Chapter Fourteen Entering the City

  The actual expenditure of the family was far more than Xu Yuanshu had anticipated.

  Xu He went out to do business, and in just a little over a year, he returned home. When he came back, he had to greet the neighbors. If it was just a simple "greeting", it would seem that Xu's family business and personal life were both failures. So, they had to use actual things to greet the neighbors - that is, to host a banquet and invite guests.

  "Mr. Xu has been away for many years, thanks to the care of all the neighbors, today I invite everyone to come together, it's not a formal occasion. Everyone, please enjoy your food and drinks!" With that, Mr. He briefly went through the motions, and the banquet began.

  Xu Yuansuo looked at the sumptuous table, indeed with both meat and vegetarian dishes, oily and saucy. It was truly not comparable to the usual plain vegetables and fish. However, he had been working out and losing weight recently, so he needed to be careful... about his mouth! The opportunity was rare, so he might as well let go of his inhibitions and have a hearty meal first!

  Xu He watched his two sons eating with gusto, and the shadows of the previous day had faded a lot. After all, it's a father-son bond, and even if the son deceived him, could he not acknowledge this son? Besides, it wasn't as if they had deceived outsiders, it was still just an internal family conflict.

  Xu He loudly greeted the neighbors, then lowered his head and added meat dishes to Yuan Zhaoliang's brothers' bowls, whispering: "Eat more, you've been thin for days."

  Xu Yuansuo hummed in response, his mouth already stuffed with the rare delicacies he usually couldn't get enough of. After finally swallowing a large chunk of braised pork belly, he glanced around and happened to see his mother at the women's table not eating much, just staring at him.

  If we don't eat it now, others will!

  Xu Yuansuo thought to himself, his moves were even more steady and ruthless, seizing the opportunity to surround, never willing to suffer any losses.

  He also didn't understand the importance of neighbors because he was new to the area.

  The founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty was a peasant by origin, and what he most wanted to see was that ordinary people lived and worked in peace and contentment, without having to run around all over the place. That's why there were village security systems in rural areas and neighborhood organizations in cities. Neighborhoods were absolutely closed environments, as the saying goes "distant relatives are not as good as close neighbors", isn't that true? So when hosting a banquet for the neighborhood, the host family can't be stingy with food, they worry that their neighbors won't eat well, so it's common for them to eat less or even go without eating.

  Xu Yuansuo didn't care about this at all.

  "Ah Sheng, you haven't gone out in days, have you?"

  Xu Yuansuo's ears perked up, and he heard Wu Jia Shu talking to Xu He.

  A Sheng is Xu He's nickname.

  Xu He replied: "In two days I have to go to the county town, there are some miscellaneous tasks that have not been handed over yet."

  When Xu He was going to the county town, many neighbors asked him to bring letters and goods. Xu He agreed with a smile, like a Buddha. However, these neighbors were very considerate and would not take advantage of Xu He without giving something in return. Those who had requests would provide some small help, trying to be mutually beneficial.

  For example, Wu's family borrowed a boat. Other families with no resources made some dry rations for Xu He to take on the road.

  "Dad, I'll go with you." Xu Yuanshuo leaned towards Xu He.

  "What the hell are you doing?!"

  "It's been a year since I've seen Father, I want to get close to Father, help carry a bundle and row a boat..." Xu Yuansuo said with a hint of grievance in his voice.

  "Ah Sheng, it's always good to take the kids out for a walk and have them see things. Zhang Jiaobo helped Xu Yuansuo close the door and said: "Your son is timid, he doesn't even dare to speak when he sees people, how can this be? It would be better if you took him out more often to broaden his horizons."

  Xu Yuansuo's face turned red. He indeed didn't know how to call out to people, first because he always felt that the local accent on Zhu Li's side was a bit strange. Second, he didn't know what to call her, afraid of calling her the wrong thing and causing trouble. Third... previously, Xu Yuansuo, aka Xu Dumb, never greeted anyone anyway.

  Old Zhang started speaking, and other neighbors naturally chimed in.

  Xu He thought that taking his son to the county town wouldn't add much burden, and he also thought it would be a good opportunity for father-son bonding and mutual understanding - mainly because he wanted to understand where his son had learned his accounting skills. Under the persuasion of many neighbors, he finally relented and said: "If you speak nonsense and disobey me, I'll throw you into the river!"

  Xu Yuansuo couldn't help but roll his eyes at his father, but all he could say was: "Definitely listening to Father's words!"

  Everyone was overjoyed for a while, and then they put their attention back on the food.

  The host and guest were both satisfied.

  Xu's mother naturally took in this scene, although she didn't like her son running around everywhere, but also didn't have any objections.

  The people of Jiangnan are open-minded and take pride in traveling far to broaden their horizons. Moreover, with convenient water and land transportation, even during the time when Japanese pirates were causing trouble, there was some inconvenience, but now that the world is at peace, going out also carries no risk.

  Xu He rested at home for two days and when Wu's boat was available, he took Xu Yuanshu to Songjiang Prefecture.

  The Wu family's boat was a small, uncovered vessel commonly used by families in Jiangnan. It could carry a small amount of cargo and three to five passengers, often serving as a ferry on waterways that larger boats couldn't navigate or delivering supplies to larger vessels on the lake.

  Now that it's October, the number of guests coming to Dianshan Lake to eat crabs and enjoy the moon will soon increase. This is the busiest time of the year for the Wu family, so they hurriedly lent their boat to Xu He, telling him to return early so as not to delay business.

  Xu He had not planned to stay in the prefectural city for long and was about to leave. He borrowed Wu's boat, went to bed early at night, and before dawn, he pulled Xu Yuansuo out of his quilt: "You wanted to go to the county town yourself, but you have the nerve to lie in bed and refuse to get up!"

  Xu Yuansuo rubbed his sleepy eyes and looked outside to find that the sky was a deep blue, which was somewhat unexpected.

  Xu He wasn't a diligent person, but this time he had to travel more than 80 miles of waterway to Songjiang City. If it were an experienced boatman, he could sail out 40 miles in one hour, and this distance would only take half a day to arrive. Xu He didn't have this skill, if he wanted to rush to Songjiang to handle things early, he had to set off early.

  Xu Yuansuo went downstairs, and his mother had already prepared breakfast. Exceptionally, she boiled an egg for him. His sister was binding a torch with twigs to place at the bow of the boat for lighting.

  "Hurry up!" Xu He urged impatiently. He was already sitting at the back of the boat, leaning against the vertical board, with the rudder handle tucked under his arm and his feet on the oars.

  Rowing a boat in Jiangnan is just like northerners riding horses. From childhood, they get used to it and learn it naturally.

  If it were outside, Xu He would certainly not row the boat himself, which would be a loss of face. However, back home, especially when he didn't earn any money and returned home, naturally, he had no qualifications to show off.

  Xu Yuansuo had never taken a boat trip before, and he felt quite curious. After getting off the boat, he took a look at the cabin and thought it was much more humble than the big ship his father had taken when he came back. Moreover, the sky was still dark, and the river was pitch black, even under the torches there wasn't much scenery to see, so he simply shrunk into the cabin, slept with his clothes on, and made up for lost sleep.

  Xu He let out a yawn, originally wanting to scold him for a couple of sentences, but in the end he just pursed his lips and didn't make a sound.

  The small boat churned up waves and splashed water in all directions as it sped forward with a whoosh.

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