Chapter 53 Not Getting Beaten Enough
Song Chunxue had already seen Lao Si drive the sheep home early in the morning from the bean field on the mountain, with a strange man following behind him.
She wasn't surprised at all, and she didn't panic when she got home.
Seeing the eldest brother of the Niu family from the neighboring village, he couldn't help but laugh and say, "Come in and have some water. My fourth son is herding sheep for the first time today. I'm really sorry, he ruined your wheat."
"Stop talking nonsense. Half of the wheat ears in my two acres of wheat fields have been eaten by sheep. If you don't pay me a hundred coins, I'll take one of your sheep away today."
“Then you can pull it, our family really has no money.” Song Chunxue sighed. “If it weren’t for this, the fourth son would be doing well in his studies and wouldn’t have to come back to herd sheep.”
Brother Niu pondered for a moment, his neck stiff, "What can you do with a sheep? We don't raise sheep at home. I'll have to herd them when we get back, and if I want to sell them, I'll have to take them to the market. It's too much trouble."
"How about this? We'll go to your field and see how much wheat it ate, and then I'll compensate you according to the extent of the loss, how about that?"
Song Chunxue spread her hands and said, "If it's really serious, how about you come and harvest my wheat when it's ripe?"
Brother Niu looked a little uncomfortable.
"Mother, actually we didn't eat much. It was just the bits and pieces from the edge of the field, short and sparse..." The fourth son sniffed, trying to explain.
"You wicked coward, you're such a big man and you can't even herd sheep properly. You ate my wheat and you still think you're right? Believe me or not, I'll stomp on your feet a couple of times!"
Farmers cherish their grain and look forward to a bountiful harvest all year round.
Seeing the green wheat ears being eaten by sheep breaks my heart.
Upon hearing what the fourth brother said, Brother Niu became furious and stood up to hit him.
"No, no, no, big brother, calm down." Song Chunxue pushed the fourth brother away and pulled him behind her. "Our child is just being immature, please don't take it to heart."
"How about this, I'll give you five coins as compensation?" Since the fourth brother said he didn't eat much, then he definitely didn't eat much.
Otherwise, Brother Niu wouldn't have remained silent just now.
"Fine, you've had it tough too, raising so many kids all by yourself," Brother Niu said irritably. "But you've spoiled the kids too much. They're fifteen years old now, not rich kids. Farmers' children can't even herd sheep."
"To be honest, you're being too biased. Sanwa has been herding sheep ever since his father passed away, and we've all seen it. He was young and naive back then, thinking that herding sheep was better than studying. Don't you, as his mother, know that?"
“From now on, we should make this fourth brother, who doesn’t know the value of food and drink, work properly. Otherwise, what if he starves to death while farming when you get old?”
Hearing that Brother Niu's tone was relatively mild, Song Chunxue felt much relieved.
“Brother, you’re right. I was too tactless before, which made them think that they were studying because they were capable. They didn’t know that if it weren’t for Sanwa herding sheep, they wouldn’t even have a pen to write.”
"Brother, wait a moment, I'll go inside and get the money." With that, Song Chunxue pulled the fourth brother into the yard.
Before long, she handed five coins to Brother Niu.
"Alright, I'm off then. If you don't know how to herd sheep, you can graze them on the barren slopes at the edge of the woods, but don't go to the ridges between other people's crops. If you don't have the ability, admit it, don't pretend."
He weighed the copper coin in his hand, and his tone softened considerably.
"Oh, what you say is true, I'll talk to him properly." Song Chunxue smiled apologetically and sent the man away.
Sanwa stood under the apricot tree outside the courtyard, looking at Song Chunxue with some nervousness.
Seeing the conflicted and worried look on Sanwa's face, how could Song Chunxue not know what he was thinking?
"You can set it off with him this afternoon. Even if he doesn't want to, you have to go with him. You're his older brother. If he doesn't listen, you can scold or beat him as you please."
“If you don’t know how to herd sheep, then learn how. We can’t let you continue to herd sheep just because he doesn’t know how. We’re not in a hurry to go to school tomorrow; we’ll go the day after. The matter of studying won’t change; the fourth brother has already missed his chance.”
Song Chunxue walked over and patted him on the back. "It's okay, you go and rest. We'll take him out this afternoon."
Sanwa sniffed and nodded.
He almost thought he was going to have to stay and herd sheep again.
*
After waking up from her afternoon nap, Song Chunxue went to the door of the east room.
"Fourth brother, get up and eat something before you go herd the sheep. This afternoon, your third brother will accompany you and learn from him. If you can't even herd sheep, you'll be laughed at by others."
"If you can't even learn this, and I still send you to school, people will say I'm stupid. You're good at nothing, and I'm wasting money sending you to school. People will wonder if there's something wrong with your head."
She knocked on the door. "Get up quickly. Even a five-year-old in the neighboring village can herd sheep. You'll learn eventually. I'll herd sheep with you tomorrow."
"Understood." Although the fourth brother was extremely reluctant, he still answered.
He wiped away his tears, feeling wronged and resentful.
He felt wronged because he had to herd sheep, and he was indignant because he thought it was impossible for him not to learn how to herd sheep.
He doesn't want to be a failure.
Only if he behaves well in the future and pleases his mother will she give him another chance.
Otherwise, he really will have to become a farmer in the future.
He doesn't want to be a farmer, he'd rather die than do that!
The plan was to wait until he had studied for three years before taking the exam. If he failed, he would go to another place to make a living, just like his second brother.
Now, he has to stay home and herd sheep, otherwise his mother won't give him travel expenses.
If he could just get through these days and his mother was happy, he would bring up the idea of going out to make big money.
This village is really too poor, and the grain harvest is unstable. Everyone says there will be a severe drought in a few years, and people will starve to death if they rely on the grain from the fields. He needs to find a way to earn money to buy grain as soon as possible.
*
In the afternoon, Sanwa and Lao Si herded the sheep out of the pen and over the mountain to graze them on a deserted hillside.
Song Chunxue was a little worried that the fourth brother would give Sanwa a hard time, but she thought that Sanwa would have to face these things eventually, and he had to rely on himself to make himself proud.
As long as she doesn't side with the fourth son, the third child will have fewer worries.
“Mother, aren’t you angry? Fourth Brother lost five coins while herding sheep. I thought you would scold him.”
After waking up, Jiang Hongying sat on the steps outside the door, watching Song Chunxue eat steamed buns, and asked the question that had been on her mind for more than an hour.
Song Chunxue drank water infused with boiled red dates, gazing at the distant mountains with a calm expression.
“What’s the use of scolding him? If you anger him and he quits, Sanwa definitely won’t want to go to school anymore.”
"Five coins is a lot, but a sheep can sell for two hundred coins. That man was indeed angry. The reason he came along was because he was worried about the food."
Jiang Hongying looked at her mother's still youthful profile and noticed a gray hair at her temple.
"But I don't think the fourth brother can stay for long. What if he starts clamoring to go back to school and asks the third brother to come back and herd sheep after a while? What will you do then?"
Song Chunxue looked at Jiang Hongying, a faint smile playing on her lips. "Can I let him have his way? He's not a three-year-old anymore. I won't spoil him."
"Sanwa finally got to school, how could I let him come back halfway?"
Song Chunxue's voice was low and deep, with a hint of anger in it, "He doesn't like to do this or that, which means he hasn't been beaten enough. The newly chopped stick is very sturdy. He wants to lie on the kang like the eldest brother, and I will make him wish."
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