Chen Xian went to find Old Song in the village.
I took a few pieces of brittle.
Chen Xian chuckled, "Uncle Song, do you know which family in the nearby villages slaughters chickens and ducks?"
Song Renyi asked in confusion, "Why do you want to buy pork?"
Chen Xian: "Uncle Song has lived in town for a long time, so he should know very well which places have the cheapest pork, right?"
Song Renyi asked in confusion, "Isn't your family planning to sell liangpi (cold skin noodles) recently?"
Chen Xian explained with a smile, "Just doing small-scale work to earn a meager living."
Yes, Chen Xian plans to sell meat.
Old Song thought for a while.
"Old Zhu from Guihua Village next door, and Old Guo from Nanguo Village nearby. Old Zhu's meat is a bit more expensive, but his pigs are well-fed. Old Guo's pork is not raised as finely, so it is correspondingly cheaper."
"Thank you, Uncle Song."
I'm home.
The Chen family members began taking turns winnowing the grain.
Everyone was working with great enthusiasm.
The moon and stars are sparse.
After dinner.
The cicadas' chirping gradually subsided, and the summer heat faded.
The Chen family sat in the courtyard, talking, lying on straw mats, resting their heads on their arms, and looking up at the stars.
Erzhu suddenly asked, "Father, the shopkeeper of that bookstore seems to really like your stories. I also want to learn to read."
Chen Xian was surprised.
I don't know why Erzhuzi suddenly became interested in learning to read.
Erzhu calmly said, "Because I want to find common topics with Father and chat with him. I always feel that Father has endless little whimsical ideas. Doesn't Father always say that they are all taught by the teacher?"
"I want to be like my dad."
Chen Xian felt a pang of emotion.
This is probably the power of a good family tradition and role models.
If the original owner of this body were a scoundrel, Erzhu probably wouldn't have thought this way.
In the darkness, Chen Xian noticed that the others were also staring at him with wide eyes.
"Then we'll learn three characters today."
Under the moonlight, Chen Xian used a straw to write on the ground: Heaven, Earth, Man.
The whole family held straw sticks and gestured on the ground.
Suddenly, a sound came from the night.
"Help! Someone's stealing our grain!"
The sounds of banging on wooden basins, shouting, and the crackling of torches mingled together.
A dozen or so men, holding torches, looked furious: "Someone's come to steal our grain."
Chen Gui's expression was serious.
Sister Guihua looked relieved, "Luckily, the village head had arranged for someone to keep watch overnight."
"If someone steals some of the grain, we'll suffer a huge loss."
Chen Qingshan stood in the shadows, his face grim, struggling with his thoughts for a long time.
He slowly walked out, and said with a pained expression, "Come out here!"
Then they pushed out two half-grown boys.
Only then did everyone notice that, illuminated by the torchlight, the two young boys looked terrified.
"I was wrong!"
"It's the Jia family's brat!"
The two boys huddled together, trembling.
Granny Jia cried and sobbed, "You scoundrels! Why did you have to do such a shady business? Stealing chickens and dogs! Where did you learn that from?"
Chen Gui said sternly, "Alright, stop crying. In the past, if someone stole something, they'd be beaten to death. But now, what do you all think we should do?"
Da Cheng's mother said awkwardly, "Otherwise, we should make them pay us back!"
Granny Jia brandished her claws and shouted, "You're talking nonsense! We didn't even steal anything, why should we pay you? I won't accept this!"
"They're still just kids?"
Chen Qingshan sneered, "Kids, teenagers, if we hadn't hired people beforehand, they might have already stolen two sacks of stuff!"
Chen Gui scanned the crowd: "According to the Jia family's calculation of fifty catties per bag and seven coins per catty of grain, they should pay at least three hundred coins. This money should be handed over to the village accountant as wages for the night watchman."
Granny Jia wailed, "Xu Zi, look how they're bullying us! Come up here and take these bullies away!"
Chen Gui sneered, "Fine, if the Jia family lacks water or food and has to farm, I will not allow any members of the Chen family to help them. Otherwise, they will be expelled from the family register. The Jia family is not a member of the Chen family, so I can't control them. You'd better move out as soon as possible, so we don't bully you."
Granny Jia was startled.
Where can we go if we move out?
Qingxia Village has a diverse population. Although Chen Gui's words are harsh, he is still a good person. If he were to go to another village where everyone has the same surname, he would surely wipe out the entire Jia family.
Helpless, Granny Jia went home and, trembling, took out the money from under the bed board and bedding roll.
The two Jia brothers lowered their heads, biting their lips, and remained silent.
It was shrouded in shadows where the torches could not reach.
"People from Hongye Village also came to steal grain. If Uncle Gui hadn't arranged for people to collect the grain in advance, our village would have suffered a great loss."
Chen Guichao nodded to Chen Xian.
That kid is really clever. If he hadn't warned me beforehand, it would have been difficult to guard against the people from Red Leaf Village.
The meeting began to adjourn in a chaotic manner.
Tianming.
The first rooster in the village crowed, and then all the chickens in the village started crowing.
Chen Xian got up and picked up his pen to write.
Cuihua started making breakfast.
The Chen family started their busy day early in the morning.
Dazhu went to fetch water.
Erzhu went to find wild vegetables.
Not long after.
A voice came from the village: "Who are you?"
Someone saw two young men, dressed in coarse cloth, riding horses, looking around with curiosity.
Someone summoned the village head.
After what happened last night, Chen Qingshan is now very sensitive to outsiders.
"What's up?"
Su Wenhao chuckled: "We are students on a study tour. Do you have any spare rooms we can stay in for a while? We need to study."
Chen Qingshan looked puzzled.
What happened? He was studying in the village.
My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com