Chapter 5: Dreaming of Doing Good Deeds

  The next day, Deng Zixuan set off early in the morning. Gao Huren didn't come out to see him off, but only let the steward respond at the door. Deng Zixuan seemed not to mind at all, his mood was great, after all, he had achieved his goal this time and gained a lot. At this moment, Yuanyu and two maids climbed up high and quietly saw off their man.

  Yesterday's brief encounter, the girl's heart was completely captured by Deng Zixuan. It is worth knowing that women in this era are extremely sentimental, and Zixuan not only looks handsome but also has a heroic air. In Yuanyu's mind, she had imagined Zixuan's appearance countless times, and his exterior matched her imagination. The key was Zixuan's words and actions, which made Yuanyu feel at home in an instant. Last night, she almost didn't sleep, this man used his blood to swear an oath, a priceless treasure that no amount of money could buy.

  "Miss! Mr. Deng is not an ordinary person, he's so bold to secretly meet with you, what a romantic gentleman!" "Miss! You barely slept last night, which made us all unable to rest well, what did he say to you last night that made you so infatuated?" Yu'er looked worried, if it were any other time, the maids would have already made a big fuss.

  Wan'er lifted her heels and continued to gaze into the distance, where the shadow of a horse carriage was blurry and gradually melted into the sun's radiance. "Deng Lang!" Wan'er murmured to herself, covering her chest with her hand, because she treasured Zixuan's blood letter in her bosom, and tears flowed out uncontrollably as her emotions reached a deep place. The maid saw that her mistress was truly heartbroken and also felt a sour feeling, but didn't know what to say.

  Here, Deng Zixuan was completely immersed in the excitement of the jewelry box, and he didn't think about Yuanyu being heartbroken! I wonder how many silver coins these jewels can be exchanged for? Miss Yuanyu's words made him not think of that. What to do next with the silver coins? Deng Zixuan started thinking deeply again. The carriage arrived at the French Concession in the afternoon. At the entrance of the French Concession, two tall French soldiers and two Indian soldiers stood guard faithfully.

  At this time, a small sedan chair stopped at the entrance, accompanied by two sedan bearers and two maidservants. Deng Zixuan guessed that the person in the sedan was definitely a woman. Suddenly, a group of beggars came up and surrounded the sedan asking for money. Before long, a handful of copper coins were scattered from the sedan, and the beggars began to scramble for them. Deng Zixuan seemed to have an idea, and a thought suddenly popped into his mind.

  Back home, he reported to his mother about the situation at Rose Garden, but didn't mention the difficulties caused by Gao Jiren. Instead, he embellished the story of how warmly he was received at Rose Garden, adding oil and vinegar to make it more flavorful. His mother was delighted to hear this. Worried that the Gao family would cancel the engagement, Mrs. Deng was now reassured. After a quiet night, Dèng Zǐxuān came to his mother's room early the next morning to pay his respects.

  After seeing her son not leaving after paying his respects, the mother asked anxiously: "Xuan'er, it's clear that you have something to say!" Xuan'er hesitated and said: "Mother, I had a dream last night, it was Father who appeared in my dream!" The mother was shocked and stood up asking: "What did your father say?" "Father said that I should do good deeds and accumulate virtues, so that everything will go smoothly. He also told me to recruit 20 book boys to accompany me on all sides, so that I can obtain a high rank."

  "Namo Amitabha!" Mother immediately joined her hands together and muttered for a while, then said: "If it's really your father's wish, we must do it, otherwise his spirit will not rest. I'll talk to your brother about this." At noon during dinner, mother told Zixuan about the dream again. Zide was somewhat skeptical and said: "Younger brother, I know you won't lie. Tell me again about Father entrusting you with a dream!"

  Deng Zixuan once again vividly described the situation, and Zide said: "Recruiting 20 book boys at once will double our household expenses. Our income is not high, I'm afraid we can't afford it." Zide showed a worried expression. "Brother, I know the family's situation. This time when I went to Rose Manor, Gao Huren gave me some money and told me to study hard. Let me take care of this matter! Brother, don't worry about business being difficult." Zide was overjoyed upon hearing this, how could he not agree?

  A decent-looking pawnshop, Deng Zixuan carefully observed the package and walked in. Such valuable jewelry is not a small amount, the pawnshop owner personally led Deng Zixuan into the back room. The pawnshop owner played with various pieces of jewelry, his eyes glancing at Deng Zixuan, probably thinking that this young master was likely a spoiled son who had stolen family jewelry to pawn.

  "You're not going to pawn it, are you? The American machine has arrived and I need the money urgently. If you don't want to, I'll go to another shop." Deng Zixuan lied, pretending to be impatient.

  The boss believed him and asked, "Is it a dead pawn or a living pawn?"

  "Dead pawn!" Deng Zixuan replied without hesitation.

  Deal! Deng Zixuan did not expect that the jewelry box would actually be worth 7,300 taels of silver. It seemed that Yuanyu really had a crush on him and gave him all her savings from when she was a girl.

  Such a large sum of money, with the help of the pawnshop assistant, was tossed around for an entire morning before being deposited into the British-owned EWO Bank. Whether to choose a foreign bank or a Chinese financial institution, Deng Zixuan had hesitated for a long time. In the end, he still chose the foreign bank, and it goes without saying that he must use his language advantage to fawn over foreigners; in fact, it proved that he made the right choice.

  Three hundred taels of silver were left on hand, and the whole amount was deposited. As he walked out of the EWO Building, Manager Charlie escorted him to the door with great respect. It wasn't just a huge sum of money that had been deposited into the bank; what surprised the manager even more was Deng Zixuan's fluent English, which was extremely rare among businessmen in Qing China at that time.

  "I'll give you a riddle, and if you can answer it, I'll reward you with a copper coin!" Deng Zixuan said to a group of young beggars that day. Seeing the little guys perk up their ears in confusion, he pulled out a handful of copper coins and continued: "There are 5 birds on the tree, after shooting down one bird, how many birds are left?" The question was too simple, and the little guys shouted in unison: "There are still 4 birds left! There are still 4 birds left!" Deng Zixuan shook his head to indicate that it was incorrect. At this time, a dark and thin little guy came forward and said: "I know, there is not even one bird left!" "Good, congratulations on answering correctly!" Deng Zixuan handed him a copper coin.

  "Speak up! Why didn't even one bird remain!" The little guys all shook their heads in confusion. Deng Zixuan felt very disappointed and beckoned the little guy to come forward, asking: "What's your name?" "I'm called Dog Remain!" "How old are you this year?" "I'm 11 years old by Chinese age reckoning!" "Are you willing to be my book boy?" The little guy was extremely quick-witted and immediately knelt down on the ground: "Thank you, sir, for your kindness, I'm willing!" "From now on, you'll be called Deng Qiang, follow me!" The crowd of beggars looked on at this scene with expressions of envy.

  Rather than having too many, Deng Zixuan selected three children with the same topic in different locations on the same day. Afterwards, he spent 10 whole days selecting 20 famous children in Shanghai County and its surrounding areas. The Deng family class was formed, all the children were named Deng, and they were given separate names. Deng Zixuan set up beds for the children to live in the adjacent room, making it convenient to manage them, while also letting Xiaohong take charge of the children's daily hygiene.

  On the first day of formal classes, Deng Zixuan walked into the classroom and announced that Deng Qiang would be the class leader, responsible for managing when he was not around. "From today on, you are all members of the Deng family, and I am your teacher. Next, I will establish some rules...". From the beginning, Deng Zixuan established a set of militarized management rules for the children, with strict control, subtle indoctrination, and collective punishment.

  A month passed quickly, and since these children were selected through a relatively strict "examination", it can be said that they all have some talent. Deng Zixuan first opened two courses, one in language and literature, and the other in mathematics. At present, in the Qing Dynasty, Deng Zixuan is teaching the most modern knowledge. As for the study of things, he plans to teach them two years later. The primary language course starts with recognizing characters, the children are very diligent, and Deng Zixuan's punishment method is not hitting the palm, but not allowing them to eat.

  Children who have experienced hardships and hunger cherish their current life very much, and soon they can recognize and write 200 commonly used Chinese characters. Deng Zixuan uses the foreigners' Sunday to calculate the days, and a month later he decides to take Sundays off, so he takes the children to the Huangpu River to fish. The fishing hook was bought in a foreign store, and the fishing line is made of several strands of silk thread. Fishing can improve their lives while cultivating the children's willpower, killing two birds with one stone.

  It's not that the fish are stupid, but there are too many fish in the river. On the first day of fishing, the children caught over a dozen fish of all sizes, and when they returned home, the whole family had a feast of fish. From then on, every Sunday, Deng Zixuan took the children to the riverbank to go fishing. Their fishing skills became more mature, and their harvest gradually became more abundant. One time, they caught over 200 fish, enough for them to eat for a week.

  Deng Zixuan studied hard every day, and his elderly mother and brother were delighted to see him, but they didn't ask what he was studying. Moreover, his mother was busy with her Buddhist devotions every day, and his brother was too preoccupied with business to pay attention to them, so Deng Zixuan's secret actions wouldn't attract anyone's notice. After the 100th day of mourning for his father, his sister asked their mother to take a short trip, but his brother was too busy, so Deng Zixuan had to escort his mother to his sister's home himself.

  My brother-in-law's family lives in the Songjiang Prefecture government office, located on the west side of the English and French concession, about a dozen miles away. After sending my mother to my sister's house, my brother-in-law was not there. Deng Zixuan had lunch and remembered things at home, so he bid farewell to his mother and sister and headed back. Passing through the bustling city, Deng Zixuan got off the car and walked, taking a look at the commercial activities on both sides. Suddenly, he saw a group of people surrounding something, and Deng Zixuan squeezed in to take a look, only to find a big man lying on the ground. The man's body was constantly twitching. Upon closer inspection, his queue was loose, and his face was dirty. This person had a sturdy skeleton and bulging veins, clearly a robust man, but he had been tormented by illness and was extremely emaciated.

  "What's going on?" Deng Zixuan asked. "Just now, this man was walking unsteadily and suddenly fell to the ground like this, I think he won't make it!" The speaker sighed and turned to leave. Out of sympathy, Deng Zixuan bent down and reached out to touch the big man's forehead, finding it scorching hot, and judged that the big man had a high fever. Since he had offered help, he decided to see it through, and ordered his men to lift the big man onto his own carriage, then searched for an herbal medicine shop. After being treated by the doctor in the shop, it turned out that the big man had contracted acute dysentery.

  Several silver needles stopped the big man from convulsing, and after finishing the Chinese medicine, the old doctor fed him a bowl of rice porridge. Soon the big man woke up, and the old doctor smiled as he took his pulse: "You were not meant to die, it was this kind-hearted young master who saved your life." The big man gazed at Deng Zixuan with gratitude, weakly saying: "Great kindness doesn't need thanks, please let me know your name!" "I am Deng Zixuan. As the saying goes, saving a life is better than building a seven-story pagoda. Lending a helping hand is a gentleman's duty. Here are 10 taels of silver for you to use to recover from your illness." After finishing speaking, he paid the medical fees and left.

  Time flies, and it's already winter. At this time, the children in Deng Jia's class can already shake their heads and recite texts with ease. Thanks to the good food, the children's faces have a healthy complexion. Deng Zixuan teaches while instilling simple truths. Under his deliberate cultivation, the children have developed the habit of asking questions in class, and this atmosphere is very lively.

  This afternoon, Deng Zixuan was teaching the children when a servant burst in and said: "Young master, several big men have come to the back door, saying they are here to visit you." The front door is the shop, usually people come in from the front door, why did today's guests come from the back door? Deng Zixuan was puzzled, could it be that his old friends had arrived? It seemed like he was going to lose face. He went out to check and saw 8 sturdy men covered in dust, seemingly having come from afar.

  Deng Zixuan was perplexed. The first of the two men suddenly knelt down and said, "Thanks to your kindness in saving my life, I am Chen Jintang. I have come specifically to pay my respects to you, young master."

  Deng Zixuan looked at him and recognized the person, saying: "So it's you! Since you think highly of me, it's fine to temporarily stay in my humble abode!" The big man didn't get up but said: "Young master! To be honest with you, we are bandits. The government is currently hunting us down, and since we have nowhere else to go, we thought of you. If it's inconvenient for you, we'll leave immediately and won't disturb you!"

  Deng Zixuan said: "Please get up quickly, I, Deng Zixuan, although a scholar, admire heroes from all over the world and have a chivalrous heart with tender feelings. Please come in, heroes!" The group of people entered in an orderly manner.

  "Master! Who are these people?" Little Red asked with some trepidation. "They're my friends, you quickly inform the kitchen to prepare food and tidy up the guest room, they'll be staying here for a while!" Deng Zixuan instructed before walking back into the room.

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