Get up early in the morning, first go to the well to fetch water, fill the large tank in the kitchen, then feed the two cows and two horses with water, eat grass, and clean the cowshed and stables.
At this time, I felt paralyzed all over, as if I had been working all day.
When he was sitting on a stone in the corner of the yard to rest, a harsh scolding sound immediately came from above his head, as if he was being monitored at any time.
"Shui Qiancheng, why are you lazy again! Have you finished chopping the firewood?"
"I'll go there in a moment..."
Shui Qiancheng stood up tiredly, not hiding his displeasure at all.
The speaker leaned out from the railing of the corridor. After seeing Shui Qiancheng getting up to work again, he warned again: "You can't have breakfast until you finish chopping firewood."
Although that person spoke like a man, the person who didn't let Shui Qiancheng have a chance to breathe was the real woman.
"...Shuying, you don't have to remind me of this every morning."
"Because you are lazy every morning!"
I've had enough.
He has been housebound for nearly a year, and of course he has no chance to move his body. His physical strength is not as good as before, but now he has to do heavy work from morning to night. It is simply inhumane.
Shui Qiancheng looked up angrily, and Shuying looked at him indifferently.
The two thick eyebrows that seemed to have been painted with a brush are impressive, and the facial features are very obvious. If you stare at her, you will feel scared.
"You really don't know anything."
"Of course I know……"
He knew better than anyone that it was all his fault.
"No, you don't know anything at all. Whether you can read and whether you are smart or not are two different things."
...Does she mean that although I can read, I am actually not very smart?
"You work quickly, or you won't even be able to clear the breakfast table."
After Shuying said what she wanted to say, she strode away along the corridor.
Shui Qiancheng dragged his body, which was getting more tired day by day, towards the place where the firewood was placed.
...Of course I know, it's all my fault.
A year ago, Shui Qiancheng went from Sanhu Village to the capital to find his sister, who attended a private school there...
Shui Qiancheng has been very fond of his eldest sister Shui Xinyuan since he was a child. The eldest sister sold herself to help the family, and for some reason she became a palace concubine and later became a queen.
Shui Qiancheng, who had always been proud of his descent from the Xia princes, was very unhappy about this incident.
But since he could see his sister and study there, he happily headed to the capital.
…If I had known earlier I really shouldn’t have gone…
Some people encouraged me to join the ranks of reviving the Xia Kingdom, but as a result, I became a rebel in a confused way.
The most beloved sister said that she wanted to sever the relationship between siblings, but was brought back to her hometown by her furious father.
After returning home, an angry Shuying cried and spanked him a hundred times. His brother also punched him twice on the cheek. His sister also beat him with a broom. Finally, she said that she would lock him in the warehouse at home.
One year.
Seeing his family's angry attitude, Shui Qiancheng thought he would be locked up in a warehouse for the rest of his life, but a month later, he was moved from the warehouse to his home.
However, after returning home, his family did not allow him to go out. This spring, he finally regained his freedom...
It is said that he was pardoned because his sister Shui Xinyuan gave birth to a prince.
So, Shui Qiancheng left his home and was sent to the village chief's house in Sanhu Village to work as a long-term worker.
In addition to the elderly village chief, his son, daughter-in-law, two grandsons and a granddaughter, as well as several long-term workers, also live in the village chief's house.
Shui Qiancheng also works as a long-term worker here, but because he is a sinner, he is not allowed to leave the village chief's house.
At least I can move around now, which is much better than when I was locked up in the warehouse.
Although there is more freedom, but...
"What is Shuying doing? It's incomprehensible, she thinks she's a fool..."
Shui Qiancheng chopped the wood into the firewood and muttered with a pouted mouth.
The last time he complained in front of Shuying, Shuying slapped him in the face, so now he can only complain to Mu Chai.
Shuying is the granddaughter of the village chief and a friend of her sister Chunling. She often goes to Shui's house to play.
She is tall and dark-skinned. She doesn't look like a girl. Maybe it's because she has two older brothers, but she even talks like a boy. In addition, because she likes riding horses, she usually dresses like a boy.
Shui Qiancheng felt that she was not like a neighbor's big sister, but more like a big brother.
They had a good relationship before. They often played together and read together.
Shuying likes reading and is better at reading than her two brothers.
Therefore, when Shui Qiancheng went to the capital to study, she was as happy as if she was going to the capital.
But after Shui Qiancheng came back after committing the crime of treason, she was also slapped in the face.
Shui Qiancheng can understand why Shuying is angry.
Because Shuying likes Shui Xinyuan very much and regards her as her own sister.
"I know she's angry, but when did she become so abusive..."
Shui Qiancheng came to the village chief's house for nearly ten days. He worked almost alone and rarely talked to anyone in the village chief's family. Shuying came to him every time, but she always cursed at them.
...so tiring...
During the month he was locked up in the warehouse, he cried almost all day long because of regret and confusion.
Later, when I got tired of crying, I stayed in a daze from morning to night.
Only the younger brother who didn't understand the situation occasionally came to the warehouse to play with him, and Shuying and her sister didn't even talk to him when delivering food.
After moving back from the warehouse, he felt that he had no place for himself at home and always stayed alone in the study.
After my sister became the queen, she renovated the family house and added this small study room.
Now, no matter how hard he studies, he is still not qualified to take the exam, let alone become an official.
Logically speaking, there is no need for him to study hard now. Unexpectedly, he spends the whole day here. It is really a huge irony.
Although he knew that reading was useless, he had nothing to do but read hard.
However, he no longer remembers what he saw or how he spent those days.
Just as a tired body cannot move, his head is also too tired.
First the brain was tired, and now the body is tired too...
"..."
What to do next?
Shui Qiancheng weakly swung the woodcutter.
The firewood was only cracked but not split.
…
"I have to clean the living room after breakfast today."
It has been twenty days since I came to the village chief's house, and everyone's attitude, including Shuying's, remains the same.
Shui Qiancheng heard these sarcastic words every day while he was busy carrying water, taking care of the cows and horses, cleaning the cowsheds and stables, chopping firewood, cleaning the yard and doing farming in the fields.
Hearing the sound from behind, Shui Qiancheng didn't look back and continued to chop wood with his woodcutter.
"...The atrium must be cleaned every day after breakfast."
"It's not the season for fallen leaves. As long as you sweep carefully every day, it won't get dirty easily. Today I have to clean the living room and mop the floor."
After Shuying finished speaking, she turned around and left, only hearing her footsteps.
Shui Qiancheng stood up and kicked the firewood piled aside.
He didn't know why he did this. The firewood rolled down and scattered, making a loud noise.
Looking back, he found Shuying stopped and looked at him angrily.
"……What are you doing?"
"I know it's all my fault. I caused such a big fuss and caused trouble to my sister."
What do you want to say and what do you want to do?
I was extremely tired, so tired that only my head and body were blank, but at this moment, I was suddenly filled with blood.
"I know it's my fault, but it has nothing to do with you, and I didn't do anything sorry for you!"
Before, Shuying always smiled so cheerfully and often touched her head, but her movements were a bit rough. In any case, she had never looked at herself with such a terrifying look...
Shui Qiancheng finished speaking in one breath. He looked up and saw Shuying's eyes widened, her lips pursed vigorously and she walked quickly towards him.
Shui Qiancheng thought he would be beaten, so he immediately shrank his body nervously, and Shuying stopped in front of him.
"I don't bother to hit an idiot like you. It will only make my hand hurt."
"..."
"Okay, even if you take a hundred steps back, just pretend it has nothing to do with me! What on earth were you doing in the warehouse for a whole month? What did you see?"
"Wha, what..."
What happened when he was locked in the warehouse? Shui Qiancheng backed away, more scared than when he was slapped by Shuying before.
"Didn't the warehouse where you were locked up have windows? What did you see there?"
"I only saw my farmland..."
"So, have you seen it?"
At that time, because I was bored all day long, I would sometimes stare blankly out of the window.
Shui Qiancheng tilted his head, and Shuying opened her mouth in surprise...but she didn't say anything, sighed and left.
…
Don't understand.
What can you see when you look out the warehouse window?
The scene I saw at that time was no different from usual.
Shuying, her brother, sister and younger siblings work in the farmland behind their home every day, digging soil and pulling weeds.
...What do you mean! What does it mean to take a hundred steps back, even if it has nothing to do with her...
Her tone seemed to have something to do with her.
Shui Qiancheng wiped the floor with a rag to vent his anger.
"Hey... Shui Qiancheng, are you helping to mop the floor?"
A voice suddenly came from behind. Shui Qiancheng looked back in surprise and found that the person who poked his head in was the village chief's daughter-in-law.
She holds orange tree branches in her hands and holds baskets filled with different kinds of citrus.
"Shuying asked me to mop the floor..."
"It turns out she asked you to wipe it."
The sister-in-law smiled bitterly and put the basket on the table.
"She asked that your affairs be handed over to her, so we didn't interfere. It seems that you were tortured by her."
"……Um?"
Shui Qiancheng stopped, and his sister-in-law turned to look at him.
"What's wrong?"
"Are you saying that Shuying asked her to be in charge of my affairs?"
"Yes, Shuying said it. When you came to our house, she said she would take full responsibility. Although I knew she would be very strict, I guessed it right."
My sister-in-law inserted the orange tree branches into the flower arrangement on the shelf and adjusted it.
"However, considering her mood, I believe you will also think it is excusable. Of course, I believe you have your considerations, but in the end she was implicated in a heartbreaking result..."
Shui Qiancheng couldn't understand what she was talking about.
Is it understandable that Shuying is so strict with herself?...Is this what my sister-in-law said just now?
Shui Qiancheng was speechless, and his sister-in-law didn't know how to explain Shui Qiancheng's silence, so she smiled lonely.
"Don't think she treats you as a punching bag. She is very angry because she has always said before that she hopes you can work hard for her sake..."
A servant came from the corridor calling: "Madam, Madam."
The sister-in-law immediately responded and walked out.
Shui Qiancheng knelt on the ground, holding the rag, and opened his eyes blankly.
...Why did I forget these things?
I used to play and read with Shuying a lot.
Shuying was better at reading than her two brothers. The village chief and Shuying's parents said with regret that if Shuying had been a boy, they would have sent her to the capital for further study.
It is not a bad thing for a woman to study, but even if she passes the state examination and the joint examination, it will only arouse curious eyes from the world.
Moreover, even if you pass the state examination, the governor and the prefect are sometimes reluctant to write letters of recommendation for taking the examination.
Shuying also planned to attend Yongfeng's private school, but was rejected.
"Shui Qiancheng, I really envy you. You can keep studying and take part in the examination."
Shui Qiancheng forgot when Shuying said this to him... By the way, it was before he left for the capital.
You can go to the capital to see your beloved sister, or you can go to study there.
I was so excited at that time, Shuying smiled and sent me off.
"You have to work hard for my sake."
Shuying said this at the time.
I forgot about this...
When he left the village, his heart had already flown to the capital. He had no idea what Shuying's mood was when she said these words. He could only nod to her and say: "Okay."
"Hahaha……"
His vision was blurry and he couldn't help laughing.
Small drops of water fell on the clean floor.
I really didn’t know anything, so no wonder I was hated by her. She also said that I had done nothing to regret Shuying, and I went too far.
"...Hahaha...what's wrong with me...what am I doing..."
He desperately wiped away the tears, but no matter how hard he wiped them, they still quickly fell to the ground.
"No...if this continues, the floor will never be wiped clean...haha...hahaha..."
It was so ridiculous that he thought it was so funny that he could only laugh.
Why……
Why was he only punished like this?
Shuying leaned against the railing of the corridor, holding her chin, and stared blankly at the yard.
She seemed to be thinking about something. When she heard Shui Qiancheng's cry, she turned her head and saw his face swollen from crying, frowning slightly.
"...Have you finished mopping the floor?"
"Well, I'm sorry it took so long to finish. The floor and shelves are all clean."
I don’t know anything, I don’t even know that I don’t know anything.
Maybe it's too late.
"If you know, I want to ask you something."
"……What's up?"
"I was locked up in a warehouse for a month."
Shuying looked at Shui Qiancheng's face intently, and then looked at the yard silently.
"I look outside from the warehouse window. Although I don't look outside all the time, I look outside almost every day."
He originally thought that the scene he saw had not changed at all. His family was digging soil and pulling weeds in the farmland behind him every day.