Chapter 104
In mid-March, the houses for the hired farmers were completed and they moved in one after another from the guest houses and started to cook. Suddenly, there were several more wisps of smoke in the village.
The hired farmers followed his advice and sent their children to work for the Zhang family. Overnight, the Zhang family had four or five more people who could do the work.
The older ones are twelve or thirteen, and the younger ones are in their teens, old enough to be assigned jobs.
Xu He handed the people over to Huangqi and Gancao who arrived earlier to learn the rules. He and Zhang Fangyuan were still busy with the preparations for moving into the new house.
The couple thought that since the hired farmers had been settled and were cultivating the land, they could move to the city with peace of mind.
In fact, they can live in both the village and the city. They have a lot of properties here, so they will have to come back to check from time to time. But they are not worried about going to the city. After all, the Zhang family is more than just the two of them. His eldest uncle and fourth uncle will take care of the family.
"I won't move to the city with you two this morning. I'm used to living in the village. Besides, I'm thinking about the business of the guesthouse and teahouse."
Zhang Shiyue helped organize the clothes and toys of the two children. The couple naturally wanted her to move with them to the city to live a better life, but after thinking it over, she still wanted to stay in the village.
"I've had enough of sitting around in the village. I can find something to do when I go out, like pulling some weeds in the fields or hoeing half a plot of land. I'm surrounded by familiar folks, so life is easy to pass." Zhang Shiyue said, "Xiao'e is pregnant too. When she's older, she asked me to take care of her. The village is closer than the city anyway."
Zhang Fangyuan wanted to persuade her again, but Xu He stopped him, "Just follow Second Aunt's wishes. After all, the city is not far from the village, and it's not like we can't see each other often."
He could understand Zhang Shiyue very well. People are reluctant to leave their roots when they get older, and they cannot adapt to the new environment as well as young people. Besides, his children are still in the village, so they would not be willing to move.
Zhang Fangyuan had no choice but to agree.
After packing up the house, the couple thought about moving to the city as soon as possible so that they could decide on a teacher for their child early. However, they did not leave first, but a rare guest came.
"I heard that Ruijin and Ruili were looking for a teacher to teach them, but you two haven't found a suitable one yet. Why didn't you let Shaochun know? After all, you are brothers-in-law and relatives, so you should help each other."
Zhang Fangyuan asked Xu He to pour tea and sent everyone away. He stayed alone to talk with Fei Xiucai, who was in high spirits recently.
It's not that he is petty and can't stand seeing his wife talking to Fei Lian, but it's just that if Xu He is around, he will be even better at pretending to be arrogant.
"We have thought about this. The children that Mr. Fei teaches are older, and the two children are still young. I am afraid that they will need more effort to discipline them. I am afraid that Mr. Fei is too busy to handle it. It would be more appropriate to go to the city to hire a teacher. It will also make He Ge'er and I feel at ease."
Fei Lian said: "How could that be? I treat all students equally and teach them seriously. As a teacher, how can I complain about being busy and tired?"
"I know that you have a special respect for the teachers in the city, and your mindset is rigid. In fact, the teachers in the city are not necessarily good teachers. They just collect extremely high tuition fees, and their writing skills are actually mediocre. They just set themselves high to deceive those who have never read."
Fei Lian paused and smiled, "Didn't our village school produce a scholar a while ago? So what matters is not the location, but choosing a good teacher."
Zhang Fangyuan took a sip of tea, not knowing whether this person wanted to accept Rui Jin and Rui Li as students, or wanted to show off that one of his students passed the examination and became a scholar a while ago.
However, no matter how he boasted about himself or belittled the teachers in the city, Zhang Fangyuan could not change his mind and send his child to Fei's private school. Not to mention that he did not like Fei Lian, he also understood the Fei family's intentions.
If you teach two children, you will be their teacher. If they ask for help in the future, how can you refuse?
Zhang Fangyuan guessed that Fei Lian was too self-righteous to come to his house to talk to him about these things, and he thought that it was Fei's mother who coaxed him to come.
"I don't ask Ruijin to pass the imperial examination and become an official in the future. As long as he can read and write, it will be enough. I am not taking him to the city to study just because the teachers there are better. My business is in the city, so it will be easier to take care of it if I move there. I can also find a teacher for my child in the city. If he stays in the village, it will be tiring to travel back and forth."
Upon hearing this, Fei Lian put away his pride, knowing that his family wealth could not compare to that of the Zhang family. Now he owned two large houses in the village and the city, and had a group of servants under his command, as well as so many hired farmers. Even the landlords in the village could not compare to him. In terms of financial resources, who in the surrounding villages could compare with him, Zhang Fangyuan.
However, Fei Lian still managed to keep his composure in his heart. He always believed that no matter how rich the scholars, farmers, merchants and artisans were, they were still second-rate merchants. There was an unbridgeable gap between them and the scholarly families who taught and preached. In the future, he would educate his son well and have him pass the imperial examination and enter an official position as soon as possible. It was only a matter of time before his family became stronger than the Zhang family.
Seeing that Zhang Fangyuan had no intention of giving in, he cupped his hands, not at all like the villagers who were servile and fawning: "Zhang's business is booming, but I still have to advise you that the children's studies are also important."
Without saying anything more, Fei Lian said, "Goodbye."
Zhang Fangyuan didn't try to keep him, and didn't even stand up, just letting him go.
Xu He then came into the room and said, "My second sister often comes here, but she never mentions sending the two children to study at the Fei family. Instead, she said that now that our family is doing well, we should go to the city to hire a famous teacher to teach. I'm afraid Fei Lian asked to come here in collusion with Madam Fei."
"That's what I thought."
The Zhang family is the richest and most powerful family in the village, and everyone is jealous. Even distant relatives want to get close to them and establish relations with them. The Fei family is brothers-in-law, so naturally Mrs. Fei doesn't want to miss such an opportunity, but she thinks the Zhang family is fools.
The couple ignored Fei Lian's sudden visit and continued to take care of the house.
Two days later, they chose an auspicious day and left Huangqi and the two hired farm children to work in the old house, while they took Gancao and the remaining servants to their new house in the city.
Originally, we had arranged to buy all the things, but on the day of moving, we still had to load three or two carts of luggage, large and small. The children's things alone took up two carts.
With a group of servants, they were quite a powerful group.
The two little kids jumped around in the carriage, climbing from left to right. The curtains at both ends were rolled up. After the weather cleared up, the official road was full of lush branches and leaves, birds singing and flowers blooming, which was a change from the bleak winter. The children's spirits were better than in winter.
It just keeps getting bigger and bigger, and more and more annoying.
"Come and sit down, don't fall!"
Xu He caught this one and let that one run away. His brother could still be persuaded to stay, but he couldn't control Xiaoli at all. He and the child's father slept a little late yesterday, and the child's jumping and making noises recently gave him a headache.
He opened the curtain and said to the man riding a horse in front of him, "You are so good at hiding away and riding a horse, and you don't even take care of your own son!"
Zhang Fangyuan pulled the horse to the curtain and poked the little guy lying on the window with his face: "Little Li brother, you are naughty again and made your little dad angry. Come out and let your dad take you to ride a horse."
"I don't want it. Brother Li wants to eat fruit with his little daddy in the carriage."
"Still eating? You're already two kilograms heavier than your brother."
"I want to eat, not daddy."
Zhang Fangyuan was helpless and raised his eyebrows at the person behind him: "See, it's not that I don't want to take you, it's that you don't want me."
"You're always arguing with the kids, so why would you want me to do that?" Xu He glared at him, and Zhang Fangyuan looked at Rui Jin, who was still well-behaved, "Brother, do you want to ride a horse?"
The taciturn Rui Jin stood up and said, "Yes!"
"Brother is still the best. He doesn't dislike daddy."
Zhang Fangyuan reached out and scooped the kid onto the horse, holding it in front of him and holding it in his arms. The horse was tall, and the view was better when sitting in the carriage. Ruijin's eyes began to light up.
"Are you scared?"
Zhang Fangyuan lowered his head and kissed Ruijin on the face. The child was not afraid at all. Instead, he urged to run. Seeing that there were no carriages on the official roads on both sides, Zhang Fangyuan drove his horse away at full speed. Xu He only saw the backs of the father and son in the wind.
He took a long breath: "This father and son!" It would be better to have the child in front of him so that he would have less worries.
After quite a while of noise along the way, the carriage finally entered the city.
Since the beginning of autumn last year, Xu He has not taken the two children to the city, and they have spent most of the half year at home. Now that he's let out, he's like a pony on a runaway path, unable to stop for even a moment. He's got plenty of stamina, and he's had fun on the road for several hours now, so he doesn't feel tired at all.
However, now that we are moving to a new home, we are a little restrained in the unfamiliar environment. We are not as cheerful and uncontrollable as we were in the village. We are relatively obedient and follow the adults around.
This end of Qingshan Lane is quiet and wide. The houses are not as densely packed as in the downtown area, with one household next to another. Instead, there is a distance of one or two meters between the houses, which makes it even quieter on weekdays.
They had a lot of carriages and horses, which were parked outside and moved in and out, making quite a bit of noise.
The door of the house next door creaked and cracked a little, then a head popped out, followed by the voice of a maid calling "Young Master".
The couple moved here originally to visit the neighbors. Seeing that he had opened the door, he just wanted to say hello. But before he could say anything, he heard a soft and cute voice coming from the crack of the door: "Uncle."
Zhang Fangyuan felt that the sound was familiar, and Xu He looked at him in surprise. Little Li, who was standing next to his legs, had almost turned his head to the next room when he heard the noise.
"Is that you?"
Zhang Fangyuan didn't recognize who it was at first glance, but after a closer look he realized it was the child he had seen on the official road when he entered the city earlier. It had been some time since he left. That day the child was held by an adult and dressed simply, but today he was in a large courtyard, dressed in brocade clothes. If the child had not been so fair and lovely, he would have had a deep impression of him and would not have known who he was.
"Does your family live here?"
Luo Yuxing nodded, his voice a little low: "Xing Ge'er and grandfather live here."
Zhang Fangyuan couldn't help but glance at the mansion. "What a coincidence! I'll go visit your grandfather after uncle finishes cleaning up. What's your name?"
The child answered: "Luo Yuxing."
"Little Star."
Zhang Fangyuan said to him and waved to him kindly.
Then he turned back to continue moving the luggage and talked to Xu He about the situation when he met the grandfather and grandson when he entered the city earlier.
Xing Ge'er was not in a hurry to go into the house with the maid. He just watched the Zhang family moving things busily through a crack in the door. The four members of the Zhang family were talking and laughing. In comparison, the originally quiet Luo family seemed very deserted, and even Luo Yuxing looked particularly pitiful.
"My father brought some red-tailed carp from the village and said he would keep them in the pond at home. My brother also caught some tadpoles for me. Do you have any at home?"
The sudden voice startled Luo Yuxing.
While Zhang Fangyuan and Xu He were busy, Xiaoli sneaked to the door of Luo's house, tilted his head and proudly introduced his luggage.
Luo Yuxing looked at the young man who was very familiar with the place and squeezed to the front of the door, and stepped back a little, but did not run away.
He felt that the boy who was taller than him seemed to be showing off, which sounded a bit sad, so he couldn't help but lower his eyes.
There is a big pond and big carp at home, but there are no carp that my father brought from the village, nor are there tadpoles that my brother helped catch.
Thinking of this, his eyes turned red and he was about to cry.
"Don't you have any at home?"
Luo Yuxing nodded.
"Then do you want to come to my house and play?" Little Li pointed at Rui Jin who was standing at the gate in the distance, with his hands behind his back, looking like a little adult watching the guys work. "I'll ask my brother to give you some."
Luo Yuxing glanced at the Zhang family's door for several times. He wanted to go over there, but he still said softly, "I haven't finished learning the words that Grandfather asked me to learn today. I'll come to find you after I've learned them well and read them to Grandfather. Is that okay?"
Brother Xiaoli wondered how come someone could start studying earlier than his brother.
"Oh well."
Although he was a little unhappy about being rejected, but seeing that Luo Yuxing looked as pitiful as the chubby white snow doll his father made last winter, he pinched Luo Yuxing's face like his father with rough hands. As a result, Luo Yuxing's face was so soft and comfortable that he used both hands.
Luo Yuxing's face was rubbed back and forth. Although Xiaoli'er's hands were very soft and it didn't hurt when he pinched his face, it was uncomfortable to be moved like dough. But he frowned and didn't dare to cry out, for fear that Xiaoli'er would be angry and not let him go to his house to play.
"If you don't go back, the tadpoles will die of thirst!"
Ruijin couldn't bear to watch it any longer, so he went over and pulled Xiaoli away. Luo Yuxing, who was already looking pitiful, looked even more pitiful after his face was rubbed red.
He held Little Li with one hand, took out a handful of wrapped candies from his pocket and handed them to Luo Yuxing, then took his troubled brother and left.
Luo Yuxing looked at the candy in his hand, which was the same one his uncle had given him before, and looked at the two brothers who had left, his eyes moving.
"Ah, my brother gave all my candies to Xiaoxing! Bad brother!"
Rui Jin said seriously: "Who told you to bully people everywhere? You bullied other children in the village, and you still do this after coming to the city."
"If you continue like this, I will not share my fruit with you, and I will eat all your fruit."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
