Chapter 46: Returning Home to See Mom and Dad
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"Where did you get so much money?" Wen's mom's first reaction was not happiness, but worry that her son had gotten into trouble.
The old man waved his hand: "Now that the child has grown up, let him go out and make a living on his own. It's better than staying at home and relying on us two old folks."
Since Father had spoken, Mother could only hold back her discontent. She sighed and gazed at Wen Fei with a look as if she was looking at a wayward youth.
Wen couldn't resist, so he said: "This is the original ore, and it hasn't been refined. It was picked up by Zhang Yu's girlfriend when she went to Gansu for a tour in the river, several pieces. This is my smallest piece!"
Wen Fei said with a guilty conscience: Fatso, I'm sorry. You're always the one who ends up taking the blame for everything. Who told you to betray me first!
"I don't want it, you take it back to Zhang Yu later. You're always thinking of taking advantage of others! I'm telling you, between friends, one should be willing to suffer losses, not..."
Wen Fei felt as if there were dozens of flies buzzing around his ears, almost making him dizzy. Just then, Wen Bo lost his patience and knocked on the table: "Is your meal ready? Why do I smell something burnt...?"
"Oh no, my dish..." Mum Wen was shocked and hurriedly ran back to the kitchen to attend to her dishes.
Although he said so, Wen Fei himself went out to make money and still remembered to bring gifts for himself. Wen's mother was already overjoyed. At noon, not only did she cook two more dishes, but also made an exception to allow the father-son duo to have two cups of wine on the table.
At the dinner table, it's unclear whether it was sparked by that book "The Dream of Tokyo" or because Wen Fei finally made progress and felt relieved, but Father Wen talked endlessly about many things related to Eastern Capital during the Northern Song Dynasty.
If it were usual, Wen Fei would definitely not be willing to listen. But now it's different, maybe one day he'll go on a trip to Tokyo in the Northern Song Dynasty, and naturally he listened with humility, even asking questions from time to time. In this way, Wen Father was even more enthusiastic, and the two father and son talked endlessly, drinking for over two hours.
When his mother saw that the father and son were getting along so well for the first time, she was delighted and didn't stop them. Mr. Wen was a middle school Chinese teacher and naturally had a great interest in history. There were many ancient books at home, including historical records and Zizhi Tongjian. So it's no wonder that Wen Fei brought back "The Dream of Tokyo" to please the old man. Moreover, the old man liked Su Dongpo's lyrics the most, even inspiring Wen Fei to think about whether he could get a genuine Su Shi's calligraphy in the Northern Song Dynasty and bring it back to filial piety.
"This was during the Song Dynasty, when wine was a monopoly. The government of the time used courtesans to help with the operation in order to maximize tax revenue from wine sales. 'Now using female entertainers to sell wine is called: setting up a method.' They were ordered to have the women wear flowered headscarves as wine shop attendants, and there were also flower-shaped wine containers, five-tiered plate racks, and live bird cages. Each store competed to be the most popular, with the courtesans being particularly charming. At that time, the official warehouses under the Ministry of Revenue had 'dozens of official courtesans in each warehouse', while private wine houses 'each had dozens of privately-owned courtesans, all dressed up and competing to be the most beautiful'."
My father spent his whole life teaching, and when he spoke, he quoted classics and explained them in a way that was both profound and easy to understand. He and I chatted enthusiastically about the government offices of the Song Dynasty and how they used prostitutes to sell wine. The speaker's words were flying, and the listener's eyebrows were dancing with excitement.
But unexpectedly had already provoked someone, and soon heard a loud voice from the east of the river: "Enough! You say this in front of Little Fei, are you trying to teach your son to be bad?"
The father only reacted now, and couldn't help but feel embarrassed. In front of Wen Fei, he had always maintained the image of a strict father. Today, in a moment of pleasure... he forgot about paternal dignity and teacher's dignity.
"Cough, cough... I'm going to work!" Wen's father became serious and looked at his son. Wen Fei immediately knew what was up and quickly retreated into his own room with a sullen expression. Faintly, the sound of his mother scolding could still be heard: "Good grief, you big flirt! The moment someone mentions brothels, your eyes light up, don't they?"
"Speak softly, don't let Xiaofei hear..."
Wen Fei felt the room door was closed tightly, rubbing his stomach and suppressing a laugh that was too painful. Unconsciously, he had forgotten the heavy pressure brought by Huang Sheng's appearance.
Sitting on his own familiar bed, he opened the computer. Browsing through those frequently visited websites and forums, he saw a post that almost choked Wen Fei to death.
"The most awesome Taoist in history", that photo is clearly him, Wen Fei Dao Ye. Wearing a apricot yellow Taoist robe, his body is full of knives, seemingly the first time he went to Northern Song Dynasty to smuggle goods and bought knives at the supermarket.
"This is everywhere!”, Wen Fei sighed and directly clicked the cross in the upper right corner of the post. He didn't even bother to look at the comments below, Lin Zi had already seen all sorts of birds. With so many people online, even the most boring person would have followers, it's not worth wasting one's own time looking at the comments, it's enough to get oneself angry to death.
Lying in bed, Wen Fei rested his head on his arm and suddenly thought of Zhang Shu Ye and what he had said. On that day, after Wen Fei finished dealing with the business and sold off all the wine, he was about to slip away when Zhang Shu Ye caught up with him and invited him out for a walk.
Wen Fei's body was loaded with so much gold, and his heart was burning with desire. Where would he have the leisure to go out for a stroll? Besides, this Northern Song Dynasty Lanzhou was also desolate and barren, what was there to see?
However, at that time Zhang Shu Ye seemed to have something to say, Wen Fei held on to the thought of whether there was still business to be done, and drove with Zhang Shu Ye away from Luoma Ji, arriving at the banks of the Yellow River.
Zhang Shu rode a horse at night, and Wen Fei drove a car. They didn't travel far before they saw the Yellow River, which was the first time for Wen Fei to see the river known as the source of Chinese civilization in both worlds. Unlike what he often saw on TV, the river did not have a majestic momentum, nor was it surging and turbulent. It looked much calmer, with only its yellowish water carrying sand and mud, which was no different from that in later generations.
The Yellow River is about 200-300 meters wide. The banks on both sides are flat and open, looking very spacious.
Such scenery, although not the kind where the wind blows and the grass is low to see cattle and sheep, also has a few points of feeling of the sky being vast and the fields being endless. On the contrary, it makes people who are used to seeing crowded scenes in later generations feel a sense of openness in their chest.
I remember Wen Fei used to see those arrogant people on the forum talking about mainland China in a condescending tone: "There are too many people in mainland China, so resources are scarce. Everyone is fighting hard for resources, that's why they appear to be morally low..."
At that time, Wen Fei still wanted to be dissatisfied and scolded back. But now standing on the banks of the Yellow River a thousand years ago, with no one in sight, the sky is high and the earth is wide, but somehow I thought of this sentence.
