Chapter 40  A Foal

　Wang Mo also said: “Yes, we have to take better care of the vegetable garden in the future. Thanks to Brother Ming, I never would have thought we would be here half a year ago today.” Wang Mo has to take care of the elderly and children at home, and his children are still young, so he can’t come and help as often as Zhang Xiu.

       He didn’t expect that he could also benefit from Brother Ming, He felt grateful in his heart. No matter what Brother Ming encounters in the future, their family will always stand on his side.

　　”Yes, Ming Ge’er has always been a kind-hearted person, no matter how envious others are, Ming Ge’er doesn’t take it to heart. It’s a waste of their efforts.” Zhang Xiu said with a smile. The two of them left talking and laughing.

    Dashan who followed were naturally happy, the money earned in a year is not less than the harvest of crops grown in the fields. Dashan was thinking that after saving this year’s money, maybe he could send his two children to school next year. The foundation that Ming Ge’er helped them lay would definitely not be bad.

　　The elder of Wang Mo’s family also had the same idea as Wang Mo. They naturally remembered the kindness others showed them and would speak well of Tang Chunming in the village.

      Tang Chunming had few connections in Pingshan Village, especially after separating from the Zhao family. He had little contact with other families except for a few families, after all, he was from another village

          The elder in Wang Mo’s family didn’t like Wang Mo’s contact with Tang Chunming at first, but he didn’t expect Tang Chunming to be this generous, so he gradually changed his opinion of him. Maybe the changes now are not noticeable, but slowly as time goes by, Tang Chunming will take root more and more firmly in this village.

　　After the two families left, Tang Chunming said to Shopkeeper Qi, “What do you want to tell me this time?” Every time Shopkeeper Qi came, he had a report to convey.

　　Shopkeeper Qi smiled and said, “My young master thought it was not easy for Pingshan Village to produce a scholar, and Zhao Xiucai was young and had a promising future, so he asked someone to mention him to the husband of the chief clerk’s family, and he caught their eye. They wanted Zhao Xiu to be their son-in-law. So, I think the matter couldn’t be hidden from the Shen’s, otherwise, it would be bad for their reputation if their young ger was rejected for no reason, so he asked someone to disclose it to Master Shen. Haha, I heard that Pingshan Village was very lively yesterday.”

　　Tang Chunming rolled his eyes at the sky. He wondered why the Shen family had suddenly acted so aggressively. They were so blatant, it turned out that this was the idea of ​​the master and servant who were full of evil tricks. How evil they were!

　　”Okay, stop bragging, don’t lift the corners of your mouth so high while speaking in a sympathetic tone. It’s easy to expose your true feelings, of course, I’m a nice person so don’t worry about me revealing it to others.” Tang Chunming said wickedly.

　　Shopkeeper Qi almost vomited blood. The more he interacted with Tang Fulang, the more he felt that this ger was not that innocent ger. He was also experienced in doing business with others. Fortunately, this ger did not have big ambitions and just wanted to stay at home and make a fortune quietly. Otherwise, if they met such a person in the business world, it would be a headache for them.

　　”I’m busy in my restaurant, so I won’t stay and bother Tang Fulang ay more.” Shopkeeper Qi felt that he would not win if he continued talking, so he decided to leave. Tang Chunming felt a little regretful when he saw the hurriedly leaving figure. He wanted to ask again how the Meng family dealt with it, and whether Young Master Teng would be so kind as to marry the scholar Zhao Lao San. Could it be that the geer had some problems?

　　Zhang Xiu came over after he finished his housework and told Tang Chunming about the follow-up developments of Zhao Laosan’s cancellation of the engagement yesterday.

　After Zhang Xiu told him a bit about what happened yesterday, Tang Chunming and Li Feng did not mention it later. They would feel disappointed since discussing it would ruin their bonding time. However, after being reminded by Shopkeeper Qi, Tang Chunming felt happy when he thought about it.

   The Zhao family was really bullied by the Shen family yesterday. The Shen family was used to bullying people in the village. How could they be willing to have someone come to cancel the engagement right after the young ger got engaged? Especially after hearing the rumor that the young scholar had climbed up another branch and didn’t like the Shen family, so he came to cancel the engagement. How could the Shen family not be angry? Without saying a word, they brought two strong men to the door and knocked down the door.

　　The Zhao family was no match for the two men. What else could Grandma Zhao and Wang Chunhua do except cry and throw tantrums? Zhao Daniu was even worse than his brother. He was a coward who had already huddled inside the door and refused to come out when someone came to beat him. Zhao Lao San didn’t have much strength in his hands except for his flattery, and he had never worked in the fields. Moreover, he had always looked down on brute force like Zhao Dahu. But who would listen to his words at that time? In one word, it was only “beating” or “smashing”!

　　The Shen family came arrogantly, ran into the Zhao family, smashed things, and then made harsh remarks. If Zhao Laosan wanted to cancel the engagement he was dreaming! Then they passed the other members of the Zhao family who came after hearing the news, without looking at them.

　　Zhao’s third uncle rushed over, but all he saw was a mess in the yard and the house. Everything at hand was smashed to pieces, he was so angry that he almost fainted. This was too much bullying, they didn’t take their Zhao family and Pingshan village seriously.

     So he asked people to clean up the yard and the house and asked  Doctor Hu to treat the injuries of the few people who were screaming in pain, while he asked people to help them walk to the village heads’ house. The Shen family was too arrogant and their Pingshan Village had to fight back, otherwise, no one would take their Zhao family and Pingshan Village seriously in the future.

　　It has to be said that ever since Zhao Laosan passed the scholars examination, the third uncle felt that the Zhao family had gained more respect in the village and had become more confident. In his opinion, Pingshan Village must do everything possible to maintain the reputation of the only scholar in the village and get back the status. Maybe he will even become a Juren in the future, the entire Pingshan Village depended on their Zhao family.

　　”The house was very lively after the head of the village came back yesterday. Before I went to bed, I could still see the torches lit over there from far away in my yard. I guess my uncle couldn’t get a good rest all night.”

 “Fortunately, there were only the two of them at home, and the pregnant geer was in the town and didn’t come back. Otherwise, they wouldn’t be able to bear it. I’m afraid even the neighbors didn’t have a peaceful night .” 

     Zhang Xiu said happily, his and Ming Ge’er’s homes were at the entrance of the village, so the impact was naturally much smaller. He also knew that Ming Ge’er had been sleepy recently and probably had no idea what was going on over there.

　　”Did Grandma Zhao go to the Shen family to break off the engagement? What explanation did they give?” Tang Chunming felt sympathetic for the village head and his wife, then asked with interest.

　　”Didn’t they say that the horoscopes were a perfect match? But when Grandma Zhao went to town again, she told the matchmaker that the horoscopes were wrong and that the two of them were not a good match. They wanted to cancel their engagement with Zhao Laosan. How could the Shen family agree right away? They said they would find someone else to take a look, but in the blink of an eye, they found out the actual situation. It turned out that the Zhao family had chosen a better family and didn’t want the Shen family’s marriage anymore. They also said that the Shen family’s young geer was dying at home.”

　　Zhang Xiu laughed so hard that he fell over. The Zhao family had been too complacent recently, and Grandma Zhao had also learned to put on airs. She talked and acted differently from other families in the village. 

     Even Zhao Dong, would grab a few of his underlings around and beat up anyone he disliked, making those people hate him so much. Now, these people and those who disliked Grandma Zhao were laughing when they saw the joke on their family.

　　”Can the village elders really agree with the Zhao family’s idea to go to the Shen family to seek an explanation?” Tang Chunming was also happy to hear this.

　　”How could every one agree? The elders of the clan are not unified in their opinions. They argued endlessly at the village head’s house last night. Grandma Zhao and third uncle Zhao denied that they didn’t seek marriage with any other family, but that they were indeed incompatible with the geer of the Shen family, so they wanted to cancel the engagement and did not want to delay the ger.”

   “But few people believed this, when the Shen family came to smash and destroy things, some people stepped forward to persuade them, after all, it would not look good to be in the same village. Master Shen came in person and stood at the door and stated it himself, now everyone knew that it was the Zhao family that was first to offend the Shen family, and people could not speak out to stop it.”

    “Master Shen said that it was third uncle Zhao who wanted to propose marriage with another family and broke the engagement, and he also spent money to bribe the matchmaker and the fortune teller to change the original result.”

   “He also said that they were only targeting the Zhao family and not Pingshan Village.” 

      Zhang Xiu talked until his throat was dry, so he poured himself a bowl of water. The water from Ming Ge’er’s family was sweeter than that from other families.

　　”This must be the idea of ​​Zhao Laosan behind the scenes,” Tang Chunming thought about the nature of those people, and there was nothing he couldn’t guess.

   “Grandma Zhao and Wang Chunhua would definitely not want to part with the money they have, but this is a very clever move, if it were someone else, they might have succeeded.”

　　In his opinion, if the Shen family was sincerely looking for a marriage for their young Geer, then they would definitely not easily accept the Zhao family’s statement. In fact, this matter is easy to solve, just find another fortune teller or a monk in the temple to check again to see if the Zhao family is lying.

   Moreover, the Shen family is considered a respectable family in the town. If someone came to cancel the engagement, how would they save face? People would only think that the young geer of the Shen family was not good enough and that’s why the engagement was canceled. The Zhao family would not suffer much loss since it was a man.

　　”I guess so.” Zhang Xiu was also very happy after drinking the water.

 “Anyway, there was no outcome last night, the village head certainly did not agree to go to the Shen family to make trouble. Oh, my uncle will have a headache these days. The Zhao family will never stop so easily, by the way,   Doctor Hu also prescribed a lot of medicine and asked Grandma Zhao for money.

    He would not give the medicine without money, I heard that Grandma Zhao kept whining and pretending to not have heard, thinking that so many people present would not watch and do nothing. Who knew that Zhao Lao San wanted to save face and took out the money immediately, Grandma Zhao whined even more.”

　　Tang Chunming shook his head speechlessly. What kind of a fool would do such a thing? If he were to say, that the Shen family really lived up to his wish to have fun, the beating was really good!

　　Why was the Shen family so fearless? It’s because they heard that the other party is a chief clerk. The Shen family wants to make a big deal out of this and let all the chief clerks in the county government know about it so that they can’t become in-laws but become enemies.

   Even if Zhao Laosan is a scholar, who will give him them face without a backer? At that time, it would be good if the chief clerk’s family didn’t add insult to injury. Zhao Laosan’s behavior has made both families lose face.

　　As expected, Li Feng came back at noon. As soon as he entered the village, people on the roadside saw Li Feng riding a tall horse with a pony trotting behind him. They came up to him and asked him what was strange. When they learned that Li Feng bought the pony for little Ah-Lin to raise as a toy, they were filled with envy and jealousy.

  How much silver did this boy Feng bring back to be so generous? A three-year-old ger raises a pony to play with? In a village place like theirs, they would be struck by lightning.

　　They just watched enviously as the little pony followed the big horse to Tang Chunming’s yard. Someone had already come forward to knock on the door, so as soon as they arrived at the gate, the gate opened. The three little ones rushed out first and called Uncle Feng affectionately, and then excitedly circled around the little pony.

　　Tang Chunming walked slowly behind, he was surprised to see Li Feng coming back so soon, he said, “Why are you in such a hurry? You must be exhausted from the journey.”

　　”It’s okay. It’s much easier than before, compared to when I was in the north, life now is so comfortable that I’m almost getting lazy.”

　　”Okay, quickly bring the horse in, and go into the house to wash up, so we can have lunch together. Da Mao, help your uncle Feng bring in the foal, and ask your uncle Feng how to take care of it.” Tang Chunming shouted.

  After bringing the horse in, the gate of the yard was not closed. Many people who came to watch the fun ran in to see. Tang Chunming didn’t stop them and let them do what they wanted, he only asked Er Mao and Ah-Lin to watch Xiaohua and prevent him from biting people.

　　Many people have been to this courtyard before, but rarely have they come since Zhao Dahu’s funeral. Now when they came in, they saw that the courtyard had changed a lot, and they all said that Tang Chunmings’s life was getting more and more prosperous. In the past, they only heard others say it, but now they can see it with their own eyes and they can be sure that it is really prosperous.

　　Upon hearing that Ming Ge’er made a fortune by selling vegetables, some people took a special look at the back of the yard and the new yard. The sight of green vegetables was astounding. The vegetables were grown very well. No wonder Jinji Restaurant frequently came over to collect the vegetables.

　　Zhang Xiu naturally came as well and sent Tang Chunming and Li Feng to eat. He and Dashan helped them look after the yard and prevent anyone from destroying the vegetable patch.

　　”Has Ah-Lin eaten yet? How about I bring him inside to eat together?” After washing, Li Feng returned to the house but didn’t see Ah-Lin. He must have been looking at the pony and didn’t even want to eat.

　　”Let him play he had a bowl of steamed egg before, so he probably isn’t very hungry.” Tang Chunming waved his hand and said, he had fed him some fruits before, so he must not be hungry. He would definitely be sad they called him now.

     “Well, Dashan will take care of everything outside, so don’t worry about it, Just eat quickly.” Li Feng said as he brought the bowl of rice to Tang Chunming and carefully helped him sit down.

　　The three children returned to the house after all the onlookers had left, followed by Dashan and Zhang Xiu.

   The quiet Dashan also had a smile on his face, and he was obviously very happy to see the pony. He was also very happy that his ger would be looked up to more highly in the village. After sitting down, he asked Li Feng: “How much silver does it cost to buy this pony?”

　　”It’s not worth much silver. It’s just an ordinary pony, the children like it, and it will be able to work when it grows up.” Li Feng did not answer Dashan’s words directly, Tang Chunming glanced at Li Feng from the side.

  Li Feng had told him last night that this pony was worth more than fifty taels of silver. He often dealt with these animals in the north, so he had a high standard.

    He didn’t even settle for an ordinary pony, if he was going to buy something, he would buy a good one. Fortunately, this was only the county town and there were not many good horses, otherwise, he didn’t know how much silver it would cost.