When Mr. Zhu came out of the house after changing into his still wet green cloth, the officials who came to announce the good news were already approaching with music and drums.
There were sounds of firecrackers outside the door.
"Hurry up, Uncle Zhu, get ready, firecrackers are being set off outside..." The villagers heard the approaching officials outside and hurriedly urged them.
Then, the villagers helped to clean up the yard, sweeping and watering, and arranging the tables and chairs. Some people brought fruits, peanuts and melon seeds from home and set up the table, waiting for the official to come in with the good news.
"Hurry, the third son's wife, go to the second son's wife and get some money to prepare red envelopes. All the money at home has been sent to the eldest son." When Old Mrs. Zhu was preparing the wedding money, she found that the money was not enough for the red envelopes, so she hurriedly urged the third son's wife to go to Zhu Ping'an's house to get some money to meet the emergency.
"Old sister, everyone is at the door, there is not enough time, I still have some, you can use it first."
"I have this too."
"And I..."
The villagers rushed to hand over the money they had on them to Old Lady Zhu, asking her to wrap it into red envelopes to give as rewards.
Just as they were ready, they heard a path being made clear for the people in the yard, and the yamen runners dressed in black and red clothes entered the Zhu family's old house with music and drums.
"Congratulations, congratulations to Mr. Zhu of your family for winning the first place in the boy's examination. The education official personally selected Mr. Zhu as a student in the stipend...⊕∽⊕∽, m..c＄om.."
"Congratulations to Mr. Zhu of your family for getting the first place in the imperial examination. He will surely win three prizes in a row and receive good news frequently in the future..."
"Congratulations, congratulations to the old man and old lady, the family has a baby boy. Wealth and prosperity are coming."
The yamen runners who came to announce the good news were all good at speaking and they recognized who was the family member of Mr. Zhu at a glance, and came forward to congratulate with a smile on their faces.
Listening to the words of the bailiff who brought the good news, the people of Xiahe Village were full of admiration. No wonder these bailiffs could hold posts in the county. Look at what they said, why can't we do that
"Congratulations, congratulations..." Old Master Zhu was as happy as if he had drunk half a catty of old wine. He cupped his hands in return and spoke incoherently, "Old lady, hurry up, hurry up. Give the money to them. It's not easy for them to come all the way here."
Old Mrs. Zhu seemed to be ten years younger. She handed the red envelope she had prepared to the messenger who brought the good news with a smile on her face.
"Haha, thank you, old man, old lady. Don't worry, don't worry. Wait until we read out the good news, and then you can take it away. This is a great event that brings honor to the family." The yamen runner holding the red paper was not in a hurry to receive the red envelope. He thought it would not be too late to receive the red envelope after reading out the good news first.
“Okay, okay... That makes sense...,” Old Master Zhu nodded repeatedly, smiling from ear to ear.
"Congratulations to Mr. Zhu Ping'an of your family, who is now honored as the governor of Nanzhili. He was selected as the first scholar in the Anqing Prefecture's imperial examination, and he is also a student of Huaining County Academy and has won the provincial examinations."
The yamen runner holding the red paper unfolded the red paper good news and read it out in a moving voice.
After reading it, the yamen runner was surprised to find that the whole yard suddenly became silent. The old man opposite who was grinning from ear to ear also closed his mouth at this time, mumbling something to himself.
What's up
How come this family has such a long reaction time
It was fine just now
How come he was so happy after reading the good news? He seemed to be stunned. Oh, that's right, maybe he was shocked by what he heard from the education official, or maybe he was too surprised by the unexpected surprise of the student on the government stipend. After all, the government gives the student on the government stipend four taels of silver every year, not to mention the benefits such as rice, flour and oil.
How could the bailiff who brought the good news know that a thousand horses were roaring in Mr. Zhu's heart? He thought that the scholar's father was so happy that he had gone silly.
The yard was quiet for a few seconds before someone spoke in a trembling voice.
"It was a mistake..."
Made a mistake
Hearing this, the yamen runner who was reading the red paper announcement hurriedly lowered his head and read it again, word by word. He did not read any word wrong. How could he have made a mistake? He had even practiced it several times on the way.
"Wrong, it's wrong."
The sounds in the yard came one after another...
The yamen runner blushed and read the good news again. It was right! Uh, could it be that everyone is playing a joke on us together? The people in Xiahe Village are really interesting.
"You are wrong. They have separated. This is Zhu Shouren's family. Zhu Ping'an is his nephew. We just passed by Zhu Ping'an's house..."
ah
The bailiff was stunned. Did he go to the wrong door
In fact, it is not their fault. Think about it, the postman from Yingtian Prefecture changed three fast horses and arrived at Huaining County overnight. The time was tight and Huaining County was far away from Xiahe Village. The official in charge of issuing the certificate did not expect that Zhu Ping'an would be a young man.
If the people from the town came to report the good news, they would not have made a mistake. However, the people from the county were bound to make some mistakes, and they were also misled by the villagers. Due to a series of factors, such a mistake occurred.
At this time, at the door of Zhu Ping'an's house, Chen looked at the bustling old house from afar, and walked into the house with a lost shoe pad, out of sight, out of mind... ...
His uncle...
God must have been confused for a while, which allowed this kind of person to take advantage of the opportunity...
Chen felt uncomfortable and didn't feel like continuing to sew shoe soles after entering the yard. She decided to go back to her room and rest for a while before continuing.
Chen had just entered the room and sat on the bed when she heard the sound of music and fighting outside.
Is it ever going to end
So, Chen couldn't help but frown again.
Why are you showing off
What made Chen even more depressed was that the sounds of music seemed to have entered the yard, and even the firecrackers seemed to be set off outside the gate.
What is the old house doing? There is no need to show off like this. Is this the eldest sister-in-law’s idea
This was because she was dissatisfied with not going to the old house to congratulate. Thinking about her husband's character, Chen gritted her teeth, counted out a hundred coins from the bedside, put them in her handkerchief, and prepared a gift to avoid people blocking the door!
As soon as Chen came out of the inner room, she saw many people coming into the yard.
"Oh, second sister-in-law, congratulations. I had a dream on the day when Zhui'er was taking the exam. It said a golden toad jumped to your house. I asked someone to tell my fortune and it said Zhui'er would definitely pass the exam. Sure enough, Zhui'er worked hard and now he passed the exam and ranked first."
Little Fourth Aunt took the lead in grabbing Chen's hand and congratulating her, acting like a good sister-in-law.
On the other side, my aunt, who was dragged here by the crowd, watched the golden toad jumping into my room...
"Congratulations to Ping An's mother..."
"Congratulations to the second family, you are really great to be safe."
"Ever since I was little, I've seen that your Ping An is not an ordinary person..."
Chen was stunned for a while before he realized that this was a mistake. The one who went to high school was his second child, not his uncle...
As a result, Chen's frown suddenly relaxed, the discomfort in her heart suddenly became relieved, and the disappointment on her face suddenly turned into a bright and beautiful smile.
"No, no, my second child is just luckier..."
Chen said it very modestly, but he couldn't hide his pride... (To be continued...)u