Chapter 35: On Zhao Cai

  As Zhao Cai walked far away, Zhao Fei came to Zhao Hu's side. "Dad, take a rest first, I have something to tell you." Zhao Fei said to Zhao Hu.

  When Zhao Fei called him, Zhao Hu stopped what he was doing and looked at Zhao Fei with a hint of confusion. "What's wrong, little Fei? Is something the matter? Are you not feeling well again? Why don't you go rest for a while, your mother and I are enough to handle things here."

  Before Zhao Fei could respond, Li also stopped what she was doing. "It's just you, Little Fei, listen to your father and go home to rest." Li wiped her hands clean, came over to Zhao Fei's side, removed the towel from her head, and helped Zhao Fei wipe away the sweat on his forehead.

  "My body is fine, mom and dad." Zhao Fei explained to Zhao Hu and Li Shi with a hint of frustration. "I've been training with Feng Ge and Tong Shifu for a long time now, my body has improved a lot, didn't I tell you many times already? I'm really fine!" Zhao Fei was also very conflicted, no matter how he explained that his body was fine, his parents just wouldn't believe him. At the slightest thing, they would say something about Zhao Fei's body this and that. Zhao Fei had explained many times, but his parents didn't care, thinking he still wasn't capable.

  It's true, as the saying goes, "once bitten by a snake, ten years afraid of the rope". Zhao Hu and his wife are now in this mood. Since Zhao Fei came down from the mountain, they saw that he got up early every day to practice some kind of fist method. At first, Zhao Hu and his wife were worried when they saw Zhao Fei making strange movements every day, but after asking him, he emphasized that it was a special fist method taught by Tong Shifu to strengthen his body. Although the two didn't talk much, their doubts weren't dispelled. However, Zhao Fei himself felt that the five-element fist taught by Tong Yuan really had a great effect. These days, Zhao Fei has clearly felt the changes in his body. In the past, he was plagued by chronic illnesses, but after practicing fist, he really didn't get sick again, which made Zhao Hu and his wife happy for a long time. But although his physical condition improved a lot, their worries did not decrease. They were worried about Zhao Fei's health from time to time. Zhao Fei couldn't help it either, how could he make his parents not worry? This was obviously impossible.

  Once again, Zhao Fei wiped the sweat from his forehead and continued to ask Zhao Hu, "Dad, what do you think of that Zhao Cai..." Zhao Fei had originally wanted to address him by name, but was glared at by Zhao Hu and hastily changed his words. "Uh...what kind of person is Uncle Cai?"

  Zhao Hu looked at Zhao Fei with a somewhat complex expression. "Why did you suddenly ask when your uncle is coming?" Zhao Hu asked in puzzlement.

  "It's nothing, I was just asking." Not knowing Zhao Hu's thoughts, Zhao Fei also didn't dare to say anything more, afraid of provoking his father's anger.

  "What can I say." Zhao Hu also wiped the sweat and thought for a moment, then said to Zhao Fei: "Your uncle is also an honest man, and he's not bad either."

  "Do you think Zhao Cai is still okay?" Zhao Fei asked weakly. He didn't think Zhao Cai was a good person at all.

  "This is natural, what's wrong with Little Fei? Don't you think there's anything wrong with Uncle Zhao?" Zhao Hu was somewhat puzzled and didn't know why Zhao Fei looked at Zhao Cai with disapproval.

  Zhao Fei hesitated for a moment, unsure whether to tell his father or not. He himself couldn't be entirely certain, and everything was just his own speculation. If he said something wrong, it would be the worst, and what he feared most was making his father angry.

  "What's wrong, Little Fei? If nothing's wrong, I'll get back to work. After I'm done, I still need to go help your uncle." Zhao Hu saw that Zhao Fei wasn't speaking and got a bit anxious, urging him on.

  "I think Uncle Cai doesn't want to appear so honest on the surface." Seeing his father's dissatisfaction, Zhao Fei hastily said. "Even if I die, what can you do to me?" "I think Uncle Cai doesn't want to appear so naive, I feel he has a lot of calculations..." Zhao Fei wanted to continue speaking, but was glared at by Zhao Hu and didn't dare say another word.

  "Every household has its own little ones, what nonsense are you talking about?" Zhao Hu was somewhat angry, staring at Zhao Fei.

  "But Dad..." Zhao Fei wanted to say, but was directly interrupted by Zhao Hu. "What are you still saying?" Zhao Hu was somewhat angry, with a clear expression of anger on his face.

  "Xiao Fei said a few words, what's wrong with that? You know what kind of people his family is. Xiao Fei was wrong." Li saw the father and son speaking with some excitement, hurriedly blocked Zhao Fei in front of him, glaring at Zhao Hu, and sided with her son.

  "Dad, I was wrong." Seeing Zhao Hu really got angry, Zhao Fei also hurriedly apologized.

  "Never mind, it's nothing." Zhao Hu waved his hand, "Your father knows all about what you've said. After all, I've known Zhao Cai since we were kids. What kind of person he is, I know better than anyone else. Do you think I'm stupid?"

  "If so, then why are you still like this?" Zhao Fei asked with a puzzled expression.

  "I've known Zhao Cai since we were kids, I know what kind of person he is. Although he's a bit clever, his nature isn't bad. Besides, it's just helping out with some chores at his house. We're from the same village, we run into each other all the time, what's the big deal?" After finishing speaking, Zhao Hu's expression became somewhat despondent. He treated Zhao Cai like a brother, sincerely and wholeheartedly. But Zhao Cai was always trying to take advantage of him, always on the lookout for ways to benefit himself. This made Zhao Hu feel disappointed. However, this straightforward man had never complained, and had always been consistent in his words and actions.

  Seeing Zhao Hu's disappointed and heartbroken face, Zhao Fei didn't know what to say either. He gave his mother a signal with his eyes and turned around to continue working. Zhao Hu was stunned for a while, came back to himself, saw that Zhao Fei and his mother had continued cutting the rice, looked up at the sky, found that it was already late, and then bent down to continue busily.

  The busy work is nearing its end, large tracts of golden wheat seedlings have been laid down by people, and then tied up in bundles and stacked together. After cutting the last strand of rice shoots in front of him, Zhao Fei stood up straight, wiped the sweat from his face, and revealed a satisfied smile. "It's finally done, this really isn't a job for humans." Rubbing his sore waist, looking at the stacks of rice behind him, Zhao Fei felt deeply relieved. "It's finally over, if it wasn't finished, my waist would have broken."

  "Alright, our family's stuff is almost done, I'm going to help your uncle now." Zhao Hu said as he walked over to Zhao Fei.

  "Dad, do you want me to go help you? After all, with one more person, it can be done faster." Zhao Fei was very worried about his dad and wanted to go help him. If he himself was already so tired, how could his dad possibly be any better off?

  "Never mind, you've been busy for so long and must be tired too. I'll just go myself." He knew his son was worried about him, but Zhao Hu didn't want Zhao Fei to get involved.

  "It's nothing, Dad, I'm not tired," Zhao Fei said evasively.

  Li glared at Zhao Fei and said lovingly: "What's wrong with being tired? Let your dad go himself, you just head back home first."

  "But..." Zhao Fei wanted to say something, but Li didn't give him a chance. "Anyway, Duan has been at home for so long, you go keep her company, I'll finish cleaning up and then head back."

  Zhao Fei couldn't argue with his mother and could only nod in agreement. "Alright, Dad and Mom, you're busy, I'll head home first."

  "Go ahead." Li waved his hand and saw Zhao Fei off.

  Zhao Fei returned home to find Duo'er standing alone at the door, looking unhappy. "What's wrong, Duo'er?" Zhao Fei asked lovingly. But instead of a response, he got a grunt. "Who made my Duo'er angry? Tell brother and brother will help you take revenge."

  "Who else could it be, you big scoundrel."

  "What did I do to make you angry again?" Zhao Fei said innocently.

  "And besides, leaving me alone at home without care."

  "We're going to work, aren't we? You'll just get in the way if you come along." Zhao Fei said softly, stroking Duer's head.

  "But others are afraid." As she spoke, a hint of tears appeared in Duer's big eyes.

  Duo'er was about to cry, and Zhao Fei immediately became anxious. "Good girl, Duo'er good girl, next time no matter what brother is doing will bring you along, don't cry."

  "Is brother telling the truth?" Duo'er lifted her head and stared at Zhao Fei.

  Zhao Fei nodded solemnly. "Of course it's true."

  "Don't even think about cheating me, humph." Duo'er was like a proud rooster, strutting around with his head held high. Zhao Fei, on the other hand, couldn't help but laugh and cry at the same time. "Alright, let's go inside, Dad and Mom will be back soon."