Chapter 87 Traveler Traveler
The Lantern Festival came a few days after Lin Changqing's funeral. Every household in the village hung up lanterns. Some clever people even made rabbit lanterns and tiger lanterns. Before it got dark, the children were running around with lanterns.
Su Fengzhang had originally promised his brother that he would take them into the city to watch the lantern festival, but now that this had happened, it was naturally impossible.
Su Lanzhang was a sensible child. She took the initiative to pull her brother over and said, "Brother, the Lantern Festival is held every year. We can go and see it later. This year I want to stay home with my mother and aunt."
He reached out and touched Su Lanzhang's hair. "Okay, then let Madam Wei make some more delicious food later."
Accepting his brother's kindness, Su Fengzhang didn't want to make his family feel lonely because of himself. He didn't want to go to the city, but he could do the lantern show.
Su Fengzhang's craftsmanship is very average, and he has just started straw weaving, but that doesn't stop him from having creative ideas.
While the ice was still there, Su Fengzhang found a few of the thickest pieces, hollowed out the middle, and carved simple patterns around them. After carving, he put a piece of candle inside and finished the work.
Su Fengzhang lit a candle and tried. Due to the low temperature and lack of transparency, the light was dim, but it looked quite charming. However, the ice lantern was too heavy to carry and could easily fall down.
After thinking about it, he made a simple cover, so that he would not be afraid of damaging the ice lantern when carrying the cover. The cover was made of only a few bamboo sticks, so there was no need to worry about affecting the appearance.
After tinkering with it for an entire afternoon, Su Fengzhang finally managed to make two barely decent ice lanterns: "Sanlang, Huihui, take these and play with them."
The two children who had been guarding him cheered. After each of them received a lantern, Su Lanzhang shouted excitedly, "Brother, I didn't expect ice could be used to make lanterns. Will it melt?"
"It's cold now, and it won't be for a while, but it may get hot." Su Fengzhang explained with a smile.
Su Huihui looked at the ice lantern from left to right and said with a smile, "Second brother, the painting on it is really beautiful."
"Okay, you guys go out and play too." Su Fengzhang said with a smile.
Su Lanzhang immediately ran out happily, but Su Huihui said, "Second brother, I'll stay with you."
Su Fengzhang reached out and tapped her forehead, then said with a smile, "I don't need your company at all. It's the Lantern Festival, so go and have fun."
Su Huihui then followed him. Su Fengzhang smiled, knowing that his family was worried. In fact, he recovered faster than anyone had imagined, but they were still worried.
After the Lantern Festival, classes officially began at the county school, and Su Arong still took the two brothers to the city every day.
The county school is still the same county school, even the number of students is the same. Because there were two fewer students, the county school actually had two extra places, and students from the city immediately used their connections to transfer in.
Whether it was Lin Changqing or Mu Wei, their disappearance did not seem to affect anything. Their seats in the classroom had been filled. A familiar student sat in Lin Changqing's seat, who was a former classmate of Su Fengzhang.
Noticing Su Fengzhang's look, the student turned around, smiled widely, and said in a friendly manner, "Brother Su, do you still remember me? I used to study under Mr. Wen."
"Of course I remember. We even practiced calligraphy together." Su Fengzhang said with a smile.
The student surnamed Bai was delighted when he heard this and said, "That's right. Mr. Wen asked me to teach you calligraphy. Who would have thought that after a few years you would become a scholar while I am still a student? I have embarrassed Mr. Wen."
Su Fengzhang was in no mood to reminisce with him. He exchanged a few words and then turned around to continue reading.
He was watching so intently that he ignored Liu Xiong, who was hesitant to speak. It was not until school was over that Liu Xiong caught up with the person who was about to leave and shouted, "Brother Su, wait a minute."
Su Fengzhang turned around and saw him panting: "What's wrong?"
Liu Xiong then said, "You've been coming in early and leaving early these past few days. Have you heard any rumors?"
"What rumor?" Su Fengzhang asked curiously.
Liu Xiong pursed his lips and said, "Brother Su, I believe in your character. We examined everything clearly in the lobby that day. The ghostwriting incident is completely nonsense."
Su Fengzhang narrowed his eyes and asked, "Someone else said I asked Chang Qing to write for me?"
Liu Xiong sighed and said, "I don't know where this rumor came from, but it says that Changqing was close to you and took the initiative to write a poem for you. Mu Wei got jealous when he heard about it and wanted to steal his poem, so he killed him."
"Of course, I definitely won't believe the rumors, and the students who watched it from beginning to end over the past few days also don't believe them."
"I'm worried that some people didn't see the trial that day and just parroted what others said, slandering your reputation for no reason." Liu Xiong suggested, "Why don't we ask the county magistrate or the teacher to come forward and refute the rumors?"
Su Fengzhang shook his head and said, "Rumors stop at the wise. Besides, even if the adults are willing, those people won't dare to say it, but they will still think so in their hearts."
"Who on earth spread this? It's so abominable. What good does he get from doing this?" Liu Xiong said angrily.
"It's nothing but jealousy." Su Fengzhang smiled and felt that the word jealousy in the world was really terrible. It could make people go crazy and kill people, or it could make people create trouble out of nothing, just because others were better than themselves.
Liu Xiong was quite indignant and cursed, "Are you just going to let them slander you? Even though everyone knows it's false, this rumor has been circulating for a long time, and some people who don't know the truth might take it seriously."
Su Fengzhang suddenly laughed and said, "Don't worry, I have a way."
Liu Xiong asked worriedly, "What can we do? We can't just hold everyone accountable. It's not just spreading around the county school; it's spreading like wildfire outside, too. My mother even asked me about it yesterday."
"Don't worry, this matter can be resolved within three days." Su Fengzhang said confidently.
Seeing his resolute words, Liu Xiong felt relieved, but he still didn't believe that Su Fengzhang could completely stop the rumors. The scary thing about rumors is that they don't require any evidence at all. As long as someone says it for a long time, people will naturally believe it.
Su Fengzhang patted him on the shoulder, picked up his school bag and walked away, leaving Liu Xiong with a helpless look on his face.
Someone came over and asked, "Brother Liu, you have a good relationship with Su Fengzhang. Do you think the ghostwriting incident is true?"
Liu Xiong glared at the man and cursed, "Fake, fake, fake! I've said it many times. It's fake. It was clearly proven in court. Everyone has seen the manuscript. How can it be true?"
The visitor touched his nose and said hesitantly, "Well, it's fake, so why are you so angry?"
But when he turned around, he muttered, "Everyone says that, who knows if it's true or not? Anyway, there's no evidence now."
"Su Xiucai!"
As Su Fengzhang walked outside, he heard a cheerful voice shouting.
When he looked up, he saw a familiar figure. Wang Huan, with whom he had spent three days in prison, was walking towards him. He still had a smile on his face, but this time he had changed his clothes and looked much more energetic.
"It's Uncle Wang." Su Fengzhang said with a smile, "Congratulations, Brother Wang, on regaining your freedom."
Wang Huan laughed heartily and said with narrowed eyes, "Oh, thanks to Mr. Su for speaking well of me in front of the magistrate, otherwise I don't know when I will be released from prison."
"It's all thanks to the wisdom of the county magistrate. It has nothing to do with me." Su Fengzhang said with a smile.
Wang Huan said, "How can you say that? If you hadn't mentioned it to the County Magistrate, with so many cases a day, I might have to stay in jail for ten days or half a month. I'm old, and the cell is cold and gloomy. I can't bear that hardship."
"Mr. Su, how about I treat you to a good meal today to express my gratitude?" Wang Huan suggested.
Su Fengzhang simply declined politely, "I'm afraid the food has already been prepared at home. I don't want to keep the elders waiting for too long."
Wang Huan was also a quick thinker, and asked with a smile, "Why don't I go to Su Xiucai's place and have a meal?"
Su Fengzhang glanced at him, and seeing his serious expression, he smiled and said, "Uncle Wang, if you don't mind the simple meals at home, I would be very welcome."
"No, no, I don't mind. How could I mind having dinner with Mr. Su?" Wang Huan said with a smile.
Since he said so, Su Fengzhang really invited him to get on the ox cart. Wang Huan waved to his own carriage behind, and the carriage slowly followed.
After picking up Su Lanzhang from the academy at the other end, the child stared at Wang Huan as soon as he got on the carriage, feeling very curious.
Wang Huan smiled broadly at him and took out a purse from his pocket: "This must be my younger brother, you are indeed as handsome as Su Xiucai. Come here, this is a little gift from your uncle."
Su Lanzhang subconsciously looked at Su Fengzhang, and the latter nodded. Only then did he accept it obediently and thank him.
"Oh, you're so cute. You're much cuter than the little ones at home." Wang Huan praised.
The oxcart slowly left the city gate. Wang Huan looked at the surrounding paths and asked with a smile, "Su Xiucai, isn't it troublesome for you to walk back and forth every day? Why don't you buy a house in the city?"
Su Fengzhang answered very honestly: "No money."
Wang Huan laughed heartily and said, "I have some silver. Since you saved my life, why don't I give it to you?"
Su Fengzhang said, "I don't want to buy it even if I have money."
"Why is that? Do you like going out early and coming back late every day?" Wang Huan asked curiously.
Su Fengzhang said, "The Su family members are all in the village. My family is small, and living in the village we can always look after each other. If we go to the city, we won't even have a place to visit."
"You, a scholar, seem to have some humanity." Wang Huan laughed. This sentence sounded strange, and he didn't know whether it was a compliment or a scolding.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
