The master and servant went east along the north bank of Fengxi. It was late at night. Zeng Yu knew that his mother would be worried, so he ran with Sixi. When he was about to reach the entrance of Nanmen Port, he met the paper merchant Xia Cupi. Xia Cupi said, "Young Master Zeng is back - Lingtang keeps talking, so I, Lao Xia, have to come to find you." He asked Zeng Yu if he had seen Lu Hanlin?

While walking, Zeng Yu briefly talked about the treatment of Lu Hanlin's grandson, and said that he could not take a boat to Xinzhou tonight. He had to wait for Lu Hanlin's recommendation, so he planned to find an inn near the Nanmen Pier for one night.

Xia Chupi smiled and said, "It's really a coincidence. I didn't expect Mr. Zeng to be able to cure his illness. I know, and Brother Ling is a doctor." He also said, "It doesn't matter if my ship of paper is coming to the city one day or one day. If Mr. Zeng doesn't dislike me, I will let the ship wait for you and we will set off again tomorrow morning."

Zeng Yu bowed and said, "Thank you, thank you, wait for me to ask my mother."

When Zeng Yu returned to the boat, he told his mother that Zeng's mother, Zhou, was certainly willing to spend the night on the boat. If you stay in a hotel, you will have to pay at least three cents of silver. Now this weather is fine on the boat for a night, and you can take a boat to Xinzhou tomorrow. Zeng's mother, Zhou, thought that although there was twenty taels of gold left by his uncle, it was for Zeng Yu to marry a wife, so all the expenses could be saved, and the family of three had no choice but to spend more money in the future.

It was already the end of Hai, and the noise of the day at the Nanmen Port had already dissipated, and everything was silent, and only the sound of the flowing water in Fengxi appeared and disappeared.

The boatman and the boatwoman rested in the small cabin at the stern, while the paper merchant Xiacun slid down on the bow of the boat, saying that it was so cool that he left the cabin to Zeng Yu's family.

Niu Niu had already fallen asleep first. Her mother, Zhou, half-sitting, held a palm fan to cool down Niu Niu and drove away mosquitoes. Zeng Yu said, "Mom, you should rest too, it's getting late."

Zeng's mother, Zhou, said in a low voice: "Yu'er, Xia Chaofeng is a kind person. Now we are the mother and son who accept their family's affection and be kind to others. If my son succeeds in the future, he will give him a favor if he has the opportunity."

Zeng Yu nodded: "My son has written it down."

Zeng’s mother Zhou said again: “Then Lu Hanlincoln wrote a book for you to help you do errands. He is the noble person you are destined to be. Lu Hanlin is a gentry in this county and has nothing to do. With our status, we dare not say how to repay you in the future. Anyway, you must remember this kindness.”

Zeng Yu said: "Yes, my son will repay his kindness." He thought to himself that after he received Lu Hanlin's letter tomorrow, he would explain to his mother that he wanted to make up for the candidates-

There was a sound of heavy snoring in the cabin. Si Xi fell asleep as soon as she lay down. The little Xi was tired today.

Zeng Yu was also tired. He drove so many roads in the rain and then cheered up and wrote the article "Reconstruction of Yongfeng County". He was exhausted and exhausted. Now he really wanted to lie down with one foot stretched out. However, the habit he had developed for more than ten years was to sit cross-legged, hug Kunlun, sing the sky drum, rinse the kidneys, and then practice the eight-story brocade before lying down, and soon fell asleep.

In the second half of the night, Zeng Yu suddenly woke up and felt the breeze blowing. When he turned around, his mother was not sleeping yet. She leaned against the side of the cabin and fanned him and Niu Niu.

"Mom, why are you not sleeping yet?" Zeng Yu sat up.

"Mom has already had a sleep and has just woken up."

Zeng's mother Zhou said, shifting her body and sitting upright, but then tilting her ears: "Yu'er, it seems that someone is crying somewhere-"

Zeng Yu listened intently and laughed and said, "Mom, how come someone is crying? It's the sound of the water mill turning. There is a mill not far from here. The sound of the water mill is sometimes far away and sometimes close, and it sounds like sobs."

Zeng's mother, Zhou, listened for a moment, and chuckled softly: "I said, who is so miserable? She is still crying in the middle of the night, but it turns out to be the sound of a water mill."

The wooden boat tent window was shining through. Zeng Yu saw his mother's hair neat and the silver hairpin was still stuck straight, so he knew that his mother hadn't slept all night. His mother fanned his brother and sister to repel mosquitoes. When he heard the sound of water mills in the distance, he thought that someone was crying. This was the mother's inner misery!

Zeng Yu burst into tears, knelt at his mother's feet, and said sadly: "My son is unfilial, so he will suffer."

Zeng's mother Zhou said panic: "What's wrong? You're saying this?" She wanted to pull her son to sit up, but she felt tears on her face. She became more and more panic, and said repeatedly: "Little Fish, Yuer, why are you crying? Don't scare your mother!"

Zeng Yu didn't want to disturb others, so he quickly wiped his tears and sat up and said, "Mom, my son feels that he has grown up, but he still wants his mother to suffer with wandering. My son feels really uncomfortable-"

"Not bitter, no bitter." Zeng's mother Zhou quickly interrupted her son, pulled her hand and patted her gently, "Mom is not bitter, and how can you blame you for this? You have done a good job. I have seen you speak and act steadily in the past two days, much better than before, and I feel very relieved."

Since he was talking, Zeng Yu told his mother that he wanted to fight for a make-up exam and always had to try it out. He didn't want to delay for another three years. If he couldn't take the make-up exam or still failed the make-up exam, he had to do something first and endure it slowly.

Zeng’s mother Zhou asked: “If you can take the make-up exam, where will you take the exam?”

Zeng Yu said: "After the examination of our Guangxin Mansion, we will go to Fuzhou to take the lead exam. My son can't catch up with the Fuzhou Academy exam, but at the end of May, my son will definitely get the examination of Yuanzhou Mansion. My son wants to arrive at Yuanzhou Mansion first. When Huang Tixue arrives, his son will submit a letter from Lu Hanlin to get the opportunity to get a make-up exam. My son wants to give it a try again, but his son is a little unwilling to accept it."

Zeng's mother Zhou was a little worried. If her son was so passionate about fame and fortune, would he not be able to bear it if he failed the exam? But she didn't know that her son's soul had been integrated into another soul. Her son was still her son, but her spirit was quite different. Zeng Yu is not smarter now than before. What has changed is a pragmatic attitude and ability to judge the situation-

"Son, how much is it from here to Yuanzhou?" Zeng's mother Zhou asked.

Zeng Yudao: "It's about a thousand miles."

"Ah." Zeng's mother Zhou said in surprise: "So far!"

This is exactly the difficulty that Zeng Yu was in trouble and said, "My son is worried about now, and he travels between Moon and Niu Niu. It takes about two thousand miles to get to Yuanzhou. The exam takes about two months. My son is young and Lijian. Such a distance is nothing. Didn't my son go to Bailu Cave Academy in Lushan last year to listen to the lecture? But it is obviously inappropriate for Moon and Niu Niu to travel far. My son wanted to go to the Fucheng to ask if Sister Ruolan could take care of Moon and Niu Niu for two months. No matter what the make-up exam is, his son would come back at the end of June or early July - what would his mother think?"

Ruolan's sister is Zeng Ruolan, the half-sister of Zeng Yu. When Zeng Yu was six years old, Zeng Ruolan married a son named Zhu in Xinzhou as his wife. The Zhu family was in the sugar business and had a relatively wealthy family. When Zeng Yu's father and mother were alive, Zeng Ruolan would go back to Shitian to visit his parents every year. Although he was not a mother, Zeng Ruolan still liked Zeng Yu, who was smart and studious. Every time he returned to Ning, he would bring some gifts to Zeng Yu and remind Zeng Yu to study hard. After the two elders passed away six years ago, Zeng Ruolan came back rarely, but the relationship between siblings was still good. Zeng Yu lived in his sister's house outside Xinzhou City for the first two examinations. Only this time did not go-

Zeng Yu saw that his mother didn't answer for a moment and knew that her mother had concerns. After all, Zeng Ruolan was not a sibling with him, so she said again: "If we don't live in the Zhu family, we will rent two houses near the Zhu family. Please take care of my sister and brother-in-law, so that we don't let the locals bully. The Zhu family is quite wealthy in the local area."

Zeng’s mother Zhou nodded and said, “Okay, Yu’er, you can go to Yuanzhou, but no matter how you do in the exam, you must come back quickly. Mother and Niu Niu are looking forward to you. You are our backbone.”

Zeng Yu said with tears in his eyes: "Son knows, don't worry, mom."

The mother and son were talking, and it was getting darker. The boatwoman was already cooking porridge with rice. Niu Niu rubbed her eyes and sat up, and asked sweetly: "My grandma, have we arrived in the city?" Seeing that her mother, brother and Sixi looked at her and smiled, she didn't say anything, she walked to the bow of the boat by herself and looked at it. Hey, it seemed that it was the place yesterday. The big tree tied to the boat was exactly the same--

The porridge was cooked, and the summer paper was about to greet Zeng Yu's family to drink porridge. Suddenly, someone on the shore asked loudly: "Which boat is the Zeng Master of Ishida? Zeng Master of Ishida's--"

Xia Chupi hurriedly said to Zeng Yu in the cabin: "Young Master Zeng, someone is looking for him."

As soon as Zeng Yu walked to the bow of the boat, the man who was shouting that he wanted to look for Mr. Zeng in Ishida strode over when he heard Xia Chupi talk, but it was the manager of the Lu Mansion, and there was a man who was picking baskets behind him.

The manager of the Lv Mansion smiled and bowed, "My master asked me to invite Mr. Zeng to the house for breakfast. These two food baskets are food for Mr. Zeng Lingtang and his sister." As he said that, he asked the two men who helped the mansion to pick up the food basket onto the boat.

Zeng Yu said to his mother, and then said to Xia Chupi: "Xia Chaofeng, I'll wait for another three minutes."

"It's easy to say, Mr. Zeng just go, I can wait, I can wait."

When the paper merchant Xia Chupi saw Lu Hanlin sending his housekeeper to invite Zeng Yu to eat, he also gave Zeng Yu's food basket to Zeng Yu's mother and sister. The courtesy was really thoughtful. Obviously, Lu Hanlin attached great importance to Zeng Yu. Xia Chupi was already enthusiastic, so how could he have no reason to wait for Zeng Yu?

Zeng Yu went ashore with the manager of the Lufu. Zeng's mother Zhou and Niu Niu drank porridge. The two food baskets could not be moved for the time being. They had to wait for Zeng Yu to come back.

About an hour later, Zeng Yu returned, and the manager of the Lv Mansion was sent to the port entrance again, looking very respectful.

Zeng Yu got on the boat and said to Xia Chupi: "Xia Chaofeng, I have been waiting for you for a long time, let's go." He bowed to the manager of the Lu Mansion on the shore and said: "I'll ask the housekeeper to bring the message. Thank you Mr. Lu. If you return to Yongfeng, you will definitely come to visit and listen to the teachings again."

Two bamboo poles, one in front and one behind, the wooden boat left the south gate of Yongfeng County and set out for Xinzhou, sixty miles away. Zeng Yu in the cabin invited Xia Chuan Pie to taste the food delivered from Lu Hanlin's mansion. Two food baskets, one of which had two tubes of Wufeng Yunwu Tea and five kilograms of earth sugar, and the other was four dishes and four cakes, all of which were exquisite and had a good taste.

Paper merchant Xia Cupi said in admiration: "Today, I, Lao Xia, can also taste the food from Hanlin Lufu."
Chapter completed!