Chapter 3: Old Dad

  "This roar, however, startled Yang Heng so much that he trembled with fear. 'Eh, no way, this voice isn't even loud, why am I trembling? Ah, no good.' Yang Wei slapped his thigh as he suddenly remembered, this was the body's instinct."

  His old man was yelling at him, Yang Heng pulled his leg and started walking back, why not run? His legs were still trembling, taking a step forward felt somewhat difficult, as if he was dreaming, someone was chasing him, he wanted to run but couldn't.

  Luckily, Yang Heng didn't go far and it took him over ten minutes to get home. "You old man, this son of mine is my own, not yours! I'm telling you, from now on, don't even think about educating my son again. If you dare to lay a finger on him, try it!" Yang Heng leaned against the door frame panting heavily as he heard his mother scolding inside.

  Alas, if I were to be born as some kind of illegitimate child, then my life would be miserable. Who knows what era this is? Anyway, it's ancient times, and being an illegitimate child here is not easy.

  "What's wrong with my son, can't I give birth to him without you? Didn't I marry into your family? But the child still calls me 'father', doesn't he? And I'm teaching him for his own good. Besides, how long can we stay in this place? Haven't you seen that Li Sanlang from the west of the city has been eyeing our land and has come many times? And Yang Heng is still going to their place, isn't that asking for trouble?"

  The old man muttered to himself, it seems he's also a henpecked husband.

  "Shh, keep your voice down, you don't know this is just an agreement between me and your father, there's no intention of spreading it around. Do you want the whole county to know? Haven't you noticed that even if we don't let them know, some people seem to have already known something?"

  Yang Heng also breathed a sigh of relief, fortunately, although he was married into the family, his identity shouldn't be a problem, and his father should have been properly married. It's even a private agreement.

  "I'll keep my voice down, but you were the one who started making noise first."

  "How dare you say that, look at how you've been tormenting our child all these years, starting from the age of five, making him work in the ironworks, and now punishing our son for some trivial reason, what's so great about that Li Sanlang anyway? Can't we just give this shop to him and be done with it? Is this how we can avoid trouble for our child?" The old lady is also a master, first shouting loudly, then speaking softly with tears in her voice, but she won't be able to move the old man's heart. It seems that the couple's feelings for each other are still good, but why is he so mean to Yang Heng?

  "Could it be?" Yang Heng suddenly thought of something in his mind, his mother's surname was Yang, her name was Yang Ying, and it seemed that when she was born, a small bird fell into the courtyard, so she was named Ying. Her full name was Yang Yun. But this didn't seem right either, why did he remember his father also having the surname Yang, and being called Yang Da? It looked like there was something fishy going on.

  "Alright, alright, swallow, come and smile, from now on let's take care of our son together." "What our son, he is my son." "Good good good, isn't yours also mine? If not, you can give birth to another one to inherit my ancestral line." "Foolish, I also want another child, but our ancestors have always been single-line descendants, otherwise, I'll find a concubine for you..."

  The voices in the room gradually subsided, and Yang Heng also knew that he had been wandering around the yard for a while. They had gone out to stroll around the street, but hadn't taken a good look at their new home. As for Li Sanlang, Yang Heng didn't care about him, but it was precisely Li Sanlang who forced them to flee far away.

  "Wow, this anvil is huge! And look, there are so many of them," Yang Wei saw that there were three anvils in total, with the largest one placed on a stand and the two smaller ones thrown to the side. There were also three furnaces, but the edges of two of them were piled high with miscellaneous items. It seemed like this place used to be bustling with activity, with all three furnaces firing at the same time and several large hammers pounding away in unison.

  "You little scamp, you're back. Don't know what kind of trouble you've gotten into, running around everywhere." Suddenly, Father's voice exploded in his ear, "Ah, Ayah!" Yang Wei let out a startled cry, then shouted, "What's so great about this place that you're so mesmerized? You don't like blacksmithing, you like going to school, don't you?"

  "You old thing, what are you yelling about again? Heng'er, come, come to Mama's place. How is it now? Do you feel much better? My poor Heng'er, let's go with Mama to eat. You old thing, humph." Yang Heng was dazed and confused as he was pulled into the house by his mother. What kind of situation is this?

  "Mom, it's time to eat," Yang Heng said with a puzzled expression. "What's wrong?" his mother asked, touching his forehead with her hand. "You're not feverish now, are you? Has your body not recovered yet? We usually have our second meal at this time. Although you had a bowl earlier, if you don't eat now, can you wait until tomorrow's first meal? I remember you've always been a big eater."

  Good grief, is this an era where people eat two meals a day? Yang Heng slapped his forehead. And what's with the low table in front of him, who knows if it's even called a table? And the stool in front of him, can people really sit on something so short?

  As expected, it's not for humans to sit on. Old Dad slipped in from outside and said with a smile, "Hey, wife, can I have dinner?" As he spoke, he knelt down on the stool in front of him. It turned out that this was a kneeling table, was this before the Tang Dynasty?

  "Heng'er, aren't you going to eat quickly? You used to be the fastest eater!" The old mother glared at the old father and then gently scolded Yang Heng with a hint of affection, "Ah, okay." Yang Heng was startled and immediately sat down on his knees like the old father. This is too miserable, how can you eat like this? How can you be full eating like this?"

  Unfortunately, after Yang Heng finished a bowl of rice, he didn't think so anymore. This meal was just enough for three people to eat. "Heng'er, you just ate not long ago, I thought you wouldn't be able to eat much, but it turns out that there's only enough for the three of us." His mother said with a hint of apology, looking at Yang Heng.

  "Mom, I'm full, look, my belly is all bulging!" As he spoke, Yang Heng was about to lift up his clothes to reveal his belly, but these were the kind of clothes that really couldn't be lifted up. So he could only pat his belly from outside his clothes to prove that he was indeed full. "You silly child, you're full so you're full, why do you need to pat your belly? Be careful not to hurt your belly after just eating." His mom scolded with a smile. It's clear how much his mom dotes on him!

  "Alright, kiddo, you've eaten your fill, now off with you! I have something to discuss with your mother." The old man chimed in from the side.

  "Say it then, what are you afraid of your son hearing?" The old mother glared at the old father.

  "I was saying, it's still about Li Sanlang. I've been asking around these past few days about that little rascal sneaking into the school to eavesdrop on Xiucai teaching, and why Li Sanlang is being so arrogant wanting our storefront." Old Dad said with a puzzled expression.

  "Did you hear that?" The old lady exclaimed. "Yes, it's said that because of the rioters' attack some time ago, many places in the city were burned down, even the county government was completely destroyed, including some household registration records for the entire county, which have not been re-recorded until now, and we've become refugees. Alas! Now Li Sanlang can manipulate us as he wants, this shop is already his private property!" The old man sighed.

  "What's going to happen now? My uncle has also gone who-knows-where, so there's no one to help us." Mother suddenly became flustered.

  "What's to be done? At worst, I'll take you two back to my hometown and we can cultivate a few acres of land." Father said helplessly.

  Rather than provoke trouble, it's better to hide; although it's a bit shameful, it's also a way to preserve one's life. To resist would require abilities that Yang Heng doesn't yet possess. For now, his greatest wish is simply to survive in this era. Even becoming a farmer in the countryside would be acceptable - he didn't think that as a transmigrator, he couldn't even manage to become a decent farmer.