amaotonovel Chapter 1232 Mr. Zhu Returns
Chapter 1232 Mr. Zhu Returns
Chapter 1232 Mr. Zhu Returns
Zishui County’s high-pressure policy completely changed the situation in Bailuyuan.
The county government posted a notice: Anyone who privately grows poppies will be imprisoned at the very least, or shot at the worst.
Tian Fuxian was sentenced to death by firing squad and was specially taken to Bailuyuan to be executed in front of the entire village, young and old. Lu Zilin was sentenced to ten years in prison, and this was the result of Lu Taiheng spending all his family fortune and making arrangements.
When Bai Jiaxuan was elected as the clan leader in front of the ancestral hall, he did not refuse. He stood on the stone steps, with the newly painted lintel of the ancestral hall behind him, and his voice was as deep as the loess on the plain: "From now on, Bailuyuan will only grow food, not pests! Anyone who violates this will be driven out of the plain and will never be allowed to enter the village, and even after death, his tablet will not be allowed to enter the ancestral hall!"
The villagers were trembling with fear, and no one dared to touch the enchanting poisonous flower.
Previously, many villagers made money by growing poppies. As the poor suddenly became rich, bad habits spread in the village. People spent more money on drinking, gambling, and watching obscene plays than many people in the county.
In order to put an end to this bad habit, Bai Jiaxuan proposed to rebuild the ancestral hall and school.
At first, many villagers opposed it, thinking it was a waste of time and money, but under the leadership of Bai Jiaxuan, more and more villagers joined in spontaneously.
At the same time, Qin Hao and Lu Zhaopeng became celebrities in the school because they exposed the opium case and did not avoid their relatives. Many newspapers invited them to write articles, and the royalties were very high, so they basically did not have to ask their family for money anymore.
A year later, the scene of crows crowing, sunrise, swaying forest light, and the cold wind swaying wheat waves in the vast wilderness reappeared on Bailuyuan.
At the same time, Qin Hao also received a letter from home that Xiancao had given birth to another son for the Bai family and named him Bai Xiaowu.
There were twenty tables at Bai Xiaowu’s full moon banquet.
Qin Hao brought back a bag of sugar cubes from Xi'an. Bai Xiaowen walked around the group holding the sugar cubes and immediately became the coolest guy in the village.
Xiancao suddenly came over holding the baby in her arms and lowered her voice, "Hao'er, what do you think of Mr. Leng's two daughters?"
Qin Hao was chewing on a pig's trotter and was slightly startled when he heard this. Of course he remembered Leng Qiuyue - the girl who bent down to grind medicine behind the counter of the medicine shop, with fingers as white as new wheat flour...
Are you trying to arrange a marriage for him? But it's not surprising. Generally, country boys will get married when they turn sixteen. Qin Hao only said that he had met Leng Qiuyue a few times and didn't have much impression of Leng Qiushui.
Xiancao understood that Qin Hao wanted Leng Qiuyue, so she told Bai Jiaxuan the situation and told him not to choose the wrong person.
While the banquet was still going on, Bai Jiaxuan took Mr. Leng to the inner room. Seeing that there was no one around, he tentatively said, "Mr. Leng, I want to have another happy occasion today. I wonder if you can help me?"
Mr. Leng's heart moved, but he pretended to be confused: "Jiaxuan, what do you mean..."
"My eldest son, Hao'er, is not young anymore. The biggest regret of my father before his death was that he didn't see Hao'er get married and start a family. I heard that Mr. Leng's eldest daughter is well-educated and well-mannered, and the two are of similar age. I hope Mr. Leng can fulfill my wish as a father?"
Seeing Bai Jiaxuan's sincere words, Mr. Leng bowed and said, "It is my blessing to be able to become a relative of Jiaxuan and to have a talented son like your son as my son-in-law."
Bai Jiaxuan was very happy to hear that, and he dragged Mr. Leng to drink a lot of wine, so that in the end it was Qin Hao who carried Mr. Leng back.
As a result, when they arrived outside the courtyard, Leng Qiuyue refused to let Qin Hao enter the house.
"Sister, let's open the door and let him in. Dad is so drunk, we are so weak that we can't carry him." Leng Qiu Shui blinked at Qin Hao.
Leng Qiuyue glared at her and said, "I'll carry it, and you just hold on by the side."
Seeing Leng Qiuyue's insistence, Qin Hao had no choice but to put Mr. Leng down at the door. Leng Qiuyue and her sister took a long time to carry him in.
Looking at Leng Qiuyue's graceful figure in the yard, Qin Hao smiled secretly. He was shy now, but when the wedding night came...
When Lu Taiheng heard that the Bai family and the Leng family were getting married, he immediately took gifts to the Leng family to propose marriage.
Lu Zhaopeng's mother held her youngest son Lu Zhaohai and started to make a scene: "Mr. Leng raised his eldest daughter like a lady from a noble family, but his youngest daughter is very naughty. He married his eldest daughter to the Bai family and his youngest daughter to the Lu family. It's obvious that he looked down on the Lu family because he saw that he had achieved success."
"You don't understand a thing about women's opinions. This way, our Zhao Peng and the eldest son of the Bai family will become brothers-in-law. If they encounter problems in the future, they can help each other."
Ever since Lu Zilin went to prison, all the affairs of the Lu family were decided by old man Lu Taiheng. After scolding his daughter-in-law, the old man still decided to go to the Leng family to propose marriage.
Seeing that Lu Taiheng came in person to propose marriage, Mr. Leng gave his family enough face and agreed immediately.
After hearing the news, Qin Hao didn't know whether he should sympathize with Lu Zhaopeng or Leng Qiu Shui. However, based on Leng Qiu Shui's personality, she would definitely not be as submissive as Leng Qiuyue. By then, the Lu family would be in for a lot of trouble.
When Qin Hao returned to Xi'an, Lu Zhaopeng learned that he was engaged to Leng Qiuyue and mocked him for having an "arranged marriage."
As a result, a week later, he received a letter from Lu Taiheng, collapsed on the spot, and ran back to Bailuyuan overnight.
Seeing that his grandson refused to listen, Lu Taiheng said with great sorrow, "My son, you don't live in the village. Don't you know that since you went in, the villagers have been looking at our family with resentment? Now there is only an old man like me and your mother taking care of a crying baby at home. Maybe one day we will be eaten up without a trace."
"If there is no other way, I don't want you to marry the second daughter of the Leng family, but I'm old, and I might die one day. How will your mother, an orphan and a widow, survive?"
Lu Zhaopeng looked at his grandfather with tears in his eyes and was at a loss for a moment, not knowing how to refuse.
Seeing this, Lu Taiheng quickly winked at his daughter-in-law. Lu Zhaopeng's mother understood and pinched her second son Lu Zhaohai hard. The two of them cried heart-wrenchingly, and finally Lu Zhaopeng gave in.
Fortunately, Lu Zhaopeng came back, and Lu Taiheng simply held an engagement party for him and Leng Qiu Shui.
……
Time flies, and it is 1917 in a blink of an eye. Xiancao gives birth to another daughter for the Bai family and names her Bai Ling. At the same time, Mr. Zhu also fulfills his promise to Fang Sheng and returns to Bailuyuan.
On the day Mr. Zhu returned to Bailuyuan, it rained lightly.
He stood under the archway at the entrance of the village. His blue shirt was washed white, and he had nothing with him except the bag he had brought with him.
Qin Hao and Lu Zhaopeng took leave and rushed back from Xi'an overnight.
Mr. Zhu's blue brick courtyard is still quiet and peaceful.
When Qin Hao and Lu Zhaopeng stood in front of the door, the cicadas on the locust tree suddenly fell silent, as if even they recognized the two teenagers - they were still ignorant children when they left five years ago.
Zhu Bai was drying books in the yard. When she looked up and saw them, the Analects in her hand fell to the ground. "Master! Come out and see who's here!" Her voice trembled, as if she had seen her own child returning from a long journey.
Mr. Zhu came out of the study, still wearing the same washed-out blue cloth gown, but his face looked a little haggard.
Qin Hao and Lu Zhaopeng exchanged a glance, then bowed and said, "I am honored to meet you, sir."
The bamboo curtain was rolled up, and a faint scent of tea wafted through the main room.
Mr. Zhu twirled his beard and looked at the two of them: "Zhao Peng, tell me first, what knowledge have you learned in the new-style school in the past five years?"
"Sir, arithmetic, geometry, and physics are all things I have never encountered before..."
Lu Zhaopeng was about to start talking when he was interrupted by Mr. Zhu: "Tell me about this geometry first. Where can it be used in our Bailuyuan?"
Lu Zhaopeng straightened his back and thought for a moment: "For example, using the Pythagorean theorem to measure the acres of land is several times faster than the old way of measuring."
He picked up a branch and drew a triangle on the ground. "If you know the length of two sides, you can calculate the third side accurately..."
Mr. Zhu listened very carefully and was not upset because of Lu Zhaopeng's "heresy" remarks.
"Hao'er, what about you?"
After Lu Zhaopeng finished speaking, Mr. Zhu nodded with satisfaction and then looked at Qin Hao.
Qin Hao handed over two notebooks at the right time. Mr. Zhu opened them and saw that the pages were full of strange symbols: (x), ∑, ...
If he could understand some of what Lu Zhaopeng said, he could not understand the contents in Qin Hao's notebook at all.
However, Mr. Zhu was not angry about this, but was very relieved.
"Hao'er, if these contents are put into practice, what can we do?"
Qin Hao said seriously: "From small things like building houses to big things like making airplanes and cannons."
Mr. Zhu nodded slightly, and then asked: "What do you think is the biggest difference between Western learning and Confucianism?"
Lu Zhaopeng thought for a moment and said: "Confucianism imprisons thought, while Western learning opens up wisdom."
Mr. Zhu frowned and looked at Qin Hao: "What do you think?"
Qin Hao shook his head: "In my opinion, the biggest difference between Western learning and Confucianism is that Western learning studies things, while Confucianism studies people."
Mr. Zhu became interested: "Oh, what do you mean?"
"Take mathematics for example. In the eyes of Western learning, everything in the world can be calculated by arithmetic. If you master the method of calculation, you can master the laws of operation of all things in the world, and even recreate new substances by changing the laws of operation of things."
"Confucianism studies the human heart and how people get along with the world."
Mr. Zhu smiled happily when he heard this: "You don't need to come to my place for classes anymore. Instead, I will learn from you..."
Qin Hao and Lu Zhaopeng looked at each other, and Lu Zhaopeng seemed to be secretly relieved.
The cicadas in the yard suddenly started chirping again.
After learning that Mr. Zhu had returned, Bai Jiaxuan immediately came to him with gifts.
As soon as he entered the room, he started talking about the opium poppy case, Lu Zilin's imprisonment and other things like that, and finally he pounded his legs hard.
"Brother-in-law, I am useless. I did not follow my father's last wish and caused such a big mess in the village..."
Mr. Zhu patted him on the shoulder and consoled him, "Don't blame yourself. It's not you who is wrong. It's the human heart. When the human heart is in chaos, the world will be in chaos as well."
"Brother-in-law, you are absolutely right. I came here today to ask you to prescribe a medicine to suppress the evil spirit in this village."
Mr. Zhu pondered for a long time, then began to grind the brush, and the wolf-hair brush rustled on the rice paper...
In front of the ancestral hall in the dog days of summer, the stonemason's chisel clinked.
The stonemason stood shirtless in the scorching sun, working hard.
Bai Jiaxuan led the tribesmen to recite in unison: "Don't be infected by evil, don't bully the weak..."
The sound waves caused the words "Benefiting the Hometown" on the plaque to fall to dust.
However, although the stone tablet of the village covenant was erected, the villagers' bad habits were difficult to change for the time being.
Late at night, when Bai Jiaxuan passed by Shitou's house, he heard the clatter of dice in the house, mixed with low shouting. He stopped for a moment, and the pungent smell of dry tobacco wafted out from the window, and the muffled sound of copper coins hitting the table.
Lu San squatted at the foot of the wall and shook his head at him: "Jiaxuan, this isn't the first time Shitou has done this."
Bai Jiaxuan's face turned dark and he immediately kicked open the door of Shitou's house.
Seven or eight people at the wooden table jumped up in shock, and coins scattered all over the floor. Shitou hurriedly covered the dice cup with his clothes and said with a smile, "Chief, we are just playing for some free money..."
"Spare money?" Bai Jiaxuan overturned the table and the dice rolled into the stove ash.
"You guys are really rich." Bai Jiaxuan gritted his teeth and turned to Lu San and said, "Take all the money, take them to the ancestral hall, and ring the bell!"
Late at night, the sound of bells exploded over Bailu Village, and a group of villagers put on their clothes in a daze and rushed to the ancestral hall.
When they arrived, they found more than twenty people kneeling in front of the ancestral hall.
Bai Jiaxuan pointed at the kneeling people and asked, "You memorized the village agreement by heart during the day, but gathered together to gamble at night. Tell me, how should you be punished?"
The kneeling people were trembling with fear. Shitou turned his neck and shouted, "We didn't set up this village agreement. This is not the law of the country. Why should we obey it?"
Bai Jiaxuan was so angry that his fingers were shaking: "Okay, very good!"
He snatched the whip from Lu San's hand and lashed it hard on Shitou: "The country has its own laws, and the clan has its own rules. As long as I am the clan leader for one day, I have the right to manage you!"
"Ah, I don't accept it..." Shitou screamed, but did not admit his mistake.
"Master, stop being stubborn and admit your mistakes to the clan leader. Have you forgotten who rescued you from the death row? We can't be ungrateful."
Shitou's wife was crying and trying to persuade him in the crowd.
Shitou was still stubborn: "I just don't accept it, if you dare, beat me to death..."
"Okay, I'll tell you to be tough and gather people to gamble!"
Bai Jiaxuan swung the whip in his hand even harder. Every time he whipped Shi Tou, a blood mark appeared on his body. He whipped him thirty times in total, leaving Shi Tou's skin torn and bleeding.
Seeing this, Lu San quickly stopped him and said, "Jiaxuan, don't hit me again. If you do, you'll be dead."
Bai Jiaxuan then stopped and said to Shitou's wife, "Take your man back home. If he dares to set up gambling and harm others again, it won't just be thirty lashes!"
Next, Bai Jiaxuan whipped each of the remaining people who participated in the gamble with ten whips. The tragic scene scared the villagers so much that they dared not look directly at it.
"Look up at them and see what happened to them. I want to see who dares to break the clan rules and ruin the atmosphere of our plain in the future!"
The villagers trembled in fear, and only after Bai Jiaxuan left did they step forward to take their tortured relatives back.
At Shitou's home, Shitou, who was beaten until blood was all over his body, lay on the bed, and even his screams were very weak.
Just as his wife was about to clean his wound, there was a knock on the door.
"Who?"
"It's me. The chief asked me to heal Shitou."