—Ah!
They were all at it—some falling in love, some becoming fathers—leaving Xu Huaiqian utterly sick with envy.
"Don't worry," Chen Liejiu, seeing Xu Huaiqian's expression, thought he was envious of Duan Youyan becoming a father, and whispered to him, "Men have a hard time getting pregnant. After you return from the provincial exams, it'll be my heat flush period again. If we work hard, maybe next year you can be a dad too, just like Duan Youyan!"
"Please, no—" Hearing this, Xu Huaiqian's heart tightened, and he quickly hugged his wife close. "A-Jiu, I'm still young!"
"You're not young!" Twenty-one—in other families, men his age would have kids running around already!
Xu Huaiqian protested: "I am still young!" He was still a tender young cabbage—being enjoyed by his wife was enough; he didn't want to have offspring yet.
Chen Liejiu looked at him curiously. Before, when he said he was small, Xu Huaiqian insisted he touch him to prove he wasn't small. But now that fatherhood was mentioned, he claimed he was small. Truly, the male heart is as deep as the sea—impossible to fathom.
"Alright, you're still young." Since his little husband didn't want to, what could Chen Liejiu do? Of course, he would indulge him.
"But," Xu Huaiqian didn't want to be a father, but his mind was still sharp, "since men can only get pregnant during heat flush, does that mean if we find the hidden pressure points on every man and continuously stimulate heat flush, we could also solve the problem of low pregnancy rates among men?"
Why was it hard for men to get pregnant?
Because most could only conceive during heat flush, and only a very few could get pregnant naturally.
"Theoretically, yes," Duan Youyan nodded—he had thought the same. "But whether for women or men, pregnancy is extremely taxing. And we still don't know if continuously stimulating these hidden points will harm the man's body. These issues need to be resolved."
At this, Duan Youyan looked fondly and worriedly at Sheng Yunjin in his arms and fell silent.
"It's okay, this is my own choice." Sheng Yunjin looked up at Duan Youyan and smiled. "Life is short—we have to do something meaningful. Since heaven gave me this special body and we discovered it, not using it would be a waste."
Besides, if not for Duan Youyan's accidental needle that day, he would have burned to death from heat flush long ago. How could he have the happiness he has now?
Helping men across the world and helping Duan Youyan—he was willing.
The carriage wheels rolled over the wide, smooth coal-cinder road of Xinghua Village. Villagers on both sides saw the long procession and knew Xu Huaiqian and the others were heading to Changnan for the provincial exams.
They came out of their homes to see them off: "Brother Liejiu! Scholar Xu!"
"What is it?!" Hearing people call them, Chen Liejiu stopped the carriage, lifted the curtain, and leaned out with Xu Huaiqian.
"When traveling far, take a handful of rice," an elderly woman said, grabbing a handful of rice from her home and pressing it into Xu Huaiqian and Chen Liejiu's hands. "This way, your journey will be safe and smooth, and you won't meet any evil spirits!"
"Yes!" Behind her, other elderly people also held bowls of rice and approached them. "We're also here to give you rice—take a little from each. Rice from a hundred homes wards off all ghosts!"
Chen Liejiu turned to Xu Huaiqian to ask his opinion. Xu Huaiqian's first thought was that this was superstitious nonsense! But seeing the sincere faces outside the carriage, he still said to Chen Liejiu: "Just take a little from each family!"
"Okay! Not much, just a small handful!" Hearing they agreed, the villagers were overjoyed. Each family contributed a handful of rice, placed in a small cloth bag, and handed to Chen Liejiu. "Just this little bit. How do you say it—may Scholar Xu have a smooth journey and have his name on the list! Yes! Have his name on the list!"
The villagers didn't know how to properly wish someone luck for the exams—they had asked their school-going children last night—so their words were a bit awkward.
Xu Huaiqian wasn't bothered at all: "I've received everyone's blessings—I will definitely have my name on the list!"
Unlike the previous Xiucai exam, this one tested current affairs—Xu Huaiqian's strong suit. He wasn't aiming for the top; there were many outstanding people out there. But with current affairs as his strength, he could at least scrape through and become a Juren!
"Then we'll be waiting! The first Xiucai in the village! The first Juren!" Seeing his confidence, the villagers weren't worried about him failing. They congratulated him with full confidence.
Xu Huaiqian was also in high spirits: "Then you better watch closely! Have your own children take the exams in the future!"
Where there's a first, there's a second. Once Xu Huaiqian became a Juren, he believed that in a few years, the village children studying now would also pass, just like him!
"That would be wonderful! We accept your auspicious words, Scholar Xu!"
Amid laughter and chatter, the villagers gathered around the carriage and saw off Xu Huaiqian and his group. In their eyes was deep reluctance to see them go.
Over the past two years, Xu Huaiqian had the villagers grow ginger. For two years, every household earned thirty taels of silver annually—and that was without delaying their grain farming.
Combined with income from their crops, every household in Xinghua Village now had extra money. The entire village had brick-and-tile houses—no more thatched huts leaking on rainy days, no more struggling to get by.
With better lives, they didn't forget who brought it all. Though Xu Huaiqian rarely went out and didn't interact much with the villagers, they all saw him as their own child. Now that their child was leaving for the exams, they couldn't help but worry.
The Chen clan felt the same concern. Over the past two years, they had burned charcoal with Chen Liejiu, selling more each year and earning more money.
From fifty taels two years ago, to sixty the year before, then eighty last year—everyone estimated they could make a hundred this year!
So many people bought charcoal!
From only selling in winter to now having demand year-round, their charcoal kilns never stopped burning.
Life was truly more hopeful each year. Before, they went up the mountain to burn charcoal without any protection. Now, with money, they all followed Scholar Xu's example, buying cotton from cloth shops to make masks, wearing them like Brother Lieju to keep out dust while burning charcoal.
These were small things. What mattered was that they could also send their children to school. Clan members who were once illiterate now learned to read with their kids. If nothing else, they could definitely recognize their own names now!
Remembering that such a life was brought by Xu Huaiqian and Chen Liejiu, and thinking of Xu Huaiqian's poor health, a quick-thinking clan member slapped her thigh: "Oh no! Will Scholar Xu go blind again from the exams in Changnan, like last time?"
"Oh!" Her reminder made everyone react. "I should have given him the eggs from our house! Every little bit helps!"
"Brother Lieju knows how to nourish Scholar Xu—he doesn't need your two eggs!" Chen Gui's wife wasn't pleased hearing this. She lived next to Chen Liejiu and knew he fed Xu Huaiqian delicacies from land and sea—what good were eggs?
"Well, it's the thought that counts!" The villagers were better off now, but not rich enough to buy delicacies like Chen Liejiu. All they could offer were simple things.
"Your thought isn't enough." Chen Gui's wife shook her head, then turned and brought out a basket of eggs. "I'm going to the temple to pray for Scholar Xu. Are you coming?"
The villagers were puzzled: "Pray?"
"Yes, I lit a Changning lantern at the temple for Scholar Xu, praying for his eternal peace and smoothness." As a clan member, Chen Gui's wife knew that many clan households had set up longevity tablets for Xu Huaiqian at home, praying for his long life.
But she had once been at odds with Xu Huaiqian and Chen Liejiu's family and often gossiped about them. Yet they bore no grudge, still buying trees from her and allocating land for her to grow ginger. Just setting up a longevity tablet wasn't enough—she had to do more to atone.
So she thought of lighting a Changning lantern for Xu Huaiqian at the temple. She'd done it for two years. Whether it worked or not, she didn't know, but Xu Huaiqian seemed better these past two years.
Someone asked: "How much for a lantern? We'll light one too!"
"One tael a year!" Even Chen Gui's wife found it strange—back then, she cried and complained all over the village after compensating Chen Liejiu with a chicken. But now, spending one tael on a lantern felt completely worth it!
"Light it! Light it!" In the past, one tael would have made the villagers' hearts, livers, spleen, and stomach tremble with pain. But now, thinking one tael could pray for a year of safety for Xu Huaiqian, they didn't hurt at all.
Before, they prayed to gods and Buddhas for great wealth, but heaven seemed not to hear, leaving them poor year after year.
Now, Xu Huaiqian had easily made them prosperous—they couldn't let him go blind from exams again like during the Xiucai exams.
A group of women took candles and incense to the temple to light lanterns for Xu Huaiqian. Passing by the Xu family's land, they saw them secretly growing ginger but didn't bother.
As growing ginger made their village rich, people in surrounding villages gradually started growing ginger too, though they couldn't sell it for as high a price.
Their ginger was under contract between Scholar Xu and Shengbei medical clinics, with fixed prices.
Other villagers had to find their own buyers. Fortunately, over the past two years, eating ginger had become popular throughout Yong'an Prefecture. Teahouses and restaurants in the county introduced many ginger dishes. People tried them and found ginger quite tasty.
Especially when used as a seasoning—it could remove all sorts of fishy smells. They heard a fisherman in Taoyuan County used ginger to make a de-fishing seasoning; the fish he cooked were incredibly delicious. He opened a fish restaurant on a boat on the river, and business was booming. Clan members who delivered charcoal ate there and praised it highly.
Many village families had decided to try it too after selling ginger this autumn.
That's what made life purposeful!