Chapter 99 Old Mrs. Zhao's Reflections
Grandma Zhao's eyes widened.
Why can't she understand what this Cheng family boy is saying? Are all scholars so pretentious?
Cheng Zhao carried two boxes into the house.
Grandma Zhao grabbed Cheng Wanwan: "Eldest daughter-in-law, how long is your nephew staying here? When is he leaving?"
Cheng Wanwan knew that the old lady had relapsed into her old ways, and said helplessly, "Mother, don't worry, Zhao'er isn't just eating and living here for free. He'll do things for us."
Grandma Zhao didn't believe a word of what she said.
Cheng's son is tall, but he's skinny and weak. What kind of work can he do?
Besides, what kind of work do scholars do? Shouldn't they go to town to study properly?
She had never been to Chengjia Village, yet she knew that the Cheng family boy wasn't planning to become a scholar next year, since the imperial examinations were to be held.
Grandma Zhao was full of doubts, but the water boiled again, so she had to go and check on the stove first.
Cheng Wanwan asked Cheng Zhao to help filter the ice jelly. This job wasn't tiring or harmful to the hands, but it was time-consuming.
Cheng Zhao obediently followed to the back. He saw a lot of work in the yard and thought to himself that making ice jelly was not easy. So many people were hired, but it only sold for three coins a bowl. He had to help his second aunt with her work.
He sat on a piece of firewood, bending over to filter the ice jelly. After only a short while, he felt his back aching. This was much harder than reading or writing.
But he dared not complain and continued working in silence.
Grandma Zhao sat to the side. She had previously looked down on Cheng Zhao, but now she felt sorry for the child.
Someone so scholarly shouldn't be doing such rough work.
This is a future scholar, and he suffered in the Zhao family. Will he take revenge in the future?
Thinking of this, Old Mrs. Zhao quickly took the things from Cheng Zhao's hands: "Young man Cheng, go read your book, I'll do this work."
The old woman was strong and snatched the things away without saying a word.
Cheng Wanwan chuckled inwardly. The old lady was a typical example of someone with a sharp tongue but a soft heart; she didn't actually dislike Cheng Zhao that much.
Cheng Zhao was at a loss.
He came to his second aunt's house to repay the tuition fees she had paid for him over the years.
No matter where he went, he couldn't find a job that paid five taels of silver a month. His second aunt was trying her best to favor him, and he wanted to do what he could.
Cheng Zhao walked to the front yard and saw Zhao Sidan feeding the chickens. He said, "Let me help you."
Zhao Sidan took out the little bit of rice cereal left over from the morning: "Cousin, go feed Xiao Hei, it's in its doghouse."
Cheng Zhao took the rice porridge to the doghouse, where a dog, slightly larger than the palm of his hand, was sleeping. Xiao Hei smelled the aroma, wagged its tail, and came out. However, its hind legs had not fully recovered, and it walked with a limp, its little tail wagging.
Its tail tip is black, very black.
Cheng Zhao frowned slightly. Why did this little dog seem a bit different from the other dogs?
Before he could think too much, Zhao Sidan dragged him up the mountain to dig for wild vegetables.
Cheng Zhao took the basket and followed along.
The people in the backyard couldn't help but gossip about him.
"It's one thing for the Cheng family boy to be good at studying, but he's also so diligent."
"I heard he's eighteen, I wonder if he's married?"
"Even if he's not married, don't worry about it. He'll become a scholar next year, and he can marry an official's wife."
"A scholar doesn't need to kneel before the county magistrate, and he won't have to pay taxes on his land. If a scholar comes from a family, it must be because his ancestors were blessed with good fortune."
Cheng Wanwan felt a pang of regret.
The Cheng family is indeed repulsive, but Cheng Zhao is very talented. Being falsely accused and unable to participate in the academy examination will probably be the biggest regret of Cheng Zhao's life.
She wanted to help, but as a peasant woman, she had no way to do so. Fortunately, there were still more than six months until the imperial examination, so she could slowly think of a way.
After washing the ice jelly, Zhao Youyin and the others left.
Cheng Wanwan and Grandma Zhao were filtering ice jelly. Seventeen buckets of ice jelly needed to be filtered out, which was no easy task.
After filtering a bucket, Grandma Zhao was so tired that she felt dizzy and lightheaded: "It looks so simple, how come it's so tiring? There are still so many basins to go, when will I ever finish?"
Cheng Wanwan rubbed her lower back: "I was busy until midnight at the latest. Today, Mom helped out, and Dashan and the others will come to help later. We should be able to finish by dark."
Grandma Zhao clicked her tongue. The whole family had been busy until midnight; did they even want to go to sleep?
She paused for a moment and then said, "This filtration isn't a complicated thing. I'll find two people to help you."
Cheng Wanwan smiled and said, "Mom, thank you so much! It only costs three copper coins to filter a bucket. Is that price okay?"
In the past, Old Mrs. Zhao would have scolded her eldest daughter-in-law for being a spendthrift, but after experiencing today's exhaustion, she knew that these chores were indeed quite tiring, and three coins a bucket wasn't too wasteful. However, she planned to find some old ladies who didn't have much to do at home to help with the work, and two coins would be enough for them.
Cheng Wanwan nodded: "Mother can decide. I will listen to Mother."
She was so obedient that Grandma Zhao was extremely pleased, and she went back to find someone, supporting her aching back.
Cheng Wanwan found her mother-in-law increasingly endearing; it was much more reliable for her mother-in-law to find someone than for her to do it herself.
After that, she could finally hand over the job of filtering ice jelly, and she would have more time to do other things, such as going up the mountain to make money... After buying the electrical wires, solar panels, and pregnancy-preserving pills, she had a third less money on hand, which she had to make up for.
Before long, Old Mrs. Zhao came over with two other elderly women from the Zhao family. She had chosen people with sharp eyes. The three old women sat down, chatting and filtering information as they went. They were very efficient and didn't ask anything they shouldn't. The atmosphere in the backyard was very harmonious.
Before it was time to cook dinner, the three old ladies had finished their work. When it came time to settle their wages, Old Lady Zhao received fourteen coins, including two coins for boiling water, while the other two old ladies each received twelve coins. The three of them went home satisfied.
Each wooden bucket in the backyard was filled with water, and then the ice jelly bucket was placed inside. The spring water was chilled overnight and then delivered to town the next morning.
As the sun began to set, Zhao Sidan and Cheng Zhao returned carrying baskets on their backs.
"Mom, my older cousin and I found lots of mushrooms! We can have mushrooms for dinner!"
Cheng Wanwan walked out of the house and saw that Cheng Zhao's blue and white academy robes were covered in yellow mud, making him look filthy.
This must be the first time this child has done this on the mountain. The mountain path is difficult to walk, so he must have fallen. Such a good scholar has been led astray by Si Dan.
However, scholars should not just read books blindly; by seeing more, they will gain different insights.
Cheng Wanwan took the two baskets and carried them into the kitchen. There were some mushrooms, and she threw away the more expensive ones in the store. She cleaned up the rest and planned to make a mushroom and egg soup, stir-fry some wild ferns, and cook millet porridge as usual. She would then scoop out the rice water from the porridge to feed the puppy and mix in some milk powder.
At dinner time, Wu Huiniang got up and sat down at the table.
Seven people sat around the low, square dining table, making it a little crowded but lively.
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