When Lu Wanzhou arrived at the village school, the elderly tutor was rather surprised, though he said nothing. After all, the boy had paid his tuition. He had expected Lu Wanzhou to cause trouble, but instead the child listened obediently throughout the day's lessons.
Not only did he pay careful attention, he was quick-witted, too. Whenever the tutor explained an example, Lu Wanzhou could immediately apply the principle to other problems. The old man was quite pleased. After all, the boy had already passed the preliminary scholar examination; he was a cut above the other village children.
When classes ended that afternoon, Lu Wanzhou returned home. Madam Zhao smiled and said, "Zhou'er, you're back. Your father has gone into the mountains to collect firewood. You've come back at just the right time. Go help him bring it home."
Lu Wanzhou narrowed his eyes. Had he not known the plot, those gentle words might actually have convinced him that Madam Zhao was a loving mother.
"Mother, we have plenty of firewood at home. Besides, I still have schoolwork to finish."
"I'll go when my homework is done." Lu Wanzhou's lips curved upward, but inwardly he was grumbling. This pair knew how to sound kind while working the original owner like a beast of burden behind everyone's backs.
They claimed the eldest Yu was out carrying firewood, but in truth he wasn't even in the mountains yet. Each time, they waited for Lu Wanzhou to finish all the work before leisurely making their way up the hill. The boy not only had to chop firewood but also cut grass to feed the chickens.
Only after he'd finished everything and darkness had fallen would Madam Zhao or her husband go up with a carrying basket to meet him. They would casually put a few sticks of firewood into his basket, then stop to chat with the other villagers.
They would complain that the boy wasn't good at farmwork and preferred playing in the mountains, all to show how much they doted on him. In reality, the original owner had done more than his share of filthy, exhausting work, while the couple enjoyed an excellent reputation.
Lu Wanzhou was hardworking, but he was no fool. By the time he'd finished his homework, darkness had fallen. The eldest Yu returned wearing a thunderous expression. He had waited in the mountains for ages, but even after nightfall Lu Wanzhou had not come. In the end, he'd had to return by himself.
At dinner that night, every dish with any real fat in it was placed before the eldest Yu. Madam Zhao also kept putting food into her daughter's bowl.
When Lu Wanzhou reached for the dishes, Madam Zhao did not stop him this time. She simply smiled. "Wanzhou, life isn't easy these days. Cooking oil and salt are both expensive."
Of course Lu Wanzhou understood what they meant. At her words, he smiled and said, "If the family is short of money, why not sell the farmland my parents left me? We can't very well leave the family without oil and salt for cooking."
They'd had to work hard to coax him into surrendering that land. Hearing his suggestion, Madam Zhao fell silent.
After a long pause, the eldest Yu smiled. "Wanzhou, you're living with us now, and the Lu family courtyard isn't being used. How about giving me the deed? I can transfer the property into my name. It will make things much more convenient later."
"Convenient?" Lu Wanzhou asked, puzzled. "Convenient for what?"
The eldest Yu had only been making an excuse. He hadn't expected Lu Wanzhou to press him for an explanation, and his expression changed at once.
Madam Zhao quickly intervened. "Oh, Wanzhou, we think of you as our own flesh and blood. You're still just a child, and we worry that you won't be able to manage the deed properly. Why not transfer it to your father? In the future, it will still belong to you and Mianmian."
Yu Mian kept his head lowered and ate obediently. Hearing his name made no difference to him.
After a brief silence, Lu Wanzhou smiled. "My parents left it to me, so naturally I'll look after it. Uncle Yu, Aunt Zhao, you needn't worry."
Madam Zhao frowned at his reply. He wasn't even calling them Father and Mother anymore! But since her husband said nothing, she couldn't very well continue arguing.
That night, when they were going to bed, Madam Zhao and the eldest Yu whispered together.
"What's got into that brat? Now he refuses to work, and on top of that he's competing with us for food. He's studied for so long, but he's never achieved anything worthwhile," the eldest Yu said in a low voice.
Madam Zhao considered the matter. "Maybe it's because he was ill a few days ago and we didn't take care of him… He's still a child, but at least he's passed the preliminary scholar examination. He's got brains."
The eldest Yu frowned. "We still have to get that deed. The boy doesn't look like he'll amount to anything. We can't let him keep eating at our expense."
"Then what do you suggest?"
After thinking it over, the eldest Yu said quietly, "He's just a child. A good scare ought to do it."
"Scare him?"
The eldest Yu smiled. "Just watch what I do."
Meanwhile, Lu Wanzhou felt something constantly shifting inside his quilt. He lay with his eyes closed for a long time, but the little creature under the covers showed no sign of settling down. Finally, he had no choice but to sit up.
"What are you doing?"
He felt the small creature tremble. Just as he was about to lift the quilt, a pair of yellowish little hands emerged first, cradling a hard-boiled egg. The white was spotless, and the shell had been carefully peeled away.
Then a little head popped out, covered in fluffy hair. The child's face was sallow, but his eyes were bright.
"Eggy. Eggy for Big Brother to eat."
"An egg?"
"Where did you get it?"
Yu Mian thought for a moment before whispering, "Auntie… Auntie gave it to me."
"If she gave it to you, why didn't you eat it?"
Yu Mian blinked. "Big Brother was sick, so it's for Big Brother… If Big Brother eats his fill, he'll study… study better."
"Big Brother, eat." Yu Mian smiled, looking utterly obedient.
Lu Wanzhou's heart softened. He smiled and said, "Big Brother doesn't want any. You eat it yourself."
"Big Brother, I'm not dirty. The egg is clean. Really clean." Yu Mian tried to hide his hands as he spoke in a tiny voice.
Lu Wanzhou smiled. "I'm not worried you're dirty. I'm just not hungry right now."
"Not hungry?" Yu Mian tilted his head and looked at him for a long while before whispering, "Not hungry."
"Mm."
"Then Big Brother can eat it when he's hungry." Yu Mian held the egg out to him. When Lu Wanzhou didn't take it, the child's face began to crumple with hurt again.
"You eat it."
"Big Brother, eat."
"You eat it. Big Brother isn't hungry."
"Big Brother, eat. It will make you healthy. Make you smart."
Lu Wanzhou could not outargue the little simpleton. In the end, they split the egg, half for each of them.
After eating the egg, Yu Mian quickly fell asleep, but Lu Wanzhou couldn't sleep no matter how hard he tried.
He didn't know if he would ever go home, or even whether he could survive here. Beyond the events of the original novel, everything was unknown.
He was anxious and frightened. No matter how calmly he behaved by day, at night, when he was alone with his thoughts, he couldn't help worrying about everything.
Lu Wanzhou looked out at the clear, brilliant moon. His eyes began to sting. As he kept watching, he felt something cold on his cheeks. Raising a hand to touch them, he discovered he was crying.
He wiped away his tears and quietly reassured himself that perhaps this was all a dream. When he woke up, he would still be himself.
He would shoulder his schoolbag and go to class, eat the breakfasts his mother cooked, get into the middle school he wanted, and remain the good, obedient child his mother and the other adults knew.
Looking out at the moon, Lu Wanzhou made a wish in a small voice. "I want to go home."
He had no idea when he finally fell asleep. But when he opened his eyes the next morning, the room looked exactly as it had the day before. It felt like a pebble thrown into a still lake: the surface of his heart shattered into widening ripples that refused to settle.
Lu Wanzhou pinched his hand and coaxed himself softly, "This dream is lasting a long time, but that's all right. I'll wake up eventually."
There was no one at home, and all the food in the kitchen was locked away. Lu Wanzhou went to school on an empty stomach. When he returned at noon, the house was still deserted. He felt dizzy, as though his blood sugar had dropped.
There was nobody in the house and he couldn't find anything to eat, so he could only return to school. But he heard a soft rustling noise. Turning around, he saw Yu Mian hiding near the courtyard gate, his face rather pale.
"What's wrong?"
Yu Mian looked at Lu Wanzhou and bit his lip. "Hungry," he whispered.
Lu Wanzhou knew the couple were vicious, but he'd never imagined they would neglect their own child, too.
"Do you know where your parents went?"
Yu Mian looked up at him with innocent, guileless eyes. "Don't know. Daddy… Father and Little Sister, Mother… not here. Mian… didn't see them," he whispered.
"Hungry." Yu Mian held Lu Wanzhou's hand with one hand and rubbed his stomach with the other. His lips had lost all their color.
Lu Wanzhou felt powerless. He felt the small hand gripping his begin to loosen. After a moment's hesitation, he took hold of it firmly and said, "Come with me."
When Yu Mian didn't move, Lu Wanzhou frowned. Only after a long while did the child whisper, "Numb…"
"Hm?"
Seeing Lu Wanzhou's frown, Yu Mian grew frightened. His voice trembled as he repeated softly, "Numb… My legs have gone numb."
Lu Wanzhou hesitated, then helped him up. "Climb on."
He carried Yu Mian on his back to the village headman's house. There he pretended to be an innocent, helpless child, telling them that the adults had all gone out and the two of them had nothing to eat.
The village headman's wife was especially kindhearted. Seeing how pale Yu Mian had become, she hurriedly cooked some noodles for the two children.
Yu Mian was afraid of strangers and hesitated for quite a while. Only when hunger finally became unbearable did he start eating the noodles in tiny mouthfuls.
After finishing his own noodles, Lu Wanzhou left Yu Mian at the headman's house and went back to school.
The village headman's wife was both warmhearted and a terrible gossip. The eldest Yu and his family had gone off on their own and left two children without food. If these had been ordinary children, raising them a little roughly might not have been worth mentioning. But one was an orphan, and the other was simpleminded… Now there was something for the villagers to talk about.
By the time the eldest Yu and his wife returned, they heard people murmuring about them everywhere. The couple couldn't understand what had happened.
When the three members of the family entered the house, Madam Zhao caught the smell of cooked food and muttered, "You little death wish, have you opened my cupboards? Were you a starving ghost in your last life?"
Her face was livid with anger, but the instant she opened the door, her fury fizzled out.
"Mother? Auntie, the village headman's wife? Why are you both in our house?"
Seeing Madam Zhao and the eldest Yu come in, Lu Wanzhou smiled. "Father, Mother, you're back."
The village headman's wife had heard Madam Zhao's curses perfectly well. She gave a cold laugh. "We just came by for a visit. These two children hadn't had anything to eat, so I brought them some food."
The eldest Yu was shocked, too, but he recovered quickly and hurriedly smiled. "We left food for the children in the kitchen. They must have been too lazy to look. I'm sorry you had to trouble yourself."
The headman's wife snorted. She'd already inspected the Yu kitchen, and there was nothing there. Even the cooking oil and salt were locked in a cupboard. What food had they supposedly left?
She looked at the eldest Yu and said coldly, "Yu Da, you and Lu Hai were good friends. After he died, you took over all his farmland, and he entrusted his only son to you. A person ought to have a conscience."
With that, she left, and the remaining people exchanged uneasy looks.
Old Madam Yu frowned. "What is the matter with you two? If you have to go somewhere, send the children over to my place. You left them so hungry! If Wanzhou hadn't been clever, they might have gone without food all day."
"Mother, stay out of it. We simply forgot," the eldest Yu said with a frown. Why did his own mother have to interfere as well?
"Hmph." Old Madam Yu sneered. "Stay out of it? Go outside and listen to what the villagers are saying about you."
Having finished eating, Lu Wanzhou said with an innocent expression, "Father, Mother, this is my fault. I was hungry. If the villagers say bad things about you, I'll explain everything to them."
At those words, Madam Zhao caught her mother-in-law's reproachful look and felt a surge of resentment. But with Old Madam Yu there, she could only smile and say, "Good child, Mother simply forgot. Don't think too much about it. It's getting late. The two of you should go to bed."
Seeing the situation, Lu Wanzhou guessed that Old Madam Yu wanted to speak privately with them. He nodded, took Yu Mian by the hand, and led him back to their room, leaving the adults to it.
==========Author's Note:==========
One update a day, at an irregular time. Usually around six, at the latest nine. At other times I'm correcting typos.
Wanzhou was taking a selective entrance examination for middle school, by the way.
My completed novel: “The Young Husband Who Supports His Foolish Spouse Through Farming”
Sheng Yu transmigrated into a farming novel as a cannon-fodder love interest, a troublemaker despised by everyone.
He knocked his young scholar husband senseless, sold his younger sister-in-law into concubinage, and enraged his mother-in-law so badly that she died with unclosed eyes. His eventual fate was death by a thousand cuts.
To avoid that grisly end, Sheng Yu decided to mend his ways and stop making trouble. He would cling tightly to the male lead and enjoy a wonderful life.
The first step in earning affection: open a little shop, help the Shen family become rich, and turn the great male lead into a powerful benefactor!
The villagers were all snobs. When they heard that a young husband intended to open a shop, they laughed themselves silly.
Sheng Yu didn't care. He ran a convenience store in ancient times, selling instant noodles, fizzy soft drinks, and fried chicken. His pockets filled with money, enough to buy fields, land, and a house in the village.
He bought new clothes for his little simpleton, a gold bracelet for his mother-in-law, and pretty flower ornaments for his younger sister-in-law.
The villagers were green with envy. Was this really a young husband they'd married into the family? Hadn't they brought home the God of Wealth himself?
Sheng Yu worked hard every day, earning affection points and working himself to the bone for the System, until his little convenience store had expanded all the way to the capital.
Thanks to his business acumen and shamelessness, Sheng Yu not only became an imperial merchant but also won over the powerful nobles of the capital.
The unassuming old man who queued to buy snail rice noodles was—a fastidious minister who hated dirt.
The ordinary old lady who loved stockpiling crunchy instant noodles was—the empress dowager, whose teeth weren't in the best condition.
Strawberry-flavored lollipops were always tucked away—in the aloof prime minister's bag.
Sheng Yu: It's not like I want to make money, but they keep insisting on giving it to me. What can I do?
–
Little Extra Scene—
When his young husband was little, Sheng Yu bribed the other children with lollipops to keep them from bullying him.
The children accepted the sweets while trembling with fear. Apparently, you didn't see your little simpleton beating people up, did you?
When they were older, Sheng Yu thought his husband was too wooden and inarticulate, so he gave hotpot seasoning to his husband's colleagues.
The colleagues were speechless. Hadn't he heard about his husband arguing so fiercely with an envoy from an enemy country that the man coughed up blood? And he called that inarticulate? Still, the hotpot seasoning really was delicious.
After smilingly seeing Sheng Yu off, Shen Zishu collected the packets of hotpot seasoning one by one and said with a smile that didn't reach his eyes, "Want some? Get in line and buy it yourself.
