The brothers who traveled westward in those years

Chapter 17 0017, Gold List Champion Lang
In the heyday of the Tang Dynasty, Chen Guangrui was reading a book located in Chenjiazhuang in the southeast.Although his mother was an authentic peasant woman, she never let him go to work in the fields, but let him devote all his energy to studying.

The villagers were very surprised. Chen Guangrui's father, who had passed away early, was so dark that his son grew paler.Only Chen Guangrui's neighbors know the truth. It's a strange thing that he stays at home all year round and he doesn't look fair.

The mother is kind-hearted and never disputes with the villagers.No matter who bullied their orphans and widows, Chen Guangrui's mother always taught him to repay his kindness.Every day in front of my son, I would talk about how the family in the village helped them before.She is such a simple peasant woman who only teaches her children to remember others' kindness, and never complains or holds grudges.

In a blink of an eye, Chen Guangrui grew up to be 26 years old. Under the urging of his mother, he left his hometown and embarked on the road to rush for the exam.The family has been maintained by the mother all these years, and besides a few acres of Susukida, the mother will also help people with some chores.Before going out, her mother gave Chen Guangrui a small purse, and she could guess without asking, that it must contain all the savings of the family.

Chen Guangrui refused to take it, and told his mother that he had grown up, and he could find a way to solve the problem of food and accommodation on the way.The mother didn't want him to be brave, so she forced the small money bag to her son.The mother who travels thousands of miles is worried, how many parents are not suffering to help their children.

Starting from his hometown, Chen Guangrui had to rush to Chang'an to take part in the big exam held there.He has taken three exams in these years, and finally obtained the qualification to go to Chang'an to take the big exam.But Chang'an is thousands of miles away from his home, and he needs to go out three months earlier than other people's children.

Wind and rain, lightning and thunder.Chen Guangrui has been on the road rain or shine, the most precious thing is the small money bag in his arms.When passing barren mountains, pick some wild fruits and keep them, and when passing downtown, buy some steamed buns to take with you.When passing by a ruined temple, they would stay overnight, and when passing by a busy city, they would find a place with few people to sleep on the street.

Although he is confident that he can be on the list, but the small money bag is full of his mother's hard-earned money, and he is reluctant to spend any of it.If he wasn't too hungry to walk, he wouldn't even spend a penny.These years, Niangqin has often been looked down upon by people in the village. He didn't understand it when he was young, but only later did he understand how great Niangqin is.

After three months of living in the wind, eating and sleeping in the open, and three months of wandering, Chen Guangrui finally arrived in the capital Chang'an as scheduled after three months.When he saw the gate of Chang'an City for the first time, he felt an indescribable excitement in his heart.Chang'an City in the heyday of the Tang Dynasty can be described as the well-deserved number one city in the world.

The big exam will be held a week later, and Chen Guangrui still chooses to sleep on the street these days.He was very thoughtful, if he was named on the gold list, he would definitely need silver rewards to the policemen who went to announce the good news.If Sun Shan loses his name, he will need to spend money back home.He has always been a man of doing his best and obeying fate, and he will never let himself go into a dead end.

It was daylight, and Chen Guangrui hid under the eaves of the shops facing the street.It had been raining last night, tick tock all night long.Although the eaves of the shop were not narrow, they couldn't protect Chen Guangrui, who was wearing thin clothes, from being splashed by raindrops.So he stayed up all night, sitting there silently reading the scriptures he had learned earlier.

Several shops opened one after another, and then someone started shouting on the street.The crisp voice spread throughout the street, and then someone set up a booth next to Chen Guangrui.

The fisherman is a middle-aged uncle, and the buckets and wooden basins are full of fish.When introducing the fish to the guests who came to see the fish, he would say that it was just caught from the river, and it was very fresh.Chen Guangrui sat on the sidelines and watched. Someone asked the price and left, and someone picked a few big fish to pay and leave.

The uncle has been trying his best to promote the golden carp in the bucket, which is said to be a very rare koi.Many people came to see it, but no one dared to buy it, because people in Chang'an City knew it well.At that time, a dragon king made rain here, saving millions of Chang'an people from famine.

When the Dragon King left at the beginning, he said that he didn't ask everyone to think of him well, but only hoped that they would beat up his people less in the future.Since then, no fisherman has appeared for many years.If it didn't happen that the family couldn't open the pot, presumably this uncle would not risk the world's disgrace.

Chen Guangrui squatted by the bucket, watching the goldfish swimming happily.Every time it played around, it would stop facing Chen Guangrui, pause in place for a few seconds, and then continue to swim around.

The uncle did not sell the goldfish all morning, and was scolded by the daughter-in-law who came to deliver the meal at noon.I told him earlier not to be a fisherman, doing something is better than fishing.But this man just didn't listen, and insisted on using the fishing money to see a doctor for the children.

Every family has scriptures that are difficult to recite, and Chen Guangrui can suddenly understand the situation of the middle-aged uncle.He is not a lazy person, nor is he a person with evil intentions.He chose fishing simply because no one does it now.No one will compete with him for business, and he can earn enough money to see a doctor for the children earlier.

He even heard the middle-aged uncle use the word death, frankly saying that as long as he can earn enough money to treat the children.He is willing to use his own life as the price to make up for what he owes to the aquariums.

Taking out a small money bag from his bosom, Chen Guangrui said to the uncle: "I only have so much money, can you sell me that goldfish?"

He couldn't just watch that goldfish being bought, let alone watch the uncle turn that goldfish into fish soup.He spent all the money on his body, carrying the bucket that his uncle temporarily lent him.The goldfish swims happily in the bucket, as if they know they want to be free again.

Chen Guangrui went to the river and carefully poured the goldfish into the river.Strange to say, the goldfish that returned to the river did not leave.Instead, he stopped at the spot and looked at Chen Guangrui, wagging his tail vigorously as if he had something to say.It's a pity that Chen Guangrui couldn't hear what he was saying, but saw it keep opening and closing its mouth.

I stayed with the goldfish by the river for more than half an hour, if Chen Guangrui hadn't forcefully chased it away, the goldfish would almost have jumped back into the bucket.At that time, Chen Guangrui was taken aback. He didn't expect the goldfish to understand what he said.Seeing that Jinyu refused to leave for so long, Chen Guangrui said angrily that if you don't want to leave, you can go back with me.

As soon as Chen Guangrui finished speaking, the goldfish jumped out of the river and flew to the bucket next to Chen Guangrui.Suo Xing's river was very fast, and the goldfish did not succeed for the first time.Chen Guangrui didn't give him a second chance, and put the bucket upside down by the river.Then he persuaded the goldfish to go home quickly, and then left the river and returned to the city.

The week before taking the exam, Chen Guangrui had been living on that street.If someone chased him away, he would change to another place. If no one chased him away, he would sleep in the same place.When I woke up, I recited the scriptures, and when I was sleepy, I fell asleep on the floor.On the way here, he didn't get a good night's sleep, because he had the hard-earned money his mother had worked so hard to save in his arms.

It's different now, the money has been used by him to buy goldfish, and he let him release the goldfish.It is very reassuring to have nothing on your body, and you don’t have to worry about losing things when you sleep on the street.

In those few days, there was often a fair-looking young man squatting at the end of the street on this street. He never asked anyone for money, nor accepted alms from well-meaning people.He could eat according to his ability, and later helped people write in exchange for a meal.He stayed on this street for a total of seven days, and there were no less than a dozen housekeepers from big families in Chang'an City who came to him.

Some people say that he must have been in high school because of his good looks, while others say that he should not be so well-read.Some people say that he is a handsome man with extraordinary bearing, while others say that he is not a mortal with delicate skin and tender flesh.No matter what those guys said to him, in the end Chen Guangrui didn't leave with any of them, he was just waiting for the big exam to start.

Chang'an City is really big, Chen Guangrui walked for more than two hours from this street to the exam room where the exam was held.During the period, there were many luxury carriages passing by, and it was very enviable to ride the horses and whip.

No one in Chenjiazhuang raises horses, and even in the better counties, there are few people who ride horses.Ordinary people have to hire a carriage when traveling far away, and wealthy families have at most a special carriage.Only those families with a particularly well-to-do family can afford to raise good horses specially used for fresh clothes and angry horses.

When Chen Guangrui was very young, he fantasized that when he grows up, he must have his own good horse.Travel thousands of miles a day and [-] nights to see the prosperity of the Tang Dynasty, and take my mother to see the great rivers and mountains outside.All these years, his mother had worked so hard to raise him. Repaying his mother for his upbringing was the main motivation for Chen Guangrui to study hard.

Enter the examination room and accept the routine inspection by the guard.Sitting in their respective rooms, the two-day exam finally began.During these two days, all candidates have to write three articles.Complete the answer sheet according to the requirements of the question, and then apply for handing in the paper and then you can leave the examination room.No matter who is applying to submit the paper, it means that the person's big exam is over.

The next morning, Chen Guangrui walked out of the room where he had stayed all day and all night.He wrote three essays and then a couple of poems on the back.Those poems were his original creations, most of which were addressed to his mother and his father who had passed away many years ago.He never blamed others, but he just wanted to repay his mother's hard work over the years with his title on the gold list.

Three days later, Chen Guangrui was still sleeping on the street, and the owner of the snack bar gave him a bowl of steaming eight-treasure porridge.The fried dough stick vendor gave him two freshly baked fried dough sticks, and the old tailor gave him a new dress made of various fabrics.The people on this street are very kind, especially to him, a foreigner.

The imperial list is posted at the intersection of this street, and there is an imperial list at the intersection of each main road of Chang'an Avenue.The results of the big exam came out, and at this moment, Chen Guangrui was writing a letter home to a young man serving as a soldier in Chang'an City.First, the owner of the snack bar ran over with a smile, then the fried dough stick vendor, and finally even the always prudent old tailor ran over with a smile.

They kept repeating the same news, and the imperial list had already been posted.This year's new champion is Chen Guangrui.Many people have never even heard of this man, but the people on this street are overjoyed.None of them knew Chen Guangrui who lived on the street for ten days, not only because he was a scholar who came to catch the exam, but also because he was kind-hearted and knowledgeable.

Chen Guangrui, who was helping someone write a family letter, wiped the corners of his eyes when he heard these four words.Looking in the direction of his hometown, he muttered to himself, "Mother, my child did not disappoint you."

(End of this chapter)