Chapter 4: Finding a Way

Mao Dan shook his head. “I’m not envious. My uncle’s good life was bought by everyone else in the family tightening their belts to save for it. I don’t want Father and Mother, or my little brother and sister, to live like that.”

Ten-year-old Mao Dan could already understand conversations. He had glanced through his cousin’s books before; they were packed densely with characters, and just looking at them made his head swim. He did not want the family to waste that money for nothing, nor did he want his parents to become as burdened and miserable as his grandparents had been, nor to grow into someone idle and greedy like his uncle.

His eldest son’s words made Madam Zhang’s heart ache with bitterness. Though her boy was not especially clever, he was considerate, filial, and sensible. She could not help loosening the fingers that had been pinching his arm. With a sigh, she reached out and patted his head.

Second Sister turned to look at her younger brother. “Ugly Egg, do you want to study?”

If there was a chance, of course he wanted to study.

The Great Qian Dynasty upheld the doctrine that all pursuits were inferior to scholarship. Learned men were respected wherever they went, enjoying a lofty and detached status.

Besides, in his previous life, he had spent more than ten years bent over his books. He had not endured that bitter study just to come here and till the fields until he could not even feed his own family.

If he wanted to bring out the things in his mind and use them, he needed a proper explanation. Otherwise, with no schooling at all and unable to recognize even a single character, how could a child suddenly speak so knowledgeably about making money? He might well be dragged off and burned.

Wang Xuezhou nodded decisively. “Very much! But will Grandfather and Grandmother agree?”

When Madam Zhang heard her son’s answer, she became excited at once. “That’s not for you to worry about. As long as you want it, Mother will find a way!”

Wang Chengzhi, however, found himself in a difficult position. Frowning, he stroked his chin and said, “Xuewen was only sent to learn a few characters, but even then the annual tuition is one tael of silver. Father and Mother won’t agree to send Ugly Egg too.”

Leaving aside the fact that Wang Xuewen had a father who was already a licentiate, the very status of being the eldest grandson was enough to make the old couple value him highly.

Ugly Egg’s standing in the old couple’s hearts was nowhere near that of Ox Egg.

Moreover, schooling cost money. The annual tuition, gifts for festivals, writing brushes, ink, paper, and the like all required money. It was no small expense.

Wang Chengzu had been able to pass the licentiate examination only because the village had helped a little.

Since everyone in West Bright Village mostly bore the surname Wang and belonged to the same clan, when Wang Chengzu went to sit the examination, every household had pooled together some money.

Otherwise, relying only on the few people in the Wang family, Wang Chengzu would not have had the means to go even if he could have passed.

Still, the old couple knew how to count. Although they had sent Ox Egg to begin his education, they had made it clear that they would only support him for three years. If Ox Egg still wanted to continue studying after that, the first branch would have to find a way on its own.

At the very least, his elder brother’s family still had a chance. What about them?

When the sun was already high overhead, Old Lady Liu finally came back first from the fields with Lady Ma. As soon as she stepped through the door, she ran into her eldest daughter-in-law, Lady Gao, opening the door and stretching.

“Oh my! Mother, you’ve worked so hard since early morning. Come wash your face and have a drink of water. Chengzu will be heartbroken if he sees this! When he comes back from the city, have him buy you something to nourish your health.”

As soon as Lady Gao finished stretching, she saw her mother-in-law returning with a dark expression. She immediately put on a flattering smile, squeezed past Lady Ma, and with a quick roll of her eyes, snapped at her: “What are you standing around for? Hurry up and bring Mother some water to wash up!”

Old Lady Liu gave a cold laugh. “You’ve been talking all this time and still haven’t brought me a bowl of water. I only see you moving your mouth.”

It was one thing to coax her as usual; now they were truly taking her for a fool.

Old Lady Liu was in a bad mood and showed no mercy to anyone.

Lady Gao’s face stiffened at the rebuke, and her expression turned awkward. She forced out a flattering smile. “Mother, what are you saying? I was only thinking of letting you wash up first so you’d feel more comfortable. I’ll get you water right away.”

Old Lady Liu snorted. At that moment, Lady Ma brought over a basin of water for her to wash her face. Old Lady Liu then turned a stern face toward her. “You’ve come back and still aren’t hurrying to make the meal? Do you mean to starve all the men in this house?”

Lady Ma tensed up and, not daring to rest for even a moment, hurried straight into the kitchen.

It was not until mealtime that the tightly closed door of the second branch finally opened.

In the main room, everyone had already prepared to eat, except for Wang Chengzu and Ox Egg, who were absent.

The wheat harvest in the fields was nearly at its final stage. In order not to exhaust the family’s few laborers, these days the meals had been unusually generous.

Today’s breakfast was even better than yesterday’s supper. It was rare to see a basin of white-flour steamed buns, a plate of stir-fried vegetables, and a pot of egg soup.

Wang Xuezhou could not help swallowing when he saw the buns. At last, they were no longer just vegetable-stuffed coarse buns.

Those things were bitter and astringent and awful to eat, and they left you hungry again very quickly, with not a drop of oil in your stomach.

This basin of buns today looked far more decent than yesterday’s meal.

Everyone sat in their places. When Wang Chengzhi looked closely at his own family’s food, he saw that there was only one bun each, and the egg soup contained no eggs at all—only broth. He immediately became unhappy. “Mother, you’re favoring one side over the other!”

“I favor one side? Do you have any idea what you’ve been doing yourself? I ask you to do a little work, and you have more excuses than a day’s worth of farting. Today you lounged around at home with your wife and children all morning, and you still have the face to say that?”

Wang Chengzhi immediately pulled Wang Xuezhou over and exposed the wound on his foot. “Is Ugly Egg not your own grandson? Look at this injury—is that an excuse?”

There was a red-and-black wound on the sole of the child’s foot, and Old Lady Liu’s breath caught.

After all, it was her grandson. She was not wholly unconcerned. But thinking of how the second son never acted properly, she said with perfect righteousness, “Ugly Egg is hurt, but your eldest and Second Sister aren’t. In the end, all of you still ran off!”

Lady Gao gloated from the side. “Exactly! It’s only a punctured foot—why make such a fuss? It’s not like he’s crippled. Besides, it was his foot that got punctured, not his hand. Why wouldn’t he be able to work? If you ask me, this Ugly Egg has probably taken after his second uncle—shrewd and sly. Such a minor injury and he’s already making a scene and lying down to rest for half the day.”

Of all the people here, Lady Gao was the least qualified to criticize others. Hearing words like “crippled” and “sly” thrown onto her son, Madam Zhang instantly flew into a rage. “Go enjoy your own advantages in secret if you want, but how dare you come spouting nonsense in front of me? Say one more word and I’ll tear your mouth apart!”

Lady Gao usually looked down on her two sisters-in-law and thought herself above them. Madam Zhang was coarse and fiery, a shrew; Lady Ma was timid and useless, a cowardly wretch.

Neither of them was as respectable as she was. Yet she had never imagined that Madam Zhang, as if suddenly losing her senses, would dare point at her nose and curse at her. Furious, her face turned dark as iron. “What advantage did I ever take from you?”

“What advantage? And you really have the nerve to ask? You and your man do nothing productive at home all day. You don’t work the fields, you don’t lift a finger in the kitchen, and you don’t know the first thing about making money. If it weren’t for the third branch laboring hard in the fields all these years, if it weren’t for me painstakingly stitching things to sell, what would your husband and son have relied on to study? On you sitting at home painting your face and flirting with the men?”