Chapter 19 Old Friends Old Friends
The effect of goat milk was remarkable. By the Mid-Autumn Festival, Su Fengzhang felt that his height was much taller than that of his peers.
With the dual benefits of spiritual spring water and goat milk, Su Fengzhang felt that his health was getting better and better. This could be seen during the autumn harvest when he could harvest all the rice in a field in one go.
You have to know that during the spring planting period, Uncle Su and Madam Wei were the main forces, and by the time the autumn harvest was only a few months away, Su Fengzhang had done a good job.
Uncle Su originally planned to come over to help after he finished his own work, but when he came over to take a look in the evening, he found that the rice here had been harvested.
He was very happy after seeing this, and he went home and told his son, "Look at Erlang. He had never worked in the fields before, but now he has become quite good at it in just a short time. With this ability, even if he fails to pass the imperial examination, he can still support his family."
Su Caozhang rolled his eyes and said, "Dad, what are you saying? Erlang will definitely pass the exam. He is smarter than uncle."
Zhang hated hearing them talk about the eldest wife's affairs at home, so she interrupted, "Come on, don't worry about that. Master, what are the details about Zong Zhang's marriage?"
"Whatever you say, as long as he is happy and the girl has no problem with it, it's fine." Uncle Su is a bachelor.
Zhang was extremely dissatisfied: "How can this be? I heard..."
The autumn harvest cannot be completed in one day. It was especially troublesome in ancient times. After harvesting the rice, it had to be threshed, dried, and then stored before it was considered complete.
The threshers used these days were very simple, a bit like the ones he had seen in the Agricultural Museum.
You have to keep stepping on the pedal to make the threshing barrel in the middle rotate quickly, and then stuff the harvested rice into it.
It looks simple, but you will find it difficult when you do it, especially when you use your hands and feet together. If you are not skilled, you may spend a long time and the rice may still not come down.
The Su family did not have a thresher. There were only two in the village. They were usually placed in the ancestral hall and taken out for public use during the busy farming season. The Su family's rice was harvested first, so they became the first to use it.
Although Su Fengzhang didn't know how to use it, he stood by and watched Madam Wei use it twice, and he did grasp the trick. It was his first time using it, and their family didn't have much rice, so he was more interested than tired.
The only downside was that the rice awns flew everywhere and made his neck itchy.
Su Lanzhang ran around everywhere, finding everything new and interesting, until he was covered in rice stalks. He grabbed his neck and shouted, "Brother, I'm itchy, it itches to death."
Su Fengzhang pulled him over and took a look, then said helplessly, "I told you not to run around here, but you refused to listen. Now you're fine."
There were rice awns on his hands, so he could only blow on them. Su Lanzhang reached out to scratch them, but she quickly stopped him: "Don't scratch them, the more you scratch, the more itchy you'll get. Go back and ask your aunt to get some water to wash them."
"I don't want to leave, second brother, I want to help you here." Su Lanzhang insisted.
On the other hand, Madam Wei beside her smiled and said, "Erlang and Sanlang, you all should go back. I can finish this by myself."
Su Fengzhang was about to speak when he saw Su Huihui running towards him.
Compared to Su Lanzhang who liked to run around and gradually became friends with the children in the village, Su Huihui rarely went out, and Aunt Bai was more strict with her.
"Second brother, someone came to our house looking for you. Mom asked me to call you back home." Su Huihui's cheeks turned red from running.
Madam Wei said quickly, "Erlang, go back quickly. Madam must have something important to tell you."
Su Fengzhang followed him back home and saw a horse carriage parked at the door. Although it was a low-quality horse, horse carriages were rare in those days and ordinary families could not afford to keep horses.
Aunt Bai was waiting at the door. When she saw him, she said, "Erlang, he was your classmate in the private school."
This was the first time someone came to visit, except when Su Dianli had just gotten into trouble.
When Su Fengzhang walked into the yard, he saw a young man standing in the hall. He looked about the same age as him, wearing a blue shirt and holding a folding fan in his hand. He was slightly fat and looked a bit like a scholar.
As they walked, Su Fengzhang had already found out the identity of this person. He was indeed his classmate and the biological son of his private school teacher. He had a very good relationship with Su Fengzhang in the past.
"Brother Wen, I'm sorry for not being able to greet you in person since you've come all the way here." Su Fengzhang bowed with a smile.
"Brother Su!" Wenzhu was very happy to see the person coming and subconsciously wanted to get closer. But when she saw that he had his sleeves rolled up and there were rice stalks on his body, she was stunned.
Su Fengzhang did not feel embarrassed and said with a smile: "I was just threshing the grain. Please wait for me for a while, Brother Wen."
He went next door to freshen up and changed into a new coat before he felt refreshed.
But the way they address each other is quite interesting. Brother Wen? Brother Su? They all seem to be homophones.
Back in the hall, Su Fengzhang smiled and bowed, "Brother Wen, have you been waiting for a long time?"
Wen Zhu laughed heartily, patted his shoulder and said, "You're still so polite to me. I haven't seen you for a few months. Have you grown taller? You weren't as tall as me before."
"Maybe they go to work in the fields. The more they work, the more they eat, and the faster they grow." Su Fengzhang joked.
When Wenzhu heard this, she asked hesitantly, "Xiao Feng'er, are you short of money? I actually have some here, why not lend it to you first?"
Su Fengzhang smiled and thought the child was quite cute: "Xiao Zhuzi, you think too much. My family is not short of money for the time being."
"Then what about you?" Wenzhu asked puzzledly.
Su Fengzhang explained: "Nowadays, when you live in a village, you have to adapt to local customs. Besides, how can a farmer not know how to farm?"
Wen Zhu was still a little worried: "Xiao Feng'er, what is our relationship? If you really need money, you must tell me."
Su Fengzhang agreed immediately: "Of course, if I need to borrow money, I will definitely come to you first."
Wen Zhu was happy at this, but then she started complaining, "I don't know what my father is thinking. He insisted on asking me to take the provincial examination. Everyone knows that I am a student who relies on luck to get into the examination. I guess I will be an old student for the rest of my life. There is no way I can pass the examination."
"Doesn't he know how much knowledge I have? I guess there's no hope for him in this life. He's counting on me to pass the imperial examinations, so it would be better for me to get married and have children early, so that he can have a grandson. That would be more reliable."
Wenzhu is also a weirdo. His father was born into a family of Juren and was an orthodox scholar, but he never liked studying since he was a child. His mind was all on eating, drinking and having fun. Unfortunately, his father only had one son and had been watching him study since he was a child.
Su Fengzhang waited until he had finished his fragmented ramblings before saying, "Mr. Wen, this is also for your own good."
Wen Zhu chuckled when she heard this, "Xiao Feng'er, that's not something you would say. Didn't you also hate studying in the past?"
The reason these two can get along so well is that they have similar interests.
Su Fengzhang shrugged and said helplessly, "The past is the past, and the present is the present. My father and eldest brother are gone, and the burden of the Su family is on my shoulders. What can I do? I can only work hard and study hard."
Wenzhu felt that this was cheesy, and shuddered as she asked, "Xiao Feng'er, are you serious?"
"Little Bamboo, could you please stop calling me like that? It's so corny." It would have been fine if Su Zhaoshi had just called him Feng'er, but this guy looked even younger than him, and calling him Little Feng'er all the time gave him goosebumps.
Wenzhu was unhappy: "Don't you also call me Little Bamboo?"
"Brother Wen!" Su Fengzhang bowed.
Wenzhu returned the greeting and asked with a grin, "Were you serious about what you just said?"
"Of course I'm serious. Come with me." Su Fengzhang took Wenzhu to the study and showed him all the achievements he had made in recent times.
Wen Zhu was completely impressed by the schedule, especially the densely written one. He touched his forehead and said, "Oh my God, if you study like this every day, won't you have time to eat, sleep, or even pee?"
"It's not that exaggerated." Su Fengzhang rolled his eyes in annoyance.
Wen Zhu said, "That's not even exaggerated. Just the content we have to memorize every day would take us until late at night."
In fact, relying on spiritual springs to improve memory is what Su Fengzhang spends the least time on every day, especially after he becomes proficient in it. In comparison, it is current affairs essays and policy papers that take up the most time.
Su Fengzhang didn't argue with him. He took out his latest essay and said, "Can you help me take a look at this essay and see how it goes?"
The longer he studied, especially after he read and memorized the Four Books and Five Classics, he realized that studying alone in isolation was not advisable and was too difficult. However, given his current situation, it was not easy for him to go out to study.
Wenzhu came at the right time and was able to help him check the current progress.
Wen Zhu read it seriously, and applauded after reading it once, which made Su Fengzhang suspicious: "Brother Wen, is this really good or just a lie? Don't say it's good just because we have a good relationship."
Wen Zhu scratched his chin and said helplessly, "I can't really tell. Although I'm a Tongsheng, I was lucky to pass that time. You know my level."
"But I really think it's good. Your handwriting is good, and your essays are good. You are much better than me. If you take the exam, you might not only pass the county exam, the provincial exam, but also the academy exam."
Su Fengzhang, however, lacked that confidence and said helplessly, "I always feel like something is wrong, but I can't see it myself."
Wen Zhu slapped his head and said, "Oh, I don't understand. Why don't you ask my father? He is your husband, so it is only natural for him to help you look at the article. How about this, you organize the article and I will take it back to show him."
Su Fengzhang's heart moved. In the original owner's memory, although Mr. Wen didn't like to pay attention to him, it was because the original owner had no interest in studying. This private school teacher who was born as a juren had a solid foundation.
"Would you be willing, sir?" Su Fengzhang was not sure. Mr. Wen must not have a good impression of him.
Wen Zhu said, "You don't know him yet. He gets so happy when people come to him for advice that he can't wait to teach them a lesson every day."
"Thank you for your hard work, Mr. Wen." Su Fengzhang finally agreed and said with a smile, "Thank you for your hard work, too."
Wen Zhu patted his chest and promised, "Leave it to me."
Su Fengzhang thought for a moment and said, "Then I'll pay you a visit in a few days. I wonder if Mr. Wen would mind it?"
In fact, in ancient times, mourning did not require staying at home all the time. It was fine to go out after a hundred days. However, some families have taboos, and you may not like people in mourning to visit you.
Wen Zhu added, "Don't worry, my family doesn't care about that."
The author has something to say:
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The data of this book is so bad that it makes me tremble. Is this forcing me to change my battle?
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