Chapter 87: Teaching Children and Husbands

Chapter 87: Teaching Children and Husbands

Meng Qing and Du Li, along with Wang Zhou, stood on Zhuque Street until noon. Even after all the servants carrying goods in the Fengchan procession had left, they still couldn't see Du Min. There were just too many people; their eyes were blurry from looking at them.

"Let's go, let's go back." Du Li's voice was dry. He had been sweating all day, his undershirt was soaked and then dried, and he was extremely dehydrated.

Meng Qing took Wang Zhou's hand and followed Du Li back along Zhuque Avenue. Every inch of land in Chang'an was incredibly valuable, but Zhuque Avenue stretched for thousands of feet, wider than the Yangtze River, and worth its weight in gold. Previously, only officials were allowed to walk on this street, but now, without restrictions, ordinary people from both sides were walking on it. Meng Qing also stepped onto it, squatting down to touch the gray-blue bricks. Wang Zhou followed suit, squatting down to touch the bricks on the ground.

Du Li stood aside watching the mother and son.

Meng Qing stood up, spread her arms and spun around, excitedly shouting, "I'm in the Tang Dynasty, this is Chang'an, I'm standing on the Zhuque Avenue of the Tang Dynasty!"

Du Li: "...It's not like it's the first day I've been to Chang'an."

Meng Qing grabbed him, "This is my husband. He was from Suzhou during the Tang Dynasty."

Du Li: "..."

“This is my son. He was also from Suzhou during the Tang Dynasty. He was born to me.” Meng Qing took Wang Zhou’s hand again.

Du Li stared at her strangely, "Who are you talking to?"

Meng Qing ignored him and ran down Zhuque Street, cheering as she chased after Wang Zhou. Du Li didn't have time to think and hurriedly followed.

Meng Qing strolled along Zhuque Street for about half an hour, and before Du Li died of thirst, she left with him.

The three of them went to a restaurant in the East Market for lunch. The diners there were all talking about the Fengshan procession that day, as well as the paper effigies that appeared in the procession.

"Even the emperor has approved the use of paper offerings of the three sacrificial animals at the Fengshan ceremony, so it seems this thing will become very popular in Chang'an in the future..."

"...I've got my eye on Buddhist paper offerings. My mother is a Buddhist, and if I get her a few sets, whether it's impressive or not, she'll definitely be happy."

"Yes, yes, I've also taken a liking to the paper offerings of Buddhist verses..."

Meng Qing and Du Li exchanged a glance, their faces showing difficulty. Making Buddhist verse paper offerings was quite challenging and could not tolerate the slightest carelessness. It not only tested the paper mounting skills but was also a challenge for the person copying the Buddhist scriptures.

After the three of them finished their meal, the family paid the bill and left. On the way, Du Li said, "If someone specifically requests Buddhist verse paper offerings, let them copy the Buddhist scriptures themselves. If they can bring us the scriptures, then we'll take on the business."

Meng Qing nodded, "That's what I think too. Anyway, we don't take on the task of copying Buddhist scriptures. But this can also create a business. Poor students staying in Buddhist temples can earn money by copying Buddhist scriptures. They can earn money and improve their calligraphy skills. It's a pity that Lao San is gone. If he were home, he could go to Da Ci'en Temple to introduce business to the scholars and make connections."

"He wouldn't waste his time and energy on this. If you asked him to build connections, he would do it himself without you having to urge him, even if it meant not eating or sleeping. He wouldn't waste his time and energy befriending poor students whose futures weren't as bright as his. In fact, he would keep his distance, afraid that others would ask him for favors or benefit from his connections," Du Li asserted.

Upon careful consideration, Meng Qing realized that this was indeed something Du Min was capable of doing.

“You understand him best,” she said.

“You used to know him well, but after coming to Chang’an, you became dependent on him and gradually forgot his true colors,” Du Li subtly instigated.

“That’s really true.” Meng Qing nodded. “Luckily he wasn’t faking it, otherwise it would have been too terrifying.”

Du Li thought to himself that this was not necessarily true. If Meng Qing's actions were to turn against him one day, Du Min's true colors would be revealed again.

“I will keep an eye on him and remind you,” Du Li said. “He’ll keep pretending until the very end.”

“Father!” Wang Zhou said unhappily, “I don’t like you talking about my third uncle like that.”

“I don’t like you talking to me like that either,” Du Li glanced at him.

Meng Qing nudged him, and Du Li immediately changed his tune: "Okay, I was wrong, I won't say anything more about him."

Wang Zhou broke free from his hand and only allowed Meng Qing to hold his hand.

Du Li was furious. "You're actually siding with Du Laosan? Didn't you say you didn't mind me?"

"Didn't your father apologize?" Meng Qing asked.

"I wasn't happy even though he apologized," Wang Zhou said with a tense expression.

Du Li looked at Meng Qing, then pointed at Wang Zhou. Meng Qing shrugged, "You know I don't get involved in other people's conflicts."

Du Li glanced at the boat, and then remained silent for the rest of the journey.

When they returned to Chang Le Fang, their neighbors met them and said, "You're finally back! The roads in the neighborhood are all blocked. So many people want to come and become your students. Your private school is packed with people. You should go back now."

The head of Chang Le Fang all came out to maintain order. Hearing people shouting that Master Meng had returned, he ordered, "Everyone line up, don't push!"

Meng Qing squeezed through the crowd, and the magistrate told her, "The line on the left is for those who want to become apprentices, and the line on the right is for those who want to donate money to buy paper offerings for the deceased."

Meng Qing nodded, said thank you for your trouble, and saw that the apprentice had brought her table and chairs. She sat down and began to register.

"Quiet down for a moment, and listen to what I have to say." Du Li stood to the right of the line and said loudly, "The Buddhist verses and sacrificial offerings that appeared in the imperial procession today were made using scriptures personally copied by Minister Zheng of the Ministry of Rites. If you also want to receive Buddhist verses, you need to copy the scriptures yourself and bring them to us. Only when you copy the scriptures yourself will the merits fall upon yourself and the deceased you are worshipping."

Meng Qing looked up at him, then took out a blank sheet of paper and wrote down the paper needed for the three sacrificial animals (pig, cow, and sheep), the paper horse, the paper house, and the requirements for copying Buddhist scriptures.

"Wangzhou, take this to your father and tell him to stick this paper on the wall outside the door," Meng Qing called out.

Wang Zhou hesitated, "Father is still angry with me."

Meng Qing pretended not to hear this and said, "Hurry up and send it over, I'm busy here."

Wang Zhou took the paper, hesitated for a few seconds, then blushed and handed it to Du Li, saying, "Dad, Dad, Dad, my mother gave this to you so you could stick it on the wall."

Looking at his face, Du Li's displeasure vanished, and she said, "Go and bring over some ox glue with a brush."

When Wangzhou saw that his father was willing to talk to him, he happily exclaimed "Hey!" and ran off.

After Meng Qing finished her work, she saw the craftsmen and apprentices off, bolted the gate, and returned to the backyard. She saw that the father and son had made up; one was picking vegetables, and the other was tending the fire.

"How many people signed up today?" Du Li asked.

"Two hundred and seventy." Meng Qing lifted the lid of the pot to see that porridge was cooking inside. She scooped out a bowl of rice water and slowly blew on it.

"With so many people, isn't it a bit too few to only take in fifty apprentices? Won't those who aren't chosen cause trouble?" Du Li asked.

"That's quite a lot, fifty is too many. Chang'an can only accommodate a maximum of fifty paper horse shops to survive," Meng Qing said.

“These fifty people will graduate next year and open their own shops, while the forty apprentices who complete their three-year training program the year after will be a year late and will have nowhere to stand,” Du Li said.

"Don't worry, there will be a way out." Meng Qing wasn't worried at all.

Du Li knew immediately that she had other plans. He thought about it in silence for a while, but couldn't come up with anything. Even after he finished cooking and eating, he still had no ideas.

It seemed he still couldn't replace the third brother, so Du Li gave up the idea of ​​asking. Even if Meng Qing told him, he wouldn't be able to offer any advice, so he simply stopped asking.

"Wangzhou, have you collected the goose eggs?" Du Li asked from the kitchen.

“I picked them up. There are three eggs today,” Wang Zhou said.

"You made up with your dad? You apologized?" Meng Qing asked casually.

Wang Zhou blushed and stammered, "Do I still need to apologize?"

"Don't you need to apologize? Your father has already admitted his mistake, why aren't you? Or do you still think you're right?" Meng Qing looked at him.

Wang Zhou pursed his lips and remained silent.

“It seems you don’t think I’m wrong,” Meng Qing said.

"What did I do wrong?" Wang Zhou protested. "I just don't like my dad saying that, I don't like it!"

"Why should I listen to you? Just because you don't like him doesn't mean you can't speak up? He also said he doesn't like you talking to him like that, did you listen?" Meng Qing asked coldly. "Just because you don't like him doesn't mean you can't speak up? Why should he? Just because you're his son doesn't mean he should give in to you."

Wang Zhou's eyes were filled with tears, and he pursed his lips without saying a word.

"Was your father talking to me today? Did he speak to you? Why did you interrupt? You went to the East Market to watch people arguing, would you dare tell them you didn't like it and asked them to stop arguing?" Meng Qing continued to ask.

Wang Zhou wiped away his tears and argued, "It's different. They have nothing to do with me. My father was talking about my third uncle."

Meng Qing secretly praised him, thinking that this kid wasn't confused.

“You’re being unreasonable,” Wang Zhou shouted.

"What are you yelling about? Did I yell at you?" Meng Qing calmly suppressed his emotions. "Du Min is your third uncle, isn't he Du Li's third brother? You've only known Du Min for a few years, but how many years has he known Du Min? Can't he express his opinion about Du Min? You think your third uncle is particularly good, but he can't think his third brother is a little bad? You can have your own likes and dislikes, but he can't?"

Wang Zhou stared at her, pondering her words carefully.

"Don't understand? Let me put it another way. Bigfoot Goose lays eggs frequently, two eggs every three days, while the other three geese lay one egg every two days. But Bigfoot Goose eats more and is more domineering when it comes to food. It often bullies the other three geese when it's feeding time. Do you agree?" Meng Qing asked.

Wang Zhou nodded.

"If the other three geese get together in private and start criticizing Bigfoot Goose, calling it greedy and domineering, will you stop them too? Will you force them to only praise Bigfoot Goose for its good appetite, strength, and prolific egg-laying, just like you do?" Meng Qing reached out to wipe his tears. "Won't they think you're being biased? Won't they be sad?"

Wang Zhou burst into tears again, and said helplessly, "What if I just don't like it?"

“Just bear with it. It’s none of your business, why did you have to interfere? Aren’t you a bit domineering? If your dad asks you if your third uncle is a bad person, you can give your opinion, but if he doesn’t ask you, then don’t say anything.” Meng Qing continued to wipe his tears. “You’ve always done so well. When your dad and your third uncle were fighting outside, you could lie in bed and listen, just like me. Why couldn’t you hold back this time? You’ve been sleeping with your third uncle for months, and now your heart is with him? No wonder your dad was angry. He carried you all day, exhausted like a donkey pulling a millstone, but he didn’t utter a sound. That’s how much he favors you.”

Wang Zhou burst into tears.

Du Li shed tears outside the door.

Meng Qing waited for a while, but when Du Li didn't ask what was wrong, she immediately understood and whispered something in Wang Zhou's ear.

Wang Zhou wiped away her tears and walked out. As soon as she opened the door, there was a person standing outside.

"Daddy, waaaah—"

Du Li knelt down and hugged him, and the father and son embraced and wept bitterly.

Meng Qing: "..."

After crying his fill, Wang Zhou apologized, "Dad, I was too domineering. I shouldn't have controlled you."

“Dad was also wrong. Your third uncle treated you very well. I shouldn’t have spoken ill of him in front of you.” Du Li hurriedly admitted her mistake. “You’re a good child. Your third uncle will be overjoyed if he finds out.”

Wang Zhou chuckled. "Are you still angry?"

"I'm not angry anymore." Du Li picked him up. "I'm your father, how could I be angry with you?"

The father and son went into the house. Du Li walked sweetly to Meng Qing's side, patted her head, and said smugly, "Master Meng, you still meddle in other people's conflicts after all."

Meng Qing glared at him with a smile; she was only feeling sorry for him.

Du Li leaned down and kissed her on the cheek. "Third brother was right, I'm lucky."

Wang Zhou exclaimed "Eh!" and covered his eyes.

Du Li kissed him on the cheek and Wang Zhou shouted awkwardly.

Hearing this, the geese in the yard came to the door, honking and craning their necks to look inside.

Du Li put Wangzhou down and said, "Go play with your goose friends for a while, then wash your face and feet and go to bed."

Wang Zhou ran away, so Du Li picked up Meng Qing, took her chair, and let her sit in his lap.

"How can you be so kind?" He was deeply moved.

Meng Qing pushed his face away and said, "I'm going to teach you a lesson too."

"Go ahead," Du Li said, sitting up straight.

“The next generation shouldn’t perpetuate the estrangement of the previous generation, and similarly, the previous generation shouldn’t extend the conflicts of their generation to the next. You should be careful; no matter how much you have opinions about the third son, you shouldn’t show them in front of Wangzhou. Wangzhou is quick to understand and has a good mind; if it were a child who was slower to understand, he would have been influenced by you,” Meng Qing said seriously.

Du Li nodded, "I realize that I made more than one mistake, and I shouldn't have been cold to Wang Zhou the whole time. That's no different from my parents, using adult indifference to force a child to submit."

Meng Qing patted his face, "Not bad, you realized it and corrected it in time."

"I will never do it again." Du Li vowed. At this moment, he made up his mind that in the future, he would treat Du Min like an elder brother in front of Wang Zhou, so that Wang Zhou would not be influenced by him and would not be able to speak properly in front of his younger siblings.

"Old Du should thank Wang Zhou, because of this child, he has benefited so much," Du Li said unwillingly.

Meng Qing didn't understand why he suddenly brought this up, and she was too lazy to ask. She said, "Is the water ready? I want to take a shower; I'm all sweaty today."

"I'll go and light a few more fires. Once the kitchen is warm, you can go wash up." Du Li put her down and got up to go to the kitchen.

After Du Li left, Wang Zhou walked in awkwardly. Meng Qing waved to him, and he grinned and ran over, climbing onto her lap and lying in her arms.

"Mother—" he called out.

"Okay." Meng Qing responded, "You'll be four years old in a few days. Why don't you sleep with us for a few more months, and when it gets warmer, have your dad clean up the room next door so you can move in and sleep there, okay?"

Wang Zhou remained silent.

"Just like your third uncle, he occupies a room by himself."

“Alright!” Wangzhou agreed. “Mother, does my father not like my third uncle?”

“This is none of your business. Does his liking or disliking your third uncle affect you? No. I told him I won’t allow you to control him domineeringly, and he can’t control you either. If he does it again, come and tell me, and I’ll teach him a lesson,” Meng Qing said.

Wangzhou squirmed with joy, "Mom, you're so good to me."