Top Scholar

Chapter 1 Starting as a peasant

The clouds are light, the sky is high, and the wild geese fly south; the water reflects the green mountains, and the sun shines red.

The red amidst the green hills and clear waters comes in two forms: the winding ochre red is the rushing Chishui River; the vast expanse of fiery red is the sorghum fields covering the mountains.

"Let's harvest the red grain, hurry up!" The high-pitched Sichuan dialect echoed through the mountains, ushering in the autumn harvest of the sixteenth year of the Hongzhi reign.

This is the busiest time of year, and even young boys pick up sickles and join the adults in harvesting sorghum.

Su Lu was no exception. He had been harvesting sorghum for three days straight before he finally got the hang of it... The sorghum stalks were tall, hard, and slippery, unlike rice stalks or wheat straw, which were much easier to handle. You had to be steady and precise, and also a bit ruthless, which is why it's called 'killing' sorghum.

To kill the sorghum stalks cleanly, you must first use your left arm to firmly grasp the stalks, preventing them from leaning to one side or the other. Then, with your right hand holding the sickle, extend it forward and pull it back forcefully along the ridge, causing the sorghum stalks to fall into your arms.

This job requires strength and even more endurance, and it was still too strenuous for a thirteen-year-old boy. After a few days, Su Lu's back ached, his legs felt like lead. Every time he swung the sickle, his right arm felt like it was being torn apart.

He forced himself to finish harvesting a row of ditches, then slumped down beside a pile of straw, panting heavily. He looked as if he had been pulled out of the water, his face and arms burning with stinging pain.

Su Lu glanced at his sun-darkened arms, covered in tiny cuts from sorghum leaves. Sweat poured down his face, and his skin ached constantly. Combined with the muscle soreness, the pain made him curse the heavens...

That bastard God deserves to be cursed! Without a word, he sent a perfectly good urban white-collar worker to the countryside to farm, and to make matters worse, he was sent to the Ming Dynasty, five hundred years ago!

And it was even lost in the far southwest, where Sichuan and Guizhou meet!
This is terrible!
~~
Su Lu originally longed for a pastoral life and often dreamed of escaping the suffocating concrete jungle, returning to the countryside to farm and raise chickens, living a free and easy life.

But now that he's actually back in the countryside, he realizes he's just a hypocrite, unable to endure the daily grind of being "steamed in the hot earth and scorched by the blazing sun"...

The original owner of this body suffered heatstroke while weeding in a sorghum field during the height of summer and fainted, which allowed Su Lu to take advantage of her vulnerability.

After waking up, Su Lu was extremely cautious in his words and actions, fearing he might give himself away. But he realized he had worried too much; his mother had long since passed away, and his father and brothers were both thick-skinned, so no one noticed his change at all.

He, on the other hand, was overwhelmed by the heavy farm work. But in these vast, remote mountains of southwest China, there was nowhere to escape; he could only grit his teeth and persevere…

Sigh, when will this ever end?
As Su Lu was sighing, another figure suddenly emerged from the sorghum field, staggered over, plopped down next to him, took off his straw hat to fan himself, and panted heavily.

That was his father in this life, named Su Youcai. He had fair skin, was refined and gentle, and looked much younger than his actual age.

Su Lu has been here for over a month and has already figured out his family's situation. He knows that his father is an old scholar who has repeatedly failed the imperial examinations and started teaching at the family school last year. During the busy farming season, students have to go home to work, and even the teachers can't escape it.

Su Youcai fanned himself a few times, then said to Su Lu with a pained expression, "Quickly rub your old man's arms, they're so sore."

When in Rome, do as the Romans do. Since he was a son, he had to obey. Su Lu then used his left hand to massage his father's right arm muscles.

"Oh, oh..." Su Youcai immediately grimaced and cried out repeatedly.

"Son, your arm must be sore too. Let me rub it for you." He grabbed his son's right arm and started massaging it with his thumb. "We share both the hardships and the joys."

"Oh, oh..." Su Lu felt a sharp pain, grimacing as well, and unconsciously hit harder. The father and son then began to cry out in pain.

As they were calling out, suddenly everything went dark, and a burly man blocked out the sun.

He had thick eyebrows and big eyes, broad shoulders and a thick waist. He spread out his large, fan-like hands and handed over a wild melon vine with two small melons hanging on it.

"Eat some watermelon, it grew in the ground," the burly man said with a simple, honest smile. He was Su Lu's older brother, named Su Tai. Su Lu had been suffering from heatstroke and had been the one taking care of him.

"You two eat," Su Youcai waved his hand, at least acting like a father. "I've already eaten," Su Tai said with a smile, tossing the melon vine to the two of them before turning to leave.

"Brother, where are you going?" Su Lu hurriedly replied, "Sit down and rest for a while."

"Not tired, I'll harvest another row." Su Tai shook his head, picked up his sickle, and went back into the sorghum field. With a few swings of his strong arms, he felled about ten sorghum stalks. He then braced his knee against the base of the stalks, wrapped them with straw rope, and tied them into a tight bundle.

Before long, he had fought his way out of half a field.

Even combined, the two good-for-nothings, Su Lu and Su Youcai, couldn't do as much as Su Tai alone...

"Thanks to my second brother..." Su Lu looked gratefully at Su Tai's back.

“Yes, otherwise we’d get yelled at by your aunt again.” Su Youcai wiped the two melons with his sleeve, broke the larger one in half, and handed one half to Su Lu.

The father and son then began to munch on the melon. It wasn't actually that sweet, but Su Lu felt his mouth water and his heart and soul refreshed, completely satisfied.

Su Youcai shook his head and recited eloquently, "It is sweeter than lychee, but without its dryness; as refreshing as snow pear, yet even more delicious. It is not a peach from the Jade Pool, yet it quenches the thirst of mortals; it is not a fairy fruit from the Garden of Immortals, yet it comforts the toil of farming..."

Su Lu was extremely impressed, thinking to himself, 'All I can say is, "Holy crap, this is delicious..."'

"Second brother, stop being so sour! Third brother has been beaten up!" At this moment, Su Lu's aunt ran over along the riverbank and shouted as soon as she saw Su Youcai.

"What?! No wonder they've disappeared!" Su Youcai jumped up immediately, asking in surprise, "Which bastard did this?!"

"It's the Cheng family. I saw them on my way to deliver food!" Aunt Su Lu was covered in sweat, not even knowing where she had left her food basket.

"Quick, take me there!" Su Youcai dropped the melon rind and followed his sister to rescue the people.

Seeing that Su Tai was also following closely behind, Su Lu had no choice but to pick up his carrying pole and follow.

~~
“There are too many of them. You have to reason with them, don’t hit them.” The aunt said, running while worrying about her second brother.

"Don't worry, scholars use words, not fists." Su Youcai nodded.

"That's good." She was slightly relieved.

As they were speaking, they heard angry curses, screams, and the sounds of fists and feet hitting flesh coming from ahead.

Su Youcai quickened his pace, bypassed a sorghum field, and saw six or seven members of the Cheng family beating up his third brother on the harvested open ground, leaving him with a bruised and swollen face covered in blood.

"Damn your ancestors!" Su Youcai's eyes turned bloodshot at the sight of his brother's miserable state. He strode forward and kicked a member of the Cheng family to the ground, before crashing heavily to the ground himself.

The other members of the Cheng family were enraged at the sight and started kicking wildly, like playing whack-a-mole. Then a furious roar rang out: "Who dares to hit my old man?!"

Su Tai bent over and lowered his shoulders, performing a "Bull Charging Mountain" maneuver that sent a group of people flying.

"Second brother, I'm here to help you..." Su Lu sighed helplessly, then wielded his carrying pole and joined the battle. The Su family father and son then engaged in a fierce battle with the Cheng family in the sorghum field!
"Stop hitting them! Stop hitting them!" The aunt's screams echoed through the fields: "Help! The Cheng family is beating people!"

Soon, members of the Su and Cheng clans who were working nearby rushed to help, and the situation became increasingly uncontrollable...

　P.S.: The monk is back! He's seriously writing a book that everyone wants to read. Let's continue to keep each other company, let's go!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)