Chapter 11 (2/2)

“I feel ashamed to talk about my family’s recent affair which amused you.”

Hearing this, everyone unavoidably felt awkward except the clan leader Xue and the village head Zheng. After all, it was other’s family affair. Although it had come to light, private whisper was totally different from public discussion.

“To be frank, the root cause is poverty. In the old days of my family, it was unlikely to send one child to school while giving up another one.”

Xue Lianhe, an old man whose surname was also Xue, belonged to the same generation as Grandpa Xue. He sighed, “Lianxing, don’t say that. We know your family has difficulties.”

Grandpa Xue sighed with a forced smile, “Yes, everyone has difficulties. My family is superficially happy. However, no matter how difficult it is, we have to send children to school if expecting them to be promising in the future, but it is difficult to choose which child should be sent to school.”

He took out his tobacco pouch from his waist with a shiver, lit it, took a smoke and continued, “I care about every child in this family. It is heartbreaking to give up any child. Actually, we discussed about this affair last year, but I have not made up my mind yet because I don’t want to hurt any child. It is not easy for a peasant family like mine to subsidize a student. We have painstakingly helped Qingshan finish school. Although failing to gain a scholarly honor, he indeed has done something for our village. Everyone in the village should have been familiar with how my family treat people and behave ourselves in the past years. Let me take the private school where Qignshan teaches for an example, not to mention old stories. We never blame those students for paying remuneration to teachers late or even not paying enough, as long as they come from poor families in this village. That is just because we know it is hard for our peasants to make a living. If God does not bless us, we will face famine. Moreover, we will not afford the tax even after a year’s hard work. To be honest, I am not afraid of you joking at me. The reason that I strived to subsidize Qingshan to finish school was because I hoped to reduce tax for my family once he got a scholarly honor.”

He did not come straight to the point. Although He said casually without elaboration, everyone had mixed feelings.

Grandpa Xue was telling the truth which was so practical that made everyone had mixed emotions.

Finally, someone stood up to have a good word for Grandpa Xue, “Brother Lianxing, don’t say that. We believe you. I told my children that you were not that kind of person when the rumor started. There are no grandpas in the world who do not care about grandchildren.”

“Yes, yes. We all understand you. Every family has difficulties.”

Everyone except the village head Zheng echoed Grandpa Xue’s words. Eyes flashing, Zheng said with a smile, “Everybody in the village knows the contributions made by Qingshan who is benevolent, righteous, sincere and helpful. However, I wonder if I could say anything as an elder.”

“Uncle Zheng, you are the head of this village. You are fee to express your opinion.”

The village head Zheng nodded, “By rights, this is your family’s affair, so I am supposed to judge as an outsider. However, as Lianxing mentioned earlier, every child is worth cherishing.” He sighed suddenly, and then continued seriously, “Qingshan, you should not forget how you second brother died. Everyone here is able to understand you because we have lived for dozens of years and have had our ups and downs in our lifetime. It is just I am afraid the outsiders cannot understand you.”

These words embarrassed Xue Qingshan immediately. However, since he could arrange for this meeting, he surely had well prepared.

He replied at once, “Uncle Zheng has a point there, so I have discussed with my father and decided to give the two children a fair opportunity. They need compete for the opportunity to go to the school in town. The one who loses the competition has to stay in the village school and learn from me for two years and wait for future chance.”

Hearing his reply, all present exchanged glances, not showing strong disapproval. Especially, with the earlier foreshadowing, Xue Qingshan’s suggestion sounded so reasonable that it was unnecessary for other people to contradict.

After all, none of the families were rich. Nobody could make money without any efforts.

Everyone turned to the village head Zheng. He looked at the crowd with a smile. “Why do you all stare at me? Since Lianxing has come up with an idea, let us wait and see. This only problem is how to hold a fair competition. We old fellows are illiterate. Won’t we select Qingshan as the judge?”

He paused and then shook his head. “No, since Qingshan is Juncai’s father, he should avoid arousing suspicion. We’d better select someone else as the judge to convince all.”

Looking up at Xue Qingshan, he smiled, “Qingshan, you do not blame me for being meddlesome and garrulous, do you? Actually, I do so for your good. We should be righteous, right?”

Xue Qingshan was itching to kick out this bad man who always upset his plan. How could he not blame the village head Zheng? However, he could not say so in front of everyone, so he had to meditate for a moment, answering, “Yes, Uncle Zheng, you are right. As Xue Tingxiang’s uncle, I have to avoid arousing suspicion. How about Uncle Zheng and I each invite a judge and let the two judges raise questions on the spot to test the two children?”

Squinting at Xue Qingshan who appeared confident, The village head Zheng had a bad feeling. However, he had intervened too much, and he could not be too fussy any more, so he had to nod smilingly and praise Xue Qingshan for being upright befitting a well-educated person.

As the dispute was settled, everyone began to chat.

Now that these guests had been invited over and it would be impolite not to treat them to lunch, Grandpa Xue asked his daughters-in-law to prepare lunch.

Xue Tingxiang and Xue Juncai stood right outside the room while these elders were discussing inside earlier, so they both knew what happened.

Zhao’er’s face fell while Xue Juncai threw a glance at Xue Tingxiang complacently and walked inside to join his father in chatting with the elders. Naturally, he received plenty of praise.

Zhao’er could not help pulling Xue Tingxiang back home, asking anxiously, “What can we do now? If I had known the result, I would not have beaten Juncai. Gou’er, it’s my fault. I am so sorry to cause you trouble.”

She was so anxious that she mentioned the nickname Gou’er etc. again.

“Don’t worry. It will be fine.”

“Is it really okay?” Zhao’er walked back and forth, wondering, “But what if you lose?”

Xue Tingxiang narrowed his eyes. “Don’t you believe me? Do you think I am inferior to him?”

Zhao’er retorted at once, “Of course not. Gou’er is the smartest guy who will become a scholar or even a dignitary. I look forward to your success in the future so that you can bring me great happiness.”

Zhao’er had said these words to Xue Tingxiang countless times.

When they were young, she encouraged him in this way every time he felt depressed. She indeed believed that he would be successful in the future. Therefore, she was the only one who insisted on encouraging him with those words when nobody else recognized him. She even took actions to prove her belief.

Unfortunately, he had not brought happiness to her yet for even one day.

Although that was just his dream instead of the reality, Xue Tingxiang still felt a pang of sorrow when that dream sprang to mind.

He closed his eyes, a smile lighting up his lips. “Now that you say so, why are you worried that I will lose?”