Chapter 30: Thanks To You Two

Proofread by Claire.KK

His handwritings were so neat that drew Ye Xiaoxian’s face closer and closer to him and at last she was almost snuggled up to him.

They were so close that his nose tip almost touched her cheek and she could feel his breath and observe his face, dark but with delicate features.

By some chance, she was stunned and just stared at him in a daze.

At last Xiao Baozhu asked, “What are you guys doing? Are you going to teach me how to write or what?”

Ye Xiaoxian went back to her senses and then blushed, keeping certain distance with him subconsciously, “You, you go on. I’ll go to help Ma cook dinner!”

…

It didn’t take long before Xiao Baofeng went back home.

Xiao Baofeng wore two pigtail buns on each side of his head today and Li Hongmei used some rags to sew a cloth bag for him to place his books, pens and inks in. He looked rather adorable, like one of those ancient schoolboys on TV.

Xiao Baofeng was obviously very excited. As soon as he came back, he ran to the kitchen to find Li Hongmei and saw that ye Xiaoxian was also there. He couldn’t help chattering, “Today, I only learned to write my name because it was not full time for me today. I also listened to my classmates reading. Some of my classmates are so good that they can read poems…”

Ye Xiaoxian stir-fried her dishes while smiling, “What are the odds of that! Baozhu was learning to write her name as well. Just over there in Ma’s room. Talk about your experience to Baozhu and maybe you can study together.”

Xiao Baofeng then ran to Xiao Baozhu’s.

Xiao Baofeng had run out for a while but Li Hongmei still wore a smile on her face. She smiled to Ye Xiaoxian. “Is it just me or does our life go better and better?”

“Don’t you like it?” asked Ye Xiaoxian smilingly.

“Of course I like it. I’ve been thinking. I think it was all because of you and Baoshan. Since you two spent your wedding night together, our life has become sweeter than honey. I know that you and Baoshan haven’t got along as other spouses do, but it’s only a step away. Don’t worry, Baoshan will beg you to let him stay in the same room with you one day.”

“Ma, what are you talking about?” Ye Xiaoxian recalled the girl she saw from the government office and she did not feel at ease at all.

‘I’m afraid Xiao Baoshan has already had someone in his heart.’

…

Today’s dinner was a braised fish, a plate of wild mushrooms, and rice.

Both sides of the braised fish were fried golden and crispy, and Ye Xiaoxian then sprinkled some brown sugar and lemon juice on it which tasted sweet and sour, crispy and appetizing. The wild mushrooms were boiled into broth which tasted lightly sweet and delicious and also went rather well with rice.

The whole family was in a good mood tonight. Everyone was having dinner while listening to Xiao Baofeng talking about what happened in school. They were very happy and harmonious.

Nonetheless, there were someone who did not appreciate this harmonious scene at all.

In the elder household, Wong Mudan’s son Xiao Baocheng went home as well. Once he got home he said to Wong Mudan, “Ma, Baofeng went to school as well. We went back home together today.”

Xiao Baocheng was ten years old and he has been gone to school for three years. He could recite some poems and verses and once there was a holiday or festival, Wong Mudan would let him recite poems in front of clan leaders.

Although what he recited were simple verses like “the moon shines on my bed brightly, so that I mistook it for frost on the ground”, but those clan leaders didn’t understand. They think that as long as the child could recite poems, he was a good kid. They also said that the child would have great achievements in the future, maybe he could be a scholar.

Modern people thought that the ancient scholars were pretty broke, but in fact, they were not. Scholars had a salary to claim, though the salary was less than what an official could get.

Compared with the rural people who spend most of their time tilling and harvesting crops, it was much more promising to be a scholar than to till a farmland for a lifetime.

So Wong Mudan would rather live in a thrifty life and insisted on letting Xiao Baocheng go to private school.