Farm Girl's Manor
Chapter 50 Reclaiming Land for Farming (1)_1

Chapter 50: Chapter 50 Reclaiming Land for Farming (1)_1

What did the second aunt do?

Mo Qingze remained silent, recalling the events that transpired at his uncle’s home after the death of his parents. His memories stretched from distant to recent, from blurry to clear, revealing previously overlooked details that now emerged in his mind with unmistakable precision!

Back then, having just passed the examination to become a Scholar, he was hurriedly married to Mrs. Du from the neighboring village on his second aunt’s insistence. The following year, when he wanted to take the imperial examination, his second aunt claimed that the silver left by his parents was all spent, leaving him with no travel expenses to go to the city.

Though he hadn’t calculated it exactly, he knew that the forty or so taels of silver left by his parents couldn’t possibly have been spent entirely, especially with the annual yield from five acres of paddy fields. At the very least, there should have been two taels of silver, but he didn’t wish to think deeply about it and chose to believe that the silver had indeed been spent.

So, he stayed in town to teach, earning one or two pieces of silver each month. After three years, when he had barely saved enough travel money, his second aunt came to the school in tears, "Qingze, your uncle is gravely ill and the doctor said he needs ginseng for the medicine. We don’t have enough silver at home. Please give us your silver quickly."

At that moment, he hesitated briefly before his second aunt reprimanded him in front of the students at the school, calling him a white-eyed wolf who didn’t care whether his own uncle lived or died.

Helplessly, he had to hand over all his travel money for her to buy ginseng.

Latter, after his uncle recovered, he came to the school with a guilty face, "Qingze, your uncle is useless, I’ve been a burden to you. Rest assured, in three years, even if I have to sell everything, I will send you to the city."

He was moved and believed his uncle’s words. The other teachers at the school praised his fortune in having such a good uncle, and he too felt that his uncle truly cared for him.

He consoled himself that he was young and could save for another three years to go to the city. Three years flew by, and just as he had saved enough silver to head to the city, his second aunt appeared again, "Qingze, your younger cousin caused someone severe injury, and all the silver at home is gone. You must give your silver to save your cousin’s life!"

Everything was exactly as it had been three years before! After his cousin recovered, his uncle, alongside the younger cousin, came to the school full of gratitude and regret, "Qingze, Yongshou’s life was saved by you. Come winter, your uncle and his brothers will chop and sell wood to ensure we gather enough money for your travels."

With so many teachers and students watching, he could only smile and tell them not to worry about it.

Even after being delayed by various matters regarding the imperial examinations time and again, he never gave up, naively thinking that another three years wouldn’t be too late, as he would only be twenty-six to take the imperial examination. But to his utter shock, just a year later, his wife Mrs. Du ran away with another man, taking all the valuables from the house and abandoning their three children while he was not at home!

Looking at his hungry son, his innocent and young daughter, the mocking second aunt, and the villagers who treated it as a joke, he completely gave up on the idea of taking the examinations and took on the role of both father and mother for his three children.

He wanted to take back his five acres of paddy fields to farm himself, but his second aunt firmly disagreed. Instead, she offered to take care of the children, urging him to continue teaching in town. After much consideration, he went back to school and whenever he received his monthly silver, the second aunt would come to take nine hundred wen. He gave willingly, thinking the money would allow the children to live better.

But each time he returned home, he saw his children growing thinner and began to doubt. After quietly asking his eldest daughter, he learned that the three siblings were only allowed two small cornbreads a day. Yanyan, merely six years old, had to wash clothes for more than a dozen family members.

He could no longer bear it and, despite his uncle’s pleas and his second aunt’s curses, he insisted on moving out of the large tiled house and settled into the dilapidated ancestral home with his children.