Chapter 27: Even if a person is poor, his will cannot be poor Zhang Wanshan pointed at Gu Chan and scolded her, "We are poor, but you can't steal! You know, even if you are poor, your spirit can be strong. We have both hands and feet intact, which is much better than those who are missing arms and legs. We can support ourselves with our own hands and can't do those sneaky things." "Grandpa, I didn't steal." Gu Chan cried out. She almost lost her life today, and it was only through her own hard work and ability that she earned a meal of rice. In order to pack up this small piece of rice, she even tore the corners of her clothes, and secretly packed it up while eating. If packing up is really a kind of stealing, then she admits it. Zhang Wanshan pointed at the rice on the ground and yelled, "You bastard, you're still being stubborn. How many families in the village can afford to eat rice? If you're not stealing, what is this?" "Zhao Erniu treated me to dinner tonight. I thought you were still at home and must not have had any delicious food, so I secretly packed some food and brought it back for you." Gu Chan explained while crying. Zhang Wanshan pulled Gu Chan out the door, "Okay, let's go and confront Zhao Erniu. I want to ask him if he really treated you to rice." "Just go." Gu Chan said angrily. At this time, Ma Zheng suddenly ran in from outside, "Old Zhang, are you sick? The boss kindly packed you a meal and you scolded her? Zhao Erniu really treated us to rice tonight, and we even served fried caterpillars!" Zhang Wanshan paused and stood there in a daze.
Looking at the aggrieved Gu Chan, his whole body was shaking. Ma Zheng added, "We went to the mountains to learn hunting today and were almost eaten by a spirit beast. If it weren't for the boss, we wouldn't have come back. Zhao Erniu invited us to dinner to thank him for saving us." "Really?" Zhang Wanshan asked in a trembling voice. Ma Zheng kept nodding. The next second, Zhang Wanshan couldn't hold back any longer, and suddenly squatted down, opened his arms and hugged Gu Chan tightly in his arms, crying in her ears with tears in his eyes, "I'm sorry, grandpa wronged you, I thought you went to steal someone else's rice! It's my fault, can you forgive me?" "Then you should eat the rice quickly. You can't be hungry. Rice is very fragrant." Gu Chan wiped away her tears and said with heartache. "Okay, I'll eat it. I will definitely finish it." Zhang Wanshan nodded heavily. Letting go of Gu Chan, he quickly ran back, picked up the rice that had fallen on the ground, and started eating it in big mouthfuls. While eating, tears could not stop flowing from his eyes. At this moment, he finally understood how filial Gu Chan was to him. At the same time, he also felt guilty for his actions just now. However, Gu Chan was not angry about this. Instead, she chose to forgive, because she felt that her grandfather was right. No matter who she was, as long as she was poor, she could still have strong wills. She should never do such sneaky things that violated morality and conscience. After finishing the rice, Zhang Wanshan wiped away his tears, stared at Gu Chan and said, "Sit down and take a rest. Grandpa will get you some water to wash your feet." "No need, grandpa, just rest, I can do it myself." Gu Chan shook her head. Zhang Wanshan seemed a little embarrassed. He wanted to use this opportunity to make up for his guilt just now, but Gu Chan didn't want to, so he had no choice. Gu Chan then said, "Grandpa, I just happen to have something to ask you, just agree to it." "Okay, okay, you say." "I want to go to the market to buy a bow and arrow tomorrow, you have to give me silver." Gu Chan stretched out her hand to Zhang Wanshan. Without saying anything, Zhang Wanshan immediately went into the house, took out two ingots of silver and ran out, handing them to Gu Chan, "Buy them, and make sure you buy good ones. By the way, buy a set for Ma Zheng as well. In the future, if both of you learn how to hunt, we can all have meat to eat."
"Thank you, grandpa." "By the way, did you find any spiritual herbs when you went into the mountains today?" Zhang Wanshan also changed the subject and stopped dwelling on what happened just now. Gu Chan sighed helplessly, "How can it be that easy to find!" "You have to go to the county government office to hand in the spiritual grass the day after tomorrow. What will you do if you can't hand it in?" "Don't worry, Grandpa. There is still one day tomorrow. I will find a way." Gu Chan comforted. Zhang Wanshan had to suppress his worries temporarily. Gu Chan asked, "Grandpa, the tax collectors will be here tomorrow, right?" "Well, don't worry, I have prepared the tax money, just give it to them tomorrow. You should focus on the spiritual herbs." "Then I understand. Ma Zheng and I will go to the market to buy bows and arrows tomorrow morning, and then come back in the afternoon to go into the mountains to have a look." After Gu Chan said this, she pulled Ma Zheng aside. Zhang Wanshan calmed down and continued to work as an ironsmith at the back of the shop. He would steal glances at Gu Chan from time to time, and it was obvious that he still felt guilty about what had just happened. Gu Chan didn't care, she just whispered to Ma Zheng, "Go back to sleep first, come to my house at dawn tomorrow, and then we'll go to the market together." "Okay, boss." Ma Zheng nodded happily. Then he said goodbye to Gu Chan and left in a jump. Gu Chan stood at the door, watching his departing back, and couldn't help frowning. From the time she left the forest in the afternoon until now, she had always felt that something was wrong with Ma Zheng, but she couldn't tell exactly what was wrong. "Forget it, maybe it's my illusion!" In the end, Gu Chan couldn't figure out the reason. She could only mutter, then went to get some footbath water to soak her feet, and then went back to the room to sleep. Lying in bed at night, Gu Chan tossed and turned anxiously, unable to fall asleep. During the day, he had planned to go into the mountains and find a good tree to eat and practice physical skills. Unexpectedly, he ran into the big water snake guarding the spiritual grass. He ate a piece of its meat and practiced physical skills to make his body as flexible as a snake. This was somewhat contrary to her original plan. And the most important thing is that the two loaches unexpectedly cultivated into two eels. She didn’t know whether this was a good thing or a bad thing. Anyway, she can only take one step at a time from now on. The next morning, just after dawn, Gu Chan got up early, dressed and went out. Zhang Wanshan got up earlier than her. When she came out of the house, Zhang Wanshan was already working on the iron at the back of the shop. Ma Zheng and his grandmother Ding Meihua were sitting in the yard waiting. Gu Chan walked up to the two of them, looked at Ding Meihua and asked, "Grandma, why are you here too? Are you going to the market today too? Haven't you sold out all your knives and haven't made a new batch yet?" "I'm not going there to sell knives. I harvested the cabbages I planted. We can't eat them all by ourselves, so I carried some to sell. I'll also bring some to you grandpa and grandson so you can fry them." Ding Meihua explained with a kind face. Gu Chan was still very moved after hearing this. She knew that she accepted Ma Zheng as her younger brother and let Ma Zheng learn hunting from her, so Ding Meihua sent the cabbage to their family to thank her, but she did not say it out loud, but expressed it through practical actions. This also reflects a point from the side that many times, rural people are still very simple. They don’t know how to express themselves and habitually express themselves through actions.
After figuring all this out, Gu Chan did not point it out. After thanking Ding Meihua, she left with her grandmother and granddaughter, carrying a basket of cabbages on their backs, and rushed to the Wuheng County market. (End of this chapter)