The whole village is fleeing famine, fortunately I have a concubine system

Wang Zhuzi scratched his head and said, "I'm just curious, so I'm asking. Hehe, I'm asking."

"Brother, the first place in the case is the first among the scholars."

Wang Chengzi saw that Old Lady Wang was feeling guilty, so he took over the conversation and spoke to Wang Zhuzi.

"Well, first place means first place. Why are you still talking about first place? Just say first place."

Zhao Lishui came out with a bowl in hand. After hearing what Wang Zhuzi said, she said two things to him:

"You are just a peasant, so you can't be a scholar. We don't know much about scholars' affairs, even if we hear about them, we don't understand them.

Let's eat quickly. The white noodles are topped with eggs. They are so delicious. Come and eat them."

The two of them quickly sat down at the table, picked up their bowls and started eating.

"It smells so good, it's obvious that it was made by Daya Niang.

It smells so good.”

Zhao Lishui listened to Wang Zhuzi praising her delicious cooking and proudly put her hands on her waist and said, "That's right, I'm not bragging, my cooking is one of the best in the village."

"Yeah, that's right. My auntie cooks really delicious food."

Zhang Xing'er also served Xiaomi a small bowl of food, and she was now lying on the table eating it with great relish.

When Zhao Lishui heard Xiaomi also praising her, she laughed even harder.

"If it tastes good, eat more. Tomorrow, your aunt will make you dumplings. Can she make them with oil-dregs and Chinese cabbage?"

Xiaomi nodded, drooling at the thought of Zhao Li's dumplings: "I want two bowls."

"Okay, I'll give you two bowls."

Wang Zhuzi ate a bowl of noodles but still felt hungry.

He went to the kitchen to get another bowl, and didn't eat at the table. Instead, he sat directly on the steps.

After the meal, he washed the dishes. Seeing that Old Lady Wang was in a good mood, he went up to her.

First, he poured a glass of water for Old Lady Wang, then squatted beside her with the glass in his hands.

"Hey, mom, drink some water."

Old Mrs. Wang glanced at Wang Zhuzi, took the water from his hand and took a sip.

"Tell me what's going on?"

When Old Lady Wang saw Wang Zhuzi's expression, she knew that he wanted to ask her something.

"Mom understands me. I want to raise pigs."

Old Mrs. Wang thought it would be okay to raise one or two cows, as her own factory could also save her some money.

He said to Wang Zhuzi: "Okay, if you want to raise it, then raise it."

"Well, I know that mother is the best. I calculated it and just gave me ten taels of silver first.

I'll give you more if you have more."

When Old Lady Wang heard Wang Zhuzi say that he needed ten taels of silver to raise pigs, she put down her work and yelled at Wang Zhuzi:

"How much? Are you raising a gold pig or a silver pig? You want ten taels of silver for two broken pigs!"

As he said this, he rolled up his sleeves and twisted Wang Zhuzi's ear.

"My dear, bring me a stick. The thicker the better."

After saying that, she glared at Wang Zhuzi and said, "You are so good, Wang Zhuzi, now you dare to lie to me.

I think you are really itching for trouble."

"Gentle, gentle, my ears are about to fall off."

"Grandma, please show mercy."

Xiaomi quickly ran over and held Old Lady Wang's hand.

She said to Old Lady Wang, “Grandma, it was me who asked Uncle to try raising pigs.

It’s not just one or two pigs, it’s a herd of pigs.”

Only then did Old Lady Wang loosen her hand that was twisting Wang Zhuzi's ear.

But he still slapped Wang Zhuzi on the back of his head. The crisp sound of the slap hurt Xiaomi.

"It's all your fault for not explaining clearly. If you had explained clearly, would I have misunderstood you?"

Wang Zhuzi covered his ears which were pulled red and looked at Old Lady Wang with a wronged look on his face.

Old Mrs. Wang looked at a middle-aged man in his thirties, who was squatting on the ground and looking at her aggrievedly, with tears even welling up in his eyes.

It's really eye-catching to see such a ferocious-looking man behave like this.

Old Mrs. Wang just took a glance and then looked away.

He waved his hands at Wang Zhuzi and said impatiently, "Alright, alright, keep it if you want. I'll get you the money."

After saying this, she left quickly, thinking that even though he was her eldest son, she couldn't bear to see him like this.

After giving the silver to Wang Zhuzi, Wang Zhuzi happily went to find Qian Lizheng to buy land and build a pig house.

When Qian Lizheng saw that Wang Zhuzi was coming to buy land, he wrote a land deed for him at the most fair price without saying a word.

Considering that no matter how clean the pig house is, there will still be some smell, Wang Zhuzi chose a place a little further away from the village this time.

It's also a downwind location, so no smell will blow into the village.

After buying the land, Wang Zhuzi started building the pig house without stopping.

Wang Chengzi had things to do here. On the one hand, he had to go to the county government to register his identity, and then register his family’s land.

This way, the family won’t have to pay taxes anymore.

On the other hand, we need to prepare for next year's spring examination.

This requires going to an academy. After preparing everything, I went to Yongzhang Academy in the south of the city.

This academy happened to be the one where Qian Yongye studied, and it was also the only academy in the city run by a juren.

After arriving there, the headmaster first asked some questions and then read the articles Wang Chengzi wrote when he passed the imperial examination.

After confirming Wang Chengzi's knowledge, he was allowed to study in the academy.

Everyone in the Wang family now has their own things to do, except Xiaomi, of course.

Just as Wang Chengzi and Qian Yongye were preparing for the next spring imperial examination, a piece of news spread from Kyoto to all parts of the country.

Wang Chengzi suddenly returned to the Wang family, and Old Mrs. Wang thought it was not the day for him to come back.

So I asked, "Why are you back now? Are you missing something?"

Wang Chengzi had a tense face and said to Old Lady Wang in a half-crying voice, "The Emperor has passed away."

Old Lady Wang was just a commoner. In fact, it didn’t matter to them who was the emperor.

As long as they can have enough food and warm clothing, that's enough.

Old Mrs. Wang didn't know why Wang Chengzi had such an expression.

Zhang Xing'er seemed to have noticed something and said, "Brother Cheng, is there any change in the Spring Examination?"

Wang Chengzi smiled bitterly and nodded: "Cancelled, it will be held three years later."

Now Old Lady Wang knew why Wang Chengzi had such an expression.

"Why did you cancel it just like that? This is so terrible..."

Zhang Xing'er saw that Old Lady Wang wanted to say something, so she quickly grabbed Old Lady Wang's hand and said, "Mom, be careful with your words."

Only then did Old Lady Wang realize what she had almost said.

He quickly made a few "Pooh" sounds and stopped talking.

He just looked at Wang Chengzi with a worried look.

Wang Chengzi looked at his family members who looked worried, fearing that he would be unable to get over it.

"I'm fine, don't worry about me.

I just feel that my knowledge is not good enough, so it’s good that I can polish it more.”

The others breathed a sigh of relief when they saw Wang Chengzi's look.

"It's OK. Don't leave today. I'll make dumplings for you later."

Old Lady Wang saw that Wang Chengzi was in better condition, but she was still worried about letting him go.

After that, the family was not idle either.

I found some white cloth and hung it at the door of my house. Soon, white cloth was hung everywhere, fluttering in the wind.

Zhao Lishui stayed in the grocery store and also hung up the white cloth.