The road to wealth of a peasant widow

Chapter 149 County Examination

There were quite a few people from their school taking the exam together this time, so it was easy to get the number of people for joint guarantee.

The guarantor is also a teacher in the school. There is no need to ask for any outside help. These things are all arranged by the school and parents don’t have to worry about them at all. This is probably the advantage of studying in a key school.

Although Changping visited the county magistrate, Lord Wang, several times during this period and received a lot of guidance, he was still nervous when he really faced the exam.

After five exams, Changping looked much more haggard. After the last exam, Chen Cui took the child home without asking any questions, prepared a meal, and let him have a good rest after eating.

Although Changan and Changfu were concerned about their eldest brother's exam results, they did not dare to ask. Instead, Changping took the initiative to bring out the county exam questions to discuss with them, and the three brothers had a heated discussion.

Five days later, the county examination results were announced and Changping was on the list, and his ranking was not low, at fifth place.

Regardless of his ranking, Changping has obtained the qualification to participate in the provincial examination. If he can pass it, he can become a tongsheng and further take the examination for a xiucai, which is the first step in the imperial examination.

Chen Cui was so happy that she wanted to mobilize the whole family to celebrate for him, but he waved his hand and refused.

"Mom, I took advantage of the situation this time, but I may not be able to do that next time. After this exam, I also realized more about my shortcomings. I must concentrate on reviewing my studies during this period and prepare well for the provincial examination."

Changping was not too happy, one could even say he was calm, without the joy of a young man achieving a temporary victory.

Chen Cui thought about it and decided to go with him. She packed some gifts and went to the county government office to visit Mrs. Zhang.

Lord Wang's transfer order has officially come down, and he will soon go to the provincial capital to take up his post as the Tongzhi of Longnan Prefecture.

Chen Cui came over, firstly to thank Lord Wang for his advice to Changping, and secondly to ask Mrs. Zhang about the specific operation of their joint business in the future.

They used to do business in the county town, relying on Lord Wang's status as the county magistrate. As long as they did not break the law, no one would make trouble for their business and no one dared to provoke them.

Although Lord Wang was promoted and moved to the provincial capital, Mrs. Zhang also had to go with him. If they were far away, it would be difficult to control him remotely.

This is different from the shops in the capital and Jiangnan. The prosperity of those two places is irreplaceable, but workshops and restaurants have more advantages in the provincial capital.

Mrs. Zhang once mentioned that after she settled down in the capital, she would move the business here over there so that she would feel more at ease with the business under her own supervision.

But before the relocation, some things had to be arranged in advance. Chen Cui came to ask her for advice. After all, her 80-acre farm was still here, and this year's peppers had not yet been planted.

"Sister, have you ever thought about moving our family to the capital?" Zhang Ruomei thought for a while and asked Chen Cui.

Move to the capital? Of course she had thought about it. Yinping County was just a small county town under Longnan Prefecture. No matter what, it couldn't be compared with the capital. However, her family had no roots in the capital, so they couldn't just move there. It all depended on Mrs. Zhang's opinion.

Although their business is still in cooperation and has been making money, Chen Cui has lost her original value.

Now she has handed over the most important things in her hands. Even if she leaves, the canned food and hot pot business will not be affected. She is not sure whether Mrs. Zhang is still willing to continue to protect her and act as her backer and umbrella.

Therefore, even though she had known that Mrs. Zhang and her family were going to move to the provincial capital, she had never said that she would move with them. If she took the initiative to move in, and the other party didn't recognize her, then everything would be in vain.

But now that Mrs. Zhang has taken the initiative to talk about this, it means that she is still willing to protect Chen Cui and wants to continue to associate with her. Naturally, Chen Cui will seize this opportunity.

"Sister, you are joking. Everyone knows that the prefectural capital is definitely better than our county town. It's just that we are a small family with no roots. We are afraid that we won't be able to gain a foothold in the prefectural capital, so we dare not say this."

Zhang Ruomei glanced at her with a half-smile: "Sister, don't be too modest. You are a seventh-rank imperial official conferred by the emperor himself. Any government office that dares to deny you is guilty of deceiving the emperor. Besides, if anything happens, don't you still have me? You and I are sisters of the same blood. If someone dares to bully you, I will definitely seek justice for you!"

Chen Cui smiled awkwardly. She was pretending too much and was laughed at by her.

"I feel relieved with my sister's words. Changping will go to the city to take an exam soon. I will go there in advance to take a look at the house and the land. Then we can plant our peppers in the city!"

"Okay, then we sisters can visit each other more often, and I can have someone to talk to. Sister, I don't have many close sisters, I hope you can be like before, we sisters talk directly, speak freely, and don't hide anything, okay?"

Zhang Ruomei stared into Chen Cui's eyes and said seriously.

Chen Cui couldn't help but feel ashamed. She had always been using Ruomei, and her purpose in dating her was not pure from the beginning.

At that time, there was a huge gap in their status. If she was the mud under her feet, then the other party was the cloud in the sky. In order to win the other party's favor and achieve her own goals, she naturally had to use some skills when interacting with him, and it was impossible for him to completely open his heart to her.

But to say that it is pure exploitation is definitely not the case. When there is no interest involved, she is still very sincere and gives the due sincerity and concern. Otherwise, the other party is not a fool, so how could he continue to associate with her.

Chen Cui felt that it was very rare for someone as rich and prestigious as Zhang Ruomei to still have a kind heart.

Moreover, Magistrate Wang is a man of practical heart, wholeheartedly serving the people and wanting to make political achievements. He only seeks fame and is not greedy for money. Such an official may not necessarily be promoted, but he is not easily brought down either.

Chen Cui felt that hanging out with this couple would make her feel safer, and she wanted to hold on to them.

Therefore, even though she had the imperial edict, she still couldn't avoid the mentality of worrying about gains and losses. Instead, she became even more fawning towards Zhang Ruomei and lost her original intention. Naturally, this attitude was seen by the other party, so she deliberately tried to point a finger at her today.

Chen Cui blushed and said ashamedly, "I've seen it. When my family was poor and I had nothing, I didn't think so much and said whatever I wanted to say. Now that I have status and money, I think more. Sometimes I have to think about what I want to say several times. I was wrong. I will definitely change in the future. Please forgive me. Let's see how I behave in the future!"

"it is good!"

Zhang Ruomei admired Chen Cui's efforts to improve herself and study hard despite being a peasant woman after her husband passed away. She respected her in her heart and felt that she had helped her a lot. In some ways, she was her mentor and friend.

The reason I just said something to her was because I didn't want to lose someone I could talk to, and I wanted to be her friend and sister in the future.

Now that they had talked it out, they no longer cared about it. They smiled at each other and reconciled.