In the pond, lotus flowers are blooming, pink and white, standing gracefully in the green lotus field.

The flowers bloomed, and Ma Qianjin also became a master. In just a few days, it became majestic and powerful as if it had been reborn. Because Ma Xiaomai had promised Ma Fuquan that he would release it back to the mountains, he specially took Ma Qianjin to the river to give it a bath on the day.

"Brother, do we really have to send it away?" Ma Xiaodou was reluctant to let it go, because of Ma Qianjin, some children in the village often tried to please him with food just to be able to touch the tiger's butt so that they could have something to brag about in the future.

He hoped that Ma Xiaomai could continue to compete with his father and strive to keep Ma Qianjin, but he was also worried that Ma Xiaomai would be beaten. He felt pain just watching the whip hit his body.

"My master also said that tigers are not cats or dogs. The mountains are their home. So we can't just think about ourselves and not let Qianjin go back to the place he likes."

"Alright, you two should say goodbye to it properly. It's still early. Dad will send it to the mountains, and you two should stay away from it."

When the time came to send her away, Ma Xiaodou couldn't hold it in any longer and burst into tears. She rolled on the ground and cried, refusing to let Ma Fuquan send Ma Qianjin away.

This time Ma Xiaodou was beaten by Ma Xiaomai.

He was not resistant to being beaten, and would immediately behave himself once he was hit, but he was still very reluctant to let her go. What should he do? He didn't dare to make a fuss, so he ran to find Sanniu to comfort his wounded heart.

"Dad, I'll go with you. I want to see it return to its home with my own eyes."

"Okay, let's go."

The father and son led Ma Qianjin up the mountain behind them, climbing all the way to the middle of the mountain where fog shrouded the mountain all year round. Ma Fuquan stopped, patted Ma Qianjin on the head, and pointed in the direction of the mountain top. "Go ahead, you'll have to support yourself from now on."

Ma Qianjin walked slowly up the mountain.

After walking a few steps, it stopped again, turned its body around, and looked at the father and son who were standing there watching it leave.

"Let's go, don't look back!" Ma Fuquan waved his hand.

Ma Qianjin looked at them intently, and after a while, she finally turned around and left. Soon she disappeared into the misty jungle.

"Dad, do you think it will come back to find us?" Ma Xiaomai asked with red eyes.

"I don't know. If it comes back, Dad will keep his promise and keep it."

"Ma Qianjin!" Ma Xiaomai cupped her hands to her mouth, looked up and shouted, "Come back if you miss us!"

“Ah--Woo--”

The roar of a tiger came from deep in the mountains, shaking the earth.

"Okay, let's go. Your master and his family are waiting for us to go back for dinner. Don't keep them waiting for too long."

The father and son came down from the mountain and met the village headman leading his cow to the river to bathe. After greeting each other, the village headman called out to Ma Fuquan and asked, "Do you know why Youtian didn't go to Beijing to take the imperial examination?"

"Did he say he couldn't go?"

"It's already so late. We have to leave quickly. We'll still be on the road for a month or so. Go back and persuade him. Whether he passes the exam or not, at least he should give it a try. Even if he only passes for a small official position and comes back to become a county magistrate, our whole village will be proud of it, right?"

Ma Fuquan grinned and said, "Okay, then I'll go back and do some ideological work on him. I'm sure you won't be disappointed."

What ideological work? The village head shook his head, indicating that he didn't understand.

With his hands behind his back, he walked a few steps forward, holding the ox rope. Suddenly, he remembered something and turned around and shouted to Ma Fuquan, "If he plans to go, don't forget to let him tell me before he leaves. I'll ask him to bring something to Old Man Wei."

"Oh, and there's also Master Taifu!"

"Okay, I'll tell him. Don't worry."

A few days passed in the blink of an eye, and Ding Youtian was still running to the fields, carrying a hoe. He wasn't anxious, but the village head and the clan leader were. The village and clan had finally produced a scholar, and the two old men couldn't understand why he didn't seek advancement. If he really planned to stay in this mountain valley for the rest of his life, why did he bother to take the exam to become a scholar in the first place?

They were not the only ones puzzled; many people in the village were puzzled. Some wondered if he was worried about being laughed at if he failed the exam. That was what Old Ding and Mrs. Meng thought.

The two of them were discussing this matter in the room. Mrs. Meng curled her lips and said, "I pulled this out of my own pants. How could I know how powerful he is? He must be afraid of failing the exam. I don't know how he got the title of scholar. Wasn't the old man who lived in his house the Imperial Tutor? Maybe he used some tricks or bought the title of scholar. Who knows."

"Yes, his talent was probably bought with money!"

"When I was a girl at my parents' house, I heard people say that officials can be bought with money, so why can't scholars be bought with money?"

This old man didn't know this. He only knew that he could buy an official position before the grand banquet, but he had never heard of anyone using money to buy a scholar. A scholar is not an official. Can spending money to buy one be eaten?

Oh, by the way, if a talented person can become a teacher, can’t he earn a living?

"That's right. I'm afraid it's really as you said. That useless fellow is thinking of buying a scholar to irritate us. He's really got the wrong idea. Let alone a scholar, even if he becomes the emperor, he can't irritate me!"

"We're no longer related anyway, and I can't get any help from him."

Meng was shocked when he mentioned the emperor. "Old man, we can talk about this behind closed doors, but don't spread it outside. If it gets out, it will be a serious crime that will kill all nine generations of your family!"

Old Ding shrank his neck and said angrily, "My mother and my brothers died of starvation and disease while fleeing the famine. I wish I could kill those unfilial sons so they don't bother me every now and then! Those people in the clan don't care about me at all, so I'd better kill them all!"

Mrs. Meng didn't dare to respond to his words. She lowered her head and silently cut the shoe pattern. As she was cutting, she suddenly sighed, put down the scissors and said, "When I was young, I had endless shoes to make and clothes to sew all day long. At that time, I always persuaded myself to endure it. When they grew up and got married, I could enjoy a peaceful life. But who would have thought that after all the hard work to raise them, not a single one of them would be happy in the end? Which daughter-in-law of the two of us old guys has ever made a pair of shoes or sewn a piece of clothing? They are all heartless people. All these heartless people have come to our house!"

Old Ding was convinced and was about to chime in with a few more curses when he heard Liu start shouting in the yard, "How dare you, you stinky woman, come to our house? Give me back Zhu'er, or I'll fight you!"

"Hey, eldest daughter-in-law, I'm here to tell you something great, a really great story!" Wu Fengxian bumped into Liu as she entered the yard. Waving her hands to avoid her, she shouted towards the main house, "Old sister-in-law, I've come all the way here to tell you something good. Do you want to hear it? If you do, then hurry up and stop the eldest daughter-in-law, or I'm leaving!"

Old Ding came out before Mrs. Meng and stopped Mrs. Liu, "What does Zhu'er's matter have to do with her?"

"Why not? If she hadn't come to our house to act as a matchmaker, would my Pearl have married that accursed fellow? My poor Pearl, she might be suffering somewhere!"

Liu slapped her legs and started crying.

"Don't pay attention to her. If you have any good news, come inside and tell me." Meng put on her shoes and came out to welcome Wu Fengxian into the house.

"Sister-in-law, brother, you two are going to enjoy happiness, the happiness of your little six!" Wu Fengxian rubbed her buttocks on the kang, sat cross-legged, and said with great joy: "As soon as I heard about it, I immediately rushed to your village to tell you the news. So you two will become residents of the county town soon. How can you thank me for bringing the news?"

Old Ding and Mrs. Meng looked at each other and said in unison: "What happened to our sixth son?"