On the edge of a narrow field ridge.
Magistrate Shen stood with his hands behind his hands, his face darkened.
Master Yuan and Zhao Lizheng stood far away, heads lowered, not daring to express their anger.
Cheng Wanwan walked up to County Magistrate Shen, felt slightly blessed, and said, "After Magistrate Shen threw Master Shen away that day, Master Shen kept losing his temper..."
Magistrate Shen's face was full of guilt: "Ms. Zhao Cheng, this matter was caused by my lack of thinking and being too abrupt. I should not have left my rebellious son in Dahe Village, let alone..."
"Sir, please listen to me first."
Cheng Wanwan didn't care about the difference between superiority and inferiority, and directly interrupted Magistrate Shen's words.
"When Master Shen first came here, he was unwilling to work and was not very satisfied with the food. He even ran away with Ah Fu. However, the mountain road was too complicated. Master Shen and Ah Fu went deep into the mountains in the middle of the night. He rolled down the hillside and was covered in injuries..."
Anxiety flashed across Magistrate Shen's face.
Cheng Wanwan continued: "On the first night, he was injured and very tired. He hadn't eaten yet and slept hungry on the ground all night. The next day, he put on the patched and tattered clothes of the peasant woman's son and went to live with the peasant woman. His sons worked together. Although he complained, he was really doing things. The scholars from Nanfu Academy in the town came that day. Sir, do you know what interesting things happened? "
"Master Shen actually persuaded the scholars to help work together and used the wheels of the carriage as a tool to thresh the rice. This incident inspired Master Shen, and he asked Master Qian to make stone rollers and send them to Dahe Village... Stone A roller is a wheel-like tool made of stone. Oxen pull the stone roller to grind the rice, which can replace human threshing, saving a lot of time and effort..."
"The woman thought that Master Shen was very smart, so she rewarded him with a boiled egg. However, he was reluctant to eat the boiled egg and kept it hidden in his clothes. A few days ago, the woman's mother-in-law smelled the smell and took the rotten egg away. Throw it away, sir, do you know why Master Shen doesn't eat eggs?"
Magistrate Shen's mood fluctuated with Cheng Wanwan's words. When he heard this, he twitched his lips and said: "He has not eaten eggs since he was a child. Even if he does, he only eats egg whites. He would rather let them stink than give them to others." It’s a waste of food for others to eat.”
"Sir, you are biased against Master Shen." Cheng Wanwan said gently, "Master Shen said that he wanted to bring this egg back to the town for adults to eat. Of course the county government has eggs, but this egg was passed by him through The prize he got for his hard work is a unique egg in the world, and he wants to give something unique to his beloved father."
Magistrate Shen suddenly froze.
He couldn't believe it. This son had always been against him. If he said something east, the boy would go west. Unless he got angry, the boy would be obedient.
He always felt that after Zheng'er's wings became stiff, the first thing he would do was to escape from the Shen family and get away from his father's control.
He always felt that what Zheng'er disliked the most was his father.
However, Mrs. Zhao Cheng told him that Zheng'er was going to bring the unique egg in the world back to the town for him to eat.
In other words, although Zheng'er is extremely naughty, he still has him as his father in his heart.
"Lord County Magistrate, Master Shen is really good." Li Zheng spoke boldly, "The last time Master Shen went to town, the people thought he had gone home. Unexpectedly, Master Shen actually brought a lot of pens, ink, paper and inkstones. Said it was to be given to the children in Dahe Village."
At this time, the little girl who was crying loudly was led by her father to the field ridge.
The father and daughter knelt in front of Magistrate Shen.
"Sir, the daughter of the common people suddenly cried. It really has nothing to do with Master Shen." The man said tremblingly, "Children are not sensible. They say that people will become stars in the sky when they die. Master Shen told the daughter of the common people that this is wrong. When a person dies, he sleeps in a coffin, turns into loess, and loses everything... My daughter couldn't accept this, so she started crying. What does it have to do with Master Shen? If adults want to blame, just blame the grassroots. It's the grassroots. You didn’t teach your children well…”
Magistrate Shen's face was full of discomfort, and he said slowly: "It has nothing to do with the little girl, get up."
He wanted to find his son as soon as he started, but he was not familiar with Dahe Village and didn't know where to look.
Aunt Wang in the field next door had been crawling in the field pulling weeds, hiding her body and silently eating melons. At this time, she reminded: "Sir, the common woman saw that Master Shen came home, so she went back to Dashan Niang's house."
Cheng Wanwan led the way, and Magistrate Shen quickly followed.
Her yard was busy, mixing mud, chopping straw, and beating adobe. The adobe was then transported to her newly chosen house and spread out to dry. There were busy people coming and going.
Shen Zheng was also among them, helping Zhang Daqiang chop straw.
Wearing patchwork clothes, he blended in with the crowd and was not conspicuous at all, but Magistrate Shen saw his son at a glance.
He stepped into the courtyard.
The people working inside immediately knelt on the ground: "I have seen the county magistrate!"
Magistrate Shen waved his hand: "Everyone, get up and continue your work."
The county magistrate was here. These people walked with the same hands and feet and did not dare to raise their heads. How could they continue to work? Cheng Wanwan asked them to go back and rest first and come back later.
More than twenty or thirty people hurriedly retreated, and the courtyard suddenly became empty.
Magistrate Shen approached step by step: "Zheng'er..."
Shen Zheng was holding a hatchet in his hand. When he heard the sound, he dropped the knife and stood up: "If you want to scold me, just keep scolding me. I don't want to hear it anyway!"
He turned around and ran into the house, walked through the main room to the backyard, and sat angrily on a low stool in the back.
Magistrate Shen stepped forward to follow.
"My lord." Cheng Wanwan said softly, "Master Shen is very angry. Let's go and say a few words to him first."
Magistrate Shen really didn't know how to get along with his son. In the past, when Shen Zheng lost his temper, he would scold him without saying anything.
But now, he had done something wrong, he had misunderstood his son, and it seemed particularly difficult to apologize.
It would be nice to have someone in the middle to calm things down.
Cheng Wanwan walked over the threshold and walked to the backyard. It used to be a temporary workshop for making ice powder. Now that there is no ice powder business, it has been converted into a firewood shed with a lot of dry firewood piled up.
She sat down next to Shen Zheng, stared at his face, and smiled: "Your eyes are red. Tell Auntie, are you hiding and crying?"
"Who's crying? I'm not crying!" Shen Zheng muttered, "You want me to apologize to him? I didn't do anything wrong, so I didn't apologize and let him beat me to death!"
"You are just saying childish things." Cheng Wanwan said helplessly, "He is your father, his biological father. He will not kill you if he beats anyone. Besides, your father came here specifically to apologize to you."
"How is it possible? He has never apologized to me!" Shen Zheng said, scratching his neck, "He just wants to find an excuse to scold me again. He has not liked me since he was a child. He always feels that I am embarrassed. , thinks I’m ignorant, and he wants to find me a stepmother to control me, I won’t let him get his wish, I want to ruin his good deeds!”
As he spoke, his eyes were red, but his tears were stubborn and unwilling to flow out.
Cheng Wanwan sighed.
She reached out and touched Shen Zheng's hair: "Cry if you want to. If you have anything to do, we'll talk about it after you cry."
If there was no one to comfort him, Shen Zheng would definitely swallow back the tears, but someone beside him spoke to him in such a gentle voice, and he could no longer control it, and the tears flowed down.
He looked at Cheng Wanwan with tearful eyes.
At this moment, he envied Zhao Ergou and the others for having such a gentle mother.
