Rebirth: The whole family travels through time together: Fubao Koi is busy eating melons

As soon as Zhang Louxuan stepped into the courtyard, he respectfully saluted Zhou Xiucai, and then excitedly reported the good news that he had won the first place in the county examination.

Zhou Xiucai did not show much surprise at the news. Instead, he showed an expected indifference: "Not bad. I was thinking that if I can't even get into the top three in the county exam, you should stop calling me Master."

After sharing the good news, it was naturally time to settle accounts with Xiaobai.

Mr. Zhou pointed at Xiaobai, who was nestling beside Xiao Youniang, looking innocent but actually naughty, and began to list the various losses caused by it in the past few days.

Even Xu Liyun, who had always been against corporal punishment of children, couldn't help but pat Xiaobai on the head as a sign of blame after listening to Zhou Xiucai's statement.

Although they were very unhappy, the Zhang family finally made compensation sincerely and promised to strictly discipline Xiaobai to prevent similar incidents from happening again.

The next morning, when the first ray of sunlight shone on the thatched hut, Zhang Rui knocked on the door.

Zhang Laoer opened the door and found out that it was the village chief who had arranged for him to lead the Zhang family to the ancestral hall to worship their ancestors and inform them of the good news that Zhang Sanwa had won the first place in the high school entrance examination.

Zhang Louxuan heard this, but declined politely, "This is just the first place in the county exam. I haven't even been awarded the title of Tongsheng yet. If I go to pay respect to my ancestors like this, I'm afraid it will become a laughing stock. It's better to wait until I take the prefectural exam before doing this."

The provincial examination is in April, and it’s coming up in a flash.

Zhang Rui told the village chief exactly what his son said. The village chief rolled his eyes and nodded in agreement.

Deep down in his heart, he was also curious about whether the golden egg of Zhang's third child could hatch a real phoenix.

Let’s put the village chief’s thoughts aside for now, but the other people in the village would never miss this opportunity to show off their family.

Before, rumors were rife in the village about Zhang Sanwa studying under Mr. Zhou, and many families secretly thought that since even a child like Zhang Sanwa could be accepted as a disciple by Mr. Zhou, wouldn’t their own smart and clever children have more hope?

So, they brought their children to visit him, but they didn't expect that Mr. Zhou would ask for one hundred taels of silver as tuition per year!

This number shocked the villagers. One hundred taels of silver was simply a sky-high price!

However, what was unexpected was that this Mr. Zhou, who charged a high fee, was indeed very capable and in a short period of time he became the best student in the county.

As a result, villagers came to Zhang's thatched cottage in an endless stream. In addition to congratulating them, they also praised Zhang Louxuan as if he were a god, and at the same time they did not forget to inquire about Zhou Xiucai's situation.

The Zhang family had already prepared for this. Whenever someone asked, they would give a unified answer: "Mr. Zhou's tuition is one hundred taels of silver a year!"

As for why Mr. Zhou accepted Zhang Louxuan as his apprentice, there is only one answer - their family once saved Mr. Zhou's life!

With these two reasons, the villagers gradually stopped having illusions about Zhou Xiucai.

After all, one hundred taels of silver is an astronomical figure for most families, and it would be difficult to raise the sum even if one sold all their property.

The thatched cottage was immersed in celebration, with people coming to congratulate every day, but the atmosphere at the old house was particularly heavy.

Zhang Fu squatted on the doorstep, sighing constantly.

Hu Cuimei had a sad look on her face and simply prepared dinner.

Boss Zhang is still nowhere to be found and no one knows where he has gone.

In the western courtyard, Old Mrs. Zhang was still trying earnestly to persuade her eldest grandson.

Ever since the county exam results were announced and Zhang Dawa failed while Zhang Sanwa won, Dawa locked himself in the room and refused to communicate with anyone.

Mrs. Zhang and her family tried to persuade him for several days in a row, but this darling of hers only showed up briefly during meal times and spent the rest of the time hiding in her room, ignoring the world.

While feeling distressed, Old Mrs. Zhang couldn't help but secretly blame Zhang Sanwa in the thatched cottage.

What gave him the courage to surpass the eldest child in the exam? This complex emotion, like an invisible thread, affects the fate of the two families and quietly sows new waves in the village.

The anger in Mrs. Zhang's heart grew like weeds, but she was helpless and could only grit her teeth.

Over at the thatched cottage, with the protection of the village chief, the family stood up straight. No matter how dissatisfied she was, she could not intervene. This helplessness was like a heavy stone pressing on her heart, making her feel powerless.

She sighed again, a sigh mixed with fatigue and helplessness. She continued to persuade the closed wooden door with all her tenderness and patience: "Big boy, don't be angry with yourself anymore. Zhang Sanwa was just lucky this time. How can he compare to you in the next exam? My big boy, open the door quickly and let grandma see. I haven't heard your voice for so many days. Grandma's heart is almost eaten away by worry."

However, the house remained silent, without any response.

At this time, Boss Zhang staggered back, drunk. As soon as he stepped into the yard, he saw his mother coaxing him in a low voice, and his father and wife had worries on their faces. A suppressed emotion instantly surged into his heart, making him feel suffocated.

"Mother, why do you have to persuade him like this? The family saved money and sold everything they had to send him to such an expensive private school, hoping that he would learn something, but what happened? The teacher had long ago reminded him not to rush for success, saying that he did not have a solid foundation. But he refused to listen and even asked the family to scrape together money to find someone to guarantee him for the exam. Now, let alone fame and fortune, he has not even passed the threshold of the county exam. Our hard-earned money has just gone down the drain. And he still has the nerve to throw a tantrum here!"

Anger and disappointment were intertwined in Boss Zhang's words, like pieces of paper blown away by the wind, floating everywhere.

Ever since the second and third brothers separated from the family, his parents and wife placed all their hopes on Zhang Dawa, hoping that he would pass the imperial examination as soon as possible, bring honor to the family, and make the other two families regret it.

Old man Zhang was proud of this at first. His son was promising and as a father he was naturally proud of it.

But this glory did not last long, and Old Man Zhang gradually realized that something was wrong.

Everything in the family seemed to revolve around the eldest child, and he seemed to have become a transparent man. Occasionally, he would be blamed for not being able to resist gambling and losing the tuition fees he had prepared for the eldest child.

As time went by, Old Man Zhang became increasingly resentful of his own son.

Especially since that kid didn't listen to the teacher's advice and insisted on taking the county exam, but ended up getting nothing, the knot in Old Man Zhang's heart started to grow like a snowball.

Mrs. Zhang loved her grandson very much, and she couldn't stand her son complaining like that. She slammed her hand on the table in anger and shouted angrily, "What nonsense are you talking about! He is your son after all. Can't he complain after a little frustration?"

"What setbacks did he suffer? He was the one who asked for money, he was the one who complained that the pens and ink bought by our family were not good and insisted on the best, he said that his classmates looked down on him, and the family was almost emptied out by him, but it was still him. Didn't he always say that he studied very well every time he went home, and the teacher praised him? In the end, after working so hard for a long time, his grades were not as good as Zhang Sanwa in the village! A few days ago, weren't you fooled around by him, and you boasted to others all day long about how smart our eldest child was, saying that he was the god of literature and would definitely get a good score in the exam. Now, the aunts in the village are all laughing at us, saying that we can only brag and do nothing!"