| TBBOTOF | 304
For three days in a row, they worked tirelessly. Harvesting was physically demanding, exhausting, and grueling. Since Tang Xu and the others rarely did such work, they were quickly worn out.
But it was also quite a workout. Tang Yang, for instance, had been eating more than usual these past few days, and after three days of labor, his muscles were taut and firm.
Wei Xi couldn’t resist; he reached out and pinched Tang Yang’s arm. "Wow, it's rock hard!"
"Ouch!" Tang Yang yelped, shaking his arm in pain. "It hurts! It’s sore—it’s killing me!"
Tang Li, who was massaging Tang Xu’s shoulders nearby, turned her head when she heard her brother’s cries. "You’ve barely done any work, and you’re already this worn out."
"Not enough practice," Liu Yao said, carrying a bamboo tray with a few cups of floral tea on it. He passed them around as he spoke. "Look at me—I'm not even tired."
Tang Li shot him a glare. Liu Yao chuckled awkwardly and quickly shut his mouth.
Tang Yang, however, thought his future brother-in-law had a point. Nodding earnestly, he said, "I need to move around more in the future. I can’t just stay cooped up in the study all day."
"What? Are you giving up on studying?" Tang Xu raised an eyebrow at him.
Tang Yang quickly shook his head. In that sharp look from his elder brother, he felt the presence of danger!
His survival instincts kicking in, the young man immediately switched to flattery. He grabbed his elder brother’s hand and clung to him like a loyal pup. "Of course I’ll keep studying! Next year, I’ll pass the county-level imperial exam and earn you a scholar’s title!"
Tang Xu scoffed and pinched his cheek.
As he pinched, he shook his face and sneered through gritted teeth, "Do you think it’s so easy to become a scholar? Don’t think I don’t know what’s going on in that little head of yours. You find studying harder and harder, can’t memorize the texts, don’t understand those grand theories, and are now thinking it might be better to just give up and come back home to farm, aren’t you?"
Tang Yang's face hurt from being pinched, but he didn’t dare to struggle. He grimaced and yelped loudly, “Ah! Ah! Big brother, go easy! Go easy! My face is going to peel off!”
Tang Xu finally let go, leaving a red pinch mark on his younger brother’s face.
“Serves you right,” Wei Xi scolded, glaring at him.
Recently, he had noticed that this brat was often distracted when listening to Old Sun’s lectures.
He had already been reprimanded several times by the elder. “Old Sun said last time that if you don’t start focusing, you won’t learn anything worthwhile under his lessons.”
Tang Xu frowned. “What’s this about?” He hadn’t heard the old man mention it before.
Tang Yang scratched his head nervously and cautiously peeked at his older brother’s expression. When he saw how dark and grim his face had become, he quickly straightened his posture, sitting upright with both hands neatly placed on his knees.
For a moment, he actually looked quite disciplined.
But Tang Xu wasn’t buying it. He slapped his younger brother on the back, putting considerable force into it.
Slap!
Tang Yang winced, baring his teeth. Ignoring his own pain, he quickly turned to Tang Xu with concern, asking, “Brother, does your hand hurt? Let me blow on it for you!”
"Get lost!" Tang Xu shook his numb hand and glared at his younger brother. "Why don't you take your studies with Old Sun seriously? Do you know how many people would kill for a chance to learn from him?"
"Yeah, I know," Tang Yang replied, looking troubled. "But the stuff he's teaching now, I just don’t understand. Even when the old man explains, it's still not very clear."
Tang Xu was confused. "What do you mean?"
At that moment, Old Sun’s voice came from behind them. "What he means is that this kid hasn't had his breakthrough yet."
Tang Xu turned around to see Old Sun approaching. He quickly got up to help him sit down and poured him a cup of tea before asking, "What do you mean by ‘no breakthrough’? Didn’t he do well when he was a child scholar?"
Though he didn’t understand all the classical language himself, his brother seemed sharp and smart enough.
Old Sun waved his hand dismissively. "If you wanted him to bring back a scholar’s title for the Tang family, with a few years of hard work, he could probably manage it. But for anything beyond that, he’s just not cut out for it."
Tang Xu sighed and then pointed to Wei Xi. "What about him?"
"Wei Xi is perceptive, but he's not suited for the officialdom. He could manage to pass the provincial exam and change the family’s status, but beyond that…" Old Sun shook his head, implying it wasn’t going to happen.
Tang Xu turned to look at the two of them. "What do you two want to do?"
Tang Yang scratched his head, looking a bit lost, then finally said, "Well, actually, I think I’ll follow my brother-in-law and go do business."
Ever since Wei Dong started the trading caravan, Tang Yang had become more interested in it.
Especially after realizing that he wouldn’t make a name for himself through scholarly pursuits, he decided not to waste too much time on it.
After studying for these few years, Tang Yang had learned a lot and understood much. He especially hoped to go outside more, see the world, and experience life.
When he heard that Tang Xu was planning to send Tang Li and Liu Yao to Yongcheng, Tang Yang couldn’t sit still in the study anymore.
He observed Tang Xu’s expression and, seeing that his elder brother didn’t react when he said this, nervously asked, “Brother, can I go too?”
Tang Xu didn’t answer right away. He turned to Wei Xi instead, “What about you?”
Wei Xi thought for a moment and replied, “I’ll try for the scholar’s exam, and also follow Old Master Wu and Old Master Wen to study medicine.”
Tang Xu sighed deeply, then after a long pause, waved his hand and said, “You’re both grown now. If you have your own ideas, there’s no point in me saying more. But still, I hope you’ll take responsibility for the choices you make and be accountable for yourselves.”
Both of them nodded vigorously, their eyes reddening.
Tang Xu turned to Old Sun and bowed slightly. "Thank you, Old Sun."
Old Sun patted him on the shoulder and teased, "Well, I only have my personal disciple now. If your kid doesn’t come back with a top scholar’s title, I’ll never rest my eyes!"
Just then, the chubby boy, covered in dirt, came running from the backyard, shouting excitedly as he leaped into Tang Xu’s arms, "Dad! Dad! Look what I caught!"
Tang Xu immediately noticed the long, snake-like object in the boy’s hand, and he froze, his body shuddering as though it had been electrocuted. Goosebumps instantly appeared all over him.
"Don’t come here, get away, stay far away!" he screamed, backing up and stretching out his hand to block the chubby boy from coming closer.
The chubby boy was stopped just a step away from his dad, swinging the long object in his hand.
It wasn’t just Tang Xu who was horrified. Tang Li also screamed and jumped out of her seat, darting behind Liu Yao to hide.
The chubby boy, looking quite wronged, tilted his head up and looked at his dad.
He raised his hand and shook the object, saying, "Dad, I caught it! You said we could soak it in wine!"
Tang Xu’s mind went blank as he saw the thing the boy was holding—a snake, whether alive or dead, he couldn’t tell. His mind was buzzing.
This!
This!
He had been thinking about the scholar’s title, but now—forget about it!
"Take it away, quickly, and go wash your hands!" Tang Xu nearly lost his mind.
Tang Yang came over to take a look and said, "Brother, the snake is dead."
Tang Xu thought to himself, I don’t care whether it’s alive or dead, just get it away from me!
The chubby boy pouted and huffed, “Don’t you like it, Dad?”
“I don’t like it! Take it away, now!” Tang Xu waved his hand vigorously at him.
The chubby boy made a face, and Tang Yang quickly went over to pick him up, hurrying him toward the backyard while asking, “Did you catch it from the mountain? Are there more?”
“Yeah, there are several more. Father killed them all. He said we can make soup with them or soak them in wine, it’s good for the body!” The chubby boy’s round face was full of expression, and he continued, “Dad doesn’t like it, but my great-grandfather will definitely like it!”
“Mm, your great-grandfather will definitely like it,” Tang Yang chuckled in response.
Tang Xu took a deep breath, then turned to look at Old Sun, who had the same stunned expression. Unable to help himself, he asked, “Old Sun, are you sure this kid can pass the imperial exam and become a top scholar?”
Old Sun: “……”
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