Full Moon

“You want to come but don’t dare to?” Tang Chunming repeated loudly, “Of course, if you didn’t drug your cousin and sent him away without caring whether he lived or died, you would not be ashamed to come to my cousin’s house again, don’t worry, I am a person who clearly distinguishes between gratitude and resentment.

  “I will not let your cousin suffer because of some kinship, I didn’t ask your parents to settle the old accounts for A-Feng because he is also a member of the Li family. I know you are a reasonable person and should be able to understand the situation between me and your A-Feng. Do you think what I said makes sense? So, you should go back and don’t come to our house in the future, this grudge is not something that a little ge’er like you can resolve.”

　　The young ge’er showed an expression of disbelief, he didn’t believe that Tang Chunming would expose the matter so bluntly. He thought everyone wanted to save face, didn’t he care about Li Feng’s reputation?

　　Teng Yu made a puzzled sound in the yard: “Someone was given medicine and sent out? Who are you talking about? Is it Brother Li Feng?”

　　The village head rubbed his face, this was also a disgrace to the Li family. He really couldn’t say it aloud, but he couldn’t let this kid come over repeatedly. He could only say, “Alas, A-Feng was drafted into the army before he reached the age.”

　　Teng Yu suddenly seemed to understand something, if he didn’t meet the age, that meant someone had lied about his age. The person who lied was definitely not this ge’er. So it could only be the ge’er’s parents, that is, Li Feng’s uncles, this was really vicious.

　　He Lao stabbed another knife: “Yes, when I met Feng Xiaozi on the road, he was half dead. I don’t know if the drug he got from a village doctor was too strong.”

　　”Hey, hey, I’m also the village doctor you call me, please don’t ruin my reputation. I can’t do such a conscienceless thing.” Doctor Hu argued.

　　”Haha, I’m not talking about you.” Dr. He corrected with a smile.

　　The young ge’er had hoped that other people in the courtyard would speak up for him, but not only did they not help him, but they also told him about what happened in the past in a nasty way, and later they just left him alone at the door with a smile.

    The young ge’er looked extremely aggrieved, how could these people be so unsympathetic? Was it he to be blamed for his parent’s actions? And he was also trying hard to save this relationship between relatives. Didn’t they see his efforts? Besides, Li Feng was living well and making a fortune, so why did these people stand on his side and denounce his family?

　　Li Feng put A-Lin down and asked him to find Da Mao and Er Mao, he came to Ming Ge’er, took his hand, and cast a threatening glance at the young ge’er, “Go now, just like Ming Ge’er said, the evil things they did back then can’t be resolved with a few words. Since returning, I haven’t thought about recognizing those relatives anymore. Those ideas in your heart are even less likely to come true, so don’t waste your time to disturb Ming Ge’er, otherwise…I might be forced to bring up the events from that year and let the clan settle them properly.”

　　That was because he didn’t want to pursue it too much, otherwise, the things that Li Conggen and his wife had done were enough to expel them from the clan and the village.

    Before, Huang Sigou’s family had done nothing as excessive as Li Conggen’s family. Of course, the Huang family was driven out like that  because the Huang family’s roots in Pingshan Village were too shallow, and almost no one spoke up for them.

　　After saying this, without caring whether the young ge’er could bear the threat, Li Feng grabbed Tang Chunming’s hand and went back to the yard. He had no intention of inviting him into the yard, and Tang Chunming certainly wouldn’t have the intention either. 

    No matter how this family promoted his reputation, he had never thought about having a good reputation since he separated from the Zhao family. It was even more impossible for him to let himself and his people suffer for a false reputation.

　　”Okay, let’s clean up and set the table for dinner.” As if not affected at all, Tang Chunming turned around and started to make arrangements with a smile.

　　”Yes, it’s time to eat, Ming Ge’er cooked the meal himself. I can’t wait. Haha.” Old He responded.

　　Everyone in the yard was busy, no one cared about the person at the door, and no one noticed when the young ge’er left.

　　At Third Uncle Zhao’s home, the younger generation was not as stubborn as the Third Uncle, they paced around the house in a few circles before stopping to ask the Third Uncle: “Third Uncle, should we really not go to the Tang family alone to take a look? Didn’t you say at the beginning that Tang Chunming’s children are also members of the Zhao family, not to mention…”

　　What’s more, his relationship with Li Feng is almost settled, it doesn’t matter who Li Feng is, what matters is the connections behind him. It was really unexpected that the soldier named Yu Mu who came last time was actually a military officer of high rank from Dingzhou Prefecture.

   He thought there was no need to pin all his hopes on Zhao Laosan and ruin his relationship with Tang Fulang.

　　He has heard from the villagers these past few days that Tang Chunming and Li Feng have come up with some kind of business that has expanded to the county town and even made Zhang Changming’s family rich.

   Looking at them coming back with so many bags, he wonders how much money they have made, many people are envious of them.

　　Without anyone telling him, he could guess that the reason why this business was able to succeed in the county was because of the relationship with General Yu, otherwise, how could the wealthy families in the county accommodate them?

     They wanted to rely on Zhao Laosan because they thought that once Zhao Laosan became an official, they could rely on his relationship and everything else would go smoothly without worrying about making money.

　　But Zhao Laosan also has to do his job, having caused trouble with the young ge’ers of two families simultaneously, and then he just walked away, leaving a mess for them to clean up. Is the Shen family so easy to bully? He is just a scholar and already doesn’t take people seriously. They really don’t dare to pin all their hopes on such a person.

　　Tang Chunming giving birth to the little son of the Zhao family was a good opportunity to ease the relationship between the two sides, as long as he used the little son’s name, Tang Chunming would not ignore them. And once his son was included in the Zhao family’s genealogy, how could Tang Chunming still hold a grudge against the Zhao family?

　　”What are you worrying about?” Third Uncle tapped his pipe unhappily and took two puffs. “I know what you are thinking, you are attracted to the background of the Li family kid, but can that relationship really last? Can the relationship between family members be trusted? Besides, he is just a low-ranking military officer. Civil and military officials have always been at odds with each other.”

     “Do you think the officials in the county can really take him seriously? Humph, being too ostentatious will cause trouble sooner or later. When that happens, you will see how many families in the village will curry favor with them!”

　　”Uncle, that was during the time of the previous emperor, the current emperor values military officers very much.”

   It was well known that the previous emperor valued civil officials over military officers, but after the new emperor came to power, he demoted several civil officials and promoted a large number of military officers to deploy troops at the border. Who would dare to look down on military officers now?

　　”You are short-sighted and immature,” Third Uncle narrowed his eyes and said meaningfully, “It is true that the status of military officers has been raised, but when was that? That was when His Majesty was fighting in the north, so of course he had to give military officers positions.”

    “But now the war is over, and the people who have a say in the court are still civil officials, these civil officials govern the state, so military officers are useless.”

　　”Hmph, I want to see how the ge’er of the Tang family will beg our Zhao family to put that child in the family genealogy. If he can’t be included in the family genealogy, In the future he will have to dig in the fields for food for the rest of his life, blame his mother!”

    The third uncle was not so angry with Tang Chunming, he realized that things in the Zhao family had been going wrong since Tang Chunming made a fuss about separating from the Zhao family.

    Especially since he made such a big fuss during the mourning period, he was really shameless! He would be thrown into a pig cage if he were still in the Zhao family!

　　”Third Uncle, do you really want to use the family genealogy to control Tang Chunming? What about the Li family? Will our relationship with the Li family be ruined?” The younger generation looked at Third Uncle in disbelief.

　　”This is the Zhao family’s business and has nothing to do with the Li family. Instead of caring about these things, you might hope that the Zhao Laosan will pass the imperial examination in three years.” 

   The third uncle coughed, stood up, and went out, leaving the younger generation feeling powerless. Why did the third uncle keep thinking about the glory of his ancestors and hoping that Zhao Laosan, would allow the Zhao family to regain its former glory?

　　But they are different, they have never experienced the prosperous period of the Zhao family like Third Uncle. They have been working in the fields and eating farmers’ meals since birth. If Third Uncle continues to be stubborn, the Zhao family will only become more and more decadent.

　　At noon, before the weather got too cold, they put two tables in the yard and had a lively meal together. The dish that Tang Chunming cooked today was chicken, there was the original stewed chicken soup that made him want to vomit after drinking it during his confinement, as well as simplified versions of big plate chicken, stir-fried chicken offal, and Kung Pao chicken.

    Tang Chunming did not make complicated dishes, but simple and easy home-cooked dishes, however, it is such home-cooked dishes that are authentic and can best taste the freshness of the ingredients themselves.

　　”Ming Ge’er, the taste of today’s chicken seems different from usual.” Old He drank a bowl of chicken soup stewed with wild mushrooms, and took a piece of chicken to taste carefully. He was sure it was not only because the chef was different today.

   The main reason was probably the ingredients, the chicken tasted fresh, tender, and smooth in his mouth. He was sure that even the chickens prepared with special ingredients in the palace could not compare to it.

　　Tang Chunming felt proud as he drank a small bowl of soup that Li Feng served to him, of course, the chickens he raised were different. During the confinement period, they all said he had to drink old hen soup to replenish his body. He even spent money to buy old hens from other people’s homes, and he couldn’t even protest.

　　Now that he could decide on the food to cook, he asked Li Feng to slaughter several chickens so that everyone could taste the chickens he raised. Another thing, he knew that Teng Yu and Manager Qi would be here today, and he wanted to let them see whether his chickens were worth continuing to do business with them.

    The first chicken batch was already ready to be sold, and the hens started laying eggs two days ago.

　　Teng Yu’s eyes sparkled, and he immediately said, “Master Tang, could this be the chicken you originally raised in the yard? We agreed at the beginning that you would first consider our restaurant.”

　　Old He blinked, then looked at Tang Chunming’s fox-like smile, how could he not understand? He was bringing guests to dinner and doing business at the same time. He couldn’t help but smile and said, “Brother Ming, you really don’t waste any opportunity, no wonder you were rushing to cook today.”

　　”Hehe, by the way, the most important thing is to let everyone eat well.” Tang Chunming acted modestly, “Master Teng, my chicken is very expensive, and the quantity sold out will not be large for now. The supply will increase at least until next year.”

   He turned into a profiteer in the blink of an eye, Li Feng sat next to him without saying a word, but the doting look in his eyes could not be hidden from people who knew him well.

　　”It doesn’t matter, as long as I can ensure that Tingjing Pavilion can be supplied, as for the price, it can be negotiated. Master Tang, don’t you know what kind of person I am?” Teng Yu smiled while holding the wine glass.

      In the past, he had to find ways to find out the origins of the black-faced husband^[1]TL’s note; Tang Chunming’s disguise as ‘Xiao Shuazi’ when he first sold his vegetables at Tingjing Pavilion but now he feels that some things are better left unclear. There is no need to trace the root cause, the current benefits and long-term development are the most important.

　　”Haha, then I won’t be polite.” Tang Chunming thought he would make a good killing^[2]TL’s note; Make a quick profit of this man later. Although he had money in his hand now, he had been spending it all over the place without making much money.

    He still had to continue investing in the back mountain, so it would be better to find some money soon.

   Uncle Liu’s family was delighted to hear this, the chickens they had been looking after could finally be sold for money. Otherwise, they would feel uneasy receiving the wages every month, now they were truly happy for Ming Ge’er.

　　Li Feng silently picked up a piece of chicken feet for Tang Chunming, there was nothing he could do about it since this ge’er liked to chew on this stuff.