Busy Planting

"What are you all doing?" Li Mingzhong roared. His face was livid as he looked at everyone, an unnamed blaze of fury rising in his heart.

Today had been the most glorious day of his life in over a decade. Having passed the xiucai examination, he had returned home in splendor. Not only had the teachers and fellow students at the academy looked at him with new eyes, but the village neighbors had also rushed over to congratulate him. Even his ever-proud granduncle had personally come to his home as a guest to welcome him back. Ten years with his head buried in books and no one asking after him; one success, and all under heaven knew his name. Naturally, he had been brimming with pride and satisfaction.

Yet someone had chosen to brawl on the day of his great joy, making a laughingstock of him before the villagers. Where would that leave his dignity? How could he possibly endure it?

Just moments ago, he had been talking with his granduncle in the cave dwelling when his sister-in-law came in to say that Liu Yuanzhou and Liu Chuang had arrived. He had actually felt quite pleased—Liu Yuanzhou had come to lower his head before him.

Considering the grudge between his granduncle and Liu Yuanzhou, he had not immediately come out to see them. But before long, someone came in to report that Liu Yuanzhou and Li Xiaoming's group had started fighting. Startled, he hurried out to take a look.

"Zhong Ge, we're going to get back to work first." Li Mingzhong and the others tossed out those words before hurrying away.

Suppressing his displeasure, Li Mingzhong walked up to Liu Yuanzhou and forced a smile onto his face. "Second Child, you came too. I won't invite you inside today. Another day, the four of us brothers can have a drink together. My treat."

"Mm." Liu Yuanzhou nodded. He had come to resolve old grudges, yet somehow ended up in a fight instead. It had achieved the opposite of what he wanted.

"I brought two fish as a congratulatory gift. Don't look down on them." Liu Yuanzhou smiled and waved the fish in his hand.

"How could I?" Li Mingzhong took the fish and said as if it had just occurred to him, "Oh, right. Last twelfth lunar month, I saw Er Ni Jie in Yan Province City."

Liu Yuanzhou's heart jolted violently. He nearly blurted out a question about Er Ni, but in the end, he held it back and merely said flatly, "Is that so? That's good."

"Then I'll head back to the cave dwelling first." Seeing Liu Yuanzhou's offhand manner, Li Mingzhong felt both suspicious and faintly disappointed. He had actually wanted to see Liu Yuanzhou lose his composure.

"Second Child, we're leaving," Liu Chuang called softly when he saw Liu Yuanzhou standing there in a daze.

"Oh, let's go." Liu Yuanzhou came back to himself, turned, and left.

"Wait for me." Liu Chuang hurried after him. "Tell me, how did you become so strong?" he asked excitedly.

"Strong? Li Xiaoming and the others were just weak, that's all." Liu Yuanzhou had no mood to explain, so he casually made up an excuse.

"You're lying. Clearly..."

"Oh, then I must have mastered the set of martial arts Third Master taught us. That's why I got stronger."

"Do you take me for a fool?"

In the end, Liu Chuang did not get the answer he wanted and walked away gloomily.

Meanwhile, Li Mingzhong's mention of Er Ni left Liu Yuanzhou distracted and unsettled.

After the second month passed, the twelfth day of the third month arrived in the blink of an eye. Liu Jiali from the city finally sent Third Master a letter saying that Liu Yuanzhou's appointment had been settled and that he was to report to the Yan Province branch academy in mid-June, along with other details. Upon receiving the news, Liu Yuanzhou finally felt the stone hanging over his heart drop to the ground.

Once the third month began, the weather grew warmer day by day, and the ice and snow began to melt. One day, with a rumbling clap of thunder, the first spring rain began to fall in a fine, pattering drizzle.

After Qingming, every household in the village began plowing their fields and planting crops.

That day, Liu Yuanzhou was working in the fields with his father and elder brother. Liu Da held the plow and turned the earth, while Liu Yuanzhou and Liu Yuanbo followed behind, breaking up clods and leveling the ground. Near noon, the three sat on the field ridge to rest. Liu Da lit a bowl of dry tobacco and began smoking.

"Liu Da, lend me a light." Li Mancang, who was plowing the neighboring field, came over. Liu Da lit his tobacco for him, and Li Mancang took the opportunity to sit down on the field ridge as well. "Da Wa, want a few puffs? You've got yourself a wife now, so you can smoke." Smiling, he held out his pipe toward Liu Yuanbo.

"I don't smoke." Liu Yuanbo waved his hand and continued picking mud off his feet.

"Hehe, good stuff. What a pity." Li Mancang shook his head and took a long, satisfied puff himself.

"Man Cang, why hasn't the Dragon King Temple in our village been repaired yet? The money was collected years ago," Liu Da suddenly asked.

"Who knows? This is a major matter, so why aren't those Clan Elders worried at all?" Li Mancang said in dissatisfaction. The Clan Elders mainly oversaw the village's sacrificial rites. There were five of them, all respected old men chosen from the village.

"No, I have to go ask them about it tonight." Li Mancang slapped his big foot, got up, and headed back to his own field.

"Man Cang, call me when you go," Liu Da shouted after him.

"Dad, since when did you start caring about village affairs?" Liu Yuanzhou asked with a smile.

"What village affairs or private affairs? The Dragon King Temple is a matter as big as heaven. Look how favorable the winds and rains have been these past few years—it's all thanks to the Dragon King's blessing. Kids who don't understand shouldn't talk nonsense." Liu Da rarely looked so serious.

Liu Yuanzhou stuck out his tongue and stopped teasing his father.

"Dad, in a few days I'm going to my father-in-law's house to get the fruit tree saplings. My father-in-law sent word that it's time to plant them," Liu Yuanbo suddenly said.

Liu Yuanzhou clapped his hands in approval.

Liu Da frowned. Only after a long while did he say, "Go. Second Child will go with you." He still had doubts about planting fruit trees, but since he had already agreed before, it would not be good to go back on his word.

After the three had rested enough, they got up and continued plowing.

"Dad, Da Wa, Second Child, come eat!" a voice called from afar. Liu Yuanzhou straightened up and looked over. His sister-in-law had brought them their meal.

The three put down their work and walked to the field ridge. Li Shi was serving out the food: a large bowl of porridge for each of them, two corn buns apiece, and only one large bowl of vegetables for all three to share.

The three sat down right where they were and began eating.

Liu Yuanzhou asked his sister-in-law, Li Shi, "Sister-in-law, have you eaten?"

Li Shi gave a quiet mm and only lowered her head, scraping at the dirt on the ground.

Liu Yuanzhou looked at his father, then at his elder brother. Seeing that both had their heads lowered as they ate without speaking, he could not help muttering inwardly, What's wrong with Sister-in-law? She looks unhappy. Who upset her? He said nothing more and began shoveling food into his mouth.

After they finished eating, Li Shi gathered the bowls and chopsticks. Without saying a word, she turned and left. Liu Yuanbo's expression immediately turned ugly. With a sigh, he chased after his wife.

"Dad, what's going on with them?" Liu Yuanzhou could not help asking.

"Sigh, it has nothing to do with you. Hurry up and get back to work." Liu Da sighed and went back to plowing.

"What's wrong with every last one of them?" Liu Yuanzhou muttered, hurrying after his father.

When he returned home that evening for dinner, Liu Yuanzhou found the atmosphere in the house somewhat strange, lacking its usual laughter and cheer.

After dinner, he pulled his brother aside and quietly asked, "Brother, did you have a fight with Sister-in-law?"

"It's nothing. Stop asking." Liu Yuanbo looked awkward. After saying that, he fled back to his own cave dwelling as though escaping.

Liu Yuanzhou scratched his head and decided not to meddle in the matter any further. He left the courtyard and headed toward the riverbank.

When he reached the open ground by the riverbank where he often practiced martial arts, Liu Yuanzhou loosened up his body and began training. Since Third Master had returned, Liu Yuanzhou had been practicing at the riverbank and atop the back mountain during this period.

After finishing his training, Liu Yuanzhou thought on the way home, I can hold the stance for fifteen segments now. The farther I go, the slower my progress becomes. He sighed. There are only three months left before I go to the city. It looks like breaking through Twenty-Five Segments and comprehending Whole Strength to become a martial master before then is impossible.

On second thought, he felt that he was being too greedy. Compared to before he had Entered Samadhi, he was already dozens of times stronger. What was there to be dissatisfied with? He secretly warned himself, Steady yourself. A person cannot be too greedy.

The next day, Liu Yuanbo took his younger brother Liu Yuanzhou to his father-in-law's home to collect the fruit tree saplings. Since it had been arranged long ago, by the time the two arrived, his father-in-law and elder brother-in-law had already bundled the saplings and placed them in baskets. There were four baskets in all, containing roughly a hundred saplings, waiting only for them to carry them home.

After lunch, the two did not rest. Each shouldered two baskets of saplings and prepared to head home. Liu Yuanbo's elder brother-in-law went over the precautions for planting trees with them once more before finally letting them set off.

"Second Child, your strength has really grown. You're nearly catching up to me. You can carry such a heavy load and still keep up with my pace—not bad." The two finally arrived home before dark. After setting down their shoulder poles, Liu Yuanbo panted and stared at his younger brother in astonishment.

"What's this? You haven't even seen what I'm truly capable of." Liu Yuanzhou also pretended to pant as he laughed.

"Praise you twice and you think you can fly to heaven." Liu Yuanbo took a drink of water, then added, "Still, you really have been eating a lot lately."

"The more you eat, the stronger you get. All right, I'm heading back to my cave dwelling to rest. You can slowly sort out the saplings yourself." With that, Liu Yuanzhou headed toward the cave dwelling where he lived.

"Second Child!" Zhang He ran into the courtyard, panting heavily. He went to Liu Yuanzhou and said in a low voice, "Second Child, something terrible happened. Hu Wa got beaten up by Fatty Wang again."