Harvest (Part 2)

  When he felt that the silence was harmless, the man's expression on his face relaxed a lot. He took out a velvet bag from his waist and presented it with both hands: "Young master helped us Tiger Head Association and Shanyin County a great deal, this is a small token of appreciation from the official, please accept it."

  After several refusals, Shen Mo smiled and accepted the not-too-heavy gift... With the previous setup, this money was taken with an unusually smooth hand.

  Watching that person quickly leave, silently shaking the two cloth bags in his hands, it turned out to be much heavier than Wang Erhu's, and he couldn't help but mutter a few sentences about how stingy Official Wang was...

  Shenmo didn't plan to let his father know about this money. Although the old man wasn't too stubborn, he definitely wouldn't accept money from the underworld. But Shenmo's view was exactly the opposite - he thought it wasn't a big deal to take money from ordinary people, but making the underworld willingly give him money was what really counted!

  He put the small silk bag into his waist pack, wrapped it around his waist, loosened his shirt a bit, and then slowly went upstairs.

  Pushing open the door and entering the room, there was only a small oil lamp lit inside, casting a rather dim light. Shen Mo squinted to take a look, and unexpectedly, Old Man had gotten up from bed and was sitting in front of the book chest, rummaging through something.

  He hastily walked over, supporting his father with one hand and scolding him, "Didn't the doctor tell you to rest?"

  "If you lie down again, you'll become stiff." Shen He didn't turn his head back and chuckled: "Tomorrow you'll go to the clan school to study, I've prepared everything for you."

  "I don't know what the master has said yet." Taking advantage of Lao Die's inattention, Shen Mo hid his travel bag under his bed and said nonchalantly: "Let's go listen tomorrow and talk about it then."

  "Nonsense!" Shen He rarely said: "I don't know what to say, just bring it all up! With this attitude of yours, sir can also give you a good scolding."

  Shenmo helped his father back to bed, smiled and said: "You rest, I'll do it myself." Then he picked out a set of Four Books and Five Classics from the book box, neatly arranged them at the bottom of his backpack, placed a set of stationery on top, tied up the backpack tightly, put it on the ground, patted his hands and said: "Done."

  Shen He shook his head slightly, and Shen Mo asked him what was wrong. At first, he didn't say anything, but later, after being pressed for an answer, he let out a light sigh and said: "You're not reverent enough towards books..."

  Silently, he let out a faint sigh, chuckled to himself, and carefully took off his long shirt, hanging it on the clothes rack. He then picked up the copper basin, scooped some cool water into it, added some hot water, tested the temperature until it was just right, and carried it over to Shen He's bedside, crouching down to wash his feet.

  All this was done in silence, as naturally as if he were washing his own feet when he was ill, and now it seemed the most natural thing in the world that Shen Hua should wash his feet.

  Looking down at his son washing his feet, Shen He felt a mix of emotions and said softly, "Dad just had a moment of sentimentality, don't take it to heart."

  "Father's teachings are." Shen Mo nodded slightly and said, "The child will be careful in the future."

  "Right." Shen He suddenly remembered something and said: "This afternoon, a county magistrate surnamed Hou came from Yanshan County."

  "Oh," Shen Mo raised his head and asked softly, "What did he come for?"

  "Sent a letter with silver." Shen He rummaged under the pillow and pulled out a paper bag, saying: "It's said that you eliminated a scourge for Shanyin, just to express some gratitude." As he spoke, he handed it over to Shen Mo: "There are five taels of silver thread in here, take it." Their family was one where the father didn't care and the son worried.

  "How petty!" Shen Mo muttered to himself, but didn't take the silver, and instead smiled: "In a couple of days Father will be an official, can't avoid greasing some palms, might as well keep it for expenses."

  "That won't take so much either." Shen He shook his head and said.

  "It's always better to be prepared." Shen Mo said softly: "It's better than having none when you need it."

  Shen He finally stopped talking.

  One night without a word, the next morning at dawn, the rooster crowed loudly, and Shen He woke Shen Mo from his beautiful dream, urging him to wash up, change clothes, and eat quickly.

  Look out the window, it's still dark outside. Murmuring a few words "so early", Shen He scolded again: "In the past, because your body was not good, you were allowed to sleep in until whenever. From today on, you are a student again, reading should be your priority, you must get up with the rooster's crow!"

  She rolled her eyes silently, thinking "So having a dad is also annoying." She could only patiently listen to her old man's nagging while using hot water to heat up last night's leftovers, hastily eating a few mouthfuls before wiping her mouth and standing up saying: "I'm going to school now."

  "Show respect to your teacher and don't fight with your classmates..." He had already gone downstairs, but he could still hear his father's words of advice.

  After leaving Wentao Institute, Shen Mo only thought of himself and didn't know where the clan school was. He had no choice but to go to the front yard to find Shen Jing and let him lead the way to school.

  Shen Jing's residence was adjacent to the main house where Old Man Shen lived, a two-story small building. On a hot summer day, with all doors and windows wide open, Shen Mo went upstairs unimpeded and saw a naked male body sprawled out on the bed, fast asleep.

  "Bad luck running into a bird on the way out! " Shen Mo cursed silently, then picked up the quilt from the ground and threw it at him, saying: "Get up quickly, the sun is shining **."

  "Open your eyes and look at Shen Mo again, then close them and mumble: 'Help me ask Mr. for a leave of absence, say I have a high fever and can't get out of bed.'"

  "I don't even know where the school is." Shen Mo reached out and touched his forehead, which was cool to the touch, and couldn't help but laugh and scold: "Stop pretending, get up quickly!"

  Shen Jing was still lying down, refusing to get up. Shen Mo wasn't in a good mood and pulled him up by the ears. In pain, Shen Jing let out a loud cry and jumped off the bed, putting on his clothes while lamenting: "Why did I end up with a friend like you?"

  With a stomachache and no appetite, Shen Jing didn't feel like eating either. She went to the small kitchen to grab a few pastries, stuffed them into her backpack, and then led Shen Mo towards the east wing of the main courtyard.

  Shen Jing suddenly stopped on the road and said in a low voice, "There are several of my enemies in Zu Xue, they will definitely find trouble with you."

  "What kind of people are they?"

  "My third brother and his three idle helpers." Shen Jing gritted her teeth and said, "Because he is the legitimate son, I am the illegitimate daughter, and later there were some disputes, so he often bullied me!"

  "Looks like you're not as easy to bully as I thought."

  "I'm certainly not someone to be bullied." Shen Jing spat out a mouthful and said: "It's just that others see him as the precious, legitimate son, while I'm the lowly, illegitimate one, so they all help him deal with me..."

  "No wonder you didn't want to go to school." Shen Mo gazed at him for a moment, then suddenly chuckled and said, "Poor kid."

  "Hey, old brother, are you still a brother or not?" Shen Jing was furious.

  "Don't worry, it was because I wasn't there before." Shen Mo chuckled and patted his head, saying: "With me around, you'll only have the privilege of bullying others!"