The Chen family's old house.
Old Mrs. Chen felt a tightness in her chest, so she collapsed onto the kang (a heated brick bed) and began to cry silently.
To support her three children's education, her eldest and second sons became estranged from her. All those years of sacrifice now seem like a joke.
Now, the eldest and second sons' families are doing better and better, while her most valued youngest son is utterly worthless.
She blamed herself and felt regret. She had an unshirkable responsibility for how her family's life had turned out. If she hadn't kicked her eldest and second sons' families out back then, things wouldn't be like this now.
If the family hadn't separated, even if all the land had been sold, at least someone would have been there to support them. Now that the third son hadn't passed the imperial examination and the family had run out of food, she had no idea how they would survive...
Old Chen sat listlessly on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed), and looking at Old Mrs. Chen crying her heart out, he couldn't help but tear up as well.
To afford the education of our third child, we now have no house, no land, and our rice jar is almost empty.
She wanted to complain about Chen Zhancai, but it was pointless now.
It's all over, everything is over. How am I going to live from now on? What will I eat and drink? How am I going to get through this winter? Am I really going to have to beg for food?
He wiped his eyes with his sleeve. "Old woman, don't be sad. Let's think about what to do in the future!"
Grandma Chen didn't say anything, and continued to sob.
Ru Hua stood listlessly on the ground, looking at the wild vegetables in the bamboo basket, tears streaming down her face.
The family had long since run out of food. If she hadn't gone up the mountain every day to dig for wild vegetables to survive, the three of them would probably have starved to death long ago.
What sustained her belief was that Chen Zhancai would definitely pass the imperial examination and that her suffering would eventually come to an end.
For this belief, she would even go without eating herself to save food for the two elderly people, just to live up to the man's trust in her.
In just two months, she went from a burly, fierce woman to a pale, emaciated one. She was starving and had no strength left to walk.
She looked at Chen Zhancai with a resentful expression, her voice lacking confidence.
"How could this be? Didn't you say you were 100% sure you'd pass the imperial examination? How come you didn't?"
Old Chen's eyes were also fixed on Chen Zhancai, his ears perked up, waiting for his answer.
Grandma Chen stopped sobbing and focused intently on hearing her son's explanation.
Seeing their resentful eyes, Chen Zhancai felt flustered, but he had no choice but to speak.
To exonerate himself, he shamelessly began spouting nonsense again.
"Oh my goodness, I don't know the details either!"
This year's scientific expedition questions were really easy. I was confident and wrote the answers effortlessly, filling the entire answer sheet without any trouble.
At the time, I was absolutely confident that even if I didn't get first place, I would definitely get second.
But things didn't go as planned; when the results were released, his name was nowhere to be found.
At that moment, I felt like dying, so I found a blooming osmanthus tree and intended to hang myself to end my remaining days.
But just when I was about to commit suicide, I met an old scholar with white hair who earnestly advised me against it.
They say "as long as the green hills remain, there's always firewood to burn," but he's over sixty and still hasn't given up. How can you, so young, take your own life?
After hearing this, I thought about it and realized it made sense. As the saying goes, "When it rains, the ground becomes slippery; if you fall, you get up again."
Temporary setbacks are not terrible; what's terrible is losing the courage to try again. I will not give up easily.
Old Man Chen was furious at Chen Zhancai's words. He glared at him and said irritably, "Alright, Zhancai, stop fighting. If you keep fighting, your father will have to live forever."
"Dad, what kind of talk is that? It's so awful."
"What's so unpleasant about that? I'm just telling the truth."
Old Man Chen could no longer contain his anger and pointed at Chen Zhancai, berating him.
"Stop making empty promises and bragging. I'm sick of hearing it. If you were really capable, you would have passed the imperial examinations long ago. Why do you keep failing?"
Open your eyes and take a good look at the mess you've made of our house!
If you don't have the skills, don't take on this job. Even if you're an old white-haired man, you're still just a fart.
Instead of wasting your time, you should be thinking about how our family will manage from now on!
"Dad, what are you doing? You're making me sound like I'm not even human anymore."
Chen Zhancai was panting with anger, and sneered inwardly, "Don't try to bully me, I'll get someone to teach you a lesson." He nudged Old Mrs. Chen, who was lying on the kang (a heated brick bed), and used his usual coquettish tone.
"Mother, don't lie there silently. Get up and talk to Father. All I did was fail the imperial examination. Is it really necessary for him to get so angry with me?"
Old Mrs. Chen suddenly sat up and slapped her thighs hard with both hands.
“Your dad is right. What else do you want me to say?”
What kind of thing are you doing? You keep saying you can pass the imperial examination by simply grabbing things with your bare hands.
For the past few months, I've been going around telling everyone I meet how great I am, but it's all come to nothing. How am I supposed to go out and face people now?
These are nothing compared to what we've done. For your sake, your mother sold everything in the house that we could and couldn't sell. Now we have no grain and no land. How will we eat in the future? Have you thought about all of this?
"You've already stopped liking what your dad says; the real suffering is yet to come!"
Chen Zhancai had nothing to say; it was indeed the truth, and he could not deny it.
Seeing him with his head down, Ruhua couldn't help but feel a little disappointed, but she still comforted Old Madam Chen, "Mother, things have already come to this, and we still have to live our lives. So please don't blame Zhancai anymore."
"Yes, it's too late to say anything now." After saying that, Old Mrs. Chen took a deep breath to calm herself down, glanced at Chen Zhancai, and said, "Son, I won't say anything else. I just want to ask you, what are we going to do in the future?"
"Mother, I've never been involved in the daily grind of life. How would I know how to live?"
"Oh, my son! Your parents will have to rely on you from now on. You'll have to take care of some things!"
"No, Mother, what am I supposed to do? What can I possibly do?"
Chen Zhancai was starting to regret it. If he had known he wouldn't have been able to pass the imperial examinations, he would never have separated from Chen Zhanliang. Now, both old men were his problems, and he had become a burden.
Seeing his clueless expression, Old Man Chen was so angry that his liver ached and his heart trembled. "How are you going to make arrangements? You are the pillar of our family now. You have to shoulder the responsibility and find a way to earn money to support us."
Chen Zhancai rolled his eyes speechlessly. "Dad, what you're saying is a bit like taking advantage of your age. You and Mom are both able-bodied and can move around. Why would you ask me to carry any loads? You're just making trouble for yourself!"
"You, are you even speaking human language?!" Old Man Chen trembled with anger, pointing his finger at Chen Zhancai. "I don't want to rely on you, but our family has nothing right now, what am I supposed to do?"
Old Mrs. Chen was so angry that her ribs ached. "Alright, Zhancai, I know you're still not satisfied and are thinking about how you can make it big in the future, but we also have to take care of the present. Right now, our family is almost starving, and your father and I really can't think of any ideas. You'd better think of something quickly."
......
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