Country Bumpkins

Country Bumpkins

The day for selecting a page boy arrived quickly. On the third day after the news reached the estate, an ox cart came to take Zheng Fa to the Zhao Residence.

"I want to go play in the city too!" His little sister Zheng Shan clung stickily to Zheng Fa's sleeve.

The Zhao Family's main residence lay within Jingzhou City's inner city. Forget six-year-old Zheng Shan—even Zheng Fa had never been there.

"Shan'er!" Before Zheng Fa could speak, Mother Zheng had already grabbed her little ear and scolded, "Your brother is going to the main residence. So many people have their eyes on him. He isn't going there to play! And you're still making a fuss?"

Looking at his little sister clutching her reddened ear, tears welling in her eyes, Zheng Fa rubbed her round little head. "If I have time, I'll bring you something tasty from the city."

"Mother, I'm leaving."

Standing beside the ox cart, Zheng Fa said farewell to his mother.

Mother Zheng said nothing. She merely took out a clean coarse-cloth bundle. Opening it, she revealed flatbread and several slices of cured meat. She handed it to the old man driving the cart. "Sir, you'll have a hard journey ahead. I made some food. Our family has nothing good, but at least this can tide you over on the road."

The old man removed the pipe from his mouth and accepted it with a smile.

Only after seeing him take the bundle did Mother Zheng make her request. "My child is going to the city for the first time. He's young, so I hope you can look after him, sir. Don't let him offend any noble person."

"Easy enough." The old man glanced at Zheng Fa. "This child looks obedient. Nothing can go wrong. Who knows? He might even win himself a future."

Mother Zheng looked at Zheng Fa and said softly, "I don't ask for any future. I only hope he comes back safe and sound..."

The ox cart traveled farther and farther from Zheng Fa's home. Looking back, he could still see his mother and little sister standing in the distance, watching the cart leave.

"Hold tight!"

The old man at the front suddenly shouted. The black whip in his hand sliced through the sky and struck the ox's rump.

The cart abruptly sped up. Unprepared, Zheng Fa pitched backward, only steadying himself by gripping the railing beside him.

The wind howled past his ears, while the rice stalks in the fields beside the road flashed by in an instant.

The ox cart's speed exceeded Zheng Fa's expectations.

He found it difficult to estimate its speed, but it did not feel any slower than the buses he had ridden in that other world.

The cart itself was ordinary, the sort of flatbed cart usually used to transport vegetables. Wooden planks covered its floor, with railings on either side.

But the ox pulling it was anything but ordinary. It was unlike any ox Zheng Fa had seen before, enormous in size, nearly three or four meters long.

Most eye-catching was the fleshy hump growing along its spine. As it ran, the blood vessels atop the hump bulged, and he could even see red blood surging through them.

What astonished Zheng Fa even more was that despite its enormous body and terrifying speed, its hooves made no sound when they touched the ground. The ride was exceptionally steady, as though it were riding the wind.

"Gave you a fright, didn't it?" the old man laughed heartily.

"This ox?"

"This isn't an ordinary ox. It's called a Red Pearl Ox. They say it carries a trace of spirit beast bloodline. Traveling a thousand li in a day is nothing to it! And this precious ox isn't just fast—it's steady too!"

"A spirit beast? Just a trace of its bloodline gave it such wondrous qualities..."

"Our Zhao Family isn't some ordinary household. In all of Jingzhou City, you could count the families with oxen like this on one hand!"

"The Zhao Family is that formidable?"

"Formidable? It's far more than that! Our Zhao Family has immortals!" At the mention of this, the old man seemed to share in the glory. "Ever since our ancestor began spreading his descendants through Jingzhou City a thousand years ago, every generation of the Zhao Family has had someone enter the Immortal Sect and gain an immortal affinity!"

"Immortal Sect? I've always heard that the Zhao Family had an Immortal Sect backing it. It was actually true?"

Zheng Fa's spirits rose. After all, he had been born on this estate. Perhaps he knew even less about this world than he did about the other one.

Though he had heard many tales of immortals before, none had been as certain as this old man.

"Of the three great families in Jingzhou City, which one doesn't have immortals behind it?" The old man took out a slice of cured meat, stuffed it into his mouth, and chewed. He glanced at Zheng Fa. "You want an immortal affinity?"

Zheng Fa nodded.

"For the sake of this cured meat, I'll kindly advise you: that isn't something people of our status can covet. I've spent half my life in the Zhao Family, and I haven't even seen half a strand of an immortal's hair."

Zheng Fa pressed his lips together and said nothing. Only the crack of the whip accompanied their silent journey.

At noon, the ox cart stopped before another Zhao Family farmstead, and a youth around Zheng Fa's age climbed aboard.

The moment he saw Zheng Fa, his expression became somewhat awkward. With a hint of hostility, he asked, "Are you also going to become Seventh Young Master's page boy?"

Before Zheng Fa could answer, the old man driving the cart said lazily, "It isn't just you two. There are nearly several dozen people of the right age in the Zhao Family, from top to bottom, throughout Jingzhou City. Who hasn't come? It's only because you live far away that I had to pick you up."

Zheng Fa froze. He only knew that Seventh Young Master was favored, but he had not expected the competition for one small page boy position to be this fierce.

The youth who had just boarded seemed to understand the old man's meaning as well. His expression eased slightly, but he still sat in a corner far from Zheng Fa.

Zheng Fa could feel the other boy's gaze flicking toward him now and then throughout the journey.

After quite some time, the youth finally spoke. "My name is Huang Yu. What's yours?"

"Zheng Fa."

"Have you attended elementary school?"

"I have."

Huang Yu's expression darkened again.

Zheng Fa added, "But I only attended for one year before I stopped."

"I attended elementary school for five years!"

Huang Yu perked up. He shifted over and sat beside Zheng Fa. "If I hadn't been too old, I would have gone when Seventh Young Master selected page boys last time."

Zheng Fa laughed inwardly. This fellow probably thought Zheng Fa posed no threat to him, so his attitude had improved considerably.

"Five years of elementary school? Then you have this in the bag," Zheng Fa went along with him.

Sure enough, though Huang Yu tried his best to hide it, his brows danced and his face brimmed with pride.

The old man driving the cart merely gave a derisive snort around the meat in his mouth.

"I wonder what status this Seventh Young Master has. One page boy position has dozens competing for it, even talents like Brother Huang."

"You don't know?"

"This little brother has lived on a farmstead for too long, cut off from news and information..."

Huang Yu looked him up and down. Seeing that his clothes, though clean, were old, and that the cuffs had been washed so pale they were nearly translucent, the wariness in Huang Yu's heart faded further.

He thought for a moment, then kept his mouth shut and refused to answer.

Zheng Fa understood that this man probably did not want Zheng Fa to gain any additional information from him.

But the old man driving the cart spoke up, answering Zheng Fa's question. "Our Zhao Family is divided into three branches. The eldest branch is the family head's line."

"Then this Seventh Young Master must be..."

"Correct. Seventh Young Master is the eldest branch's only legitimate son. Madam has only one daughter and one son, so although Seventh Young Master is young, he will be the future head of the Zhao Family. I heard the current external steward of the Zhao Family's eldest branch began as the family head's page boy in his youth. It is an extremely respectable position."

Zheng Fa understood at once.

A page boy naturally held no power, but it was much like the old retainers of a prince's residence, or the merit of following a dragon to the throne, recorded in the history books of that other world.

What they were fighting for was the future.

"And I heard..." The old man looked back at Huang Yu. "Seventh Young Master's full-blooded elder sister is this generation's immortal seed of the Zhao Family. She was noticed by the Immortal Sect long ago! Forget you two—even the children of prominent stewards in the city are competing for this page boy position! Heh, so what if you attended elementary school for a few years?"

Zheng Fa now understood even more clearly the value of Seventh Young Master's page boy position.

The only legitimate son of the family head's line.

And his elder sister had gained an immortal affinity.

Seventh Young Master's position was as steady as Mount Tai.

Zheng Fa glanced at Huang Yu beside him. The other boy's face had flushed bright red. He likely understood that the old man was warning him:

Don't think that a few more years of schooling than Zheng Fa makes you anything special. Before the children of those city stewards—

You're a country bumpkin too.

(End of Chapter)