"Big sister, do you even know what you’re saying?" Mr. Mu looked at Mu Xianxian in astonishnt.
Ever since the eldest daughter of the Mu Family, Mu Xianxian, got married, she rarely returned ho. Over the years, Mr. Mu’s impression of Mu Xianxian was limited to a few pairs of cloth shoes during festivals.
But Mr. Mu never expected that the daughter he raised with such effort would end up not caring about her eldest brother.
"Dad, you and Mom are getting old, it’s ti to think about yourselves. My brother is like this, you should just stop.
He’s already a Scholar now; he can live off the grain the court gives him each year and find a teaching job in town. He can completely support himself, so why keep taking the imperial exams?"
Mu Shuangshuang entirely agreed with Mu Xianxian’s words deep down, considering that Mu Dade was already over thirty, having spent more than a decade trying to pass just one scholar exam.
If he were a promising stock, he’s a stock that’s hit bottom and will never rise again.
However, reason told her that she should persuade Mr. Mu to borrow those fifty taels of silver, and even if he couldn’t, to at least secure a promise.
"Aunt, it’s Shuangshuang. Grandpa ca this ti because he thinks our uncle can definitely pass the exam. He’s the only Scholar in Er Gui Village, and if he really gets it, he’ll surely be grateful to you in the future."
Mu Xianxian dug her ears; she wasn’t interested in who this person in front of her was. Anyway, they were just poor relatives from the Old Mu Family.
Over the years, Mu Xianxian, along with her husband, had worked hard, having long given up thinking about the Old Mu Family.
If Mu Dade hadn’t had even a tiny glimr of hope of passing the scholar exam, she wouldn’t have let her in-laws take care of him all these years.
Thinking about her big brother, who, co harvest ti, would eat and stay at her house for free, Mu Xianxian felt upset again.
"Dad, don’t say any more. Here’s thirty coins; take them to buy sothing nice for you and Mom.
In the future, unless it’s about my brother, you’re welco to co over. Otherwise, don’t even ntion it.
After all, the master of this house is the one with the last na Cao, and I’m just a woman with no say."
In the past, Mu Xianxian would’ve been cautious, worrying about how to face people if her brother suddenly passed the exam.
But now, there was no need to worry. Her mother-in-law, Mrs. Zhao, had already gone to Liu Family Village to find a Scholar nad Liu, who was first in the entire town during the child student exams.
By then, marrying him into their Cao Family made her a Scholar’s mother, which was better than being a Scholar’s sister.
"Xianxian, you’ve really disappointed . Back then, if it weren’t for Dashan, you wouldn’t have had a dowry for marriage.
Now you’re forgetting your roots. Can you face the ancestors of the Old Mu Family?"
At this point, Mr. Mu had lost his reason; he only thought about how Mu Xianxian refused to give him money, completely forgetting that once married, Mu Xianxian was part of the Cao Family.
By the logic of ancestors, it was the ancestors of the Cao Family now.
"Alright, Dad, let’s not talk about other things. Take these thirty coins. I’m tired. If you don’t mind bringing sothing for Mom, go buy so food yourself, fill your belly."
On the stone table in the gazebo, Mu Xianxian casually placed the previously prepared thirty coins and, ignoring whatever Mr. Mu said, she didn’t stop.
"Shuangshuang, your aunt has changed, changed..." Mr. Mu sighed for a long while, and his once hunched back seed even more weighed down than before.
Mu Shuangshuang knew Mu Xianxian wouldn’t be helping Mu Dade anymore.
"Grandpa, Shuangshuang has sothing to ask you."
"Go ahead," Mr. Mu said with a bitter and pitiful tone.
"Are you and Grandma planning to sell to raise money for my uncle’s exam?"
Mu Shuangshuang felt that since things were already at this point, it would be truly foolish to hold back her thoughts any longer.
"Nonsense! Who said Grandma and I wanted to sell you? I, an old man, would never do sothing that would disgrace the Old Mu Family." Mr. Mu angrily replied.
"But Second Aunt said, you and Grandma..." Mu Shuangshuang didn’t finish her sentence. She wanted to see Mr. Mu’s reaction.
"Your Second Aunt is just a troublemaker; she won’t rest until she stirs up trouble at ho," Mr. Mu said, slamming his hand heavily on the stone table in the gazebo.
The lon originally placed on the stone table shook with his hand and fell onto the ground with a clatter, the bowl shattered into pieces.
At this mont, Mr. Mu was acting like a loving father, getting angry for Mu Dade’s sake.
Mu Shuangshuang really wanted to ask what her father, Mu Dashan, ant to him—a tool, or a pawn?
"Grandpa, don’t bla Shuangshuang for speaking up. This matter concerns Shuangshuang’s future. I may be disobedient, but I really don’t want to end up in a remote place married to a stranger."
"I’ve said I won’t, so I won’t. What’s wrong with you, child?" Mr. Mu glared fiercely at Mu Shuangshuang.
"Grandpa, I just don’t want to be sold."
Mu Shuangshuang t Mr. Mu’s gaze. She just wanted a promise. Whether or not sothing like this would happen in the future, it would at least maintain their ties with the Old Mu Family.
Beyond that, she wouldn’t just let it go.
"Then I promise you, even if I have to haul cargo at the docks, I won’t sell you, okay?"
"That’s okay, that’s okay, thank you, Grandpa!"
——————
The scorching sun blazed overhead. In the fields of the Old Mu Family, with Mr. Mu not around, only Mu Dashan was left working.
Mu Dazhong had gone to find a spot to hide again, Mu Danyan was playing with mud, and as for the fourth, Mu Dajiang, he had already started tilling the field.
The villagers seed accustod to this setup; only Mu Dashan and Mu Dajiang were the ones working in the Old Mu Family, two honest people.
These days, honest people always seem to have the hardest ti; after all, the saying "the child who cries gets the milk" is based on reality.
"Alright, alright, it’s almost noon. Let’s head back, Third Brother!"
Mu Danyan threw down the last piece of mud in his hand and scrambled up from the field ridge.
"Hurry up, hurry up, I’m starving here. This work of cutting rice is really back-breaking. I can’t even lift my shoulders," Mu Danyan said, waving his shoulders to emphasize.
Mu Dashan hesitated for a mont while gripping his sickle before speaking after a long pause.
"Old Fifth, you should keep cutting for a while longer. You haven’t even finished a row this morning. If Dad cos back, he’ll probably scold you again."
"Third Brother, what are you saying? If you don’t say, I don’t say, and certainly, our second brother won’t say; so how would Dad know?" Mu Danyan dismissed his concern.
"Third Brother, are you trying to have a better life soon, and now you’re lecturing ? What’s going on? Are you going to tattle on ?
Oh, I get it. No wonder you usually keep quiet. You felt you had no status, right?
Now that you’re about to have a good life, with a higher status, you’re thinking of teaching , your younger brother.
Third Brother, how can you be like this? Shuang hasn’t even married yet, and you’re already thinking of bullying your own brother. Do you have a conscience?"
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