Chapter 25
Zhou Yao sat on the bed, hugging her legs and shedding tears.
After taking a breath, Mrs. Zhao asked Zhou Huailin, “Isn’t the cornfield of Lao Gao’s family on the other side of our vegetable field? You will find the grove behind the village school if you leave the cornfield.”
Zhou Huailin didn’t know what Mrs. Zhao would say and was sweating anxiously.
“Uh ah, what?”
“Yao’er and I saw Big Brother and Widow Liu in the cornfield today.”
As these words came out, Mrs. Zhao’s eyes widened as she looked at Zhou Huailin, and at the bottom of her eyes were bewilderment, horror, disorientation, and uneasiness.
Zhou Huailin felt lightning struck him; his heart fiercely pumped, “What?”
Mrs. Zhao nodded and bit her mouth. Her voice trembled, “Yao’er saw it first. She saw it all.”
Zhou Huailin turned his head to look at Zhou Yao, who was crying.
She hadn’t reached maturity yet.
Her Eldest Uncle’s naked body, Widow Liu’s naked body, along with the sound from the interlude, all of them she bumped into.
She was still a child!
Zhou Yao was terrified.
Zhou Huailin touched Zhou Yao’s head in distress.
Zhou Ping blinked and thought, “Sister, don’t cry. Just think of it as watching a dog mating. It’s not like you haven’t seen it before.”
Zhou Yao ……
Could this younger brother be strangled? Couldn’t she?
The type without delay.
Zhou Huailin raised his hand and slapped Zhou Ping’s head.
Mrs. Zhao followed and added a slap on the other side of Zhou Ping’s head.
The little brat understood their conversation!
And dog mating!!!
Zhou Ping ……
What did I do wrong to have two bags on my head?
Wasn’t I a biological son?
The initially gloomy topic was unexpectedly less tragic after Zhou Ping interjected.
Zhou Yao also didn’t want to cry as much.
Zhou Huailin touched Zhou Yao’s head and told Mrs. Zhao, “Let them worry about his family’s affairs. We should just get on with our lives.”
Zhou Huailin always knew that Zhou Huaihai was a petty and vindictive person.
Even if he knew about Zhou Huaihai’s affair with Widow Liu, he couldn’t do anything about it.
Who could he tell?
Sister-in-law?
Father and mother?
He couldn’t tell anyone.
He could tell his parents about it if Big Brother didn’t start a family. However, he had a family, and he couldn’t say anything.
“But if it comes out one day, Yao’er and Pingzi will get married in the future. ” Mrs. Zhao’s eyes were full of worry.
Zhou Huailin wrapped his arm around her, his big hand tightened, “We’ve separated the family.”
Mrs. Zhao’s whole body jumped, whooshing to look at Zhou Huailin. She looked shocked, “What?”
“We split up the family. It happened just now.”
Before Zhou Huailin could finish his sentence, Zhou Ping narrated what had happened.
“To summarize, Grandmother pretended to be sick, but Big Sister revealed it. So, yeah. If a natural disaster happens, they can be forgiven; but if it’s of one’s own making, they deserve the punishment.”
Mrs. Zhao ……
Zhou Huailin ……
Zhou Yao ……
Seeing them staring at him wide-eyed, Zhou Ping couldn’t help but raise his hand to protect his head and silently backed up a bit, “What? Did I say something wrong?”
Mrs. Zhao ……
Zhou Huailin……
Zhou Yao ……
Yeah, yeah, it was just too much for his age.
Zhou Huailin gave Mrs. Zhao the land deed and silver that had been divided, “From now on, we’ll have the final say about our Third House’s life.”
The separation of the family immediately washed away Zhou Yao and Mrs. Zhao’s horror at the dog mating scene.
After all, looking ahead to a new life was very urgent.
“Although the family is separated, Father says we still eat and live together. In the future, when we cook, each room will take food to the kitchen, and the three houses will cook. Today, it’s Big Brother’s house first, and later you will have food taken over.”
Zhou Huailin explained and then went down off the bed.
“I’ll go see if I can hire someone for the fields. I’ll go with Qing to sell tomorrow. You don’t have to wait for me to eat, so leave a portion for me.”
Old Zhou had given a little silver to the Third House, but it was enough for him to hire someone to work until the harvest.
“Find someone for Second Brother as well. Surely they will hire someone as well.” Mrs. Zhao urged.
“I know.” Zhou Huailin said and went out the door.
Zhou Yao and Zhou Ping followed suit and went to the Second Room after putting on their shoes.
When they went in, Zhou Huaishan happened to have finished writing the Analects and was about to complain. When he saw the two siblings enter, he could only shut up in aggravation.
Then it was time for the second round of today’s storm.
Writing the Chinese Characters.
Zhou Huaishan ……
If he were to return and recapture the crickets, would he still be able to return to being a marquis?
……
“Second Brother, someone is looking for you.”
Zhou Huailin, who had just gone out, returned, and a young man followed him.
“Looking for me?” Zhou Huaishan looked up with a puzzled face.
Zhou Qing saw Shen Li following Zhou Huailin behind, and she was shocked, “Boss Shen?”
Zhou Huaishan looked at Zhou Qing, “Daughter, do you know each other?”
Zhou Qing explained while exiting the bed, “Father, our family’s ink, paper, and inkstones are all bought from Boss Shen’s store.”
Shen Li, who followed Zhou Huailin, immediately received the gazes of everyone in the room.
But this gaze, why did it look so strange?
Especially Zhou Huaishan’s, that hehe gaze: you are that buy one get two free fool!
Shen Li ……
The corner of his eye twitched. Shen Li looked at Zhou Qing with a shocked face, “Miss? Why are you here too?”
Zhou Qing ……
“This is my house.”
Shen Li’s surprised face was even more filled with astonishment.
“Your home? You’re Senior Zhou Huaishan’s ……”
Zhou Huaishan …… Senior?
“I am her father.”
The shock on Shen Li’s face was so thick that it was practically falling off.
“It is surprising that the …… Miss is Senior Zhou’s daughter. I’ve been disrespectful and rude.”
Zhou Qing ……
Zhou Huaishan ……
Everyone in the room stared wide-eyed, not knowing what this fool who gave away two for the price of one was talking about.
Shen Li placed the things he was carrying on the bed, then bowed his head respectfully to Zhou Huaishan, “This junior, Shen Li, would like to pay respect to Mr. Zhou as a teacher.”
Zhou Huaishan ……
He looked at Shen Li in shock, with a degree no less shocking than when he had just realized he had crossed over.
“To learn from me? Me? I am a da ……”
He nearly blurted out, “I am a dandy,” but fortunately, Zhou Qing was alert and interjected.
“Did Boss Shen make a mistake? My Eldest Uncle is a candidate who has not yet passed the county-level imperial exam, while my father has not yet taken the exam.”
Shen Li seriously said, “It can’t be wrong. I’ve heard that Senior’s characters practiced with a tree stick were magnificent. This junior knows the truth that great masters exist in society. So I came here to pay my respects to the master, and I hope that the Senior doesn’t dislike my stupidity.”
Zhou Huaishan stared wide-eyed at this fool before him.
He was a dandy, and someone was worshipping him as a teacher. No wonder he could do the buy one, get two free things.
However ……
He looked down at the thick pile of red paper in his hand, looked at Shen Li, looked at Shen Li again, and then looked at the red paper.
In an instant, Zhou Huaishan’s eyes emitted a strange bright light.
It was similar to the kind of light that a hungry wolf sees a white rabbit running to its mouth in a simple food chain.
“Can you write?”
Shen Li immediately said, “I’ve read books. I just can’t write well. I still ask for Sir’s advice.”
Zhou Huaishan pointed at the red paper before him, “Write a character and let me see.”
Shen Li also did not shy away from the stage and grabbed the pen to write.
Although the word “Feng” was not as domineering as Zhou Huaishan’s, it was not bad either.
Zhou Huaishan nodded in satisfaction, then reached out and stroked his beard …… Uh, no beard, so he touched his chin instead, “Want to worship me as a teacher?”
“Father!” Zhou Qing immediately stopped Zhou Huaishan and turned to Shen Li, “Is there any misunderstanding on Boss Shen’s part? My father, he ……”
Shen Li interrupted Zhou Qing.
“The junior admires the Senior’s perseverance and, even more so, the Senior’s talent in calligraphy. I only want to get some pointers from Senior. I hope Senior will fulfill this junior’s desire to worship a teacher.”
Shen Li knelt and performed a master worship salute towards Zhou Huaishan, “I also beg master to accept me as his disciple.”
Zhou Qing ……
How could one talk about the perseverance and talent of a dilettante?