Chapter 61 Casual Conversation

With Sun Bomin away from home, the old Sun residence appeared desolate and quiet. Sun Shan diligently taught his sisters how to read.

Madam Su said with worry, "Mother, I wonder how the head of the house is doing?" They said he was going to repair the canals in the suburbs of the county, but there was no way of knowing the actual situation. Being away from home always made people worry.

Madam Huang was also worried, but she was accustomed to her three sons taking turns performing corvée labor every year. She reassured them, "There is no danger in repairing the canal this time, and I heard it will only take ten days. It will pass quickly."

Sun Shan was also worried about Sun Bomin and asked, "Grandma, can we take some food and go see Dad?"

Madam Huang shook her head and said, "Outsiders are not allowed near the labor camps. Unless a major event happens at home, the officials won't bother to notify him."

As for what constituted a major event, it was nothing short of life-and-death matters. For instance, if the parents at home suddenly passed away, the son would need to return to observe mourning. The authorities were still reasonable when it came to such human relations and would let you leave.

Sun Shan found the rules here to be very strict and clearly demarcated; ordinary people were not allowed to overstep them, and everything relied heavily on connections. For example, if you wanted to set up a stall near the labor site, you had to pull strings and pay bribes. Other methods would not work, and if you set one up privately, it would be confiscated upon discovery.

After exchanging a few more words, the Sun family dispersed.

Madam Su helped Sun Shan wash up, led him to Madam Huang's bedroom, and tucked him into bed.

Turning around, she lowered her voice and asked Madam Huang, "Mother, Guyu has already reached fifteen, but her marriage is still unsettled. What should we do?"

There were indeed a few aunts in the village who came to probe around on behalf of their maternal nephews, but Madam Su lost interest the moment she thought about the conditions of those aunts' maternal families—not a single one was better off than the Sun family. If she married into one of those, the eldest daughter would suffer.

Madam Huang was also vexed. In her entire life, she had only ever had to handle the marriage of her second son; the other children required no such worry at all.

As for the eldest daughter, she possessed extraordinary capabilities and had married into the prefectural city.

The eldest son's marriage had been brought about automatically by Madam Su's father due to certain unexpected circumstances, forcing the match.

For the third son, since she herself fancied Madam Zheng, Madam Huang simply led a betrothal party to their door.

As for the youngest daughter, she was found by others—introduced by the late eldest aunt of the village chief's family. Once they inquired and found everything satisfactory, they agreed.

The second son was the only one Madam Huang searched for herself, but even that had been easy: after inspecting several candidates and obtaining the son's approval, she went to propose marriage without a single hitch.

Now, when it came to the eldest granddaughter, she finally realized how difficult it was to arrange a marriage.

The Sun family was currently in an awkward position: they were aiming too high for some, yet looking down on others. If the match was too good, the other party looked down on them; if it was too poor, they looked down on the other party. She truly had no idea what to do.

Madam Huang made a wry face and said, "I don't have any candidates in mind either, nor do I know many people. Alas, our Guyu is good at everything, yet we just can't find a fine young man for her."

If they were just looking for honest, hardworking young men, there were a few, but their family backgrounds fell short. Anything below the standards of the Sun family was unacceptable to them.

Madam Su lowered her voice and said, "Mother, should we ask the youngest sister to keep an eye out for us? I'm not asking for much; at the very least, when Guyu marries over there, she should be able to eat her fill."

Madam Huang nodded, then shook her head and said, "When she came for the New Year, I already asked Chunjiyao to keep an eye out. I wonder how diligent she's been about it?"

No matter what, the eldest granddaughter was the first child of the Sun family, so Madam Huang cared deeply about her and naturally hoped for her well-being.

As for asking the eldest aunt, neither Madam Su nor Madam Huang had ever considered it, feeling deep down that their granddaughter was unworthy of marrying into the prefectural city. Regardless of temperament or appearance, people in the city would never take a liking to someone like Guyu.

Sun Shan closed his eyes, pretending to sleep, while his ears pricked up to eavesdrop on his grandmother and mother's conversation.

His heart skipped a beat. That's right, eldest sister Guyu was already fifteen. In another year, at sixteen, she would be of age to marry, and at the latest, she had to be married off by eighteen. If she passed eighteen, she would be an old maid, making it even harder to find a match.

An image of his eldest sister floated into Sun Shan's mind: thin, with slightly yellowish hair, resembling Madam Su, and not particularly pretty. Yet she was honest, kind, nimble with chores, and fiercely protective of her younger siblings. She was especially good to Sun Shan, saving the best food—which their parents refused to give—entirely for him.

At this thought, Sun Shan's eyes grew red, and he genuinely hoped his eldest sister would find a good destination.

He carefully reviewed the young men he knew. Aside from the senior disciples at the Zheng family's private school, the rest were all members of the Sun family and thus out of the question.

As for the senior disciples at the Zheng family school, they were all younger than the eldest sister and also fell outside the scope of consideration.

He felt anxious in his heart. In the neighboring Zheng Family Village, only the family of Scholar Zheng had a decent background. He heard they had an eldest grandson of sixteen who was a suitable match in age for the eldest sister, but the young man worked in the county seat, and Sun Shan had never laid eyes on him.

As for the neighboring Yang Family Village—which was Yang Qingbei's village—the local landlord was the wealthiest, and little Qingbei had an elder brother, but he was already married.

As for places further away, Sun Shan truly could not think of anyone else.

He thought of his youngest aunt again. The suburbs of the county seat were much more affluent than Sun Family Village. This was an area Madam Su had focused on exploring; after all, with the youngest aunt living there and knowing many people, marrying Guyu off in that direction would mean she had someone to look after her.

Then he thought of his eldest aunt. It would be best to marry the eldest sister into the prefectural city; life there was bound to be better than in Huangyang County, and it would benefit the eldest sister's future children as well.

However, how easy was it for a rural girl to marry into the prefectural city, especially in a place with such rigid social strata? The eldest aunt marrying "up" into the He family was pure luck. Moreover, the second young master He was merely from a collateral branch, not the direct lineage. He was just within the five degrees of mourning relationship with the direct lineage serving as officials in the capital, thus receiving the protection of the capital's He family.

After letting his mind wander wildly, Sun Shan drifted off to sleep.

Early the next morning, he was pulled out of bed by Madam Su. After breakfast, he hurried over to the Zheng family's private school to begin a new day of studies.

Master Zheng had just finished explaining the new material and arranged for Sun Shan and the others to study independently and practice calligraphy, announcing he would return shortly to spot-check their progress.

Sun Shan recited the text with cadence. Once he had memorized it well enough, he silently reviewed the new material in his head, marking any parts he did not understand so he could consult the master later.

Little De was reading while shaking his head, stumbling back and forth in a disjointed manner that made both Sun Shan and Yang Qingbei frown.

Little De asked with utter confidence, "Shanzi, I read this using the capital dialect. Is it correct?" His expression seemed to say, "Look at how amazing I am; I can read all of it."

Sun Shan said ruthlessly, "Little De, several of the pronunciations you used are wrong." He then pointed them out one by one to help him correct them.

Yang Qingbei, sitting nearby, asked in admiration, "A-Shan, can you read all of it?"

A-Shan looked quite ordinary, yet he was surprisingly capable—he understood everything completely after the master explained it just a few times.

Sun Shan said sheepishly, "I just memorize and read frequently, and that's how I remember it." In truth, he marked unfamiliar pronunciations and used a special system to notate the sounds.

Yang Qingbei said with an envious tone, "A-Shan, there are quite a few characters I don't know how to read. Can you teach me?"

Sun Shan nodded and said, "Of course. We can all learn from each other."

In his past life, Sun Shan had never minded sharing knowledge with others; mutual learning fostered greater progress. He particularly yearned for the days of discussing problems with the top students in his class, where collaborating on tasks always brought a deep sense of accomplishment and helped him acquire fresh knowledge.

Study—only through mutual study could one make better progress.

As the saying went: "When three walk together, there must be one who can be my teacher," and "Three cobblers with their wits combined equal Zhuge Liang the master mind." Interacting with others enhanced one's capacity for thought.