When the villagers saw Meng Yongfu, they immediately felt bored and went home with their empty bowls. They figured it was better to dig more land and plant vegetables than to waste time looking at him.

The man looked up at the now empty doorway, his eyes filled with a dark, oppressive gloom.

Old Feng's house is at the west end of the village.

When Feng's mother ran home and saw the boy still fast asleep in bed, she was so angry that her eyes turned red. She raised her hand to slap him, but when she was about to reach the boy's face, her strength suddenly gave way, and tears flowed down her face first.

She grabbed his clothes and shook him, "Zicai, wake up! Wake up, it's getting late, don't sleep..."

After a while, the person on the bed finally stirred a little. When she saw the person standing by the bed, she impatiently waved her hand away, "What are you doing bothering me? The sun hasn't even risen yet. I'm having a good dream. Get out!"

Before she could finish speaking, she turned over and tried to fall asleep again.

Looking at her unkempt son with his unkempt beard, Feng's mother finally couldn't resist and gave him a hard slap on the head.

"Ouch!" Feng Zicai was knocked off balance.

He looked at the woman with displeasure, "Mother! Why did you hit me? I told you, I'm not hungry right now, I don't want to eat, I want to sleep. I just won fifty taels in a big hand, and I was just waiting to collect the money. Why did you wake me up..."

Upon hearing this, Mrs. Feng nearly fainted from anger. "Gambling! You're still thinking about gambling?!"

Don't you know what the situation is like at home right now?

You don't just owe the gambling den one or two taels, but a full two hundred taels of silver. If it weren't for the officials there the other day, you would have lost your hands by now.

Without hands, how will you hold a pen? How will you take the imperial examinations? How will you pass the imperial examinations and achieve high honors?

But now, instead of paying back the money, you're even thinking about gambling! You might as well take my old life!