CH 10

Apr 30 2022

Goose Goose Goose

“Yo, the young man is back? Where did you go out so late?” Wen Li greeted Yu Qingze with a warm smile and secretly inquired.

The little ger behind him stuck his head out, saw Yu Qingze, and hid back again.

Yu Qingze:  …

“Hello!” Yu Qingze nodded and called out. He glanced at Chang Le and the others, and found that their faces were not very good.

“Aren’t you awesome, reading on hololonovels?” Chang Hao thought cheerfully.

“Hello, hello!” Wen Li waited for Yu Qingze to walk into the main room, approached him, and asked, “Where are you from, young man? How old are you this year? Are you married? What other relatives do you have at home? Why did you come to Niutou Village? now…”

The little ger beside him also secretly looked up at Yu Qingze.

Yu Qingze was dizzy by this series of questions, and quickly reached out to stop Wen Li, “I’m 28 this year, I live in the north, I lost my luggage on the way here, and now I have no money and don’t know what to do to spend my days.”

“Oh…that’s it.” Hearing Yu Qingze say that he is now penniless and also so old, Wen Li suddenly lost interest, and the smile on his face faded a lot.

Then, he turned around and said to Grandpa Chang and Chang Le: “Dad, Brother Le, you should think about it again. They are very satisfied with Brother Le, you can’t find anyone better than this. Also, this is the gift that was brought over here today.”

Wen Li took out a small wooden box from his arms and placed it on the table, opened it, and inside was a silver bracelet wrapped in velvet.

“Look, the pattern on this is so beautiful, it suits our brother Le. Brother Le, come here and try it on.” Wen Li picked up the silver bracelet and pulled Chang Le’s hand to put it on his hand.

Chang Le quickly broke free, took a step back, and gestured at Wen Li.

“Oh, you child, you are still shy, you always say no to marriage proposals…”

Grandpa Chang glared at Wen Li and said, “What marriage! Didn’t Xiaole say that he would not agree! You just have to keep playing matchmaker. Believe it or not, I will break your legs!” After speaking, Grandpa Chang went to Look for a wooden stick in the corner.

Chang Le and Chang Hao didn’t move, and Yu Qingze quickly stepped aside.

“Hey, Father, what are you doing? I’m also doing it for the good of Brother Le. He’s so old, so he can’t help but marry…Ahh, don’t hit people, I’m leaving…”

Wen Li shouted and ran out, the little ger also ran after him, turning back to glance at Yu Qingze on the way.

“Wait!” Grandpa Chang shouted.

Wen Li thought that the old man had changed his mind and turned his head happily.

“Take this away!” Grandpa Chang pointed to the empty box on the table.

Grandpa Chang was happy that you’re reading on hololonovels.

Wen Li hurried back and took the box away, muttering as he left, “Father, don’t be so stubborn…”

Wen Li wanted to say more, Grandpa Chang raised the stick in his hand, and he hurriedly ran away.

When Wen Li and them left the courtyard, Chang Le stepped forward and took the stick from Grandpa Chang’s hand and put it back in the corner.

Grandpa Chang sighed, turned to Yu Qingze and said, “I let you see a joke.”

Yu Qingze shook his head, didn’t answer; he didn’t know what to say. Every family has a scripture that is difficult to read, and this is not something he can ask about or intervene in.

“By the way, have you asked the village chief about the household registration? What did he say?” asked Grandpa Chang.

Yu Qingze shook his head and said, “It’s not easy to handle. He said that if I buy one mu of land in the village, I can get naturalized. However, one mu of land costs fifty taels, so I have to make money first.”

Grandpa Chang heard the words, sighed, and comforted him: “Take your time, there is always a way. If it doesn’t work, just buy one from a remote location, where the fields are not so expensive.”

Yu Qingze nodded, turned around and handed the two wooden boards in his hand to Chang Le and Chang Hao, which he asked the village chief to make with some leftover woods.

“What is this?” Chang Hao took the board and asked. The plank in his hand was about a foot wide and two feet long, with small wooden slats nailed around it.

Yu Qingze replied, “It’s for you to write.”

Hearing that it was for them, Chang Le and Chang Hao shifted their attentions instantly. They looked at the wooden board and were a little skeptical. They wouldn’t be able to erase the writing on it. After writing a few words, it’d become useless.

How could Yu Qingze not know what they were thinking, he smiled and said, “I don’t want you to write with firewood, but put sand or soil inside, and after writing with your finger, you can smooth it out and continue writing.”

Yu Qingze added, “It’s best to use fine sand, it’s convenient and clean.”

The two brothers suddenly realized. Chang Hao happily said to Chang Le: “Brother, we will go to the river to pack some sand and come back at noon tomorrow!”

There is a big river not far in front of the village, called Qinghe, which flows from west to east, all the way to the seaside, and is also an important river that divides Dasheng from north to south.

Chang Le’s face was full of smiles, nodding and agreeing well.

Then when he woke up early the next morning, Chang Hao saw that there was already a pile of sand in the yard that was drying, and it was still wet, obviously his brother just brought it back.

When he came home at noon and the sand was dry, Chang Hao couldn’t wait to take out two wooden plates, spread the sand inside, and then used his fingers to write his name stroke by stroke; he had learned it two days ago.

“Brother Yu, look, I can write my name!” Chang Hao brought the wooden plate in front of Yu Qingze who was picking vegetables and asked, “Do you think I wrote it right?”

“Let me take a look.” Yu Qingze glanced at it, the words written by the young man were still a little loose, and the shape was not very good-looking, but it was indeed written correctly, so he extended his thumb and praised him, “Written well, it’s great!”

In the past two days, when they have free time, the two brothers have been writing and drawing on the ground. Yu Qingze knows that they have learned it already.

Chang Hao raised his head happily and asked, “My brother can do it too. Can you teach us new characters tonight? Like my brother’s name?”

Yu Qingze: “Yes.”

After dinner, Chang Hao happily ran towards Yu Qingze with a wooden board and a firewood head. Yu Qingze picked up the pen, ummm, the firewood and was about to write, he suddenly thought that ‘le’ has traditional Chinese characters, unlike ‘chang’ and ‘hao’, where traditional and simplified characters are the same.

He couldn’t take it anymore. After struggling for a second, he turned his head to look at Chang Hao’s expectant eyes and asked, “Why don’t we learn Grandpa’s name first, and when I come back from work, I’ll teach you your brother’s name?”

Grandpa Chang was happy that you’re reading on hololonovels.

Chang Hao thought about it for a while. Grandpa’s name was also to be learned, so he said, “Okay. Then I can learn three words today!”

Grandpa Chang’s name is ‘Chang Dashan’, which is a combination of simple and traditional, which is very suitable for teaching.

Yu Qingze happily wrote the word ‘Dashan’ and the stroke order on the wooden board.

“Grandpa’s name has so few strokes?” Chang Hao was surprised, “Dashan”, it’s only six strokes together.

Yu Qingze smiled, “Yes, because these two characters are both pictographs, how do you usually gesture when something is big?”

“That’s it.” Chang Hao opened his arms and made a big movement.

Yu Qingze said: “Look, you straighten your arms and open your feet a little bit, doesn’t it look like this ‘big’ character?”

Chang Hao opened his feet a bit, looked at his body, and looked at the word ‘big’ on the wooden board. He was shocked, “It’s the same!”

At this time, Dajian came to call Yu Qingze.

“Write well, I’m going out.” Yu Qingze patted the little boy’s head with a smile and went out.

The village chief had invited Master Xiucai, who was drinking tea in the main room at this time. As for the Yu family members, the village chief told them to stay in the old house or the kitchen.

Yu Qingze, this is the first time he met the Master Xiucai, Yu Jiayao.

His appearance is thin, his complexion is much fairer than that of other villagers, but because of the recent busy farming, tiredness can be seen on his face clearly at a glance.

The village chief introduced the two of them.

Yu Qingze politely cupped his hands and said, “I have seen Master Xiucai.”

Yu Xiucai nodded lightly and didn’t say much.

The three sat down.

At this time, Master Xiucai set the tea from his hand to the side, then took out his four treasures of the study from the box beside him and placed them on the table one by one. “Tell me the specific content first, make it clear, and then I will write it out for you.”

When the village chief went to invite him, he briefly explained the matter to Yu Xiucai. Therefore, the village chief mainly recounted, and Yu Qingze added on the side. Yu Xiucai asked from time to time. It took about an hour to write the cooperation contract in duplicate.

The two of them had no problem with the contents. They signed their names, pressed their fingerprints, and reached a cooperation.

After the completion of the signing, Yu Qingze embarrassedly asked Yu Xiucai to write him the word “happy”, and also asked him to write a poem commonly used here for enlightenment education.

Yu Xiucai looked at him curiously.

Yu Qingze explained that it was to teach Chang Le and Chang Hao to read and write, but his level was limited and hoped that Master Xiucai would agree.

Hearing the words, Yu Xiucai thought of the figure outside the school who was always poking his head. He didn’t ask any more questions, he picked up a pen and wrote a poem.

Yu Qingze picked it up and took a look. His face became 囧; he was surprised to see “The Song of the Goose”.

It is indeed very suitable for enlightenment education. He just didn’t know if the person who wrote this poem in this world is also called Luo Binwang.

(T/N: “The Song of the Goose” is a five-character ancient poem written by Luo Binwang, a poet in the early Tang Dynasty, when he was seven years old.)

Grandpa Chang was happy that you’re reading on hololonovels.

With a contract and a ‘textbook’, Yu Qingze returned home full of confidence.

The poem should be enough for now to teach the two brothers. He could also study the traditional characters too.

When he goes to the town later, he’ll visit a bookstore to buy a book and come back to self-study. Traditional Chinese characters are not easy for Chef Yu who only knows the basics!

The ideal is too full and the reality is too skinny.

(T/N: beautiful imagination and hope for the future, but the reality is so cruel; the idea is very good but difficult to achieve.)

Traditional characters seem familiar when you look at them, but if you don’t write them often, although your eyes will always recognize them, but your hands will not follow up.

Yu Qingze happily went home and taught the two brothers how to write Chang Le’s name, and the three of them were very happy and satisfied.

After two more days, Yu Qingze’s foot injury was healed, and he finally didn’t need to use the ‘third leg’, although it was very light.

In the past two days, the remaining two fields of Changle’s family have also been cleared, and the only thing left is to plant rice seeds. However, Grandpa Chang unfortunately fell ill at this time.

At first, he lost his appetite and always wanted to drink water. Later, he began to feel dizzy and nauseous, and his face became pale.

“Grandpa, why don’t you eat some? These sour beans are really appetizing.” At noon that day, Chang Hao asked when he saw that his grandfather had only drank half a bowl of porridge and stopped.

Yesterday at noon, Yu Qingze saw that the capers were ready to eat, so he fried a bowl and was very well received by the rest of the family.

Although Yu Qingze’s dishes are delicious, the ghost weather in the midsummer is hot and humid. As they continue to work hard, their appetites have decreased. Just as the sour beans were pickled, this little snack raised their appetite again, except Grandpa Chang who has not recovered his appetite since this morning.

Chang Le put down the tableware and chopsticks worriedly, and asked his grandfather if he was uncomfortable.

“It’s alright, it’s just that the weather is too hot. I don’t have any appetite, and the summer is bitter, didn’t it happen in previous years, don’t worry.” Grandpa Chang wiped the sweat from his forehead and said with a smile.

Yu Qingze felt that Grandpa Chang’s appearance was not quite right, it looked like he was suffering from heat stroke, so he asked Grandpa Chang to find out his symptoms and got a positive answer. Yu Qingze immediately said to Chang Le: “Grandpa’s situation is not right. It seems that he is suffering from heat stroke. We need the doctor to come take a look.”

Hearing this, Chang Le nodded, made a gesture, and asked Chang Hao to go.

“Hey, don’t worry about it, I’m fine, you don’t need to ask the doctor, Xiaohao, come back…”

Chang Hao ran fast on short legs and disappeared outside the courtyard gate in the blink of an eye.

Yu Qingze asked Chang Le to spread the mat and let Grandpa Chang lie down on the ground. He went to the kitchen to get a basin of cold water and came back, and let Chang Le use a damp cloth to wipe the sweat off of Grandpa Chang to cool him down.

Grandpa Chang was happy that you’re reading on hololonovels.

Then, he returned to the kitchen and made a glass of salt water for Grandpa Chang to drink.

Grandpa Chang watched the two busy and comforted them that he was fine.

When the doctor came and checked the pulse, he said, “He’s suffering from heat stroke. You guys are very good at dealing with it. I will prescribe medicine for him to take, and he needs to rest more. Uncle is getting old and it is so hot outside, so he can’t go out to the fields to bask in the sun.”

Chang Le nodded hurriedly; he wouldn’t dare to let grandpa go out again.

The doctor wrote the prescription, and then asked: “Do you have mung beans at home? If there is some, you can take it with honeysuckle decoction to cool off the heat. “

Chang Le shook his head, and then said that he would go out to buy immediately.

When the doctor left, Chang Hao followed to get the medicine, and Chang Le set off to buy mung beans in town. When Chang Hao came back, Yu Qingze decocted medicine for Grandpa Chang at home and watched the patient.

It wasn’t until the evening that Grandpa Chang felt better, and looked more energetic.

When Grandpa Chang fell asleep after taking the medicine, Chang Le thanked Yu Qingze very seriously. If Yu Qingze hadn’t discovered in time that his grandfather wasn’t right, he would not have known that his grandfather was sick.

For the next two days, Chang Le only let Grandpa Chang go to the fields in the morning and evening when the sun was not so strong. When the sun was getting high, he hurriedly drove Grandpa back home.

Grandpa Chang was both angry and amused, but he was reluctant to scold his good grandson, so he had no choice but to go home.

Fortunately, there were only two fields left for planting. With the help of Yu Qingze, the planting was successfully completed in two days.

“Finally it’s done! I’m exhausted!” Chang Hao shouted up to the sky, calling out all the hard work he had accumulated during these days.

Yu Qingze and Chang Le couldn’t help laughing when they saw him like that.

Really tired! Yu Qingze considers himself strong, but under this kind of intense work, he also feels exhausted. At least he had a chance to rest because of his foot injury, but Chang Le and the others were always busy, so it was no wonder Chang Hao made such a howl.

The next day, everyone slept well, allowing the tired body to relax and recover. Even Chang Le, who always got up early, was half an hour later than usual.

After breakfast, Yu Qingze said to Chang Le, “Brother Le, I want to go to the town tomorrow, can you take me there?”

Chang Le nodded and gestured that he would also go to town to sell vegetables tomorrow.

Yu Qingze said happily: “That’s great.” He has to take a good look at this county and investigate what business to do.

Grandpa Chang was happy that you’re reading on hololonovels.

“I’m going too.” Chang Hao called out, and then asked his brother, “Brother, are you going fishing this afternoon?”

Chang Le nodded. Every time he went to sell vegetables, he would go to the river to catch some fish and sell them together.

Fishing? Yu Qingze raised his eyebrows; he thought it was very interesting.