Top Scholar

Chapter 134: Order troops and generals
At night, the eldest aunt sat cross-legged amidst the pile of silver, her mouth agape with joy.

After Jinbao had fallen asleep, her uncle saw her still counting money and asked softly, "Have you finished counting?"

"Of course I understand." Auntie arranged the money neatly: the ten-tael silver ingots were the Grand Marshals, in the very center; the one-tael silver ingots were the Generals, standing in the second row; and the loose silver coins were the Captains, standing in the outer circle.

As for copper coins, they were just lowly pawns, only fit to be stacked on either side.

"Here, it's a total of two hundred and seventy-six taels and seven mace and six qian!" The eldest aunt introduced her army of silver coins like an empress!
"So much?" Uncle was startled. "It feels like we've spent a lot of money in the last six months!"

Now, all those old, worn-out tables, chairs, and benches, along with the chipped cups, bowls, and pots, are gone. Auntie has replaced everything, inside and out, with new ones. Finally, Grandpa Su and his two children can each have their own basin and wash their faces, feet, and clothes separately…

People of all ages made full sets of clothes for the New Year, and there was no shortage of food and drink.

“We’ve spent quite a bit of money; I’ve kept track of everything.” Auntie opened a notebook with crooked, illegible notes that others couldn’t decipher, but she could. “From July until now, just for daily expenses, the household has spent nearly ten taels of silver.”

She then spoke with great enthusiasm and familiarity, saying, "But we have so much income now! Let's not count the odds—there was a surplus of 24 taels in July, Chun-ge'er's wages for five months were 7.5 taels, Second Uncle's were 10 taels, Xia-ge'er brought back 18 taels of wages today, and you had 25 taels. The county magistrate and Commander Ma gave Qiu-ge'er 60 taels, plus today's two bonuses totaling 139 taels."

"We didn't plant any crops this year. We rented out ten mu of land to the fifth family, and we split the harvest in half. We still have three and a half taels left from this plot, which they brought over a few days ago," the eldest aunt said, catching her breath.

"You calculate how much this is? And there's the nine taels that the clan was allotted. I didn't include it in the calculation because I saw the old man wasn't feeling well. You guys decide how to handle it later."

"Yes, I'll discuss it with the old man later." Su Youjin nodded, and couldn't help but sigh, "It really is true that it's better to know how to earn than how to live..."

"Yes, they've all suddenly become enlightened and started bringing money home!" Auntie covered her mouth and chuckled softly.

"How about that? I'm awesome, aren't I?" Uncle said smugly, his tail practically wagging in the air.

"How much money did you make?" Auntie said with a sneer. "It was mainly earned by the second son and his wife."

"What are you saying! First of all, they're not a couple yet; secondly, even if they did become a couple, it would be me who brought them together!" My uncle, being a man of the world, spoke with great eloquence.

"Third, you only see their glamorous lives and how much money they make, but you don't see the burden your husband is carrying for them."

"Isn't it just that he's always sucking up to Commander Ma?" Auntie scoffed. "Besides, it's a matter of mutual consent between the two of them, what's it to you?"

"What are you saying! I delivered food to them on the first day of the Lunar New Year, did I ask you to pack extra for them?" the uncle snorted.

"That's true." Auntie suddenly realized, "Could it be that you noticed something was off between them back then?"

"No, not at all." The uncle patted his belly and said with a smug smile, "But they just aren't interested. I'll find a way to make them interested."

"How insidious." His aunt scoffed at him, then laughed, "But the second son has really struck gold this time. Let them get married quickly, otherwise I'm always worried about what will happen if they break up."

"You're not afraid they'll break up, you're afraid no one will make money for you." The eldest uncle hit the nail on the head and said confidently with a smile, "Don't worry, neither of them are like the third brother. They're very stable, we don't need to worry about them."

He knew very well that for the two of them to become a couple, they not only had to wait until the term expired, but they would also have to pass the test of becoming a scholar...

There's no need to tell her that, otherwise that foolish woman won't be able to sleep.

He then changed the subject and asked, "You should be worrying about where to build your new house next year."

"How could I not worry?" Auntie said with a bitter face, "But there's no land left in Erlangtan. If we rebuild, we'll have to go up the mountain. My parents' legs aren't strong enough, so how can they live up higher?"

“Yes,” the eldest uncle agreed wholeheartedly. “I’ve noticed that Dad isn’t as adept at going up and down stairs as he was last year. How about we move to town?”

“Aren’t the houses in town still stilted houses?” Auntie whispered, revealing her plan. “The reason I insist on going to the county isn’t just to see the children.”

"Then what are you still looking at? The monkeys?" the uncle laughed.

“Look at your head, look at the house!” Auntie said, “Didn’t I stay in the county for a while last year? I found that everything there was better than our Erlangtan.”

“Nonsense.” Uncle laughed. “We’re just a mountain village, while they’re a county town. Although we’re also in the mountains, at least we’re at the confluence of rivers. If it weren’t for the scarcity of flat land and the difficulty of navigating the Chishui River, Luzhou might not even exist.”

"Yes, yes. I thought to myself, if my son passes the imperial examination and becomes a scholar, he'll study at the county school. Why would he need to come back here? Wouldn't it be better if he just married a woman in the county town and became a city dweller like his uncle?" the aunt said wistfully.
"But my family was too poor at the time, so it was just a thought."

“Things are different now. We have money now, why would we need to build a new house here?” Auntie exclaimed excitedly, slapping her knees.
"Why not just buy a bigger house in the county? The old folks won't have to go up and down stairs anymore, and if Chun-ge and Qiu-ge pass the imperial examinations, they can marry their brides in there."

"And what about Xia Ge'er?" Uncle was now all-knowing. "His two-handed skills are inseparable from Erlangtan!"

"I'll renovate the old house next year; it won't cost much," Auntie said, already having planned ahead. "Our current house is enough for just Xia'er to get married."

"Old house? You talk like you've already bought a new house..." the uncle teased, "Put your money away, I don't even have a place to lie down."

"Anyway, you're not going to crawl into my bed, so lie down on the side first. I'll have some time with Qian Mei." With a wave of her hand, the uncle sheepishly crawled into his small bed, not daring to utter another word, for fear of getting into trouble.

~~
Uncle, who had once again managed to sneak in a nap, got up before dawn the next day to help Su Youcai put up the Spring Festival couplets he had written the night before.

The picture above the gate is:

"Poetry and books are passed down through generations, upholding the family's noble traditions; wine and spirits are passed down through generations, bringing new prosperity to the year." Horizontal inscription: "Poetry and Wine Welcome the New Year."

The younger generation was also drawn over, helping to check whether it was crooked or straight, and at the same time, they would offer their own critiques.

"The horizontal scroll is wonderful, turning decay into magic. It is both wine for brewing wine and wine to welcome spring!" Chun Ge'er praised and criticized.

“Just say my dad’s couplets are too cliché,” Su Lu laughed. “Couplets face outwards so that people can see them; they have to be understandable to the villagers.”

"Haha, that's right!" Su Youcai said happily, "Changing the words to be more elegant is no big deal—'Yunbian Mian Shi Men Feng Chun, Juchang Cheng Jia Nian Jing Yin'! Or use 'Piao Xiang' for the first line and 'Qu Nie' for the second line, wouldn't that be much more elegant? But the neighbors coming and going won't understand it."

"Second Uncle is right." Chun Ge'er nodded and said, "Spring Festival couplets are not for matching lessons; I misunderstood."

"Stop standing at the door! Why all this nonsense about putting up couplets!" The eldest aunt came out to pour water and saw the men of the family gathered around the gate, discussing academic matters. She wanted nothing more than to splash them with water.

"What time is it? Go do what you're supposed to be doing!"

"Oh..." The men, young and old, scattered like birds and beasts.

After putting up the couplets and having breakfast, the eldest aunt tidied the table, washed the dishes and chopsticks, and the family, young and old, prepared to set off.

At this moment, Su Youpeng, Youxi, Youli, Youming, and a few others, along with a group of young men from the Shui generation, came to help move the luggage. Having more people was great; all the bags and packages filling the courtyard were moved in one go…

Aunt checked the house one last time before Uncle locked the door and gave the key to Su Youpeng, asking him to look after the house.

The family arrived at the pier, where their luggage had already been loaded onto the boat and neatly stored.

The elders, including the clan elder Dazhangzuo, came to the pier, firstly to see them off, and secondly to ask them to bring them auspicious money.

"Be sure to bring the two children back in the spring so we can see them," the old clan chief instructed.

"We've already paid for it!" Su Daji joked, which made everyone, young and old, burst into laughter.

"Alright." The old man had no choice but to agree, thinking to himself that it seemed he wouldn't be able to come back anytime soon.

"Let's set sail!" the old boatman at the stern shouted, and together with the young boatman at the bow, they poled the crooked boat away from the pier.

The tribesmen waved until the boat was out of sight before turning back.

~~
Adhering to the family motto of "not sharing the same boat," the three Su brothers and Su Youcai and his wife did not board the boat.

To adapt to the rapids and treacherous shoals of the Chishui River, the crooked-bottomed boat was narrow and carried a lot of things. Just thinking about fourteen people sitting on it at the same time makes one's scalp tingle.

Of course, the godmother was still riding her uncle's horse...

The group hurried on their way and arrived in town in just a quarter of an hour.

Taiping Town was much more lively than yesterday, especially the academy area, where there were at least two or three thousand people gathered.

Today is the annual enrollment day for Taiping Academy.

Because Chun Ge'er had to go to the county for training, he had to entrust the task of escorting the examinee to Su Hai and Cheng Wantang.

The exams have already started, so there's no point in going now. Fortunately, he and Qiu-ge'er had gone to the community school early in the morning to encourage the children and see them off.

The group went straight to the dock and saw that Commander Ma had indeed come to see the old man off, and had brought a lot of local specialties for him to take with him.

On the dock, two boats stood out. One boat was flying a red flag that read "Hejiang County Government Office," and the boatmen on board were all dressed in government uniforms, along with two strong men who escorted the boat.

The other boat was even more eye-catching, not only because it was larger, but also because it had a three-foot-long, two-foot-wide ochre-yellow flag flying at its bow, bearing four striking characters—

'By imperial decree, I am taking the examination!'

This was clearly the boat that the headmaster used to travel to the capital for the imperial examination.

Another piece of evidence is that Zhu Zihe was standing at the bow of the ship... When he saw Su Lu arrive, he almost laughed but held back, and said to the cabin with a straight face, "The child prodigy has arrived."

The cotton curtain was lifted, and a middle-aged man dressed in a blue round-necked official robe stepped out of the cabin, cupped his hands in greeting to Su Lu, and smiled:

"I, Hai Han, the instructor of Hejiang County School, have come by order of the county magistrate to escort the prodigy Su to the county school for instruction!"

"You flatter me, young man." Su Lu quickly bowed in return.

The naval instructor, speaking with a strong Hainanese accent, nodded and said in a deep voice, "It's getting late, let's board the ship and set off!"

End of this volume

(End of this chapter)