The Yan family held a celebration banquet because Yan Lizhou passed the scholar examination. Originally, they wanted to hold a flowing banquet, but Yan Lizhou and Chen Yu persuaded them not to do so.
The flowing water mat is indeed very good and can reflect the happy mood of the family, but it is too high-profile.
Although Yan Lizhou was admitted as a scholar, he was only ranked third, and there was really no need for the flowing water seat.
However, this celebration banquet was also very grand. Not only the whole village was invited, but also relatives from other villages of Yan's father and Yan's mother, as well as Yan's daughter-in-law's natal family, Yan's daughter's mother-in-law's family, etc.
Chen Yu did not join in the fun. She, the daughter-in-law of the Yan family, had the idea to make the Yan family rich. In addition, she was a city girl, so she would not be allowed to work during the banquet.
Since you can afford such a banquet, you certainly can’t be stingy with the money for hiring people to do the work—even if it doesn’t cost money, the villagers and fellow villagers should still help.
The banquet was really lively. Every table on the table had a plate of braised pork, as well as various kinds of bone soup, fish, chicken, etc. There were really a lot of meat dishes.
"The Yan family is so proud that they have such meat and vegetables."
Those who had finished the banquet couldn't help but sigh.
As for why I didn’t say it at the banquet, it’s because if I expressed my opinion at the banquet, it would be easy for other people at the same table to take away the food.
It’s a rare opportunity to eat meat, and it’s such delicious meat that no one in the village or other villages can miss it.
“That braised pork is really delicious.”
"The braised pork is different on every table, right?"
“The one on our table was braised pork knuckle, which was really delicious.”
"Our table had braised pig's trotters. Although there wasn't a lot of meat, it was very delicious."
"Our table has braised pork head, which is also very delicious."
“Our table is served with soy sauce bones, super fragrant.”
Everyone was very satisfied with the banquet hosted by the Yan family. The women in charge of the cooking were the women of the Yan family. They improved their cooking skills after taking charge of the catering business, and the food they cooked was very delicious.
After the banquet, Yan Siniang and Yan Qiniang were still staying at Yan's house. They had not been back for a long time, so they had to stay for a while.
Then Chen Yun thought about finding a way to make money for Yan Siniang and Yan Qiniang, such as breeding and growing peppers, spices, etc. to provide raw materials for the Yan family.
Raising chickens, ducks, and rabbits are all very good livelihoods.
The Yan family really needs a lot of ingredients, so Yan Siniang and Yan Qiniang can discuss what to raise, and then sell them to the Yan family.
They grow peppers and spices because the Yan family needs them very much.
As for worrying about animals getting sick after raising too many animals, there is absolutely no need to worry. Chen Xun also has prescriptions to prevent diseases.
Therefore, under the care of Chen Yun and Yan Lizhou, the relatives of the Yan family became busy one after another and had hope in life.
The youngest children were all sent to school.
Now that the school in the village has been restarted, of course Yan Lizhou, a scholar, did not go to the school to become a master. He still had to prepare for the exam - he had to take part in the provincial exam in August.
The school in the village hired other teachers, so it was more appropriate to teach the children in the village to enlighten themselves.
*
In mid-July, Yan Lizhou went to the state capital to take part in the provincial examination.
The provincial examination is held in August, and students must rush to the state capital to prepare beforehand, otherwise it will be a disaster if the examination time is delayed.
Yan Lizhou took Chen Xun with him when he went to the state capital this time. He had nothing to do if he left his wife at home, so he might as well take her with him.
Not only Chen Xun, but also Yan Lizhou brought Yan Sanlang and his wife and their three sons with them, and the other children stayed in the village.
Yan Daqiang is fifteen years old, Yan Erqiang is thirteen years old, and Yan Sanqiang is eleven years old. They are all half-grown boys, so they went to the state capital with their parents to develop business.
The four younger children all stay in the village and go to school to study, so I won’t take them to the state capital with them.
Maybe they can wait until their family settles down in the state capital before taking all the children over. For now, it's better to stay in the village.
Yan Dazhuang and Yan Erzhuang looked at the third uncle's family with envy. They envied Daqiang, Erqiang, and the three strong brothers. None of them had been to the state capital.
"If you stay in the village, you have something to do. If there is a chance in the future, everyone will go to Fucheng." Yan Lizhou looked at Da Zhuang and the others and said.
"There is still business to be done in the village and the county. We can't all go to the state capital, so we can only let your third uncle and the others go first."
Of course Yan Dazhuang and the others also understand this truth, but they can't control their envy, and there's nothing they can do about it.
"Uncle Jiu, don't worry, we are just envious and will not be jealous of Daqiang and the others." Yan Erzhuang patted his chest and said.
"Don't worry, big and small, you can go there when we settle down in the state capital." Yan Lizhou said with a smile, "After all, as the business develops, we still need manpower."
"Uncle Jiu, let's just wait." Yan Erzhuang said with a smile.
Yan Lizhou said goodbye to Yan's father, Yan's mother, and the rest of the Yan family, and left the village with his wife and Yan Sanlang's family of five.
After arriving at the county seat, I didn't forget to say goodbye to the Chen family before heading to the state capital.
Yan Lizhou and his party arrived in Fucheng on July 25th. After arriving, they first stayed at the inn.
Then Yan Sanlang took his sons and walked around the streets to find out if anyone was selling or renting a house in Fucheng.
After Yan Lizhou arrived in Fucheng, he didn't read all day long. He took Chen Yu out for a walk to learn about the situation in Fucheng.
And he has to find out who the examiner is and what his preferences are.
There was no 100% correct answer in the ancient imperial examinations. It mainly depended on the examiner's preference to determine which article would be ranked higher.
Of course, if the content of the article is messy, it will be useless no matter how much the examiner likes it. The result of the exam will still depend 70% on the content of the article and 30% on the examiner's preference.
The reason why Yan Lizhou wanted to inquire about the examiner's preferences was because he wanted to be able to write in a way that would make the examiner like him when writing the article. If that didn't work, he might as well forget it.
"The state capital here is quite lively." After two days of visiting the capital city, Chen Yu and Yan Lizhou couldn't help but sigh, "It is indeed Jiangnan."
Jiangnan has always been very prosperous, but here it is relatively close to Suzhou, so it is even more prosperous.
After all, Suzhou has the reputation of "there is heaven above and Suzhou and Hangzhou below". Today's Suzhou is also very prosperous, not much worse than the capital city.
Although the state capital is not Suzhou, it is not far from Suzhou, and businessmen are accustomed to gathering here, making it look very lively and prosperous.
"It's okay, there is beauty unique to Jiangnan." Yan Lizhou nodded.
He used to be either in Chang'an, stationed in Northern Xinjiang, or in Western Xinjiang, and rarely visited places like Jiangnan.
Even when he went to the south, he went to Lingnan. In the southwest, he still rarely saw such gentle and beautiful scenery as Jiangnan.
"If the autumn season is over this time, how about we stay here in Fucheng for a while longer? Or go to Suzhou for a stroll?" Yan Lizhou looked at her and asked.
"Hmm? After the autumn semester, don't we still have to prepare for the spring semester exam?"
"It also takes time to rush from Jiangnan to the capital. If we still go to Suzhou to play, won't we be too late?"
Yan Lizhou said amusedly when he heard this, "What? Are you so confident in me? Do you believe that I will be able to pass the examination and take part in the examination?"
"Of course." Chen Yun said with a bright smile, "If you can't even pass the provincial examination, how can you boast that you won the top prize in Haikou?"
You must know that their mission goal is to get the top prize in the exam. If he can't even pass the provincial exam, then what else is there to take?