Chapter 45

On the second day of the first lunar month, the sky was overcast with dark clouds, and soon a heavy snow began to fall, turning the world into a vast, white, silvery sea.

Xu Hao and Lai Bao arrived at a village in a carriage. Due to the cautionary tale of the eldest son of the Cao family, they now traveled with two middle-aged guards, Sun Laoer and Sun Laosi. Feng Quan had personally come to the Xu family to pay his New Year’s greetings early in the morning, and Xu Hao decided to return the visit.

Xu Hao had few friends, and his first stop was to visit Zhou Peng, who was both his teacher and friend. After much effort, he finally found the Zhou family. Xu Hao looked at the few brick and tile houses by the roadside, which had no courtyard walls, only a circle of fences, half of which had been flattened by the heavy snow.

Outside the wooden gate stood an old tree, with a broken ladle hanging from it. Beside it, a pile of manure was buried in the snow, and a few chickens were pecking for food. Before they even arrived, a mangy dog tied in the yard was barking wildly.

At that moment, Zhou Peng and his wife Wu Shi were quarreling in the house. Wu Shi was complaining about her husband's generosity, saying that the dozen or so silver taels he earned from the Mu family had all been given to the poor students who came to pay their respects. This led to a big argument between the couple.

Zhou Peng also regretted being too generous and sat dejectedly on the kang, drinking alone with a plate of leftover stir-fried tofu from the night before.

"Who knows who's coming to beg again? Can't you see we're so poor we can't even afford to cook a meal? This life is really unbearable." Wu Shi, hearing the dog barking, wiped her tears and grumbled as she went to open the door.

Xu Hao stood alone in the snow, and after a while, a woman of about thirty came out. She wore a thick blue cotton coat, a pair of dark purple cotton pants, and black leather boots, with a blue cloth covering her head.

"Who are you looking for?" Wu Shi saw a young, well-dressed gentleman in a sable cloak, with a refined and otherworldly demeanor, and thought he might be asking for directions.

Xu Hao was unsure if this woman, who had a certain charm, was indeed the wife of the scholar. Her appearance suggested she might be, but her attire seemed unlikely. She could be a servant or a relative of the Zhou family. He politely asked, "Excuse me, is Scholar Zhou at home?"

Wu Shi was surprised. Since the family fell into poverty, her husband's former friends had not visited for several years. Today was a rare occasion.

"My husband is at home. May I ask who you are?" Wu Shi quickly bowed and asked cautiously.

Xu Hao clasped his hands and smiled, "Greetings, Mrs. Zhou. My name is Xu Hao, and I am a student of Mr. Zhou. I have come to pay my New Year’s respects."

"Oh, please come in, it's cold outside." Wu Shi smiled and turned to invite Xu Hao inside, thinking he must be one of her husband's former students who had become successful.

Xu Hao followed Wu Shi into the house, and a wave of warmth greeted him. The stove was burning brightly, and a pot of porridge was cooking, filling the air with a fragrant aroma. He looked around; the outer corridor was the kitchen, and there were three rooms, one bright and two dark, all separated by curtains. The central room was used as a living room, the left room was Zhou Peng's study, and the right room was likely the couple's bedroom.

Lifting the curtain, they entered the central room, and Zhou Peng, surprised, stood up to greet them. Xu Hao stopped and bowed deeply to him.

"You are too kind, too kind."

Zhou Peng smiled and waved, looking very pleased. He said to his wife, "Go catch a chicken and stew it, and buy half a catty of good wine. This is my classmate, Brother Xu."

Wu Shi was very virtuous and did not want to complain in front of the guest. Even though they only had a few old hens that laid eggs, which she cherished, she silently turned to prepare the meal.

Seeing the Zhou family's dire situation, Xu Hao would not be a troublesome guest. He immediately smiled and said, "Don't trouble you, Sister. I have already ordered a feast at the tavern at the village entrance. I came to invite Brother Zhou to join me."

Wu Shi's face brightened, and she said warmly, "Please sit and have a cup of tea to warm up before you leave."

If it were any other day, Zhou Peng would have insisted on keeping the guest for a meal, but after the morning argument and the family's lack of money, he hesitated and finally sighed deeply.

"Thank you." Xu Hao was very respectful to Wu Shi, which added to her good impression of him.

After a cup of tea, Wu Shi tried to persuade him to stay longer. Xu Hao, being a guest, chatted for a while. The couple were very polite and did not ask about Xu Hao's background, though they were curious.

Over the past two months, Zhou Peng had thought Xu Hao was from an ordinary family, but today it was clear he was from a well-off household. The fine fur coat he wore was worth at least several dozen silver taels.

In the Ming Dynasty, ordinary people were divided into lower, middle, and upper households. The upper household was equivalent to a well-off family, with land, cattle, and perhaps one or two servants, where the family was generally well-fed and clothed, but still far from the wealthy and powerful, let alone a landlord like the Xu family.

After sitting for a while longer at the Zhou family's, Xu Hao and Zhou Peng went to the tavern at the village entrance. They stayed until evening, and Xu Hao sent the drunk Zhou Peng back home. Wu Shi, seeing her husband drunk, politely declined to invite Xu Hao inside, and he bid farewell at the door.

Supporting her husband to lie down on the kang and covering him with a quilt, Wu Shi heard the neighbor Li Sangu shouting outside. Curiously, she opened the door and saw a pile of gift boxes at the doorstep.

Li Ergou, with a sly smile, stood behind the fence, stretching his neck and asked, "Mrs. Zhou, who sent all these nice things? You're a woman and might not have the strength. Let me help you carry them."

Li Ergou was a notorious troublemaker in the village, and Wu Shi did not like him. She had already guessed that these gifts were left by Xu Hao and scolded him for being meddlesome. She then struggled to carry the gift boxes into the house.

Closing the door, Wu Shi was out of breath and felt a mix of joy and confusion about how to handle the gifts. She decided to wait until her husband woke up to discuss it. While resting, she couldn't help but open the top, intricately carved lacquer box. She was stunned to find four silver ingots inside, each about five taels, totaling twenty taels of silver.

In the middle of the night, Zhou Peng woke up thirsty and saw his wife sitting by the bed, lost in thought. He asked, "Why aren't you sleeping?"

Wu Shi pushed the box towards him and smiled bitterly, "You look for yourself. Besides this, there are several bolts of fine silk, some chickens, ducks, fish, half a pig, a whole sheep, a few boxes of Suzhou pastries, and four jars of old wine. What a huge favor!"

Zhou Peng stared at the twenty taels of silver in front of him. Wu Shi explained the origin of the silver. After a long pause, Zhou Peng said slowly, "Xu Hao is a thoughtful person. He said he would give me a gift, and seeing our poverty today, he quietly left this silver and these gifts. Even if I tried to return them, he would use this as an excuse to stop me. Since that's the case, let's accept them."

Wu Shi said anxiously, "But if we accept so much money and gifts, what can we give in return?"

Zhou Peng smiled at his wife and said calmly, "He treats me with sincerity, and I will repay him with sincerity. In the future, I will teach him with all my heart. Talking about material things is vulgar."

"You should teach him well. That's the right way." Wu Shi smiled with relief.

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