Old Chen shook his head and smiled, "You're worrying unnecessarily. The schoolteacher earns two or three taels of silver every month. How could the third son not have money? Unless he doesn't want to give it to us."
Grandma Chen rolled her eyes at him, displeased. "Nonsense! We've spoiled our son and raised him. We've never wronged him. How could he not spend his earnings on us? Wouldn't that make him an ingrate?"
"Yes, yes, I was just saying it offhand. I think our son is very filial."
“That’s right. No one knows a son better than his mother. Zhancai’s character will never disappoint me as his mother. Let’s go find our son.” Old Mrs. Chen said, putting on her shoes and getting out of bed.
Old Chen was taken aback. "Old woman, are we going now?"
"So when are you planning to move? Wait until I suffocate before you move?"
"Why can't you speak properly? You always have such a nasal accent. I was just checking again."
"Stop talking nonsense and let's go. If we really find our son, he might even treat us to a meal!"
Old Mrs. Chen said it casually, but Old Mr. Chen believed it and immediately swallowed hard. "Oh, that's great! If we're going to a restaurant, I absolutely have to try what fried dough sticks and tofu pudding taste like."
Grandma Chen couldn't help but roll her eyes. "Look at you, all you know is tofu pudding. It's so embarrassing to go out with you. Can we even eat that stuff at a restaurant? We should at least get some scrambled eggs with tomatoes. I heard it's best when it's sweet and sour!"
"How much would that cost? We might as well buy two pounds of fine rice, enough for the two of us to eat for several days."
Old Mrs. Chen curled her lip and said, "You're destined to be poor your whole life; you'll never enjoy happiness."
The two of them left home, exchanging a few words, and headed straight for Qingshui Town.
Their plan was quite clever; they found the Confucius Academy without lifting a finger.
But upon inquiring, they discovered that Chen Zhancai didn't teach at the academy at all.
They wanted to find out where he lived, but no one at the academy knew where Chen Zhancai lived either.
Seeing this, Old Mrs. Chen couldn't help but complain.
"You old fool, I was just staying at home and everything was fine, but you had to cause trouble and come here looking for our son. Now look what happened, we didn't find him and you've exhausted me. If you've made me sick, I'll get you rat poison when we get back!"
Upon hearing this, Old Man Chen was furious. "How was I supposed to know Zhancai wasn't teaching here? How can you blame me for this?"
"Who else is to blame but you? Hurry up and think of what to do now!"
"What else can I do but go home!" Old Chen said, turning around and walking away helplessly.
Although Old Mrs. Chen was indignant, she couldn't blame her husbands for it, and followed behind Old Mr. Chen with resentment.
The two of them hadn't had a drop of water since morning, and were starving, their stomachs practically sticking to their backs.
Smelling the delicious aromas wafting from the snack shops lining both sides of the street, Old Mrs. Chen couldn't help but swallow hard.
"Old man, I'm so hungry I can't walk anymore. Could you get me something to eat?"
Old Chen rolled his eyes speechlessly and said irritably, "I'm penniless, where am I supposed to get you anything to eat?"
"You useless thing, you don't know how to cherish your wife at all. If you starve me to death, let's see who will stay with you and live a hard life?"
"Hmph, if it weren't for you, our family wouldn't be in this situation," Old Man Chen muttered under his breath, dissatisfied.
His voice was very soft, but the sharp-eared Old Mrs. Chen still heard it. She gritted her teeth and glared at him, "What did you say, you old fool? Say it again!"
Old Chen was so frightened that cold sweat broke out on the back of his neck. He could only laugh it off and try to smooth things over. "What are you doing? I told you you're a great contributor to our family. Why are you glaring at me like that? If you can't walk, how about I carry you for a bit?"
"Get out of my way, who needs you to carry me? I'm afraid you'll throw me into a ditch and kill me."
"Alright, let's hurry home. I'll cook you some rice bran and wild vegetable porridge when we get home."
"Eating that rubbish all day long, you're bound to choke to death sooner or later." Old Mrs. Chen said weakly as she walked forward.
As he walked forward, Old Man Chen glanced up and saw a familiar figure in the distance. He quickly pointed.
"Old woman, look! That person looks like Ru Hua."
Old Mrs. Chen looked in the direction he was pointing and saw a fair-skinned, very pretty woman wiping the sweat from a tofu seller's brow. She then looked away and gave Old Mr. Chen a disapproving look.
"She's clearly selling tofu, why are you mistaking her for Ru Hua? Look carefully before you speak, don't make a fuss."
"Okay, but this person looks so much like Ru Hua, they're practically identical. The only difference is that she dresses better than Ru Hua and is just as fair-skinned."
"There are plenty of people who look alike, what's the big deal?"
Grandma Chen rolled her eyes, and the two continued walking forward.
After walking for a while, Old Chen suddenly noticed someone coming out of a snack shop, and his face lit up with joy.
"Old woman, look! That looks like our Zhancai."
"Are you ever going to stop? I think you've fainted from hunger. If you really mistake your son for someone else, you'll get a beating!" After saying that, Old Mrs. Chen looked up and glanced ahead. "Oh my, that person really does look just like our son."
Old Chen squinted and looked at it carefully again. "If it's not the same, then it's our son. There's no mistake."
"Yes, yes, it's Zhancai." Old Mrs. Chen recognized him too and hurriedly ran after him.
At this moment, Chen Zhancai had just finished his meal at the small restaurant and was happily humming a tune, thinking about going home for a long nap, when he suddenly heard someone calling him from behind.
"Zhancai, wait a moment."
He instinctively turned around and his heart skipped a beat. My God, what are they doing here?
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