Traveling Through Those Years Of Farming (Quick Transmigration) - Volume 4 Chapter 23

Ge Shiyan thought to herself, wasn’t this a joke!

Her Treasure was so rich. Two shops in prime locations in the county town, one large house with a small courtyard and seven rooms. In the town, over these years they had also bought two more shops. Besides that, there were fifty-seven mu of good farmland.

Converted to silver, that already came to no less than two thousand taels. And that was just houses, shops, and land. On top of that, her daughter also had a few uncut pieces of jadeite rough, and some aged, precious medicinal herbs…

Of course, even those still weren’t the most valuable things. What was the most valuable? It was the fat mouse her girl was raising. That mouse was insanely capable. Wherever it pointed, there would be treasure. If they were just a bit more greedy and took the fat mouse out for more walks, the wealth they had saved over these years could be multiplied by a hundredfold.

The current family property, already unimaginably huge to ordinary people, was the result of them restraining themselves again and again.

And what about her son?

Ge Shiyan wasn’t even bothered to say it. That brat was still eating off her. What she spent on his studies every year was enough to cover a year or two of living expenses for a normal rural family.

If he couldn’t pass the exam for xiucai, how was he worthy of her Baobao?

In Ge Shiyan’s mind, it was her son who was climbing up the social ladder. This kid’s fate in this life was probably to live off a woman.

Of course, she wasn’t stupid. She certainly understood why the xiucai’s wife was saying these things.

“Madam.”

Look at that, she didn’t even need to test for proof; the evidence had walked in by itself.

The person who came was the teacher’s unmarried younger daughter. She looked to be about the same age as Baobao, with delicate features, just a little too thin.

In fact, that was what fit the current beauty standards. A girl thin and willowy, weak and delicate, looked like she’d been raised in a big family, educated and well-brought-up—a wealthy young miss. Compared to the girl in front of her, Baobao was slightly plumper, her brows and eyes brimming with irrepressible vitality, and far too lively.

But Ge Shiyan just liked the lively, mischievous girl she’d raised herself. Honestly, it had nothing to do with “preference” as such. If Baobao had been like the girl in front of her, nine times out of ten Ge Shiyan would have said she liked quiet, elegant girls.

That was just bias—simply because she liked Baobao. That was all.

Today’s visit was mainly to discuss next year’s exam for her son. It wasn’t exactly a formal guest call, and in such a situation, the host family’s daughter didn’t need to come out and receive anyone.

The fact that the girl had come now meant she’d come with the intention of being looked over, to let Ge Shiyan see the teacher’s daughter—how genteel and proper she was. 

If Ge Shiyan really loved her son, she should understand what choice would be “best” for Fu Shinian.

“This is my youngest daughter, fifteen this year. Her father loves her most. At this age, and we still haven’t settled a marriage for her.”

The xiucai’s wife smiled and beckoned to her daughter. “Come, greet Madam Fu.”

“Greetings, Madam Fu.”

The girl’s movements were extremely graceful. She glided over, her figure slim and willowy, and came to stand in front of Ge Shiyan, giving a slight curtsy as a junior.

“What a pretty and lovable girl.”

After all, this was her son’s teacher; Ge Shiyan had no intention of tearing the façade down.

“I’m raising a daughter too. I understand the teacher’s thoughts very well.”

Ge Shiyan stood up, went forward, and took the girl’s hand, not really accepting the courtesy.

“In my opinion, raising a daughter is what takes the most effort. We only have them at our knees for a dozen years or so, then they marry into another family. The choice of her husband’s family is a huge matter. If the in-laws are no good, the daughter’s second half of life will be nothing but suffering.”

The smile on the xiucai’s wife’s face didn’t fade. She thought these words were hinting that she was a good mother-in-law, that if her daughter married over there, she wouldn’t have to worry about suffering.

She didn’t expect that in the very next second, Ge Shiyan’s tone would change.

“It’s exactly because I’m worried about that, that I settled my adopted daughter’s marriage early on. That brat is my boy. In the future when my girl becomes a daughter-in-law, her mother is me, and her mother-in-law is also me. What’s there to worry about whether she suffers or not? Isn’t that right, Madam Xiucai, my blockhead brain is actually pretty clever.” Ge Shiyan laughed heartily. “In my eyes, my girl is good in every way. Marrying her to that brat of mine, I even feel she’s wronged. That’s why I make the boy study and understand reason. If he can pass the exam for xiucai this time, then the two children can finally be considered truly well-matched.”

With things said that plainly, what was there left for the xiucai’s wife not to understand?

So the “not well-matched” earlier meant that her son didn’t measure up to that child bride.

The smile faded from the xiucai’s wife’s face. 

The young lady, previously shy and demure, also froze slightly, biting her lip lightly and lowering her head, looking somewhat embarrassed.

She’d long known why her parents had called her out to meet guests today. The visitor was Senior Brother Fu’s mother, here to discuss her and Senior Brother Fu’s engagement.

She’d secretly seen her senior brother before, and did harbor some tender affection for that refined, gentle boy. When she heard her parents’ plan, she’d been so delighted she hadn’t slept all night.

But now, her senior brother’s mother clearly didn’t think much of her. And there was already a fiancée! How did Senior Brother Fu end up with a betrothed already?

“So I suppose your adopted daughter must be well-read, sensible, gentle, and virtuous?”

The xiucai’s wife spoke flatly. She really couldn’t figure out how an orphan could inspire such affection in Ge Shiyan. Was Fu Shinian not her own son? Between an adopted daughter and her own flesh and blood, which weighed more, she should understand, right?

“Not really.”

Ge Shiyan couldn’t help but laugh. That girl of hers really couldn’t carry “gentle and virtuous.”

She’d thought it through long ago: with that little girl’s lively nature, she would probably have to work hard to keep herself healthy, to carry all the household affairs inside and out for another twenty years or so. When Bao finally became a mother-in-law, she’d hand everything to a reliable granddaughter-in-law.

As long as her Baobao was happy, that was enough. As long as she was alive, she would shield the girl.

“Actually, you could say this is something my son and I owe her.” Ge Shiyan knew that if she didn’t make things clear, there would definitely be a rift. So in a few simple sentences, she told the story of how Bao’s parents had saved their family’s lives. “My son and I both owe her our lives.”

She looked at the xiucai’s wife. The woman was also a mother, and could understand how a parent felt.

“Let me tell Madam a story.”

Before the xiucai’s wife could react, Ge Shiyan began to recount the story of the young wife her son had seen at the teacher’s gate in the neighboring village.

That poor wife in the story was eventually driven out by her husband’s family. But because she had made a desperate scene at the teacher’s gate, the scandal spread far and wide, and the newly-made xiucai didn’t dare go too far in the end.

Divorce was changed to mutual separation. The young wife not only took away her original dowry but also received fifty taels in compensation from the rich family that had snatched her husband.

For that young wife, this was actually the best possible outcome. Separation did harm her reputation somewhat, but it wouldn’t seriously affect her nieces’ and younger female relatives’ marriages. And with money in her hand, her elder brothers and sisters-in-law wouldn’t treat her coldly.

It was said that the second year after the separation, the young woman remarried, to an ordinary peasant man. They later had three children, and lived a plain but harmonious life.

After the separation, that new xiucai quickly married the rich merchant’s daughter. The merchant placed heavy bets on him, hiring famous teachers for his lessons. On his third county exam, he managed by luck to pass as a juren.

The merchant thought having a juren son-in-law would bring endless benefits. Who knew that as soon as the man became a juren, he immediately looked down on his merchant wife? He accepted their congratulatory gifts with one hand, and with the other took in a wife from an old scholar’s family with a “pure background.”

Before the exam, it was “father-in-law” and “elder brother-in-law” on his lips. After the exam, he turned his face and denied them, as if the stench of trade would cling to him. The merchant, having secured this “good son-in-law,” was left crying in grief.

To Ge Shiyan, this truth was simple. If a man could abandon his first wife for wealth, what made you think, once he climbed higher, he wouldn’t ruthlessly cast you aside as well?

In her view, if she happily agreed to this marriage today, it was the teacher’s wife who should be worrying—about whether she was getting a promising son-in-law, or a whole family of ungrateful wolves.

Sure enough, after hearing her out, both the xiucai’s wife and the young lady fell silent.

The xiucai’s wife wasn’t stupid. How could she not understand such logic?

It was just that, before things touched her personally, people always had a gambler’s mentality.

What happened to that rich merchant wasn’t an isolated case. Every exam cycle, countless wealthy but low-status families placed bets on examinees—some supporting poor scholars with money, some marrying off their daughters to them, tying two families together.

To them, money and daughters weren’t the most important things. If they backed a man with a conscience, the deal would be worth it.

This was the gambler’s mindset.

And the teacher couple had other backing. Their clan already had a juren and a jinshi. Fu Shinian’s talent was certainly good, but he might not surpass these relatives. As long as those relatives still needed to rely on him, he wouldn’t dare treat their daughter badly.

“Madam Fu is very clear-sighted.” The xiucai’s wife sighed. With things said this far, there was no way for the two families’ marriage to go ahead.

And she really did need to think over what Ge Shiyan had said. If she truly loved her daughter, when choosing a son-in-law, should a man’s ability to build a career really outweigh his character and family values?

The young lady was still young. She had already developed affection for Fu Shinian after her parents’ hints. Although she understood all these principles now, she still felt unwilling.

She bit her lip, then finally made her decision.

“Student Fu, Madam asks me to take you to the back courtyard.”

After school, Fu Shinian was stopped by a little maid. He recognized her—she was the maid he saw earlier that day when he escorted his mother to the teacher’s wife.

Was his mother still here?

Fu Shinian was puzzled, but since he had seen the maid before, he did not think too much and followed her toward the back courtyard.

The academy was a three-courtyard compound. The front courtyard was where students studied. The second courtyard was the headmaster’s study and the place to receive visitors. The third courtyard was where the teacher’s womenfolk lived, along with maids and older women servants.

Though it was three courtyards, it was not large. Fu Shinian remembered the route to his teacher’s wife’s room, and it seemed different from the route this maid was taking.

After thinking it over, Fu Shinian stopped.

“Student Fu, why did you stop?” the maid asked, hearing his footsteps halt.

“This isn’t the way to my teacher’s wife’s courtyard.”

Fu Shinian looked at the unfamiliar yard, uneasy. He was an unmarried man. If he wandered around another household’s inner quarters and saw something he should not, it would be impossible to explain.

“Madam is in the small garden ahead. Madam Fu is there as well.”

The maid sounded urgent. Seeing Fu Shinian refuse to move, she even tried to step forward to pull him.

“Men and women must not touch!”

Fu Shinian retreated two steps, not daring to let her grab his sleeve.

Mother said that he was already bound by a marriage contract. If another girl touched him, he would be considered dirty.

Although he had never seen such reasoning in the sages’ books, Mother and Baobao were the people closest to him. They would never lie to him.

“Young Master Fu.”

Just as Fu Shinian was congratulating himself for dodging quickly enough, without even letting the edge of his sleeve be brushed, the young lady hiding behind the large banyan tree finally could not help stepping out.

“I have offended Miss. I will leave at once.”

Fu Shinian immediately lowered his head, turned around, and walked away.

“Young Master Fu, please stay. I was the one who asked the maid to bring you here.”

The young lady took quick, small steps forward, jogging a few paces.

Fu Shinian did not listen and instead walked even faster.

“Young Master Fu, my parents discussed our marriage with your mother today. Don’t you want to hear about it?”

The young lady panicked and blurted this out. At this point, Fu Shinian could not keep walking even if he wanted to.

A marriage between him and the teacher’s daughter?

Fu Shinian did not hesitate at all. Forget about him being unwilling—his mother would be the first to object.

“My paternal grand-uncle was a jinshi of the thirty-seventh year of Shunfeng, holding a sixth-rank post, currently serving as Tongpan of Changzhou. My paternal grand-uncle was a juren of the thirteenth year of Yuantong. Among my clan relatives, xiucai and tongsheng are countless…”

The young lady’s voice grew softer and softer. In truth, calling Fu Shinian over was nothing more than an impulsive act. Everything she had been taught since childhood told her this was wrong.

Being able to continue speaking now already required tremendous courage.

“Between me and that orphan girl, how could you not choose me?”

In this small town, she was also a favored daughter of heaven. Now being compared unfavorably to an orphan made her feel humiliated and embarrassed, especially in front of the boy she admired. Her eyes reddened with shame and anger.

“Is she gentler than me? More beautiful than me? Or has she read more books than I have? Is her needlework and women’s work better than mine?”

She stubbornly looked at Fu Shinian, wanting an answer.

Fu Shinian stopped. After confirming there were still nearly ten paces between himself and the young lady, he relaxed slightly.

“My fiancée and I grew up together. I know everything about her. As for you, Miss…”

Fu Shinian paused. “So if you ask me to compare, I cannot give a correct answer.”

Before the young lady could feel relieved, Fu Shinian continued, “But in my heart, she is always the best. It has nothing to do with whether you are outstanding. Even if you were compared to a celestial maiden, she would still be the best in my eyes.”

“Just because of the bond of growing up together?”

The young girl clenched her fists. “That may only be sibling-like affection, like between me and my brothers and sisters. Do you know that marrying me would bring you greater support? In the future, you might regret this.”

These words were shocking. What unmarried girl would speak so openly about marriage in front of a young man?

Even though they were some distance apart, Fu Shinian still felt awkward being alone with an unfamiliar girl. He simply took a few more steps back and spoke to her with his back turned.

“Even if she had not grown up with me and were merely my fiancée, since a marriage contract already exists, as long as she has done nothing wrong, she is my future wife.”

Although he knew the young lady could not see his expression, Fu Shinian was still extremely serious.

His mother had instilled some “crooked reasoning” into him from a young age, but Fu Shinian was a living person. He studied at an academy. Naturally, he knew that some of what his mother taught differed from the orthodox ethics accepted by society.

Since he accepted some of his mother’s ideas, it meant that he personally agreed with them as well.

But whether it was his mother’s teachings or society’s accepted principles, they shared one common point: responsibility.

Leaving aside the fact that he and Baobao had grown up together, even if his fiancée were a complete stranger he had never met, as long as the engagement existed, he could not disregard it and cancel it, especially when the woman was not at fault.

This had nothing to do with her family background or her looks. It was simply responsibility.

The current world was harsh on women. If he broke off an engagement for power and status, what awaited that pitiful woman might be groundless suspicion from others. If she were lucky, after the gossip faded, she might still marry far away. If she were unlucky, she might end up spending her life alone before a lamp and Buddha.

“You may think your family background far surpasses my fiancée’s, but you should know that there are many girls in this world whose backgrounds surpass yours. If today I broke my engagement to curry favor with my teacher, then in the future I would betray you for someone else.”

Fu Shinian took a deep breath. This could be considered advice to the young lady. He hoped she would take it to heart.

With that, Fu Shinian hurriedly left the back courtyard.

“Heh, truly mother and son.”

The young lady seemed as if all her energy had been drained. She swayed backward weakly, but the maid beside her supported her in time.

At this moment, she had completely given up. Her reason, once clouded by obsession, gradually returned.

If the young man she admired truly abandoned a fiancée he had been engaged to since childhood for her family background, would such character really be trustworthy? Would such a person be worthy of her admiration?

She seemed to like Fu Shinian even more now, but this liking was different from her previous infatuation.

She truly wondered what kind of woman his fiancée was—to be so fortunate as to have such a good husband and mother-in-law. But someone who could be cherished and protected like that must herself be a very good girl.

Because no one had torn faces apart, the teacher’s attitude toward Fu Shinian remained the same as before.

In fact, because of the Fu family’s character and family conduct, the teacher regarded Fu Shinian even more highly.

Previously, he had been blinded by appearances, to the point of wanting his student to dissolve his engagement and marry his own daughter. Thinking back on it now made him break out in a cold sweat.

This was for the best. They were simply teacher and student. As long as he taught conscientiously, when Fu Shinian achieved success in the future, he would remember this kindness.

Ge Shiyan returned from town without revealing the slightest hint in front of Baobao. 

Fu Shinian, far away in town, however, tossed and turned for several nights without sleeping well because of this matter.

He did not know whether Mother might accidentally let something slip after returning. What if Baobao misunderstood and thought he was an unprincipled man who flirted with girls everywhere? He had clearly never even met that young lady. How had this farce even happened?

He counted the days on his fingers, finally waiting for the mid-month rest day.

Upon returning to the village, as usual, he was teased by the aunties washing clothes by the river. Blushing, he hurried home. This time, Baobao happened to be at home.

But before Fu Shinian could probe Baobao to see whether Mother had said anything, Baobao pulled him into the study first.

“Ta-da-da-da!” Baobao proudly untied the rope binding the painting scroll. The painting hanging on the wall instantly unfolded before Fu Shinian.

It was the “family portrait” he had drawn when he returned home last month. It was called a family portrait, but as the main painter, Fu Shinian himself was not in the painting.

When he left back then, the painting had only been mostly completed. Many details were still unfinished.

Because the “red sleeves adding fragrance” plan had been interrupted, Fu Shinian secretly disliked this family portrait. So he did not take it with him to slowly refine it when he left.

Who would have thought that after the main painter left, Baobao would take advantage of the month and finish the painting herself.

Baobao could also paint meticulous-style paintings. She had learned it in previous worlds. Although in each world she was influenced by the original body, the knowledge she had learned never disappeared.

In this world, she always pestered Fu Shinian to teach her and her little cousin to read. When Fu Shinian practiced calligraphy and painting, she would also follow beside him and “learn” a bit, giving her abilities a reasonable source.

Seeing the family portrait she had completed, Fu Shinian froze. There was an extra person in the painting.

In the original family portrait, Ge Shiyan sat on a chair at the center. Baobao and Lin Yu stood behind her. The chubby Sanhua stood on Baobao’s shoulder, occupying the visual center.

It was a balanced and perfect composition. But now the painting felt unbalanced, simply because another person had appeared beside Baobao.

It was him.

Fu Shinian recognized it at a glance. The man standing beside Baobao, a head taller than her, was himself.

The two stood very close. Half of Fu Shinian’s shoulder was obscured, making it look as if he stood behind Baobao, loosely holding her.

Of course, that last part was purely Fu Shinian’s imagination. With it blocked, how could one know what the hand was doing? Baobao had drawn it that way simply because there was not enough empty space.

Fu Shinian’s cheeks flushed instantly. He felt he understood Baobao’s hint.

She wanted him to marry her quickly!

This was rather sudden. They had not even had red sleeves adding fragrance yet. Wasn’t the pace a bit fast?

“I’m willing!” His mouth was faster than his brain. Fu Shinian blurted it out.

Willing to what? Baobao was full of question marks. 

She had only asked him to look at the family portrait. She had not even asked whether he was willing to be painted into it.