Chapter 8
For a moment, Fu Wenyu's mind was full of thoughts.
According to the original body's memory and the information he found when writing a melodramatic article in modern times, filial piety was very important in ancient times. Especially the relationship between father and son, it is not an exaggeration to say that it controls the power of life and death. For example, a father can directly sell his son, and the government will not hold him responsible.
The situation of grandparents and grandchildren is similar.
Although the Fu family has been divided and the eldest house has suffered a loss, Fu Dashi is his direct grandfather. For the ancient people who attach great importance to filial piety, filial piety must be respected. Especially Fu Wenyu is only fifteen years old, and is a "minor" who has not been crowned, so Fu Dashi still has a certain say in his affairs.
For example, things like renting out the land should not be kept from him.
While Fu Wenyu was in a daze, Fu Qingtian also felt that the atmosphere was not right, so he quickly put down the basket and said, "Wenyu, I still have work to do at home, so I won't keep it for long. You can eat this egg, don't be polite to your uncle." After that, he said hello to Fu Dashi, Fu Qingshi, Zhou and others and left.
As soon as he left, Fu Dashi's face darkened, "Wenyu, come here."
Zhou and Fu Rong looked at him worriedly.
Fu Wenyu smiled at them, and then walked towards Fu Dashi.
On the way, he thought about it. If Fu Dashi asked, he would tell the truth. After all, everyone knew that he couldn't farm. As for whether the other party could understand, they had already separated anyway, so they didn't need to care too much. There is a saying that as long as you don't care, others will care.
The worst case scenario is that Fu Dashi is dissatisfied and says outside that Fu Wenyu is not filial to his grandfather, which will ruin his reputation and affect his future imperial examinations. Then he could also spread the news about the division of the family. In that case, Fu Dashi's authority would decline, and he would naturally be able to save his reputation after gaining sympathy.
Thinking that the worst result was acceptable to him, Fu Wenyu's steps became calm.
But unexpectedly, after Fu Wenyu sat down, Fu Dashi, who had been silent for a long time, did not ask about the land lease, but hesitated and said: "Are you dissatisfied with this division of the family?"
Fu Wenyu: "...Ah?"
He didn't expect Fu Dashi to ask this, and then he was a little embarrassed.
In his opinion, this division of the family was indeed a bit unfair, because the reason given by Fu Qingshi and Aunt Fu was that Fu Qingshan had studied for many years and spent a lot of money from the family, so in the distribution of the family property, they should be compensated for the second room.
But in fact, Fu Qingshan only used part of the family's money to study before getting married, and after getting married, he actually used what he earned himself, or what Zhou earned. When he needed to take the exam, there was not enough silver and money, and Zhou also sold her dowry, and the money used from the Fu family was not much.
Not to mention that after Fu Qingshan passed the examination, he was exempted from taxes and miscellaneous duties.
After so many years, the difference is estimated to be dozens of taels.
Are dozens of taels a lot?
Not much.
And Fu Qingshan spent money, did Fu Qingshi not spend a penny?
Although Fu Qingshi did not take the imperial examination, he also studied in the village school, and later married and had children, and spent money on food and clothing for the family. Even if he did not spend as much as Fu Qingshan in the past 30 years, he still spent 20 to 30 taels. So it is not reasonable to only give 20% of the family property to the eldest house.
In this matter, the grandfather in front of him, Fu Dashi, was biased.
This is also human nature. After all, Fu Dashi only has Fu Qingshi, the only son left, and he will rely on him for retirement in the future. Fu Wenyu has nothing good to say about this.
Compared with the extra acres of land given to the second house, it is still happier to be the master of the house now. He has been used to a free and easy life and really doesn't want to be controlled by others.
So Fu Wenyu replied, "Grandfather, I understand everything."
"I don't blame you and my second uncle for the division of the family. My second uncle is here to take care of you in your old age, so it's normal to get more of the family property. As for renting out the land, it's because I don't know how to farm."
After a simple excuse, considering that he didn't want Fu Dashi to interfere too much in his family in the future, Fu Wenyu said, "By the way, grandpa, I went to the city with my mother this morning and found a job. Well, I'm copying books for Kaiyuan Bookstore, and I get 800 coins a month. They said that when my handwriting gets better in the future, they'll give me more."
Because the storybooks haven't been printed yet, he cautiously didn't mention it, and only gave an excuse to copy books.
But the 800 coins also made Fu Dashi happy, "800 coins?"
800 coins a month, nearly ten taels of silver a year, which is equivalent to a year's income from farming.
"Not bad, not bad." His frown relaxed. The division of the family before had always weighed on his heart, and now that he heard that his grandson had found such a good job, he felt much more relieved.
He sighed and said, "I was thinking that this year, let me and your second uncle help you plant your land, and next year I will teach you how to take care of it step by step."
"I didn't expect you to find such a good job."
"That's good, that's good."
Fu Dashi is actually only 56 years old this year, but years of hard work have made him look like many of the 60- and 70-year-olds that Fu Wenyu has seen in modern times. His teeth are almost gone, and most of his hair is white, not to mention his face and hands are full of age spots and wrinkles, and his skin is dark.
When he said these words, his face showed a happy and confused expression.
"Before, you always wanted to take the imperial examination, but the imperial examination is not a simple matter. Your father..." He hesitated and said, "I am worried that if I give you too much land, you will think of selling it for studying."
"Wenyu, the land cannot be sold!"
Fu Wenyu nodded, "Grandfather, don't worry, I won't sell it."
I didn't expect that there would be such a deep reason for the division of the family. Well, it seems that the original owner's parents have always encouraged him to study since he was a child, and said that he would take the imperial examination like Fu Qingshan.
Coming out of Fu Dashi's house, Fu Wenyu sighed.
It's all because of poverty.
He felt that he still had to make more money in the future. Money is not only a hero's courage, but also can solve many problems in real life. For example, if he had money, he could build another big house to live in. Today, when there were guests at home, the situation that everyone knew about it would not happen again.
Thinking that he would have to rebuild the house when he had money in the future, Fu Wenyu sat back at the desk.
He was going to continue writing.
Because the book "True and False Young Master" had been sold, and it was sold at a good price, Fu Wenyu felt full of motivation when he picked up the pen again.
The previous plot stopped at the real young master Zhang Gousheng suffering, and then relying on the help of Lao Gou and the teacher, and his own efforts to grow into an excellent young man.
When Fu Wenyu picked up the pen again, he continued this plot.
In order to connect Wang Fugui and Zhang Gousheng, further promote the plot, and to let ancient readers deepen their understanding of the two of them, compare their strengths and weaknesses, and thus sympathize more with the experience of the protagonist "Zhang Gousheng". With a stroke of his pen, he let the thirteen-year-old Zhang Gousheng follow his father into the city.
"... Dad, is this the city?"
In Fu Wenyu's writing, although the thirteen-year-old Zhang Gousheng was thin, he was not short. Even when he stood up straight, he was almost as tall as his father.
Moreover, he was not only tall, but also good-looking.
Unlike the slightly timid old farmer Zhang, he was bold and brave, and although his skin was a little dark, his face, neck, and the exposed calloused hands were all clean. Although his clothes were patched, there was no stain at all, which made people feel good at first sight.
At this time, he was looking around curiously, without any fear, and his bright and crystal eyes reflected the pedestrians, shops on the roadside... and the occasional carriage.
"Dad, look, that's a horse!"
Zhang Gousheng pointed to a passing carriage and shouted in surprise: "The teacher said..."
Zhang's father looked at him with a complicated expression.
Zhang's father naturally knew that Zhang Gousheng was not his own son. His son was now named "Fugui" and was doing his best as the eldest son in the rich and prosperous Wang family.
Thinking of this, Zhang's father said angrily: "What are you looking at? Be careful not to be blamed by the nobles!"
"Let's go, we are going to Wang's house today to find you and your grandmother. Your elder sister is fifteen this year. If she can find a suitable husband in Wang's house, she will have endless wealth in the future!"
Hearing this, Zhang Gousheng frowned slightly.
"If she marries a servant of Wang's family, then my elder sister will become a slave in the future."
Hearing this, Zhang's father immediately scolded: "Do you look down on slaves?"
"You ungrateful little brat, your grandmother is the best in our family. She is the wet nurse of Mr. Wang, and now she is taking care of the only rich young master of Wang's family. She has a little maid to serve her, and her life is better than that of the landlord's wife."
"And in the future, you can..."
Speaking of this, Zhang's father subconsciously glanced at Zhang Gousheng who was about to speak, and immediately stopped talking. Then he scolded: "What are you still standing there for? Pick up the basket. I brought this specially for Master Fugui!"
"You can't even do this little thing well. You're so slow..."
Zhang Gousheng stopped talking and bent down to pick up the basket.
What he actually wanted to say was that what his grandmother signed at the Wang family was not a contract to sell herself, but a contract to hire.
According to the laws of this dynasty, a contract to hire does not belong to a real slave. As long as the contract is terminated, it will not affect his descendants' imperial examinations. The reason why he wanted to say this is that he is now secretly studying with the village schoolmaster, who said that he has talent and can take the imperial examination.
And if he wants to take the imperial examination, he must first let his grandmother and the Wang family terminate the contract.
But he was interrupted by Zhang's father, so he didn't speak again. He felt that this matter was not urgent and planned to talk about it in a few years.
So the two came to the back door of the Wang family.
Zhang's father asked Zhang Gousheng to stand far away and told him several times not to get close. Then he asked the gatekeeper to help call out his mother, Aunt Zhang.
Aunt Zhang gasped when she saw Zhang Gousheng in the distance.
She was chubby and looked a dozen years younger because she had never done any heavy work. She showed a look of fear on her face. She pinched her stupid son hard and then lowered her voice.
"Why did you bring him here?!"
"Don't you know that he looks a lot like the master when he was young? Fugui is only two points like him, but he is six points. If someone sees him, what will happen to my good grandson Fugui?"
"Our Fugui is now the only grandson of the Wang family!"