CHAPTER 43: CHAPTER 43: A CHANGE IN PERSPECTIVE

With a loud "bang," a gust of wind blew past, and the window before Zhao Minghua slammed shut.

"Young Master, the wind is picking up, there’s going to be a heavy rain."

"I’m not blind."

A scorching summer day, a heavy downpour is just normal.

"Looks like tonight we’ll have to stay in town, Young Master. Should we stay at the tea house or go back to the old master’s place?"

"Why would I go back to listen to them nag?" Zhao Minghua glanced at Qingsheng: "Can’t I have a moment’s peace?"

"Alright, alright, I’ll tidy up the bed then. Also, Young Master, what are we having for dinner tonight?"

"Whatever they make, we’ll eat that. We’re here to work, not indulge ourselves."

"Yes."

Oh, Qingsheng thought it was so tough, why is the young master so temperamental?

Being a servant isn’t easy either, following the young master around all day, and having to climb stairs to see if Miss Xiao is doing business with Old Master Zhang.

Really, ever since meeting Miss Xiao, Third Young Master has changed completely.

The tea house used to see him maybe once a month, now he’s always here, drinking tea and staring blankly at the Origin Tea House across the way.

One would have thought he didn’t care about making money, just wanted to do something to kill time.

Turns out, it’s not that he doesn’t care, but he has no good ideas.

Watching the busy traffic at the tea house, he envies it so much he drools.

Sigh, envy, jealousy, and hatred are human nature.

The wind is picking up!

Chun Nuan had just reached the bamboo grove when a gale hit her, snapping a bamboo stalk that nearly struck her.

"That was close."

Chun Nuan hurried a few steps further, another gust blew past, making it hard for her to keep her balance.

"Cluck, cluck, cluck..." Suddenly Chun Nuan saw Aunt Luo wandering through the bamboo grove, making noises.

"Aunt Luo, what are you doing?"

"Ah, Chun Nuan, the wind is picking up, it’s going to rain heavily. I let my hen out this morning, and I saw it at the door, but now it’s gone; I’m wondering if it’s here in the grove."

"Aunt, the wind is so strong, it might snap a bamboo and hurt you. Why don’t you wait until the wind and rain have stopped to look?" Chun Nuan kindly reminded her, "Just now, I was nearly hit by bamboo; it’s not safe here."

"If I wait until the wind and rain stop, the hen will be impossible to find, and even if found, I’d have to eat it." Aunt Luo was very anxious, "I have three chickens, but only this hen lays some eggs. All the money for buying salt comes from it, I can’t lose it."

"Cluck, cluck, cluck..."

Aunt Luo was determined to go into the grove to find the hen, Chun Nuan tried to stop her but to no avail, all she could do was sigh.

"Big sister is back."

"Big sister, Chunxin really missed you."

"Big sister missed you too."

The sweet-talking four-year-old girl hugged Chun Nuan tightly, not letting go.

Anyone would think they hadn’t seen each other in ages, but Chun Nuan actually runs over here every day.

Any spare cash she has, she’d buy some necessities for the family, like rice and flour.

Today, she brought back a pound of meat to the village. With dividends from the Origin Tea House, the family’s life will slowly improve.

"Eat meat, gaga. Eat meat, gaga." Two-year-old Chun Qiang loved rummaging through the basket that big sister brought home, seeing the meat beneath the white cloth, he drooled eagerly.

"You little glutton." Chun Nuan pinched his cheek, ah, good, he had gained some flesh: "Have you been good, have you listened? If not, no meat for you."

"Yes, big sister, Chun Qiang has been really good, learning to write with brother An. Look, big sister, Chun Qiang wrote his name."

He then picked up a branch and started writing in the sand at the courtyard gate.

Indeed, Chun Nuan had dug up some sand from the riverbank and laid it at the courtyard gate, letting her younger siblings write in the sand with branches.

The Xiao family couldn’t afford pen, ink, paper, and inkstone for practicing characters, making do and thrift were her ways of managing the house.

The women of the Xiao family could all read and write, teaching the children writing and drawing wasn’t a problem.

"Big sister..."

Chunyan and Chun Shu also ran over to her.

"Yes, meat, take it and slice it, render some oil from the fat, and once done, I’ll take a bit back to our sister-in-law," Chun Nuan said, "Be careful when cutting the meat, don’t cut your hands."

Since coming to Shu City, they’ve done everything themselves, the hands of Xiao family’s women were no longer soft and tender, Chunyan and Chun Shu’s hands had several cuts, some from knives, some from thorns or grain crops. Fortunately, none were deep, after using Chun Nuan’s homemade salve, they slowly healed, leaving some shallow scars.

Chun Nuan regretted deeply, that day when the house was raided, why didn’t she hide more jars of medicine... ah, as if she could have, ultimately she only saved a small clay bottle, because she cleverly whispered the medicine’s uses to the soldier searching her, pleading for them to leave this bottle which was a remedy for grandmother’s heart condition. Only then did the soldier let her keep the emergency medicine.

A woman’s hand is like her second face, daughters of wealthy families in Capital City, daughters of junior officials, all were raised with tender hands, a scar would be a disaster.

Initially, when Chunyan and the others hurt their hands, the family elders reacted like facing a crisis, extremely anxious.

But now they’ve become accustomed, taking it in stride.

People may not learn from others, but experiences teach them, one incident is enough.

These days, the family has slowly adapted to countryside life, knowing how to do laundry, cook, chop firewood, and grow vegetables. Chun Ning no longer complains about using human waste to fertilize crops.

Even Chun An and Chun Qiang learned from village kids to hold it in until they were home for relieving themselves, saying the fertile water shouldn’t be spread elsewhere.

Every time she listened to them chatter away, calling out each other’s shortcomings or praising each other’s progress, Chun Nuan felt both comforting and bittersweet.

Third Aunt, Mrs. Huang, couldn’t accept her four young children becoming so coarse and tried numerous times to correct them, causing tension in the mother-child relationship. Finally, the old lady spoke: When in Rome do as the Romans do; the primary task for the Xiao family now is survival, as long as the general direction of etiquette and manners is appropriate.

Indeed, what’s wrong with being a bit crude?

From another angle, can’t it be called straightforward?

Children need to blend with their playmates, holding back isn’t any good.

For instance, Mrs. Huang disliked her son coming home dirty with mud and sand, or his clothes torn and stained, but what’s the solution to that? Keep him home writing characters and reciting poems?

However, the Xiao family no longer had opportunities for official positions, relying solely on literacy wasn’t viable.

They needed more contact with the people and things around them, to learn how to survive.

Climbing trees to collect bird eggs, fishing for crabs in a stream, or catching loaches and eels with the neighboring boys... these were normal daily activities, the Xiao family elders had accepted this reality: boys should be raised a little rough!