When it came time to count the scores, Du Heng entered the finals relying on his Nongsang knowledge scores.
The Six Arts Hall and the Limin Hall are popular, the competition is fierce, and the rewards are very high. Many students have good grades but fail to make it to the finals. However, some students see that the scores of the Nongsang Hall are lower, so they want to come. The next best thing.
However, the young master from a wealthy family in Tai’an is not very interested in the matter of Nongsang, and he has no practical knowledge. Even if he can’t go to the Liuyi Museum, Nongsang and Limin are more inclined to the latter.
Du Heng wished that they would not come to the Nongsang Pavilion, so that this guy was already his defeated opponent, and he could directly take the first place.
For the recruitment of newcomers this time, the Six Arts Hall registered 12 people, and the Nongsang Hall and Limin Hall each admitted five people.
In fact, the competition between the Nongsang Pavilion and the Limin Pavilion is still very big. You Huo, who combined the rewards, said to Du Heng with a smile: "Junior brother, based on your points, this time the first place will definitely be yours. Don't take it." You won’t be able to enter our Nongsang Museum.”
Du Heng rubbed his hands
together: “Come in, come in.” He chatted and laughed with You Huo a few times, feeling faintly as if someone was always staring at him, but he didn’t look back when he glanced back. No one was seen, for no reason, it seemed that there was a poisonous snake hiding in the jungle, ready to jump out and bite him at any time.
There was no one to be found, Du Heng felt more relaxed, and only wanted to finish the last game and go home early, just to take a rest in the next two days.
The method of the last exam in the Nongsang Hall is also simple. There are only one exam question, and everyone expresses their opinions.
In fact, the most important thing is that all the students play together in the morning to earn points, and selecting people to enter the library is only one of the purposes.
What's more, it's already noon, and everyone is a little hungry. It doesn't matter if these students are hungry, the people who come to watch the meeting have to finish the last project before going to the banquet together.
It would be impolite to make those country gentry and officials starve.
The Nongsang Hall is not as lively as the other two halls, so it is naturally easier to choose candidates.
The fact that there are few people here is not only because the students are not active, but because the county magistrate or any famous gentry came to visit.
This parent official is undoubtedly a direction indicator, where the wind blows, it will naturally face the sun.
However, Du Heng also came to the conclusion that those people above didn't care much about Nongsang.
The six arts are a must for scientific examinations, and it is the basis for examining whether a scholar is outstanding. The six arts are a matter of elegance and preparation for the upper class. It is a thing linked to political achievements, and it is necessary to say a thing or two about emotion, reason, and pretense.
Nong Sang is caught in the middle, the one who is respected is not clear, and the second is that Nong Sang is ordinary.
Du Heng was silent and listened to the examiner's questions.
It turned out that it was Ling Mo who wrote down the cultivation and autumn harvest process of the three important crops in Luoxia County.
Du Heng shook his head with a smile, picked up a pen and dropped rice, corn and sweet potatoes.
These are the three crops that almost all farmers in Luoxia County currently grow.
The topic is simple and simple, but anyone who has eyes can see the corn seedlings growing tall at the joints in the countryside. It is difficult to say, but if you want to write out the time and method of planting it completely, you have to read the reference Have people really touched it or observed it carefully?
Unfortunately, Du Heng once got up before dawn to plant. He was concise and to the point, but he handed in the answer sheet within a quarter of an hour.
The scholar sitting next to Du Heng couldn't help being flustered when he saw this. He originally wrote very detailed, but he didn't write much on Du Heng's answer sheet, so he immediately changed his detailed way of writing.
After Du Heng handed in the answer sheet, he went to the side and strung up all the prizes he won today with fine hemp rope, and took the main examiner to finish the answer sheet, and won the first place without any accident.
The principle is to combine points with the final test. Du Heng, who was combined first, is the first, and there are no mistakes in the test, so naturally the reward cannot be lowered.
So Du Heng received the first prize amid the cheers of everyone, a heavy twenty taels of silver.
This little money is nothing more than an insignificant sum of money to others, maybe it is just the cost of buying a piece of jade, a jade bone embroidered face fan, but what is more important is the title and reputation of the first.
Du Heng is more vulgar, because he took a fancy to this bonus, which is two years of tuition fees, the income to buy two large animals and one year of farming.
After the list of the top five personnel was announced, the students who were not selected dispersed one after another. The five people who were selected into the Nongsang Museum this time stayed alone to listen to a few words of congratulations from the curator, and said some simple rules on the outside. After that, the recruiting this time was considered complete.
Du Heng listened to You Huo's lecture, and took a look at the selected people, none of them were from their classroom, but there was a man named Meng Huaishan who looked familiar to him.
He is not very tall, and his face is a bit dark. Du Heng is sure that he has never met someone in the academy.
Unable to find the reason why this person was familiar, Meng Huaishan tilted his head, and the two looked at each other.
Du Heng clearly sensed the unkindness and disgust in that gaze.
He was startled, not knowing when he offended this person.
"Senior Brother You, the master is urgent."
Suddenly someone said, and You Huo held back the eloquent words: "If that's the case, let's stop here today. In short, we welcome a few students to join us. In the future, we still have a chance to talk."
Today, the magistrate of the county also came to the academy, and after the assembly, the officials, squires, and masters of the academy will have a banquet together.
Such a banquet must have two proud disciples as companions, You Huo is one of them.
Du Heng was let go as soon as he waited for the newcomer.
"Junior Brother Du Heng, I'll go first, and I'll talk about it after returning to the academy in three days."
Before leaving, You Huo patted Du Heng on the shoulder.
"Okay, brother, go slowly."
After seeing You Huo striding away, several newcomers couldn't help being curious about Du Heng: "The first one is really highly regarded by the curator, but I don't know where it came from.
" A small money peddler, I don’t know how the Academy has included this person in the courtyard.”
The voice was not too low, and it was difficult for Du Heng, who was about to leave, not to hear him.
He has always been good-natured, but he really didn't know where he offended this person. He heard the words and said, "Did the academy come up with a regulation that hawkers can't enter the door to study, or did the court promulgate a new law? Xiao Ke is ignorant, so I ask my classmates to give me some advice." "
Meng Huaishan didn't want Du Heng to dare to challenge him directly, he sneered: "Study is such a glorious thing, you were selling pigs at the street stall, and took the opportunity to cling to Mu Ti, the young master of the same confidant. , can you have a chance to enter the academy?"
He exposed Du Heng's old background without leaving any sympathy. Scholars have always been noble and thin-skinned. Even if he sells pigs in the market, he will be disgraced just by listening to them.
Seeing that Du Heng's face is like a crown of jade, his body is trim and upright, and he is in the limelight today, people who don't know him think he is some noble young master.
"Thanks to the academy's uniform uniform, which conceals the poverty of some people."
Since Du Heng can do things like peddling in the street, he won't feel ashamed because of Meng Huaishan's words:
"It doesn't matter if I'm poor or not. The scientific examination didn't affect others. It's just that classmate Meng said that I entered the academy according to senior brother Mu's momentum, so I have to clarify that I was admitted to the academy by the head of the academy because I won the first place in the children's examination. Enrolling in the academy is also based on the regulations. It’s a test, classmate Meng just wants to slander people’s innocence, does it mean that the academy can’t do cheating?” Meng Huaishan’s face
paled, anyone who dares to insult the reputation of the academy, others say it’s fine, the most taboo is that the scholars in his own academy don’t cherish it reputation in the yard.
Seeing this, the rest of the idle scholars quickly acted as peacemakers: "Misunderstanding, it's just a misunderstanding. It's just a friendship between classmates, so there's no need for that.
" ..."
After a few persuasion, Du Heng was not the kind of person who chased and entangled others.
But now he knows that this person must be the scholar he and Xiaoman met last winter when they were selling snacks in the market.
So I got a little impression, that day Meng Huaishan disliked the shabby lo mei and refused to eat it, and left with the scholar next to him.
The hatchback never imagined that one day they would be in the same courtyard, and today they would steal Meng Huaishan's limelight.
If he hadn't come, he would have been No. 1.
Du Heng never wanted to stand out in the academy, most of the same academy are people with backers, he only needs to devote himself to studying and earn a reputation is the most important thing.
Like the museum room, he didn't intend to get involved, and he came here because he was attracted by the prizes.
The result was that the prize was won, and she got into trouble again.
It is not easy to have the best of both worlds.
After a lot of tossing and leaving the academy, it was already afternoon, and it was more than half an hour earlier than the usual class dismissal time.
It was the most venomous weather in June, and Du Heng didn't feel too hot in the academy. The reason is that two large lotus vats were generously placed in the courtyard today to let Chen Bing dissipate heat and cool down.
I haven't seen Chen Bing's miraculous effects in the academy yet, and I feel the scorching sun after I'm far away, as if I've stepped into the stuffy stomach of a monster.
He was under the scorching sun, and he was already hungry. He stuffed some of the prizes in the book box, but not all of them. He carried the big and small bags and wanted to go to the gate of the city to find an ox cart and go back.
So he couldn't help hesitating, whether he should eat something before going back or go all the way to the city gate.
When he was thinking about it, he heard a loud shout: "Aheng!"
Du Heng looked at him, his eyes narrowed slightly due to the scorching sun, and suddenly a few big black spots blocked his vision, and they became bright again. There is a smiling brother in front of him.
"Oh, you stuffed stones into the bookcase, why is the bookcase so heavy today!"
Qin Xiaoman ran over and took Du Heng's bookcase first.
"Why did you come to the county? When I heard someone calling me, I thought it was the scorching sun, and I had a hallucination!" "
I came here specially to pick you up."
The two were very happy to see each other. The unhappiness in the academy was also swept away, and the two returned side by side to the ox cart parked in the distance under a big banyan tree, and when they threw all the things on the cart, they felt relieved.
Qin Xiaoman wiped off his sweat, and handed the food on one side to Du Heng: "The lotus leaf chicken, the stall owner sells almost all of them, so give me the price.
" Morning, I came here before noon and waited, but I saw the scholars come out one after another, but I didn’t see you. Thinking that I didn’t come out so late, I must be hungry.”
Du Heng tore open the lotus leaf. The chicken was not fat, but a young chicken weighing two catties, but it was better than the roasted lotus leaf. He smelled it and really whetted his appetite.
After dismantling the chicken legs, I handed them to Qin Xiaoman first: "My senior brothers are always delaying each other, and if they are delayed, they will be delayed for a long time. If the master hadn't been called away, I'm afraid I could delay a stick of incense." Qin Xiaoman pulled
up Niu Sheng took a bite of the grilled chicken and said, "Eat it, I just ate a bowl of noodles at the stall where we used to set up. The street management here is very loud, for fear that the cow will be caught by him. It's too late, I'm so urgent."
Du Heng ate the chicken legs that Qin Xiaoman had gnawed, the weather was hot, Qin Xiaoman had obviously been here for some time, and his cheeks were already a little red from the sun.
In the scorching sun, the back is sweating after a while.
In this scorching weather in Maojiao, people are already anxious and bored, but it is hard for him to wait for more than an hour and still have a good voice, and buy him food again.
Du Heng took out a towel from his sleeve, wiped the sweat off Qin Xiaoman's forehead, and when he got out of the shade, he took a straw hat from the cart and put it on Qin Xiaoman: "I kept you waiting." "What's the matter?
" I’ve stayed at home for so long during
the confinement period, so it’s good to come out for a stroll.” The street market is still full of hawkers, and Du Heng sees that there are many street stalls selling cold food and ice drinks. If you can enjoy a glass of iced sour plum juice at this time , the whole body must be refreshed.
The price is not high, it is packed in a bamboo tube, and it costs three yuan a cup. Du Heng bargained for five yuan and bought two cups. When he was studying alone in the county, he never spent bad money, not even a penny or two.
In addition, I bought two big cold melons in the street market, and bought two silver carp from the fisherman for takeaway.
Qin Xiaoman saw that the person was going to spend a lot today, so he didn't stop him. Finally, he saw the person returned to the ox cart and asked, "Do you want to go home and cook?"
Du Heng smiled and took out the prize money he won today, Qin Xiaoman's eyes widened. They all stared round, and after learning the origin of the money, they slapped their thighs: "Why didn't you say you were a treat earlier, so you didn't buy more food. Go, turn around and go back!"
"You keep the money, and there will be opportunities to spend it in the future."
Qin Xiaoman pushed back: "This is the bonus you won, keep it for yourself, I have no intention of taking it."
Du Heng said: "I sincerely want to give it to you ." Yours, since I came to the county to study, I haven't been able to take good care of you and the children, and you are in charge of the family affairs, I have nothing else to do except study, there is no place to spend, and you still keep the money."
Said Thinking of this, Qin Xiaoman couldn't help sighing, today he sat outside the academy for a while, and saw the scholars coming out of the academy one by one, even though they were all dressed in uniform, but the rich ones in the family inevitably put their minds elsewhere.
The adornment around the waist, the fan pendant, can be seen to be extraordinary. And after school like this, they all go to have tea and have fun in groups of threes and fours, so they can be happy wantonly.
Du Heng didn't have the time and conditions to get along with his classmates after class.
Qin Xiaoman couldn't help thinking, it would be great if he could live in the county seat, he wouldn't have to worry so much, and he could spend more time studying and socializing with his classmates.
"Huh?"
Du Heng recalled Qin Xiaoman's thoughts, and then stuffed the money into the money bag on his waist: "It should be for Brother Yi to earn money, and when he gets older, he will have to ask for fruit and playthings." Yes."
Speaking of the child, he couldn't help smiling: "But then again, the academy is generous." "
Of course, after all, we have paid a lot of tuition." Du Heng raised his chin: "There are some rewards, if you think Boring, you can take it apart and have a look now."
Qin Xiaoman couldn't wait, he lost the reins and turned over on the cart behind him, so frizzy that he didn't look like he had just given birth.
After looking at it, Qin Xiaoman was originally happy because Du Heng had won a prize of twenty taels, but he was even more delighted to see all the salt, vegetable seeds, rice and white noodles.
"This salt is delicate and white, but well salt worth hundreds of pennies a catty, it tastes good when you put it in the dishes. It's a good thing!"
"There is also this cooling oil, which refreshes the mind and improves eyesight. When you take a shower, put a little bit of it in the bath water to repel mosquitoes. My father used to use this when he was poor, and my younger father bought it for him when he saved money." Du Heng
said : "Use it for Brother Yi when he takes a shower. In this weather, I'm afraid that the child will get prickly heat." "
The things are all good. There was a leg of lamb, but it's a pity that my classmates won it away." "
These It’s all amazing, and I think it’s useful to take pictures of everything at home.”
“It’s good if you like it.”
Du Heng raised the corner of his mouth, sometimes there was shade on the official road, and sometimes it wasn’t, his back was sweating, seeing Qin Xiaoman was happy, he didn't feel the sweat on his vest was so stinging anymore.
After a while, he thought again: "Why don't you call me husband now, but you are still unhappy because of the first thing?" "Didn't you not like
me calling you husband before?"
It was still rolling, and turned straight back.
"Why did you bring up an old account again?"
Qin Xiaoman laughed: "It is said that scholars pay attention to etiquette, and it is good to be reserved. Everyone I yell at the gate of the academy knows that you are my husband-in-law, that's all. Don't laugh at you for having a vulgar and ignorant husband!"
"Who cares about that, I'd like you to call me Mr. Husband." Du Heng held Qin Xiaoman's sweaty hand without being afraid of the heat.
Qin Xiaoman leaned close to Du Heng's ear: "What a good husband~ I'll be more happy to ask you to keep it under the covers when I go back."
Du Heng's ears turned red: "Don't mess around, you're already a father and you're not in shape."
Seeing Du Heng pulling the ox rope, Qin Xiaoman looked embarrassed and smiled like a big white goose in the field, pretending to be serious, he didn't know Du Heng's nature yet.
The more he was like this, the more he wanted to hold back.
He took off the hat on his head and fanned Du Heng, but continued to tease people with no good intentions: "Are you hot? Look at your little face is burning red, how about I lighten your fire?" "Stop making trouble
, Sit still."
The two laughed and quarreled until the house was drenched in sweat.
Du Heng went back and took a shower with cold water. There were two large basins of well water in the house, not far from Chengyi.
When it was hot in the afternoon, water celery dozed off for a while while fanning the cool breeze in front of the well water.
The summer is scorching, and the days are long, but they pass quickly.
Qin Xiaoman has not been idle since he was confinement, and led Da Zhuang up the mountain to arrange firewood. He heard that there was a country gentleman's wife and children in the city who thought it was too hot this summer, and wanted to build an elegant bamboo house on the village to cool off. .
He wanted to make money in his heart. The private mountain has been managed well in the past two years. The bamboo grows straight and thick.
Da Zhuang went to inquire and came back, saying that Cheng Zhu received twenty-five cents for a stick, and only Xiao could be placed on the official road.
Qin Xiaoman immediately accepted the job, and he could earn thousands of Wen for chopping a hundred or so bamboos.
It's just that it needs to be cut by itself, and it will be transported down the mountain, which will take a lot of manpower. But Xiaoman thought that now that the family has two big animals, it would be much easier to transport bamboo down the mountain.
Ever since, Qin Xiaoman took Da Zhuang to widen the road up the mountain to facilitate transportation.
The farmer at home came to help cut bamboo, and Qin Xiaoman promised that the bamboo branches shaved from the bamboo could be used as firewood to carry two loads back, so the farmer came to help whenever he had time.
In fact, the farmer households in the family are also struggling this year, because they first found less land to rent from the owner, and then joined Qin Xiaoman's family, so they have two employers.
The palms of the hands and the backs of the hands are full of flesh, so I have to help my boss's house when there is something to do, and I can run wherever I can.
Over time, I have a choice in my heart.
Du Heng and Qin Xiaoman are kind to people, but they often leak things to farm laborers through their fingers. Their hearts are full of flesh. Whoever treats them as human beings wants to tie them up as slaves based on an acre of land. I also have a number in my heart.
For this reason, the farm laborer turned his attention to the Qin family, and planned to serve this owner next year, so he would naturally work hard.
By the end of July, when the academy was on vacation for autumn, there were already half-person-high bamboos piled up in the courtyard.
Qin Xiaoman counted more than eighty bamboos, and called Da Zhuang to inform people that they were going to send the bamboo to the official road for handover, and then they were busy with the autumn harvest.
Du Heng picked up the little Chengyi who was kicking the thin quilt on the small bed, the little guy liked to spit bubbles all the time, and soon the skirt around the neck was wet.
The weather is hot and I am afraid that the child will spit too much and dry out, so he always needs to be fed water, but he is obedient and willing to drink, but he always urinates if he drinks too much.
"You little bastard, you pissed again if you didn't pay attention, the water can't do it."
Du Heng picked up the limp just now, and then touched the saliva cloth around his neck. It was still dry and about to collapse. He touched the diaper and found that it had drenched.
He had no choice but to put Bao'er down again, and carefully changed the diaper.
He has been doing this a lot since he came back for a while, and he is already familiar with the road, but it is better than the rough-handed Xiaomanbao.
Qin Xiaoman was even more happy to hand over the matter to him, Du Heng was not annoyed, knowing that Xiaoman's thoughts were all on that batch of bamboos recently.
In the afternoon, Du Heng hugged the little Baji who was blowing bubbles in front of the main room, blowing a rare cool breeze, and saw Da Zhuang running back dripping with sweat, with red cheeks coming back.
"Boss, the people over there say they won't take our bamboo anymore!"
Da Zhuang was out of breath, but still hurriedly said something important.
Qin Xiaoman was taking an afternoon nap on the mat in the main room, when he heard this, he immediately jumped up: "What do you mean you won't accept it?! But the price hasn't been negotiated yet?"
Da Zhuang shook his head: "The people at the other end said that they never promised to take our bamboo, and they had already bought the bamboo for construction a few days ago, so we don't want any price." Qin Xiaoman tightened his
grip Brows: "I even ran over to discuss the price with their manager personally. Now that the bamboo is ready, he actually said no, so he didn't want it, and he took us for who!" Seeing this, Du Heng said: "I'm afraid we met again
. Households with a lower price will ruin our family."
"I'll take a look with you."
Du Heng carried the child to Shui Xiancai, and the couple drove out in a horse-drawn cart, which was also faster.
Unexpectedly, the person at the other end hid away, and the two of them were not ready to leave when they saw no one, and it took a long time to come out.
He also said that he had never negotiated with their family to buy the bamboo, and those who did not sign or draw a deposit were simply uncountable.
It was said earlier that it was just a mistake and confusion by the people below.
Du Heng knew that he had no evidence to back it up, and he didn't have any evidence to take advantage of others.
Qin Xiaoman's intestines were green with regret: "It's still a big gentry, but it's so dishonest, it's not as good as the village people's promises, what they say is what they say." Du Heng comforted: "This person can't tell clearly
. I will be more trustworthy, just be more careful in the future."
Qin Xiaoman was a little bit hesitant, he thought that the matter was done, but it turned out to be a waste of time, and he has been busy for many days, but in the end, how can he not be angry .
And that bamboo is not a thing that can be stored for a long time, it will dry out soon when the weather is hot, how can it be sold at that time, I am afraid that it is only used as firewood, and bamboo cannot even be used as charcoal.
Du Heng looked at the high mountain and the cleanly shaved bamboo, he pursed his lips: "Perhaps we can turn it into something else and sell it."