Top Scholar

Chapter 300 Visiting the Grave
After enjoying an incredibly luxurious feast at the ancestral hall, Su Lu and his family returned to their long-lost old house that evening.

When the men returned in triumph, the clansmen had already cleaned up the place, replaced all the bedding with new ones, and even raised the lintel by 1.2 feet!

One male concubine raises three inches, so four male concubines would need four three-inch heights...

However, with the family now growing large, the already cramped stilted house has become even more crowded.

The family had no complaints and cherished every moment they lived here, because this was their home!
Under a sky full of stars, the whole family sat around in the courtyard, eating watermelon and reminiscing about the past, listening to the elders recount the hardships of those years...

My aunt was the most qualified to speak about these things. She recalled sadly, "Those were really tough years. We only had one income, but we had to support two people through school. There were so many children in the family, so we could only eat sorghum cakes and sorghum porridge every day. We never saw any meat all year round. Xia Ge'er was only seven or eight years old when he was already acting like an older brother. He would often go up the mountain and down the river to find something to eat for Qiu Ge'er. Once I saw him catch a mouse, roast it, and feed it to Qiu Ge'er..."

"Pfft..." Su Lu almost choked on the watermelon seeds.

“It’s a field mouse,” Xia Ge’er emphasized. “It tastes really good; you loved eating them when you were little.”

"Thank you," Su Lu said with a wry smile.

“It’s not just about food,” the aunt chimed in. “There are three children in the family. The older one wears the clothes, and the younger one wears them. They are worn right-side out and inside out. By the time Qiu-ge’er was born, he had at least a dozen patches on his clothes.”

“I know that,” Su Lu nodded. He didn’t get his first new clothes until he started school.

"Actually, this is still trying to help the children as much as possible; the adults suffer even more," the uncle said. "My mother's hearing loss is caused by eating wild vegetables year after year."

"Purslane, dandelion, water spinach..." the old lady rattled off, as if reciting a familiar list: "Houttuynia cordata, shepherd's purse, toon sprouts..."

"None of them taste good," Xiao Jinbao concluded.

"..." The whole family was very sad to hear this. It would be strange if they didn't get sick from eating whatever they dug up all day long.

"Alright, alright, it's all in the past. Let's not talk about these sad things anymore, or we'll start crying." Despite saying this, Su Youjin unconsciously ate the watermelon rind until it was as thin as a cicada's wing...

"Eldest son, you're wrong about that. These things from back then need to be talked about often!" The old man said in a deep voice, "We still need to come back from time to time to reminisce. Don't take it for granted now that life is better. We can't forget our roots, we have to cherish what we have, you know?!"

"Yes, we should bring Dongge'er and Xibao'er back to raise them for a few years." Auntie's opinion was as sharp as ever.

"That won't do!" Auntie exclaimed anxiously.

"Hahaha, now that we're back in our hometown, we won't have to suffer anymore!" The old clan chief laughed. "Our Erlang Wine business has been booming these past few years. We may not be rich, but every household has meat with every meal, and we can eat fine grains without any problem."

As he spoke, he jokingly said to Su Lu, "Now, as long as you get into the academy, all the expenses will be covered by the clan. If you had been born a few years later, you wouldn't have had to go with your father to collect debts during the New Year."

“Brother, you’re wrong. If Qiu-ge’er were born a few years later, our good days would be delayed by a few years.” Su Daji, the head of the business, knew how to speak better: “You should say, Qiu-ge’er, how much better it would have been if you had been born a few years earlier!”

"Hahaha..." Laughter echoed throughout Erlangtan from the courtyard.

~~
The whole family chatted until late at night, and only parted when they were all yawning.

The old man and the old woman returned to the main room in the east wing, while the eldest uncle, carrying the sleeping Jinbao, and his wife returned to the west wing.

Gently placing Jinbao on the bed, the uncle touched the uprights of the canopy bed and sighed, "This is still the bed we used when we got married, just as sturdy as it was back then."

"If only you were as sturdy as you were back then! You could rock your cradle all night long back then, but now you're like a mouse hiding from a cat." Perhaps because her second son was getting married, the eldest aunt started criticizing her eldest son again, something she hadn't done in a long time.

"Hey, who do you think you are?" This time, the uncle was not intimidated. He had been dieting this year and running around all day doing river work, so his potbelly was long gone and he had become more lean and capable.

He then casually scooped his aunt up and pulled her onto the bed, his movements as swift and efficient as when he was young…

"Ah Jin, are you serious?" Auntie exclaimed in surprise. The happiness came too suddenly, and she was not prepared at all.

~~
In the outer room of the west wing, only the younger uncle and aunt were on the bed; the two children were sleeping with the younger aunt.

Su Youma also grew a mustache and crossed his legs smugly: "Today I went to discuss my second brother's wedding with your father, and he actually called me his son-in-law."

My aunt has stopped breastfeeding and has regained her slender figure. While taking off her headdress, she said with dissatisfaction, "Stop calling me 'father-in-law,' call me 'father-in-law'!"

"Hmph." Su Youma touched the faint old wound on his forehead and said, "Back then, he had your brothers beat me to death. I'm already being lenient by not settling old scores with him."

"Who told you to get handsy with me in the sorghum field? My dad thought you were a hooligan," the aunt said. "But when he found out the truth, he married you despite the immense pressure. Back then, our two clans weren't like they are now..."

"That's true." Su Youma smiled and put his arm around his aunt, saying, "Then for my wife's sake, I'll call him 'Dad' from now on."

"That's more like it." The aunt nestled happily into his arms, pressing down on Su Youma's wandering hands, her face flushed. "Stop fooling around, this room isn't soundproof. I just heard my sister-in-law..."

"Then we need to stand up even higher!" The uncle became even more excited upon hearing this.

"No, no..." Because of what happened before the marriage, the aunt was particularly conservative in this regard after she entered the family.

It wasn't until her brother-in-law said, "We haven't consummated our marriage at home yet," that she gave up resisting...

~~
Inside the west wing, the aunt was fanning her nephew and niece, and she herself was getting drowsy, but she heard a series of noises coming from next door.

"Sigh..." She sighed bitterly, knowing she definitely wouldn't be able to sleep tonight.

~~
Because of the wind direction, nothing could be heard from the east side.

Inside, Su Man lay on the bed, reading the books she had handwritten years ago, feeling a sense of peace.

Outside, Su Youcai and his two sons lay on the old bed, each holding a bamboo wife.

For a long time, not a single snore could be heard from inside the house.

"Qiu-ge'er, are you still awake?" Su Youcai asked in a low voice.

"Yeah, I'm waiting for my second brother to snore," Su Lu said helplessly. "My mind is full of memories; when I close my eyes, all I see are banana leaf papers covered in writing..."

“I’ve kept all those papers for you as souvenirs,” Su Tai added.

"Why can't you sleep either?" Su Youcai asked Xia Ge'er.

"It's nothing," Su Tai said, changing the subject, "Father, what about you?"

"How can I sleep?" Su Youcai sighed. "Your mother passed away in this very bed..."

"..." Su Lu was even more unable to sleep now.

“She didn’t enjoy any happiness with me for long; she suffered for many years,” Su Youcai said, his voice thick with emotion. “Now that our family is finally doing well, it has nothing to do with her anymore…”

“How can it be unrelated? Qiu Ge’er and I both have Mother’s blood in our veins.” Su Tai then began to sob, crying, “Father, I miss my mother.”

“Me too. I’ll take you to see her tomorrow morning, to make her happy.” Su Youcai also said, tears welling up in his eyes, “I want to talk to her about it…”

~~
The next day, before dawn, Su Youcai took his two sons up the mountain.

The father and his two sons trekked over mountains and valleys to the Su family ancestral graves on Centipede Ridge.

"Why build the grave so far away?" Su Lu wiped the sweat from his face. The sun was already up, and they still hadn't arrived.

"Because our ancestors specifically consulted a geomancer back then, who said this land has good feng shui and will bring prosperity to their descendants," Su Youcai said, pointing to the mountain range ahead.

"Look, with the Azure Dragon on the left, the White Tiger on the right, the Vermilion Bird in front, and the Jade Belt encircling it, the open space in front is sheltered from the wind and gathers energy, and the vegetation is abundant. It is indeed a rare and good burial site!"

"And it was unlucky for over a hundred years?" Su Lu laughed.

"Isn't it thriving now?" Su Youcai said confidently, "We'll kowtow to our ancestors later to thank them for choosing this auspicious place for us back then."

"Mmm." Su Tai nodded vigorously and said in a muffled voice, "Qiu-ge'er, you must thank your ancestors. You are where you are today thanks to their blessings."

"Alright, alright." Su Lu was just like Prefect Lu in this respect, both aiming to offend no one.

The three men walked another two miles and finally arrived at the ancestral graves of Erlang Su's family.

The three of them stopped talking and went to the graves of their ancestors to offer incense and kowtow in turn. Finally, they came to a corner of the ancestral graves and stood in front of a stele that had not yet been inscribed.

In those days, if the wife passed away first, the husband would usually erect a 'virtual tombstone' first, and then have his son carve the names of both husband and wife when he passed away and was buried with her.

Su Lu then followed Su Tai and placed the offerings they had brought neatly in front of the stele.

Su Youcai dipped a handkerchief in water and wiped the tombstone while speaking softly:

“Ningning, I’ve brought the children to see you. Come and see for yourself! Xia Ge’er has become the strongest man in Erlangtan, and he’s made a great contribution. He’s going to Luzhou to study martial arts… Yes, the kind of school only the sons of military officers can go to. He even got first place in the whole school, and he can go to Luzhou next year to take the provincial martial arts exam. In just a few years, he’ll be a high-ranking military officer!”

"Oh, by the way, Xia-ge'er also has a sweetheart, a young lady. Guess who she is? She's the only daughter of the Yongning Pacification Commissioner! Impressive, right?" He paused, then said in a low voice, "Don't ask me how to handle this, being impressive is all that matters..."

"Let's talk about Qiu-ge'er and Xiu-ning. That kid is even more promising. I've already told you about what happened before. Just take his arrival in Luzhou, for example. He's become quite the sensation, known as the number one scholar in Luzhou, and also called the Little Yang Shen of Luzhou!"

“You don’t need to worry about him getting arrogant. This kid is more mature than me. Last month he passed the ‘Little Three Passes’ exam with top honors. I still have to call him the top scholar. What are ‘Little Three Passes’? It means getting first place in the county exam, the prefectural exam, and the provincial exam. Isn’t our son amazing?”

"What's even more impressive is that he's going to marry the most famous talented woman in Sichuan. Don't think it's easy just because they're mutually in love. His father-in-law is a real scoundrel; he locked up his daughter for a year, but our son still managed to get through to her!"

"Oh, by the way, that girl's name is Huang E, and she's the daughter of a fourth-rank military deputy commissioner! Did you ever imagine you'd have such a high-ranking in-law? Haha, were you surprised?"

(End of this chapter)