Chapter 133 Extra 2
Zhang Fangyuan squatted on a haystack at the foot of the mountain. The spring sunshine made him feel lazy and he almost fell asleep.
These days, the older people in the family are busy with spring plowing in the fields, and the younger children can go to the mountains to dig some spring bamboo shoots and pick some wild vegetables to change the taste of their own family. If there are enough, they can take them to the city to sell some change to add some money for candles at home.
He remembered that Xu He would go up the mountain to dig wild vegetables whenever he had free time, and it would be easier to run into him if he squatted on the road he often took.
But I came here early in the morning and squatted here for more than an hour, but no one came. I thought that they might not go up the mountain today.
It was fine to stay here, so he jumped down from the haystack he had built last year and prepared to try his luck near Xu's house. Suddenly, someone called him, "My friend, do you know a family named Zhang in the village?"
Zhang Fangyuan turned his head and saw a scholar in blue clothes. He looked quite respectable, but he seemed to have been traveling for a long time. He was already holding his back and panting, with a thin layer of sweat on his forehead, looking a little disheveled.
"There is more than one family with the surname Zhang in the village. I wonder which one you are looking for, sir?"
When the scholar heard that there was a play, he quickly said, "The one whose surname is Zeng."
Zhang Fangyuan's thick brows frowned slightly, and he looked at the scholar again.
The scholar said politely: "Oh, I am a relative from her mother's side."
Zhang Fangyuan remained silent, but he sneered inwardly. How could his mother's family have such a relative? He raised his eyebrows and glanced at the scholar again, and suddenly guessed who this person was.
Immediately, he felt furious. It would have been fine if he had let his mother down before. They should have lived their own lives and never had any contact with each other. But now his mother was living a stable life, but now she came to bother him. He wanted to give her a slap in the face.
If this man had not met his mother in private and said some unclear and dirty words, her mother would not have recalled the sad past, felt uneasy and finally did something extreme.
"Oh, I know the family you are talking about, but the Zhang family is poor and lives far away. I just want to go up the mountain. Why don't you come with me? I will show you the way."
The scholar asked in confusion: "The Zhang family lives on the mountain?"
"The Zhang family you are talking about is a hunter family. Their house is naturally on the mountain, which is more convenient."
The scholar wiped the sweat from his forehead, a hint of disgust flashed across his brows, but he thought that since he had already come here, it would be a pity not to see anyone.
"Then I'll trouble you, my friend."
Zhang Fangyuan said nothing and walked to the front along the mountain road.
The scholar followed behind Zhang Fangyuan, looking at the young boy in front of him. He was very tall, almost as tall as his head, and his steps were so agile that he almost had to jog to keep up with him. He was thirsty and tired, but he was embarrassed to ask the child to walk slower and wait for him.
Looking around, this village was not much better than the one in his hometown. The Zhang family lived in a remote mountain area and were a poor farming family. Mr. Zeng couldn't bear to see his family's poverty, and Miss Zeng refused to elope with him. She thought she would marry into a good family, but in the end, she ended up marrying into a place in another county.
He couldn't help but shake his head. It was a pity that the Zeng family was a family of officials, but they were so short-sighted. Now he had passed the provincial examination and was a real juren.
"Sir, why did you come to Jijiu Village? Is there something important?"
The scholar was brought back to his senses when he heard what Zhang Fangyuan said. He said, "I went to Fucheng Township to take the exam. Now I have passed the exam. I am passing through Siyang on my way back home, so I came to visit my relatives."
Zhang Fangyuan sneered, it turned out that he was here to show off, he really had a lot of intentions.
"Congratulations, sir. Hurry up, we still have a long way to go."
"Yeah, okay."
The scholar followed Zhang Fangyuan for half an hour and was so tired that he could not even stand up straight. Zhang Fangyuan said, "Okay, I'll stop here. I have to go my separate ways. I have to go to the other end to collect firewood."
"Ah?" The scholar looked around, seeing the endless forests and mountains around him, but he couldn't see any houses at all. "Where is the Zhang family?"
Zhang Fangyuan put his hands on his waist and pointed a finger into the distance: "We have already climbed the slope, and now it's time to go downhill. It will be easy."
“But I don’t know this road either.”
"Look, there's only one road. Just follow it and turn to the end."
After saying that, Zhang Fangyuan waved his hand and went to the other side. The scholar was about to mutter a few more words, but seeing that the child ran so fast, he disappeared in a moment. The scholar pounded his leg and sighed, thinking that he should not have come here earlier. Why bother with all this trouble?
Zhang Fangyuan ran far away and walked around the mountain path, squatting on a high place, watching the scholar moving slowly and anxiously on the path. He tilted his mouth and was about to laugh: "Why did you trick him into coming up the mountain?"
Zhang Fangyuan shrank his shoulders when a sudden question came from behind him. He turned around quickly and said, "He Ge'er?"
Zhang Fangyuan had a feeling that things had finally turned around. He had been squatting at the foot of the mountain for a long time without seeing anyone, but he ran into someone on the mountain.
"That man doesn't look like he's from our village. If we go down a little further, we'll reach the place where hunters set traps. What if we fall into the pit?" Xu He looked at the scholar walking away and said, "You're too mean."
Zhang Fangyuan stood up, Xu He quickly shut up and stepped back subconsciously. Zhang Fangyuan laughed: "I'm bad? You watched me bring him here without saying a word, didn't you?"
Xu He lowered his eyes and tightened his grip on the hatchet in his hand. He was about to walk away when he suddenly heard a scream from the mountain path: "Ahhh, my foot!"
The two men stretched their necks at the same time to look, and saw that the scholar's foot was caught in a mousetrap. Zhang Fangyuan couldn't help laughing when he saw the man rolling on the ground in a funny way.
The scholar was lying on the ground. He looked over when he heard the noise and saw that the one laughing was the guide. He was so angry that his face turned red: "You little bastard, how dare you deceive me!"
"Brother, there is no one named Zhang in our village. You must have taken the wrong road."
"You little bastard! You're fooling me like this, I'm going to beat you to death!"
The scholar stood up angrily and limped over to chase him, but Zhang Fangyuan grabbed the hand of the person next to him and ran away. Both of them were children who grew up in the village and were familiar with the mountain roads. They disappeared in the blink of an eye.
The two ran a long way before stopping. Xu He panted and said, "I see that he is a scholar. Why are you bullying him?"
"He is a scoundrel from my mother's family. That bastard bullied him when my mother was a girl. Now that he has achieved some academic success, he wants to come all the way to show off to my mother. I am being kind by not pushing him into the river."
As he said this, Zhang Fangyuan spat.
"Then I can lead him to see my mother."
Xu He took a deep breath, thinking that this man was quite clear about gratitude and resentment, and chuckled. He lowered his head and found that his hand was still being held by someone, so he quickly pulled it back: "I, I'm going to chop wood."
Zhang Fangyuan hurriedly followed him: "I'm fine anyway, I'll help you chop wood."
"No use."
"Of course I can use it. I'm strong, I can take on two of you." Zhang Fangyuan ran up and held Xu He's shoulders, and with one hand he took the sickle from Xu He's hand and put it into his own hand: "The weather is good now, there are a lot of wild onions, turnips, and spring thorns in the mountains. I'll help you chop wood, and you can go pick wild vegetables."
Xu He likes to dig wild vegetables in the spring, but unfortunately he has a lot of farm work to do, so it's a bit difficult to free up his hands to dig wild vegetables. It would be great if someone could help him share some of the work, but... He tilted his head and glanced at Zhang Fangyuan: "Why are you helping me?"
"I'm just bored." Zhang Fangyuan raised his eyebrows and lowered his voice: "Besides, who asked you to be my husband?"
Hearing this, Xu He pushed Zhang Fangyuan and said, "Who has ever been your husband?"
Zhang Fangyuan saw that the man was angry, so he quickly softened his tone: "Oh, I was just joking. Come on, let's go chop wood."
"I'm telling you, I'll protect you from now on. Just follow me and play. No one in the village will dare to bully you."
Xu He looked at the man who was a head taller than him, who chopped the firewood into pieces and stacked them neatly with just a few strokes. He saw that this man, who usually went around the village to catch birds and fish, was quite efficient at his work.
He lowered his voice: "Who wants you to protect me?"
"Then you can protect me instead."
"You helped me chop wood today, and I dug spring sprouts. I went back to make some pancakes and brought one back for you."
"Is that true? Then next time you come up the mountain to chop wood, call me again and I'll hunt pheasants and roast them for you..."
There was a crisp sound and Zhang Fangyuan felt pain and suddenly opened his eyes. The rich fragrance of osmanthus flowers lingered in his nose. He saw that many golden osmanthus flowers had fallen on his chest and abdomen.
"Did you dream about the lovely girl? I was laughing so hard in the dream that I almost drooled."
Zhang Fangyuan looked at the grown-up He Ge'er in front of him, put his arm around his waist, and said sleepily, "I just dreamed about that lovely girl."
"Then I called you at the wrong time, can you sleep a little longer?"
Zhang Fangyuan rubbed Xu He's waist and said, "No. I still have to chase my wife in my dreams. I'll have one ready when I wake up."
"You must be dreaming about me. You won't choose me again if it happens again, right?"
"That's not right."
Even if I had to do it all over again, I would choose you.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
