Early the next morning, Su Caier woke up in bed, stretched lazily, feeling refreshed. She had dreamt of her husband last night... Zhao Ce had already gotten up and put on his relatively new robe. Seeing Su Caier's rare and lazy appearance, he couldn't help but smile and greet her, "Good morning, Caier." Su Caier responded cheerfully, "Good morning, husband."
She got up from the bed and walked over to Zhao Ce to help him straighten his clothes. Standing in front of Zhao Ce, the petite girl's long hair was still messy and scattered, making her face appear even smaller.
After finishing, she raised her small face and happily said, "All done." Zhao Ce rubbed her little head and said, "Thank you." As he turned to leave to wash up, his sleeve was gently pulled by a small hand. He turned around and looked at Su Caier inquiringly.
Su Caier softly said, "Husband, no need to thank me." Zhao Ce paused, remembering that Su Caier had said before that she was his wife, and it was her duty to do these things.
He smiled and said, "Oh, my mistake. I won't say it in the future." Su Caier let go of him and found her own coat, saying, "Husband, I'll make breakfast for you quickly."
After they finished breakfast, she prepared some sugar for him to take and saw him off at the door as usual.
Zhao Ce originally wanted to say that she could stay home and make the sugar, but he remembered that she didn't like him being too polite, so he switched and said, "The sugar in the kitchen will be temporarily made by you today."
Su Caier was afraid that she would mess up the sugar water if she was alone, but she didn't have to go up the mountain to chop wood today because Zhao Ce had arranged for someone to help. She had been helping Zhao Ce these past few days and was familiar with the process. In the future, she would be the one to do these things at home while Zhao Ce went to study. She wanted to make him feel at ease. Su Caier said, "I'll do my best."
Zhao Ce waved to her and quickly left. Su Caier watched his disappearing figure before turning around and closing the door.
When Zhao Ce arrived at the village gate, Zhao Youcai and Zhao Wenhua were already there, chatting with several villagers. Because they were going to see the teacher today, Zhao Youcai had also put on similar clothes. When Zhao Ce arrived, Zhao Youcai waved and said, "Ce'er, your Uncle Dachang is coming over. Let's take the ox cart." Zhao Ce nodded and walked over, standing next to Zhao Wenhua.
The uncle and the nephew, Zhao Youcai and Zhao Wenhua, stood next to Zhao Ce, so the other villagers who usually liked to mock Zhao Ce were mostly quiet. When Uncle Dachang drove the ox cart over, Zhao Youcai let him on the cart and took a seat. Since Zhao Youcai was there, Zhao Ce didn't have to pay.
A woman sat next to Zhao Ce, and after a while, she couldn't help but strike up a conversation. She asked in a curious tone, "Master Zhao, I heard that your little wife with different colored eyes doesn't have very good legs?" As soon as she spoke, everyone on the cart looked at Zhao Ce with curiosity.
Zhao Ce glanced at them and spoke truthfully, "Thanks for your concern, Auntie. My wife does indeed have some problems with her legs, but it's not a big deal. Instead of keeping people guessing, it's better to be straightforward."
These villagers were just curious at first. After they heard enough, they lost interest.
Several women were suddenly excited. "Oh, she's really a little lame?" "Was it congenital or acquired?" "With her eyes like that, was her leg broken by someone?" "If her eyes can't be cured, can her legs be treated?" "Didn't you say before, Master Zhao, that you wouldn't marry a girl from a peasant family?" "If you become a big official in the future, will you have to remarry a young lady from a wealthy family in the city?" "This little troublemaker with different colored eyes, I think when you remarry, you shouldn't her stay in the village anymore."
Several women talked non-stop, not caring whether Zhao Ce answered or not. They just chatted away excitedly. Zhao Youcai was coughing on the side, but they didn't stop. Zhao Wenhua was a bit helpless. His cousin's reputation in the village was not very good before, but it was a bit too much to discuss his wife like this in front of others.
He was about to speak up to stop them when Zhao Ce spoke. "Aunties, you're all so kind-hearted. Although my wife has problems with her legs, she's beautiful, kind-hearted, diligent, and capable." "I am very fortunate!" "And, not to mention anything else, my wife's dowry is very generous!" After Zhao Ce finished speaking, everyone on the cart looked at him in surprise.
Zhao Youcai nodded in agreement, "Although she has some flaws, he's definitely a lucky person." Several women looked at each other suspiciously. "What dowry?" "With her tattered clothes, what kind of decent dowry could she have?" Zhao Ce smiled mysteriously, "I won't tell you about the dowry for now." "Anyway, your family definitely doesn't have it." After saying that, Zhao Ce turned his head and lost interest in talking.
Other people wanted to speak, but Zhao Youcai spoke up and asked everyone to quiet down.
They arrived at the city. The several uncles and aunties in the same carriage were all holding their breath.
After Zhao Ce got off the carriage, he smiled and said to everyone, "Uncles and aunties, I'll be leaving now." He carried his backpack and parted ways with Zhao Wenhua, then walked with Zhao Youcai toward the academy. The people behind them were still murmuring, "What kind of dowry could she bring? A small lame girl with different colored eyes..."
Zhao Youcai and Zhao Ce walked together toward the school. Zhao Youcai nervously reminded him, "As a scholar, you shouldn't have spoken up in that kind of situation earlier. When you meet the master later, you must apologize properly and not be impulsive like earlier." After thinking about it, he realized that his nephew had a stubborn temper and said, "If you really don't want to speak up, wait for your uncle to speak."
Zhao Ce looked at him with a sincere expression and said with a smile, "Uncle doesn't need to worry. I won't mess up the important matters." Zhao Youcai was finally relieved and the two of them arrived at the place where Zhao Ce had studied before.
It was a school opened by Liu Xiucai, a scholar who lived in the city. The scale of the school was not as good as the county school, but it was still considered decent in the city.
The gatekeeper at the entrance was not happy to see Zhao Ce, but Zhao Youcai directly gave him a red envelope, and he looked a little better.
He led them to the inner room and said indifferently, "The master is teaching now. Wait here for a while." Zhao Youcai thanked him and the gatekeeper left them alone.
Zhao Youcai sat upright as Zhao Ce's teacher, Liu Xiucai, was known to be very strict about teacher-student etiquette. He was afraid that if the teacher saw them chatting or sitting improperly, he would be unhappy. Zhao Ce also became serious and the two of them patiently waited.
A quarter of an hour passed. The sound of reading came from the classroom nearby. Half an hour passed... The reading stopped. An hour had passed and the morning class was already over.
An hour and a half later, a middle-aged man wearing a long robe and a square hat walked in with his hands behind his back, walking slowly. He took a glance at the two people in the room and then went straight to his desk and sat down.
Zhao Youcai led Zhao Ce to stand up quickly, bowed to him, and smiled apologetically, "Teacher Liu, I am Zhao Ce's uncle. We met at the beginning of the year." Liu Xiucai raised his eyelids and took a look at Zhao Ce standing in front of him. "Zhao Ce's uncle? This person has a bad character, and I have already expelled him from my school. He is no longer my student. You can go back now."