Joyful Motherhood in a Rural Family

She glanced deeply at Mr. Meng, and the group finally took their leave.

Watching the departing backs of the people, Mr. Meng finally put down the brush in his hand and ran over quickly to close the room door, taking out the silver money and carefully counting it.

“Hehehe… Country bumpkin is really country bumpkin! For bundling education gifts, only two taels of the five taels need to be handed in, and only two and a half taels for a set of clothes worth five taels. Adding up the two, they just made a net profit of eleven taels of silver! Hehe, haha… It still comes faster with silver! I can buy a pot of wine and have a good time tonight…”

He flicked the abacus in his hand, the beads making a pattering sound, as he raised his eyebrows triumphantly.

Of course, Liu Sisi and the others who had already left were unaware of all this.

Liu Sisi got into the carriage, Di Xuan also climbed onto Di Yelei’s back, and sat on the back of the jujube red horse. On the other side, Zhang Yun also climbed onto Zhang Peng’s back.

The group slowly proceeded toward the three-way intersection.

Liu Sisi, after some thought, lifted the carriage curtain: “Brother Zhang, why not simply come with me and take a trip to the bookstore. Take a look at which kind of four treasures of the study Yun’er likes, carefully choose a set, and consider it a gift from Ye Lei and me to congratulate him on passing the test of Elder Mr. Xu and becoming a disciple under Elder Mr. Xu’s guidance!”

“How can this be? A set of four treasures of the study is indeed not cheap, this is too valuable!”

Zhang Peng repeatedly declined and refused to accept.

At the side, Di Yelei became angry, intercepting Zhang Peng aside: “Zhang Peng, don’t decline any more. This gift is given to your son Zhang Yun, not to you, and you have nothing to do with it, so you don’t need to speak.”

“You, you… Ah! Alright! Yun’er really did achieve something today, and has actually become a disciple of Elder Mr. Xu.”

Zhang Peng, also extremely happy, loudly shared what he had learned: “Previously, I had heard some things. Elder Mr. Xu has been teaching for more than 20 years, and has taught a total of 186 students. Among them, 152 passed the Cultivated Talent exam, 62 became Recommended men, and 8 even became Imperial Scholars. Such a high proportion of passing the exams is the real ability of him. As a result, every year at the beginning of the year, countless aspiring students come to pay their respects to him. And Elder Mr. Xu generally only choses a few people each year, and there are even times when no one is selected for several years in a row.”

The endless words of Zhang Peng made everyone marvel, “To have such a high proportion of passing the exam for fame, no wonder everyone is scrambling to get ahead.”

“In fact, I still can’t believe that the two children were able to pass the test, even now it’s still foggy and I don’t dare to believe that this is true.”

“Hey! I can’t believe it either, it’s not just you, sister-in-law,” Zhang Peng replied, holding the reins and curiously asking Zhang Yun behind him, “What test did Elder Mr. Xu give you two today?”

Di Xuan shook his head in confusion: “He didn’t give us a test. At that time, we entered the alley, and there was no one in sight. Who knew that while we were discussing, two men came…”

Di Xuan naturally recounted the events, with Zhang Yun occasionally supplementing on the side.

As Liu Sisi had said, when they arrived at the bookstore, she naturally let Zhang Yun choose a set of the four treasures of the study. Zhang Yun finally set his eyes on a set after much picking and choosing.

Liu Sisi picked it up and saw that although the price was slightly more expensive than the ordinary ones, it was still a waste considering that no baby would be using it in the next few years.

Without further ado, Liu Sisi went to fetch a considerable amount of paper and handed it to him.

“Come! Take a look at these, this is a gift I prepared for you early in the morning. Now it’s just right for you. See if you like it or not?”

Liu Sisi gave a mysterious smile, handing over the four treasures of the study to him, and said nothing more about the matter.

She went into the inner room and brought out another set of items, handing them to Zhang Yun.

“What is this?”

Zhang Yun asked as he curiously unwrapped the gift.

“It’s a drawing board and rice paper!” An excited Di Xuan said nearby. “You’ve always wanted to learn painting, haven’t you, Zhang Yun? Now you can!”

“Yes, I really like this gift. Thank you, Third Aunt.”

Zhang Yun was thrilled, holding the drawing board fondly.

“By the way, Xuan’er and Yun’er. Traditionally, after joining the village school, you two should choose a course in music, chess, calligraphy, or painting to learn. Which musical instrument do you plan to learn?” Di Yelei, who had more knowledge, asked.

“I want to learn the qin.” Zhang Yun chimed in first.

Di Xuan thought for a long time but still seemed uncertain. “I… I don’t know yet. Let’s wait and see.”

“That’s right! Xuan’er, it’s good to be cautious. This is related to personal preferences.” Zhang Peng naturally praised them both.

Liu Sisi was also smiling, packing up two sets of all the items the children would need and bringing them home.

Besides themselves, the bookstore was full of parents and children coming to select the four treasures of the study.

The best-selling ones were the more affordable ones.

This made Liu Sisi sigh; it seemed that the four treasures of the study had always been costly for ordinary farmers’ families!

When their packing was finished and they were about to head home, Liu Sisi checked the time. It was getting late, so it would be better to visit the county tomorrow!

However, the sounds of excitement from outside streets poured in, making the atmosphere lively and bustling.

“Mom, it’s so lively outside. Shall we go and take a look?”

YingEr’s sharp ears had already heard the excitement outside.

“Outside, they are performing dragon-lion dances and stilt-walking. They started yesterday. When they reached our shop, I gave them 100 copper coins, but they still wouldn’t leave. In the end, I had to give another 100 coins before they moved on.”

“Oh? How many people are performing the lion dance?” Liu Sisi asked curiously, looking toward the door.

“There are six lion dancers and countless stilt walkers. Cheng’er didn’t know what to do, so he had to use money to get rid of them.”

“That’s good then. Everyone is praying for a good harvest in the coming year. It’s just some money, and it can bring about a festive and fruitful year, so why not?” Liu Sisi was happy too.

Di Cheng was also happy: “That’s what Cheng’er thought too, so he didn’t skimp on the reward money. By the way, Third Aunt… ”

Di Cheng’s cheeks flushed slightly, hesitating a few times before speaking.

“What’s wrong? Just tell me, don’t be so hesitant. Could it be that you want to find a wife? You’re so shy.” Liu Sisi teased him.

Di Cheng’s whole face flushed, awkwardly scratching his head. “Third Aunt, you really guessed right. It’s about finding a wife.”