Chapter 45 Clothing
Chapter 45 Clothing
September in late autumn is the busy farming season.
Outside Chenjia Village, every household was working in the fields, plowing the land and applying fertilizer in preparation for sowing winter wheat.
Farmers are born to be toilsome. They can only enjoy a moment of leisure in the cold winter. The rest of the time, they have to work hard in the fields, harvesting wheat and planting rice.
By the Qingping River, in a vast flat field, more than twenty farmers are working hard.
Chenjia Village is located on the edge of the Chimang Mountains. The terrain is undulating and the fields are divided by gullies and ridges.
A family's fields are often scattered in different places, of different sizes, and with poor soil.
Fields like this, which are dozens of acres connected together, have flat terrain, are close to rivers, have fertile soil, and are convenient for irrigation. They are first-class good land that only the rich can afford.
Among the farmers working in this field, the leader is a dark-skinned young man.
He was wearing a linen suit, and in the cold autumn wind, his two iron arms were still exposed. He was steaming all over as he followed a yellow ox pulling an iron pear, concentrating on turning the soil with powerful and swift movements.
Next to him, a middle-aged man with a weather-beaten face was holding a pipe, taking two puffs, watching everyone work with a smile, and occasionally chatting with the young people.
He was skinny, with thick calluses on his hands, but he was wearing a rather expensive silk suit, which looked a bit out of place.
Next to this stretch of flat fields, there are several poor fields with irregular borders and uneven terrain. They are connected together and located next to the highway. They are also cultivated by farmers.
Perhaps because they had been working for a long time and were tired, several farmers stopped their work, sat on the ridges of the fields, looked at the blue sky in the distance, and took a break.
One of them looked down and saw the middle-aged man smoking a pipe. He sighed and said sourly:
"How come Chen Tiezhu is so lucky? He can't read a single word, but his son is so promising. He sent back a large sum of money last year, built a farm, bought several hundred acres of good land, and became a rich man!"
Another person sighed:
"That's right! Chen Tiezhu used to live worse than my family, but now it's good. When Chen Rongcai sees him, he has to call him Brother Tiezhu respectfully. Even the nobles in the county come to celebrate his birthday. During festivals, they rush to give him gifts. What a grand occasion! Wow!"
"I'm just wondering, I held Chen Erniu in my arms when he was a child, he was silly and simple, skinny like a monkey, how come he developed martial arts skills? If my Goudan had a bit of his skills, I would be able to live a peaceful life!"
A few people started chatting, and their words were full of envy.
A thin-faced man sitting on the side, holding a dogtail grass in his mouth, sneered and said:
"What is there to envy about Chen Tiezhu? He gave birth to an unfilial son. He looks so good on the surface, but I wonder how many tears he must have shed behind the scenes!"
One person was surprised:
"Third Donkey, what are you talking about? How is Chen Daniu unfilial? The Chen family has bought so many acres of land, and he still works in the fields. He does a better job than the farmhands. How honest he is!"
"Who said Chen Daniu? I was talking about Chen Erniu!"
The others were even more surprised:
"Why are you lying with your eyes open? If Chen Erniu is not filial, is there anyone else in Chenjia Village who is filial?"
"That's right! If it weren't for Chen Erniu, would Chen Tiezhu be able to become a rich man?"
The thin-faced man glanced at them with disdain and said:
"What do you know? Chen Erniu did send some money to Chen Tiezhu, but if he was really filial, why didn't he bring Chen Tiezhu to the city to enjoy a better life, but stayed in the countryside to be a local tycoon? This is unfilial!"
When everyone heard this, they started discussing:
"That makes sense. If Chen Erniu is really filial, why doesn't he bring his parents to the city to enjoy a better life?"
"Our Chenjia Village is so remote that even if we buy more good land, we are just a local rich man. It's hard for us to even watch a big show. How can it be better than being a noble in the city?"
"It's true. I heard that Chen Erniu didn't even come back for the New Year. This doesn't seem like something a filial son would do..."
Several people were discussing this, and the thin-faced man smiled and said:
"I don't know how Chen Erniu made his fortune. With his naive appearance as a child, how could he learn any martial arts? Maybe he hooked up with the daughter of the owner of the county's Baibing Hall and became a live-in son-in-law, so he left his parents in the countryside to avoid embarrassment!"
Everyone gathered around and asked curiously:
"Three Donkeys, are you telling the truth?"
"Is Chen Erniu really the son-in-law of the owner of Baibing Hall?"
The thin-faced man was in the mood, so he cleared his throat and started to choreograph a piece:
"Then I will explain it to you in detail..."
Suddenly, he froze in place, his eyes wide open, staring at the road in the distance, and said in a lost voice:
"Chen...Chen Erniu!"
Everyone looked back and saw a young man of about seventeen or eighteen years old, wearing coarse cloth clothes, with his long hair casually draped, and a pair of tattered cloth shoes on his feet. He was carrying a bundle and walking slowly along the road.
They stared with wide eyes for a long time before one man said doubtfully:
"This eyebrow looks like Erniu..."
"It's Chen Erniu. He came back to celebrate the New Year two years ago. I saw him. There's no doubt about it!"
"Why is he wearing such shabby clothes?"
"Why do you care so much? He is a master in the martial arts world. He can wear whatever he wants. Be careful with your words and don't cause trouble!"
While they were talking, the young man had already approached them. They all hurriedly saluted, their eyes full of awe, dodging and evading, not daring to speak.
The thin-faced man also forgot that he was still plotting against this "son-in-law" and he rolled and crawled to the side, shaking all over.
The young man was none other than Chen Yuan. He used the art of lightness to walk out of the Chimang Mountains in just one day and headed straight for Chenjia Village.
He glanced at a few people, smiled slightly, and continued walking forward.
He heard everything that the others said just now.
But Chen Yuan didn't care about their offense.
He has already embarked on the path to immortality and will not care about the gossip of mortals.
And what the thin-faced man said was right. If he took his parents to the city, they would definitely live a more luxurious and wealthy life than in Chenjia Village. However, Chen Yuan was cautious and did not want his family to be involved in the disputes in the martial arts world, so he let his parents stay in Chenjia Village. They even did not come back during the New Year to avoid attracting attention.
It now seems that this move is quite effective. Even his fellow villagers don’t know his background, let alone the Sanjiang Gang.
……
Chen Yuan walked down the road and into the flat field.
When Chen Tiezhu saw someone walking into his field, he was about to scold him. Chen Yuan smiled and said:
"Dad, I'm back."
Chen Tiezhu shuddered, rubbed his eyes, and walked towards this side with one foot deep and one foot shallow, saying urgently:
"Erniu, what's wrong with you?"
Chen Daniu, who was working, heard Chen Tiezhu's shout, turned around, recognized Chen Yuan, dropped the hoe in his hand, and ran over:
"Erniu, why are you like this?"
The farmhands also stopped their work and looked over here.
Chen Yuan smiled and said:
"Dad, brother, I'm fine."
The two men came to him, touched his arms and shoulders, walked around him and checked him thoroughly before they felt relieved.
Chen Daniu was relieved to see that Chen Yuan was fine, but Chen Tiezhu's eyes were red and he muttered:
"It's good that you didn't get into trouble. Being safe is better than anything else. If you want to survive in the underworld, you have to fight with people with knives. I'm afraid that you will fail and get into trouble..."
Chen Yuan was moved, grabbed Chen Tiezhu's hand and said with a smile:
"Dad, don't worry, I'm fine, nothing happened."
Chen Daniu smiled innocently and said:
"Dad, Erniu is so capable, nothing will happen to him."
Chen Tiezhu also smiled, revealing dense wrinkles on his face, and said:
"Ah, when we get old, we tend to worry about things. Let's go home and ask the chef to prepare a delicious meal to welcome Erniu..."
Chen Yuan looked at Chen Tiezhu's weather-beaten appearance, and a ripple of emotion arose in his heart.
Chen Tiezhu is only in his forties this year, but he has aged to this extent.
He was lucky enough to have a son named Chen Yuan. He became a rich man and lived a wealthy life.
Ordinary farmers suffer many disasters and usually only live to their forties or fifties.
Life of a mortal is so hard.
……
When Chen Yuan returned home, everything in front of him had changed.
Outside the original three brick houses, a manor covering dozens of acres was built, with a wall ten feet high and extraordinary grandeur.
Chen Tiezhu smiled and said:
"Thanks to you, our family was able to build such a big farm. It's a pity that you didn't come back for the New Year and didn't light the first stick of incense when offering sacrifices to our ancestors. This is a matter of honor for our family!"
His face was full of pride. Chen Yuan looked at the manor in front of him silently, but he couldn't muster up any interest. He forced a smile and said:
"Dad helps me burn incense, it's the same."
After he was promoted to deputy chief of the Law Enforcement Hall, although he did not return home, he entrusted Wei Wuding to send two thousand taels of silver back to his home in installments.
This amount of money is nothing in the county town, but in the countryside, it is enough to build a large family business.
Everyone entered the manor, and found that it was just like any other landlord's manor, with a mill, granary, workshop, etc.
Passing this area of buildings is a three-story house that serves as the Chen family's residence.
As for the three brick and tile houses, they were converted into ancestral halls to worship the ancestors of the Chen family.
The three of them entered the house, and a girl happened to walk out of the hanging flower gate connecting to the second courtyard.
When she saw Chen Yuan, she blinked her big eyes, rushed over in surprise, and said loudly:
"Second brother, you are back!"
Chen Yuan hugged the girl and said with a smile:
"Girls really change a lot when they grow up. It's only been a little over a year and my little sister has become so beautiful!"
Compared with the last time we met, my sister has grown taller, has a slimmer figure and a more beautiful face.
But in front of Chen Yuan, the little sister is still the same little sister.
She hugged Chen Yuan tightly and cried out in tears:
"My second brother is a bad guy! He never came back for the New Year, and I had to eat rice cakes, eggs, and braised pork all by myself, but none of them tasted good!"
Chen Yuan gently stroked the top of his little sister's head and said softly:
"Brother was wrong. Am I not coming back to make amends to you?"
The younger sister raised her head and looked at Chen Yuan with a pitiful look on her face. She said:
"Then you have to promise to come back every year and spend the New Year with me!"
Thanks for the reward of "One Kill in Ten Steps"!
(End of this chapter)