Updated: 2012-11-17

Things that have passed will never come back.

Zhang Xiaomei sat blankly in front of the old book desk in Zhang Ning's room. This table has been a few years. He used to be there, even if he had to go to Confucianism during the day, he would still have to study with the lights when he came back at night. It was better than before, his unknown brother shook his head and studied. Although he was not as proud as he heard people now, he could spend the long years together day and night.

He came back this morning and left again without staying for a while. Zhang Xiaomei had a bad premonition that he would have fewer days in the future. Last time he said he might be transferred to an official position. Maybe he would go to far away Beijing again to revolve around the strange "king and father".

The familiar face was just now in front of me, but now it has disappeared. The words of sincere advice to learn how to behave and do things and take care of your husband and children still seem to be lingering in your ears. Zhang Xiaomei felt very uncomfortable for a moment. She wiped her tears and ran downstairs, stepping on the wooden stairs, as if she was about to be torn apart.

She ran out of the yard quickly, and almost no one paid attention to her. Her sister-in-law Luo Yue'e, who was working, looked up and felt that it seemed that Zhang Xiaomei had gone out, so she buried her head and continued to pick up the stones in the rice.

An acquaintance on Liren Street said in surprise: "Isn't this a little girl from the Zhang family? You are crying and doing something. Zhang Shicai stole your candy radish?"

Zhang Xiaomei ran along the street, and forgot to take the boat. She just ran southeast, and Wu Yuan was there, and she knew the place. As long as she kept walking, she could get closer and closer to Zhang Ning.

The feeling of getting closer made her feel much more unbearable. She cried and laughed. She seemed to have seen Zhang Ning's calm and gentle smile, and smelled the light sunshine in his arms, and the peaceful and indescribable feeling, just like the comfortable feeling of being lazy when there is no work in the off-season of the family business, and the mood is very good. There is nothing that is adorable and the sound is addictive. Her mind flashes through her hands with pleasure covered by those warm big hands.

After crossing two streets, I went over the south bank of Qinhuai River from a stone bridge. Unexpectedly, I found a large group of people on the street blocking the way, as if they were a ceremonial guard of a high-ranking official, including officers holding signs such as "Silent" and "Avoidance", as well as flags, umbrellas, leather drums, etc., carriages, horses, sedans and walking teams were swaying from the middle of the street with a stern speed, and it was as if I was enjoying the feeling of being high and deliberately letting pedestrians stop and watch.

The people naturally did not dare to go up, so they all avoided the road and waited, so Zhang Xiaomei had to stop.

The atmosphere of beating gongs and drums affected her mood. She felt embarrassed to cry and took out a handkerchief and wiped her face. She stood helplessly among the crowd. After being distracted by this, Zhang Xiaomei gradually came back from her excitement, not understanding why she came here... Just like she had just woken up from a dream, she gradually realized that the things in the dream were not that true at all, and good dreams or nightmares were all illusory.

My brother will definitely chase me back, and then I will feel that I am too willful, ignorant, and disobedient. Didn’t my brother tell me to learn a lot?

At this time, the ceremonial war on the street slowly passed, and the street was occupied by all kinds of people in the city again, and the noisy and chaotic crowd was restored. However, Zhang Xiaomei stood there and stopped running forward.

I don’t know how long it took, but I heard an old lady on the other side yelling: “I’m going home to make a meal!” Zhang Xiaomei was stunned for a while, and finally turned around and walked back to the stone bridge on the river. Her movements were soft and seemed to be without any strength.

...

Zhang Ning, the younger sister's "blind date", really didn't go. That day he went to another social event. A classmate Liang Shoucheng went to Beijing to participate in the imperial examination at the beginning of the year. After failing the exam, he traveled for several months. Now he has returned to his hometown. The reunion of several classmates and friends is a welcome to him. Liang Shoucheng and Zhang Ning don't have much contact on weekdays, and they have no contact for almost a year. Zhang Ning went to the banquet mainly because of another classmate Luo Jin's repeated invitation. Luo Jin is a versatile person. He took the lead in sending Yang Sihai to Beijing for the exam last time. Zhang Ning was also able to meet Su Liangchen, a talented man in Jiangsu and Zhejiang.

Anyway, Zhang Ning has no time to be busy recently. It is not a bad thing to participate in such social engagements and making friends with friends. There is an urgent way to advance and retreat in life. Sometimes it is hard to be impatient. It is better to just eat and drink by slashing your head.

Because the entertainment is in broad daylight, the pleasure boats on the Qinhuai River have little scenery during the day, so everyone made an appointment at the Zhuangyuan Building on the shore of Mochou Lake. It is also a one-stop place for drinking and drinking wine. Although its reputation is not as good as the old courtyard (commonly known as Fuleyuan), it is also a place to be full of money. The key is that the sight is good during the day, and the lake scenery there is good.

There were girls who accompanied the wine and had a female history of drinking and talking about love and mist. In short, in Zhang Ning's eyes, they were all "three-accompanied" ladies. In this kind of place of fun, there was no etiquette between men and women. Men and women made various jokes and acted at the scene, and they were very free and relaxed. Zhang Ning felt that it was not natural that the girl who was sitting beside him pouring wine always rubbed against him if he had something to do or not. Other girls were not so obvious. She was like this. Zhang Ning, who rarely participated in such occasions, was a little uncomfortable facing the public.

Before Liang's cousin could talk about the anecdotes of the capital and traveling, he first mentioned another classmate. Zhang Ning was also familiar with the short man Yang Sihai. Liang Lao Chou sighed: "One of the people I knew in Nanjing in the past, Yang Sihai was the only one who was on the list of the imperial examination."

"I know, the last time they beat the gongs and drums to report the good news, wasn't it Yang Sihai who was named the second-tier palace test?" Luo Jin said casually, as if there was nothing in the world that he didn't know.

The relatively low-key talented man Su Liangchen said enviously: "Last year, he was on the Gui list, and this year he immediately went to the Golden List. We are privately saying that he is good at learning."

Zhang Ning followed suit and said nothing. He had some conflicts with Yang Sihai before, but fortunately, when everyone sent him to take the exam last year, he easily resolved it during the meal, and there was not much feeling at this time. If Zhang Ning hadn't humiliated others for being short, he would probably not have much impression of Yang Sihai.

In my impression, Yang Sihai looked very young, maybe younger than Zhang Ning. He was not an ordinary person after passing the imperial examination and passed the imperial examination. He was really awesome. He was silent and could not help but let the old men with gray hair and beards take the exam. The Ming Dynasty has a population of 100 million, but there are very few Jinshis. No one who came from a Jinshi was a master. Zhang Ning remembered that there were a lot of scriptures. He knew very well that this thing could not be done by memorizing it by rote.

"The Four Seas are not comparable to those of ordinary people." Luo Jin, who has the reputation of a scholar, couldn't help but say another sentence. He picked up the wine glass and patroled around, and then said, "Let's not believe in qualifications. I used to study with the Four Seas. I will tell you a small matter. Before the autumn examination last year, wasn't it rumored that Brother Ping'an, our Yingtian Mansion was the best, everyone guessed who would be Jie Yuan. Think about how Yang Sihai answered?"

When talking about that, Zhang Ning was a little embarrassed. At that time, it was rumored that he was the first in Yingtian Mansion, and it was not the one who had been Zhang Ning himself who had been before... But if Zhang Ning had not died before, he would have been to the imperial examination this year, could he be on the list? This is a mystery. Anyway, he would definitely have no chance to take the exam now. To talk about the path of imperial examinations, Yang Sihai and Zhang Ning before were both very talented, but he was more mediocre. He could not even get a major exam in his previous life, and the difficulty of taking Tsinghua University and taking the Jinshi exam was not the same level.

"Yang Sihai looks quite humble on weekdays. He should say that Jie Yuan is Brother Ping'an, right?" Liang Shoucheng guessed.

Zhang Ning smiled faintly and guessed nothing. Su Liangchen said without any pressure: "You and I are not going to school together, how do you know?"

Mr. Luo shook his head: "Brother Liang, you are like me, and you are also an ordinary person. Let me tell you how Yang Sihai answered... He said that if he wanted to take the palace exam in the future, what would it matter if Jie Yuan is now?"

This was like a cold joke. After saying it, everyone had not yet recalled it and figured out where the "hilarious point" was. Zhang Ning immediately understood and said, "The world has a great vision and extraordinary knowledge."

After a while, everyone came back to the scene and sighed. The materials for the Jinshi were different. At that time, the autumn examination was about to begin. Everyone was devoted to it, and they began to think about the test, but their ideological realm was not on the same level.

After everyone talked about this, Mr. Luo finally couldn't help but turn to look at Zhang Ning: "Why didn't Brother Ping'an participate in this year's examination and become an official? You and Sihai are as famous as our tribute school!"

Mr. Luo asked, and Su Liangchen immediately looked at him. It was obvious that all the students were curious about this matter, but they were not easy to ask.

Zhang Ning said something suddenly, and he couldn't tell the truth. He changed his previous brother Ping'an to take this exam under his skin. Now Brother Ping'an is currently doing eight-legged articles without any standards.

He originally wanted to think that he was not as good as others, but somehow he felt a competitive heart in his heart. After all, he was a young man and no one was willing to say that he was not good! Especially since he had humiliated Yang Sihai's knowledge, why did others pretend to be grandson immediately after they passed the Jinshi? His pride in his heart was aroused, and there was a voice saying: I was not as good as others in eight-legged articles, but there was always a place that was better than others!

He owed him and said calmly: "No one wants to be a Jinshi, and Yang Shaobao (Yang Shiqi) is not a Jinshi today."

Yang Shiqi, a commoner, was not even a scholar. He had taught books and was definitely knowledgeable, but he had not passed the exam. Now he is the top celebrity around the emperor, the prince's Shaobao, the Grand Secretary of the Huagai Palace, the left assistant minister of the Ministry of Rites and the Minister of War, and the cabinet minister was unprecedented in his rank and no one could match his saints. Yang Shiqi was not a Jinshi, but could he be compared with any Jinshi?

"I admire you, Brother Ping'an has great ambitions." Luo Lao Chou and others could only give a compliment like this and could not say anything else.

Because Yang Shiqi is an exception, usually, if you want to make a difference, you will be more reliable in the Jinshi class. So everyone has nothing to say.

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