Poor but talented scholar

Chapter 53 New Year Greetings

"Chuan'er, take this. This is your New Year's money. Use it to buy some snacks." An uncle forced two large coins into Lu Chuan's hand without saying a word.

"Chuan'er, this is for you. My son keeps asking you to teach him to read. Keep this money as a thank you gift from our family." Another aunt smiled broadly and deftly pushed the copper coins strung on a red string into Lu Chuan's arms.

Clan chief Lu Deshou was even more solemn. In front of everyone, he directly took out a string of twelve copper coins.

"In the new year, let's study poetry and books thoroughly and bring good fortune to our Lujia Village."

Lu Chuan initially wanted to decline, but when he saw the villagers' calloused eyes, his gaze regained its light.

He no longer hesitated, but steadily accepted the gift, and bowed deeply to the villagers: "Chuan'er accepts the kindness of all the uncles and elders, and will certainly live up to everyone's expectations."

After visiting all the places to offer New Year's greetings, Lu Chuan's little blue pocket was filled with heavy copper coins.

Back home, sunlight streamed through the paper windows and onto the kang table.

Lu Chuan did not go back to the house directly, but invited Lu Shouye and his mother to the table.

He untied the cloth bag and poured the copper coins onto the table.

Lu's mother was busy preparing lunch when she saw this and was taken aback: "How come there's so much? This...this must be half a string of cash!"

Lu Chuan neatly stacked the coins, ten coins per stack.

"Five hundred and forty coins in total." Lu Chuan looked up at his father, Lu Shouye. "Father, I plan to use this money for the New Year's reception when I return to the academy and for the urgent need to buy more ink sticks."

"Alright, I'll listen to you." Lu Shouye patted the pile of copper coins with emotion. "I'll keep them for you and remember them all clearly."

After counting the copper coins on the table, Lu Shouye carefully wrapped them in a clean cloth and put them in his pocket.

"Chuan'er, this money is enough for you to live comfortably in the county town. Don't always eat those coarse rice cakes. The ink that Steward Sun gave you is good, but if you run out, don't hesitate to buy more. Our Lu Family Village can afford to support a scholar thanks to our medicinal herbs."

Lu Chuan nodded and said softly, "Father, money should be spent wisely. But I will be frugal with our daily expenses. This money represents the hopes our fellow villagers have for our family, and I know that."

Just then, a burst of children's noise came from outside the window. It was the group of young men from the village who had just finished paying their New Year's respects running wildly in the snow.

"Hide it quickly! Don't let your mother see it!"

"My New Year's money! Oh dear, my candy fell into the snow!"

Lu's mother chuckled, added a ladle of water to the pot, and gestured to Lu Chuan with her chin: "Listen to this, all the children in the village are playing hide-and-seek with their mothers."

"Once the New Year's money is in a child's hands, it's rarely kept warm. In other families, it would have been confiscated to supplement household expenses long ago. Only you can get your father to willingly save it for you, without using a single penny for anything else."

Lu Chuan got up and walked to the window, listening to the lively laughter and banter outside, a slight smile appeared on his lips.

He turned around and saw Lu Xiaoman hiding behind the door, her eyes fixed on the two unfinished mung bean cakes on the table.

Lu Chuan smiled and beckoned, "Xiaoman, come here."

Lu Chuan reached out and stuffed the mung bean cake into her hand, then took out five copper coins from his pocket and carefully hung them around his sister's neck.

"Brother, this money..." Xiaoman's eyes sparkled.

"Here you are, brother. Buy some candy, but don't let Mom see it." Lu Chuan winked.

Xiaoman nodded excitedly and dashed into the inner room.

In this remote village on the frontier of the Great Qian Dynasty, the hustle and bustle and warmth made Lu Chuan feel incredibly at ease.

At this moment, the atmosphere in the village lanes was not so reassuring.

Several young men from Lujia Village were being chased all over the village by their own mothers.

"Stop right there, Lu Xiaosi! You stop right there! Do you think you can lay eggs with those two coins? Give them to me now, and I'll put it in your account so you can get a wife later."

As Lu Xiaosi slid through the snow, he stubbornly shouted, "I'm not getting married. I want to be like Brother Chuan'er, taking money to the county town to buy big books."

Upon hearing this, the peasant woman was both angry and amused. She stopped and laughed, scolding, "Why? Because your brother Chuan can write Spring Festival couplets and teach the villagers to read. If you had half his skills, I would have sent you to the capital. Now, bring it here, or I'll force you to pick up the broom!"

Once this universal collection template was released, the children in the village instantly deflated.

One by one, they reluctantly took out their copper coins and handed them to their mothers with a wronged expression.

Standing at the gate of his courtyard, Lu Chuan looked at this vivid scene of life and couldn't help but sigh.

That night, Liutang Village was shrouded in a thin layer of mist.

Lu Chuan sat under the oil lamp, holding the official edition of "Collected Annotations on the Four Books" in his hand.

Despite the fatigue of visiting relatives and friends today, he still insisted on opening his book before going to bed and silently reciting the scriptures in his mind.

The door opened softly, and Lu Shouye walked in wearing an old cotton-padded coat, carrying a steaming bowl of red date and ginger soup.

"Still not asleep?" Lu Shouye placed the bowl on the table, looking at his son's thin yet resilient figure under the lamp. "Chuan'er, your father heard the clan chief say something at the ancestral hall today."

He plans to personally accompany you to the city after the Lantern Festival. He said he wants to bring a pair of fifty-year-old Cistanche deserticola plants that we collected last year, along with a few pounds of Pinellia ternata, to pay our respects to the Master in belated New Year's greetings.

Lu Chuan paused slightly in the hand holding the book.

He knew that the Cistanche deserticola was a treasure kept by the clan chief, and that the village would not touch it even when someone was seriously ill.

"Father, that's the clan chief's treasure, why did you do this..."

"As for it," Lu Shouye sat down, his tone becoming extremely solemn, "the clan chief said that the people of our Lu Family Village are illiterate and have no connections, so they don't know which books are expensive or which articles are good."

"But he knew that as long as the teacher was willing to lend a hand, even if it was just a casual suggestion, it would be better than us stumbling around blindly."

"Chuan'er, you need to understand the significance of the New Year's money you received today. It's not just money; it's the expectation that our entire clan has for you."

Lu Shouye continued earnestly, "In the past, our Lu Family Village suffered generations of misery in these mountain folds. Growing grain depended entirely on the whims of the heavens. We had no influential officials to speak to, so we could only swallow our grievances."

He leaned forward, his voice extremely low: "The clan is doing everything in its power to support you, not only hoping you will bring honor to the family, but also hoping you will achieve something great in your studies, so that in the future, when powerful families covet our village's land, or when members of the Lu family are pressured to accept lower prices elsewhere, we will have someone to stand up for us all."

"Father, I understand." Lu Chuan stood up and bowed deeply to his father. "I will study hard to settle this score."

Lu Shouye patted him on the shoulder with satisfaction, said no more, and as he turned to leave, he didn't forget to remind him, "Drink the ginger soup while it's hot and get some rest."