Chapter 441: Shao Yunduan 's Distress
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
Eldest Uncle felt really uncomfortable upon hearing that. He comforted the second and third section of the family. "The children are all grown-up and everything is going to be well. If you need any help, just tell me…"
Second Uncle and Third Uncle felt even worse. 'What was the point of telling you? Could you force Ms. Qiao to offer her money? You were just saying good words.'
Shao Sanlang, and Qi did not care what they were talking about. They kept eating food with their heads buried. Shao Erlang did the same, which made the two uncles annoyed again. The dishes were almost gone while they were talking.
Shao Yunduan chuckled inwardly. This was the best and easiest way to deal with them.
After dinner, Second Uncle and the others left directly.
What was the point of staying here? Everything made them feel so annoyed.
After a couple of days, it was time for Shao Yunduan to go back to college.
Unexpectedly, he ran into Zhao Guanghua again in college.
"Brother Yunduan!" Zhao Guanghua sounded as if they were close. He approached him, and patted him on the shoulders in a pretentiously passionate way.
Shao Yunduan dodged his hand, took a few steps backwards, and said kindly,
"Young Master Zhao, what is the matter?"
Zhao Guanghua was not a Cultivated Talent, so he should not be here to discuss the articles. He had not been here before either.
Shao Yunduan was a little confused.
Especially when this man treated him so kindly all of a sudden.
Shao Yunduan did not think that Zhao Guanghua had the intention of befriending him.
"Brother Yunduan!" Zhao Guanghua smiled. "We are all good friends, Brother
Yunduan. You don't need to be estranged from me!"
Shao Yunduan smiled and replied politely. "Sorry, I have got some work to do. Farewell!"
"Hey…" Zhao Guanghua stopped Shao Yunduan and said with a smile, "We can chat next time, but Dean Meng wants you in his study, so please, Brother Yunduan, don't keep him waiting for too long!'
Shao Yunduan blinked and nodded. "Okay, thanks for the message."
"Haha, don't mention it!"
Shao Yunduan went away from Zhao Guanghua.
However, one hour later, when Shao Yunduan and several Cultivated Talents were discussing with Mr. Wu, who was holding the gathering, three students rushed in from the college and said that Shao Yunduan sneaked into Dean Meng's study. He broke his favorite orchid and left from there.
They kept saying that he was not respectful towards the teacher and should not be in the college or attend any examination. They even tried to force him to get punished at Dean Meng's place.
Everyone was very surprised.
Shao Yunduan sneered and sorted the timeline in his head, including the time when he walked into the college and with whom, and what time Zhao Guanghua spoke with him and who could be the witnesses. Later, he said goodbye to Zhao Guanghua and came to this place with some people.
He mentioned this in front of everyone and even pointed out that he had been in the room all this while, and since no one left the place during this time, it meant that everyone in the room could be his witness.
So, when did he have the time to visit Dean Meng's study?
Dean Meng's study was located in a different direction from here.
Although no one understood what was going on, what Shao Yunduan said was right. They all nodded in agreement.
Some students who were in a good relationship with him started defending him.
The ones who had come to make the report panicked. They were dumbfounded.
That was not how the plan was supposed to go..
Didn't Shao Yunduan go to Dean Meng's study at all?
But… didn't he mention that Zhao Guanghua told him to? Well even if he mentioned that, Zhao Guanghua would have denied the accusation. Shao Yunduan had no proof that Zhao Guanghua did pass on the message.
If that happened, then he would drag down some 'innocent' classmate.
But he did not mention Zhao Guanghua, because Zhao Guanghua would not step out and admit that himself.
Seeing their faces change, Shao Yunduan smiled and said gently, "You must have been mistaken, right? Don't worry, it's fine, we have talked through the misunderstanding…"
The three of them did not dare to say anything more, but nodded with a smile and hurried away.
Shao Yunduan narrowed his eyes. He and Zhao Guanghua were not good friends. He would not be so stupid as to follow his order.
He instantly got three classmates to keep him company after he separated from Zhao Guanghua, creating a solid alibi.
He had no idea what Zhao Guanghua was up to, but he did not think that it was anything good.
Zhao Guanghuatried to set him up, by pushing him into a position where he had no others to help him. But if he was accompanied by witnesses, he would not lose his credibility.
Dean Meng got extremely angry.
Soon, Shao Yunduan and the three students were taken to Dean Meng.
Shao Yunduan had nothing to do with this matter, and he was just misjudged, but he knew clearly that Dean Meng was not an open-minded person, and would always try to drag someone down.
Interrogated by Dean Meng, the three students could not hold it any more. They felt so embarrassed.
They were from ordinary families, and one of them was suffering from poverty, so none of them dared to point out that Zhao Guanghua was the main culprit.
As a result, they had to admit that it was them who did the whole thing.
But they argued as well. "Shao Yunduan is always very arrogant. He bullies us and we hate how he puts on airs. That is why we tried to teach him a lesson. Dean, we are sorry, but Shao Yunduan is not totally innocent!"
"True! But for his arrogance, we would not have done a thing like this!"
Dean Meng glanced at Shao Yunduan coldly.
Shao Yunduan, who intended to say something, decided to stay silent instead. Apparently, Dean Meng bought the ridiculous excuses, or at least half of it. In that case, Shao Yunduan did not need to give any explanation.
It would not work anyways.
"Shao Yunduan, what do you want to say?
"Dean, this is totally ridiculous. We have never hung out together and the relationships are at peace. What do they mean by humiliating and bullying?
Please, I request you to clear my name which has been wrongly dragged into this."
Dean Meng sneered. "How dare you push your conflicts onto me! I don't care about this, just leave."
The three students got so startled that they kept begging for forgiveness.
Shao Yunduan was shocked. But he said nothing.
Dean Meng was very determined, he said coldly with sleeves flung aside, "Just get out now, one more word, and I will get someone to drive you out directly, then you will be humiliated."
The three students got so startled as if they were chicken with hands over their necks, that they had no sound to utter.
Shao Yunduan bowed and said, "Thanks for your tutoring, Dean, I am leaving now."
He quit the room first..
The three of them exchanged a look and left as well.
Shao Yunduan felt very peaceful. He did not feel like coming to this place either.
He had been to two provinces twice and learned a lot from there. So he could just digest what he had obtained in his head. He did not have to be here.
He walked out of the college and saw the wagon parked not faraway. It was Zhao Guanghua who had just lifted the drapery and smiled at him.
Shao Yunduan turned around and walked towards him.
"I don't understand why you want to set me up?
Zhao Guanghua sneered and said indifferently, "I don't like you, so I did it. It happened, right? You are out of college, no? Good! Hahaha!"
Shao Yunduan left without a word.
Zhao Guanghua threw a disdainful look at his retreating figure, put down the drapery and ordered the coachman to go home.
Zhao Guanghua did not like Shao Yunduan.
But Shao Yunduan was Shao Liulang's cousin and Shao Liulang kept flattering him, yet Shao Yunduan did not do so, which made Zhao Guanghua feel annoyed.
He would not have done anything under normal circumstances, but Elder Miss Qiao told his sister Zhao Ming about how to drive Shao Yunduan out of Minghua College.
That made Zhao Guanghua feel motivated.
He was quite willing to work for Elder Miss Qiao.
He was expecting to gain some benefits from Elder Miss Qiao and her father for his family!
What if… Elder Miss Qiao felt moved and decided to marry him, that would make everything so good!
That was why he decided to make this incident happen.
Zhao Guanghua did not order anyone to pass on the message to Qiao Wei at the mansion.
Instead, he was going to tell Elder Miss Qiao the detailed story over dinner at Restaurant Yanhe when his sister went to visit Qiao Wei.
If they could talk over food a few times, their relationship would definitely become better.
Qiao Wei decided to do so because after speaking with her mother the other day about ripping Shao Yunduan of his title as Cultivated Talent, she realized that it was not so easy.
She did not think that Shao Yunduan would become a Recommended Man either, so she dropped the idea.
But she still felt really annoyed. Hence, she came up with the idea about driving Shao Yunduan away from the college.
She did not think that a poor Cultivated Talent like Shao Yunduan had any talent, so if he was driven out of the college, he would get distressed and would not be able to move on. It would effectively cut away his means to take the examination.
She could not do it herself. But she had heard Zhao Ming mentioning about her brother who was also at Minghua College, so she went to Zhao Ming and asked her to get her brother to do the task.
Hearing the result, Qiao Wei felt very satisfied.
She even gave a box of cosmetics to Zhao Ming.
She could tell that Zhao Guanghua was trying to suck up to her, but she did not care about the flattery. She was used to enjoying his attention all the time.
Her fiance was from a duke family in the capital, and Zhao Guanghua was just a son of some rural businessman. How dare he dream about marrying her!
Back at home, Shao Yunduan did not show any difference in his demeanor.
But Qiao Xuan sensed something. She asked him in private.. "Did anything unpleasant happen at the college? You don't seem to be in a good mood today…"
Shao Yunduan laughed. "You sensed it?"
Qiao Xuan was startled, asking directly. "For real? What happened?"
Shao Yunduan, who had not wanted to say it in the first place, did not conceal the incident and revealed the whole truth. In the end, he said, "It is not a big deal anyway!'
Qiao Xuan got so annoyed. "Is it the Young Master Zhao who visited Cousin the other day? He is so horrible! Good that you did not get tricked, otherwise it would be very difficult to get your name cleared."
It was an imperfect plan, but it worked out well in the end.
If Shao Yunduan had visited Dean Meng's study and Zhao Guanghua denied that he passed on the message, then Shao Yunduan would have had no excuse to defend himself!
Zhao Guanghua was wealthy and gentle, and the college would have definitely taken his words into account.
Even if this was put into the governmental office, her father would not have defended Shao Yunduan because he would have thought that this was too humiliating for him.
Worse, he would even accuse him of the wrong doings.
Shao Yunduan smiled. "This man is not a moral person, and I have never hung out with him, so I would never have believed him especially since he suddenly tried to get close to me."
Qiao Xuan smiled. "Other people might have ignored this point because no one would expect that he would dare to plot the Dean. But you are so smart! Haha!"
"Honestly, Dean Meng is not a nice person either. You were misjudged, and he even ordered punishment for you!'
Shao Yunduan said, "It doesn't matter. I don't need to go to college any longer. My studies would not be affected."
"But I just can't tolerate this injustice!"
Suddenly, Qiao Xuan thought and said, "You don't think that Zhao Guanghua bought out Dean Meng as well, do you? Moreover, Zhao Guanghua would not be affected even if you are not at the college, right? Why did he suddenly do this, for your cousin's sake? Your cousin isn't that powerful in his eyes, right?"
Qiao Xuan had never met Zhao Guanghua before, but she had met Zhao Ming before. People like them would not treat Shao Liulang as a true friend, nor do anything for him.
The more she thought about this matter, the more confused she became.
Shao Yunduan had some speculations. He had never been enemies with anyone, and the only people who held a big grudge against him were the Qiao Family.
They ran into Qiao Kou and Qiao Wei the other day, and he met with such an incident now… How could he not think that there wasn't any connection between the two.
He did not want to tell Qiao Xuan about this in case she felt guilty. It was not necessary to mention this guess to her.
Fearing that Qiao Xuan may think about this aspect, Shao Yunduan interrupted her contemplation gently. "No one knows what someone is thinking about? It is not strange that people do something stupid at any time. I can still study for the imperial examination at home, which is better for me too!"
Qiao Xuan nodded.
If she continued to talk about this, she might make him feel even worse, so she stopped discussing it and tried to encourage Shao Yunduan so that he could feel better.
Shao Yunduan let out a sigh of relief seeing that she did not mention this topic any more.
It was getting very cold outside, and the wild chestnuts and persimmons in the mountains should be ripe. That made Qiao Xuan feel highly motivated.
It was a fine day when everyone went into the mountains to seek the wild chestnuts.
Qiao Xuan soon found a large patch of wild chestnuts on a flat hill.
Since there were few people in the deep mountains, many chestnuts that fell on the ground had not been picked. There were some chestnuts with shells, rolling in the fallen leaves and grass, like little hedgehogs..
Qiao Xuan and others used wooden sticks to push away the fallen leaves and weeds, and picked up the shiny black and purple chestnuts, placing them into the basket.
Those chestnuts that were still wrapped in thorn bags were broken open with stones, and the chestnuts inside were taken out.
There was a big patch here, and many of them had fallen. They only needed to pick up the ones on the ground.
There were also many trees, and the branches were covered with dark green and light green thorns. They simply needed to climb up the tree and shake the branches, and the fruits would fall down.
There could be no one standing under the tree, or they would get bumps all over the head, which might cause some hurt.
Yang Xiaoni and Shao Sanlang were foodies. They kept crushing the shells, picking the fruits and stuffing them into their mouths.
The black and purple hard shell of the fresh chestnuts was peeled off, and then the inner layer of skin that was close to the nuts was taken off as well. When the light yellow chestnuts were eaten into the mouth, the juice was rich. It was crunchy and sweet, and the more they chewed, the more delicious it felt.
They did not move an inch ever since they found this place.
In the end, they harvested a lot of things.
They had four packages which weighed nearly as much as 100 kgs.
Each of them carried some home smoothly.
"There are many trees, and we can come again in a week or so. We must take all of them home. There are so many of them!"
"Yes, we can come again next time!"
They wondered what they could do with the chestnuts.
Of course there were many delicious things which could be made. Qiao Xuan counted them one by one with a smile on her fingers. "Needless to say, fresh chestnuts, stir-fried vegetables, stews, boiled or steamed are delicious. There are also fried chestnuts with sugar, which are very appealing. After they are dried, they have another taste which is equally good. Other dishes like stewed chicken with chestnuts, roasted pork ribs with chestnuts, stewed lamb with chestnuts, braised pork with chestnuts, can also be made. We can also cook porridge, make dumplings for the Dragon Boat Festival, and grind chestnuts into powder, make chestnut cakes and chestnut buns. Anyways, chestnuts are a good thing!'
Everyone looked forward to all of these.
"We can try every one of them, I feel like eating all of them!"
"Me too!"
"Fifth Sister-in-law, tell us what to do, we can work hard so you won't be tired!"
"True!"
Qiao Xuan smiled. "Sure, we can fry fresh chestnuts with yams, steam them or something. We can start with that for tonight!"
Everyone smiled and nodded.
Shao Xiaoqi said regretfully, "But it is getting late, and we won't possibly run into some wild animals to fry with the chestnuts."
Qiao Xuan smiled. "Don't need to be anxious. We can dry chestnuts for an even better taste, and we can cook such dishes in the future!"
Back at home, they poured chestnuts into the basket, which was kept in the vacant room for sun drying.
It was very broad and clean in the yard, very handy for sun drying.
They picked some chestnuts, boiled them briefly, peeled off the shells, and the aroma of chestnuts wafted into everyone's nostrils. They took a bite of the flour and glutinous, which was delicate and sweet. Everyone liked it very much.
Ms. Fang peeled the chestnuts for her grandchildren. She smiled brightly. "You are so lucky to have found so many things which no one else could find. So many chestnuts, How can we finish them all?"
Yang Xiaoni smiled. "Mom, we can finish them. The Fifth Sister-in-law said that we can make many delicious dishes, add them to vegetables, or porridge, ground into pastry etc.."
They all laughed.
Ms. Fang glared at her and said half-scoldingly, 'You remember everything about food!"
Yang Xiaoni tried to explain weakly. "Brother Sanlang knows more than me!" Everyone laughed even harder.
Ms. Fang was very amused too. "You are almost the same, don't blame each other!"
Qiao Xuan smiled. "Qi knows the mountains best and we have been there many times, so we are more lucky than others. Most importantly, we are living in harmony and hence, fortune favors us!"
That made Ms. Fang feel quite glad. She nodded and praised Qiao Xuan.
Qiao Xuan suddenly thought of something and smiled. "Mom, I think that we can make some smoked sausage and meat, since it is getting colder."
True!
They were all reminded of this and nodded in agreement.
"We have a lot of money now, so we can make a lot of smoked sausage and meat!"
"True, they can be preserved for a long time. We can put them into the jar and it should last us at least half a year!'
"I am already drooling over the steamed smoked sausage and fried smoked sausage with garlic sprouts!"
Ms. Fang smiled too. "It is time to make them. You should go to the town to buy the meat, buy as much as you want! I will give you some money and we can make enough for our home and also to take some back to our natal families. ' I
They had already bought one bull, one donkey and the wagon was ready too. So it was quite handy for them to go into the town.
They would store some smoked meat and sausage in the past, no more than 10 kgs, which would be finished after a few days.
This year, things were different.
Hearing that they could take the meat back to their own parents, Ms. Xu felt so happy and started to come up with some ideas.
Qiao Xuan was very interested and most knowledgeable about food.
She was living a very easy life as long as the Qiao Family was out of sight. They had money now, and all the food she bought was the most original, pure, green and pollution-free. The taste was really good too.
"Let's buy meat to make sausages, meat, pork liver, pork belly, pig heads, and pork knuckles. These can also be made into smoked meat, which is delicious."
"Also, we can make smoked ducks and fish. Let's pick some big ducks and long fish, which should taste better than pork!"
Ms. Fang and the others were all shocked.
No one in the village had made this kind of smoked meat before.
Yang Xiaoni smiled in agreement. "Fifth Sister-in-law is right. Her words make me feel so greedy. Mom, let's make them please!"
"Yeah, we can fish in the river, find big fish!"
"True!"
"Okay, okay!" Ms. Fang smiled. "Let's make them all! Buy ten big ducks home when you shop for meat on the street!"
They all smiled and nodded in agreement.
So, the next day, Shao Sanlang and Yang Xiaoni went into the town to buy meat and ducks.
Qiao Xuan and Shao Yunduan went into the mountains to dig winter bamboos together with Taotao and Qi.
Qi had spoken about the winter bamboo the day before, and he knew where wild bamboo forests were.
Those were good things that should not be missed.
Hence, they went into the mountains to dig winter bamboo.
Digging bamboo needed experience. It was not that easy and did not always guarantee a good harvest.
But the winter bamboo in the soil was not a problem for Qiao Xuan..
Qiao Xuan pointed in the direction where they could find winter bamboo.
She claimed that she was very experienced.
That made Qi and Taotao glad.
Half a day passed, and they found what four people could carry around.
Without Yang Xiaoni and Shao Sanlang, they would not be able to carry the things.
As for Qiao Xuan, what she could do most was to carry a few winter bamboos. Taotao could carry almost 10 kgs.
The four of them went down, and returned, with more than 70 kgs winter
bamboo by the end of the day.
Qiao Xuan did not let them dig all the winter bamboo. She had a few left behind, so that they could grow out the next year.
Startled, Ms. Fang did not expect that they could get this much. She smiled. "Winter bamboo is a good thing, better than fresh bamboo. This entire pile should be dried."
So Ms. Xu and a few others started to get busy.
There was a cellar in the yard. After the winter bamboo shoots were taken home, some were selected and stored in the cellar and buried in the sand. In this season, it would not go bad after being stored for even twenty or thirty days. They could just pull out some whenever they needed.
They were going to have a good meal of fresh bamboo. After peeling off the bamboo shoots, the slightly yellow winter bamboo shoots were firm and small, and the faint fragrance of bamboo shoots was very delicious.
Such fresh winter bamboo shoots were delicious whether they were fried or sauteed with various kinds of meat.
No wonder the saying went that winter bamboos were more expensive than meat.
Shao Sanlang and Yang Xiaoni went into town to buy meat. They were going to make stir-fried sliced pork with winter bamboo shoots, stewed pork ribs with winter bamboo shoots, fried sliced bamboo shoots with shiitake mushrooms, and shredded fish along with bamboo shoot soup.
They intended to get up early the next day, and were going to cut the winter bamboo shoots into cubes, add meat fillings, dried plums, and soaked peas so as to make wrapped buns with fillings. These buns would be steamed. Such delicious buns would surely make everyone greedy for them.
In addition to the ones kept in the cellar, Ms. Fang cut the winter bamboo shoots into slices that were neither thick nor thin. She blanched them in boiling water, added enough salt, picked them up and put them in a dustpan to dry, so that they could be made into dried bamboo shoots.
They were all very busy.
When Shao Sanlang and Yang Xiaoni returned home, it was already evening.
Ms. Fang understood that the couple must have eaten and bought a lot in the town before they decided to return home. The reason why they arrived home before the evening was because they were drooling over Qiao Xuan's cooking skills. Thank goodness for that!
The two of them bought half a piece of pork, and asked the butcher to cut it into pieces suitable for making smoked meat. They bought another 20 kgs of meat for making sausages, as well as casings.
They also bought what Qiao Xuan asked them to, which included three pig heads, six pork knuckles, two pig livers, and three pig stomachs.
They even had rib bones and pork belly with them.
They managed to buy 20 ducks who quacked all the way home.
They could not deal with the ducks this evening, so they were kept in the shed in the yard. Pork needed to be processed first.
They were all engaged in different tasks.
Qiao Xuan was cooking, whilst Taotao and Qi helped her.
Ms. Fang, together with two of her daughters-in-law, started to wash the meat, pork knuckles, pig heads, etc.
They spread a layer of coarse salt evenly, and then put them layer by layer in a clay tank. This would be marinated for about four or five days. After being taken out, it would be washed with warm water, stringed it with a straw rope, and hung above the stove.
They could smoke them when they cooked food later. When time was enough, it would be turned into delicious smoked meat..
The sausage required a little more effort. They washed the meat, cut it into small pieces, and marinated it with various seasonings. It was put into the casing at noon the next day. After that, it was also hung on the stove to be smoked naturally.
Ms. Fang made the sausage whilst Ms. Xu and Yang Xiaoni killed the ducks.
It wasn't very easy to remove the feathers from the 12 ducks, so Taotao and
Qiao Xuan helped as well.
The method of making smoked ducks was similar to that of smoked meat. They just needed to clean the whole duck and hang it up. The duck selected for wax duck needed to be fat, otherwise it would only have a skeleton without meat after drying, and it would not taste good.
They processed 12 ducks, and kept away quite many duck feet, duck liver, duck blood, duck intestines, and duck gizzards, which were all wonderful things.
The family decided to eat hot-pot that night. This was the pot that Qiao Xuan had asked a craftsman to make because she was greedy for it. They used the pork ribs bought the previous day to make the soup base. After boiling them, they simply stir-fried it to make a spicy pot bottom, just enough to make a double-tasting pot.
Apart from the intestines, they had a few more vegetables prepared, such as yam slices, wax gourd slices, shiitake mushrooms, taro slices, winter bamboo shoots, spinach, coriander. Some fish slices, and fried meat-filled egg dumplings were also made. This accounted for a lively meal.
Sure enough, they had never expected that when the intestines were put into the spicy pot, they could obtain such wonderful taste.
They really wished to kill 12 more ducks the next day!
The smoked meat and sausages were apparently not enough. Ms. Fang decided to buy some more meat to make another batch, so they could be hung on the stove and sundried for later use.
Qiao Xuan was greedy for sweet-tasting smoked sausages.
Ms. Fang was surprised. "Sweet-taste? With sugar?"
"Yeah!" Qiao Xuan smiled. "But salt and other seasonings should be used as well, not too much, but sugar has to be enough. It would be good, trust me!"
Ms. Fang smiled and agreed to her request readily. "I am just curious. I trust you! Let's make some soon, and we are all going to have a taste of such smoked sausages!'
So, it was decided that they were going to make 15 kgs of sweet-tasting smoked sausage.
When the smoked meat and sausage were settled, they were all motivated to make some smoked fish!
Qiao Xuan thought of the water pool she found when she entered the mountain before, so she said to Qi, "Why don't we go there? The fish in the deep pond are bigger, and it's the best for making smoked fish! Although there are big fish in the river, the number is relatively less. Also, the three-finger-wide small fish, or mandarin fish, or yellowhead catfish are not suitable for making smoked fish!"
Qi agreed.
But the pond was a little far from the village, and they needed to have water with them to keep the fish alive, otherwise carrying it around would be too troublesome.
Also, dead fish would not be good for making smoked fish.
So, they asked Shao Dalang and Ms. Xu to go together.
Qiao Xuan had been thinking about the fish in the pond for a long time, and the fishing net was very rewarding! When pulling it to the shore, they could see countless big fish jumping around alive and kicking, revealing their snow-white belly.
Large grass carp, Asian carps, and crucian carp that were more than a foot long were caught and put into buckets.
The smaller ones were all thrown back into the pond.
The harvest from two more nets was enough.
Shao Dalang, Ms. Xu, Shao Sanlang and Yang Xiaoni each had one bucket with them and they went back to the village together.
The fish was large in size, and just four of them filled up a bucket.
But there was enough to take back when they were all together.
There was no other problem except for the distance.
On the way back to the village, they ran into a few villagers who had gathered around to watch the show..
"Is that fish? It is so big!'
"Will it taste good? It smells horrible!"
"They are different from us, they can put oil and spices in their food, and it should taste good! I have heard that fish is served at restaurants in the city and the dishes are all very delicious."
Everyone from the first section of the family laughed. Fish was taken home as food, of course. But they did not want to talk about this with the others, in case some trouble arose like how the incident regarding mushrooms occurred.
The big fish in the deep water pond looked delicious at first glance, so they specially reserved two fish for kimchi at night, and left the rest to be smoked. After the big fish were processed, they were marinated like smoked meat, and after a few days, they could be hung in the sun for exposure After drying, they could be put away and stored.
The first section of the family especially liked making smoked things, so they were busy for a few days.
Qiao Xuan went into the mountains again, and brought some chestnuts, winter bamboo, yams and lilies back.
They were either sun dried or preserved in the cellar. They were all excellent food for winter.
Qiao Xuan could find a lot of wild stuff with her superpower, but she was not very interested.
She only found abundant ones for personal use rather than for selling them.
She had better and more relaxing ways to make money, and she did not have to run after such small earnings.
So little and exhausting process.
There were also a lot of persimmons, but they were too soft, and the skin would break if they touched them, and the birds in the mountains especially liked to bite this. There were also insects such as ants, who had pecked and broken these before they turned ripe.
So they left those persimmons alone.
There were three persimmon trees in Qiao Xuan's garden. The branches were luxuriant and full of red fruits. Every day, they could pick a basket and a half to satisfy their hunger.
Qi hunted a few more wild rabbits and roosters, all of which were going to be smoked because there were so many of them.
They even fetched some fish and shrimps from the river close to the village and picked a few to keep in the pool.
As December arrived, the days turned cold, and they stopped going into the mountains.
Qiao Xuan did not want to leave home either.
They had a very solid house, enough clothes, plenty of blankets and surplus wood for winter.
Ms. Xu, Yang Xiaoni and Qi found the days to be boring. They either visited friends or went into the mountains to chop some wood.
Qi visited the mountains every now and then. He could bring a lot of interesting things home every time he went there.
There were roosters, rabbits, grouse, mountain otters, muntjacs, and so on. Once, he even brought back two ganoderma for Qiao Xuan.
The only regret was that no wild sheep had been hunted. Qi for some reason, wanted to get a wild sheep home, no matter what.
Meat was easy to preserve in winter. The winter in ancient times seemed to be extraordinarily cold. The countryside was a few degrees colder than the city.
These wild game would not go bad after three or four days of storage.
Moreover, Ms. Fang could turn them all into smoked meat.
They shared a few of them with the second and third section of the family.
After making smoked meat, Qiao Xuan suddenly started craving for sour meat, so she made two more pots of sour meat, one with pork belly and pork ribs, and the other with roosters.
It was quite easy to do. They washed the meat and marinated it with salt for three or four days. They stir-fried the glutinous rice in an iron pan until it was fragrant and the rice grains turned slightly yellow. After cooling, they added seasonings, mixed the meat and rice, and put it in a jar. They sealed it well and it will be ready in about half a month.
They could be stir-fried quickly with chili peppers, sour, salty, fresh and spicy, and were very appetizing. After doing this, the meat would also turn extra chewy..
While sour meat was being made, they made some preserved eggs and salted duck eggs as well.
Everyone in the first section of the family spoke highly of the food, just like Qiao Xuan had praised it before. They got everything prepared and they would have good food for the upcoming winter.
Ding Erzhu passed on the letter, saying that the house would be built soon and asked if Qiao Xuan wanted to join them.
Shao Yunduan and Qiao Xuan paid a visit to the Zhang Village soon.
The villagers had worked fast and effectively. Due to Ding Erzhu and Madame Zhou's keen supervision, they did not cut down on their labor work.
They had done the work according to the paper Qiao Xuan and Shao Yunduan gave them.
The pond next to the vegetable garden had been dug by the tenants. It was finished, and there was a circle of green bricks about one and a half meters wide that had been laid on the ground.
Some pits were prepared for spring tree planting.
A willow, two peach trees, one elm tree, one locust tree and one mulberry tree were planted beside the fish pond. When they grew into lush shade trees, they would not only shade the pond from the sun and cool down in summer, but also provide a place where they could sit and fish under the tree, and eat the fruit leisurely. When they could not finish the fruits, they could feed it to the fish in the pond… how wonderful!
Shao Yunduan and Qiao Xuan were very satisfied by what they saw.
The leader told them that they could have the house settled after a few more days, and they were invited to have a look at it when the work was all done.
After completion, they would immediately install doors, windows, furniture, and then when the house was cleaned) people could move in within two days. When they left the village, it was still quite early and Qiao Xuan suggested going for a walk in the town, which Shao Yunduan agreed to.
In the twelfth lunar month, the town was extremely lively, with all kinds of goods around. Countless people were choosing thick cloth, cotton, buying dishes, candles, paper money, various dry goods and so on.
It would be even more lively as they approached the year end.
Qiao Xuan enjoyed shopping and bought a lot of odds and ends. There were small toys that children liked, silk flowers, and snacks.
Shao Yunduan kept her company and helped her hold goods.
But they were unlucky to run into a few students from the college.
Worse, two of them were Zhao Guanghua's followers.
Shao Yunduan frowned. It was too late to dodge them.
Zhao Guanghua's followers knew that Zhao Guanghua hated him, so they wanted to tease him. Hence, they approached Shao Yunduan.
"Oh look at this, aren't you Brother Shao? I haven't seen you for a long time at college."
"Haha, but he is not a student of our college any more. He has been driven out, did you forget about it?"
"Oh yes, it slipped my mind!"
"Brother Shao, I think Dean Meng punished you because he was very angry. What about us helping you out, Brother Shao? Maybe you can apologize to Dean Meng, and he can forgive you?
"Yeah, without teachers' guidance, Brother Shao will not be able to pass the examination."
"Brother Shao, don't take risks with your future!"
The two of them cooperated with each other, but Shao Yunduan ignored it. He knew clearly that he had the evidence proving that he did not do anything.
But if he apologized, things would get very different.
After all, why must he apologize without having made any mistakes?
"Thanks for your concern, but there is no need." Shao Yunduan greeted them back and said gently.
Qiao Xuan did not like these two men, and said to Shao Yunduan, "Darling, we
should leave.."
Shao Yunduan spoke to them with a lowered head. "Sorry, we are heading home soon. You can continue with shopping."
The others in the gang were in a good relationship with Shao Yunduan, but when Cultivated Talent Lin and Trainee Lu were teasing Shao Yunduan, they did not dare defend them. Otherwise they might offend Zhao Guanghua who would surely punish them in return.
Hearing that he was leaving, everyone let out a sigh of relief, waving him goodbye.
Cultivated Talent Lin sneered. "Brother Shao, you really don't understand that we are helping you, right? Instead, you are trying to drive us away?"
Trainee Lu snapped. "Brother Shao doesn't understand our kindness, but we are still Brother Shao's friends who care about you. If you don't want to go back to college, Brother Shao, you can go to the elderly man who claims himself to be enriched with knowledge and wants to find a disciple! You can give it a try, maybe you can make it to a high level in the examination?
"Hahaha, that is very true!"
Cultivated Talent Lin laughed as well.
The other students who heard about the elderly man could not help but feel like laughing.
Shao Yunduan and Qiao Xuan left the place in a hurry.
"Darling, those two men are so annoying. Don't get mad, just ignore them." Qiao Xuan responded angrily as she took Shao Yunduan's arm.
Shao Yunduan glanced at her, saying with a smile "No, I am not angry, you should not be angry either."
Qiao Xuan was startled and laughed. "I got angry, yes, but you didn't, right?"
Shao Yunduan grinned at her. "Don't be mad. Me and them are never going to hang out together, so I don't care what they say."
"Okay!" Qiao Xuan nodded with bent eyebrows. She felt so relaxed as she asked curiously. "But what elderly man were they talking about?"
Shao Yunduan shook his head. "No idea…
Qiao Xuan's eyes brightened and she suggested. "Let's go to Mingren Tang and ask Manager Qin about it!"
The town was too small for Manager Qin not to know everything.
Qiao Xuan wanted to explore the man's words. She was curious about what she had heard.
Shao Yunduan could not help but laugh. His wife was just too inquisitive.
He had not taken it into account, but since his wife wanted to know about this, they could visit Mingren Tang.
"Okay, let's go!'
The couple came to Mingren Tang, and Manager Qin smiled. "Some more good things?
Qiao Xuan smiled. "Not every time! I have got many chestnuts, yams, and mushrooms at home. I will give you some if you want them."
Manager Qin, who was just joking, suddenly felt like eating mushrooms. He smiled. "Okay, mushrooms with chicken is the best dish ever! I am waiting for your goods to come!"
Qiao Xuan smiled. "Okay, I will bring them to you in a couple of days!' Manager Qin took them to the back hall and started to talk.
The couple asked about the elderly man's interest in taking disciples.
Manager Qin laughed involuntarily and nodded. "It's true. Three days ago, one elderly man was here with his pageboy, and they were eating at Restaurant Yanhe. The elderly man claimed that he is not occupied, so he wants to take in a disciple to teach. He even has a few conditions for it. He wrote a poster and had it pasted at the gate of the Restaurant Yanhe. Everyone has been laughing at him ever since.."
Shao Yunduan and Qiao Xuan found the whole thing very interesting.
"We did not notice the poster when we went in. We will check it out later."
Manager Qin smiled. "The poster is gone! Someone ripped it off. The pageboy in our medical center went to join in the fun, but after listening to a few words, the poster required that the students who want to consult him must be a Cultivated Talent, be under the age of twenty-five years, not be too fat or too short, and have a good-looking appearance. Also, he must write well, be smart and studious, be diligent, be healthy, be on call and so on. But most importantly, be in line with his feelings!'
"So, even if that disciple meets every other condition, but does not stand in line with his feelings, he will not pass on any knowledge to him? This is just a joke. He is trying to make a show of it. At least I think so!"
Shao Yunduan and Qiao Xuan. '
"Really?"
"The man seems very interesting! Haha!"
Manager Qin had no more information to share. When they were done with the conversation, they stayed for a while and then bid farewell to Manager Qin.
Qiao Xuan smiled. "Darling, I think that the man is interesting. Let's go and explore!"
Shao Yunduan helplessly threw a look at Qiao Xuan, smiling. "Let's just go home."
Qiao Xuan was very curious, and just could not help but think about this. She tried to convince Shao Yunduan harder. "But I think that people who dare to brag this much must have some skills. Let's just go and take a look, alright? If he is a big liar, we can go home directly. Manager Qin said that the person lives at Linhe Village in the southern outskirts. It's in the same direction as our home, just requires a few more turns!"
Shao Yunduan could not say anything to counter her, so he just nodded in agreement.
They left the town and headed to Linhe village.
The elderly man and the pageboy lived in an old house, which looked neat and well-arranged with a small yard.
'Excuse me, is this Elderly Yun's home?
An elderly servant squeaked the door open and looked expressionless. "Here for the teacher? Write some words first!"
The couple. '
Qiao Xuan smiled, and gave Shao Yunduan a push. "Darling, let's do it." Shao Yunduan was here to keep Qiao Xuan company for fun, but when he heard the servant's tone, he could not help but feel unconvinced. He nodded and said to the servant politely, "It is cold outside, can you let my wife inside so she can get warm?
The servant looked at Shao Yunduan, eased his expression and nodded. "Okay."
"Thanks!"
Qiao Xuan smiled and went into the room.
The servant took Shao Yunduan to study closeby.
It was very quiet in the house. The elderly man must be away.
The inside and outside of this house were clean and tidy. Although it was an old house, it had obviously been repaired. It looked quite simple and rustic, but it gave people a very comfortable feeling.
That servant was in his 40s, dressed in a dark outfit. He did not particularly show anything, but Qiao Xuan felt that he was not just an ordinary servant.
Maybe this elderly man was capable of something.
That would be great…
Qiao Xuan started to make imaginative stories in her head and looked up, seeing Shao Yunduan walking towards her..
Qiao Xuan got taken aback. She stood up and smiled. "How did it go?
Shao Yunduan pinched her wrist, whispering. "We will talk outside."
Qiao Xuan nodded.
The couple waved goodbye to the servant and left.
Getting on the wagon, Qiao Xuan said to Shao Yunduan, "Darling…"
Shao Yunduan sighed slightly, replying in a little distressed tone. "I did not meet the elderly man, but this uncle is excellent too. After a rough look, he said that my handwriting was too small, my strokes were erratic, and my mind was not stable enough. In fact, I also felt a little bit like this, but it was not as thorough as he said."
The servant's comments were sharp and straightforward. A person without self-knowledge would not be able to accept that, and might even mock him for not knowing and pretending to understand everything.
But Shao Yunduan was different.
He was a Cultivated Talent, and he flushed after hearing the comments. But he knew clearly that this well-behaved servant was telling the truth.
Qiao Xuan was shocked to hear his words.
She blinked and sighed. "So the elderly man you did not meet should be even more capable?"
"I think so." Shao Yunduan looked earnest, as he smiled. "The uncle asked me to visit him again tomorrow morning, and I should meet him at that time."
Qiao Xuan's eyes sparkled. "Darling, you should definitely work hard. If that elderly man is capable, he can help you. He will definitely be much better than the low-class college teachers!"
Qiao Xuan found the whole thing becoming more real and less vague.
Shao Yunduan was motivated too. He nodded and said, "I will be there tomorrow morning."
The couple went home and Shao Yunduan walked into the study. He was thinking about a few articles, which might be of some help the next day.
Qiao Xuan suddenly thought that Shao Yunduan should not visit the elderly man empty handed. But what should he take with them?
That elderly man was a very strange person, so she needed to think about this carefully.
The gifts should not be too precious, not fitting his style.
Food should be the best, produced by a farming family.
Qiao Xuan asked her mother-in-law for help. They held a discussion and finally decided upon two pieces of smoked meat, a portion of smoked sausage, a package of dried radish, a package of dried plums, a few fresh winter bamboo shoots, a few salted duck eggs, and some preserved eggs.
There weren't too many things, but they were produced by the family, well
prepared and full of good intentions.
Qiao Xuan told Shao Yunduan about it and he smiled. "Thank you for your help!"
Qiao Xuan flushed and smiled shyly. "Mom helped too!"
"Yes." Shao Yunduan chuckled. "Thanks for the help, Mom!"
They ate breakfast, and left, with Shao Sanlang driving the wagon.
Qiao Xuan was very nervous, but the others did not know that Shao Yunduan was visiting someone special.
Soon after lunch, Shao Liulang suddenly showed up.
"Eldest Uncle, Eldest Aunt, something is wrong! Cousin made a mistake and offended Dean Meng of our college. Dean Meng got so angry that he drove him out of the college! He is not going to study at our college any more!"
"How can my cousin offend Dean Meng? Dean Meng is the teacher and he should be respected.. Cousin is just too stupid! What should be done now?
Shao Liulang kept making complaints, pretending as if he was distressed on behalf of his cousin. But he looked really excited and could not help but smile.
That speech startled everyone in the first section of the family.
"What? What is it?"
"That is not possible! How can my Fifth Brother offend the dean?"
"Yeah, you must have heard it wrong!'
"Talk about it in detail. How did Yunduan offend Dean Meng?"
Shao Liulang cleared his throat. "I went to the college yesterday and heard about this. But I am so concerned about him so I hurried back. Where is Cousin? Is he not at home? Is he too ashamed to come out?"
"But it is his fault! The incident just happened. And he can't escape from it. We have to solve the problem, right?"
"Yeah!" Eldest Uncle nodded. "Just tell me what happened. Yunduan is not at home, it is so annoying!'
Hearing Shao Yunduan was not at home, Shao Liulang was surprised, but he became cheerful again.
Good that he was not at home, in case he was interrupted.
"Let me tell you."
"Let me tell you!'
Qiao Xuan walked in at that moment.
Hearing Shao Liulang's arrival, Shao Xiaoqi rushed towards Qiao Xuan.
He did not trust his cousin, but he trusted his Fifth Sister-in-law."
Hearing what Shao Liulang said, Qiao Xuan looked at him angrily.
Shao Liulang glanced at Qiao Xuan indifferently. "Fifth Sister-in-law, don't mess around. This is a huge deal!"
"Since it is a huge deal, I am telling the story. You are just trying to mess around!"
"I know this better than you. My husband and I went into town and he told me everything. Oh most importantly, the actual version differs from yours!"
"My husband was not wrong!'
Shao Liulang sneered. "But he was driven out of the college by Dean Meng, is that right?"
Qiao Xuan sneered. "That is because of the money. Someone set him up!' "That is just a claim made by him!"
"You are the one making a false claim, and you wish that my husband is not doing well."
"Stop it!'
Ms. Qiao turned impatient. "Shut up, Shao Liulang. Ms. Qiao, you talk!"
Yang Xiaoni added. "Yeah, Fifth Sister-in-law, tell us the truth!"
Everyone supported Qiao Xuan and ignored him. Angrily, he turned to the Eldest Uncle.
But Eldest Uncle did not meet his eyes.
Shao Liulang sneered inwardly. Okay, let's hear her version!
Qiao Xuan narrated the whole thing step by step.
She did not reveal the conjecture that Zhao Guanghua must have teamed up with others, otherwise Shao Yunduan's reputation might be ruined.
So, she pushed all the blame to Zhao Guanghua.
Zhao Guanghua and his followers set up Shao Yunduan, and that irritated Dean Meng, who ordered 50 hits on all of them. Shao Yunduan was totally innocent. But he was so good that people got jealous of him, and made him run into this trap..
Dean Meng was too angry to say anything, and he was used to being respected all the time. He had to vent his anger when his favorite orchids were broken. He just could not hold the anger to make himself feel worse
That was why Shao Yunduan did not want to continue facing the wrath and chose to go home.
He could still study at home.
Ms. Fang and the other members of the family became irritated. They could not blame Dean Meng but they were all thinking the same thing inside their hearts.
They were quite disappointed as well. Wasn't Dean Meng supposed to be a knowledgeable scholar? How could he behave so unfairly?
Shao Liulang did not believe what Qiao Xuan said. "If it had not been Cousin's fault, why didn't he defend himself? Didn't he feel unhappy? Dean Meng is not a confused man!"
Qiao Xuan was surprised. "Dean Meng is never confused. He loves the orchids and he was very angry. Also, didn't I just say that my husband did not defend himself because he did not want to make Dean Meng feel even worse. Otherwise, those three students would have insisted on the conviction and made excuses. Would you take responsibility if Dean Meng got annoyed?" "Those students already admitted that they broke the orchids, and they set up my husband because they were jealous of him. My husband had an alibi, clear and straightforward, everyone from the college knows about this, but only you have no idea what is going on."
"Cousin, you have been reading for years, but you still don't know that you should look into the case first before spreading the story!'
Shao Liulang.
Ms. Fang got annoyed and snapped at Shao Liulang. "You ruthless man! How dare you come to us and talk about this? But for Ms. Qiao, we would all have been scammed by you! I am warning you, you should not think about spreading the rumor in the village! Otherwise I will give you a hard time during the New Year!"
"You better pass on the warning to your mother too!"
Shao Liulang shivered out of anger, but he looked very guilty.
Shao Dalang, who had always had a good temper, was not pleased either. "Cousin, it is your fault. You should have looked into the matter first before telling us about it. You just frightened us!"
Eldest Uncle sighed annoyedly too. "Liulang, you… don't do this any more! Dalang is right, you should talk about something only after you look into the matter!"
Qiao Xuan chuckled. "I have noticed that you have been at home after the college examination, and you have not been to the college for a long time. You must have lost the method of looking into the news. It is soon going to be the New Year. Are you going to college or not after that? What about going there after the spring plow next year? You need to do some labor for your home since you are not promising enough to have a future in studies, right? You can't just not do anything, right?"
Shao Liulang got both annoyed and embarrassed. "What do you mean?
He was too guilty to go to the college again after he failed the college examination. He had been hiding at home, claiming that he was exhausted. So, he needed to stay at home and rest.
Qiao Xuan did not like to reveal people's drawbacks. But she wished to reveal Shao Liulang's shortcomings at this moment.
She was very willing to do so.
"Cousin, you are a scholar.. How can you fail to notice my meaning? I am being kind-hearted!"
Ms. Fang sneered. "True, don't ignore our kindness! Be careful not to become someone who can neither read nor plant crops!"
Qiao Xuan laughed. "You are right, Mom!"
Ms. Fang looked proud. "Yeah, not sure if he understands it though!'
He, of course, got it. Shao Liulang became really annoyed and said, "I was just passing on the news out of kindness, but you are all laughing at me! You are not good people either!"
Then, he left in anger.
Ms. Fang shouted in a loud voice. "Be sure to tell your parents to keep their mouth shut!"
Shao Liulang almost tripped himself over.
Eldest Uncle could not help but look at Qiao Xuan. "Liulang is already suffering a lot for not passing the examination, why push him?"
Ms. Fang was displeased. "How can you say that? Ms. Qiao is defending her husband. Did you hear what Liulang said? He had made up stories about your son!"
"Dad." Qiao Xuan smiled. "Mom is right. I was just very displeased. Also, maybe my cousin will become really hard-working after this stimulation, and pass the examination the next time?
Ms. Fang nodded. "Yeah, yeah what a good method. Ms. Qiao, you are so smart!"
Qiao Xuan smiled. "Thanks, Mom!"
Eldest Uncle, '
"Anyway!" Eldest Uncle felt that he would get really annoyed if he continued speaking to the two of them. Ms. Qiao was so thick-skinned. Any other daughter-in-law would get embarrassed when scolded by her father-in-law.
But she seemed unrepentant.
Moreover, she was still laughing cheekily!
"Then, what will Yunduan do, if he can not go to college?
Everyone was startled, and turned to look at Qiao Xuan.
Qiao Xuan,
She was confused. Why was everyone staring at her? She had no idea!
"My husband should have an idea of his own. Let's wait until he comes home…"
"Okay…" Ms. Fang sighed. "Let's wait until he comes home."
As the group was dismissed. Qiao Xuan smiled at Ms. Fang. "Husband did not tell us about it because he did not want to worry us. But I noticed his displeasure after spending one day with him. He told me not to reveal this to you. He knows what to do."
"Mom, he has never made you worried and disappointed. He must have an idea of his own. Don't worry!'
Ms. Fang felt much better after hearing that. She nodded and smiled. "Yeah, Yunduan has been very understanding since childhood. He even knew how to comfort me when he was young. He should have an idea of his own."
It was not until evening when Shao Sanlang and Shao Yunduan arrived home in the cold.
They had coal basins at home and the thick door drapery drove the chill away.
Yang Xiaoni served them hot tea.
Ms. Fang, Eldest Uncle, Dalang and Qi, as well as Taotao were all gathered in the room, hearing their return.
Shao Sanlang was drinking tea when he glanced about, asking curiously. "What is going on with you all?"
Ms. Fang rolled her eyes and said, "Just drink your tea.. Yunduan, feel better
after the tea?"
Shao Yunduan nodded and smiled. "I was in the wagon and I should be fine. But the Third Brother was out in the cold."
Ms. Fang said, "He has thick skin and with so many clothes on, he won't freeze!"
Shao Yunduan chucled. "Mom, anything you want to tell me?
Ms. Fang sighed. "I don't know what to say, but let your wife recount the story!"
Shao Yunduan's heart skipped a beat, as he turned to Qiao Xuan nervously. What was going on?
Qiao Xuan gave him a comforting look, and narrated the episode about Shao Liulang's visit.
Shao Sanlang snapped angrily. "What a scumbag! He wishes us bad luck. How horrible!"
Shao Yunduan said, "Mom, don't worry about this. Believe me, I am not affected by this turn of events. I can definitely make it in the next examination!"
Ms. Fang replied. "But you can't go to college again, can you? Is it okay if you don't have anyone instructing you? Dean Meng should know that you are innocent, what about begging him for forgiveness with some precious presents…"
"No need, Mom!" Shao Yunduan smiled. "Don't worry, I know what I should do!"
Ms. Fang still looked hesitant.
Shao Yunduan was worried that she would do something behind his back, so he added. "Mom, I have visited the province two times and I have learned more than I could ever learn here at the college! Brother Xie is from a literary family, and with his help, I can do better than ever! Moreover, I will go to him in spring again!"
"Also, Mom, just think about this. What can I learn from someone like Dean Meng?"
Shao Yunduan knew pretty well that the Qiao Family was behind the incident. Dean Meng was just an ordinary dean, not very evil but not straightforward either.
He was not going to offend the Qiao Family for his sake.
So, there was no need to beg him for forgiveness.
Also, he really did not want to beg him for forgiveness.
Ms. Fang had been used to following what Shao Yunduan said because he was her most precious son among all of her children. She could not help but rely on him.
"For real?"
"Yes, for real. Please believe me, Mom!"
"Okay." Ms. Fang sighed and smiled. "You always have ideas of your own. I believe you!'
Shao Yunduan nodded. "I won't disappoint you!'
"Well!" Ms. Fang waved her hands, smiling casually. "No need to get disappointed at all. I have never been disappointed by any of you. Now we are living a very good life and you have just become a Cultivated Talent, which is a huge honor for the family already. I am satisfied with this!"
Shao Yunduan felt his heart filled with warmth. "Thanks, Mom!"
But he was going to make it to the next level, and one after that too.
After talking for a while, Shao Yunduan returned to the room to change his shoes, and Qiao Xuan followed behind.
"How was it today? Did you meet the elderly man? Is he a very capable person?
Otherwise he would have come home earlier.
"Yeah." Shao Yunduan nodded and looked very excited. "Master Yun is very knowledgeable. No wonder he has put forward so many conditions boldly. I listened to his speech and I feel that I have read ten more years of books. Master Yun asked me to visit him every third day, and he would give me homework and instruct me to do some article interpretation. I feel more confident about the examination already!"
Shao Yunduan could not hold his excitement any more. He was totally amazed by his experience during the day..
If he had been 70% certain that he could make it to Recommended Man, now he was 90% sure that he would make it. After studying with Master Yun for half a year, he was even 70% sure to make it to the final shortlist. If he continued) he would definitely make it to Advanced Scholar too. He was feeling different now.
"Thanks! But for you, we would not have visited him the other day…"
Shao Yunduan was feeling very emotional and grateful. Had it not been for Qiao Xuan's curiosity, they would not have insisted on going there, since everything sounded so ridiculous at that time, no one would have assumed that it was for real.
But it was for real!
Moreover, that elderly man was very capable!
Qiao Xuan smiled brightly as she turned to look at him with sparkling eyes. "I was curious and led you there, but it is you who are capable enough that Master Yun took you in! We are now heading towards the bright end of a tunnel, and we are going to make Zhao Guanghua and his followers so annoyed!"
In fact, Qiao Xuan behaved that day not entirely because she was simply curious. She just felt that some real talents tended to have weird tempers and acted differently from ordinary people.
She felt that a visit would not hurt.
Thankfully that visit turned out to be worth the while.
Shao Yunduan smiled. "Still, I need to thank you. No wonder, Mom calls you a lucky star!"
Qiao Xuan smiled too but she was feeling quite shy…
Shao Yunduan added. "Master Yun says that he is willing to teach me but he can't take me in as a disciple now."
That meant that he did not think Shao Yunduan was qualified enough to
become his disciple.
His words made Qiao Xuan feel motivated. She countered and said, "But you are so good that Master Yun is still so particular about you? Just work hard, Darling. He will accept you someday!"
Shao Yunduan smiled and nodded. "Okay!'
That was what he was thinking too.
Qiao Xuan asked Shao Yunduan if Master Yun liked the presents.
Shao Yunduan smiled. "He loved them, especially salted duck eggs, dried radishes, smoked meat and sausages. Actually, he liked all of them! At noon, the servants steamed salted duck eggs and fried smoked meat with dried radish and garlic sprouts."
Qiao Xuan was happy. "Next time, you can bring some delicious food with you, a few things each time, okay?"
Shao Yunduan nodded with a smile.
Those were not precious, but filled with his sincerity.
Qiao Xuan was very glad, so she wanted to celebrate a little and cooked a few dishes.
A dish of fried winter bamboo shoots with smoked meat, and a dish of steamed mandarin fish with smoked meat.
She cut moderately thick bamboo shoots and stir-fried them with smoked meat. The winter bamboo shoots absorbed the excess oil from the bacon. The fresh fragrance of the bamboo shoots and the salty fragrance of the smoked meat complemented each other perfectly. She put them on a plate and garnished them with some green chives. The fragrance was tangy, the oil was shiny and attractive, and it looked wonderful.
Qiao Xuan's food was always so interesting, even though they were just the same dishes all over.
Sliced smoked meat was neatly arranged in a circle around mandarin fish crossed with a knife. After steaming, the snow-white fish meat and the bright red and translucent smoked meat slices were mixed in half and half to contrast with each other. The steaming heat carried the fragrance into the air, making people salivate.
Qiao Xuan suggested that she was going to make claypot rice for lunch the next day.
They had a few stoves and claypots at home. She had them made when they were processing smoked meat.
They should definitely eat claypot rice with smoked meat!
Shao Yunduan did not tell the family about Master Yun. For one thing, they would not understand the importance of Master Yun, and for another, Master Yun did not allow him to reveal the secret.
Master Yun liked him and had decided to take him as the only disciple. So, he asked his servant Cang to rip all the posters in the town.
For that, he was laughed at by people, who believed that he must have learned of his mistake and stopped the fantasy.
But he did not bother to make any explanation.
He usually traveled around with a few servants and settled down whenever he felt like it. When he felt bored, he would take in some disciples and pass on his knowledge. He did everything on his own will.
He did not care if he missed some potential talents. Real talents would never understand what they themselves needed and had missed taking from him.
Also, he believed that Shao Yunduan was the most important disciple, whom he should not reveal randomly.
Anyway, he just needed to understand what he wanted himself, and that was all.
Shao Yunduan had a donkey cart, so it was very convenient for him to travel there every third day and spend one whole day from morning to the evening with Master Yun.
He would always bring some vegetables from home, and smoked sausages for Master Yun and the servants to eat. Everyone liked the stuff from his house.
He was thinking about holding some ceremony but Master Yun waved that off. Hence, he dropped the idea as well.
Ms. Fang was worried that Shao Liulang would spread the rumor about her son's dismissal from the college, so she kept an eye on the family to see what they could possibly do. But it seemed that there was no rumor that came out of their mouths, so she dropped the surveillance eventually.
Shao Liulang would not dare to spread any rumor. His inner secret was revealed by Qiao Xuan and with one more word out of his mouth, the first section of the family would talk much worse about him.
Ms. Ma was worried too. She was quite scared of Ms. Fang and she was getting more and more worried, for some reason…
They thought that it would be the end of the whole thing, when Third Uncle and Second Uncle came to speak with Eldest Uncle, telling him that since Shao Yunduan was driven out of the college, he could just drop the idea of attending the examination. They did not think that Shao Yunduan would make it, when he had no teacher to give him instructions.
"What is the point of spending money on him? Yunduan could just come and help to do some farming at home for you!'
"Yeah! Our son is very smart, and we are going to support Liulang to continue with his studies. If he makes it in the end, we can all benefit from him." Hearing those stupid words, Ms. Fang drove them out and shut the door.
"Honestly, you old man! That college accused Duan for what he did not do. It is just a shitty place! Duan doesn't have to go there to learn knowledge. Duan is a friend of Young Master Xie and he is more reliable and can help him better than anyone at the college. Duan says that he knows what to do, so we need to trust him. Don't mess around with your brothers!"
"Those stupid people only talk nonsense! One more word from them, and I will drive them out with a club!"
Eldest Uncle was quite displeased too. He replied weakly. "Alright then, just drop it. I am not saying that Yunduan should not attend the examination. He has studied for so many years and he has made it to Cultivated Talent, of course he should continue…
Ms. Fang snorted. "Good that you are reliable for once!"
Eldest Uncle, '
Had he not been reliable before?
Hearing what happened, Shao Yunduan laughed and said nothing more.
Shao Liulang, on the other hand, got quite stimulated by what Qiao Xuan said, and decided to attend the school after all.
He did not need to be ashamed of anything. He wasn't the only one who failed the test.
The holiday did not start until one day before the preliminary New Year.
So, Zhao Guanghua kept asking Shao Liulang about how Shao Yunduan was doing these days..
Qiao Wei was very pleased to see Qiao Xuan and Shao Yunduan having a hard time. So, Zhao Guanghua was going to get some news out of the guy in front of him to make her happy.
Shao Liulang would never say anything good about Shao Yunduan.
He kept complaining about Shao Yunduan, and described how distressed he was after he was expelled.
Zhao Guanghua was very glad to hear the news.
Soon, he narrated the whole story to Qiao Wei.
Qiao Wei was glad to hear this. She was now sure that Shao Yunduan was never going to become a successful man in the future and Qiao Xuan would live the rest of her life as a rough, ordinary countryside bitch.
But Qiao Wei and Zhao Guanghua soon would know that what they wished would not turn out to be true.
Shao Liulang was so glad to see Zhao Guanghua inviting him intimately. He believed that he was now considered a good friend of Zhao Guanghua.
He thought of Zhao Ming whom he fell for, and kept sucking up to Zhao Guanghua, implicitly saying that he wanted to visit the Zhao Family.
He really wished to go there, and most importantly, he wished to meet Zhao Ming again.
He and Lady Zhao must be destined to see each other. Lady Zhao beamed at him last time and they might get a chance to have a chat today.
Lady Zhao was definitely going to be moved by him and then, he was going to ask his mother to hire a matchmaker who could help them establish the marital relationship.
The more he thought about this, the more happy he became.
But he did not have a good residence. He wished that he could have an equally good house like that of the first section of the family.
Shao Liulang started to feel jealous again.
But Zhao Guanghua did not care about Shao Liulang at all.
Even though he was not a smart guy, he could sense that Shao Liulang wished to visit his home.
However, Zhao Guanghua ignored his suggestion.
He was not going to let anyone in his house!
Zhao Guanghua did not even turn him down with excuses. He just snapped at him, saying that it was not a good time, stopping Shao Liulang from saying anything more.
Shao Liulang felt very disappointed, but soon, he got increasingly motivated.
He believed that good things never came easy, and that it must be the barriers he needed to overcome for his relationship with Lady Zhao. As long as they loved each other and never gave up, they would definitely get married in the end…
Shao Liulang was definitely good at making up stories!
In the middle of the last month before New Year, the Yuezheng Family asked Qu Shan to pass on some gifts to the first section of the family.
First Madame prepared things which included 150 kgs of silver-frost charcoal, two hand heaters, two copper soup pots, several pieces of deerskin and sheepskin for boots, several pieces of fox, mink, squirrel, and rabbit fur for clothes, and thick four pieces of snow cloaks and cloaks for men and women. Her gift also included 15 kgs of fine pearl rice, 15 kgs of glutinous rice, pastries and candies, dried seafood, a whole slaughtered sheep, two roasted suckling pigs, fine wine, and a box containing fashionable silk flowers from the province, four sets of skin care creams and powders, several toys and so on.
There were not any precious items such as gold, silver, gemstones and jade, but these were all practical things.
Especially silver-frost charcoal, hand heaters as well as the cloaks. They were exactly what they needed.
Everyone in the family had a share, for example, the cosmetics were for the girls.
Xie Jingrong also had presents prepared for them.
Qiao Xuan and Shao Yunduan were very surprised by what they received.
First Madame was just too generous at this point.
Ms. Fang was startled by the presents. But Qiao Xuan explained and said that they helped the Yuezheng Family last time when they were in the province, thus this was the reciprocity that they received. The two families would hang out like friends in the future.
Only then did Ms. Fang feel assured..