Chapter 41: Isn’t the Live-in Son-in-Law Taking It a Bit Too Far?

Life without reading is monotonous, especially in the countryside.

Cheng An sat on the edge of the field, bored. After the autumn harvest, it was time to till the soil in preparation for next spring's sowing. His parents were working in the fields, their backs bent like longbows pulled to their limit. By all rights, given the family's current income, his parents had no need to labor so hard; they could live quite comfortably even if they never farmed again. Yet, having toiled for over a decade, they felt uncomfortable the moment they suddenly had nothing to do.

"Father, let me help you," Cheng An said, trotting over and reaching for a hoe.

"No, no!" Liu, his mother, hurried to push her son away, chiding, "Studying is exhausting enough as it is, how can you do manual labor? Go, go home and read, or just rest."

"Mother, I'm not tired." Cheng An gave a wry smile. Is studying really that tiring? To the people of this era, reading was likely the easiest task imaginable. But they didn't understand that, so they perceived studying as something truly extraordinary.

There were many people in the fields at that moment. Auntie Niu, who lived at the east end of the village, heard them and laughed, "That’s right! Our Xiao Liu is a prodigy; even the Assistant Prefect himself came to your house to 'pull strings' for him. How could he do such dirty work?"

"How is this dirty?" Cheng An asked, bewildered. "Isn't it expected for country folk to farm to eat? If it weren't for our hard work, wouldn't those people in the city have starved to death long ago?"

This remark earned him much goodwill.

"Hahahaha!"
"True enough!"
"What is a 'parent official'? Aren't we the very ones who sustain those city folk?"

The villagers joked, feeling more kindly toward the Cheng family. The couple had always been known for their warmth, and though yesterday’s incident had been embarrassing, one could not ignore the fact that their son was successful. Now, aside from offering compliments, who would dare bring up yesterday? Even old Madam Han was hiding in her home, afraid to come out.

Auntie Niu looked at Cheng An with eyes full of maternal affection, even more so than for her own son. "Our Xiao Liu is such a good, kind-hearted boy! Unlike some people, who rely on a bit of scholarly rank to look down their noses at everyone!"

"Isn't that the truth?"
"Decades of life, and yet they do such beastly things!"
"People like that deserve a bad end!"

For a moment, the air was filled with curses. Cheng Dashan looked a bit awkward but didn't know what to say.

"Cheng An!" A pretty little girl was waving at him from the other side of the ridge.

"Eh? Isn't that the eldest daughter of Squire Gu?"
"Why is she looking for Xiao Liu?"

Everyone put down their work, wearing expressions of avid curiosity. Cheng An trotted over. "Why are you here?"

"Cheng An..." Gu Xiaorou’s eyes were red, as if she had just been crying.

"I’m sorry, but I’m afraid the delivery business cannot go on." She pulled a small silver ingot from her bodice and pressed it into Cheng An’s hand, her voice choked with sobs. "This is compensation for your family. You should find someone else to work with in the future."

"What’s happened?" Cheng An was completely bewildered. He had felt something was off with this girl when he went to the county seat, and now, suddenly coming to offer compensation, it made him all the more suspicious. He instinctively asked, "Has something happened to the Gu family?"

"I..." *Sob!* Gu Xiaorou couldn't hold it back anymore and covered her face, weeping.

"Why cry?" Cheng An said. "If something happened, solve it. Can crying solve the problem?" Not knowing how to comfort someone, he simply offered his sleeve for her to wipe her tears.

This action was seen by all the villagers nearby.

"Oh!"
"They aren't even hiding it anymore?"
"Isn't that Gu girl still quite young? And our Xiao Liu is only eight. At such a young age... tsk, the Gu family is certainly willing to invest."

Cheng Dashan and his wife were watching too, feeling a mix of shame and annoyance. They couldn't control other people's children, but they couldn't tolerate people gossiping about their own son.

"Xiao Liu!" Liu called out in a voice full of authority, silencing the whispers. Everyone hurriedly turned back, pretending nothing had happened.

"Mother..." Cheng An trotted back. Before his mother could speak, he said hurriedly, "The Gu family is in trouble, and our business is likely over. I need to go see what's wrong."

"Why are you going?" Liu grabbed her son. Cheng An spun around in his mother's grasp, nearly losing his footing.

"Mother," Cheng An urged, "The Gu family has been good to us, haven't they? From handling taxes to the later business, Squire Gu has treated us with special care. This is a debt of gratitude; it must be repaid." His character was such that he always repaid kindness, and as for grudges—he never let them last past a single night!

"Silly child!" Liu tapped her son’s forehead with annoyance. "He is 'setting a trap' for you!"

"A trap? What kind of trap?" Cheng An asked, looking innocent.

"It's just... in any case, you are not going!" Liu’s expression shifted from her usual kindness to displeasure. "Although our family isn't wealthy, we aren't so base as to be 'raising a son-in-law' for others! If word got out, what face would we have left?"

In this day and age, becoming a resident son-in-law was a shameful thing. Not to mention a landlord's daughter—even if you married an emperor's princess, you would still be mocked as a man who lived off his wife, unable to hold your head up for the rest of your life. The Gu family had no sons, so their vast estate would surely be left to the daughter. But in this era... women had no status. To ensure the family's continued prosperity, they had to recruit a son-in-law. No one, however, had expected Gu Changqing’s target to be Cheng An.

While the villagers were sour with jealousy behind their backs, they couldn't help but secretly admire Gu Changqing’s foresight in having targeted this "golden son-in-law" so early on. But the problem was... would the Cheng parents agree? Not to mention that their son was about to earn an official rank and was a prodigy personally recognized by the Assistant Prefect! Even in the past, given Cheng Dashan’s pride, he would never have agreed. And besides... Cheng An was only eight years old. What was this? A "child husband"? How would they ever live down the shame?

"What is all this talk?" Cheng An finally understood his parents' concerns. He smiled wryly and shook his head. "Father, regardless of what Squire Gu is thinking, our family has truly received their kindness. That’s a fact, isn't it?"

"That is true, but..." Cheng Dashan’s face flushed red with embarrassment. He wasn't unwilling to help, but he feared the gossip.

"So... you're afraid of what people will say?" Cheng An’s voice was not soft. Hearing this, the villagers all looked down at their feet, as if there were gold mines in the soil.

Cheng An glanced at them and said coolly, "People have mouths, they can say whatever they like. But if anyone deliberately ruins our family's reputation, the magistrate's office will handle it!"

Such a sharp tongue. No one dared to make a sound after that.

...

When they arrived at the Gu residence, the courtyard was in disarray.

"Father was cheated," Gu Xiaorou explained as they walked. "I heard that several merchants from Huaiyang County colluded with Dong Dakang to set a trap. As soon as the Gu family's grain left Pinggu County, it was looted by bandits."

"Bandits?" Cheng An frowned slightly. Pinggu County was on the border, and banditry was rampant. But to dare act in the vicinity of the county seat meant these were no ordinary thugs. If the Gu family’s cargo was gone, creditors would surely come knocking. If things went poorly, the entire family could go bankrupt.

"Did you report it to the officials?"

"It’s no use." Gu Xiaorou’s youthful face showed a somber maturity. She sighed, "There are only a few dozen yamen runners in the county; how could they fight bandits? If someone were to be killed or injured, who would take responsibility?"

The way of officialdom was to seek no merit, only to avoid blame. Especially in a place like this, where the mountains were high and the Emperor was far away, the runners were paid so little—and often in arrears—that no one would truly risk their lives.

Just as Cheng An reached the front hall—*CRASH!*—a vase flew out and shattered against the wall.

"I won't have it! I won't have it!"