Chapter 31: The Guo Family Comes to Cause Trouble

"Uncle, I'm coming in." Upon receiving an answer, Yan Yu naturally pushed the door open.

She saw her uncle packing clothes, exhausted and drenched in sweat.

"Uncle, let me help you."

She trotted over, climbed up by bracing her hands, and began folding the long garments—left sleeve, right sleeve, folding them one by one into a neat stack.

Yan Huaiwen: *They're all wrinkled!*

Who taught her to do it like this!

But on second thought, he realized it was his own fault for not being able to shake off his habits from his previous life.

Now, he was merely a poor scholar; what was the point of being fastidious?

While Yan Huaiwen was dazed, little Er'ya did not stop her work.

Her uncle didn't have many clothes, but they were all the same style: long robes.

Being short and having small hands, she had to rotate around to fold them.

Afterward, the task of packing the bundles had to be handled by her uncle personally; she lacked the strength to tie them tightly.

"Uncle, is there anything else?" She could keep going.

After receiving an answer that there was nothing left to pack, Yan Yu looked regretfully at the room full of belongings that could not be taken away. *Sigh! What a pity!*

"Did your mother comb your hair like this? Not bad." Only then did Yan Huaiwen notice something unusual about his little niece.

She was dressed like a young boy.

"Mother said this is more convenient."

In truth, it was Yan Yu's own request. She felt that since she was still small, it didn't matter much, but if she grew older, it would be much cheaper for a boy to travel outside.

"Uncle, look at this. Do you recognize it?" Yan Yu had not forgotten the purpose of her visit.

Yan Huaiwen took the paper his little niece handed him. At a glance, he could tell it was something his brother used to practice calligraphy with. On the back, several characters were written in seal script.

The characters were large, but written very clearly without any missing or extra strokes.

"Did you write this?" Yan Huaiwen asked.

No matter how incompetent Tianyou was, he could never have written such beautiful characters.

"Yes, Uncle. I don't recognize these characters, so I traced them intending to ask Father, but Father isn't here."

*That's why I came to ask you, Uncle.*

"Your father teaches you to read?"

"He does. We learn them character by character."

"Write something you know for me to see." Yan Huaiwen wanted to know to what extent his brother had taught his little niece.

Yan Yu shook her head and said innocently, "I can't! Father said as long as I recognize them, I don't need to know how to write."

"Then read this page and see if you recognize them."

To shed the label of being illiterate, Yan Yu put in her best effort.

"This character is read as 'Ji,' this one is 'Mie'..."

There were only a few characters in total, and once Yan Yu had finished, she ran off.

Yan Huaiwen stood there in a daze.

His second brother was poor at studying, but his little niece was quite bright. Knowing her father wouldn't teach her meticulously, the fact that she could remember so many characters just by recognizing them was truly remarkable.

Since she had talent, it must not be wasted.

A daughter, if raised well, could be just as good as a son!

As Yan Huaiwen made a silent decision to put his niece's education on the agenda, he also pondered whether his brother's academic prospects could still be salvaged.

The literary path in the North was not flourishing; perhaps once they reached Guanzhou, he could let Tianyou give it a try.

...

Unaware that his daughter had set him up, Yan the Second was working vigorously with the Qi brothers.

It looked like a simple task, but in the fully manual era of antiquity, merely planing four wooden pillars to the same height was quite a chore.

Fortunately, that was the only time-consuming part. The length, width, and thickness of the bed slats didn't need to be extremely precise, and the railings were made from scraps, which Yan the Second handled himself.

When the four of them worked together to hoist it onto the cart, Yan the Second didn't even feel like it took much effort to lift it up...

Following orders, Sanbao wandered around the courtyard a few times to ensure the frame was stable.

Yan the Second circled around once. "Qi Fifth Brother, why don't we add a roof!"

It wasn't raining here, but they were heading north, and there was no telling what kind of weather they would encounter. It was better to be thorough; things weren't as convenient on the road as they were at home, and materials were hard to find.

This time, Qi Wu refused to listen to him: "Brother Yan, just grab a straw mat and throw it on yourself."

Yan the Second thought about it and decided, *Fine, I'll go home and look for something.*

Adding a carriage later would be even easier; with a few boards for fixing, the Yan family's ox cart would instantly turn into a four-wheeled, extended, double-decker minibus.

Yan the Second had brought ground flour. He had no money, so he had learned from his brother how to use grain to settle debts.

"Brother Yan, what are you doing? It's just a few pieces of wood, and they aren't even good quality. You can't take them with you, and if you leave them here, they'll just rot. If you use them, it saves them from going to waste," Qi Wu said.

Qi Fourth added, "Yeah, Brother Yan. Thanks to your family providing the silver to buy livestock for the village, our old mother can ride in a donkey cart. All in all, we are the ones who owe you."

"Take it back, take it back!" Qi the Eldest was even more blunt, only repeating that one phrase.

Yan the Second couldn't win the argument; the three of them pushed him until he was almost pushed right out of the courtyard...

"Fine, fine, I'll take the flour. We brothers will have plenty of time in the future."

...

Village Head Guo, leading a group of people, stormed into the Yan family courtyard aggressively.

"Scholar Yan, I respect you as a man of letters. I wanted to propose your daughter as a wife for my youngest son. If you refused, fine, but why did you have Yan the Second beat him!"

"When my Xiang'er was carried back, he was covered in blood! The doctor said if he had been a moment later, his life might have been in danger!

Where is your Yan the Second? Call him out! We'll take him to court right now. I'm telling you plainly, this matter will not be let go!"

"And what about Yan the Eldest Girl? The Great Immortal said if Xiang'er wants to recover quickly, he needs to undergo a 'joy-chasing' ritual. If you won't hand over Yan the Second, fine—I'll take Yan the Eldest Girl, and we'll hold the wedding ceremony tonight!"

Seeing the commotion in his courtyard, Yan the Second urged Sanbao to hurry.

When he arrived, he heard Village Head Guo's words loud and clear.

"Bullshit!" Yan the Second burst into the courtyard and immediately started arguing

"Who beat him! Which eye of yours saw me beat him? I haven't even extended a hand!

Your unlucky son must have done something wicked, and this is just karma!

You old geezer, you're quite black-hearted! You want my Eldest Girl to perform a joy-chasing ritual? Let me tell you, the daughters of the Yan family are blessed! With a son like yours, who has no weight to his bones, a joy-chasing ritual? It'll kill him instead of bringing him joy!"

Village Head Guo was so angry his mustache practically wilted. The doctor had said his son was in bad shape, with internal injuries that might prevent him from doing heavy labor or exerting strength in the future.

For a farm boy, he was essentially crippled!

"You ordered your ox to kick him, you did! Xiang'er said it himself, there's no mistake!"

"Oh, listen to this! Is this how a human speaks? Your family has livestock too, right? There it is. Why don't you order one to kick me? Come on, kick me and let's see!" Yan the Second's words were as infuriating as they could be.

That's an animal, not a person; how could it understand human speech and kick someone just because it was told to?

Yan Huaiwen spoke up at the right moment: "Village Head Guo, do not speak recklessly without evidence. If this truly goes to court, you may be charged with false accusation."

Yan Xiangheng watched and listened, his face flushed with excitement.

His second uncle usually acted like a rogue, but only at home. He hadn't expected that this rogue energy, when used outside, would be so satisfying.

Yan Yu tugged on her brother's sleeve.

Yan Xiangheng looked down at her.

"Big brother, there are too many of them. Hurry to the threshing floor and call more people."

Yan Xiangheng jolted.

That was right. Village Head Guo had brought many people; if a fight broke out, they would be at a disadvantage.