After taking a while to recover, Rong Zheng headed down the mountain, eating wild fruit as he walked and carrying the wild greens Ye Yun had given him. Following the original owner's memories, he made his way home.
The original owner's home stood near the mountain, some distance from the village center. The surroundings were quite peaceful.
He pushed open the courtyard gate, went inside, and looked the house over. It was a small brick-and-tile house with three rooms in all: a main room, a kitchen, and a final room used for storing odds and ends and keeping livestock. However, the original owner had eaten all the livestock, leaving it empty. The main room had three bedrooms.
He went into the kitchen and washed his face, then looked into the clear water in the vat to see what the original owner looked like.
Huh, he looks almost exactly like my modern self, only a little younger. Well, of course-he's only nineteen, while I was already twenty-seven.
This gave him a little comfort amid his melancholy. He had transmigrated for no apparent reason, but at least he had gained his youth in exchange.
He pulled himself together and went into the kitchen to prepare something to eat. Fortunately, there was still rice, though there were no vegetables left.
He could only wash the wild greens Ye Yun had given him and stir-fry them, then eat his fill.
After eating, he went into the house and searched through the remaining savings. There was one tael and a few hundred copper coins left (one tael equaled one thousand copper coins), barely enough to live on for ten days or so.
That night, he sat in the courtyard, gazing at the bright moon overhead. Silver moonlight spilled into the courtyard and fell over him, making him look even lonelier.
He missed his parents and his younger brother a little.
In the modern world, his family had substantial wealth and businesses. Here, he was penniless...
No, I have to pull myself together and plan for the days ahead. It's survival of the fittest, after all. At that thought, Rong Zheng immediately rallied and prepared to get to bed.
He entered the original owner's room. Its furnishings were simple: a large bed, a wardrobe, and a writing desk. The desk was covered with books, all handwritten copies.
Rong Zheng looked through the brushes, ink, paper, and inkstone on the desk and discovered that the original owner's handwriting was quite good.
The original owner's parents had insisted on supporting their son's studies. They had certainly loved him enough. An ordinary farming household earned only a little over twenty taels a year, and after deducting the whole family's expenses, they had less than ten taels left. The original owner's father had earned around thirty taels a year from hunting.
But supporting a scholar was extremely expensive. There were tuition fees, brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones, with paper being especially costly. All those miscellaneous expenses added up to at least ten or twenty taels a year.
Previously, after watching the original owner fail the preliminary examinations twice, the couple had begun to grow anxious. Their finances simply could not support it. The villagers around them also felt there was little point in continuing to support Rong Zheng's studies. How could a farming family have so much money to spend on a scholar? Besides, Rong Zheng kept failing the preliminary examinations, which people in town said were merely the entrance examinations for the imperial examinations. Everyone therefore believed Rong Zheng simply had no talent for studying.
"Old Rong, if you keep supporting that boy Rong Zheng's studies like this, your family will only get harder up."
"Exactly. Wouldn't it be better to have Rong Zheng learn hunting from you?"
"The cost of studying is a bottomless pit. If he hasn't passed after several attempts, he just doesn't have the talent."
In short, no one around him believed Rong Zheng could attain scholarly honors anymore. Never mind the people around him-even the original owner himself had become dejected and hopeless. Otherwise, he would not have spent years in a slump.
Studying really could impoverish an entire family. Ordinary farming households could hardly afford to support a scholar, while poor farmers might even need several generations of effort to produce one.
If someone was exceptionally clever and passed on the first attempt, that was fine. But if they were slow-witted and took the examinations for over ten years, or even decades, the cost of studying could bankrupt a farming household.
The original owner had studied full-time without working (meaning he did no work to earn money and focused solely on his studies). Not only had the family lost a worker, but they also had enormous additional expenses. His parents had indeed been under immense pressure.
But without studying full-time, passing would truly have been a pipe dream. The imperial examinations in this dynasty were extremely difficult, selecting barely one in ten thousand. If scholars spent most of their time worrying about food and clothing, no matter how gifted or hardworking they were, they would struggle to catch up with scholars from wealthy households.
All in all, a family needed substantial financial resources to raise a scholar.
This was also the deeper reason for the original owner's despair: after his parents died, the household had lost its source of income, and he lacked the aptitude for studying. There was no hope left of succeeding in the imperial examinations.
Enough thinking about that. First, I'll go to bed early and get up early. The urgent task is figuring out how to make money. I'll start exercising tomorrow. This body's skin is so soft and tender, and it doesn't even have abs. A healthy body is the foundation of everything. He decided to make a living by hunting for now.
As an heir to an ancient martial arts family, he had a foundation in martial arts. Hunting should be a piece of cake, right?
"As for studying... sigh, once I've earned money from hunting, I'll think about that. Your wish to pass the examinations with high honors-I'll still give it a try for you someday," Rong Zheng murmured to himself.
Scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants-the social hierarchy in this dynasty was sharply defined. For the sake of social standing, taking the imperial examinations was undoubtedly very important.
The next day, by the time dawn broke, Rong Zheng had already finished a set of martial arts forms, filled a vat with water he had carried home, and eaten breakfast. He picked up the hunting tools at home and strode toward the mountain with his head held high.
On the way, he ran into his neighbor Wang Zhang-shi, who was just heading out. "Rong Zheng, going up the mountain so early?"
She sympathized with Rong Zheng, but was also frustrated by his failure to pull himself together. After the upheaval he had suffered three years ago, the boy had never recovered. She had gone to counsel him many times, but he would not listen.
Wait-judging by his gear, he seemed to be going hunting in the mountains. Wang Zhang-shi's face instantly filled with alarm.
"Are you going hunting?"
For the past three years, Rong Zheng had seldom even left his house, much less been willing to go hunting in the mountains.
But this scholar could not even do fieldwork properly. Could he handle hunting?
The more Wang Zhang-shi thought about it, the more worried she looked.
"Yes. Good morning, Auntie. I'm going up the mountain to try my luck hunting."
Rong Zheng remembered Wang Zhang-shi. She was a decent person. Over the past few years, she had brought food to visit the original owner from time to time, offering a few words of comfort and advice on every visit. The original owner had agreed with her, but resolutely refused to change.
Yet Wang Zhang-shi had persisted, hoping the original owner would live properly. She could not bear to watch her benefactors' only son sink further.
Wang Zhang-shi's husband had fallen seriously ill years earlier, exhausting their savings. Their relatives had mostly been unwilling to lend them money and urged them to give up. With nowhere else to turn, they had come to the original owner's parents for help.
Back then, the original owner's family had been relatively well-off among farming households. His mother, Lin Qiao, had also been on good terms with her neighbor Wang Zhang-shi, so she had lent them five taels of silver.
With money for treatment, Wang Zhang-shi's husband had lived for another three years. Later, lingering damage from his illness had gradually weakened him, and the exhausting labor of farm life had contributed to his death.
But Wang Zhang-shi's family had always remembered the timely help the original owner's parents had given them and regarded them as benefactors.
That was why Wang Zhang-shi still went over to look after the original owner a little, even while he muddled through his days drinking.
Hearing that Rong Zheng truly intended to hunt, Wang Zhang-shi felt gratified. Whether he caught anything or not, this would be a good beginning. She offered encouragement at once:
"That's wonderful. Be careful up there. It's all right if you don't catch anything. Go a few more times, and things will get better."
Uh... with my solid martial arts foundation, surely I won't come back empty-handed! Rong Zheng felt sheepish. Knowing Wang Zhang-shi meant well, he said gently:
"Auntie, I used to muddle through my days drinking, but I've thought things through now. I want to live properly. Thank you for never giving up on persuading me."
Wang Zhang-shi's eyes grew a little damp. "Good, good, good. If your parents know in the world below, they'll be very comforted."
By the time he climbed up the mountain, he was already panting. This body was far too weak.
He first recalled the scraps of hunting advice the original owner's father had mentioned, then put them into practice. Because the original owner's body could not keep up, he struggled until evening and caught only one pheasant.
Whew. At least I didn't come back empty-handed on the first day. I'll take it slowly. Tonight, I'll stew this pheasant and treat myself.
Once home, Rong Zheng busied himself boiling water and slaughtering the pheasant. Soon, the aroma of the meat made his mouth water. After a tiring day, he was truly starving.
Just as he was about to eat, a call came from outside:
"Rong Zheng, are you home?"
"Auntie? Is something the matter?" Rong Zheng asked in puzzlement.
Seeing that Rong Zheng was not beyond saving, Auntie Zhang had decided to remind him about his family's fields. In the past, Rong Zheng had always ignored her reminders.
"Rong Zheng, when you have time, go take a look at your fields. The rice seedlings have all withered yellow. Even if the rice seedlings are no good anymore, planting something else would be fine. At least you'd have another source of income."
Only after this reminder did Rong Zheng recall that his family still had three mu of farmland. The original owner had often neglected to check on it, and there had been practically no harvest year after year. He had relied entirely on silver to buy grain to pay his taxes.
But he did not know how to farm... Perhaps he could turn over the soil and plant vegetables.
In the backyard of their modern-day villa, his mother had set aside a plot to grow vegetables as a refined pastime, saying they were green, environmentally friendly, and free of harmful contaminants. Rong Zheng had helped tend them then, so he knew a little and would not be completely at a loss.
"Thank you for reminding me, Auntie. I'll take a look tomorrow." Remembering the meat in the pot, he added, "Auntie, please wait here a moment." With that, he hurried to the kitchen, filled a bowl with pheasant meat, and handed it to Auntie Zhang.
Smelling the aroma and looking at the full bowl of meat, Auntie Zhang awkwardly tried to refuse:
"I only came to let you know. Keep this meat to nourish yourself."
She refused to take it no matter what he said and turned to leave.
Eating meat was an absolute luxury in the countryside here. Ordinary families could eat meat only a few times a month. Meat was expensive in this era, and they could not have it often.
That was also why the village children and youths were mostly sallow and scrawny. They simply could not afford it.
The original owner had been able to eat meat quite often only because his father was a hunter.
Seeing Auntie Zhang refuse the meat, Rong Zheng said:
"Auntie, didn't you bring me food just a few days ago? I'm grateful. This bowl of meat is my thanks. Please take it."
"But... this meat is too expensive." Auntie Zhang still did not want to accept it.
"You can bring me some wild greens tomorrow." Rong Zheng held the bowl out farther, and Auntie Zhang finally accepted it.
"Then I'll leave your wild greens by the door tomorrow. Remember to bring them in."
"All right."
"If you run into any difficulties, you can come to me. If I can help, I certainly will," Auntie Zhang said earnestly. "Ah, this will all pass. You've still got a long road ahead of you. Come eat at my house when you have time."
"Thank you, Auntie!"
"This is good, this is good. Oh, right, go look at the fields tomorrow first. If you need help, ask my Wang Ze."
She had three children. Her eldest son, Wang Ze, was a man three years older than Rong Zheng and was already married with a child. Her second child was a daughter, Wang Fang, who had married long ago. Her youngest son, Wang Liang, was also male and was twelve years old.
After seeing Wang Zhang-shi off, Rong Zheng ate the fragrant stewed pheasant for breakfast. It was tender and full of flavor, with an excellent texture.
Rong Zheng's mother had become a housewife as soon as she graduated, honing her cooking skills to an excellent level. When he had time, he cooked alongside her and had picked up a thing or two himself.