Chapter Eleven: The Return of Father

  According to Father's letter, he will be back at the end of September or early October. Xu Yuansuo counted with his fingers and exclaimed, "Today is exactly the 29th of September! Father is indeed a man who keeps his promises."

  It's just that after being separated for many years as father and son, they finally reunited, but when they met, it was with a "little beast" greeting, which slightly hurt their feelings.

  "Why don't you go to school!" Xu He shouted loudly, without caring that there were other people on the boat. In his opinion, a fifteen-year-old child didn't need "face".

  "I want to touch two fish tails to show filial piety to Father." Xu Yuansuo hung his head, looking very ashamed.

  Xu He's anger dissipated a lot, and his voice also lowered, saying: "Is our family short of money for just two fish?" As he spoke, he reached out and plucked off a strand of aquatic grass stuck to Xu Yuanshuo's shoulder, and indeed showed some affection.

  Xu Yuansuo, however, was not moved. As a transmigrator who had left his parents before he was even a month old, it was difficult for him to have deep feelings for the parents here. Also, because life was very dull, with no major events like sacrificing oneself to save one's child or cutting off flesh to cure an illness that would make Xu Yuansuo feel grateful and tearful, now at most he just didn't reject them.

  Even so, Xu Yuanshuo sometimes still harbors feelings of guilt towards his former parents.

  So when he saw Xu He's reaction, he was only curious in his heart: Why didn't Father ask me how I knew he was coming back today?

  "By the way, how did you know I was coming back today?" Xu He asked.

  This father's brain isn't very bright, is it?

  Xu Yuansuo took a deep breath and continued according to his previous draft: "Since receiving Father's letter, the whole family has been eagerly awaiting his return. If he didn't come back today, they thought he would surely come back tomorrow..." Xu Yuansuo was moved by his own words, but Father's reaction was somewhat strange.

  He secretly looked at his father, but his father didn't show any emotion, just a bit... embarrassed.

  Is it because people in this era are all very reserved?

  Xu Yuanshuo's voice gradually softened, and he finally swallowed back the more explicit confession that followed.

  "Let's go home first." Xu He wiped away the sweat hanging from his nose and glanced around.

  Xu Yuansuo had the guidance of Teacher Dai, and also had the accumulation of having seen countless people. His ability to observe and understand others was remarkable. He clearly saw a hint of guilt in Xu He's eyes.

  "What are you looking at?" Xu He asked uncomfortably as he was stared at by his son.

  Xu Yuansuo suddenly realized his own presumptuousness and hastily said, "Father seems to have lost weight." He paused for a moment and then said, "Father has been away for many years, I suppose he must have suffered a lot."

  Xu He gently patted the back of his son's head and said, "As long as the family is good, Dad suffering a bit is also necessary. Men are born to support this family."

  Others look at this father and son with great admiration, as the saying goes, "filial piety is a virtue", it's truly full of positive energy, making people want to fly back home to reunite with their wives and children.

  Xu Yuansuo's heart sank little by little.

  He originally couldn't figure out where his father's guilt came from. Was it the guilt of not being home for a whole year? Or was it something else?

  At this moment, Xu He's reaction was clearly not the guilt of not being at home for a whole year.

  Instead, I felt a little guilty.

  If it weren't for their father-son relationship, Xu Yuanshuo really couldn't help but ask.

  The father and son each had their own thoughts and didn't speak. Fortunately, the boat soon arrived at the dock, and Xu Yuansuo grabbed his father's luggage and carried it back home.

  "Mother! Father is back!" Xu Yuansu shouted loudly as soon as he entered the door.

  Madam Xu heard the noise and threw away the iron pot in her hand, taking three steps as two, she ran from the back kitchen to the front hall, just seeing her husband step into the door, untying his belt and taking off his outer gown.

  "Is everything all right at home?" Xu He saw his wife but didn't show much emotion, nor did he rush over to tightly grasp her hand, sobbing uncontrollably.

  Xu Yuansuo suddenly felt that something was off at home, as if his parents' relationship wasn't good? He looked over at his mother, but saw her rush up to him in a few quick steps, anxiously asking: "Did you make a lot of money this year?"

  "Money, money, money, is that all you know?!" Xu He's face turned red with rage.

  "We have no money for food or drink!" Madam Xue showed no hesitation: "I've already asked the master to calculate it, and this time you've made a profit!"

  "Can fortune-telling be true? Ah, I have an account book here." Xuhè rummaged through his luggage and pulled out an account book, which was much thinner than the one Xu Yuansuo had seen upstairs.

  "In total, we made a profit of eight taels and seven mace of silver." said Xu He.

  "Eight taels and seven mace? Didn't your family's letter also say that this batch of silk is not inferior in quality?" Madam Xü flipped through the account book with flying fingers, quickly turning the pages, seemingly venting her discontent.

  Xu Yuansuo walked over, took a glance and recognized the familiar scribbles - they were written by the same person as the account book upstairs. Moreover, the numbers had also been manually altered.

  Coarse decoration, can't even be considered meticulous!

  Madam Xue turned to the last page of the account book and indeed saw a total balance of eight taels and seven mace.

  Xu Yuansuo now remembered the numbers as if he had divine help, and immediately thought of the balance of the previous account book being nine taels and six mace.

  "Is that account book in my room upstairs last year's?" Xu Yuansuo suddenly asked.

  Xu's mother was still fuming and didn't hear what her son said, she shoved the account book into Xu Yuanshuo's arms: "Put it away with that one!" She huffed: "In February you left home to rush about, now you're back and only brought eight taels of silver, why bother doing this kind of business! Luckily in the whole Zhu family you traveled the farthest, but the silver...

  "Shut up!" Xu He angrily shouted: "Are you a woman who wants to rebel? I'm tired from working outside, and when I come home, I still have to listen to your nagging! You think this money is easy to earn! As if I had a powerful backer or something!"

  Xu Yuansuo seemed to sense that there was more to the words than just a simple outburst, and quietly retreated to the side, flipping through the accounts while listening to his parents' quarrel.

  As expected, Mrs. Xue retorted without showing any weakness: "You didn't have it to begin with! My brother helped you and took you down many new paths! You can't blame anyone but yourself for not making an effort!"

  "What's wrong with me?! It's just that my brother wants to bully me! I, Xu He, am not someone who can be bullied by others!" Xu He said with a bit of backbone, but Xu Yuansu raised his head and furrowed his brow, because he heard the hint of weakness and shortness of breath in these words.

  Xu Yuansuo's impression of his mother's maiden home was very vague, and he only occasionally heard his mother mention "brothers", but didn't know what kind of person this uncle was or why the two families had lost contact later. According to Xu Yuansuo's previous personality, he wouldn't have bothered with such things, but now he was quite curious.

  He only knew that his mother's maiden name was Shen, because he had heard Li Jia shout "Xu Shen Shi" in a loud voice, but he didn't even know where his mother's hometown was.

  "My brother is not that kind of person! It's clearly you who are doing evil with him!" Xu Mu retorted, thinking to herself that their family's annual income was less than nine taels of silver, and it was all so worrisome. She continued: "Because our family is poor, your son has stopped reading books, and now we're fully supporting Ah Niu. You've been away for a year, but you only earned this little bit back - how are we supposed to get by?"

  Xu He looked at Xu Yuansuo with a glance, and his face's fat meat jumped: "You don't read books anymore?"

  "At home we are struggling to make ends meet, let my younger brother go to school first and I will read later." Xu Yuansuo replied.

  "What can you do?! Are you just going to stay at home and eat white rice?!" Xu He's son shouted.

  Xu Yuansuo was also scolded to anger. He could understand the power of patriarchy in the present, and knew that "a stick under the rod produces a filial son" was still the golden rule of educational studies. However, for a father who made false accounts, had a big temper, and didn't care about his family, Xu Yuansuo was very resistant.

  "I may not be reading books anymore, but I can still write and calculate." Xu Yuansuo said: "Lu Fuzi also promised to help me find a job in the county town, with a salary that can support our family." He paused for a moment and looked at his mother again: "Mother, should we keep this fake account?"

  "What nonsense!" Xu's mother and father exclaimed in unison.

  Xu's mother was shocked, Xu's father was frightened.

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