Along the way, they sent away fat wealthy businessmen and failed scholars one after another, and soon after arriving in Huaining County, Zhu Ping'an was the only one left in the carriage.
The closer he got to home, the more excited Zhu Ping'an became.
The caged bird longs for the old forest, the fish in the pond longs for the old pond. There is no place warmer than home, and there are no people warmer than family. It's beautiful outside, but I have to go home.
Arriving at Kaoshan Town, Zhu Ping'an bid farewell to the carriage and horse company, put on his bag and walked around the town for a while to buy some small gifts for his family. He bought a silver earring for his mother, a small jar of ten-year-old wine for his father, and a bag of high-quality tobacco for his grandfather...
After buying the things and carefully packing them in a bag, Zhu Ping'an walked out of the town with the bag on his back.
At the intersection leading out of Kaoshan Town, there was a strange oxcart parked. It was much longer and wider than ordinary oxcarts, with two rows of seats and a clean tarpaulin roof on top to protect against rain and sun. In front of the oxcart was a big, strong black ox with its tail hanging down and a big bell hanging around its neck.
There were already five people sitting in the carriage. A sturdy bronze man in front of the big black bull was holding a basin of water to feed the bull.
"Hey, Shouyi, look at that boy coming over there, is he your little boy?" An old lady in the car saw Zhu Pingan walking towards them from a distance. She felt that he looked familiar and couldn't help but speak to the man in front who was holding a basin to feed the cows.
"Auntie, you're here again. This is the third time this month alone." The bronzed, sturdy man said with a wry smile, and continued to feed the cow salt water without looking up. He had been fooled twice, so how could he be fooled for the third time? After the cow finished drinking, he had to hurry home. If he got home late, his mother would complain again.
Zhu Ping'an recognized his own ox cart at a glance; it was too conspicuous, so he carried his bag and walked towards the ox cart.
"Shouyi, Shouyi, it's really your second little boy. A few days ago, people from the town came to your door and beat drums and gongs. It wasn't your second little boy who came back." The old lady sitting on the ox cart looked at Zhu Ping'an who was getting closer and closer. She believed her own eyes more and more, and excitedly stretched out her hand and patted the man who was feeding the cows on the shoulder.
"Auntie, please stop making trouble. Once Dahei finishes drinking this basin of water, I will drive the cart to take everyone home." The sturdy bronze man who was feeding the cows smiled bitterly, as if he was scared of being cheated by the lady on the ox cart.
The old lady was so excited that she didn't know what to say to make the man who was feeding the cows believe her. Unfortunately, the other people on the cart were not from Xiahe Village and didn't know Zhu Ping'an. This made the old lady even more confused about what to say to make the man who was feeding the cows believe her. She just patted the man on the shoulder several times and kept saying, "It's true, it's true..."
Although the old lady had never heard the story of the boy who cried wolf, her mood was exactly the same as that of the shepherd boy in the story.
"Dad, I'm back."
Just as the big black bull was about to drink up the entire basin of water, the man feeding the bull suddenly heard a familiar voice coming from above his head.
Familiar, this voice is so familiar that you can hear it even if you cover your ears.
The man feeding the cows became excited.
As for the excitement of the man feeding the cows, Big Black Bull has the best say: I was drinking the water, well, the water was a little salty, very delicious, and I was about to finish it, but I didn't expect, I never expected, the basin suddenly pressed up my nose... I choked and tears came out...
The man who was feeding the cow, Zhu Shouyi, Zhu Ping'an's father, was so excited that he pressed the basin in his hand against the nose of the big black cow. He no longer cared about feeding the cow, but looked up at Zhu Ping'an. His dull and honest face suddenly broke into a smile, and then he pretended to be casual and said:
"Why are you back? Someone from the government office in town came to our house a few days ago to announce that you passed some exam and became a Tongsheng. They also said that you might continue to study there and then go to Yingtian to take the exam again."
Zhu Ping'an put his bag on the ox cart, said hello to the old lady and others on the ox cart, and took the basin from Zhu Shouyi to help feed the oxen. While feeding the oxen, he explained to his father: "The college entrance examination will not be until August. It's only April now. There's still a lot of time. I can review at home. Besides, the food mother cooks is more than a hundred times better than what you can eat outside."
"It will take half a month to go back and forth, so you might as well stay there to review." Zhu's father rubbed his hands, then checked the rope buckle of the ox cart and said to Zhu Ping'an.
Before Zhu Pingan could speak, the aunt in the car interrupted, "Zi'er, don't believe your father. You don't even know how happy your father was when I first teased him that you were here."
“Ahem, Auntie, you’re just talking nonsense…” Father Zhu felt a little embarrassed, but luckily his face was dark and the redness couldn’t be seen at all.
After Zhu Ping'an got on the car, three more people got on one after another. There were nine people in total in the car. Zhu's father waved the whip and drove the big black bull out of the town.
The car was also very lively. When the passengers knew that the person sitting in the car was the youngest student in the town who had been the talk of the town recently, they either surrounded Zhu Ping'an to ask questions or surrounded Zhu's father to ask him how to educate children, etc. For a moment, it felt like a child with excellent grades in modern college entrance examinations being surrounded by parents to ask for experience.
Zhu's father drove the ox cart along this curved line in an S shape to send people from different villages to their homes. After driving the ox cart for so many years, Zhu's father could almost accurately send people to their homes with his eyes closed.
When they returned to Xiahe Village, the only passenger on the ox cart was the old lady. The old lady was a talkative person and chatted with Zhu Pingan and Zhu's father all the way on the ox cart.
After entering Xiahe Village, he met villagers he knew one after another. When the villagers saw Zhu Ping'an, they all praised him. It seems that the good news announced by the people from the town a few days ago with drums and gongs had a great impact. At least almost everyone in the village knew that Zhu Ping'an had passed the examination and became a Tongsheng, and he was the first in the entire Anqing Prefecture. You should know that the highest academic degree in the entire Xiahe Village is Tongsheng, and it was my uncle who took the exam for many years and finally passed it. When the villagers sent Zhu Ping'an and others to take the exam, no one expected that Zhu Ping'an could pass the Tongsheng exam. Now Zhu Ping'an not only passed it, but also became the first in the entire Anqing Prefecture. So when people saw Zhu Ping'an, they wanted to see Zhu Ping'an in glory. It was too rare.
Zhu Ping'an also greeted his neighbors one by one, which made them very happy and felt proud. The villagers care about this.
Because I spent more time talking with my neighbors, my mother Chen had already prepared dinner when I got home.
I heard the conversation between my eldest brother and my mother before I even entered the door.
"Mom, why did you cook a large table of dishes again? Chicken and fish. We can't finish them all." This was the eldest brother's voice.
"What do you know? What if Zhuer comes back? He is not as lucky as you out there, not being able to eat the meals I cook every day. I don't know if Zhuer has become thinner again..." The mother's voice came soon.
“The food in restaurants outside tastes better…” the eldest brother muttered softly.
"What, Dachuan, say it again, I didn't hear it clearly!" The mother's voice rose three points.
"Ahem, I said my mom's food is much better than what is cooked in restaurants outside..."
Under the power of his mother Chen, the dull and honest eldest brother was forced to say flattering words. It seems that the eldest brother has been punished for this in the past two days.