bookcurios Chapter 101 Go, young man!
Chapter 101 Go, young man!
Si Erlang gritted his teeth and ripped the document off his face, tearing it to shreds with a ferocious expression.
"Cheng Ruoan! This was something you and Lao San tricked me into signing. How could I owe you so much money?!"
All he could think about was tearing it to shreds so that Cheng Ruoan wouldn't be able to blackmail him anymore.
But Cheng Ruoan simply stepped back, folded her hands, and watched him tear up the document in a fit of impotent rage.
"Let's see what you can use to sue me for owing money! Go ahead and sue me, you vicious woman!" Si Erlang roared as he tore at the document.
After he finished tearing it up, Cheng Ruoan took out three or four more identical receipts.
She sneered and threw it at him, "You like tearing paper to play with? I have more here, take it and play with it. Don't bother me with making medicine, get lost."
After Cheng Ruoan finished speaking, he carried his medicine basket on his back and led the two little ones into Doctor Hu's medicine hut.
The two children hugged Cheng Ruoan's legs as soon as they went inside, extremely excited.
Si Nian: "Mommy, you were just right...so amazing! Even the fiercest Second Uncle couldn't handle you~"
The little girl had only learned a few characters from Si Shaoheng during this short period of time, and hadn't yet been able to generate any other words of praise in her mind.
But Si Xin was different; even the usually reserved Si Xin couldn't hide her excitement and inadvertently revealed her childlike nature.
"Mother's actions intimidating Uncle just now were so impressive! So heroic! She was also very capable when she mediated the conflict between the carpenter and our family. Although she spoke gently, she won people's hearts!"
"Just you wait and see, the saying 'Third Sister Si knows how to handle people' will definitely spread throughout the village!"
Si Xin hugged her mother's leg tightly, looked up at her, and her bright eyes were full of love and admiration for her mother!
After his mother was hit by a roof beam during the earthquake, she seemed to be reborn.
No longer like before, always silent and shedding tears.
He...he loves his current mother so much!
Cheng Ruoan squatted down to put down the medicine basket on his back, and then put his arms around them on either side.
She kissed both children on the cheek and said with a smile, "Don't think that just because you're sweet-talking, you don't have to help your mother prepare the medicinal herbs. Hurry up and get all the herbs you picked this morning ready, or when your master comes back this afternoon, the three of us will all get a slap on the hand."
"Hehe, okay~"
"Yes, yes, I'll help Mommy!"
The mother and her two children were busy going in and out of the medicine shed.
They all treated Si Erlang, who was holding several written documents, as if he were invisible.
When Si Erlang saw the copied documents, his eyes widened in fury.
These are not the ones he signed and sealed; there is also the IOU that Zhao signed as a witness!
To prevent him from finding various opportunities to tear up the IOUs, Cheng Ruoan actually prepared so many fake ones.
She was actually on guard against him from the very beginning!
"How could she have such a brain? It must have been taught by the third brother, it must be!"
Enraged, Si Erlang crumpled the several receipts into a ball, hitched up a horse-drawn carriage, and headed to the county town to find Si Sanlang and get to the bottom of things.
We're all brothers, how could he do this?
Si Erlang is somewhat clever, but that cleverness is the same as the "clear-headedness" that Si Silang had before, who only focused on living a good life with his wife and daughter and didn't get involved in the bullying of the original owner, Cheng Shi, by the first and second wives.
But they are only slightly better than ordinary villagers and common people who are easily fooled and misled.
Because the Si family had produced officials in their ancestors' lineage, they always placed great importance on the education of their descendants.
In addition, their genetic inheritance makes them much better off than unintelligent people.
This is just a comparative level of cleverness.
Even setting aside the fact that he encountered a modern, powerful figure like Si Shaoheng, who was specially trained by a wealthy family, Si Erlang's little bit of cleverness would be completely useless against someone like Cheng Ruoan, who grew up in an orphanage and later married into a wealthy family and knew how to hide her talents and avoid trouble.
Cheng Ruoan saw Si Erlang harnessing the cart under the big tree outside, but didn't call him or care what he was going to do.
When everyone returned in the evening, she naturally told them that he didn't plan to make furniture for them.
Si Erlang is just waiting to be forced to consider teaching the butler Quan amidst everyone's complaining gazes.
But when Cheng Ruoan turned around, he saw Da Hu carrying a bundle of firewood down another path on the back mountain, the path he took to collect firewood.
She quickly called out, "Da Hu, your second uncle is going out. Have him take you to the county town to find Chief Escort Qi."
Today is the last day that Qi Biaotou and his men will stay in Songshan County. It is also the last day for Qi Biaotou to wait for Da Hu's reply on whether he wants to become his disciple.
After putting the firewood away, Da Hu hesitated before walking up to Cheng Ruoan.
"Third Aunt, I..."
In fact, his third uncle had already talked to him and said that if he wanted to learn martial arts, he and his third aunt would support him regardless of whether other family members supported him or not.
He even said that he didn't need to worry about the apprenticeship fee or the cost of learning the craft, as his third uncle and aunt would cover it all; the key was whether he wanted to go or not.
If Da Hu's parents were still alive and Da Niu was unharmed, he would definitely want to go.
But now... there's no one left to support the entire house.
If he leaves, what will happen to the eldest sister and the youngest sister?
What about the injured cow who needs to stay in bed for three or four months to recover?
And parents...
Seeing his hesitant expression, Cheng Ruoan immediately thought of what Si Shaoheng had told her—Da Niu and Da Hu were both very worried about Si Dalang and Xia Shi.
Whether Da Hu wants to learn a skill largely depends on whether his parents are still alive and well.
"Dahu, your parents are definitely fine now, your third aunt can swear that, so just think about your own wishes, what kind of future you want to build for yourself, and then do it, okay?"
Cheng Ruoan comforted him, "Dahu, your third uncle and I will keep asking people to help you find your parents in Bachuan Prefecture. Can you trust us?"
"I believe you! I've always believed in Uncle and Aunt, but... but I just feel that our eldest branch owes you, Aunt, so much." The more Da Hu spoke, the lower his head became.
His mother used to bully his third aunt, and later she even got his maternal grandparents to steal so much of his third aunt's medicine...
But Auntie San was just too good to the children of the eldest branch of the family.
She risked her life to save them in the mountain village, and took care of them along the way by providing them with food and clothing. In particular, she treated Da Hua and Da Ya with almost the same fairness as she treated Ni Nian.
How could he possibly ask his third uncle and aunt to give him money to learn the trade again?
"Third Aunt, if I stay at home, I can still help you with the chores..." Da Hu's voice was clearly very dejected.
“Da Hu, since you know that your eldest branch owes our third branch a lot, you should learn a skill even more. Only after you have mastered it can you repay us better, right?”
Cheng Ruoan spoke with great earnestness, "If you learn martial arts, can you be your third uncle's bodyguard when he goes to the capital for the imperial examination?"
Now that you've become a镖头 (bodyguard/escort), can you earn a monthly salary to support me and your third uncle?
Even if you don't become a镖师 (bodyguard/escort) after you finish your training, and instead help with chores at home like you are now, wouldn't you also be able to act as a bodyguard for your younger siblings?
As she spoke, her eyes lit up a little more when she looked up at her big tiger, "Can I really do it? Can I learn it?"
Cheng Ruoan looked at the boy in front of her.
No, he wasn't a child; in ancient times, he would have been considered a teenager.
He was quite handsome, and his physique was much better than that of the twins. At only eleven years old, he was already almost 1.6 meters tall, which would be considered a very good-looking child in ancient times.
"You can do it! Go, young man!"