Li Shi, “Mom, what’s wrong with me?”

It had been a long time since her mother had stared at her like this, and she felt flustered!

Zhulan looked carefully and said, “Li Shi, your face seems to be getting rounder and rounder.”

She hadn’t paid much attention to Li Shi recently. When she saw her today, she found that her face had become much rounder. Was it because the food at home was too good?

Li Shi, “.”

She had indeed gained a lot of weight recently, especially her belly. Well, she counted four layers of fat. The boss had also gained weight.

Zhulan recalled Li Shi’s pregnancy situation and fell silent instantly.

Li Shi was particularly troublesome during her third pregnancy, unlike the first one, which was more peaceful. It was unclear if there was any intentional aspect on Li Shi’s part. However, Xuemei had no such issues with her pregnancy. Would Li Shi be the same?

But she knew that Li Shi was determined to have a baby. She persuaded her twice, but Li Shi became more determined to have a baby. According to her thinking, there was no need to have so many children. The conditions in ancient times were too poor. Thinking about raising Mingrui from a baby to the age when he could walk and talk, she was always worried, fearing that he would get sick, catch a cold, or have a fever, and she was afraid that the child would get sick and die.

The infant mortality rate in ancient times was too high, and it was also dangerous for pregnant women. She was a worrisome person and was always afraid. The joy of Xuemei’s pregnancy had turned into worry these days.

Seeing that her mother was silent, Li Shi’s expression changed again and again. She wanted to slip away, “Mom, I’m going to the market to buy some fish.”

Zhulan relaxed her expression and said, “Well, go ahead!”

After Li Shi left, Zhulan said to Xuehan, “Go find your elder brother.”

Xuehan put down the red thread in her hand, “Ok!”

Boss Zhou followed his younger sister in, thinking something was wrong.

He was stunned when he heard your mother’s words, “Mom, you want me to ask the doctor to come back and check Li Shi’s pulse? Mom, is Li Shi pregnant?”

He was so happy that he could finally take a break. He made up his mind not to have another child. His wife was already troublesome enough, and Mingteng was not a quiet person either. Seeing how troublesome his wife had been recently, he was really afraid of having another child who would be even more troublesome. He didn’t have the ability as a father to take care of her, so it was better not to have another child.

Zhu Lan: “Don’t be happy yet, I’m just guessing. We have to wait for the doctor to come and check her pulse to know for sure whether she is pregnant or not.”

Boss was a pitiful child. For a while, he wouldn’t let go of Mingteng, causing Mingteng to avoid him.

Boss Zhou was a little disappointed, so he went out to ask for a doctor.

Xuemei waited for her elder brother to leave and said, “Mom, elder brother is so anxious to have another one!”

Zhulan: “It’s not your eldest brother, it’s your dasao.”

Xuemei, “.”

Zhulan heard footsteps, and little Mingteng ran in. “Grandma, sānshūThird younger brother of father and xiǎoshūFather’s youngest younger brother passed the fǔshì. Sānshū ranked fourth, and xiǎoshū ranked first.”

The little guy was dancing with joy. He was going to have delicious food again today. It would be even better if they could kill one of the three geese at home. He had been thinking about it for a long time.

Although Zhulan looked calm, she was worried in her heart, “Okay, okay.”

Xuemei asked, “Why didn’t you see your two shūshūsfather’s younger brothers
?”

Mingteng blinked and said, “They went to see Grandpa in the study.”

Zhulan was silent. Ever since Xuemei came, Zhou Shuren mostly went to the study to study with his sons. There was no other way. Now that his daughter had returned to her parent’s home, she naturally wanted to stay with her mother more. And since the children were making so much noise, Zhou Shuren went to the front yard silently.

Zhou Shuren has been feeling quite resentful these days.

Dong Shi also came in, with a smile on her face, “Mother, my husband has passed.”

“Good, good, Changlian has proven worthy of you taking him to and from.”

Dong Shi was happy. She did not envy her xiǎoshū husband’s youngest brother
, who was really good at studying. She only hoped that her husband could pass the exam, and the better the ranking would be. If her husband could pass the exam in one try, he would be a very impressive age at the age of sixteen. He would be able to rank among the top students except for some children of wealthy families and the most talented students.

Even if he failed the yuànshìcollege exam, the last part of Tóngshì
, a sixteen-year-old tóngshēngan entry-level examinee who had passed the county/prefecture exams.
was still good. As long as he could prove his ability, both his father and her jiěfūelder sister’s husband
would help him.

Dong Shi was filled with joy: “Mother, my xiǎodìyoungest brother
got first place. If he gets first place in the jiùshì, maybe he will be xiǎo sānyuánxiǎo sānyuán refers to achieving a significant academic accomplishment in traditional Chinese imperial examinations. It means “small triple top scholar” and indicates that the individual has excelled by placing at the top in three levels of the exams: the county level (xiucai), the prefectural level (juren), and the provincial level (gongsheng). This is considered a notable achievement and is a step towards the highest level of the imperial examinations, the metropolitan and palace exams.
. Mother, who knows we may have another lǐnshēngThe first class of shengyuan, who were the best performers in the college exam, and got to receive government-issued rations and pay for their academic achievements.
!”

Xuemei excitedly replied, “Mom, he is only thirteen years old this year. Is he the youngest xiùcái in recent years?”

Zhulan asked Zhou Shuren and shook his head, “No, since the establishment of the new dynasty, the youngest xiùcái is twelve years old, one year younger than Changzhi.”

Dong Shi, “Mother, he is already extraordinary at the age of thirteen.”

Zhulan was also proud, this was indeed extraordinary in ancient times.

After her initial excitement, Xuemei quickly asked, “What about the two clan relatives?”

Dong Shi shook her head. She really didn’t notice. Mingteng raised his hand and said, “I know, I know. They all passed the fǔshì, but they are all in the bottom few.”

Zhulan smiled and said, “These two children are doing considering it is their first time taking the exam.”

The two people of the Ming generation were not very old, the older one was twenty and the younger one was eighteen. The two children didn’t have a father like Zhou Shuren, and there was no scholar to give them special tutoring. They all relied on learning within the clan. It was good to get such results. If they were lucky in the Yuànshì, they could definitely become a xiùcái.

After Xuemei was happy, she became worried again. Her husband was under increasing pressure. Not to mention her younger brothers, her relatives’ grades were also good. She was really afraid that her husband would put too much pressure on himself.

After waiting for a while, Boss Zhou called the doctor back. The doctor first took Xuemei’s pulse, which was very strong. The baby in her belly was fine, so there was nothing to worry about.

After sitting and waiting for a while, Li Shi came back from buying fish. Li Shi knew why the doctor came, and she stretched out her hand expectantly, “Doctor, please take a good look at me.”

The doctor stroked his beard, thinking that this lady was really fat, and he really needed to feel her pulse. He closed his eyes and felt her pulse carefully, then opened his eyes soon. “Well, the lady has had some indigestion at night recently and has eaten too much. Try to eat less cakes and walk more in the future.”

Li Shi’s eyes widened, “I’m not pregnant?”

“No.”

Li Shi was disappointed. She said that every time she was pregnant, it was very difficult. Others gained weight during pregnancy, but she lost weight. She should not have the idea of ​​having a comfortable pregnancy.

Boss Zhou was the most disappointed. After sending the doctor away, he couldn’t be happy even though his younger brothers did well in the exams.

In the evening, Li Shi was in a low mood and the meal she cooked was not up to her usual standard. Zhulan didn’t enjoy the meal anymore. It was probably because she had eaten too much delicious food recently and her stomach was a little upset.

After the fǔshì, it was time for yuànshì, and there were not many days in between. Zhulan didn’t have the time to take care of Li Shi. Let Li Shi do whatever she wanted, it wouldn’t affect her anyway.

As the yuànshì got closer, Jiang Sheng became increasingly silent. Although it was said that there were no limits on Tongsheng taking the Xiucai exam, those who failed year after year found it hard to persevere. Last year’s examinee, Shumo, didn’t participate this year due to a fragile mindset, fearing failure. He decided to wait two more years before trying again.

Changlian and Changzhi put Jiang Sheng under a lot of pressure. The two xiǎojiùwife’s younger brother were not very old and had good rankings in the provincial examination. Jiang Sheng wanted to use all his time to read.

Zhulan wanted Zhou Shuren to do some psychological counseling, but Zhou Shuren spread his hands and said, “It’s useless to say anything now.”

Zhulan sighed. She even wanted to pray to Buddha, hoping that everything would go smoothly.

In the blink of an eye, it was time for the yuànshì.

(End of this chapter)

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