Chapter 549 Obsession
So Mr. Zhuang was not in a hurry to have dinner, and asked his three children to take clothes and wooden basin back to the river.
The water in the river is very clear. Every day, not only do people wash clothes in the river, but some also wash vegetables in the river.
Mr. Zhuang took a thin stick and found a big rock by the river to sit on. He pointed at the big rocks where the clothes were washed with the stick and said, "Come, take out the clothes."
As a poor scholar who had studied away from home for many years, and a single male teacher who had been widowed for many years, Mr. Zhuang was very experienced in washing clothes.
These experiences are the accumulation of his life.
"Rinse it with water first, and rub it on the stone slab. Pay special attention to the sleeves and hems..." Mr. Zhuang tapped Bai Erlang and Bai Shanbao with a stick, "You two should be more careful. It's just washing clothes, not a war."
Bai Erlang and Bai Shanbao couldn't help but slow down their movements. Mr. Zhuang saw that they had slowed down and softened their movements, and then he said, "Don't wash just one set of clothes, and your clothes are all wet. What's the point of washing then? Learn from your senior sister."
The two looked at Manbao standing aside.
Manbao looked at them proudly.
Mr. Zhuang knocked on the stone slab beside Manbao with a stick and said, "You should rub it somewhere else. You three are either climbing trees or squatting on the ground playing every day. You are dirty everywhere..."
Under Mr. Zhuang's guidance, the three of them completed their first round of laundry with great difficulty. They wrung out the clothes and placed them in a wooden basin. Then they all breathed a sigh of relief and found a place to sit next to Mr. Zhuang.
Mr. Zhuang tapped Bai Erlang on the head, who was closest to him, and said with a smile, "You're so exhausted after just washing one set of clothes?"
At this time, the sun had already set, and the last bit of sunset glow stubbornly clung to the horizon and refused to disappear, but half of Yizhou City began to welcome the night.
Perhaps because people in the city are relatively busy, most families have just started to have dinner at this time. A faint aroma of rice wafts from the homes on both sides of the river. From inside, you can hear the voices of adults calling their children to go home for dinner, as well as the voices of adults scolding or coaxing their children.
However, some people were so busy that they hurriedly came out with a basket of vegetables and squatted by the river to wash them.
The four masters and apprentices remained silent for a moment, placing the wooden basin at their feet and quietly watching the audible and invisible bustle on both sides of the river.
Until the last ray of light in the sky disappeared and everyone could only see the ground beneath their feet, Mr. Zhuang led his three disciples back.
Mr. Zhuang said to Bai Shanbao, "When you become an official in the future, you will serve the people of this area."
He then said to Bai Erlang and Manbao, "Even if you don't become officials in the future, what you do can still benefit the people here."
The three disciples were all somewhat bewildered. Mr. Zhuang walked back slowly, his hands behind his back, saying as he walked, "This is a thought I have always held in my mind. You may not understand it now, but I hope you will understand it in the future."
As he was speaking, a light cough suddenly sounded, startling Mr. Zhuang. In the dim light, he squinted his eyes and looked forward, only to see a person standing at his door.
The man was standing in the shadows and he hadn't seen him at all just now.
Daji, who was walking behind, said softly, "It's Mr. Lan."
As soon as he finished speaking, Lan Cheng stood out from the shadows.
Mr. Zhuang was surprised, "Why is Zhongcheng here?"
Lan Cheng said, "I just found out that you guys had a ghost hunting show here today. I was a little worried, so I came to check on you. Who knew you weren't home?"
Lan Cheng asked, "You haven't had dinner yet, have you? I brought some wine and food."
After saying this, he glanced at the wooden basins held by the three disciples behind him, chuckled, and stepped aside.
Mr. Zhuang quickly invited him in with a smile and asked the three disciples to hang up the clothes themselves.
Zhou Silang was adding steamed rice. When he heard the noise, he immediately ran out to report, "Mr. Zhuang, you're back. Mr. Lan is here to see you."
He continued, "The food from the restaurant has arrived. It's a little cold since you guys haven't come back yet. I reheated it. Would you and Mr. Lan like to eat alone, or join us?"
Mr. Zhuang smiled and said, "Send a copy to the study. I want to talk to Mr. Lan."
"yes."
Zhou Silang nimbly went into the kitchen to distribute the food. Daji glanced at the three people who were drying clothes in the yard, and also went into the kitchen to help Zhou Silang.
Zhou Silang smiled at him and gave him all the wine and food that Lan Cheng brought.
Although he was brave, for some reason, he always felt guilty and short of breath when facing Mr. Zhuang, so he would never do such things himself if he could push them to Daji.
Zhou Silang took out another dish from the restaurant and put it on the tray, then went to get some rice and gave it to Daji.
Daji glanced at him and took it silently.
Zhou Silang then packed up their own food. As he carried the food into the main room, he muttered to the three people in the yard, "Isn't it just washing one set of clothes? If someone didn't know, they would think you took three days' worth of clothes for the whole family to wash. You haven't come back for so long."
Manbao finished drying the clothes and said in defense, "My husband said we didn't wash them clean enough, so we have to wash them slowly."
"That's really slow. Come on, let's go inside and eat. My son hasn't had dinner yet. I'm starving."
"There are still many families here," Bai Shanbao said, "When we just came back, several families had just taken out their vegetables to wash them."
"How can our family compare with other families?" Zhou Silang said, "We don't work in the fields, and we don't have any work in the city. Others are so busy that they don't have food to eat, but what about us?"
The three of them said in unison: "We are busy too."
"Yes, very busy, very busy. Busy washing a set of clothes?"
Daji also came back, sat down quietly and picked up the chopsticks. Zhou Silang picked up a piece of meat for Manbao first, and then everyone started to eat.
Mr. Lan, who was in the study, listened to the noise next door and smiled at Mr. Zhuang, "Having three disciples like these, you can consider yourself satisfied, right?"
Mr. Zhuang smiled at him.
Lan Cheng remained silent for a long time. He poured himself and Mr. Zhuang a glass of wine, drank it all in one gulp, and then said, "After all these years, you're still a fool."
Mr. Zhuang picked up the wine glass, took a sip, and smiled at him.
Lan Cheng sighed, turned his head and looked outside. As he looked at the completely darkened sky, he said, "Aren't you afraid he won't be able to become an official?"
Mr. Zhuang said nonchalantly, "If I can't become an official, I still have other uses. Haven't I taught many students over the years? At least they have a skill."
Lan Cheng knew that his years of obsession could not be dispelled by just a few words, so he changed the subject, "What's the matter with the ghost? If my family hadn't mentioned at dinner that a strange case happened in the county government office today, I wouldn't have known that your place was haunted."
Mr. Zhuang laughed heartily upon hearing this, saying, "The three kids were just fooling around and frightened the man pretending to be a ghost."
The next update will be around 9pm
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
