Chapter 135 Mistaking a chicken feather for a royal decree

The sun is very hot in the afternoon.

Shen Zheng couldn't stand the heat after standing in the yard for a while. He threw down the flail in his hand and habitually took out a paper fan from his arms, but found nothing.

The pageboy, Afu, quickly plucked a large leaf to fan him: "Young master, please sit down and rest for a while. Leave these tasks to me."

Aunt Zhao said each person would weigh five jin, so the two of them, master and servant, would weigh ten jin in total. This kind of work shouldn't be too difficult.

Ah Fu was still quite optimistic, but after he hit the rice a few times with the flail, he suddenly felt too hot and too tired. His hands and shoulders ached, and everything ached...

After finally finishing harvesting this rice field, clearing away the stalks, and collecting the grains from the ground, there wasn't even a pound left.

Afu is so tired that he doubts the meaning of life.

But he didn't dare stop. He spat on his hands twice and continued working.

Shen Zheng was fanning himself with a leaf as he wandered around the yard. He stopped beside Cheng Zhao and asked, "Hey, isn't your last name Cheng? Why are you working for the Zhao family?"

Cheng Zhao was busy drying rice and answered without even looking up: "This is my second aunt's house."

"The entrance exam will be next year. Why are you staying in this shabby place instead of going to Nanfu Academy to study hard?"

"Isn't Young Master Shen here too?" Cheng Zhao said calmly. "Why doesn't Young Master Shen think about why the magistrate sent you here?"

Shen Zheng sneered coldly. It was all Cheng Zhao's fault. Cheng Zhao always got A-class in the examinations at Nanfu Academy, and the dean praised him highly. His father must have wanted him to learn writing and studying from Cheng Zhao.

Cheng Zhao's family is so poor that he has to work all day long. How can he have time to study? His father miscalculated this time.

Shen Zheng shook the leaf in his hand, turned around and walked out of the yard. He stood at the gate and looked into the distance, where he saw a familiar figure – Zhao Ergou.

He immediately walked towards Zhao Ergou.

The ridge was very narrow, with rice paddies on both sides. As he walked down, his silk robe got caught on it. He tugged hard, and the robe was torn open with a large tear.

Shen Zheng didn't care about his clothes being torn and continued walking towards the field.

Zhao Ergou was cutting rice with a sickle. Because he had to leave the rice stubble, he had to lean his left hand upwards so that his hand could almost touch the rice ears, making harvesting very inconvenient. He kept bending over until his waist was almost broken, but he couldn't stop. He had to harvest as much as he could before it got dark.

Zhao Sanniu was cutting rice at the other end, his whole body buried in the paddy field, not even having time to look up.

Cheng Wanwan and Zhao Dashan gathered the rice together, tied it up with straw ropes, and carried it back.

"Cough cough!"

Shen Zheng walked over, and no one looked at him, which made him very unhappy.

He coughed loudly several times.

Cheng Wanwan was almost exhausted. The sun made her mouth dry and she really didn't have the energy to deal with this young official. She lowered her head and continued to work.

"Hey!" Shen Zheng said impatiently, "Zhao Ergou, you come here!"

Zhao Ergou was so busy that he was dizzy. He had just vaguely heard his mother say that there were guests at home, but he didn't take it seriously. When he looked up, he saw the magistrate's son standing in front of him, and his sweaty face immediately fell.

Shen Zheng gritted his teeth: "Why, are you unhappy to see me coming?"

Zhao Ergou sneered in his heart.

Indeed, when he saw this young master Shen, he was reminded of the scene when he was being ordered around by this young master when the canal was being dug.

He's not a servant of the Shen family, so why should he take orders from this young master?

However, he didn't show it on his face.

Shen Zheng said: "What is that in your hand? Bring it over and let me see it."

Zhao Ergou: "..."

Here it comes again, that terribly familiar tone.

If Young Master Shen starts playing with a sickle, will he still be able to work today?

Zhao Ergou's eyes darted around, and he presented the sickle with both hands: "This is a farming tool used for harvesting rice. Young Master Shen, would you like to come down and give it a try?"

Shen Zheng was a playful person, and he would get excited about anything within a quarter of an hour. He threw away the leaves in his hand, jumped off the ridge and walked towards Zhao Ergou. Just as he got in front of him, before he could touch the sickle, he was suddenly tripped by something and fell forward. The ground was full of rice stubble. If Zhao Ergou had not been blocking him, his face would have been pierced by the hard rice stubble.

"Oh dear, Young Master Shen, are you alright?"

Zhao Ergou quickly helped the man up, and the concern on his face seemed a bit hypocritical.

Shen Zheng was furious: "You are such a good fellow, Zhao Ergou, how dare you trip me up? I think you are courting death."

Zhao Ergou looked innocent: "There are rice stubble everywhere in this field. Young Master Shen must have tripped over the stubble. The ground in the field is uneven, so it's not suitable for Young Master Shen to stay any longer. Young Master Shen should go back."

Shen Zheng also wants to go back, but can he?

Cheng Wanwan glared at Zhao Ergou secretly. If she hadn't controlled the direction just now, and Shen Zheng had fallen on the rice stubble, something terrible would have happened.

She walked over and softened her tone, saying, "Young Master Chen, this is not a place to play around. You either go back to the yard to thresh the rice, or you go with Si Dan to pick up the rice ears. Pick up five jin and you'll consider your task complete."

Shen Zheng's face was dark and gloomy; he didn't want to stay in this wretched place any longer!

But the woman in front of him also had a cold expression. She had received orders from his father and was acting as if he didn't care about his status at all.

He angrily followed Zhao Sidan to pick up the rice ears.

The rice ears were scattered among the stubble, and each ear had to be picked up one by one and put into the basket on the back.

Shen Zheng had only picked up a few when he felt that the constant bending and standing up was too tiring and his waist was almost broken.

He glanced at Zhao Sidan walking ahead, an idea popped into his head, and he quickly went over, grabbed a handful, and stuffed them all into his basket.

The basket on his back suddenly felt lighter. Zhao Sidan turned around, his eyes wide: "Young Master Chen, what are you doing?"

Shen Zheng sneered and continued taking rice from his basket.

“Ouch—”

A knee-high creature suddenly emerged from the field.

It has gray-black fur, green eyes, triangular, upturned eyes, and a fierce look.

"Wolves!"

Shen Zheng's eyes widened, and he took off running.

Xiaodian chased after him, hugged his thighs, and bit his robe with his mouth.

Shen Zheng was so frightened that his face turned pale and he fell on the edge of the field.

"Small, don't bite." Zhao Sidan ran up to him. "This is Young Master Shen, a guest of our family. You can't do this."

He patted the little one's head.

Xiaodian immediately let go of Shen Zheng and sat down obediently beside Zhao Sidan.

Shen Zheng was dumbfounded.

Damn, is this a wolf? How come it's so obedient like a dog?

Is it possible that his cognition is biased?

He stood up and took a step forward.

"Aww—"

Xiaodian immediately stood up and stood in front of Zhao Sidan, looking like he was about to pounce on him.

Shen Zheng fell to the ground again.

Zhao Sidan walked over and took the rice ears back from Shen Zheng's basket, saying, "My mother said that you should do your own things yourself, and my cousin also said that it's better to rely on yourself than to rely on others. Young Master Shen, hurry up and get to work."

Zhao Sidan continued working with Xiaodian.

Shen Zheng sat on the edge of the field, almost furious. He, the dignified young master Shen, was actually being lectured by a ten-year-old child. It was truly a case of a tiger fallen into the plains being bullied by dogs.

He kicked the basket over and refused to work, wanting to see what Zhao Chengshi could do to him!