Pastoral Splendor

In spring, the mountains and fields are lush and green, with newly sprouted leaves covering the branches. The sight of those tender green shoots brings a sense of joy to the heart. Amidst this verdant landscape, flowers of various colors bloom, like colorful patterns embroidered on a tapestry.

"Sanhua, can you really earn five taels of silver in half a month?" Erhua walked beside Yanying, somewhat curious. After all, Boss Xiao worked odd jobs from dawn till dusk, and sometimes he couldn't even earn two taels of silver a month. But Yanying was different; she agreed to Boss Xiao's bet as soon as she opened her mouth: "Five taels of silver is really hard to earn."

"It's alright, I'm confident." Ling Yanying smiled and pointed to her head: "Have you forgotten? I have a book here that can make us rich."

Erhua was taken aback, then suddenly a look of joy appeared on her face: "I almost forgot about that!" She reached out and took Yanying's arm: "Are we going to dig bamboo shoots again today? Why dig so many?"

Two weeks ago, Sanhua fell off the mountain and remained unconscious for two or three days. A traveling doctor was called in to examine her, and he said she wouldn't survive and told the family to prepare for her burial immediately. Old Master Xiao and Aunt Xiao couldn't bear to let go and stayed by Sanhua's side, constantly calling her name. Strangely enough, Sanhua, who was supposed to be dead, opened her eyes again at the sound of Old Master Xiao and Aunt Xiao's calls, which startled the traveling doctor.

Everyone said that Sanhua was lucky, but no one expected that she was saved by an old immortal who even gave her a precious book. This must be a great blessing! Erhua's eyes were full of joy. She hoped that Sanhua could lead her family to a better life in the future. However, digging bamboo shoots... Erhua was a little confused. Could bamboo shoots make money?

These bamboo shoots are everywhere on the mountain every year, but they don't seem to fetch much money. So why is Sanhua digging them up? Erhua sighed. She understood Sanhua's intentions less and less. But since Sanhua had divine protection, she didn't need to say anything and just followed her. As Erhua thought this, she looked down at the ground, hoping to see bamboo shoots breaking through the soil. However, all she saw along the way were trees on both sides and fragrant wildflowers, but no sign of bamboo shoots.

"Second Sister, don't look like that. These bamboo shoots have their own paths." Yan Ying smiled, parted a clump of trees, and walked towards another path. There was a clump of slender bamboo there, and the small bamboo shoots would naturally appear there. The roots of this bamboo are also called bamboo rhizomes, which grow horizontally underground. By looking at a small bamboo shoot, you can tell that there are many more bamboo shoots on this vein.

The day before yesterday, she dug up a few small bamboo shoots on the slope, and today she planned to continue searching there, confident she would find something fruitful. "Second sister, hurry up and catch up, let's go take a look over there!" Yan Ying climbed onto a few tree branches, clearing some space above her head: "This way!"

"Xiao Erhua, Xiao Sanhua!" A shout came from behind. Yan Ying and Erhua stopped and looked back. They saw a man in a light blue scholar's robe running up from behind, panting. "You still have the mind to go into the mountains to play? Old Lady Sijin is going to Yuzhou City to find her relative today!"

"Xiao Jingwei, who would believe what you're saying?" Erhua pouted. The person who came was the village chief's grandson. The village chief and Sijin the old lady were in cahoots. His grandson crawled out of that stove of ashes. How could he get away with it for nothing?

Xiao Jingwei ran up to Erhua, bent over, and rubbed his legs before straightening up, panting, and said, "I'm telling you the truth, but you just won't believe me! Old Lady Sijin is really going to go find that relative of hers on her mother's side, the one who's the registrar in the Yuzhou government office!"

"Oh, you actually have the kindness to tell us this?" Erhua looked at Xiao Jingwei suspiciously, her face full of disbelief: "Are you trying to scare us into giving that vegetable garden to Old Lady Sijin? Let me tell you the truth, we're not afraid of her. Trying to take our land? Don't even think about it!"

Yan Ying stood aside and watched Xiao Jingwei rush over. He was about seventeen or eighteen years old, with fair skin and decent features. He exuded an upright aura, unlike his grandfather, who looked like a cunning old man.

Xiao Jingwei's eyes were fixed on Erhua's face, not letting them wander for a second. Beneath her fair skin, a faint blush was visible. Yan Ying's heart skipped a beat. Oh, could it be that Xiao Jingwei has taken a fancy to Erhua?

Xiao Jingwei's original name was Xiao Ershi. Later, when he went to study at a private school, the old scholar saw that he was smart and changed his name to Jingwei. He was the first scholar to come from Xiaojia Village, which was the village chief Xiao Wenhua's proudest achievement.

Xiaojia Village had been farming for generations and had never produced a scholar. Later, an old scholar from a neighboring village returned. He had been running a private tutor outside the village and was getting old. He was willing to come back to his hometown to benefit the villagers by teaching the children to read and write. Xiao Wenhua thought that sending Xiao Jingwei to school would be a good job as an accountant. So, he made up his mind and spent two taels of silver a year as tuition to send him to learn to read.

Unexpectedly, Xiao Jingwei passed the imperial examination and became a Xiucai (a scholar who passed the lowest level of the imperial examinations). When Xiao Jingwei returned with the bright red invitation card, Xiaojia Village was in an uproar. Everyone was spreading the news: "Our village is going to produce an official! That lad Xiao Jingwei is really good; he might even become a high-ranking official someday!"

Xiao Wenhua was also beaming with joy. He specially prepared a feast so that the villagers could eat to their hearts' content. Everyone said that this stingy old man was being so generous today. It must be because his grandson was going to become an official, so the grandfather naturally had to be more generous.

Xiao Jingwei passed the imperial examination at the age of thirteen and became a scholar. Everyone in Xiaojia Village called him a child prodigy and unanimously believed that he would definitely achieve the highest rank in the imperial examination. Xiao Wenhua was overjoyed and simply sent Xiao Jingwei to stay with an old scholar in the next village, so that he wouldn't have to come back to do farm work and could concentrate on his studies: "Wait until you become the top scholar and make your grandfather happy!"

Who knew that after passing the county-level examination, Xiao Jingwei made no further progress? He took the provincial-level examination twice, at the ages of thirteen and sixteen, but failed both times. This infuriated Xiao Wenhua, who desperately wanted him to achieve something and bring honor to the Xiao family. But all these years, apart from passing the county-level examination, it was like a brief moment of warmth in cold water, with no further news. Moreover, his other sons and grandsons were all against sending Xiao Jingwei to school, making the situation difficult for him as well.

“Jingwei has been studying for so long, and we’ve spent several hundred taels of silver on him, but he hasn’t even made a name for himself. What’s the use of being a scholar? Haven’t you seen the old scholar in the next village? He had to beg and plead to get a few kids to study, and he only earns a little over ten taels of silver a year to support his family!” Xiao Wenhua’s eldest son, Xiao Yumu, muttered. “The tuition isn’t expensive, but the paper, pens, and the trips to take the exams will cost a fortune! If this continues, I’ll send my sons to school too! We can’t let ourselves be taken advantage of!”

Xiao Wenhua was so angry he could barely speak, but the facts were undeniable: Xiao Jingwei had failed the imperial examinations twice, seemingly destined to be an official. He tapped his water pipe, stood up abruptly, and glanced at Xiao Dasheng: "I'll go and call Jingwei back. You, as his uncle, shouldn't keep nagging him."

And so, Xiao Jingwei put down his pen and picked up a hoe. Xiao Wenhua's favorite grandson was Xiao Jingwei. Seeing him wearing a scholar's robe and going to work in the fields always made him feel uneasy. He wanted to get him a job as a clerk in the Yuzhou government office so that he wouldn't have to suffer.

After much deliberation, Xiao Wenhua decided to target Old Lady Sijin. One of her cousins ​​was working as a clerk in the Yuzhou government, which was the only connection he could make with the prefectural governor. Therefore, Xiao Wenhua treated Old Lady Sijin with great respect. Whenever she had a dispute with the villagers, Xiao Wenhua would speak up for her, thus emboldening her.

This time, Xiao Jia Sanhua killed Si Jin Laotai's sheep. Si Jin Laotai was naturally unwilling to suffer a loss, so she asked Xiao Wenhua to help her get the Xiao family's vegetable garden back, but she didn't get it. Si Jin Laotai was very unhappy. After thinking it over and over, she thought that the only way was to go to the Yuzhou government office to find her cousin and ask him to stand up for her.

The people of Xiaojia Village are all hardworking laborers, and they've never seen an official before. For a mere clerk to come to this village is already a great honor, showing great respect to Xiaojia Village. If the head of the Xiao family still doesn't know what's good for him, then he'll have to be locked up in jail and let him taste what prison food is like!

"You two hurry back and think of something, whether it's to apologize to Old Lady Sijin or something." Fine beads of sweat appeared on Xiao Jingwei's forehead, his face full of anxiety: "If it weren't for that, your father would have been arrested!"

"Arrest him? What right does he have to arrest my father?" Yan Ying sneered, "It's not like we were in the wrong first!"

“But you still killed one of her sheep.” Seeing that Yan Ying wasn’t worried at all, Xiao Jingwei became anxious and jumped up and down: “You know that these days, the government doesn’t show any leniency! They say that the yamen faces south, but if you have reason but no money, don’t come in. What do you have to compare with Old Lady Si Jin?”

Seeing Xiao Jingwei jumping up and down in a panic, Yan Ying nudged Er Hua: "Pass him a handkerchief, can't you see he's all sweaty?"

Erhua suddenly felt a little embarrassed, but she quickly calmed down and walked over confidently, taking out a handkerchief from her pocket: "Here, take this to wipe your sweat."

Xiao Jingwei stared blankly at Erhua's hand, seemingly unable to believe that she would hand him a handkerchief. He shakily reached out to take it, but Erhua let go, and the handkerchief fluttered to the ground. Xiao Jingwei blushed, bent down to pick up the handkerchief, and murmured, "Erhua, I'll go wash it clean for you and bring it back to you."

He wiped his forehead with a handkerchief. It had rained a few days ago, and the ground was still damp. There was dirt stuck to the handkerchief. Xiao Jingwei didn't notice and wiped his forehead a few times with the handkerchief, leaving several yellow dirt marks, like the "king" character on a tiger's forehead.

In spring, the mountains and fields are lush and green, with newly sprouted leaves covering the branches. The sight of those tender green shoots brings a sense of joy to the heart. Amidst this verdant landscape, flowers of various colors bloom, like colorful patterns embroidered on a tapestry.

"Sanhua, can you really earn five taels of silver in half a month?" Erhua walked beside Yanying, somewhat curious. After all, Boss Xiao worked odd jobs from dawn till dusk, and sometimes he couldn't even earn two taels of silver a month. But Yanying was different; she agreed to Boss Xiao's bet as soon as she opened her mouth: "Five taels of silver is really hard to earn."

"It's alright, I'm confident." Ling Yanying smiled and pointed to her head: "Have you forgotten? I have a book here that can make us rich."

Erhua was taken aback, then suddenly a look of joy appeared on her face: "I almost forgot about that!" She reached out and took Yanying's arm: "Are we going to dig bamboo shoots again today? Why dig so many?"

Two weeks ago, Sanhua fell off the mountain and remained unconscious for two or three days. A traveling doctor was called in to examine her, and he said she wouldn't survive and told the family to prepare for her burial immediately. Old Master Xiao and Aunt Xiao couldn't bear to let go and stayed by Sanhua's side, constantly calling her name. Strangely enough, Sanhua, who was supposed to be dead, opened her eyes again at the sound of Old Master Xiao and Aunt Xiao's calls, which startled the traveling doctor.

Everyone said that Sanhua was lucky, but no one expected that she was saved by an old immortal who even gave her a precious book. This must be a great blessing! Erhua's eyes were full of joy. She hoped that Sanhua could lead her family to a better life in the future. However, digging bamboo shoots... Erhua was a little confused. Could bamboo shoots make money?

These bamboo shoots are everywhere on the mountain every year, but they don't seem to fetch much money. So why is Sanhua digging them up? Erhua sighed. She understood Sanhua's intentions less and less. But since Sanhua had divine protection, she didn't need to say anything and just followed her. As Erhua thought this, she looked down at the ground, hoping to see bamboo shoots breaking through the soil. However, all she saw along the way were trees on both sides and fragrant wildflowers, but no sign of bamboo shoots.