Chapter 104 The Magistrate's Family Affairs
Night fell.
When Zhao Dawang returned home after his first training session, everyone in the courtyard was there, all staring at him.
Old Zhao coughed and said, "Teach Erwang what you learned today."
Zhao Erwang wore a pained expression: "Grandpa, can I not learn? I don't like recognizing characters, and I don't like arithmetic..."
"If you don't want to learn, I don't want to teach either!" Zhao Dawang snorted. "Cousin Cheng is really amazing. He can do everything. I will definitely become as amazing as Cousin Cheng in the future."
"You rascal, you must be taught," Old Man Zhao said sternly. "Erwang, if you don't study hard, don't call me Grandpa anymore."
Zhao Erwang had a miserable look on his face, and had no choice but to accept his fate and follow Zhao Dawang to learn to read and learn the basic concepts of the abacus.
Sun sat to one side, looking very displeased.
The eldest son's wife was able to read and write because her sister-in-law had a capable nephew from her maternal family.
The second wife was able to go and learn along with the others because the old couple were biased.
They are all grandchildren of the Zhao family, so why should only Dawang and Erwang be allowed to learn these things?
Sun said, "Since Erwang is unwilling to learn, then don't force the child. Chunhua and Donghua are both very smart, let them learn together."
Grandma Zhao disagreed, saying, "What are those two little girls learning? It won't do them any good."
“Mother, what are you saying?” Madam Sun chuckled. “Isn’t my sister-in-law in business? What if Chunhua and Donghua marry a businessman in the future? They’ll need to keep accounts, and to do that, they’ll need to be able to read and write. It’s not too late for them to learn now.”
Donghua twisted her body, not wanting to learn at all; she would rather be called by her grandmother to dig wild vegetables.
However, under her mother's cold gaze, she could only go against her heart and say, "Grandma, Grandpa, I want to learn."
Old Zhao exhaled a puff of smoke and waved his hand: "All four flowers, spring, summer, autumn and winter, will learn from Da Wang."
Sun was dissatisfied again. The eldest son's family had four children studying, while her family only had two children. No matter how you looked at it, the third son's family was at a disadvantage.
While the children were learning about their new experiences outside, Mrs. Sun pulled her husband back into the room, muttering, "I'm sure I'll get pregnant this month, Zhao Youcai. You need to come more often. This time, it has to be a son, otherwise our family will always be at a disadvantage..."
Zhao Youcai usually doesn't dislike his two daughters much, but he does want a son. After all, his two older brothers both have sons, while he is the only one without one. His mother had previously asked him to adopt a son from his older brother, but he refused sternly. He is still young, and his wife is young too. It's not like they can't have more children.
The two were working in the inner room.
The learning atmosphere outside is bustling with activity.
Zhao Dawang was teaching, and his five younger siblings gathered around to listen. Old Man Zhao pretended to be smoking, but he was actually listening carefully. Old Mrs. Zhao overheard a few times and also learned that human nature is inherently good... The family atmosphere was harmonious.
In the early morning, Dahe Village was shrouded in the hazy sunlight.
Cheng Wanwan got up early to make food, and Wu Huiniang insisted on helping out. Cheng Wanwan made her sit by the stove and watch the fire.
At this time, people began to enter the courtyard looking for her.
"Grandma, could you bring me back thirty ducks from town today?"
“My mother-in-law said that twenty ducks were not enough yesterday, and she wants another twenty. Can Aunt Dashan help her?”
"My family also wants to buy some chickens and ducks to raise, as many as you can get..."
Early in the morning, Cheng Wanwan received an order for four hundred ducks.
Dahe Village has a large population, nearly two hundred households, so a few hundred ducks are not a lot at all.
Before leaving, Cheng Wanwan instructed Zhao Sidan: "Catch more locusts and bring them back. Don't feed them to the chickens yet. Keep them locked up and raise them. I'll need them when I get back."
Zhao Sidan licked his lips: "Mom, are you planning to fry locusts for us to eat?"
"You little glutton." Cheng Wanwan slapped his head. "Most locusts in years of famine are poisonous and hard to distinguish. It's okay for chickens and ducks to eat them, but it's best not to eat people."
She wanted to use four eggs to catch locusts for an experiment.
She's been reading books on agricultural locust control these past few days and has gained some in-depth knowledge in this area. She mainly studies the components of pesticides and wants to use ancient herbs to replace these components, but she doesn't know if it's feasible. However, she'll find out by conducting an experiment.
Zhao Da added a cart to the back of the oxcart, with people sitting in the front and the back specifically for holding wooden buckets of ice jelly.
The last stop for the delivery was Ping'an Town. Cheng Wanwan asked Zhao Ergou to buy some salt, while she went into the alley and quietly bought four hundred ducks.
There were fifty ducks crammed into each cage, making a total of eight cages. She strung the cages together with a rope, preparing to drag them out of the alley, and then asked Zhao Da to help her lift the duck cages onto the oxcart.
As I walked out of the alley, I passed the back gate of a house.
"Bang!"
The back door was suddenly kicked open from the inside.
A heavy object slammed into the door panel, smashing open the slightly ajar back door.
Inside, there was a young boy and a woman in her twenties, facing each other coldly.
The boy pointed at the woman's nose and cursed, "If you dare to seduce my father again, I'll smash your whole house to pieces!"
"Your father and I were brought together by a matchmaker, so our marriage was perfectly legitimate. How can you call it seduction?" The woman's face turned ashen with anger. "However, if I were to marry your father, I would have an unreasonable stepson like you. I can't handle that. Now, get out of my house!"
The boy, with his neck stiff, said, "If you swear you'll never go looking for my dad again, I'll leave right now."
The two men glared at each other, the air thick with tension.
Cheng Wanwan didn't want to watch the commotion, so she quietly dragged the duck cage away from the place of trouble.
"Shen Zheng, what are you doing here?!"
A figure walked from the front door to the backyard, accompanied by a familiar voice.
Cheng Wanwan looked over and saw that it was the county magistrate. She glanced at the boy, then at the magistrate, and immediately understood.
She actually... stumbled upon the county magistrate's family affairs.
She quickly grabbed the duck cage, trying to make herself as inconspicuous as possible, but the four hundred ducks were just too loud with their quacking.
Shen Zheng and the woman were arguing and didn't notice the noise outside. Now that the magistrate has suddenly appeared, the entire backyard has fallen silent.
"Caw caw caw!"
The only sounds were the quacking of ducks.
Cheng Wanwan gave a dry laugh and waved her hand: "You guys continue, I... I was just passing by..."
She bent over and hurried away.
Magistrate Shen withdrew his gaze and glared angrily at his son: "Why aren't you studying properly at the academy? What are you doing here?"
"Father, is she the woman you're planning to marry? I don't agree..."
The father and son started arguing in the courtyard.
The woman's eyes were red and swollen: "Your Excellency, we've only met once, and we haven't even discussed marriage. Yet Young Master Shen has already humiliated me like this. How can I, a woman, go on living like this..."
Magistrate Shen was in a bind. He had only come out to meet the woman under pressure from his mother, not because he genuinely wanted to marry her. But his son's outburst made it seem like he had no choice but to take her home. Fortunately, no one was around at the moment, and the whole commotion went unnoticed, except for…
Magistrate Shen lowered his tone and said, "Don't worry, Madam Xu, no outsiders will know about this, and it won't affect your reputation."
Cheng Wanwan, carrying eight cages of ducks, had just met up with Zhao Ergou when Magistrate Shen and his son walked towards them.
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