This time, Zhu Pingan borrowed three books from the black-bellied girl's house, all of which were for the upcoming imperial examinations and provincial examinations. The idea of borrowing some miscellaneous books that he had thought of before had long since disappeared without a trace. Zhu Pingan still knew when to do what.
The moon is bright, the wind is clear, the water is flowing, and the fireflies are dancing and the frogs are croaking.
After dinner, Zhu Pingan read at his desk by the oil lamp on the table. Having lived two lives, Zhu Pingan deeply understood the truth that time is money.
How many people, holding swords and riding horses, talk about poetry and wine while they are young, but how many people know that the years are just a blink of an eye. If you don't want to be like the moon in the well and the flowers in the water, you have to cherish every inch of time, work hard when you should work hard, struggle when you should struggle, and when it's time to enjoy yourself, you won't be without a girl in your arms and money in your hands.
The sword is sharpened by grinding, and the fragrance of plum blossoms comes from the bitter cold. The life of a loser in the previous life was largely due to his lack of diligence and hard work, so in this life, in this feudal Ming Dynasty, Zhu Ping'an learned from his lessons, worked hard, and never stopped.
The wind is howling, the night is quiet, the lamp is out and another night has passed.
At dawn, Zhu Ping'an got up early and left the room. At this time, there were still several lost stars in the sky.
He walked to the stone beside the well in the yard, laid a black wooden board as usual, scooped a bucket of well water, washed his hands and face, then poured the water into a groove in the stone. He used the oxtail brush that his father had made for him in his early years, dipped it in clear water, and wrote on the stone.
Before his mother, who was supposed to get up early to cook, got up to cook, Zhu Ping'an had already put the black wooden board and the brush back into the room, took a few volumes of books for copying, slung a cloth bag over his shoulder, and went out to the river.
The riverside is quiet and the breeze is blowing. It is a good place to read a book.
When the sun rose in the east and the roosters roared towards Xiahe Village, Zhu Pingan put away the book in his hand and slowly returned home.
My mother, Chen, had just prepared breakfast, and the whole yard was filled with the aroma of breakfast.
"What delicious food did mother cook? It smells so good?" Zhu Ping'an sniffed it hard and flattered her.
"You're just sweet-talking."
Mother Chen smiled happily.
Another day has begun in Xiahe Village. Zhu's father goes to drive a ox cart to make money. Now Zhu's father seems to have fallen in love with this job. He happily drives the big black ox out every day and talks a lot more.
One afternoon three days later, an official came from the county and delivered a copy of the communique from Yingtian Prefecture to Zhu Ping'an's home.
"The emperor's grace is great. I will follow the imperial edict and go to Yingtian on October 20 to examine all the students. Those who have made great progress in their studies will be retained to wait for the imperial examination; those who have neglected their studies will be demoted to become officials and civilians; those who fail to come without reason will be severely punished."
As expected, it was still a suspended examination, but fortunately it was on October 20th, and the location was also Yingtian Prefecture. After the examination, there were only a few days before the provincial examination. It was just in time for the provincial examination, and I didn't have to travel back and forth.
Calculating the time, there are still nearly twenty days left before the scientific expedition.
That's enough time.
A few days later, the autumn wind brought the fragrance of rice. Large fields of rice stood quietly in the fields, dreaming. The neatly arranged rice stalks stood straight, held in the hands of autumn. They stretched to the farthest place in front of and behind Xiahe Village. Standing on a high place and looking around, all you can see are golden rice.
Xiahe Village began to get busy because the rice was ripe.
On this day, Zhu Ping'an changed into a short coarse cloth shirt early in the morning and went to the fields with his parents and elder brother to harvest rice.
"Brother Zhu, what are you doing? Go back and read." The eldest brother Zhu Pingchuan was sharp-eyed. When he saw Zhu Ping'an changed into a short coarse cloth shirt, he immediately understood what his younger brother wanted to do, and could not help but ask Zhu Ping'an to go back to his room and read.
"Hey, I didn't see you changing clothes in the blink of an eye. Stop fooling around and go read your book." Upon hearing this, mother Chen also saw Zhu Ping'an coming out of the door. She exclaimed in surprise and asked Zhu Ping'an to go back to his room and read.
"Zi'er, don't go. I, your brother and your mother are enough. I won't go to drive the cart these days because of the busy farming season." Zhu's father did the same, asking Zhu Ping'an to go back to his room and read. Although Zhu's father always thought it was better for boys to sweat more, when Zhu Ping'an was about to take the imperial examination, Zhu's father still thought it was better for Zhu Ping'an to read at home.
Zhu Ping'an, wearing a short coarse cloth shirt, walked up to his parents and brother, and said with a simple smile, "I've been reading for too long, my arms and legs are a little rusty, so it's a good time to go to the fields to relax. Besides, I've been reading at home these days, and I'm a little tired, so I'll just take it as a break. I used to go to the fields, too, it's nothing, it's just for these two days."
In recent years, Zhu Ping'an's family has purchased a lot of land. If his parents and older brother were asked to go to the fields to harvest, who knows how long they would have to work.
"One more or one less won't make much difference." Mother Chen was reluctant to let Zhu Ping'an go to the fields. "You are already a scholar, why do you still need to work in the fields? You should go and read your books."
"Mom, I am also a strong laborer. What's more, even the current emperor will go to the fields at a specific time to encourage people to engage in agriculture and sericulture, not to mention that I am just a little scholar." Zhu Ping'an smiled innocently and took the sickle from his mother Chen.
"One more day of reading won't make much difference, and one less day of reading won't make much difference. My son has already memorized the books in his mind. It won't be a problem for him to read silently while working." Zhu Ping'an continued to lobby.
Zhu Ping'an's parents and brother couldn't convince him, so they had to agree to let him go to the fields with them, but only for one day and he was not allowed to come with them again.
Walking on the road, many villagers looked at Zhu Ping'an in surprise, who was wearing a coarse cloth short coat, a straw hat and holding a sickle, and were very curious.
"Why did Master Xiao Zhu go to the fields?"
"Why is the scholar here again?"
The villagers either came out of curiosity or as a joke, but they would ask whenever they saw me.
"Scholars are also human beings who need to eat. The current emperor sets an example and encourages people to study agriculture and sericulture, let alone me, a small scholar." Zhu Ping'an explained to the villagers with a naive smile.
When they arrived at the fields, Zhu Ping'an followed his parents and brothers to the fields, sweating profusely as they harvested rice.
Zhu Ping'an's fields are together with the fields of the Zhu family's old house. Only his grandfather, his third uncle and Zhu Pingjun work in the fields of the Zhu family's old house. Zhu Pingjun is still slacking off and not working hard.
After harvesting, Zhu Pingan learned that his fourth uncle was sick again. This time he had a stomachache last night. His uncle Zhu Shouren was still studying at home as usual.
The grandfather who was harvesting rice in the field looked at Zhu Ping'an who was working hard and sweating not far away, and thought of his eldest son at home. He was filled with emotion, as they were both scholars.
Zhu Ping'an's family puts the harvested rice on a bullock cart. Zhu Ping'an's bullock cart is bigger and can carry more, one trip is twice as much as others. The bullock cart puts the harvested rice on the field, which is a higher flat land used for drying and threshing crops. It is flat and dry.
The fields in Xiahe Village are all together, and each family puts the harvested rice here. After drying it for several days, it is threshed with stone rollers pulled by oxen.
From morning to night, Zhu Ping'an followed his parents and brothers to harvest rice all day long. When he went to bed at night, his arms felt sore.
Everything is inferior, only reading is superior. Zhu Ping'an couldn't help but sigh before going to bed. He must study harder in the future. (To be continued...)
P.S. Sorry, I overestimated my ability to update, so I will update three times today. I will continue to work hard tomorrow, so everyone should go to bed early.