Chapter 10: Aftermath

In a thatched cottage, a sturdy child kept muttering something.

“Hoeing grain beneath the midday sun, sweat drips into the soil below. Who knows that the food on the plate, every grain, comes from bitter toil?” The child traced something on the table with his finger and kept muttering under his breath.

“What are you doing, always muttering like that?” a young man wearing short work clothes and an undershirt asked. This person was precisely the one who had handed Li Si the machete today.

“Dad, I won’t waste food ever again,” the child said to the young man with a serious expression.

“Oh?” The young man sounded surprised. One had to know that his son was usually never easy to deal with at mealtimes. Every time, he would leave food behind. Whenever food was left over, the young man would whip him with a bamboo strip, but the child never learned his lesson. Thinking of this, he could not help asking, “Cao Meng, did Teacher teach you something today?”

“Mm.” Cao Meng nodded firmly and said, “Teacher taught me a poem.”

The young man understood. He knew Scholar Li very well. Whenever Scholar Li had nothing to do, he would open a class and give children their first lessons. He never took money. Even if someone wanted to give him money, he would refuse.

This was extremely rare in this world. Many scholars actually looked down on people like them, let alone gave their children first lessons. Cao Qing was a man who understood reason and could distinguish good from bad. So he respected Li Si greatly. That was also why he had been the first to step forward and offer the blade today.

“Then recite it for me.” Cao Qing picked up the teapot on the seat, poured a cup of water into the pottery bowl on the table, and waited for Cao Meng to recite the poem to him.

When Cao Meng heard Cao Qing say this, he could not help puffing out his chest and reading it in the reciting manner Li Si had used in class: “Hoeing grain beneath the midday sun, sweat drips into the soil below. Who knows that the food on the plate, every grain, comes from bitter toil?”

Hearing the poem Cao Meng recited, Cao Qing could not help pausing with the pottery bowl in his hand. After savouring it carefully, he felt that even he could understand this poem. He only felt that although these lines were simple, they were enough to shake the deaf and awaken the dull. He could not help sighing, “Teacher Li is a scholar who understands the hardships of the human world.”

In another corner of the county town, a family was eating. The candlelight illuminated the room brightly. Among them, a fat man with a broad body and a face full of bulging flesh was eating heartily, while beside him, a little fatty several sizes smaller than this big fatty was staring fixedly at the big fatty as he ate. This little fatty was Yu Hu, and this big fatty was his father, Butcher Yu, Yu San.

“What are you looking at? Never seen your dad eat before?” Yu San felt that his son had been staring at him as he ate, and the look in his eyes was strange, making his heart feel a little uneasy.

“Nothing. Dad, keep eating.” Yu Hu slowly began eating, but his peripheral vision kept glancing at his father from time to time.

“I’m not eating, I’m not eating!” Yu San immediately grew somewhat angry and placed his chopsticks on the table, no longer planning to eat.

Seeing that he had stopped eating, little Yu Hu immediately perked up and accused him, “Teacher Li said today, who knows that the food on the plate, every grain, comes from bitter toil. Food doesn’t come easy. How can you say you won’t eat and just not eat?”

“Aiyo!” Yu San let out a strange cry and also understood that this boy wanted to lecture him. So he sat down, gave a heh, and smiled at Yu Hu. “Then I’ll finish this meal today. But in the future, if you dare waste food, see if I don’t beat your backside rotten.”

After saying this, he quickly began eating. Before long, he had finished the meal. After finishing, he crossed his arms before his chest and looked at this little fatty at leisure. Yu Hu felt his heart grow uneasy under his gaze, and he really could not keep eating.

Yu Hu’s mother, who was beside them, covered her mouth and laughed, but she was not planning to smooth things over either.

In the middle of the night, screams rang out from the Yu family.

Conversations like this were not few in this county town, and the poem Sympathy for the Farmers also began to become known among the adults.

Cock-a-doodle-doo... A rooster’s cry rang through the night sky.

Li Si’s leg suddenly kicked on the bed, as if twitching, and then he immediately woke up.

He got out of bed in a daze, stretched, then walked to the rear courtyard, picked up a willow branch, and began brushing his teeth.

Before long, he had finished washing up. Looking at the night sky where countless stars could still be seen, Li Si could not help sighing. He had not expected that after coming to this world, his habit of sleeping in would disappear all at once. One had to know that in the past, he had never woken up this early.

He walked out, locked the door, and began doing stretches in front of the door. In any case, there were not many people around at this time.

He planned to have a good run this morning. In any case, he was wearing the short work clothes and undershirt he had not changed out of yesterday, which made running light and easy. If he wore that long robe, it would instead be rather inconvenient.

After finishing his stretches, he began jogging slowly through the city. At first, his legs were still somewhat sore, but as he ran, he felt they were no longer so sore.

After running for around ten minutes, he felt as if his lungs were burning, and he could not catch his breath, so he began walking. After walking for not long, he started running again. Repeating this cycle, by the time the sky was almost bright, Li Si happened to reach the tofu shop.

“Yo, Scholar Li, you’re up so early.” When the tofu shopkeeper saw Li Si walk over, he greeted him. Then, seeing that Li Si was drenched in sweat, he was immediately somewhat surprised. “Scholar Li, what did you go do? Why are you covered in sweat?”

“Oh, I went running. Uncle Zhou, give me a bowl of tofu pudding, same as yesterday.” Li Si wiped the sweat from his forehead with his clothes and said with a smile.

“Running?” Hearing this word, the tofu shopkeeper was immediately somewhat puzzled.

Li Si suddenly remembered that in ancient times, there was no such term as running. People basically did not run for exercise either, so he added, “It is brisk walking to exercise the body.”

The tofu shop owner immediately seemed to understand. He shook his head with a smile and went to ladle tofu pudding for Li Si.

“Scholar Li!” Suddenly, a shout came from afar. A wide and fat man walked over, squeezing a smile onto his face full of bulging flesh as he said to Li Si, “Scholar Li, has your health been good lately?”

Li Si only felt himself enveloped by a shadow. He looked up at Yu San and said with a smile, “My health is much better now. Many thanks for Brother Yu’s concern.”

“Heh, no need to be polite, Scholar Li. I still have to thank you for disciplining my son. This is 1 kg (~2.2 lb) of streaky pork. Use it to nourish your body well.” Yu San laughed and placed a bundle of streaky pork wrapped in lotus leaves on the table before Li Si.

“That would not be appropriate.” Li Si frowned, picked up the pork, and handed it back to Yu San, saying, “I never taught your son because I wanted to gain anything.”

These words were true. It was only because he could not find any entertainment in this world that he had thought of teaching these children some things. It was not because he wanted to gain anything.

“Naturally, I trust Scholar Li’s character.” Yu San nodded, but then said, “But you taught my son principles, and that is a kindness. Surely you would not want me to become someone who receives kindness and does not repay it.”