Chapter 27: Overwhelmed with Gratitude

"Axe" also rushed forward to push the man away along with his brother: "Get lost!"

"Hmph, ungrateful little wretches. You would have starved to death long ago without me..." The man shoved them aside with a slap before stumbling out the door.

From inside the room came a sound of coughing, so severe it seemed as if the person were trying to cough up their very lungs. A gaunt woman with sunken eyes leaned against the wall and shuffled out slowly. "Axe, Lock, where did you go?" she whispered.

The two boys quickly wiped away their tears and turned to smile at her. "Mother, we went out to play today and met a few friends our age. Look!"

Seeing them bruised and dirty, the woman did not believe them, but she spoke quietly to Wang Xuezhou and his friends: "If my Axe and Lock have done anything wrong, I hope you young masters will be forgiving."

...

No one spoke as they left the courtyard. They headed toward the pawnshop to see how much their items were worth. Outside the shop hung a banner with the character for "Pawn" written on it.

The shop was a single room; on the left, against the wall, stood a high counter, and on the right were tables and chairs, making the space feel cramped. Upon entering, the boys felt a sudden wave of intimidation when faced with the towering counter, which they couldn't even see over, and they dared not speak.

"Shopkeeper, could you take a look and tell me how much this is worth?" Wang Xuezhou scanned the shop, then stood on his tiptoes to present the hairpin.

Seeing that the customers were just children, the shopkeeper gave them a dismissive glance. "Dead pawn or live pawn?"

"Dead pawn!" Wang Xuezhou replied without hesitation.

"I don't care if you stole these items or found them. Once an item is dead-pawned here, it’s gone forever, even if your family comes to redeem it later. Do you understand?"

"We understand!"

The shopkeeper looked at the hairpin in his hand with satisfaction, weighing it in his palm. "The weight is decent, but the craftsmanship is crude and it’s worn quite badly. For a dead pawn, the price is naturally higher—I’ll give you one tael of silver. Feel free to ask around; I always offer a fair price." He set the hairpin down, sounding rather indifferent.

Wang Xuezhou saw by his expression that he wasn't cheating them. Not wanting to run around further, he nodded. "Then please take a look at this."

He gestured for Qi Xian to place the next item on the counter.

Qi Xian nervously set the object down. The shopkeeper glanced at it carelessly, but his expression suddenly shifted. He picked it up and held it to the light, inspecting it with serious intent.

"Good heavens! This is a jade plate made of jasper. How could it be broken? And broken into such pieces!" The shopkeeper was so incensed after examining it that he slapped his thigh. "Where are the other shards? Are there more?"

Qi Xian shook his head cautiously. "No..."

The shopkeeper’s face changed again as he tossed the fragments onto the table. "Five taels of silver for a dead pawn, three for a live one. It’s worthless broken like this. If it weren't for the fact that I have a master craftsman here who can polish it into small trinkets, I wouldn't even look at it."

Qi Xian was overjoyed. "Dead pawn! I'll dead-pawn it too."

After receiving the money, they walked out of the pawnshop, with Axe and Lock staring fixedly at them.

Qi Xian couldn't help but clutch the five-tael silver ingot tightly. "I... I'm sorry. I know you're having a hard time, but my family is also waiting for this money to save a life. The corvée labor duty is coming up, and five taels is just enough to exempt my father..."

Faced with a choice between others and his own family, Qi Xian chose his father.

Axe’s tears began to fall. He stared intensely at the silver in Qi Xian’s hand, his fingers twitching. That was his mother, the only family he had left; he couldn't just watch her suffer...

"Here, take mine," Wang Xuezhou said, handing over his silver. "But treat it as a loan. You must pay me back when you have money in the future."

Joy erupted in Axe’s eyes. He wiped away his tears, ecstatic. "We will pay it back. We will find a way. Thank you."

Lock was equally moved. "Thank you! Thank you!"

Since they had already started to help, they decided to see it through. Seeing the sky darkening, Wang Xuezhou said to the two boys, "We study at the Shangshan Academy. One of our classmates comes from a family of physicians. I will ask him to go home and tell his family to come and see your mother. That way, the medical fees might be calculated more affordably for you."

Zhao Xing couldn't bear it and fished out three copper coins from his pocket for them. "My family doesn't have much money either, but take this to buy some steamed buns. When classes resume tomorrow, we will talk to our classmate."

Qi Xian nodded repeatedly. "Yes, we will ask our classmate to help you save on the medicine."

Lock and Axe were overcome with gratitude. "Thank you all!"

...

They arrived back at the academy a little late, but seeing them return safely, the tutor, Master Wu, did not say anything further.

The three of them returned to their room in silence. Qi Xian alternated between joy and sadness. He spoke with difficulty, "Do you think... was I too heartless?"

Zhao Xing shook his head. "If it were me, I would have made the same choice."

Wang Xuezhou lay on his bed with his hands behind his head, one leg crossed over the other, shaking it back and forth.

"You're just looking for trouble. One must look after oneself before one can have the heart to help others. You didn't cause their tragedy, but if you had given them your money, you would have caused the tragedy of your own family. I gave them mine today because my money won't save my family, nor will it improve my life much, so it might as well be used for a good deed."

Hearing this, Qi Xian felt enlightened. He turned and smiled, "Chou Dan, thank you. If it weren't for you today, I wouldn't have even gotten that money."

Zhao Xing looked at Wang Xuezhou and laughed. "You really should thank Chou Dan properly. If it weren't for him, those two boys wouldn't have let go so easily. When you said you wouldn't give them the money, I saw the younger one preparing to snatch it."

Qi Xian’s expression changed, looking startled.

Wang Xuezhou didn't seem to care much. "The logic is the same. If I were in their shoes, I would have snatched it too. You were doing it for your father; they were doing it for their mother."

The atmosphere in the room grew heavy. Wang Xuezhou shifted the topic. "But what is wrong with you two? Have you been led astray by that fatty? And don't call me Chou Dan anymore!"

Zhao Xing chuckled. "Chou Dan sounds so good and intimate! If the fatty can call you that, why can't we? Right, Chou Dan?"

...

The next day at the academy, they told Zheng Guangyuan what had happened. They were all young, and listening to the story made their hearts ache. Several of them urged Zheng Guangyuan to help, and Lü Dasheng even wanted to donate money, though he was dissuaded by the others.

Zheng Guangyuan patted his chest and declared, "Don't worry, leave it to me!"

A day later, Zheng Guangyuan told them his father had already been to see the woman and had prescribed medicine; she only needed a few days of rest to recover. Wang Xuezhou and the others finally felt a weight lifted from their hearts.

"'To travel by starlight and moonlight' refers to the haste of early morning and late-night travel; 'to bathe in the rain and comb through the wind' refers to the hardships of life's journey. Dasheng, how do you explain this?"

Master Zhou stood behind Lü Dasheng with his hands behind his back, making him jump to his feet in a panic.

"Uh... it means..." Lü Dasheng’s eyes darted around, and he had a sudden stroke of inspiration. "It means it's very hard to run in the rain!"

"Pfft—"

The others couldn't help but burst out laughing.

"Xuezhou, you explain it."

"This phrase describes the arduous labor of adults who toil from morning until night, and the hardships of working through wind and rain. Therefore, since we are sitting in this academy, we should cherish this opportunity even more."

"Not bad! Sit down." Master Zhou nodded with satisfaction.

He was very pleased with this student; in just two months, he had caught up with the progress of the others and even showed signs of surpassing them.

Just as he was feeling proud, he heard Lü Dasheng muttering to himself, "What I said was pretty much the same thing..."

Master Zhou was instantly incensed.

"If the teaching is not strict, the teacher is at fault! It seems I, as your teacher, have not disciplined you properly. Put out your hand!"