At the same time, the village people working in the fields also heard the sound of the gong and, after freezing, lifted their feet and ran towards the Song family’s fields.
“Village chief, here they come, the people who reported the good news are here!”
The village chief was standing at the ridge of the Song family’s field watching people sow the last of the wheat seeds, when he heard the shout, he turned back too hard and fell off the ridge at once.
When he heard the shout, he turned back too hard and fell off the ridge. The old man next to him missed his grip and was carried down with him.
The village chief got up and ran towards the village covered in dirt, but after a few steps he turned around and came back.
“Hey ……”
Gu Yi wanted to say that he could take a carriage back, the village headman had long ago pulled Song Si and ran out of the ground.
“Wife, quick, quick, quick ……”
Old Master Song also grabbed Grandma Song’s arm and ran towards the village.
Song Lin and Song Shu followed behind, and Xu and Liu Cui Lan also followed quickly.
Gu Yi also obediently took Song Wan Yue’s hand and excitedly followed behind the group.
The others who were helping in the field looked at each other and also threw away what they were holding and followed.
In the blink of an eye, only a dozen or so of the Gu family’s servants remained in the field, dumbfounded.
The entrance to the Song family.
Seeing Song San Xiao appear at the door, the magistrate at the head of the court arched his hand towards him, “Excuse me, is this the home of Gongzi Song Si Song?”
Song Sanxiao nodded his head in a daze.
“We’re here to report the good news that Gongzi Song has won the examination to understand the yuan.”
Jieyuan!
Bam!
Song San Xiao didn’t stand still and crashed into the gate.
“You are ……”
The records in the county magistrate’s file said that Song Si was fourteen years old, and the man in front of him was seventeen or eighteen years old, so he was definitely not Song Xieyuan.
“I, I, I ……”
Song San Xiao’s mind kept reverberating with the word “Xie Yuan”, unable to say anything in his excitement, he suddenly pushed the magistrate away and ran wildly towards the distance with a limp.
All the magistrates were confused, even the gong was forgotten, and they were wondering what Song Sanxiao’s reaction was when they heard the earth-shaking sound of footsteps.
Before Song Sanxiao could run out of the village, he saw Song Si, who was being dragged by the village headman to run, shouting excitedly, “Xie Yuan, Xie Yuan, Xie Yuan ……”
The village headman pulled Song Si to a sudden halt, and the old man Song and grandmother Song behind him almost failed to gather their momentum and hit them.
Song San Xiao ran wildly to stand in front of them, “Xie Yuan, Si’er won the Xie Yuan exam!”
There was a silence in the black crowd.
The village chief let go of Song Si’s hand, bent down and gently patted the dirt off his body, and helped Song Si straighten his clothes, straightening his back, “Let’s go!”
……
“Head, this ……”
The magistrates who froze at the door looked at the distant figure of Song San Xiao running away, and for a moment they didn’t know what to do, they had been reporting happiness for so many years, but it was the first time they had come across such a thing.
The first time they had ever encountered such a thing was the first time they had ever reported it. Before his words had even fallen, the magistrate at the head of the group saw a vast crowd coming this way, led by a teenager of fourteen or fifteen years old, who could not hide his bookish look even in his rough clothes.
The magistrate at the head of the group immediately saw that he was Song Si.
“Quickly, ring up the gong.”
The gong sounded again and the magistrate at the head of the court greeted him with quick steps, and when he reached Song Si, he bowed his hand, “Excuse me, is this Sir Song Si Song.”
“Yes.”
“You came first in the government exams and won the exam, the county magistrate specially asked us to come and report the good news.”
“May I ask, how many Jieyuan are there this year?”
The village headman asked in a shaky voice as he pretended to be calm and stroked his beard.
The magistrate looked at him strangely, “Naturally, there is only one.”
“Then is this the only one we have had in Qingping County over the years?”
“Yes.”
The village chief straightened his back and turned to give Elder Song a wink.
Master Song had not yet recovered from the shock of Song’s thinking about winning the Jieyuan, and momentarily failed to react to the meaning of the village chief’s wink.
On the contrary, it was Grandma Song who understood and greeted him warmly, “All you officials, you’ve had a hard journey, please come home quickly.”
The officials came on horseback and dismounted only when they reached the entrance of the village, banging gongs.
Naturally, they hadn’t worked hard, but they hadn’t received the money for the good news, so of course they wouldn’t leave like that.
“Thank you very much then.”
“This way please.”
Song San Xiao was busy leading the way ahead.
The magistrates did not dare to go ahead of Song Si, “Song Jieyuan first.”
Song Si lifted his feet and walked forward, with the magistrates following behind.
The people of the village followed in step, until they reached the gate of the Song family before they all stood still, all looking at the village chief with excitement.
The village chief was so excited that he would have jumped up and down like a child had he not been in front of these people.
The mayor made a gesture of silence, indicating that the people should wait outside and not speak. He put his hands behind his back and walked “slowly and deliberately” into the courtyard.
Song San Xiao diligently set the table and Song Lin and Song Shu personally poured water for the magistrates, who did not know who was Song Si’s father and stood up to thank him.
The magistrates did not know who was Song Si’s father, so they stood up and thanked him. Grandma Song walked quickly into the house and took out the red packet she had prepared and gave it to Song Si.
Song Si took it and walked to the table, handing it to the magistrate at the head, “You have worked hard, take this money and buy some wine.”
The moment Song Si took out the red envelope, the smiles on the faces of the magistrates disappeared. In the past, when they reported a happy occasion, the least they could do was to give two taels of silver.
The red envelope was not a coin, but rather a piece of paper. He was moved and his smile immediately returned to his face, quickly tucking the red envelope into his sleeve, “Thank you, Song Jieyuan, we brothers are going back to hand in our work.”
“Take care!”
The magistrate at the head of the group quickly came out and headed for the village entrance, when he was almost out of the village entrance, another magistrate could not help himself, “Head, how much did they give?”
The magistrate in charge looked around to see if there was no one there, then he took out the red envelope and had a few people form a circle, he slowly opened the envelope and when he saw the denomination on it, he couldn’t help but exclaim.
“Ten taels!”
……
“Song Gui ah, …… hahahahahahahaha …… hahahahahahaha.”
Estimating that the magistrates had gone far away, the village chief could no longer hold back his laughter, he had never been so happy in all his years as the village chief.
The people outside the door also all poured in, standing almost half of the courtyard, you say one thing and I say another, saying complimentary words.
“Well, well ……”
The village headman waved his hand, signaling the crowd to quiet down, “I’ll tell you, Song Gui told me a long time ago that as long as Song Si can win the exam, he will hang the fields for our village people for free, so just put your heart in your stomach.”
“Great.”
The crowd cheered.
“Okay, well, let’s all get back to work in earnest.”
The crowd dispersed in excitement.
The village chief asked the old man Song to bring over tobacco packs, one for each person, and smoked most of them before easing the excitement.
“Song Gui ah, I calculated that the people in our village together have less than two hundred mu of land, who are you going to let hang the remaining two hundred or so mu?”
