Chương 4: Under the Moon, Questions and Hopes

Seeing her nervous appearance, Jiang Huanyu could not help smiling and shaking his head. This scene was rather similar to when, in his previous life, he had luckily obtained an interview opportunity at a big company. In order to deal with that interview, he emptied his wallet and bought a suit and tie. In the end, on the day of the interview, those interviewers were all wearing casual clothes and sneakers.

If Teacher Lu accepted students based on clothing, then this opportunity would never have fallen to his two sons.

"I'll go to the front courtyard and see if Sister-in-law Zhao is busy," Jiang Huanyu wiped his mouth and walked outside. When he was about to walk out of the courtyard gate, he glanced at the few palm-sized grass carp in the wooden basin. He casually took a hemp rope, strung them together, and carried them out. The household living in the front courtyard had the surname Zhao. The man was two years older than Jiang Huanyu and was called Zhao Shuan. Zhao Shuan's wife's surname was Wang, and her name was Wang Ying.

The couple had two sons and one daughter. They were all honest and proper people. Jiang Huanyu carried the string of grass carp and knocked on the courtyard gate. A boy around the same age as Jiang Wenfeng, with a tiger-headed, tiger-brained appearance, opened the courtyard gate.

"Uncle Huanyu?" Seeing Jiang Huanyu, the little boy called out, then hurriedly ran back into the courtyard.

"Father, Uncle Huanyu is here." Inside the courtyard, Zhao Shuan, bare-chested, came over carrying a rice bowl.

"A-Huanyu, have you eaten?"

"Your sister-in-law made millet meat porridge. Come have a bowl!"

"His mother… serve A-Huanyu a bowl of millet meat porridge!" Millet meat porridge was a kind of porridge made with millet and meat. Some time ago, Jiang Huanyu had laid traps in the mountain and caught one large wild boar and seven small wild boars. They had not been easy to transport down the mountain. After he asked Zhao Shuan and a few others to help carry them back from the mountain, the large wild boar was slaughtered on the spot.

Some of the pork was sold to them at a low price, and the rest was all cured into salted meat by Hu Yufen.

"Brother Shuan, don't trouble yourself. I just ate." Jiang Huanyu waved his hand, raised the fish in his hand, and said, "I caught some fish this morning, so I'm sending you a few. Don't dislike them for being small." Seeing this, Zhao Shuan hurriedly put down the bowl in his hand and examined the few grass carp.

"Their luster is bright. A-Huanyu, these aren't fish from the Lai River, are they?"

"From Blackwater Pond." Zhao Shuan was somewhat surprised.

"You went to Blackwater Pond?"

"I heard the alligator-dragons there have been very fierce recently. Don't take risks next time." Jiang Huanyu nodded, then looked at Wang Ying beside him and said, "Sister-in-law, do you have time after eating?" Wang Ying smiled and said, "The crops are almost done, and there's nothing much to be busy with. A-Huanyu, is something the matter?" The relationship between the two families was quite good. They often helped each other with small daily matters.

On top of that, Jiang Huanyu had brought fish from Blackwater Pond this time, so Wang Ying was very polite.

"Yufen bought several pieces of cloth and wants to make Stone a proper set of clothes. Sister-in-law has clever hands. If you're not busy, please come over later and guide her a little." The small compliment made Wang Ying very pleased, and she quickly smiled and said, "Not busy, not busy. Once Sister-in-law finishes tidying up, I'll come over." Jiang Huanyu nodded and handed the fish to Zhao Shuan.

"Brother Shuan, you eat first. I'll go back." In the afternoon, Hu Yufen and Wang Ying were busy in the courtyard making clothes for the two little fellows, while Jiang Huanyu killed fish beside the well. At the same time, he picked out two fine pieces of wild boar meat, cut them into long strips, and wrapped them in red cloth. Although Lu Zhiyuan had said that the two black carp could be treated as the entrance tuition for becoming a student, it would not look good to go empty-handed tomorrow morning.

This wild boar meat was purely wild, and its taste was very good. Bringing two strips over would look proper. Besides, with Lu Zhiyuan's personality, if he did not accept Stone and his brother, he would not accept the meat either. There would be no loss. Stolen story; please report.

"Yufen, I remember this cloth was bought by you to make clothes for A-Huanyu, right?" On the bamboo mat, Wang Ying carefully sewed the cloth and casually asked. Hu Yufen smiled and nodded.

"Stone and Anu are going to visit Teacher Lu tomorrow morning. Time is tight, and there's no time to go to town to buy new cloth, so I took this out first for an emergency." Hearing this, Wang Ying's needle paused slightly, and she raised her head in surprise.

"Visit… Teacher Lu?"

"That old stubborn man in our village?" Hu Yufen suddenly realized that she might have let something slip. This Teacher Lu had finally agreed with great difficulty to give her family's children an opportunity. If the villagers all found out later, there would inevitably be many people going to disturb him. The teacher liked peace and quiet. If he became angry later… Seeing that she did not answer, Wang Ying grinned and continued sewing the clothes in her hands.

"Yufen, don't you trust Sister-in-law?"

"This matter entered my ears, and it will absolutely not spread out again. Don't worry." Hu Yufen smiled awkwardly.

"Thank you, Sister-in-law." The two remained busy until evening before they finally rushed out the clothes for Jiang Wenfeng and Jiang Wenyan. The two little fellows used the hot water left warming in the courtyard to simply take a bath, then impatiently changed into their new clothes.

"They really fit."

"Thanks to Sister-in-law telling me to tighten the shoulders and waist a little. Otherwise, they really wouldn't look good." A person relies on clothes, and a horse relies on its saddle. Ever since summer began, the two stinky brats had always gone around bare-bottomed. Even when they occasionally wore clothes, they only wore small shorts, smearing themselves all day like mud monkeys. After bathing and changing into new clothes, they looked much more comfortable.

"Sister-in-law, Stone's father killed the fish. I'll go stew them now. Later, call Brother Shuan and Dahu over to drink fish soup." The sky was already dark. Wang Ying had been busy at their house for the whole afternoon, so Hu Yufen quickly invited her.

"No need. At noon, A-Huanyu also sent a few fish to us. I'll just go back and stew them now. I'm leaving." Wang Ying walked out of the house with a cheerful smile. At night, the family of four drank fish soup. After washing up, they sat in the courtyard to enjoy the cool air.

"Father, why is the moon sometimes round and sometimes a crescent?" Anu, who was lying beside Jiang Huanyu, looked at the moon overhead, which was like a jade plate, and asked curiously.

"That's because the Heavenly Dog eats it!"

"Just like a flatbread with a big bite taken out of it!" Before Jiang Huanyu could speak, Jiang Wenfeng on the other side rushed to answer. After hearing this, the little fellow climbed up with a roll and said, "Then why does the moon that was bitten become round again after some time?" Jiang Wenfeng was stunned by the question. He stammered and did not know how to answer.

"Mother, what do you say?" The little fellow looked at Hu Yufen beside him, who was holding a cattail fan. Hu Yufen was also stunned by the question and looked at her youngest son with some headache. Although this little fellow was only four years old, he was absolutely a "problem baby." Although Hu Yufen was not some talented woman, before her family suffered the barbarian disaster, she had read quite a few classics, histories, philosophical works, and literary collections.

But many times, when facing Anu's questions, she often could not answer. Seeing his wife suffer a setback, Jiang Huanyu smiled faintly.

"Stone, go get two plates." Jiang Wenfeng was somewhat curious, but he still got up and went to the kitchen house to bring over two plates. Jiang Huanyu took the plates, held one in front and placed the other behind. By slowly moving them, he simulated the process of change from a full moon to a crescent moon.

"Do you understand?" The little fellow stared at the movements in his hands and did not speak. Jiang Huanyu also did not explain these things too much. He merely put down the plates, rubbed the little fellow's head, and said, "If you want to understand these things, you have to study properly. Once you have read many books and thought more, you will know all of this." Jiang Wenyan nodded as if he understood but also did not. Then he asked again, "Then does the teacher know these things?"

Hu Yufen felt that her man was taking the chance to encourage study, so she immediately continued the topic.

"Teacher Lu is a great scholar, one of the most learned people under heaven. Naturally, he understands."

"Anu must perform well tomorrow and strive to make the teacher accept you as his student. Do you understand?" Jiang Wenyan nodded. Hu Yufen then looked at her eldest son, Jiang Wenfeng, and said, "Stone must also perform well. If both of you can become the teacher's students, your father and mother will be at ease." Jiang Wenfeng also nodded. Just like this, the family of four sat on the bamboo mat, quietly looking at the full moon above their heads.