Su Xi saw the root of their problem and sternly lectured them, "What does 'worth it' even an? It's not like I'm asking you to commit murder or arson. The entire study is under my control, and this little garden is mine to manage. I'll plant whatever I please—what does 'worth' have to do with it? Just because flowers are expensive, I should plant them and sacrifice my own happiness? No way! This old man refuses. This old man is planting vegetables!"
With that, he crossed his arms and struck the pose of a stubborn old man, looking every bit the unreasonable tyrant.
The five young boys: "..."
What an unreasonable person. What an unreasonable demand.
Zong Jincheng, seeing that Xu Wan wasn’t stopping Su Xi, grew even more displeased. This eccentric old man was just being deliberately difficult.
He threw the hoe to the ground and retorted, "If you want to plant vegetables, do it yourself! Why drag us out of bed so early? I don’t want this hoe. The imperial exams are coming up—I don’t have ti to play farr with you. I need to study!"
The other boys nodded in agreent, tossing their hoes aside as well.
Exactly. They could wake up early—but only for studying. If word got out that noble young masters were rising at dawn to hoe vegetables, they’d be the laughingstock of the town!
Su Xi snorted and turned to Xu Wan to complain, "Madam Zong, these boys of yours are quite difficult to manage."
Unable to command them himself, he resorted to calling in reinforcents. Su Xi had already noticed—everyone here listened to Xu Wan, especially that troublemaker Zong Jincheng.
Xu Wan bowed slightly and said, "Please don’t be upset, Master Su. The boys just need ti to adjust." Then, with a glance, she signaled the servants to pick up the discarded hoes.
No one dared refuse the hoes Xu Wan had sent over. The five boys wore increasingly sour expressions, glaring at Su Xi with undisguised resentnt.
Xu Wan soothed them, "Don’t worry, children. Though the exams are near, your mastery of the classics and policy essays is already excellent. For the next month or so, you only need to focus on learning poetry and composition from Master Su. The rest will take care of itself."
The little troublemaker grumbled, "But Mother, his demands are completely unreasonable—absurd, incomprehensible, utterly ridiculous!"
Su Xi scoffed at his string of dramatic phrases. "Ah, so the 'Four Books and Five Classics' have only taught you fancy words, no wonder your poetry is so… so… so…"
Zong Jincheng clenched his fists, shooting the old man a furious glare.
How on earth had this madman beco a renowned poetry master?!
"Jincheng," Xu Wan asked gently, "are you really going to disobey ?"
The fire in the little troublemaker’s eyes instantly died. His shoulders slumped as he muttered, "No, Mother. I’m sorry. I’ll listen to you."
Su Xi, victorious, smirked and shot Zong Jincheng a taunting look, making the boy turn away in frustration—out of sight, out of mind.
Xu Wan affectionately patted his head before addressing the others. "And the rest of you?"
"We’ll listen to Auntie too," the boys chorused.
Xu Wan smiled. "Good. Then for the next month, follow Master Su’s instructions without making repeat myself, alright?"
The five boys sighed in resignation. "Fine…"
Xu Wan chuckled. "Thank you for your hard work. Now, get to it."
"……"
In the courtyard, Xu Wan and Su Xi sat in a small pavilion, watching the boys work. All servants had been dismissed—no help allowed.
Zong Jincheng gathered his brothers, their heads huddled together as they plotted. "When we dig up the flowers, go deep—pull them out by the roots so they stay alive. Then we’ll give them to Shunzi to replant in another garden. That way, we save them from this old man’s tyranny."
Zong Wenxiu nodded. "Good plan, Jincheng. We’ll follow your lead."
"Let’s move!" He Zheng declared.
The boys’ secretive huddle made Su Xi suspicious. "Plotting rebellion, are they?"
Xu Wan shook her head with a laugh. "No, they’re very well-behaved."
Su Xi snorted. "Only for you. A pack of little wolves pretending to be lambs. If you weren’t here today, they’d probably overthrow their master and toss this old man out!"
Xu Wan giggled. "You exaggerate. At worst, they’d just argue back."
Before Su Xi could retort, the five boys exchanged determined high-fives and picked up their hoes with renewed vigor.
Su Xi raised an eyebrow, amused. "Well, well. They’re quite the united front."
Xu Wan agreed warmly. "Yes, the bond between young hearts is truly sothing to envy."
Su Xi, caught in the mont, spontaneously recited a poem before murmuring with delight, "Fascinating. Absolutely fascinating."
The boys, raised in luxury, had never worked the land before. Under the guidance of a gardener, they clumsily learned to hoe—though their careful efforts to preserve the flowers’ roots made their progress painfully slow.
After what felt like an eternity, voices finally piped up:
"I’ve dug up one!"
" too!"
One by one, they handed the uprooted flowers to servants for replanting elsewhere, then returned to their task.
Xu Wan checked the ti. "At this rate, they’ll be at it till nightfall."
Su Xi waved a hand, grinning. "Then let them work till nightfall."
Xu Wan teased, "So now you don’t mind their pragmatism?"
Objectively speaking, Su Xi, as a master of poetry, despised the calculating ways of officialdom. Unfortunately, the policy essays she had the boys study were all geared toward future bureaucratic careers—hence their mutual disdain.
Su Xi chuckled. "Oh, I still mind. But this ti, they’re not weighing whether the flowers are 'worth' their ti. They’re thinking about the flowers themselves. That, I can appreciate."
Xu Wan tilted her head. "You an… they’ve stopped focusing solely on their own interests?"
Su Xi replied cryptically, "Imrsion in nature, the outpouring of emotion—they’re beginning to see what lies beyond their studies. These boys… they’ve got potential."
By mid-morning, after hours of labor, the boys were ravenous, their arms trembling with exhaustion.
Xu Wan instructed the maids, "Prepare a light al—mostly buns, nothing too heavy. Bring it to the pavilion."
Su Xi waved dismissively. "No need for a al. Just toss them a couple of flatbreads and call it a day."
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