"You, you've taken the wrong medicine today, you can't even speak properly, I owe you a debt of my life!"
Old Chen was furious. He really wanted to give Old Mrs. Chen a good beating. That damned woman had spoiled her rotten. She didn't care about the occasion and would start babbling away all the time. He vowed that once they built a big house, he would never sleep in the same bed with her again. He couldn't afford to mess with her, so he decided to avoid her altogether. He was not going to put up with this henpecked husband's humiliation.
Thinking of this, he stopped paying attention to Old Mrs. Chen and looked at Chen Zhancai beside him, "Son, you are the pride of our Chen family and a role model for Nanshan Village. From now on, your father will be counting on you."
"Father, please stop talking, I..."
"Why shouldn't I say it? There are some things Dad has to say in front of the villagers."
Before Chen Zhancai could finish speaking, Old Man Chen interrupted him.
"Over the years, your parents have sold grain and land for you, and the family's life has gotten worse year by year. The villagers don't say it to your face, but they talk about our family behind your back, just waiting to see us make a fool of ourselves."
Fortunately, you lived up to our expectations and brought honor to our family.
These days your mother and I have been discussing that once you pass the imperial examination and become a scholar, we must teach those gossipy people a lesson.
But I think that's inappropriate. If we did that, wouldn't we be seen as petty and narrow-minded?
There's a saying that goes, "If an official doesn't serve the people, he might as well go home and sell sweet potatoes." I hope my son can become a good official whom everyone respects...
"Alright, Dad, stop talking." Chen Zhancai's face grew increasingly ugly, as if he had eaten shit. He lowered his head in shame, wishing he could find a block of tofu and smash his head against it to his death.
Old Chen was in high spirits and couldn't discern any dissent. He waved his hand dismissively, "Dad's unusually happy today, don't stop me from saying anything!"
Seeing his smug and smug expression, Old Mrs. Chen was furious.
Her lips trembled as she pointed at Old Man Chen and yelled, "Shut up! When did I say that? Are you delirious? What nonsense are you spouting all day long?"
"I've already embarrassed myself enough, and you've jumped on the bandwagon! When will you ever stop?!"
Old Chen's mind cleared instantly from those words. He looked around blankly and found that everyone was staring at him like he was an idiot.
He realized he seemed to have done something wrong; he shouldn't have said those irrelevant things.
"Son, son, did you pass the imperial examination?" Old Chen stammered.
Chen Zhancai shook his head. "Didn't get it."
"Why didn't you tell me you didn't win? What am I supposed to do with all this babbling on and on!"
Chen Zhancai said with a stern face, "Did you even ask me? You've been nagging me ever since you arrived, and now it's all my fault. You guys are really something!"
"Oh my goodness, what kind of mess is this!" Old Chen recalled what he had just said and was so ashamed that he wanted to drown himself. He had really brought shame upon himself by walking in naked.
Chen Zhancai was so ashamed he wanted to crawl into a mouse hole. He was extremely resentful of Old Man Chen and his wife, but he couldn't show it in front of the villagers.
He had no choice but to patiently say, "Dad, Mom, let's go home first, we can talk about it when we get home."
“Yes, yes, let’s go home. My son must be exhausted from the journey. Come on, come home with your mother.” Old Mrs. Chen said, giving Old Mr. Chen a disdainful look. “What are you standing there for? Don’t embarrass yourself here. Hurry up and go home.”
Old Man Chen's earlier cheerfulness vanished. He parted the crowd, picked up the bamboo basket from the ground, and followed Old Woman Chen forward with his head down.
Chen Zhancai followed closely behind.
After they left, the crowd exchanged bewildered glances, then began to gloat and whisper among themselves.
"Today I've seen what it means to be arrogant and what it means to be utterly humiliated."
"As the saying goes, the higher the expectations, the greater the disappointment. They overestimated their son."
"Exactly. They don't even look at their son to see if he's got the brains to back it up. They don't even ask him what's going on. They just spout off all that nonsense. This old couple is really embarrassing themselves."
"This is what they call 'birds of a feather flock together,' always making a fuss over nothing, but it's all bullshit."
"Shh~~ Keep your voice down, the scholar's wife is back."
"Oh my, it's true, we're going to have some fun again." After saying that, Lao Liu's wife waved to Ru Hua, who was walking over from a distance, "Scholar's wife, hurry up and take a few steps."
Ruhua, who had just returned from digging for wild vegetables in the mountains, saw Lao Liu's wife waving at her from afar and quickly walked a few steps closer. "Sixth Sister-in-law, is there something you need?"
"I'm fine. I just wanted to tell you that your man is back."
"Really? You mean Zhancai's back?" Upon hearing this news, Ruhua was overjoyed. She had been waiting with bated breath, and finally, her man was back! She would never have to worry about food again, never have to get up before dawn to forage for wild vegetables, and never have to go hungry again...
The sixth son's wife covered her mouth and chuckled, "Scholar's wife, don't just stand there like an idiot! That's your husband up ahead, hurry up and chase after him!"
Ru Hua, regaining her composure, didn't have time to say anything more. She took two steps at a time and ran after him.
"My lord, you're finally back! I've been waiting so long at home!" Ruhua shouted as she ran.
Chen Zhancai was walking forward with his head drooping when he suddenly heard someone call out "Husband" behind him. He instinctively turned around to look.
Then a dark-skinned, thin woman with disheveled hair chased after him, scaring him so much that his hair stood on end. He screamed "Mommy!" and turned to run, not forgetting to call out to Old Man Chen.
"Dad, a crazy woman is chasing us! Run!"
"You heartless bastard, why are you running away? Didn't you see that's your young wife?" Old Chen couldn't help but curse.
Chen Zhancai stopped in his tracks, somewhat incredulous. "You called her Ru Hua, but how did she end up like this?"
Before Old Man Chen could reply, Old Woman Chen sighed, “Zhancai, Ruhua saved every penny and left the best food for your father and me. We’ve been so grateful to her these past few months, otherwise you wouldn’t have seen your father and me. You must take good care of Ruhua from now on and not let her suffer.”
"Mom, I know."
Chen Zhancai agreed and took a few steps forward to greet her, looking at Ruhua who had become so thin that she looked unrecognizable. His heart ached as if it were being cut by a knife. "Ruhua, is it really you?"
"My husband, it's me, it's Ru Hua!"
"How come you've lost so much weight in just a few months?"
"I didn't want things to turn out this way, but our family has really reached the point where we can't even afford to eat." At this moment, Ruhua could no longer contain her emotions, and tears welled up in her eyes.
"These are nothing. With you back, our family won't have to live a hard life anymore."
Upon hearing this, Chen Zhancai's face paled, and he was momentarily at a loss for words. After hesitating for a long time, he finally managed to stammer, "Ruhua, let's go home and talk."
"Okay, let's go." Ru Hua nodded with a smile...
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