Little Shitou said to her happily, "Juhua, the baby’s learned how to smile! Look, little sister, give us a smile—"

As he spoke, he made clicking sounds with his tongue to coax the little baby.

And just like that, the little girl’s dark eyes fixed on her brother’s mouth, and when she heard the sound, her toothless little mouth broke into a smile.

Juhua was delighted and joined in, playing with the baby.

Yang Family smiled and asked Shi Tou’s mother, "Why aren’t you at the feast?"

Shi Tou’s mother chuckled. "You have no idea how many people are there. It’s so noisy it gives you a headache. I thought I’d come chat with you for a bit, and we can go together later. We can sit at the same table."

Yang Family laughed. "That sounds good. The feast is going on all day anyway, so we can go eat whenever."

The two of them began to chat and laugh in low voices.

Shi Tou’s mother said her sow had farrowed. The first litter had five piglets, and she was planning to let Yang Family take three, keeping only two for herself.

Her family was small, so she couldn’t manage too many. And unlike the Zheng Family, who grew lots of Shanyu and corn, her family didn’t have that much pig feed.

Yang Family was overjoyed to hear this. She wouldn’t have to worry about finding piglets anymore. She quickly said she would come get them once they were weaned.

While playing with the baby, Juhua asked Little Shitou, "Shi Tou, you saw Changfeng become a Scholar. Have you ever thought about becoming a Scholar, too?"

She decided to guide this child toward the wider world.

Little Shitou said very seriously, "Yes! I want to become a Scholar."

Juhua tried a different approach. "Don’t just see that Changfeng became a Scholar and think it looks impressive, and then decide you want to be one, too. Let me ask you, after studying for a year, do you actually like to study?"

Little Shitou smiled. "I do like it. Gou Dan hates studying; he only wants to play. I want to play, too, but I also like to study. Juhua, do you think I can pass the exam and become a Scholar?"

Juhua answered with immediate certainty, "You can. I think you can become a Scholar, and after that, you could even become a scholar, or even a great official. Shi Tou, you’re very smart. But you have to put your heart into anything to do it well. Even if you become an official someday, there will be a lot of work for you to do—even more troublesome than farming."

Seeing the little boy listening with a look of half-understanding, she resolved to say more, trying to explain in the simplest terms. "Your parents grow rice and corn, and they raise pigs and chickens, but why is the family still poor? Who do they give most of the rice and corn to?"

Shi Tou answered confidently, "To the officials. My dad complains at home about it, saying how great it would be if he didn’t have to. Those officials are rotten; they’re always bullying the poor."

Juhua glanced at the empty eaves—the corn had already been harvested, as the autumn tax was paid with corn. This was because Juhua had told her parents to keep the rice. She wanted to eat white rice, not cornmeal. ’If we work ourselves to the bone all year and can’t even eat white rice, what’s the point of all this hard work?’

But they only had this luxury because their family had more land now. In previous years, they paid taxes with both rice and corn and could still only afford to eat cornmeal. When her father was a child, there wasn’t even enough cornmeal to eat.

She said to Shi Tou, "Not all officials are bad—our County Magistrate Hu is pretty good. If a country doesn’t have officials to govern it, things wouldn’t work. This ’tax’ still has to be paid. It’s like our village; if we didn’t have a village chief to manage things, it would be chaos. If an official knows how to govern properly, the common people will suffer less. If an official can help the common people become prosperous, so they don’t starve just because they have to pay taxes, then he’s a good official."

She saw Shi Tou blinking his eyes without a word, unsure if he had understood.

’I want to say more, to talk about the role of economic development, but I don’t know where to begin. If I say too much, he’ll become suspicious. How would a village girl who never leaves home know about these things?’

’Mr. Zhou has probably told them similar things, right?’

’I’d better stop worrying about it. The important thing now is to think of some ways to prepare this pork. Otherwise, if we raise too many pigs and can’t sell them for a good price, all this excitement will be for nothing.’

In the Li Family’s courtyard, one round of banquet tables was replaced by another, and everyone was happy.

Only Li Changyu was silent. He was hiding in the westernmost room, lying on his bed, his brow furrowed in troubled thought. But the clamor from outside made him feel that hiding here wouldn’t work either, yet he didn’t know where else to go.

Just as he was thinking, the door was pushed open. He propped himself up and looked over to see his father, Li Gengtian, walk in.

On this joyous day, although Li Gengtian was full of happiness, he was also worried about his younger son. So he took a moment to check on him—the father and son had argued for a long time the previous night until they were red in the face.

He sat on the edge of the bed and said patiently to his younger son, "Don’t be so upset. You’re still young. You can just take the exam again next year."

Li Changyu said unhappily, "Dad, why don’t you believe me? I’m not saying I don’t want to study anymore because I’m upset about failing the Scholar exam. I just don’t want to study anymore. Isn’t it enough that my brother became a Scholar? Why do you insist that I have to become one, too?" 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

Li Gengtian’s face darkened. "Easy for you to say. After studying for so many years, you’re suddenly quitting? Isn’t that a waste of all your previous effort?"

Li Changyu couldn’t help but retort, "How can you call it a waste of effort? I’m literate now, aren’t I? You always say that Scholar Zhou is a man of great insight, and he’s the one who said that if you truly absorb what you read, seeking official rank isn’t the only path."

Li Gengtian often listened to Mr. Zhou and was indeed influenced by him, finding his words very reasonable. However, when it came to his own son, it was a different matter. In his heart, he still believed that ’all other pursuits are lowly; only scholarship is noble.’

He said angrily, "You’ve studied for so many years, but besides holding a brush, what else can you do? Can you carry a hoe? Can you plant rice seedlings?"

Li Changyu said, "Who says I have to carry a hoe and plant rice seedlings? There are plenty of other things to do. I’m planning to open a small shop in Qinghui County..."(To be continued. If you enjoy this story, please consider supporting it with recommendation and monthly votes on qidian.com. Your support is my greatest motivation.)