Chapter 5: My Son Must Go to School Too!
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This!
Mrs. Liu looked at her son with eyes full of astonishment.
She had never been educated, not even able to recognize her own name.
Yet precisely because of this, when her son uttered those two proverbs...
Mrs. Liu suddenly understood.
A genius!
Her son was a genius!
Until now, she had never considered sending him to school—not because she was unwilling, but because this harsh household simply would not tolerate them raising their heads.
But what parent does not wish for their children to achieve greatness?
If this were before, it would be one thing if she hadn’t noticed her son’s talents.
But now!
Just two sentences from Cheng An filled her heart with boundless hope!
Such a clever son—how could he be wasted?
He must study!
Even if it meant selling everything, he must study!
...
Nightfall.
In the humble western room.
Cheng An curled up in the corner of the bed, leaning against the wall, asleep.
But his mother, Liu Cuiyun, was too excited to sleep.
She gently tapped her husband.
“What is it?”
“Too much happened today, I just can’t get interested. Tomorrow, maybe.”
Cheng Dashan comforted his wife softly.
“Pah!”
“You think I care about you?”
Mrs. Liu suddenly flushed, reached out, twisted her husband’s waist, and whispered, “Get up, I have something to tell you—about our boy.”
“What’s wrong with our youngest, Erliu?”
Cheng Dashan immediately grew worried.
The couple lay on their sides, facing each other.
Mrs. Liu’s voice was low but carried a smile: “Do you know what our boy said today? He said... do you understand what it means?”
Listening to the two proverbs from his wife,
Cheng Dashan shook his head in confusion, blinking rapidly.
“Did our boy really say that?”
“Do I have reason to lie?”
Mrs. Liu tilted her head slightly and glanced at her sleeping son.
“I don’t care! Why is it that only the eldest son can go to school, and our boy has to dig in the dirt all day?”
“My son must study!”
Mrs. Liu’s tone was resolute and serious.
“Cheng Dashan, I’m not discussing this with you! Our son is so smart; can you bear to see him farm all his life?”
Only through education can one have a future!
This was something even the simplest countryfolk understood.
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Cheng An buried his head under the quilt, pretending to sleep, but a smile played at the corner of his lips.
After yesterday’s outburst, it seemed his mother was truly reborn—not only speaking with newfound firmness but also courageous enough to fight for their rights in this family.
This was a good sign.
In this Great Zhou Dynasty that revered literature above all,
Cheng An knew well.
If he wanted to break free from this life of poverty, he first needed a respectable status.
Otherwise, how could he perform those “thousand-year culture,” “generational inheritances,” or “mysterious techniques” he dreamed of?
Who would believe a country bumpkin who couldn’t read a single character could compose such astonishing lines as “A roc soars with the wind one day”?
Whether he intended to become a literary plagiarist or a wealthy businessman through future inventions,
His current identity was untenable!
Only education.
Only when his status was solid would those “secret skills” be recognized.
...
“Study?”
Old Mrs. Han sat at the dining table, nearly dropping her chopsticks.
A cold glint flashed across the eldest aunt’s eyes.
Suppressing her anger, she looked at Mrs. Liu and said, “Cuiyun, studying isn’t that easy! Our youngest, Erliu... it’s not that the child has no talent, but really...”
“But really what?” Mrs. Liu cut off Qin’s words coldly.
She glanced at eldest uncle Cheng Dahai.
“Just because your son can study, ours supposedly has no talent? Erliu, come here...”
“Mother.”
Cheng An obediently stood beside Mrs. Liu.
“Repeat to your eldest uncle what you told me yesterday!”
“Oh.”
Cheng An blinked in confusion but nodded.
“‘Parents are not kind’ means... ‘Diligence leads to mastery, idleness to ruin’ means...”
“Cuiyun.”
Cheng Dahai’s eyes flashed with surprise as he frowned, staring at Cheng An.
“Are you sure these words were spoken by Erliu? Where did he learn them?”
“What? Your son can study, but mine can’t even listen?”
Pfft!
Cheng An, chewing on a millet cake, nearly spat it out laughing.
His mother’s tongue was sharp!
Had she decided to let herself go after hitting rock bottom?
In the past, she wouldn’t even have dared speak loudly without first reading everyone’s faces.
But now, she was fearless.
It didn’t matter if her husband was unreliable, her son was not!
She was determined to send her son to school.
As long as he succeeded, who in this family would dare shout at her or bully her?
This idea was much like old Mrs. Han’s.
Only her son had too many advantages and was extremely favored!
“Just knowing those two sentences, what does that prove? The knowledge in books is as vast as the sea. Erliu is only a child. Can he really understand it?”
“Eldest aunt means that knowledge is as vast as the clouds and sea?”
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Cheng An smiled innocently and crookedly.
“What’s ‘vast’?”
“Just that...”
Cheng An was about to speak when eldest uncle’s face changed, interrupting him.
“Enough. Studying is not a trivial matter. We should discuss it first! Cuiyun, in a few days, the village will collect taxes again. After we eat, I’ll go ask the village chief how much we owe this year.”
“Fine, that’s important. You should pay attention.”
“Hey.”
Mother and son changed the subject in harmony.
But they underestimated Mrs. Liu’s fighting spirit after her rebirth.
Smack!
Chopsticks slammed hard on the table.
Mrs. Liu glared coldly at the family.
“Big brother, your son Yuan has been studying for years, and neither my husband nor I have ever complained, right? Over the years, hasn’t he contributed to your family first? One should not be selfish.”
“You say I’m selfish?”
Cheng Dahai did not expect Mrs. Liu to directly confront him.
He was a student in the imperial examinations!
Not only in the Cheng family, but in three neighboring villages, anyone who saw him would respectfully bow and address him as ‘Mr. Cheng.’
How dare this lowly woman speak to him like that?
Before Cheng Dahai could respond, old Mrs. Han suddenly stood up, no longer showing any frailty.
Her eyes fiercely locked onto Mrs. Liu.
“Liu Cuiyun!”
She shouted angrily, “Do you really think I was afraid of you after yesterday’s commotion? Want to send your son to school? Why don’t you just fly to the heavens?”
“Mother.”
Cheng Dashan, who had remained silent, was displeased.
“Shut up!”
Old Mrs. Han exerted her authority, silencing her third son.
Her hair bristled with rage as she said, “There’s only so much money in this family. Didn’t your eldest brother say? Taxes are coming again soon! Study? Where’s the money? Where will the money come from?”
Supporting two students in one household was a miracle for ordinary people.
If not for Cheng Dashan and his wife’s tireless labor over the years—working the fields and gathering wild game and mountain goods to supplement the household—this family would have fallen apart long ago.
“Yes, Third Brother.”
Watching the scene, second uncle Cheng Dahe teased.
He glanced at eldest brother’s family and said, “Who doesn’t want their sons to study and become literate? But you’ve seen how biased our mother is! Do you think she would pay for this? Besides, taxes are coming soon...”
“Beast! Beast!”
Old Mrs. Han trembled with anger.
With one swing of her cane, she cut off Cheng Dahe’s mocking laugh.
“What did I say that was wrong?”
Before, with Cheng Dashan, the “dutiful son” who bore insults and blows protecting old Mrs. Han, Cheng Dahe wouldn’t have dared speak to her this way in front of the eldest and third brothers.