Chapter 50: The Peasant Girl’s Splendid Manor
Chapter 50 Breaking New Ground and Planting Vegetables (1)
How did Second Aunt do it?
Mo Qingze remained silent, recalling some events that occurred at Second Uncle's house after his parents passed away. Memories flowed from distant to recent, from blurry to clear, and he found that some details he had previously ignored suddenly emerged in his mind vividly!
At that time, he had just passed the provincial exam and, at Second Aunt's urging, married Du Shi, a girl from a neighboring village. The following year, he wanted to participate in the township exam, but Second Aunt said that the money left by their parents had been spent, and there was no money for him to go to the capital.
Although he hadn't calculated carefully, he knew that the forty-plus taels of silver left by his parents couldn't have all been spent. Moreover, there was an annual yield of five mu of irrigated land. Even if it wasn't much, there should have been at least two taels of silver. But he didn't want to think deeply about it; he preferred to believe that the money had really been spent by him.
So he taught at the school in town, earning one or two taels of silver each month. After three years, when he finally saved enough money to go to the capital, Second Aunt came to the school in tears: "Zeyi, your uncle is seriously ill. The doctor said he needs ginseng for medicine, but there's not enough money at home. Hurry up and give me your silver to buy ginseng."
At that time, he hesitated for a moment, and Second Aunt scolded him in front of the students, calling him an ungrateful wolf who didn't care about his own uncle's life or death.
Helpless, he had to take out all his savings and give them to Second Aunt to buy ginseng.
Later, after Second Uncle recovered, he found him at the school with a guilty face: "Zeyi, Second Aunt is useless and has burdened you. Don't worry, in three years, even if I have to sell the pot and the iron, I will send you to the capital."
Touched, he believed Second Uncle's words, and the other teachers and students at the school praised him for being blessed to have such a good uncle. He also felt that Second Uncle was really good to him.
He comforted himself that he was still young and could wait another three years to go to the capital. However, he never expected that just one year later, his wife, Du Shi, would take advantage of his absence from home, take away all the valuable things in the house, and elope with someone, leaving behind three children!
Looking at his son who was crying for milk, his innocent daughter, the sarcastic Second Aunt, and the villagers who were watching the show, he completely gave up the idea of taking the exam. He took care of the three children as both a father and a mother.
He wanted to reclaim his five mu of irrigated land and plant it himself, but Second Aunt strongly disagreed. She insisted on taking care of the three children herself and asked him to continue teaching at the school in town. After much consideration, he finally went to the school. Every month, when he received his salary, Second Aunt would come and ask for nine hundred wen. He thought that with this money, the children could live better, so he gave it willingly every time.
But every ten days when he returned home and saw the children becoming increasingly weak, he finally became suspicious. After quietly asking his eldest daughter, he learned that the three siblings were only allowed to eat two small steamed buns each day. Even Yan'er, who was only six years old, had to wash dishes and laundry for the family of more than ten people.
He couldn't bear it anymore. Despite Second uncle's persuasion and Second Aunt's curses, he insisted on moving out of the big tile house and settled in the dilapidated ancestral house.
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