Top Scholar

Chapter 301 Welcome
Su Youcai wiped the tombstone clean, then stepped back, lit incense and candles, and had his two sons kowtow to their mother.

"You two go and wait over there." After sending his two sons away, he continued to recite the poem from their ancestor in a low voice:

Ten years have passed, and we are separated by life and death. I try not to think of you, but I cannot forget you. Your lonely grave is a thousand miles away, and I have no one to share my sorrow with. Even if we were to meet again, you would not recognize me, for my face is covered in dust and my hair is white as frost.

Last night, in a dream, I suddenly returned home. By the small window, she was dressing her hair. We gazed at each other, speechless, only tears streaming down our faces. I know that every year, on a moonlit night, my heart will break at this place, by the short pine hill…

"Finally, let me talk about myself. I finally passed the county exam. Yes, I said before that I wouldn't take it again, but they all advised me that my writing was already excellent, and now that the magistrate is no longer targeting our family, it would be a pity not to take it again. The children also cried and begged me to take it, saying, 'Dad, you have to lead us ahead, otherwise we're scared.'"

"I couldn't resist any longer, so I reluctantly went into the examination hall again. Unexpectedly, this time I passed the county exam with ease, and then went on to pass the prefectural and provincial exams in one go!" Su Youcai pointed to his robe and said proudly.

"And my final ranking was right next to our son's! How about that, wasn't I amazing? Just like you said back then, I had enough knowledge, but my luck wasn't there. Now my luck has come, but you're no longer here..."

As Su Youcai boasted, tears streamed down his face. He stroked the cold tombstone and sobbed, "The day I passed the imperial examination, I thought how wonderful it would be if you were still alive. You could proudly tell your sister-in-law, 'See? My man isn't a good-for-nothing, is he?!'"

"It's a pity that you have left us forever..." Su Youcai sighed sadly, standing silently in front of the monument for a long time.

~~
Su Lu and Su Tai stood far to one side, watching Su Youcai murmur to the tombstone.

"elder brother."

"Hmm?" Su Tai came back to his senses and responded.

"Who else is in your mother's family?" Su Lu asked softly.

“They should all still be there, who knows?” Su Tai said.

"What do you mean?" Su Lu asked, puzzled.

"I'm not quite sure either; the adults are very secretive about it," Su Tai said. Now that he was a cultured man, he used idioms fluently.

“I only heard from my aunt that my maternal grandfather was a high-ranking official who was exiled, but unlike the Cheng family, he was only demoted to the post of postmaster and returned to his post a few years later.” Su Tai said, “At that time, my father became my maternal grandfather’s apprentice. I don’t know how well he learned from him, but he managed to win over our daughter, who is our mother.”

"Yes, I can understand." Su Lu nodded. Youcai was definitely the number one Casanova in the Su family, while his uncle, that blond-haired guy, could only stand aside.

“When Grandpa passed away, Mom insisted on staying, which made him very angry. He severed ties with Mom and then disappeared without a trace.” Su Tai sighed, “So just pretend Grandpa’s family doesn’t exist.”

"Mm." Su Lu nodded.

~~
Su Youcai chatted with his deceased wife at her grave, rambling on and on about various things, before finally saying shyly and hesitantly, "There's something else... I've found another mother for the child."

"Caw, caw..." Several sharp crow calls echoed through the woods.

Su Youcai couldn't help but shudder, and hurriedly comforted his deceased wife, saying, "Ningning, don't be angry, okay? I've already raised the child to be my husband, and now... well, actually we've been together for two years."

“At that time, we were both going through the toughest period of our lives. She had lost her husband and was being harassed by creditors every day. I couldn’t even afford my son’s tuition. We couldn’t care about anything else then, so we just stuck together for warmth… I never imagined that after a few hugs, we would become inseparable.”

"Ningning, don't worry, in my heart you'll always come first. After we're married, I'll bring her to serve you tea..." Su Youcai solemnly promised at the end.

"I will definitely come to be with you after I die!"

~~
Over the next few days, both the Su and Cheng families became busy making various preparations for the upcoming wedding.

The day before the wedding, Su Youjin, Su Man, and Su Lu traveled more than ten miles to welcome Zhu Jie's family who were coming to attend the wedding.

"Brother, do you know why Uncle-Master's family came all this way?" Su Lu asked Su Man while waiting in the roadside pavilion.

"Let's go to Uncle's wedding banquet," Su Man said.

"Stop pretending you don't know!" Su Youjin glared at his son, annoyed.

"If it were just for attending the wedding banquet, Mr. Zhu could have come by himself, with his son accompanying him at most! Now the whole family has come, with his wife and daughter all showing up. Who do you think it's for?"

"..." Su Man fell silent.

"For you, my goodness!" Su Youjin raised his hand in anger, but finally scratched his head and said sullenly, "People say that sincerity can move even mountains and rivers, but you're harder to move than a stubborn rock!"

"Father," Su Man said helplessly, "If you're moved, you should repay the kindness, not get married."

"You said yourself that you would get married after passing the imperial examination. Now that you're already my husband, why aren't we getting married yet?" Su Youjin slammed his hand on the stone table and glared at him.

"Who said I'm not getting married? It's just that I haven't met the right person yet," Su Man muttered.

"I don't think there's anyone more suitable than Miss Zhu!" Su Youjin said, puffing out his beard and glaring. "Your mother and I met her when we went to Luzhou last time. Zhu Yin is dignified and elegant, respectful and gentle, and she's also very pretty. You should thank your heavens and ancestors for having such a wife!"

“You’ve only seen her once, not the other way around…” Su Man’s voice was barely audible.

"What did you say?" Su Youjin didn't hear clearly.

"It's nothing." Su Man shook her head, not wanting to ruin the good image of Zhu Yin in her parents' hearts.

"Brother, I told you before, that was purely a misunderstanding..." Su Lu and Zhu Jie still had a deal. Now that Uncle Zhu had successfully completed his mission, Nephew Su had to live up to expectations as well.

He stared intently at Chun Ge'er and said in a deep voice, "Tell me your real reason. Is it that you already have someone in your heart, or that you simply don't like her?" "How could I not like her? Unless he doesn't like women at all!" Su Youjin slammed his hand heavily on the stone table and said, "Speak!"

Then he shook his hands and gasped for breath...

"Father, don't think nonsense. I also want to get married." Su Man sighed helplessly and said seriously, "But the ancient Confucian Sima Zi said that when you marry a wife, you must find a family that is not as well-off as mine, and when you marry off your daughter, you must choose a family that is better off than mine. In this way, the wife you marry will know how to be frugal, and the daughter you marry will know how to be cautious."

"Nonsense! I think you've gone stupid from reading too much!" The eldest uncle burst into laughter upon hearing this.

"The men in our Su family are all about marrying daughters from families of higher social standing! Your grandfather married the daughter of his superior, I married the daughter of a deputy commander, and your second uncle's first father-in-law was a court official, and his second father-in-law, well, he was a scholar. Even your youngest uncle, back then our family was far inferior to the Cheng family..."

As he spoke, he recounted his family's treasures, saying, "Your generation is even more remarkable. Your second brother's lover is the only daughter of our Yongning Pacification Commissioner, and your third brother's father-in-law is the highest-ranking official in Luzhou!"

"What, you, the eldest grandson of the first branch, want to change our family's ways? If you're a real man, you should be willing to marry into a wealthy family and live off women, you know that?!"

“Uncle, we never intended to be kept by a woman,” Su Lu corrected.

"That's the right thing to do! Only if you don't want to will a gigolo be offered to you..." Su Youjin said with experience.

"Let's talk about my older brother instead," Su Lu said speechlessly.

"Sigh, let me think about it some more..." Su Man had no choice but to back down.

~~
After noon, the three of them picked up Zhu Jie's family.

"Brother!" Fourteen-year-old Zhu Ziming rode ahead, followed closely by Zhu Zigong, Zhu Zijing, Zhu Zihe, and others.

"Wow, they're all riding horses!" Su Lu couldn't help but exclaim enviously.

"Can you walk on this awful road without a horse?" Zhu Zigong laughed. "I'll have someone bring you one later."

"I can't," Su Lu said, shaking his head.

"What? There's something you can't do, bro?" Zhu Ziming exclaimed in shock.

"I'm not good at everything either," Su Lu said helplessly.

"It's okay, I'll teach you right away. I'm sure you'll learn it in no time!" Zhu Ziming said confidently.

"Let's take care of business first," Su Lu said. "Where are my aunt, uncle, and senior sister?"

“They’re following behind,” Zhu Zihe said, pointing to the official road behind him.

Su Lu was astonished to see that the procession was nearly two hundred people, including guards, coachmen, and sedan chair bearers…

"Such a grand display?" Su Lu and Su Youjin gasped. They hadn't noticed such a large difference between the two families while in Luzhou. But now that they'd left Luzhou, it was obvious.

It's perfectly normal for Su Man to feel pressured; he naturally has a more acute sense of perception than others...

"There's no way around it. The ground hasn't been very stable lately. There's been both trouble with the Du Zhang Man and the Sheng Miao. It's better to be careful and safety comes first," Zhu Zigong said with a smile.

"It's all because of the river repair project. It's already in such a mess before construction has even started. Who knows what other problems will arise when construction begins in the fall?" the uncle said with a wry smile.

"Who cares, let's just do it!" The young people were fearless, since it's easy for them to talk when they're not in the situation.

Just then, the convoy approached, and the uncle quickly led the two men forward to greet them.

"Haha, my good brother, didn't you say you didn't need to worry about us? We'll go to Erlangtan on our own." Zhu Jie, supported by the coachman, got off the carriage, his bright smile barely concealing his exhaustion.

"Second Brother, Second Sister-in-law, and your virtuous niece have come from afar; how could we not come out to greet them?" Su Youjin said warmly with a smile. After exchanging pleasantries with Madam Zhu and Zhu Yin, he then addressed them:

"Let's go home quickly."

"Let's go." Zhu Jie ordered the group to continue forward, and had two more horses brought over to ride alongside Su Youjin.

After putting some distance between himself and the team, he couldn't wait to ask, "How's it going? Any progress?"

“There’s a chance.” Su Youjin nodded and said, “Hongzhi and I attacked from both sides, and that kid’s attitude has softened. Don’t let his young age fool you, he’s a rigid old Taoist, obsessed with the idea of ​​‘marrying off a daughter with his head held high and taking a wife with his head down.’”

"Am I not humble enough?" Zhu Jie said with a wry smile, thinking to himself, "I've already delivered the goods to your door, do you think it's easy for me?"

"Don't worry, brother, I guarantee you'll become a father-in-law before the New Year," Su Youjin said, patting his chest.

"Then I'll have to trouble you, in-laws," Zhu Jie said with a smile.

“Absolutely!” Su Youjin nodded emphatically.

P.S. Thank you all for your concern. I went to the hospital today as instructed and had my eyes checked; it's a stye. It should be healed in a few days. Next chapter, which is also the last chapter of this volume, has 800 words left…

(End of this chapter)