Chapter 5 Who doesn't know General Xue
After she finished speaking, no one responded for a while.
Cotton was not common in Dayu at that time. Rich families mostly used silk cotton to make winter clothes, while poor families used hemp and animal skins to keep warm.
Many people have only heard of cotton but have never seen it.
When the village was catching a bandit, they happened to find a piece of clothing with cotton lining. Su Zhizhi liked it very much when she saw it.
Hao Ren didn't say yes directly.
No one in Xunzhou has ever grown cotton, and even seeds are hard to buy, so not everyone is willing to grow it.
But since Zhizhi wanted to, he and Yingniang could try planting some in their own private fields this year.
Su Zhizhi fiddled with her fingers, looked around, and asked disappointedly, "Can't I plant it?"
Her lost tone was like a fine embroidery needle, piercing people's hearts.
Kong Wu was the first to stand up in a hurry, nodding his head frantically and even making sowing motions: "Ah, ah, ah."
Hua Erniang spat out the melon seed shells in her mouth:
"Yes, I can! Zhizhi likes it, so why can't I? If I don't know how to do it, I can learn. At worst, I can go out and buy seeds!"
Everyone said at once:
"Just plant it first, how hard can it be?"
"We have people who own land. If we can't plant it this year, we can plant it again next year!"
"After the cotton harvest, each villager gets one piece, and Zhizhi gets ten pieces!"
“…”
The spring planting was decided.
After the meeting, Hao Ren left a few people to instruct on specific matters, while the others went away to do their own things.
Wu Yingniang and Su Zhizhi went into the house to see Xue Che.
"Mrs. Hao." Xue Che walked over from the window.
Wu Yingniang was delighted to see children, let alone a child as good-looking and well-mannered as Xue Che:
"Just call me Aunt Ying. Did you enjoy the snake soup this morning?"
Su Zhizhi rushed to praise: "I like it! A Che and I both like it. A Che even licked the bowl clean."
Xue Che's face suddenly turned red.
Why call him Ah Che? Also, he didn't lick the bowl!
Although embarrassed, Xue Che still thanked her: "Thank you, Aunt Ying."
"You're welcome. Just tell Aunt Ying what you want to eat. Okay, go have fun."
Before leaving, Wu Yingniang specifically instructed Su Zhizhi:
"Ache is not well yet, so don't play around with him."
Su Zhizhi patted his chest and assured: "Don't worry!"
After Wu Yingniang left, Xue Che couldn't help but ask Su Zhizhi:
"Does your village even listen to the opinions of children?"
Just now when Su Zhizhi said she wanted to plant cotton, Xue Che saw everyone's reaction.
He was surprised at the unity of the village, and even more surprised that they would take a child's words so seriously.
In the capital, whether in aristocratic or commoner families, children are not allowed to interrupt when their elders are discussing matters.
Su Zhizhi's eyes widened: "Everyone in the village can speak, aren't children also human beings?"
Xue Che: ...
Xue Che suddenly felt that he had very little experience, and everything he had seen and heard in Chang'an before was overturned here.
He was not a talkative person. In the past, even if the housekeeper talked to him for a long time, he would only reply with one or two words.
But today he has already taken the initiative to ask Su Zhizhi several questions, and he also wants to ask:
"Could someone as magnanimous as Village Chief Hao have been a bandit before?"
"Of course, my father is the boss."
Xue Che: "Village Chief Hao doesn't seem to know Kung Fu, so why do people listen to him so much?"
It can't be that the bandits think he is good-looking, right?
Su Zhizhi was so proud that she almost got cocky. She had also asked the uncles in the village about this question.
They told Zhizhi:
"We are just bandits, but your father is an educated bandit! Bandits are not to be feared, but bandits who can read are to be feared."
Su Zhizhi repeated this to Xue Che and added:
"Well, I can't be a bandit anymore, and they're forcing me to study."
Xue Che was stunned for a moment: "Are you literate?"
"Yes, there is a school in our village." Su Zhizhi pointed at Old Man Qin, "Grandpa Qin is the teacher."
Xue Che looked in the direction of Su Zhizhi's hand and saw Old Man Qin lying on a bamboo chair basking in the sun, his face covered with a palm-leaf fan.
A gust of wind blew the palm-leaf fan off, revealing the side of Old Man Qin's face where his ear was cut off, and it was stained with drool from the corner of his mouth when he fell asleep.
Xue Che had a complicated expression. He believed that Su Zhizhi was telling the truth.
But he now suspected that Su Zhizhi did not understand what it meant to study and what a teacher meant.
Su Zhizhi didn't give Xue Che time to think. She took out two fruits from her pocket and stuffed them into Xue Che's hands:
"Don't worry, just be my little brother in the mountains. I'll protect you and give you a share of any food."
It was a rare opportunity for someone of her age to come up the mountain, and she couldn't let him go.
Xue Che refused to take the fruit and pursed his lips:
"I won't be a little brother."
Others have always called him Young Master, but he has never been anyone's younger brother.
Su Zhizhi stuffed the fruit into his hands and said proudly:
"Here, from today on you belong to me."
"No."
Su Zhizhi was very strong and Xue Che couldn't push her, so he turned around and walked outside.
Su Zhizhi chased after him.
Xue Che quickened his pace.
Su Zhizhi jogged.
Xue Che ran wildly!
"Ache, take it!"
"No."
"I'll protect you!"
“No need!”
The two of them ran one after the other in the open space in the village, scaring the chickens and ducks away.
How could Xue Che, with his frail body, possibly outrun Su Zhizhi?
After running two laps, he was caught by Su Zhizhi.
Xue Che blushed and felt so embarrassed that he was actually being grabbed and struggled by a girl.
"Zhizhi, don't be rude." Village Chief Hao's steady voice fell above his head.
The two little kids looked up and met the restraining gaze of Village Chief Hao.
"Dad." Su Zhizhi let go of his hand angrily.
"Village Chief Hao." Xue Cheru was in great trouble.
Village Chief Hao bent down to separate the two, holding each of them by the hand, and walked back to his own courtyard:
"I have something to tell you."
When they got into the house, Su Zhizhi and Xue Che sat upright.
Village Chief Hao first asked Su Zhizhi:
"Didn't I tell you to study hard in the mountains these past two days? How did you end up running into human traffickers when you came down the mountain?"
Su Zhizhi looked away guiltily:
"I was helping Aunt Liu look after the lamb. The lamb ran away, so I chased it, and then I ran into him at the foot of the mountain."
Village Chief Hao stared at Su Zhizhi, as if he had seen through everything:
“Why do sheep run?”
Su Zhizhi lowered her voice: "Because... I played with fire and burned the sheep's butt."
Village Chief Hao closed his eyes and took a deep breath:
"Have you mastered the big characters I asked you to practice?"
Su Zhizhi: “…”
Village Chief Hao: "Follow Master Qin's lessons carefully the day after tomorrow and make up for the missed big characters."
Su Zhizhi's face was filled with sorrow: "...Okay."
Xue Che felt like laughing when he saw Su Zhizhi like this, and then he heard her say:
"Ache is also a child, does he have to go to class too?"
Village Chief Hao turned his gaze towards Xue Che:
"Your name is Ah Che, right? Have you ever been to school at home?"
Xue Che nodded: "I have read it."
The thing he does most on weekdays is reading.
Hao Ren: "Okay, then in a couple of days, let's study with Master Qin together with Su Zhizhi. You can have a day off every ten days."
Xue Che's expression also looked a little sad.
He was not afraid of studying, but he could not imagine studying with Su Zhizhi and Master Qin.
Hao Ren: "Zhizhi, please go out first. I need to talk to Ache alone."
Su Zhizhi jumped off the stool: "Ache, I'll wait for you outside."
After Su Zhizhi left, Hao Ren gently asked Xue Che:
"I heard your family is in Chang'an? Do you remember the exact location?"
Xue Che took a copper-sized jade piece from his neck and handed it to Hao Ren:
"My name is Xue Che, from the Xue family in Huaiyuanfang, Chang'an."
This piece of jade had been taken away by Wu Laosan before. Later, the villagers found something else from Wu Laosan and asked the children to claim it. Xue Che was able to get this jade pendant back.
The green jade is transparent and delicate, with a simple style, and is only made into a ring.
When Hao Ren took the jade, a look of surprise flashed across his eyes.
He placed the jade pendant between two fingers, moved his fingertips, and the jade pendant split into two pieces. When he moved his fingertips again, the jade pendant merged into one piece again.
Hao Ren put away his smile and looked at Xue Che's face again:
"Who are you, Xue Yucheng?"
"It's my father."
Xue Che was also surprised.
This jade pendant, a Xue family heirloom, has a mechanism inside it to verify its authenticity. Few people knew about it, but Village Chief Hao had seen through it straight away.
"Does Village Chief Hao know my father?"
Hao Ren returned the jade pendant to Xue Che and said:
"Who in Dayu doesn't know General Xue, who guards the northwest?"
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