Chapter 375: The Old Man with His Hands on His Hips Finds Trouble

Su Xi saw the crux of their problem and taught them a lesson with a stern face: "What's the point of talking about worth or not? I'm not asking you to kill people or set fires. Now the whole big study is under my control, and I have the final say over this small garden. I can plant whatever I like. What does it have to do with whether it's worth it or not? Planting flowers because they're expensive will reduce my happiness. What's the basis for that? I won't plant anything. I'll just plant vegetables."

After saying this, he put his hands on his hips, acting like a bad old man.

Five young boys: "..."

What an unreasonable person, what an unreasonable request.

Zong Jincheng became even more unhappy when he saw that Xu Wan didn't stop her. This weird old man always made trouble.

He threw the hoe in his hand to the ground and retorted, "If you want to grow vegetables, just grow them yourself. Why are you waking us up so early in the morning? I don't want this hoe. The autumn examination is coming soon. I don't have that much time to plant vegetables with you. I have to study and learn!"

The other boys nodded and threw away the hoes in their hands.

Yes, it’s okay to let them get up early, but they have to study. Otherwise, if a young man from an aristocratic family gets up at dawn to plant vegetables, wouldn’t people laugh at him if this got out?

Su Xi snorted twice and complained to Xu Wan: "Madam Zong, these boys in your family are a bit difficult to manage."

When he couldn't control these guys, he called for reinforcements. Su Xi had already seen that everyone here listened to Xu Wan, especially that troublemaker Zong Jincheng.

Xu Wan bowed to him and said, "Don't be angry, sir. The children just can't accept it for the time being. They need to take it slow." After saying that, she signaled with her eyes for the servants to pick up the hoe.

No one dared to refuse the hoe that Xu Wan had someone send over. The faces of the five young boys became uglier than each other, and they looked at Su Xi with an indignant look.

Xu Wanan comforted them, "Children, don't worry. Although the autumn examination is approaching, you have already learned the Four Books and Five Classics and policy essays very well. In the next month or so, you only need to focus on learning poetry with Mr. Su, and don't worry too much about other things."

The little devil said dissatisfiedly: "But mother, he made some very unreasonable requests, which are simply incomprehensible, unreasonable, and ridiculous!"

Su Xi snorted again, sneering at his string of idioms: "It turns out that you have read the Four Books and Five Classics to the point of using idioms. No wonder your poetry is so bad...bad...bad..."

Zong Jincheng was so angry that he clenched his fists again and glared at the strange old man fiercely.

Damn it! How did this old man become a famous poet?

"Chengcheng, don't you even listen to your mother?" Xu Wan asked him.

The little devil's anger was extinguished in an instant, and he said with a gloomy face: "No, mother, I was wrong, I will listen to you."

Su Xi succeeded in his complaint and chuckled secretly. The look he gave Zong Jincheng became even more provocative, and the little devil was so angry that he turned his face away, trying not to see it.

Xu Wan touched his head lovingly and asked them, "What about you?"

"We will listen to our auntie too." the teenagers said in unison.

Xu Wan smiled and said, "Okay, in that month, you must listen carefully to Mr. Su's instructions and don't let me come out and reiterate them again, okay?"

The five young boys said weakly: "Okay..."

Xu Wan chuckled and said, "Thank you for your hard work. Let's get to work."

“…”

In the small courtyard, Xu Wan and Su Xi sat in the small pavilion, watching the children work. All the servants around them were removed and not allowed to help them.

Zong Jincheng gathered his brothers together, and the five little heads met as they began to plan what to do: "When we dig the flowers later, we will dig deeper and dig out the flowers with their roots, so that they can survive. Then we will give them to Shunzi and the others to take to other gardens to plant. This way, these flowers will not be destroyed by that old man."

Zong Wenxiu nodded in agreement: "Okay, Jincheng, I'll listen to you."

"Action!" He Zheng shouted.

Several guys gathered together and talked, which puzzled Su Xi. He even guessed, "What evil plan are they planning to revolt?"

Xu Wan smiled and shook her head: "No, they are all very well behaved."

Su Xi choked and said, "Forget it. That's just for you. You little wolves are really good at pretending to be little white rabbits. If you weren't here today, I think they would have betrayed their master and ancestors and directly overturned this old bone of mine."

Xu Wan was amused by him and chuckled: "Sir, you are joking. They really didn't go that far. At most, they just said a few stubborn words."

Su Xi wanted to continue speaking when he saw the five teenagers high-five each other, then pick up their hoes and start working with full morale.

He raised his eyebrows, as if he had discovered something interesting, and said in surprise: "These guys are quite united."

Xu Wan agreed with a smile and said, "Yes, the feelings between young people are very enviable."

Su Xi felt the warm moment and couldn't help reciting a poem. Then he shook his head and said with amusement, "Interesting, interesting."

The boys were used to being spoiled and had never worked in the fields, nor did they know how to use a hoe. They only learned to dig the ground with the help of a gardener, but they moved very slowly in order to protect the roots of the plants.

After a full cup of tea, I heard their voices one after another: "I have dug up one tree."

"I've dug one too."

The young boys dug out the flowers, handed them to the servants to transplant them to other yards, and then continued to dig flowers.

Xu Wan checked the time and commented, "At this rate, they may have to dig until dark."

Su Xi stretched out his hand to make a blocking gesture and said with a smile: "Then let them dig until dark."

Xu Wan asked, "Sir, don't you mind them weighing the pros and cons now?"

From an objective point of view, Su Xi, as a great poet, was most disgusted with the practices of the officialdom. Unfortunately, the policy essays she taught her children were all preparations for entering the officialdom in the future. So now, the two of them disliked each other.

Su Xi smiled and said, "They are disgusted, but this time they are not considering whether these flowers are worth wasting their precious time, but are starting to think about the flowers. I am very relieved."

"Hmm?" Even Xu Wan didn't quite understand. "Does it mean that they no longer only think about their own interests?"

Su Xi said mysteriously, "Immersed in nature and expressing their emotions, they have seen things that have been neglected outside of study. These children are quite good and can be saved."

At noon, the young men, who had been digging for an hour, were all very hungry and could hardly move their hoes.

Xu Wan instructed the maids, "Prepare the dishes. Don't serve too many side dishes. Focus on the buns. Bring the small pavilion."

Su Xi waved his hands and said, "What dishes are you serving? Steamed buns... Give each of you two steamed buns."