Chapter 3
Struggle in Ancient Times
âYoungest son come here, letâs eat.â Liao Ming looked at the cold food on table, shouting while he walked to his sonâs room.
âFather, Iâll go there.â Liao Tingyu put down the book, rolled up the page to make a mark. He got up and walked out of the room.
He looked at the figures of those people in his memory, trying to place the names and faces.
âFather, mother, sister-in-law, youâve been back for a long time. I told big brother to call me when you come back.â
âFor what? Your study is more important, your sister-in-law already cook the food. Here, come and eat your egg, you must be tired.â Mother Deng patted the chair next to her, let him sat down and put the steamed egg in front of him. he looked at the food, it was only porridge filled with water. The only bowl of steamed egg was for him.
Liao Tingyu lost his appetite. He knew this steamed egg was considered a good thing in the family. Even mother Deng hadnât eaten one for a year, so it was all for him.
But he didnât eat on his own like the original body. He divided the egg into five parts, put each one to everyoneâs bowl,
âBig brother, you worked hard today. Eat the egg little bit, mother you donât have to take care of me alone like this.â
âOh, itâs not hard work at all. This egg is for you, reading and writing all day long, you need to nourish your body.â Mother Deng swallowed her saliva while looking at the egg in her bowl. She couldnât wait to eat it, but restrained herself. She still gave it back to Liao Tingyu.
Liao Tingyu looked at it, his heart was a little hot. His mother was really good to him, he put the egg back to his mother.
âMother, eat it. I know our family is poor, everyone worked hard for me to study. I already thought a good way to make money. We wonât suffer like this again.â
âWhatâs the good way to make money?â Wen Xiuer asked, she didnât dare to look at the egg in her bowl. If she was afraid if she couldnât control herself and ate the egg before her mother and father-in-law. That would be bad, but the egg smell tempted her so much.
She knew while cooking the egg that was for her brother-in-law, so she wasnât greedy for it. The topic about making money really caught her attention away from the egg.
Liao Tingyu looked at his sister-in-law and said, âIâm going to write a book. The book about life and strange things are selling well in our town. I want to try it.â
âBut, didnât you say that scholar should pay attention to their reputation? Will this affect your reputation?â Mother Deng asked with concern.
Liao Tingyu thought carefully, it seemed that many students wrote novel even scholar with fame wrote it too. The original body also wrote some but never accepted. He probably got embarrassed and told mother Deng that scholars shouldnât write that kind of book.
âItâs okay mom. I didnât know much about it before, so I misunderstood. Days ago, I asked around, it seems that everyone use different names to write. That way no one will knows their identities.â Liao Tingyu explained.
Mother Deng was still worried when she heard it, âThe bookshop owner will know the writer, what if he talks a lot and spread the news? If it reaches the examiner⦠forget it, you better not do it. In half a year, you will take the student exam. No matter how hard we work, it doesnât matter we are used to it. Our family indeed poor but you donât have to risk your future.â
Now that mother Deng didnât agree, Liao Tingyu didnât say anything. But he could do something behind her back. He still had to make money for the family, he also didnât know about the town. This original body didnât pay attention when he walked around the town, in fact, finding a job wasnât easy. Even though, he knew a lot of things from modern times. He didnât know what was suitable to use. Especially he came from poor family, he must go to the town and looked around before making decision.@@novelbin@@
Okay, he would go to the school tomorrow. He only needed to study for three months and he could go home to review his study, then took the exam once it was the time. This was the school tolerance for poor students, while students from rich family could study as long as they like.
But it was rare for poor students to choose going home. After all, studying in the school was better than reading alone. For him, this wasnât a problem, at home he could do whatever he wants. Thinking about going early to the school every day, he had to study till noon and eat tasteless foods. This was simply a torture for him.
At night, Liao Tingyu looked at the stars on the sky, he suddenly remembered about how to make a trap in a survival show. In this village, the forest and mountain were still rich and undisturbed by human. Except the children who played in the mountain, everyone was busy working in the fields. Every bit of food was precious, no one would use it to make a trap in the mountain.
Liao Tingyu patted his dull head and secretly thought he really was stupid. This was a trick to eat better, but it was getting late, people already fell asleep. It was too dangerous going to the mountain at night, he could only go tomorrow morning and checked the trap in the afternoon.
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It was almost dawn, so he got up and took some tools walked quietly to the mountain behind the village. Although the sun wasnât up yet, but the moon and stars shined faintly, helping him to find the way. The back mountain was huge but there were no dangerous animals. Villagers usually went to the mountain to collect firewood, if they saw tiger or wolf, the whole town would be alarmed and the yamen would be sent to capture the animals. It was rare to catch a tiger, but there was wild boar, when villagers catch it, they would divide the meat.
He found a place when the light didnât penetrate much and quiet surrounding. Looking around, Liao Tingyu cheered himself then he dug the soil vigorously with a shovel. He never done any farm work; his hand quickly turned red. Once done, he made a mark so other hunter wouldnât take his things.
It was finally dawn; he heard the birds chirping slowly. He patted his clothes and went home. At this time, there were only few families awake. They should be rushing to work in the town while others still asleep.