086, Commitment
086, Commitment
As soon as the third day of the New Year was over, their family started to set up stalls again every day.
The private school hadn't started yet, so Lu Mingfei didn't have to go back to study with his teacher for the time being. Since he had exams in February, he spent more time studying after the New Year, and his parents didn't ask him to help with housework much.
So now, after getting up every morning, he will spend half an hour teaching his four children some new words. The remaining time is for the four children to study and play freely, and he will read.
It just so happens that Zhang Qi is older and can help take care of the three children younger than him, so the task of taking care of the children now falls on Zhang Qi, and he can focus more on studying.
After the New Year, Ye Zhuoran and Zhang Lingxuan would come to his house every day to study. There were three desks in the small study, one for each of them. Whenever they encountered a problem they didn't understand, the three of them would get together to discuss it.
Time passed as they studied and were busy, and half a month passed in the blink of an eye.
The three of them studied until the fifteenth day of the first lunar month. After finishing their studies in the morning, they took a half-day break in the afternoon. They had to go back to school the next day, and they probably wouldn't have any time to rest until the exams.
It was Lu Mingfei who suggested taking a break, as he felt that studying should be a combination of work and rest, and one shouldn't just study without rest. Even machines need oiling after a while, let alone people, right?
When preparing to leave Lu's house, Ye Zhuoran asked Lu Mingfei: "Shall we go to the street to see the lanterns in the evening? It's very lively outside tonight." Because of his studies, he hadn't been to the street to play for a long time!
"Okay. Can we go early and come back early in the evening?" Lu Mingfei looked at Ye Zhuoran and Zhang Lingxuan and asked.
"Yes, sure." Zhang Lingxuan nodded.
"I..." Ye Zhuoran wanted to say that he would play later in the evening and come back, but before he could open his mouth, Zhang Lingxuan covered his mouth.
"Mmmm!" What are you doing covering my mouth! Ye Zhuoran glared at the person who covered his mouth.
"We'll leave first." Zhang Lingxuan then released his hand that was covering Ye Zhuoran's mouth and carried the man out.
Even after they left the Lu family compound and were pushed onto the carriage that Zhang Lingxuan had come to pick them up, Ye Zhuoran hurriedly stuck his head out and waved to Lu Mingfei, shouting, "Mingfei, see you tonight! Lingxuan and I will pick you up tonight!"
"Okay, take care."
Lu Mingfei watched his two classmates leave in a carriage before turning back to the courtyard. As soon as he entered the courtyard, he saw Zhang Qi coming out of the main hall. He asked Zhang Qi, "What are the three of them doing in there?"
The weather in the first month of the lunar year is still very cold, and it snows from time to time, so the children in the family stay in the main room to play when they have nothing to do, and are rarely allowed to go out to enjoy the fresh air.
During the Chinese New Year period, Zhang Qi's younger brother Zhang Xiaobao caught a cold.
The child, who had probably recently experienced the loss of a loved one and had been begging on the streets with his brother, sleeping rough, fell ill as soon as he relaxed at their home. Fortunately, the child's physical condition was good, and after drinking a bowl of medicine, his fever subsided the next day, and he recovered within two days.
"He, they're playing inside." Zhang Qi looked at Lu Mingfei, who had closed the entire courtyard door. He had just come out of the house and saw two of Lu Mingfei's classmates getting into a carriage and leaving. He had come out to check after hearing someone leave.
Lu Mingfei walked towards Zhang Qi. Seeing Zhang Qi looking at him nervously, he couldn't help but smile and asked, "You seem a little nervous every time you see me? Are you afraid of me?"
"No, no." Zhang Qi hurriedly shook his head, not even daring to look directly at the person in front of him.
"So you're just nervous?" Seeing Zhang Qi didn't say anything this time, Lu Mingfei knew he was right. He smiled, reached out and patted Zhang Qi on the shoulder, saying, "Don't be afraid, I don't eat people."
Lu Mingfei probably knew why Zhang Qi was so nervous every time he saw him and his parents. It was simply because he was worried that he would do something wrong and make them unhappy, so that they would drive him and his brothers away.
After the New Year, he found some time to go to the Eighth Lane in the West City, where the Zhang brothers originally lived. He asked the people there about the Zhang family. After asking people living nearby, he learned some news about the Zhang family. He learned that Zhang Qi's mother had died during childbirth, leaving the two brothers to depend on their grandparents.
In the second year after Zhang Xiaobao was born, Grandpa Zhang died in an accident.
So when people talked to him about the Zhang family's affairs at that time, they said that this child had a bad fate and killed his mother and grandfather.
Lu Mingfei naturally didn't believe this, because even in his era when medical technology was so advanced, there were women who died from difficult labor. Not to mention in this era with such poor medical conditions, there were too many examples of women dying from difficult labor.
As for Grandpa Zhang’s death, it had nothing to do with Zhang Xiaobao.
Because Grandpa Zhang was hit and killed by a young master from a family in Kyoto Prefecture on horseback, he could not be cured when he was sent to the hospital.
Zhang Qi's father had joined the army the year before his youngest son was born, and he had been away for five or six years without returning. So, gossipmongers said that Zhang's father had died while away, or that he had someone else and would never come back. In short, there were all sorts of rumors.
What happened next was just as Zhang Qi said. After their grandmother passed away, the two brothers had no money to pay the rent, and were kicked out by the landlord.
In those days, most people living in the west of the city were very poor, and no one was willing to help others raise children. The neighbors themselves were having a hard time, so naturally no one was willing to help them. So after losing their loved ones, the two brothers ran to the streets to beg.
Then I met the three brothers and was taken home by them.
Thinking of the things that happened in the Zhang family, Lu Mingfei felt a little sympathetic and pitiful for Zhang Qi and his brother. Knowing what Zhang Qi was worried about, he made a promise to Zhang Qi, saying, "Just stay with us, you and your brother. You can stay here until your father comes back to pick you up. Or when you grow up and are able to support yourself and your brother, you can leave later."
Hearing this, Zhang Qi's eyes slowly turned red, and then he knelt down with a plop.
"Hey!" Lu Mingfei hurriedly pulled Zhang Qi up and said to the child with a fierce face: "What are you doing? Stop kneeling down all the time!"
"A man's knees are as precious as gold, you know? We kneel to heaven, earth, and our parents, and we shouldn't kneel to anyone else. If you are truly grateful that we took you two in, then you should work hard, study hard, and learn all the characters I teach you."
"If you have a talent for studying in the future, you can use the money you save to study and take the imperial examination..."
"I won't take the imperial examination." Zhang Qi interrupted Lu Mingfei hastily. He didn't dare to have such a delusion. When his grandparents and mother were still alive, he didn't dare to think about going to school, let alone taking the imperial examination. He knew that studying and taking the imperial examination were very expensive.
Not to mention that his mother and grandparents have all passed away, and now only he and his younger brother are left in this world. They are lucky enough to have something to eat and survive.
Seeing Zhang Qi's anxious look as he tried to clarify, Lu Mingfei knew the boy was worried he'd misunderstood, so he changed the subject and said, "Okay, it's okay if you don't take the imperial examination. You two brothers should follow me and learn a few more words. Even if you become an accountant, a small manager, or a shopkeeper, your life won't be too hard. Don't you think I'm right?"
Lu Mingfei didn't want to keep the Zhang Qi brothers in their home for the rest of their lives because he felt that although the Zhang Qi brothers were brought home by them, the two brothers were free and could leave their home at any time as long as they were able to support themselves.
But after listening to it, Zhang Qi shook his head, looked at Lu Mingfei with eager eyes, and asked, "I, I want to work with you in the future, just like being your servant, is that okay?" He knew that scholars all had servants and maids as their followers, and he wanted to be Lu Mingfei's servant, or even a servant.
"Ah, you want to be my servant?" Lu Mingfei said with a smile.
"Is it okay?" Zhang Qi asked anxiously.
"But I don't need a servant now." Lu Mingfei was used to being alone and was not really used to having a servant following him.
"Then, then I will be your servant."
"I don't need a servant either."
Seeing Zhang Qi's eyes starting to turn red after being rejected twice in succession, Lu Mingfei quickly explained: "I don't dislike you. It's just that I'm used to doing my own things. If you become my servant, I won't have any work for you."
"Why don't we just keep things like this? You can help us with the housework and take care of Mingcong, Mingrui, and your brother Xiaobao while we're busy."
Only then did Zhang Qi realize that Lu Mingfei didn't want him to be a servant or a servant because he disliked him.
After listening to Lu Mingfei's explanation, he realized that there was no work for him to do as Lu Mingfei's servant or boy. After thinking about it, he still said to Lu Mingfei: "If you need a servant to do work in the future, let me be your servant."
"The position of a servant is too low. It doesn't sound very impressive."
Lu Mingfei thought about it and said to Zhang Qi, "How about this, you study hard with me for the next few years, and if our family needs a housekeeper in the future, you can be our housekeeper."
"...Okay." As long as he could stay in the Lu family and be with Lu Mingfei, Zhang Qi agreed after only a moment of hesitation.
After coaxing the child, Lu Mingfei took Zhang Qi into the main room to see the three kids playing there. Seeing that the three kids were having fun, he asked Zhang Qi to look after them at home and went out.
He opened the yard door and went out, then closed it behind him.
Fearing that the children inside would run out, he locked the door to the yard from the outside before turning around and walking out.
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