Mrs. Wang threw the deeded land she had allocated to Zhao Qiu at him, cursing in frustration, "Get out of here, get out of here now! How could I have given birth to sothing like you? You’re always fraternizing with Zhao Dong’s family; you’ve practically forgotten who your biological mother is! I bet they’ve fooled you. Now that you’ve split, there will be a day when you regret it. And when that ti cos, if you can’t make ends et, don’t co crying back to . I won’t be there to help you!"
Zhao Qiu bent down to pick up the scattered land deeds from the ground, then knelt and kowtowed three tis to Mrs. Wang, crying, "Mother, don’t bla for being unfilial. You forced into this! I finally have a child of my own; I can’t just lose them!"
With that, he gritted his teeth, turned, and walked out.
Behind him, Mrs. Wang’s wails could still be heard, "Oh heavens! What sins have I committed to deserve this? Why did I give birth to such an unfilial creature, ganging up with outsiders to bully , an old woman? Sob, sob, my life is so bitter! Having such an unfilial son... I’d rather be dead..."
Hearing his mother’s words, Zhao Qiu clenched his fists. He hardened his heart and bolted out of the Zhao Family Old House without looking back.
Typically, in an ancient farmhouse family, everyone lived together. There was a good reason for this: more people ant higher productivity, and by working together, life could be better. This was one reason why most families didn’t split up.
Now that Zhao Qiu had suddenly split from the family without gaining any money, and with his wife pregnant and needing fetus-protecting dicine, life was indeed going to be difficult.
Fortunately, one of Zhao Dong’s construction workers fell ill and could no longer co to work. Zhao Dong imdiately had Zhao Qiu take his place, temporarily alleviating Zhao Qiu’s pressing dilemma.
「 」
Since Mrs. Wang couldn’t leave the house after being caned by the constables, she had quieted down. Zhao Chun, the third son, was reportedly busy relocating their tavern to the county town and was seldom at ho.
They enjoyed a rare period of peace. The construction of the new house proceeded smoothly, and before they knew it, it was ti for the finishing touches.
By then, the weather had started to cool down, and Zhao Yu no longer went with ng Fusheng to roam all corners of the country. It was said that his master, ng Fusheng, had found his junior female disciple and planned to take Zhao Yu out for a proper adventure after the Chinese New Year, once spring arrived. Therefore, Zhao Yu had been extrely diligent and hardworking. Every ti Zhao Zhitong set out for school, he would already be up, running up the mountain with sandbags tied to his legs. He claid this was to practice his lightness skill, which made Zhao Zhitong watch him with great envy.
Qiao Muchen and Zhao Yue also used any free ti they had to go and learn from ng Fusheng. Although they hadn’t formally beco his disciples, ng Fusheng generously guided them without holding anything back. In Qiao Muchen and Zhao Yue’s hearts, ng Fusheng was already their master.
Because ng Fusheng had brought back a hidden weapon used by his junior female disciple this ti, Wei Shulan, after seeing it once, beca captivated by all sorts of chanisms and hidden weapons. Whenever she had free ti, she would search for books on the subject to study.
anwhile, Zhao Zhitong had morized the "Essence of dicinal Properties" so well she could recite it backward and forward. Her grandfather had also given her a handwritten dical book he had personally authored, which recorded the basic symptoms of so common diseases. She was almost finished reading it. During her days off or rest periods, Sun Kang would take her up the mountain to gather dicinal herbs. This was, firstly, to help her beco more familiar with the different states of herbs, and secondly, so he could explain the herbs and review what she had previously morized while they were gathering. Learning in such a practical environnt often yielded better results.
Her grandfather had said that after the New Year, he would begin teaching her pulse diagnosis and acupoint identification, after which she could accompany him on his dical rounds. Zhao Zhitong was incredibly excited.
Furthermore, Grandpa Bai’s Treasure Study Room housed many dical books that her own grandfather didn’t have, and she loved to read them too. Consequently, the little girl felt she needed to work even harder and be more diligent; otherwise, how would she ever finish reading so many books? Thus, her schedule was packed to the brim.
The young children passed through September and October in a fulfilling and busy manner, eventually reaching mid-November. They also welcod their first long break from school—a five-day holiday.
The reason for the break was the death anniversary of Mr. ng’s parents. He had to return to his hotown for ancestral rites, and even ng Fusheng went with him. When they received this good news, all the scholars in the class were ecstatic.
Zhao Zhitong and Qiao Muchen put their heads together and began planning how to spend the five-day holiday.
Qiao Muchen started counting on his little fingers. "One day, we’ll go to my house’s study to read and do howork. One day, we’ll attend the housewarming banquet at your new place. One day, we’ll go to the streets to see if there are any ’cases’ for us to solve. One day, we’ll go to Wei Shulan’s house to play. And on the last day, we’ll go play on the mountain!"
Zhao Zhitong shook her little head. "That won’t work. We’re moving tomorrow. We can go to your house to read and do howork in the afternoon."
Qiao Muchen tapped his little chin and said happily, "Then I’ll co help you move tomorrow morning!"
Zhao Zhitong nodded. "Okay, okay."
Hearing the talk of moving, Zhao Yue, who was nearby, suddenly leaned his head over from behind. "Moving? What moving? Count in!"
Wei Shulan also chid in, "And !"
The students below were chattering noisily, but for once, the Teacher didn’t scold them and instead began assigning howork.
So, after the Teacher announced the end of classes, all the scholars cheered and rushed out of the classroom. Zhao Zhitong and her three friends, however, carried their luggage boxes and went to the big pagoda tree inside the school grounds. Wei Shulan and Zhao Zhitong sat under the tree, reading books. Qiao Muchen and Zhao Yue ran off to find Zhao Yu, who was practicing his swordplay nearby.
The upcoming five-day holiday didn’t seem to affect the four children much; they continued with their usual routines.
But this didn’t hinder the arrival of the joyful holiday atmosphere. The next day, Zhao Zhitong had a rare opportunity to sleep in and didn’t wake up, bleary-eyed, until the sun was high in the sky. Then, she heard a CLATTER! CLATTER! in the courtyard and instantly beca wide awake. Today, they were moving!
The new house had been airing out for almost a month and was ready to be lived in.
Zhao Zhitong climbed out of her warm bed, dressed, and rushed outside. She saw her father and mother had already packed their belongings and were loading them onto a cart. Their new furniture hadn’t been made yet, so all the current household furniture also had to be moved over for continued use.
Zhao Zhitong couldn’t help much, so she, along with Zhao Ya and Zhao Yu, helped by carrying small stools and the like. Even so, she was busy and happy.
By the ti everything from the kitchen had been moved, her three maternal uncles arrived. Even Shi Tou from next door heard the commotion and ca over to help.
Many hands make light work; the subsequent moving of beds and cabinets beca much easier.
This move further solidified Zhao Dong’s desire to buy a cow. He thus planned to visit the livestock market the next ti he went to the marketplace. Having an ox cart would save a lot of trouble.
By late morning, Qiao Muchen, Wei Shulan, and Zhao Yue ca bustling in, saying they were there to help move. But what real help could a few children offer? In the end, they just followed Zhao Zhitong to get an early tour of her new house.
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