Wang Yongzhu brought Old Granny Zhang some hot water to wash her face, and comforted her, "Mother, it’s okay, father probably just drank too much. Once he sobers up tomorrow, we’ll talk to him, and he won’t be so impulsive."
"How can your father be so muddled, don’t we as parents know what kind of temperament our second son has? I see that this official-obsessed temperament of his is just like your father’s! What’s wrong with being a peasant family? As long as you have land, the heavens won’t let a hard-working man starve! Insisting on becoming an official without even seeing if one is cut out for it!" Old Granny Zhang nagged as she clung to Wang Yongzhu.
What could Wang Yongzhu say? She guessed that this obsession with becoming an official is embedded in every parent who wishes their child to become successful. Wang Laozhu’s greatest success in life would be if his son could become a Scholar, and if he could become an official, then his life would be complete.
Seeing there was hope, how could he let it go.
For now, Wang Yongzhu could only try to persuade Old Granny Zhang, "As long as we all refuse, and you don’t hand over the land deeds, father can’t do anything, can he? Could he really go over your head and sell the house and land? I think father got muddled from drinking today, he’ll definitely regret it when he’s sober tomorrow. Mother, you shouldn’t be angry either, getting upset over the second brother isn’t worth it. At times , we can’t afford to get angry; truly, if anger led us to misfortune, no one would pity us."
These words reminded Old Granny Zhang, who wiped her face with her sleeve and dried her tears, "You’re right! I won’t fall for this! If they made me ill with anger, with your father’s muddled mind, if I’m not watching over him, who knows, he might really ruin this family!"
After saying this, she perked up, washing her face while muttering, "Now in the house, only your mother and you are the ones with sense, a room full of fools! Swayed by a few words from the second son, without even considering what they’re made of. As soon as they hear ’official’, their very bones feel lighter by three taels. Even if the second son somehow manages to luck into some dog’s fart of an Adviser’s post?"
"Adviser, it’s somewhat like a Master, running errands and giving advice behind the scenes to the County Official," Wang Yongzhu explained carefully to Old Granny Zhang.
"Ptui, what adviser? Nothing but a lackey! Watching others eat while you look on, standing while others sit! That’s just paying to be servants to others, eating depending on others’ faces! And they think they have the better deal! They say it’s easy to officiate with connections in the court, but our family has only one who has studied and gone out, the Qian Family are just small-time traders, what connections could they have? The moment there’s trouble, he’ll surely be the first one thrown under the bus, and by then it might be the end for the whole family. Hearing about earning so much Silver a year makes everyone’s eyes turn green, but they don’t think about whether the Silver will even fall into our hands. Those old folks from the Qian Family are born of money, would they just watch the Silver and not reach out? They’re all so thoughtless..."
Wang Yongzhu spread out the bedding for the night while listening to Old Granny Zhang’s endless chatter.
Wang Yongzhu naturally agreed wholeheartedly with Old Granny Zhang’s words; she hadn’t expected Old Granny Zhang to have such insight. She was truly underrated.
A poor Scholar without connections or money, trying to make it in the official circles, even if it’s just the lowest rung, how could it be that easy?
In Old Granny Zhang’s words, any benefit goes to others, while you are the one to take the blame.
One misstep, and it’s the entire family fortune and lives of everyone involved that pay the price.
A pity, everyone only sees the benefits of being an official and no one looks at the shadows, beneath the officials’ feet, which one did not step on several corpses?
Just now, she also observed the expressions of everyone at home, the youngest, Jinpan and Jinshao, probably didn’t understand anything.
Jindou and Jinhoo, being older, could understand the implications. It seemed that Jindou appeared quite excited, while Jinhoo didn’t seem to show much interest.
The Fourth Brother probably goes whichever way the wind blows, utterly lacking in his own convictions.
As for Third Sister-in-law Lady Jiang, it seemed she might be slightly tempted?
Still, no matter what they were all thinking, it was pointless; as long as Old Granny Zhang didn’t agree, there was more to argue over.
After Old Granny Zhang finished washing up, she climbed onto the kang bed and lay down, patting her arm, "The other day when I saw you flipping the table and knocking over that Wang Daxiu’s wife, you did it so easily. Today, I also wanted to smack the table into the faces of the second brother and your father, but alas, I’m old now, I nearly didn’t manage to lift it!"
Wang Yongzhu nonplussed, grabbed Old Granny Zhang’s arm and started massaging it, afraid that she might have exerted herself too much and that her arm would hurt the next day. All the while, she soothed Granny Zhang, "Don’t worry, I’m here. Tell me next time you want to smack someone, and I’ll do it for you—"
Old Granny Zhang fell into a deep sleep amidst Wang Yongzhu’s massage and comforting words.
Wang Yongzhu also felt tired, so she blew out the lamp and lay down to rest. Before falling asleep, she noticed that the light in Wang Laozhu and Old Granny Zhang’s room in the main house had not been extinguished and wondered what the second brother was still up to.
But at this late hour, anything could wait until tomorrow.
The next morning, everyone, sensing that there were matters to attend to, got up very early.
Except for Wang Laozhu and Wang Yongan in the main house, everyone else was washing up in the yard.
Although everyone was up, because of the big fight last night between Wang Laozhu and Old Granny Zhang, not a single person in the courtyard dared to speak loudly even though they were all gathered there.
Lady Jiang came over, trembling with fear, and asked, "Mother, what’s for breakfast?"
The rice was still waiting to be put in the pot.
Old Granny Zhang slapped her thigh in realization, "The grain is still in our room, and the whole family is waiting to eat, but the door is still shut. Could the old man have drunk himself to sleep, and didn’t the second son say that he needs to rise early for his studies, why hasn’t he woken up either?"
Old Granny Zhang, already fuming, looked at the firmly closed door and began vigorously knocking, "Get up! What time do you think it is? Still lying there like a corpse? The whole family is waiting for you to open the door to get the grain so we can cook! Just a few days out and you’ve forgotten your roots? Whose family sleeps in at this hour? If you want to live the life where you wake up to people serving you breakfast, go back to your city. Our peasant family can’t afford such gods—"
Noises of tables and chairs being knocked over came from inside the room, and then the door opened.
Wang Yongan’s clothes seemed to have been hurriedly put on, with the front of his shirt sloppily tucked into his belt and his face flushed red.
After opening the door, Old Granny Zhang acted as if she didn’t see him, pushing past him to walk straight into the room. Wang Laozhu was still on the bed, snoring and asleep.
Next to him, the quilt had been carelessly pushed aside. She then glanced quickly at the trunks in the room, which still had locks firmly attached.
Old Granny Zhang’s heart settled, and she dug out two scoops of sorghum flour from inside, handing it to Lady Jiang who hadn’t dared to come in.
Lady Jiang glanced at Wang Yongan and then quickly lowered her head, not daring to say that with several new members in the household today, the amount of grain given might not be enough.
Even a fool knew not to say such things, especially with Granny Zhang still angry at the second brother.
So, she took the flour and was eager to leave this place of conflict.
Jindou and Jinhoo had finished washing up early in the morning, and seeing Old Granny Zhang’s commotion, they didn’t dare stay in the yard any longer and promptly made excuses about needing to attend to Wang Yongfu, skulking off into the house.