Guaizai almost became the number one natural enemy of earthworms in the village.
But sometimes, if his digging stick wasn't effective, it could affect his speed. Before, he could fill half a bamboo tube in half a moment. Later, Fang Zichen went to the blacksmith and had a small hoe specially made for him, not much bigger than a rice serving spoon.
With the small hoe, Guaizai was divinely assisted. Often, he'd go out for just a short while and return with a full bamboo tube of little earthworms.
Seeing him dig so many, and the newly bought chickens couldn't finish them all, Zhao Ger went out and bought a few more.
Now Guaizai had to dig two bamboo tubes of little earthworms every day to feed the family's chickens.
As soon as they arrived home, he hung two bamboo tubes around his neck, took his exclusive small hoe, and went out to work.
Fang Zichen watched his retreating back with deep concern, afraid that if this continued, the earthworms in the village would be driven to extinction by his son.
The soil by the river was moist and fertile, the earthworms here were the biggest. Guaizai was digging for earthworms, his bottom in the air, when two women came to wash clothes and struck up a conversation with a smile.
"Guaizai, what are you doing?"
Guaizai wiped his sweat: "Guaizai is digging for wormies."
"Taking them back to feed the chickens?"
"Mm! For chicken-chicken to eat!" Guaizai said seriously: "People cannot eat, you eat them, you'll get sick!"
The woman laughed. She had always thought this little kid, with his big head and dark, bright eyes, was quite cute. But back then, Zhao Ger was with the Ma family. The villagers didn't want to get involved with the Ma family, so they didn't pay much attention to Zhao Ger and Guaizai.
Now that Zhao Ger wasn't with the Ma family anymore, and Fang Zichen had passed the tongsheng exam, many people wanted to curry favor with him.
But Fang Zichen didn't go out strolling much. Knowing he doted on Zhao Ger and this stepson, everyone shifted their target, trying to ingratiate themselves with Zhao Ger and Guaizai.
Their family received quite a lot of attention in the village. The matter of Fang Zichen being drugged was also known by everyone.
Yesterday, when Fang Zichen went to report it to the authorities, some villagers went to watch and came back to tell everything they knew.
Hearing that the Jia family had to compensate Fang Zichen three hundred taels, the villagers were stunned.
Three hundred taels!
It was actually three hundred taels!
Even if they saved every copper coin, they couldn't earn that amount in a lifetime.
Even if Fang Zichen couldn't pass any higher exams in the future, with these three hundred taels, he could set up two shops in town, buy several mu of land, and not need to do any work, just idle away and wait to die.
As his stepson, Guaizai could be considered a born-rich second generation. As long as he didn't commit crimes in the future, he could just wait to inherit the family fortune.
He was still so small he barely reached an adult's knee. Previously, he had worked out of sheer necessity, but now that the family's situation had improved, there was no obvious reason for him to continue such labor.
One woman hesitated and asked: "Did your father tell you to dig for earthworms?"
"No!" Guaizai said: "Is Guaizai himself want to dig wormies!"
Seeing him dig until he was sweaty, the woman asked: "Aren't you tired?" No one loves to work.
Especially young children, playing is what they like to do most.
"Tired! But Father and Daddy are very busy. Father needs to read books, also needs to go to work. Daddy needs to earn big money. They are more tired than Guaizai." Guaizai gripped his small hoe tightly and said seriously: "Father said, only eating and not working is rice bucket. Good child, must be diligent, must be self-reliant, must be a person useful to the country. Guaizai is good, dig wormies diligently, Father loves Guaizai, Daddy also loves Guaizai."
The woman: "..." A tongsheng's child is indeed different from others.
The children in the village were raised roughly. After two or three years old, they were let loose to run wild in the village. Only after six or seven would they start learning to do some chores.
The young boys were fine, they didn't need to do many chores, just wait until they grew up to work the fields. Girls and gers were different, they not only had to learn to wash clothes, cook, but also collect pigweed and gather firewood.
Liu Dali was considered one of the more sensible ones in the village, but at six years old, he still spent all day monkeying around outside!
No one was like Guaizai, so young and already thinking about helping out at home.
The woman patted his head: "Guaizai is so sensible!"
Guaizai laughed, not embarrassed in the least: "Auntie is again blindly stating the big truth."
The woman: "..."
The earthworms were dug quickly, filling the tubes in no time. Guaizai washed his hoe and, like an old man, carried it on his shoulder. On the way back, he was stopped by Xiao Feng.
"Brother Xiao Feng~"
Guaizai was happy to see him. After all, besides Liuliu, Xiao Feng was his only friend in the past.
Even though he now had Liu Dali, He Xiaodong, and a bunch of other little friends, Guaizai still remembered Xiao Feng and wanted to play with him the most.
Xiao Feng was still dressed in rags. He seemed to have gotten even thinner, like a bamboo pole, his cheeks severely sunken. His neck and exposed arms were covered with scratches.
He pulled Guaizai to the side and pulled a lingzhi mushroom (Ganoderma lucidum) out from the grass.
The lingzhi was small, only about the size of a shiitake mushroom, wrapped in two tree leaves.
Guaizai had never seen one before: "What is this?"
"It, it's lingzhi," Xiao Feng said. "You take, take it back, for, for Uncle Fang."
He had heard about Fang Zichen's situation from Liu Gouzi.
"Fang Zichen vomited blood right in the Yamen, his face as white as pork skin." Fang Zichen didn't have any conflict with Liu Gouzi, but when he first came to Xiaohe Village, he was penniless. Now, just a few months later, his worth had skyrocketed. Liu Gouzi felt very sour about it, so his words weren't very pleasant.
"What's the use of the Jia family compensating so much money? Looking at his condition, I doubt he has more than a few days left. Some people have the luck, but not the lifespan to enjoy it. It's all in vain! Once he dies, whoever marries Zhao Ger will have a comfortable life from then on."
Zhao Ger had been good to Xiao Feng, often secretly giving him food. Fang Zichen had also given him two eggs. He remembered this. After finishing his chores at home, he took advantage of Liu Gouzi's inattention and ran to the old physician's house to ask if there was any saving someone in Fang Zichen's condition.
The old physician was only a half-quack. He advised that while Fang Zichen could still eat, he should eat nourishing foods. He warned that later, Fang Zichen might lose his appetite entirely, and that building up his strength now might help him hold on for a few more days.
Xiao Feng pursed his lips, remained silent for a long time, then asked the old physician what kind of food could nourish the body. The old physician said things like ginseng, lingzhi, dates, etc.
Xiao Feng kept it in mind. The next day, before dawn, he entered the mountains.
The deep mountains were dangerous, rarely visited. He searched for a day and was lucky enough to find one.
"Can Brother Xiao Feng come to Guaizai's house to play?" Guaizai pulled him. "Guaizai hasn't seen you for so long, Guaizai misses you."
Xiao Feng shook his head, making an excuse: "I, I still have to, to go chop firewood."
When Guaizai handed the lingzhi to Fang Zichen, he was shocked. Hearing it was a gift from Xiao Feng, Fang Zichen was shocked again.
Lingzhi grew deep in the old-growth forests, the dangers inside were well known. Fang Zichen didn't need others to tell him, he was already aware of the dangers himself. Once, he had been chased all over the mountain by a wild boar, using the strength of nine bulls and two tigers before he managed to shake it off.
How old is Xiao Feng?
Is he trying to get himself killed, going into the deep mountains alone like that?
He asked Guaizai, "Just now when you saw your Brother Xiao Feng, were his hands and feet still intact?"
Guaizai blinked: "They are! If not, how does he walk? Why is Father so silly?"
Fang Zichen: "..."
Fang Zichen felt like hitting him.
The next day, the Yamen held the trial. Before Fang Zichen could even say a word, Magistrate Jiang directly pounded the gavel and closed the case.
No comments:
Post a Comment