Chapter 94 My Daughter, May Good People Enjoy a Peaceful Life

"Oh, come now, what do you think you are doing?" Wen Xiuyi was utterly mortified. There were not many people on the road at this hour, but there were still two or three passersby, and to have someone kneel before him in full view of so many people was simply too much.

This would not do. Absolutely not.

"Get up at once, child. What are you doing?" But Wen Xiuyi could not drag Liuzi to his feet. The boy forced him to receive three heavy bows before he finally rose.

At last, after the kowtowing was done, Wen Xiuyi managed to haul him upright. What else could he say? Only words of encouragement.

"If you like it, keep at it. I will come by every so often to teach you, and when you finish the assignments I leave, have Wen Nong bring them to me. We are not aiming for success in the imperial examinations or some great rise in the world. We only want you to learn a little reading and writing, so you do not get shortchanged in life."

"Yes. Thank you, sir." Liuzi's eyes were red as he nodded again and again. He had never imagined that at his age he could still stumble upon such a chance: to learn letters and words, to be able to seek better work in the future, and not spend his whole life as a mere stall vendor. For him, that alone was enough.

"Come on, come on, let us load everything onto the cart and hurry home. Where is Yaoyao? Yaoyao..." Wen Xiuyi called a few times at the top of his voice before Wen Yao finally poked her head out from the side.

"I am here."

Seeing her, Wen Xiuyi at last let out a breath of relief. The wharf was crowded with people coming and going, and he had been afraid the child might be lost.

The group loaded everything onto the ox cart. Wen Xiuyi sat in front, happily stroking the whip in his hand as he bade farewell to the Zhang family of carpenters.

"We are off then," he said. With that, he flicked the whip, and Dahuang slowly and lazily started forward.

Wen Nong sat on the family cart, touching this and peering at that, delighted beyond words.

As for being scolded by Grandmother, so long as she was not scolding him, that was fine.

Halfway home, they ran into Wen Jun and Wen Xiuzhu, who had come out looking for them.

"Jun! Jun! Father is here!" Seeing the two of them walk past the cart without a glance, Wen Xiuyi hurriedly shouted.

Wen Yao also leaned over the side of the cart, calling for her eldest brother and second uncle.

Wen Jun and Wen Xiuzhu stopped. Wen Jun, already informed in advance, was not very surprised, but Wen Xiuzhu stared blankly at the ox cart and asked, "Brother, where did this ox cart come from?"

"We bought it, we bought it. Hurry and get on," Wen Xiuyi called, waving them over.

Wen Xiuzhu thought he must have heard wrong. He turned to Wen Jun and asked, "What did your father just say?"

Wen Jun held back his laughter and pulled him up onto the cart. Once they were seated, he said, "Mm. My father said he bought this ox cart."

Good heavens. Wen Xiuzhu stared in disbelief at his elder brother. If they had not been on the cart and already lurching forward, he would have climbed over just to pinch his brother and see whether he was dreaming.

But soon his attention was drawn away by Wen Jun.

Wen Jun was touching the curved-plow resting on the cart as he spoke with Wen Yao. "You finished it? So quickly?"

Wen Yao nodded. "Uncle Zhang did nothing else today. He spent the whole day making this for our family."

Wen Xiuzhu's curiosity was successfully diverted. Looking at the thing that resembled a plow yet did not quite resemble one, he asked, "What is this?"

"A plow. The kind used for tilling," Wen Yao explained.

Wen Xiuzhu shifted to a better spot so he could study it, but no matter how he looked at it, it seemed rather different from the ones they used now.

"Why is it curved?" he asked.

Wen Yao continued, "Second Uncle, my father improved it. It is called a curved-plow. Its efficiency is several times greater than the old straight-beam plow. With this, the fields in our family will be much easier to work."

Thank heavens. She never wanted to dig soil by hand again.

Wen Xiuzhu felt that ever since his elder brother had once been buried alive, he had become harder and harder to understand. It was as though, overnight, his brother had suddenly turned exceptionally capable.

"Brother, you can even improve something like this? But you never used to go into the fields before, did you?" he asked, still dazed.

Wen Xiuyi twitched at the corners of his mouth and answered rather impolitely, "That was before. Have I ever tasted pork if I have not seen a pig run? I have read so many books. Did they not say so in those books? What does it have to do with whether I have gone into the fields or not?"

"Oh." Wen Xiuzhu nodded blankly, then asked, "Books teach farming too?"

"..."

This little brother was infuriating. What was to be done? Wen Xiuyi let out a long sigh. "What do books not contain? They contain everything. When you have time, you and the third one should read more."

The moment reading was mentioned, Wen Xiuzhu immediately caved and shut his mouth.

Wen Nong, on the other hand, looked bright-eyed and hopeful as he gazed at his father.

Let us read together. Let us suffer together. Let us all wrestle with those ancient words together.

In the end, he received only a great fist from his father.

Wen Yao and the others burst into laughter.

And so, amid their rowdy chatter, they drove the ox cart to the front of the old residence.

By then night had already fallen. Every household had shut its doors and settled in for the evening, and no one paid attention to their movements.

As soon as Wen Xiuzhu got home, he hurriedly jumped down from the cart, threw the main gate wide open so Wen Xiuyi could drive the cart in at once, then looked left and right like a thief before closing the gate again.

In the courtyard, the sudden appearance of an ox cart left the Wen family staring in astonishment, except for Datou.

Datou dashed to the side of the cart and looked up at Dahuang with shining eyes full of joy.

"Father, is this our family ox?" The more he looked, the more he liked it. Truly, the day spent covering for his father and sister at home had not been wasted; he had even gone around pestering Grandfather and Nanny to read to him until he was nearly silly from it.

Datou's words were like a thunderclap, followed immediately by Madam Luo's roar.

"Wen Xiuyi, you are dead! Get over here at once!"

The old lady finally understood why Datou had been so obedient today. He had not been dragging them to look at the characters he wrote or asking them to read aloud to him for no reason at all.

The old couple had thought Datou had simply grown sensible and wanted to work hard. So that was what he had been waiting for. The little rascal had even learned to help them cover for him, had he?

Madam Luo was so furious her face went red.

Wen Xiuyi shrank behind the ox cart and said, "Mother, this is Dahuang. It is ours. It is already bought; even if you beat me, it will not help. The pawnbroker said once goods leave the shop, they cannot be returned or exchanged. Either keep it, or kill it. You choose."

Madam Luo nearly toppled backward in rage.

"Kill it? I will kill you first." She began looking around for whatever tool came to hand.

Wen Xiuyi simply hid behind Wen Yao instead. He knew that in this family, the old lady loved Wen Yao and Datou the most. With these two talismans protecting him, he was bound to be safe.

"Mother, the money was paid by Yaoyao. I was only the errand boy," Wen Xiuyi decided to "sell" his daughter for his own safety.

Wen Yao's smile stiffened. Through gritted teeth, she said, "Father, you really are the sort who lets a brother die but not himself."

"Daughter, good people live long and in peace," Wen Xiuyi pleaded in a low, pitiful voice.