Jing Xingzhi’s Daily Life in Ancient Times - Chapter 79
Jing Xingzhi returned to his hometown alone, with only a few bags, not even Wang Zhuang.
When he went out and lived in an unfamiliar place, it was naturally a lot more convenient to bring someone who could handle things. But Jing Xingzhi was going back to his hometown, his own home, so naturally he didn’t need to prepare anything.
In the evening, when Jing Xingzhi arrived at the dock of Mingxi Town, Uncle Erniu stopped him.
Jing Erniu used his rough hands to pull the ox cart Jing Xingzhi was on, and said with joy, “I knew you were coming back today! If you didn’t come back today, it would only have been a matter of a few days.”
The reason why Jing Erniu was so sure was because of Father Jing.
Father Jing was buried in the Jing family’s grave, and his greatest wish was to pass the provincial examination.
Now that the son had fulfilled his late father’s ambition, he would naturally come back and tell his father.
As for the detailed information about the rural examination, people in Mingxi Town didn’t know much about it before today. It was yesterday when Li Huasui returned to the next town and was asked about it at the dock. The news spread from the next town to Mingxi Town. This morning, everyone knew there was an extra Juren in the town!
Jing Erniu had been hanging out at the pier all year round. When he found out the news, he went back and told the villagers. He was waiting at the pier early this morning, and sure enough, he saw the little scholar.
No, now he was no longer a little scholar; he was now a Juren!
Jing Erniu looked at Jing Xingzhi up and down, and said honestly and with a smile: “I see the Master Juren is still the same, still thin. Go home and ask your Xiu Amu to make you egg pancakes!”
“Then I will trouble you, uncle.” Jing Xingzhi smiled and sat behind Uncle Erniu’s ox cart.
Jing Erniu saw he was sitting down, so he drove the ox cart to pull him toward the village.
While driving the ox cart, Jing Erniu asked, “How is Fang Ge’er? You sent a letter last time and said he is pregnant, it’s so fast! Hahaha!”
Jing Xingzhi thought, if Liu Fang were here, this “hahaha” would make someone’s face turn red.
After thinking about Xiao Fangfang for a moment, Jing Xingzhi replied: “He’s good. He just accompanied me to Fucheng before, going back and forth. He needs to rest for a few days, so he didn’t come back with me this time.”
Jing Erniu laughed and said, “Your Amu misses him. He is afraid that he won’t understand anything just after he got pregnant. He just couldn’t wait to meet him.”
Jing Xingzhi thought that he was going to pay homage to his ancestors and needed to prepare some things, so he said, “Uncle Erniu, I plan to burn something in front of the grave. You can drop me off at the street where funeral objects are sold and wait for me.”
Jing Erniu did not turn around and walked directly out of the county: “No need for that. It has been taken care of for you, just go back. The old village chief found out last night that a memorial archway was going to be built in the village. He was so happy that he stayed up half the night, and was beaten by his wife before he could sleep in peace.”
Jing Xingzhi imagined the picture, smiled helplessly, and said, “Sorry for bothering you, folks.”
As soon as he arrived at the place, someone picked him up, and someone at home helped to look at it. Paper money for paying homage to ancestors was prepared, and everyone was so considerate that Jing Xingzhi felt like a wealthy master from nowhere. But thanking him seemed unfamiliar, so he could only say “trouble.”
Jing Erniu still refused: “This kind of trouble is something everyone else can ask for! You are young and don’t understand yet. Your reputation is convenience. We will build a memorial arch at the entrance of the village in the future, so that people will recognize your fame. It is convenient for people in our village to go to the government to do business; it is also beneficial to collect grain and pay taxes. Those government servants will not dare to offend us with your fame! It is all because of you that we will get these conveniences, so don’t worry about that, the old village chief is happy! Everyone is happy too!”
Jing Xingzhi was a little surprised. He knew he could benefit the village but he didn’t know his status would bring so much to the village, and he didn’t expect Uncle Erniu to think it through. It seemed that in life, experience was indeed a good thing.
The ox cart was driven out by Uncle Erniu and returned to the village faster than usual.
.
As soon as they arrived in the village, the little kids in the village got on the ox and watched the Master Juren on the ox cart. They ran to call the village chief, chattering as excitedly as if they were celebrating the New Year.
Because Jing Duo occupied the best position next to Jing Xingzhi, his little face was full of happiness. He asked: “Brother Xiucai, I heard that you won the imperial examination? Are you a Wenquxing (Literary Deity)?”
Someone must have told the child about Wenquxing, but Jing Xingzhi couldn’t answer this by himself.
He tapped Jing Duo’s sweaty little nose: “What did you just do to make you sweat? Be careful when you look back, your brother will dislike your stinky body.”
Jing Duo’s little brother was a shuanger, white and tender, looking like a steamed bun, and his nickname was also called Bao’er (steamed bun). He was Jing Duo’s favorite.
Jing Duo wiped the sweat off his face with his sleeve and talked to Jing Xingzhi: “How do you know my little brother’s nose is so good that he can smell everything?”
Jing Erniu saw that he was talking nonsense and slapped his big hand on Jing Duo’s forehead: “What does it have to do with your little brother? You make trouble every day and you can’t go to school well! Also, you can’t call Brother Xiucai now, you have to call Master Juren!”
Jing Duo covered his head and went to Jing Xingzhi to hide beside him: “Brother Xiucai is not old. How could I call him master? If it doesn’t work, I will just call him Brother Juren!”
Jing Xingzhi also felt strangely uncomfortable being called as Master. He nodded and agreed with Jing Duo’s idea: “Just call me Brother Juren, and it’ll change it next time anyway.”
Next time, there might be Brother Jinshi, Brother Tanhua or Brother Zhuangyuan. Anyway, there were many opportunities to change the name.
Jing Xingzhi said, and all kinds of voices calling him Brother Juren immediately started shouting around him.
The ox cart ran ten meters into the village, and what came was no longer the children playing at the entrance of the village, but the village elders and chief.
Jing Xingzhi felt he might have become a gold ingot and everyone would still like it.
They sat for a while at the village chief’s house and discussed what Jing Xingzhi would do in the next few days.
Tomorrow morning, they would pay homage to their ancestors, and in the afternoon an old Juren from the town would come to visit and recognize Jing Xingzhi.
In the future, the village would start to invite people from the government to measure the space and build the memorial arch.