Chapter 45: Pants Full of Mess

Meanwhile in Ji Family House.

Hu Zhaodi playfully smiled and said, “Mr. Ji, you share the same surname as Uncle Ji, and two Ji characters can’t be written in one stroke. From now on, we’re family.

You’ve agreed to be the private school teacher, so don’t go cooking for yourself anymore. Just come eat with us; we’ll share whatever we have.”

The old scholar’s eyes brightened. “Is that true?”

“Can a younger generation fool an elder like you?”

Ji family laughed and added, “We can eat fine rice and meat thanks to Zhaodi. If she asks you to eat with us, just come; this girl is capable—she won’t go hungry!”

The old scholar was filled with excitement, and his eyes glistened with unshed tears. “Good, then I won’t be polite. From now on, I have family!”

Hu Zhaodi was overwhelmed by his words, tears streaming down her face, but she wore a beaming smile.

Mrs. Ji was flustered. “Child, why are you crying again? What’s wrong?”

Hu Zhaodi maintained her smile. “Auntie, I’m fine; I’m just happy. I have family now.”

The old scholar was taken aback, looking at Hu Zhaodi, a smile slowly spreading across his face.

One was a lonely old man with no relatives, and the other was a girl who hadn’t yet reached maturity; both, deep down, longed for the warmth of family and the love of loved ones.

After calming her emotions, Hu Zhaodi shared her idea of opening a private school.

Ji family pondered for a long moment before speaking. “I wholeheartedly support this, but running a private school also needs a building. Where will the school be located?”

Hu Zhaodi thought for a moment and replied, “Mr. Ji, please allocate a piece of land for me. I’ll pay for the construction, and the profits from the school will belong to me.”

“But do you have any money left? You just bought that piece of land for the small forest and still need to build a house.”

“Mr. Ji, just rest assured! Give me the land; I have a plan.”

“Fine! If we’re building a private school, it should be on that plot at the east village entrance; it’ll be easier for kids from neighboring villages to come. Zhaodi, tomorrow you and I will go to the county office to report this to the county magistrate.”

Hu Zhaodi nodded with a smile; she was thinking along the same lines.

Building a private school was for the sake of the village’s people, and the government should respond positively.

The old scholar gazed at Hu Zhaodi with shining eyes, filled with gratitude.

He had thought that after so many years of hard study, it would ultimately lead to nothing. Unexpectedly, this girl, who had been mistreated by the Hu family for eleven years, had risen and given him hope for a better life, ensuring that the knowledge he had spent ten years accumulating would not be wasted.

At that moment, he felt like he had regained the dignity of a scholar, his eyes filled with determination and longing.

Images of a group of children sitting in a classroom, nodding their heads as they followed him in reciting the Book of Songs, involuntarily filled his mind.

After dinner, they discussed the details of the school before heading home.

As Hu Zhaodi saw the old scholar off, she noticed Yang Dahui and his wife still kneeling outside the courtyard.

However, at this moment, the couple was no longer kneeling straight; their lips were chapped and peeling, looking weak and on the verge of fainting.

Upon seeing Hu Zhaodi, they hurriedly bowed their heads, their eyes filled with desperation.

Hu Zhaodi spoke coldly, “I’ve said before that if you don’t truly recognize your mistakes, it’s useless for you to kneel here. I won’t give you the antidote.

Don’t think your little tricks are hidden well; you might deceive others, but you can’t deceive me.

And don’t think that I won’t know about your clever little maneuvers just because I didn’t see them. If you want to keep something a secret, you must not do it. You still can’t remember that saying.”

“Go home! Come back when you truly realize your mistakes and are ready to repent.”

After saying this, Hu Zhaodi helped the old scholar walk away, not sparing a single glance at Yang Dahui and his wife.

The couple glared hatefully at Hu Zhaodi’s departing figure, silently vowing that one day, they would make her pay dearly.

Once Hu Zhaodi had walked far away, they attempted to stand up to head home; they couldn’t risk starving any longer.

However, after kneeling for so long, their legs had gone numb, and they simply couldn’t get up.

So, they plopped down on the ground, hugging their legs and slowly stretching them out while rubbing and pounding on them.

After a while, they finally helped each other up, limping back home.

Unable to speak, they could only curse Hu Zhaodi bitterly in their hearts.

When the couple returned home, their disabled son, who had been starving for half the day, immediately started shouting when he heard them.

“Dad, Mom, where have you been? Why are you back so late? Don’t you care about me anymore? Are you ashamed of me because I’m disabled?”

Yang Dahui’s son’s voice was clearly tinged with tears.

The couple was startled; they had completely forgotten about their disabled son.

Yang Dahui’s wife hurried to the kitchen to cook, while Yang Dahui poured himself a glass of water, enduring the sharp pain in his throat as he drank a few sips before pouring another glass for his bedridden son.

When he opened the door, a terrible stench assaulted him.

Without even thinking, he realized that because he and his wife had been gone too long, their son had soiled himself.

In truth, while Yang Dahui’s son was disabled, he wasn’t at the point where he couldn’t control his bodily functions.

Although he couldn’t move his legs, his hands were functional.

As long as he rolled off the bed and used his hands to support himself, he could manage his needs.

But since he had been pampered by his parents since childhood, he wouldn’t even attempt to get out of bed without their help.

Yang Dahui frowned, covering his mouth and nose with his hand as he glanced at his son, then stepped back outside.

Even he found his son repulsive.

Seeing his father’s reaction, his son cried out in despair, “Dad, hurry up and help me clean up! I’m dying from discomfort!”

Yang Dahui simply shut the door, going to the kitchen to fetch his wife, who was kindling the fire.

He pushed his wife into their son’s room as soon as he opened the door.

“Ugh…”

Yang Dahui’s wife gagged a few times, forcing herself to pull back the covers over her son.

The stench intensified, and she nearly vomited bile.

Holding back her disgust, she took off his pants and went to fetch water to clean him up.

After changing the bed sheets, blankets, and putting on clean pants, Yang Dahui’s wife finally emerged, her face ashen, to wash her hands and prepare dinner.

By the time she served a pot of corn porridge at the table, Yang Dahui was eager to scoop some into his bowl.

However, as his wife looked at the color of the corn porridge, her disabled son’s excrement lingered in her mind.

“Ugh…”

Yang Dahui’s wife could no longer hold it in and ran to the door to throw up, feeling as if the world was spinning around her.

Having barely eaten anything due to the pain in her throat, she could only retch up some sour water.

As she got up, her vision darkened, and she collapsed straight down.