Chapter 36: Wangzhou Adopted into My Name
"Du Min is a truly terrifying person. He not only looks down on those who are inferior to him, but he also can't stand seeing those who are not as good as him living happier lives than him. He's more frightening than a poisonous snake." Back at the Meng family home, Du Li couldn't wait to share his experiences with Meng Qing.
Meng Qing noticed yesterday that Du Min's reaction to Du Li drinking at the Meng family's house was too strange.
"Don't tell him about your life in our family anymore. He's not doing well these days. He's being ostracized at school and has suffered a tragedy because of his family. He's sensitive. If you show happiness in front of him, he might mistakenly think you're showing off," Meng Qing advised him.
"Don't you think he's scary?" Du Li asked, seeking validation.
Meng Qing glanced at him sideways, "Are you afraid of him?"
Aren't you scared?
Meng Qing didn't answer. She comforted him, "You don't need to be afraid of him because of this. This is only temporary. He will definitely be better off than you in the future. Once his life gets better, he will look down on you again. How can he be jealous of you?"
“This doesn’t sound like something to be happy about,” Du Li said expressionlessly.
Meng Qing laughed a few times.
"You can still laugh?" Du Li sighed. "I live in constant fear. I've told more lies than a beggar has patches on his clothes."
“Life is so interesting. What’s the point of looking at a calm, still pond? Life is just like that.” Meng Qing was not worried at all. She picked up a knife and started slicing lotus root. Amid the slicing sound, she chuckled and said, “I’m looking forward to your third brother’s life after he gets into high school. That’s when things will get really exciting.”
Du Li had to admire him; he was truly an extraordinary person.
"Lift the lid," Meng Qing said.
Goose meat was stewing in the earthenware pot. The paper horse shop had received another big order today, so Meng Qing came back early to buy a goose from the market for a meal. Du Li was lucky to be there; if she had come back tomorrow, she wouldn't have been able to eat it.
After pouring the lotus root into the pot, Meng Qing said, "Go to the paper horse shop and call your parents back for dinner."
"Okay." Du Li got up and walked away. "I wasn't home last night. Did Wang Zhou look for me?"
"Yes, he wouldn't sleep at night, looking around for people. When he woke up in the middle of the night to drink milk, he was looking for you." Meng Qing had almost forgotten about this. She smiled and said, "He woke up before dawn this morning and kept looking at the door, wanting to go out. After it got light, his father took him to the river to buy breakfast and took him for a walk outside. Only then was he happy."
Du Li was overjoyed and couldn't stop smiling. "Then I'll go."
He ran out the door.
Half an incense stick later, Meng Qing heard the child's cheerful laughter. She went out and saw Wang Zhou sitting in his father's arms, giggling.
"He was so happy to see his father, he was so affectionate, he held his father's face and kept looking at him." Meng's mother said with a hint of bitterness, "A father is still a father, he can't compare."
"This kid knows how to sweet-talk people," Meng Qing said.
"Is the stewed goose ready?" Meng Chun was eager to eat, so he went straight to the kitchen as soon as he got back.
"Alright, let's eat," Meng Qing said.
A large goose and two sections of lotus root were stewed in a big pot. Meng's mother urged Du Li to eat more. "Today we received another big job making paper houses and paper horses. The two siblings are going to have their pockets full again. This goose was bought by Qingniang to entertain guests. In half a month, Meng Chun will buy another goose to entertain guests."
Meng Chun nodded, "Buying two is fine."
“Dad, you guys make the paper horses. My little brother and I will make paper houses. All four of us need to earn money. We can’t let all the big orders go to us,” Meng Qing said.
"No need," Meng's father refused. "We can make money from paper figures, wreaths, paper money, and incense." He wanted to subsidize Meng Qing more. She was currently able to live in the city thanks to Du Min, but in two years, Du Min would likely leave the prefectural school to take the provincial examination. At that time, Meng Qing would have no reason to stay at her parents' home anymore. Whether she returned to her hometown to farm and support Wang Zhou's studies, or waited for Du Min to pass the imperial examination and go with him to another place, she would need a lot of money at some point.
“Listen to me, you still have six apprentices to support. Six mouths need to eat a bushel of rice a month. You need to make more money.” Meng Qing ignored him. “Besides, how can you develop good skills if you don’t practice? You can’t expect my little brother to support the paper horse shop alone in the future. What if he goes to open a branch in another place? Wouldn’t the family paper horse shop be ruined?”
Mencius' mother chuckled, "We're busy enough in Wu County alone, why would we want to open branches in other places?"
Meng Qing didn't explain. "Wang Zhou has his father to take care of him. From today onwards, you two should learn the craft from me properly. Don't make excuses like you don't know how to mix colors or how to compose a picture. If you can make eight or nine parts of the paper offerings I've made, you'll be considered a master."
“I’ll take care of the children, cook, do the laundry, and feed the chickens and donkeys. You don’t need to worry about it,” Du Li said, taking on all the responsibilities.
Father Meng was pleased; the more he looked at his son-in-law, the more pleasing he became.
After the meal, the four members of the Meng family left. Du Li coaxed Wang Zhou to sleep, then cleared the dishes and took them to the kitchen to wash. After cleaning the kitchen, he went to clean the donkey shed and chicken coop.
When the baby woke up, Du Li took Wangzhou to find Meng Qing to nurse, and also took Da Mao out for a walk.
After feeding the children and letting the donkey roam freely, Du Li went back to clean the donkey shed and chicken coop. He didn't dump the two baskets of manure he'd swept up into the latrine. Instead, he took the children to the fish market to buy fish. After wandering around for a bit, he finally encountered someone selling dead fish to use as fertilizer for flowers and trees. After asking several people, he sold the two baskets of manure for ten coins. He used the money to buy two extra pounds of shrimp to add to his meal.
At dusk, Meng Qing returned. She entered the house and saw smoke coming from the chimney. She could also hear children crying in the backyard. She quietly went in and bumped into Du Li, who was coming out of the kitchen looking extremely distressed. Wang Zhou was lying in a large wooden basin, crying loudly with his mouth open.
“He wants to be held, but he’s afraid of the heat. He cries when I carry him into the kitchen, and he still cries when I leave him alone outside.” Du Li was almost in tears.
Meng Qing almost burst out laughing. She picked up the child and said, "Now, are you still going to praise your son for being well-behaved and not making a fuss?"
Du Li waved her hand, "You can take it, I'll cook, so it won't be late again."
"Next time you cook, as long as he's not asleep, take him to the paper horse shop," Meng Qing instructed. She figured Du Li couldn't handle it, which was why she came back.
"I'll cook some food and bring it to you later. After that, I'll bring food to Du Min," Du Li said.
"No need, we'll eat when we get back. No matter how busy we are, we can't miss a meal," Meng Qing said. "It's hot, so the food will cool down slowly. After you've cooked it, put it in the cupboard and we'll eat together when you bring your third brother his food back."
After saying that, Meng Qing carried Wang Zhou away.
Du Li wiped his sweat and went back into the kitchen, skimming off the fish bone broth and pouring it into the porridge pot to stew together. Before his sister-in-law joined the family, he had always been the one to help Du's mother cook. In the cold winter, he often cooked for the whole family by himself. As long as the taste wasn't too fancy, he could cook any home-style meal.
Tonight he bought two silver carp to make fish porridge, steamed two plates of river shrimp, mixed a bowl of lotus root, and boiled six eggs.
After the food was cooked, Du Li ladled out a large bowl of fish porridge, added five shrimp, ten slices of lotus root, and an egg. He packed the porridge and vegetables into a food box and hurried out to deliver the meal to the prefectural school.
*
"Du Min, are you reviewing your lessons?"
Du Min was startled by the sudden voice. "Dr. Xu? What brings you here? If you needed to call me, you could have just sent me over. There's no need for you to make this trip."
Dr. Xu ignored his flattery and handed him a piece of paper. "Didn't you realize you've lost something?"
"What?" Du Min pretended to be stupid. He took the paper, opened it, and said in surprise, "How did this end up in your hands? I thought my second brother took it."
Dr. Xu stared at him, and at that moment he couldn't tell whether Du Min was pretending to be stupid or truly innocent.
"Is what's in the letter true?" Dr. Xu asked.
"Yes, but I couldn't help. My second sister-in-law took care of it herself," Du Min said with shame.
Just then, Du Li arrived. He looked at Dr. Xu and greeted him somewhat awkwardly, "Dr. Xu, have you eaten?"
Dr. Xu nodded, glanced at Du Min, and warned, "Focus on your studies, stop playing these petty tricks. Leave some room for maneuver in your dealings with others. If you offend people to the core, you'll ruin your future. There are other smart people in the world besides you. Do you think others don't know what you're thinking? You're even willing to kill your former classmates. How can anyone trust you? Are you going to live your whole life scheming?"
Du Min's face turned pale and then red; he lowered his head and didn't dare to speak.
"Think carefully about what I'm saying," Dr. Xu kindly advised.
“Yes, student will remember,” Du Min said.
After Dr. Xu left, Du Li carried the food box into the house. He brought out all the food and then carried the empty food box out again.
"I'm leaving now, the food is still on the table," Du Li said.
"Second Brother, do you think I've gone too far in my actions?" Du Min couldn't help but ask.
Du Li didn't answer; he pretended not to hear and hurried away.
As Du Min pondered Dr. Xu's words, just as he began to regret his actions, he welcomed a commoner student from a farming family, just like himself, to the school.
Gu Wuxia failed to enter the prefectural school, but Du Min got his wish. The regret and fear brought by the darkness vanished with the rising sun.
As life settled down, Du Li and Du Min almost completely cut themselves off from their family and the affairs of their home. The comfortable days passed quickly, and three months flew by in the blink of an eye.
"I'm going back after the late rice harvest, so I won't be bringing you meals next month," Du Li said to Du Min that day.
After enjoying good food and drink for more than three months, the two brothers had both gained a lot of weight, but compared to Du Min's fair complexion, Du Li was still dark-skinned.
Du Min was mentally prepared, but the days of having no worries about food, drink, or expenses were just too comfortable. He couldn't help but try to persuade him to stay: "Do you really want to go back to toiling in the fields? My second sister-in-law can close a big deal that's equivalent to several months of your hard work."
“You’ll have to go back eventually. Your second sister-in-law can’t keep doing this forever. After you leave Wu County, she has no reason to stay at her parents’ home any longer,” Du Li said.
Du Min sighed regretfully a few times. He hesitated for a moment, then finally joked, "It's a pity I'm not married yet. If I were to get married, Wangzhou could be adopted into my family. It wouldn't matter if you were registered as merchants, as you could continue to make money."
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