Chapter 46 They're all of one mind with the surname Meng...

Chapter 46 They're all of one mind with the surname Meng...

"Brother, I've found out. To become an apprentice at the Meng family's paper horse shop, you need to pay fifty strings of cash for tuition. You can graduate in a year, but you can't do any funeral-related business in Wu County for five years. If you violate that rule, you'll have to pay five hundred strings of cash." The man who bought the brass paper horse from Aunt Zaohua ran back into the house to deliver the message. "I asked around and found out that a tall brass paper horse sells for eleven strings of cash. If we sell five after we've learned the trade, we'll break even. Why don't we chip in and you go learn?"

The man, who was nearly submerged by bamboo strips, looked up, his eyes bloodshot like earthworms. He spoke in a hoarse voice, "Use your brain and think carefully about why he requires his apprentices not to open shops in Wu County after they graduate."

"Because you're afraid of losing business?"

“...That’s true. What I was trying to say was that he only charges fifty strings of cash as an apprenticeship fee, and he can break even by selling five brass paper horses. Wouldn’t he know that? Why does he only ask for that little?” the man sitting in the pile of bamboo strips asked.

"Is that too little? It would take us three years to save up fifty strings of cash."

The elder brother cursed him inwardly for being stupid, "Fifty strings of cash is a lot for us, but is it a lot for the paper horse shop? Not really. He can make it back by selling five more brass paper horses."

"Then tell me why?"

"Because he knows you can't sell paper offerings in other counties, you idiot." The man, who had been working day and night to make paper offerings, was now so angry that his heart ached. "Get out, get out, don't bother me. I don't believe I can't make them."

Meanwhile, Shopkeeper Wu led his son into the paper-making shop. There was no one guarding the shop, so the father and son went into the backyard and found that there was nowhere to step. The apprentice was splitting bamboo strips, and the owner was dyeing paper.

"Master Meng, I've brought the people and the money. Please make some time so we can go to the government office to draw up the contract," Manager Wu said. "Da Rong, call for help."

"Master, Mistress, Sister Meng, Brother Meng, and fellow disciples, my name is Wu Darong, Rong as in banyan tree, and I am twenty-eight years old this year..."

"Stop." Manager Wu rubbed his forehead and said helplessly, "I sent him to a pottery workshop to learn how to make funerary objects before. He doesn't interact with people much and is a bit slow-witted. Please bear with him."

Mencius' father washed his hands and came over, saying, "Since you are learning to make pottery funerary objects, why are you also learning to make paper funerary objects?"

"He couldn't learn it, he was clumsy, and he often ruined the clay pieces."

Upon hearing this, Meng's father grabbed Wu Darong's hand. His fingers were thick and his joints were large, making him suitable for heavy and rough work. He squeezed Wu's fingers and found that they were stiff and his reactions were slow.

“In that case, don’t waste fifty strings of cash. Let him be my apprentice, just like them. He’ll be a master for three years. If he wants to leave after that, I won’t keep him. If he wants to stay, I’ll pay him wages.” Meng’s father felt that Wu Darong wasn’t a clever person. Even if he taught him with all his heart, the other party wouldn’t be able to learn it within a year.

Manager Wu said embarrassedly, "Didn't you say you wouldn't take on apprentices like this anymore?"

“We’re old acquaintances, one more won’t hurt. There’s just one thing, I want him to stay here and watch the shop for me at night.” Meng’s father squeezed Wu Darong’s arm; the flesh was hard and firm. This man was big and strong, suitable for watching the shop. The key was that he was simple-minded and honest, and wouldn’t collude with outsiders to steal from the shop.

Shopkeeper Wu was in a dilemma. "How about letting him come home for one night every ten days? He has a wife and children; he can't neglect his family."

“Okay,” Meng’s father agreed.

"Da Rong, your master's family are very capable people. You should learn paper crafting from them and be obedient," Manager Wu instructed.

Wu Darong nodded in agreement.

Shopkeeper Wu got rid of this blockhead son without spending a penny, and he was so happy that he went to the market to buy half a mutton and send it to the Meng family.

Looking at the mutton in the basket, Meng's mother said, "That Manager Wu is really something. It's not even cold yet, and meat doesn't keep well. This half of the mutton will be wasted if we can't finish it in one or two meals."

"When you go to the Du family tomorrow, bring a leg of lamb," Meng's father said.

"I wouldn't even give you meat if it rotted... Your son-in-law is here?" When Meng's mother saw Du Li, she quickly changed her tune, "What are you carrying?"

Meng Qing poked her head out from the kitchen and said, "You've come at the right time; we have some good food today."

“I always manage to catch the good food; I’m so lucky!” Du Li called out to his parents, then placed three wooden railings against the wall, saying, “Wangzhou is getting bigger every day. Once he can crawl and roll, he might fall off the bed when he wakes up. I’ve tied the wooden railings to the bed legs so he won’t fall off.”

"Where's Wangzhou? Isn't he home?" he asked impatiently.

Mencius' mother pointed to the room where Meng Qing was sleeping, "He's sleeping in the room."

Du Li quickly went to push the door open.

Meng Qing came out and said, "Mother, keep enough for us to eat today, and divide the rest of the mutton into three portions to send to my three uncles."

"Alright." Mencius' mother also had this idea.

Meng Qing walked to the door and saw Du Li sitting on the edge of the bed staring at Wang Zhou. She chuckled softly, "Missing your son?"

"I miss him, I miss him every day." Du Li held Wangzhou's little hand. Wangzhou wasn't his biological child, nor was he raised by him. He hadn't taken care of him as much as Meng Chun, his uncle, had, but Wangzhou couldn't live without him and would miss him. This child loved him unconditionally, which made him feel guilty that he couldn't be by his side to take care of him.

Meng Qing left so that he wouldn't feel embarrassed to kiss and hug her.

After Du Li had his fill of pleasure, he let go of the child's hand, went out to carry the wooden fence, and carefully placed it against the bed, tying it to the bed with the hemp rope he had brought with him.

Wang Zhou was fast asleep. Du Li walked around the room and tied three railings to the bed without waking him.

"Let's eat," Meng Qinglai called out.

For lunch, they stir-fried lamb ribs, but Meng's father felt it wasn't as good as the roasted lamb they had at Hu Si. He suggested, "Let's go to Hu Si for dinner tonight, so my son-in-law can also try the roasted lamb."

"Two meals of mutton a day? I won't go. Mutton is too hot to eat, and I won't be able to sleep at night because of the heat." Mencius' mother refused.

Upon hearing this, Du Li paused in his act of picking up mutton, and instead moved his chopsticks to the left to pick up two pieces of tofu.

“I’m not going either,” Meng Chun stated. “You go eat with my sister and brother-in-law.”

"I'm not going either." Du Li has boundless energy all day long, and he feels he doesn't need to replenish it.

Mencius' father immediately understood and stopped mentioning it.

One or two of them didn't eat mutton, so the stir-fried mutton at noon turned into stinky dog ​​poop, and none of the five of them could finish it.

"Take the rest of the mutton to my three brothers-in-law," Meng's father said. "I'm going to the shop, so I won't come with you."

Mencius' mother nodded.

Meng Qing put down her chopsticks and said to Du Li, "I'll leave the chopsticks and the child with you. I'm going to work at the paper horse shop."

"Okay, go ahead and get busy." Du Li took on all the chores at home. When he came in, he noticed that the chicken coop and donkey shed needed to be cleaned.

Meng's father took his children and left first. After Meng's mother cut up the mutton, she asked Du Li to take her to the ferry to catch a boat. After Du Li took her there, he ran back quickly. As soon as he opened the door, he heard the child crying and Da Mao braying in the donkey shed.

A series of hurried footsteps sounded as Du Li pushed open the bedroom door. Wang Zhou was crying his heart out when he saw who entered. He froze, his mouth still open, but he forgot to make a sound.

"Dad took your grandma to the boat, and I didn't expect you to wake up right then." Du Li picked him up. He was glad that the railing was installed, otherwise Wang Zhou would definitely have fallen off the bed today.

Wang Zhou raised his hand and touched his face, which was still wet with tears. He chuckled.

"Good boy!" Du Li carried him out to pee, and he asked in confusion, "How do you know I'm your father? Can you understand what I'm saying? You're smarter than your uncle, so you must be like your mother."

When the word "mother" was mentioned, Wangzhou started looking for his mother. At first, Du Li didn't notice. When he led the donkey out to graze, Wangzhou kept looking at the road to the paper horse shop. If he went astray, he would call out.

Du Li, leading the donkey and carrying the child, arrived at the paper horse shop. Wang Zhou saw Meng Qing and immediately felt at ease.

...

As evening fell, the three members of the Meng family returned home. When they arrived, Du Li had already cooked the meal and cleaned the house inside and out. He had also collected two baskets of manure.

"The long-awaited good days are back," Meng Qing said with emotion.

"Dad, Mom, I'll catch the five chickens left in the coop and raise them. Or you can kill them and eat them. I'll bring you eggs from now on. Raising these chickens, they lay two or three eggs a day and you have to feed them two or three times a day. It's not cost-effective, and it makes the front yard smell terrible," Du Li suggested.

“You can catch it and raise it.” Meng’s mother nodded. She was busy afterward and couldn’t take care of the chicken anymore. “If we could use the donkey, you could take Da Mao with you too. It’s pitiful that it’s trapped in the donkey shed every day. It’s only when you come that you can take it out for a walk.”

“When you go to the paper horse shop, you can take it with you and tie it to the big locust tree,” Du Li said. “Da Mao is also very intelligent. Today, when I took you to the ferry, I heard the donkey braying and Wang Zhou crying when I came back. As soon as I appeared, Da Mao stopped braying. It was probably helping Wang Zhou call for help at that time.”

"Really?" Meng's father asked. "Then we'll go to the paper horse shop again and bring Da Mao along."

Du Li was quite happy. He said with great interest, "Many animals are intelligent. My two cows like me the most. A couple of days ago, Qiaomei went to herd the cows, but she was too weak to hold them back. The cows led her to the mulberry field to find me. I bought four new geese. I've only raised them for a few days, but they can already recognize me as their owner. When I go back, they don't bark, but when strangers come, they squawk loudly and chase after people to bark."

When Meng Qing heard that he was raising geese, she looked at Wang Zhou and laughed.

"What are you laughing at?" Du Li asked.

Meng Qing waved her hand, "You'll find out tomorrow."

*

The next day.

Du Li woke up early and used the money he made from selling eels yesterday to buy vegetables and meat by the river. He also went to the fish market and bought three white fish.

At the same time, Du Min appeared in the market and went to the butcher shop to buy five catties of mutton and three catties of pork.

At Chenshi (7-9 AM), Du Min arrived at the Wumen Ferry, where the Meng family was already waiting.

Du Li saw the meat Du Min was carrying and looked down at the bamboo basket at his feet.

"Oh! You two brothers want to go together. Your second brother also bought meat," said Meng's mother.

Du Min and Du Li exchanged a glance, understanding each other's thoughts. Both brothers were worried that their parents, being stingy, wouldn't be able to prepare a decent feast for their guests.

"Gentlemen, where are you going?" A boatman rowed over.

“Go outside the city, to Dujiawan.” Du Li looked away and replied, “Are you going by boat? We’re going back to the city this afternoon. If you go, you can earn the fare for two trips.”

"Alright, get on the boat," the boatman said.

Du Li first carried five chickens and two baskets of manure onto the boat, then half a basket of vegetables, and then people began to board.

Six people filled the boat, and the boatman immediately rowed away.

"Do my parents know I'm going back today?" Du Min asked Du Li.

"I know, I told them." Du Li drove the chickens, ducks and geese back home the night before last. He stayed at home for one night and left the next day. Before leaving, he told his family that his father-in-law's family would be coming today, and Du Min would also be going back. He asked his family to kill a chicken and a duck.

I don't know if his mother will listen.

The journey was smooth, and we arrived at Dujiawan in an hour and a half. There was still more than half an hour before noon.

"Boatman, come to my house for lunch at noon," Du Li said as he paid the fare.

The boatman waved his hand, "Thank you, I have some dry food with me."

A group of people were sitting at the entrance of the village. A sharp-eyed person spotted Du Min and exclaimed, "Hey! Our village's golden phoenix is ​​back! Du Min, it's been almost half a year since we last saw you. I heard from your parents that you got into the prefectural school on your own merit? You're really capable, and you've really made your parents proud."

Du Min felt a little ashamed when he heard this in front of the Meng family. He smiled and said, "I have guests at my house. I'll go back first. We can talk again when we have time."

"Oh, Meng Qing is back too? I almost didn't recognize her, the child has grown so much?"

Meng Qing nodded, "Yes, she's seven months old."

"A son takes after his mother; he looks just like you."

Meng Qing nodded, "Yes, everyone says it looks like me."

After passing through the crowd, Meng Qing and Du Min both breathed a sigh of relief.

"Son-in-law, where are your mulberry fields? We won't pass the village entrance when we get there, will we?" Even though Meng's mother considered herself an old woman, she couldn't stand being stared at by so many people at the village entrance.

"Don't go from the village entrance, go to the end of the village, closer to the downstream of the river." Du Li looked at his own chimney from afar, afraid that it wasn't smoking.

Upon arriving at the Du family's residence, Du Li smelled the aroma of meat and immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

"Father, Mother, my father-in-law and mother-in-law are here, and my third brother is back too!" Du Li shouted loudly.

Old Du came out from the main hall, and Du's mother came out from the kitchen. As if they had agreed beforehand, they ignored Du Min and instead treated Meng's father and mother with great enthusiasm.

Meng's mother was overwhelmed with gratitude. She even felt a little regretful that she should have brought a few pounds of mutton with her yesterday.

"In-laws, please come inside and have some hot water." Old Du led Meng's parents into the main hall.

Du's mother glanced at Du Min out of the corner of her eye, but quickly looked away as if she had seen something dirty.

"Mother," Meng Qing called out, then said to Wang Zhou, "This is Grandma."

Wang Zhou didn't recognize her; his eyes were full of unfamiliarity. Du's mother also looked at him with indifference, without even a smile.

Meng Qing stopped smiling and asked Du Li for the key, then opened the door and went into the south room.

Du Li carried a half-basket of vegetables into the kitchen and said, "Sister-in-law, I bought some meat and vegetables. Please cook a few more dishes for lunch."

Mrs. Du followed her in. With the wall blocking her way, she immediately dropped her act and said with a sullen face, "Buying so much meat? Do they each have two mouths to feed?"

"My third brother also bought these two pieces of meat. We bought the same two pieces," Du Li explained.

"Oh! You two are so sincere towards the Meng family, as if you're afraid we'll mistreat them," Madam Du said sarcastically.

"Isn't this all because you like to do things that are beneath you? If you were sincere, would we need to worry about buying groceries?" Du Min was already upset as soon as he got back, and he couldn't hold back his anger. He had already taken the initiative to apologize, but they still acted like this, even making him lose face in front of the guests. He didn't know what good it would do them to embarrass him in front of outsiders! He was burning with anger and once again realized the true nature of his family.

They're clueless! They can't tell what's important! They can't distinguish between inside and outside! They're far inferior to the Meng family.

Du's mother was so angry she felt like vomiting blood. She never expected that Du Min would not only be unrepentant and show no remorse, but would become even worse, showing no respect for her in his words and actions. Was this still her intelligent and filial son? Why had he become like this?

"You've got some nerve! How dare you talk to me like that? I raised you and now you've turned me into a nemesis? We're not respectable enough? Who is? What? You want to be a son of the Meng family too?" She was very disappointed.

Du Min was speechless upon hearing this. "I can't reason with you."

He turned to leave, but Du's mother chased after him, yelling, "You ungrateful wretch! Is this how you come back to upset me? If you're like this, you might as well not have come back at all!"

Du Min's face immediately turned ashen.

"What nonsense are you spouting now?" Old Ding Du jumped out like a grasshopper, his face red and neck thick with anger, and shouted, "The child doesn't come back often, but as soon as he does, you cause trouble. There are guests here, don't you feel ashamed? Go cook for me."

Mrs. Du wanted to give up, but when she saw the old man giving her meaningful glances, she immediately realized that the old man was trying to play the good guy again.

But Du Min wouldn't have it. He stubbornly said, "Second brother, where is your mulberry field? Let's go take a look. We'll leave after we finish eating, and we won't have time to go there later."

After saying that, he went out.

Meng's father came out and said, "My dear in-law, we've come here to see Du Li's current residence. Would you like to come along?"

"Alright," Old Ding readily agreed.

Upon hearing this, Meng Chun and her mother followed them out. Meng Qing was feeding the child in the south room when she called out loudly, "Mother, wait for me a moment."

Listening to the commotion outside, Li Hongguo sat in front of the stove, gazing at her mother-in-law's lifeless face. She whispered instigatingly, "Mother, you have three sons, but only your eldest son is filial and obedient. The other two are hopeless; they're both on the same side as that Meng guy."

"Shut up!" Mrs. Du glared at her fiercely. "Do you think I don't know what you're up to?"

Li Hongguo's expression remained unchanged; she knew perfectly well who was angry.