– Going to the Prefecture Center

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Lei Tie loftily sat there in silence with his eyes on Qin Mian. As if he had not heard Lei Daqiang’s words, he did not give him any response.

There was a loss in Lei Daqiang’s eyes as he faintly felt that he had lost this son of his.

“Yes, yes. Old Five, your eldest brother knows kung fu. I’ll be more rest assured with him sending you.” Du Shi looked at Lei Xiangzhi affectionately.

Lei Xiangzhi was also very delighted, “Eldest brother and eldest sister-in-law, won’t it delay your business?”

“Don’t worry, everything has been arranged. I’ve never been to the prefecture center. Your eldest brother said that he would take me around. Sending you off is a matter of convenience.” Qin Mian looked at Lei Tie as he said with a smile.

Lei Xiangzhi stood up and said, “Many thanks. To be honest with you, the teacher also specially told us that there are some bandits who caused trouble during the examination period. He told us not to be careless on the way and even arranged four home guards to escort us. With the eldest brother and eldest sister-in-law there, little brother feels more at ease.”

Lei Tie took out a purse and handed it to him, “This is 10 taels of broken silver, keep it on you.”

Lei Daqiang and Du Shi looked even more satisfied.

“Many thanks, eldest brother.” Lei Xiangzhi did not refuse.

Lei Xiangren scratched his head. If he had been studying hard for a few years back then, Lei Tie would have provided him money too. His eyes inadvertently passed over the sniffling Lei Dabao and got an inspiration:

His eyeballs circled about and the sneaky sight fell on Du Shi and Lei Daqiang before indistinctly sweeping over Wei Shi.

After finishing the matter, Qin Mian and Lei Tie got up and left.

“Mother.” Lei Xiangren went to Du Shi’s side and was about to open his mouth but closed it. He thought to himself that it was inappropriate to open his mouth now. In case it turned unpleasant that would affect Old Five’s performance in the examination room, it would be self-defeating.

“What’s it?” Du Shi frowned. This son had become more and more nonsensical. Yesterday, Old Three told her that Old Two had found work in the town, but he was driven out because he was lazy. Therefore, he had not brought any money back home.

“Nothing. I was just calling you.” Lei Xiangren grinned cheekily as he approached her and fist massaged1 her back.

Qin Mian and Lei Tie did not know that the old house would soon usher in another storm.

They chatted as they walked back.

“The old house has changed a lot.” Qin Mian kicked a stone in the middle of the road into the grass beside the road.

The pigsty and chicken coop in the courtyard of the old house were gone. They should have been moved to the back of the house. Four red brick and tiled rooms were built in the courtyard, opposite each other, with a patio in the middle for people to enter and leave. Among these was Wei Shi’s contribution. It was said that some time ago, she gave the old Lei family an idea of making money and made a small profit. Lei Daqiang used the money to build the four rooms. Lei Xiangyi and his wife occupied a new room and their original room was owned by Wei Shi. Wei Shi finally did not have to squeeze in the same room as Du Shi.

Lei Daqiang was very proud of himself because he was the only one in the village who had two wives. If you wanted to spend the night with Du Shi, he could go to Du’s room. If you wanted to spend the night with Wei Shi, he could go to Wei Shi’s room. From time to time, the two women vied for him. When he heard the village’s men joked that he enjoyed the happy fate of the man from Qi2, he was so proud that his nostrils turned skyward.

Among the three rooms, one was prepared for Lei Xiangzhi’s marriage. The other two, one large and one small were connected. The large one was for Lei Xiangzhi’s marriage and the small one was Lei Xiangzhi’s study.Lei Tie dully said, “As long as they don’t come to provoke us.”

“That’s right.” Qin Mian admired his idea of marrying another wife to Lei Daqiang. Look, for a long time, neither Lei Daqiang nor Du Shi came to be an eyesore.

Lei Tie liked to see his eyes shining. He took his hand and walked home in the sunset glow.

On the day of the scheduled departure, Qin Mian and Lei Tie got up early in the morning, casually cooked noodles to eat, took the packing baggage to put on the horse carriage, and told Xile and the others to guard the gate. When they were not at home, it was better not to let anyone in. Qin Mian was mainly on guard against the people in the old house, especially Du Shi, Lei Daqiang, Lei Xiangren, and Zhao Shi.

There was a chill in the spring air. The burst of wind that blew made the face ice-cold. Qin Mian lamented that it was not easy for the ancient students to seek knowledge. He had learned that the prefectural examination was presided over by the prefectural magistrate, so students from each county in the same prefecture needed to rush to the prefecture center to take the exam. Zhaoyang County was relatively closer and it only took two or three days to get there. The students from the faraway county towns took four to five days by horse carriage.

At this time, there was only the marble white color of the dawn sky in the east, but by the time they got to the town, it would surely be bright.

Lei Xiangzhi also got up early and was eating fried rice. The rest of the family got up and sat with him.

Lei Xiangzhi was much moved when he saw his eldest brother and eldest sister-in-law arrived so early. He quickly finished the fried rice, picked up the baggage, and boarded the horse carriage.

The Lei family watched the horse carriage drove to the town.

When they arrived in the town, the three horse-carriages arranged by the school had arrived, and the four tall and strong home guards were also present. Another man in his early forties with a scholarly look and a short beard, dressed in a cyan scholar robe, was standing beside the preceding horse carriage with his hands behind his back.

Lei Xiangzhi jumped off the carriage, quickly walked to the middle-aged man, and respectfully saluted, “Student greets Teacher.”

“En, don’t be too polite.” The middle-aged man’s eyes fell on Qin Mian and Lei Tie. He was surprised by their unusual temperament and secretly guessed their identity, “May I know who these two are?”

Lei Xiangzhi introduced, “Mister, these two are my eldest brother Lei Tie and my eldest sister-in-law Qin Mian. Eldest brother and eldest sister-in-law, this is Teacher Gong.”

“Greetings, Mister Gong.” Qin Mian and Lei Tie together cupped their hands in greeting.

Teacher Gong had guessed right. As a teacher, he was not oblivious to the outside world. Lei Tie and Qin Mian was a well-known male married couple nearby and with the addition of their famous restaurant, he had known the two for a long time, but it was the first time he saw them.

Lei Xiangzhi said, “Teacher, my eldest brother and eldest sister-in-law know some kung fu. They’ll send me to the prefecture center, will it be convenient?”

“Oh?” Teacher Gong was a little surprised and immediately cupped his hands, “Of course, it’s convenient. In this way, my other students will also follow suit. I thank you both on their behalf.”

Qin Mian went to the side to avoid [his polite gesture] and raised his hand, “Teacher is too polite. We should thank the Teacher for educating our younger brother.”

“Hehe, you flatter me. It’s a matter within one’s duties.” Teacher Gong was very approachable when he talked and laughed.

After a while, another eleven students, including Qu Zongwen, Bu Qingyun, and Ling Qiyun came in one after another. Zhao Tian and Wang Shangwen got along relatively good with Lei Xiangzhi and they also had been to the Leisurely Farm Residence two days ago.

Qu Zongwen, aside from having a charming appearance, also had a very thorough etiquette. He politely cupped his hands in greeting to Lei Tie and Qin Mian, “Greetings, eldest brother Lei and eldest sister-in-law Lei.”

Bu Qingyun and the others did not expect to meet them, they also came to greet.

“Brother Lei, why are your eldest brother and eldest sister-in-law here?” Bu Qingyun asked quietly.

“My eldest brother and eldest sister-in-law are worried about me, so they are sending me to the prefecture center.” Lei Xiangzhi was happy from the bottom of his heart and there was even a bit of pride because the others had no relatives sending them off.

Wang Shangwen was only about 14 to 15 years old, but he was very mature. After looking at Qin Mian and Lei Tie curiously, he made a bow with hands folded in front, “In this way, we’ll be basking in the light3 following after you. Thanks eldest brother Lei and eldest sister-in-law Lei.”

“No need to be polite.” Qin Mian had been immune to the word “sister-in-law” for a long time. He was not uncomfortable when he was called that by a stranger who he had just first met, and his expression was calm.

He glanced at Lei Tie and made up his mind to accept a little brother when he had the opportunity and let him call Lei Tie’s “sister-in-law”. This way, it would be fair. Thinking of that scene, he tried to suppress the smile in his eyes.

Lei Tie felt a chill on his back and looked at his wife in doubt.

“Alright, it’s getting late. Get on the carriage.” Teacher Gong said.

There were three carriages. Four people in each carriage would be comparatively uncrowded and they could sleep for a while by leaning on the baggage.

Lei Xiangzhi saw neatly stacked sleeping pads and quilts on Qin Mian’s carriage. He knew that his eldest sister-in-law might sleep in the carriage. After all, he was a brother-in-law and it was not good to stay alone with Qin Mian. Moreover, he did not think it was noteworthy conduct and independent character, so he sat on the carriage arranged by the school with other students, which was convenient to communicate with each other on the road.

Lei Tie only carried Qin Mian. Inside the carriage, Qin Mian lay on the sleeping pads, covered with quilts, and fell asleep in the sway of the carriage.

At midday, the carriage stopped by the side of the road.

Lei Tie lifted the curtain and saw Qin Mian still sleeping. He got into the carriage and picked up the person with the quilt, “Wife, wake up. If you sleep too much, you won’t be able to sleep at night.”

Qin Mian slowly opened his eyes, beat out a huge yawn, and quickly sat up, “En. Why did it stop?”

“It’s noon.”

Qin Mian wiped his face and lifted the curtain. He saw that the three carriages at the front had stopped. The scholars got out of the carriages and stood on the roadside, eating dried food while basking in the sun.

Lei Xiangzhi stood with Qu Zongwen, Bu Qingyun, Zhao Tian, and several others.

Qin Mian opened the baggage, took out a big apple and a small pot of homemade minced beef sauce, and handed it to Lei Tie, “Give to Fifth Brother.”

Lei Tie nodded and took the apple and beef sauce to Lei Xiangzhi. Then he went back to the carriage and had lunch with Qin Mian.

“What is this?” Bu Qingyun stared at the small pottery pot and asked curiously. He had a hunch that it must have been food.

Lei Xiangzhi first put the apple into his sleeve pocket and smilingly said, “You all have gourmet’s luck. This is my eldest sister-in-law’s homemade beef sauce. It goes well with rice.”

He went to Teacher Gong’s side and said, “Teacher, if you don’t mind, have a taste.”

“Sure.” Teacher Gong said with a smile, “Your brother’s and sister-in-law’s restaurant is well-known. The beef sauce made by your sister-in-law must taste good.”

Lei Xiangzhi opened the small pottery pot. When they saw a delicate bamboo spoon inside, they all felt that Lei Xiangzhi’s sister-in-law was very attentive. Then they smelled the rich and attractive aroma, and they could not help swallowing secretly.

Qu Zongwen approached, “Smells good!”

Lei Xiangzhi first scooped two big spoonfuls of beef sauce to put on Teacher Gong’s baked sesame seed-coated pancake. Then he gave each of the students a scoop to put it on their steamed bread or millet pancakes. He also gave some to the two coachmen and the four home guards.

Teacher Gong saw this out of the corner of his eye and nodded approval in secret.

Note:

FootnotesMassage sb’s back by pounding it lightly with one’s fistslit. the happy fate of the man from Qi (who had a wife and a concubine) (idiom); fig. (ironically) the joy of having several partners; the life of a pashafig. to benefit from association with sb or sth