Chapter Thirty-Five: Don't Laugh at Farmer's Wine

  Back in the village, the welcome was unprecedented. The large valley was already filled with small tables, each table had some food on it. Yun Ding looked carefully and found that today's rice on the tables were all fine grains, the snow-white rice tempted those children to drool nonstop. As for the dishes, most of them were either chicken or pork, some families even served dog meat, it was unknown whether they killed their own watchdogs.

  The lame man's family was poor, and on their table there was only a bowl of sugar water egg. Yun Zheng knew this was the best meal they could offer. The lame man saw Yun Zheng looking at his table and awkwardly scratched his hand, saying: "There is only one egg..."

  Yun Zheng stopped the lame man and continued to speak, picking up the bowl of sugar water egg and walking in front of the old clan leader, saying: "Today at the county magistrate's house for the burn tail banquet, I didn't eat enough, the dishes were exquisite but not filling, I was hungry when I came back, although there is still food in the basket, my son is greedy, he endured until now, just knowing that there are good things at home.

  "Jiu Shu's family's sweet egg soup is famous for being delicious, so I won't be polite and will finish it all up."

  The old patriarch looked at Yun Zheng with a proud expression, this is the child of a good family, knowing what emotions are all about. Yun Er saw Yun Da eating with relish and pulled his robe hard: "Leave some for me."

  The villagers all burst out laughing, especially the lame man who laughed the happiest, with tears streaming down his face. Yun Zheng drank a few mouthfuls of soup and left the egg for the greedy Yun Er. He then went to the front of the horse cart, took out a small roll of hemp cloth from above, and respectfully placed it on the lame man's table, bowing his hands and saying: "I have accepted your kindness, please do not refuse my intentions."

  The lame man's wife wiped away tears with the back of her hand, and the more she wiped, the more tears flowed. She whispered to Yun Zheng: "The master originally wanted to kill the dog, but the young lady couldn't bear it, so she hugged the dog and cried..."

  Yun Zheng comforted him for a few words, then laughed and walked towards Cang Er: "Ear Uncle, where is my deer meat? You promised me this."

  The old man, with a big smile on his face, held out a bowl of venison from under the bamboo sieve and said: "I knew you had your eye on this piece of venison at our house, so I saved it for you. Eat it while it's hot, finish it all."

  "That's not possible, I can smell the aroma of bamboo rat meat from Second Grandfather's kitchen. How can we miss that?" Yun Zheng scooped out a piece of venison from Cang Er's bowl and ate half of it himself, then stuffed the remaining half into Yun Er's mouth. He handed the rest of the venison to the little mouse who was drooling and patted his head, saying: "After eating this venison, you'll have to start reading books. I'll teach you, if you don't learn, I'll beat you up."

  The old clan leader laughed even more happily and replied loudly: "Beat, just beat, can't learn to beat to death."

  Clouds drifted away, leaving behind a trail of food from head to tail, every household taking at least one bite, not even sparing the vegetables. At this time, the elderly tribe leader had his son bring down four or five jars of wine from the ox cart, slapping off the mud seal on top with one palm, seemingly not intending to filter it. The wine was poured into a large vat with a gurgling sound, and each household came over to receive a wooden ladle, with the head of each household coming over.

  Everyone had received their wine, and the old clan leader, with a full belly and a loud voice, shouted: "Damn it, our village also has a child prodigy! In a few years, we'll have a scholar-official!" This shout echoed through the mountains.

  "Cheers!" With the old man's order, Yun Zheng didn't care about the sediment in the wine anymore and gulped down a large bowl. The wine wasn't much, almost gone after each person had a bowl, but people's interest in conversation became thicker.

  The cured meat was worshiped, watching the young master of his own family shuttle back and forth in the crowd and talk to people. He ate a mouthful of food on the table that he didn't know who it belonged to. The young master gave each household a roll of hemp cloth, which was already a heavy gift. If it wasn't for this grand festive day, the cured meat would definitely have grumbled a bit, but today it doesn't matter, they all deserve it. From this month on, the young master can receive 200 coins and three dou of rice from the county government every month, which is a special approval by the old master bookkeeper. Being able to receive money and grain from the official family is a great honor! Other families only have the share that they send to the yamen.

  The moon was high in the sky, and the flames on the threshing ground had just been extinguished. It wasn't until then that Yun Zheng understood why the villagers attached so much importance to a small child. Dou Sha village was considered a large village, but the old tribal chief hadn't become the village head because he couldn't read or write. As a result, the vast Dou Sha village was bullied by smaller villages, and when it came to dividing up hunting grounds and firewood mountains, they didn't even get a good spot. Not to mention the idle farmland on the dry riverbeds - farming that land didn't require paying taxes. In a year, the harvest of rice wasn't much less than the land below. It was a significant source of income.

  Now it's all right, a child prodigy has emerged from our village, and I heard he's the first in the county. He's already had a banquet at the county magistrate's house, and what's more important is that he's only 13 years old this year. If he passes the imperial examination to become a xiucai, he will definitely hold a position in the county government. From today on, our village elder can stand up straight and go to the township head to re-divide the hunting grounds of Chai Mountain. The farmland on the dry ridge also needs to have a share for our village, or else? You try it out, when my village's child prodigy becomes the township head, your village won't even get a single piece of dry land, dare you divide your hunting grounds into the deep mountains?

  With a full stomach and enough wine, each returned to their own home. The cured meat was brought back early, the snake that guarded the house was let in, Yun San was washed clean, a bamboo steamer basket was found to warm up the quilt, and a large pot of hot water was boiled for the young master to prepare foot washing water.

  Yun Er looked at the diligent and excessive cured meat and said, "That's not right, you always used to take care of me first, but today you're always helping Yun Da, he's a grown-up and doesn't need to be taken care of."

  The cured meat was forcibly washing Yundage's feet, helplessly looking at Yun'er, wiping his hands a few times before stripping Yun'er naked and stuffing him into the quilt, then coming over to wash Yundage's feet again.

  "Alright, cured meat, we're all family, what's the point of bothering with those unnecessary things? Life goes on as usual. I'll wash my own feet, you just take care of Yun Er." Cloud Big said to Cured Meat after wiping his feet dry.

  Larou felt very wronged and didn't dare argue with Yundage, so he could only hold onto Yun'er's clothes and go to his own sleeping quarters.

  "Afterwards, Yun'er can't always sleep naked. There's an old piece of clothing in the trunk that I used to wear. You can have it altered and made into a set of undergarments for Yun'er. It's pure cotton, very suitable for children as pajamas."

  Yun Zheng finally gave a sentence to the cured meat, then burrowed into the warm quilt and soon fell asleep. Such a chaotic day really exhausted him.

  The lights in the Yun family's house had gone out, and both Yun Da and Yun Er were fast asleep. The moon shone through the skylight of the bamboo building, casting a pale light on her small face, but instead of making it paler, it brought out the rosy glow on her cheeks. She couldn't sleep, constantly thinking about what the women in the village had said - whether or not she should get into Master Yun's bed.