Chapter 3

Li Su walked home with three sheng of millet on his back, his mood fluctuating restlessly.

For three days, he had been avoiding something, perhaps the unfamiliar era, or perhaps the bizarre reality he was unwilling to accept, or even the body that did not originally belong to him.

There was no escape!

However, with the heavy bag of millet on his back, Li Su suddenly felt a sense of stability he had never experienced before.

He existed in the eyes of others, having an identity in the Zhen Guan era of the Tang Dynasty, though not a high one, but he existed. Therefore, his father could scold and beat him without restraint, the villagers could show various expressions towards him, and the steward could show affection and scold him...

No matter whether he was willing to face it or not, Li Su had become a part of the Zhen Guan era of the Tang Dynasty, an ordinary and humble citizen under the rule of Li Shimin.

The cold winter wind stung his face, but the sun in the sky had somehow emitted a blinding light.

The country road was uneven, but Li Su's steps became steadier, and the corners of his young and handsome mouth curled up slightly. In his usually dull and honest eyes, there was a mischievous glint that no one had ever seen before.

Since he had come, he might as well live well.

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After returning home, Li Su carefully poured the millet from the bag into the rice bin. A few grains of millet playfully fell outside the bin, and Li Su squatted down to pick them up one by one, blew them clean, and put them back into the bin.

If a person had never been poor, they would never know how precious food was. Recalling how he used to be picky and wasteful in his previous life, Li Su felt a strong urge to slap himself, but he gave up because of the pain.

Li Daozheng had not returned yet; he had left early in the morning, and no one knew what he was doing.

Having not eaten anything since last night, Li Su was almost out of strength, so he hurried to cook.

People in Guanzhong loved noodles, all kinds of noodles, whether it was noodles, flatbreads, or steamed buns, they were happy as long as there were noodles.

Speaking of food, it was a big topic. Besides noodles, the most common food in Guanzhong was wild vegetables, such as water shield, shepherd's purse, smartweed, and purslane. Both the nobles and the common people had the habit of eating wild vegetables. One reason was the backward agriculture, which made it hard to get green vegetables in winter, and the other was related to their beliefs.

Indeed, it was related to their beliefs.

As is well known, after Emperor Gaozu Li Yuan established the Tang Dynasty, he punished all those who opposed him and was eagerly waiting to ascend the throne. However, the enthronement of an emperor, especially a founding emperor, was not that simple. Besides the complicated ceremonies, he had to posthumously honor all his ancestors for eighteen generations as emperors. Only by doing so could he show that the founding emperor was the rightful ruler, as the ancestors had been preparing for the throne for eighteen generations. How could the mandate of heaven not belong to him?

Posthumously honoring ancestors was not a problem for Li Yuan, who showed no pressure. However, when he showed the family tree to the ministers, they were immediately puzzled. Why? The names of the Li family's ancestors were not prominent enough! The most famous one was "Li Hao," the founder of the Western Liang state during the Sixteen Kingdoms period, and the rest were unknown.

Li Yuan's face turned sour. He might have secretly resented his ancestors' lack of ambition. Just as he was about to become an emperor, he felt less prestigious because of his unambitious ancestors, which made him tired and unwilling to be an emperor.

At this awkward moment, a die-hard fan of Li Yuan, a minister, had a sudden idea. A man of great ambition should not be bound by trivialities. Since the ancestors' names were not prominent, they could just fabricate a few more. As long as they were famous in history, they could be the Li family's ancestors. Who would dare to question it? The brothers would ensure that anyone who dared to question would be chased from the South Gate to the East Road of Penglai...

This idea from the die-hard fan was quite shameless, and Li Yuan's moral底线 was probably not high either. His eyes lit up, and he was delighted. Thus, the first generation ancestor of the Li family was freshly created. Li Yuan honored him as the "Demin Emperor," whose name was "Gao Yao," who had assisted the three emperors Yao, Shun, and Yu, and was in charge of the judiciary... This boast was not only fresh and unique but also outrageous.

As for the second generation ancestor of the Li family, the Daoist founder Laozi, also known as Li Er, was soon created by the unscrupulous emperor and ministers. It was a misfortune for the Li family, but a cause for celebration, as the Daoist abbots across the country sent congratulatory telegrams...

With Laozi as the ancestor, Daoism naturally became the state religion of the Tang Dynasty. Daoism revered nature, and people belonged to nature, and so did wild vegetables. Especially for the poor, when there was no vegetable to eat, digging up a few wild vegetables not only supplemented vitamins but also helped them ascend to the immortal realm...

(Author's note: According to historical records, the first generation of the Li family's ancestors only went back to Li Hao. As for whether Gao Yao and Laozi were the Li family's ancestors, it is still a matter of debate. The author believes it is impossible for a family to produce both sages and emperors, which would require an extraordinary level of feng shui.)

...

Li Su did not like to eat wild vegetables, even when he was hungry, he was unwilling to taste them. Despite his destitute life, he maintained his dignity, and Li Daozheng should have beaten him to death.

He lit the fire, washed the pot, and clumsily cooked. While waiting for the food to cook, Li Su saw the pile of firewood in the corner of the kitchen.

The pile of firewood was normal, cut by the father and son before winter and stacked high in the corner.

Each time Li Su saw it, he felt a knife-like pain in his heart, unable to bear to look at it.

Today was no different. After entering the kitchen, Li Su's head was tilted, trying hard to control himself from looking at the pile of firewood.

In the quiet kitchen, Li Su silently added firewood, the red flames reflecting his handsome but extremely distressed face...

After a long time, Li Su sighed loudly, as if giving up, and muttered, "I really... can't stand it anymore!"

Then Li Su stood up, faced the pile of firewood, and moved each piece of wood one by one, then... arranged them in order of length, neatly from left to right, from short to long, orderly and neatly, like a military parade. Li Su did it tirelessly, and as the firewood became more and more neatly arranged, his distressed expression became more and more relaxed, and the fine sweat on his nose seemed to exude a sense of joy.

After stacking all the firewood, Li Su straightened up, looked at his meaningless masterpiece, and sighed with genuine relief, "This is more like it. A man of great ambition must be orderly."

Yes, it was OCD, a bad habit brought from his previous life. Li Su did not know when he developed this habit, but seeing messy and unordered things made him feel uncomfortable, and he had to correct them to his satisfaction.

Li Su thought he was perfect, both in appearance and character. As for this small OCD, it was at most a minor flaw.

...

When the smoke rose from the Li family's house, Li Daozheng finally returned, his face pale, his lips blue, and his hair disheveled.

Although they had only known each other for three days, Li Su felt a tightening in his heart and hurried to greet him.

"Dad, what's wrong?"

Li Daozheng opened his mouth, trying to smile but shivered, then threw a tattered, patched small cloth bag to him, "Got two jin of millet, eat it first."

Li Su frowned, "How did you get the food?"

"It's almost spring. The Xu family on the east side is digging a ditch. I dug for half a day and got this bag of food... Hurry up and cook, don't let yourself go hungry."

Li Su felt a bit uncomfortable.

It was winter, the coldest time in Guanzhong. Digging a ditch in such cold weather, jumping into the water with bare arms...

Li Su's eyes reddened, turned around, and silently returned to the house, covering Li Daozheng with the only quilt they had. Li Daozheng chuckled and waved his rough hand, "Go cook, hurry, don't worry about me."

"Dad, cover yourself well, I'll boil some hot water for you."

The smoke rose, swirling in the air above the Li family's courtyard. Inside the house, it was still father and son, but for no reason, Li Su suddenly felt the room was much warmer.

"Maybe I used too much firewood. We should be more frugal..." Li Su muttered to himself.

...

The village of Taiping suddenly had some mysterious topics.

At first, Li Su did not care. Gossip and rumors had always existed, and Li Su never liked to get involved. It was a bad habit, but the villagers did not have such awareness and continued to enjoy it.

Later, Li Su gradually realized something was wrong.

One day, the old man from the Shi family, who lived next door, came to visit, talked nonsense for a long time, and finally could not help but ask Li Su to make a flushing toilet like the one at the Hu family's house. Only then did Li Su realize that the last rumor in the village was related to him.

Li Daozheng was still confused, "What bucket?"

The old man from the Shi family hurriedly explained, "A toilet, a flushing toilet. After using it, you pull a rope to flush the water. Oh, it's so nice, so nice..."

Li Su put down his bowl, looked at the flatbread and cold wild vegetables in front of him, and completely lost his appetite.

Li Su was a refined man and could not bear to hear about using the toilet while eating.

Li Daozheng was still confused, "What... bucket? What does it have to do with our family? Why are you looking for Li Su?"

The old man from the Shi family looked surprised, "You don't know? Your son made it. The Hu family's steward has been talking about it in the village, saying it's so nice to use..."

Li Daozheng looked at Li Su in surprise and pointed at him, "You said this coward made it?"

The old man from the Shi family nodded repeatedly, looking at Li Su with admiration, "Knowledge, great knowledge! Your son is capable, a man of great knowledge in managing waste..."

Li Su suddenly wanted to crush this old man named Shi and throw him into the toilet, then flush him into the septic tank. That would feel so nice.

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PS: Old tune, please collect, please recommend!

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