thoughts, but every time I look at his back like this, I have the illusion that he is gradually moving away from me.

Sometimes he comforts himself that if he wants to follow his grandfather's example to join the army, he may have left home. There is at least one more cycle to go to Beijing to catch the exam, and I will not embark on the road away from home until the exam starts, giving me a buffer time. But so what? It was only a matter of time before he would leave the house.

Covering his eyes with his hands, he forced back the increasingly condensed sourness in his eyes, and then called softly: "Ah Ping." ”

Hearing this, he turned his head, "Lan, why are you awake?" ”

I said, "Go to sleep, it's never too late to get up tomorrow morning and watch again." He obediently put down the scroll in his hand and walked over, lifting the cold air that had been brought in by him, and he did not dare to approach me, and shrank in the corner. Pulled him over angrily, although he was intimidated, he still said: "You can just run out at night to read at night in the future, it's not bad for this time." ”

Ah Ping muttered something I didn't hear clearly, "What did you say?" ”

"The difference is time." A cool palm held my hand, and his eyes locked on me.

My heart is gradually sinking, some things do not exist unless they are escaped, and the question I have not dared to ask is finally put in front of me: "When will I go to the exam?" His eyes blinked, and he spat out two words: "February." ”

I'm shocked, it's January now, isn't February coming soon?

Holding his hand tightly, his nails were digging into the flesh without knowing it, he only knew that he instinctively repelled it, and said with a trembling expression: "Ah Ping, are you joking with me?" Tell me about the imperial examination system, how can it be so fast, by the way, don't you have to have a township test first, are you going to the township test next month? ”

I have the impression that you don't need to go to the capital for the township test, and you have to pass this exam before you can enter Beijing.

But I heard Ah Ping say: "It is true that the imperial examination is divided into the township examination, the meeting examination and the palace examination, and the township examination is held by the north and south Zhili and the local examinations held by the political envoys, once every three years, every child, meridian, mao, and unitary year, and the examination period is in the autumn and August, so it is also called the autumn period." ”

Hearing this, my eyes lit up, the township test will not be until August, and there will be more than half a year.

But Ah Ping then said: "Grandfather can dredge up the relationship and avoid my township test, so I have to rush to the spring of the next year and go directly to Beijing." Possible...... I'm going to leave after Chinese New Year's Eve. ”

There was a buzzing in his head, and he stared at him in a daze that he couldn't say a word. Chinese New Year's Eve is January 31, today is 21, that is, there are only ten days left?

I pinched my thigh hard and let the pain sober me up. Stared into his eyes word by word: "Ah Ping, you tell me the truth, what kind of agreement did you make with your grandfather?" "He's going to go out alone in ten days, and if I don't even know about it, it won't matter so much to him.

You can see that there is hesitation between his eyebrows, but he quickly said to me ruthlessly: "My grandfather made a bet with me to exempt me from the township examination, but I must be in the general examination and the top three in the palace examination." ”

He didn't say the bet, but I had already guessed, "Is the bet me?" ”

Sure enough, he nodded and took me into his arms, "Lan, believe that I will definitely win grandfather." ”

Gritted his teeth, "Well, trust you. "What else? It was a contest between him and his grandfather, and the stakes were mine, and although I was unwilling, I couldn't rush over and beat him up. He pursed his lips and asked, "How many people is Huiyuan?" ”

"First."

"......" I was deeply affected by the high-pressure exam, and I was slow to look up to the number one, so I had to be a top student. Can our Ah Ping do it? Would his grandfather have raised the bar too high? And after the trial, there will be a palace test, and it has to be the top three, champion, list, and flower? It's a huge pressure to think about, no wonder Ah Ping is chewing books like he's desperate these days, and it is estimated that he hasn't worked so hard in the past 18 years.

I have long noticed that there is a green shadow under his eyes, and I may have woken up tonight and seen it, but maybe he has been studying so hard every night these days, not to win his grandfather, nor to seek fame and fortune, but for just me.

When I woke up the next day, I didn't mention it again, and it was like a normal day, this was the first year I had with Ah Ping, and I had to find something to suit the situation. So he read in the room, and I cleaned in the house or busy in the stove, and specially brewed osmanthus wine, it doesn't matter if it doesn't take long, just wait until Chinese New Year's Eve to have the aroma of wine.

In addition, I found that Uncle Mu was piling up firewood in bundles into the yard, and half of the space was already occupied, so I couldn't help asking: "Uncle Mu, why did you get so much firewood?" This can be burned for half a year. ”

Uncle Mu is usually a stuffy person who doesn't talk much, and this time when I asked, he replied: "It's always good to prepare more." ”

Seeing his stiff back walking out of sight, I couldn't help but think of the little thief Chen Ergou, and it really made me admire, he could slip away under Uncle Mu's hands, thinking that Chen Ergou would never set foot on this land again after running away this time, count him lucky.

In a blink of an eye, it was Chinese New Year's Eve, Ah Ping and I got up early in the morning, and he did not burrow into the room to read, but rolled noodles with me in the stove room to make stuffing and dumplings. My concept of Chinese New Year's Eve is that I must eat dumplings on Chinese New Year's Eve, and I made two kinds of fillings, one is whole meat and the other is vegan.

Almost in the afternoon, it began to be lively outside, whose baby should be holding firecrackers, and there will be a spring cow party in the village in the evening, and the whole village will rush to join in the fun. I asked Ah Ping to call Uncle Mu over, and took out the osmanthus brew, and the three of them were about to eat around the table, but I didn't expect Lao Langzhong to come to the door and bring a pot of wine.

I thought that there was an apricot in his house, so I didn't let Ah Ping call it, and now people took the initiative to come to the door, so there was no reason to push people out. I looked at the stove and saw that the amount of dumplings was sufficient, so I was relieved.

The wine brought by the old man is called Tusu wine, and it is said that there is an allusion that Tusu is a kind of house, and the wine brewed in this house is called Tusu wine. Listening to the old man's eloquent talk, he said that this wine is added with rhubarb, atractylodes, cinnamon branches, parsnip, pepper, aconite, aconite and other traditional Chinese medicines. Drinking on Chinese New Year's Eve can slaughter filth, but there is a rule for drinking. Generally, drinking starts with the elderly, but this Tusu wine has to be drunk from the young children first.

The youngest in the room was naturally Ah Ping, who glanced at me and drank my glass of wine with some reluctance. The next thing I have to drink is that the wine smells medicinal in my mouth, and to be honest, it doesn't taste good. Later, Uncle Mu and Lao Langzhong opened up to drink, so a table of four people, you and I have a cup, accompanied by dumplings and talking, it can be regarded as a lively New Year.

Later, when the banquet dispersed, the table was in a mess, and only the osmanthus brewed by me was left.

After the Chinese New Year's Eve dinner, the firecrackers outside were thunderous, and all of us moved outside to catch the excitement. By the way, he grabbed a handful of candy on his body, and when he met the children in the village, he could eat it.

The first five years were spent in Batou Village on A-Niang's side, so I didn't know that the villagers in Ginkgo Village were so enthusiastic during the New Year, almost everyone took something to eat in their hands, and stuffed it to each other when they saw people. In comparison, my handful of sugar seemed a little shabby, but fortunately, everyone would not mind this festive day, so when the party was over, Ah Ping and I came back with a lot of things in our hands, all of which were pastries, sweet potatoes, and even two pots of wine.

After washing, neither of them entered the room, but moved two chairs to sit in the courtyard and brought the two pots of wine.

It is very tacit to hold a pot in each person's hand, take a sip intentionally or unintentionally, and then listen to the sound of firecrackers outside that still has not subsided. The starry sky above his head is spreading, and this scene should be matched with fine wine, and I heard the people around me say slowly: "Daughter-in-law, our family's silver is resting at the bottom of the underground book wall, remember to get it when you want to use it." ”

I smiled, "How much silver?" ”

He paused and said, "It should be enough for you." ”

That's probably a lot, I couldn't figure out how his family was so generous, and a dowry of ten taels of silver was given, but later, although I didn't see the money at home, whether it was food or clothing, it was not bad. Now I think I'm afraid that there is a small vault underground, and it's no wonder that the thieves have been worried about it twice.