Inviting the Moon to the Farmhouse

Chapter 33 The Past of the Tian Family

While I was having breakfast, a young man called out from the courtyard gate, "Is Tian Guang home?"

Upon hearing the sound, Wang Cui quickly put down her bowl and chopsticks and ran to the yard.

Xia Lanyue was startled by the sound; she was still somewhat traumatized by yesterday's events. She looked up at Dai You, who was looking at her with concern. Xia Lanyue winked at Dai You, signaling him to go out and see what was going on. The two walked out of the kitchen, where a spirited young man was talking to Wang Cui in the yard.

"How much grain was lost? You can't lie about it, we'll verify it," the man said.

"Tian Guang hasn't come back yet, I don't know either," Wang Cui said anxiously.

"I'm back," Tian Guang's voice came from the doorway; he had rushed back.

“You’re back just in time. Li Chuan is here. Do you know how much food our family is short of?” Wang Cui stepped forward and grabbed Tian Guang’s arm.

“We lost five shi (a unit of dry measure),” Tian Guang said.

“I’ll write this down first, and then I’ll verify it again later,” Li Chuan said. “If the grain is recovered, we will repay everyone proportionally.”

Upon hearing this, Tian Guang nodded.

Li Chuan looked up at Xia Lanyue and Dai You, turned the book in his hand to a blank page, and said, "You two must be Xia Lanyue and Dai You, right? Please write your names and household registration here, we need them for the investigation." Then, he handed the book and brush to Xia Lanyue.

"Do we still need to investigate like this?" Dai You asked, puzzled.

"I'm just following orders from above. Whether there's an investigation or not, I don't know," Li Chuan said.

Xia Lanyue took the booklet. Suddenly, she remembered Dai Xiyue's name, which had appeared in her dream. So, relying on her memory, she wrote it down, deliberately leaning closer to Dai You as she wrote. She was certain that Dai You had seen her writing without questioning it, so she figured she must have written it correctly. Then, she handed the booklet to Dai You, leaving the rest to him to write.

“Zhongqi East Street…” Xia Lanyue silently memorized the address.

After the names and places of origin were written down, Li Chuan took the booklet and left.

"Who was that just now?" Xia Lanyue asked Wang Cui.

“It’s our village head, a minor official who helps the village chief with his work,” Wang Cui said.

Xia Lanyue nodded, and then she heard Wang Cui speak to Tian Guang, "Did you overreport the quantity?"

"You overreported it; it was probably less than three shi (a unit of dry measure) that were lost," Tian Guang said.

"Hey, why did you report so little? Why didn't you report more?" Wang Cui complained. "If you don't say more, others will, and when it comes to dividing the spoils proportionally, you'll get less."

Tian Guang was annoyed by her and replied casually, "He's still investigating. We'll talk about it later."

After saying that, Wang Cui sighed helplessly, "What can I say?"

Tian Guang didn't like what he heard and went into the kitchen to eat.

During the meal, Tian Guang looked at Xia Lanyue and asked, "I didn't vouch for you yesterday, do you hate us?"

Xia Lanyue was taken aback when he brought up this topic. After a moment's thought, she realized that saying she hated him was too strong a word, but she was genuinely disappointed. However, all she could say was, "No."

“Uncle knows you hate us. It’s not that I didn’t want to vouch for him, I was just too scared. My son went to jail and died there because he vouched for someone,” Tian Guang said, wiping his snot as he spoke. “Back then, he was tricked without even realizing it. He only found out what happened when he was in jail, but it was too late. He died of anger in jail. But he wouldn’t say anything and wouldn’t let us avenge him. He felt we didn’t have the ability and didn’t want us to get involved too.”

At this point, Wang Cui was already crying uncontrollably.

Xia Lanyue was shocked. She hadn't expected them to have such a past. After hearing Tian Guang's story, she could understand them. She walked over, squatted down next to Wang Cui, and hugged her.

It took Tian Guang and the other person quite a while to compose themselves.

After dinner, Xia Lanyue and Dai You packed their belongings and prepared to go to Xia Yao's house. After spending several days together, they had developed feelings for Tian Guang and his wife, and were a little reluctant to leave them suddenly.

"It's right next door, you can see it whenever you want," Tian Guang said, though it was unclear whether he was referring to Xia Lanyue and the others, or to himself.

Tian Guang insisted on taking Xia Lanyue to Xia Yao's house, and they agreed.

The person who opened the door was my square-faced cousin from yesterday.

Xia Lanyue rolled her eyes at him and asked, "Where's Xia Yao? He sent us."

"He's lying inside," said my square-faced cousin, who also looked like he was not to be trifled with.

Xia Lanyue shouted loudly in the courtyard, "Xia Yao, we're here!" After hearing the response from inside the house, they entered Xia Yao's house.

"You've arrived," Xia Yao said, trying to get up, but was stopped by the others.

“Ah Yue’s room is all ready, it’s right next to mine,” Xia Yao said with a smile.

Xia Lanyue nodded, then waited for him to continue. When he ran out of things to say, she asked, "What about my brother? Which room does he live in?"

"Him? Is he going to stay here too?" Xia Yao glanced at Dai Yao, then looked at Xia Lanyue. "I thought only A-Yue was coming, so I only prepared one room."

Dai You snorted coldly, "Since Mr. Xia didn't intend for us to come, then we won't bother you any longer," and then pointed at Xia Lanyue with his finger, "Let's go back to Uncle Tian's house."

"Should she stay in the kitchen and sleep on the floor?!" Xia Yao said, then looked at Tian Guang. "Third Uncle, I'm not blaming you for not being hospitable, but your conditions are indeed limited. You can't let her sleep in the kitchen all the time, can you? Why don't you let her stay here with me? That would lighten your burden a bit."

“Ah?! I understand, I also think it’s better for her to stay here with you,” Tian Guang turned to Xia Lanyue and said, “Pangao is much better than mine, the house is only a few years old, it’s good for you to stay here. Also, you don’t need to worry about his character, I know him, he’s a good kid, he won’t mistreat you.”

Seeing Tian Guang also trying to persuade her, Xia Lanyue secretly glanced at Dai You, whose eyes were blazing with anger. So, she turned to Xia Yao and said, "Then please arrange a room for my brother as well, Mr. Xia. We won't be separated."

Xia Yao was not surprised to hear this and said, "Ah, but all the rooms are full. How about we trouble Brother Dai to stay in the room across the street? That's the room I use for teaching. He can rest there at night."

Dai You glanced at Xia Yao sideways, then looked away without saying a word.

Xia Lanyue glanced at Dai You's expression, and not caring about his feelings anymore, she just wanted to agree first. "Okay," she said, then carefully looked at Dai You's expression again. Seeing that he didn't react, she felt relieved.

"When will your foot be fully healed?" Tian Guang asked Xia Yao.

"The doctor said it would take about twenty days, but I feel it won't take that long. I can get out of bed now," Xia Rao said.

"That's good, then I'm relieved," Tian Guang said with a smile, then asked, "How much grain did your family lose?"

"Mother and Aniu are counting it. It should be about thirty shi (a unit of dry measure), right?" Xia Yao turned to his square-faced cousin, "Right, Acheng?"

"Yes, that's about right," Acheng replied.

Ah Cheng? Please don't tell me it's the Cheng of honesty, that's too ironic, Xia Lanyue thought to herself.

"Oh dear, there are so many," Tian Guang said with a hint of heartache, "Didn't either of you notice?"

These words also aroused Xia Lanyue's doubts.

"I didn't expect anyone to actually come. We even got into a fight with them, and I even hurt my arm. Look," he said, rolling up his sleeve to show Tian Guang the wound.

“Hey… if Chief Zhao can’t find the grain, all your work this season will have been for nothing. You’ll have to make sure he exempts you from taxes,” Tian Guang said to Xia Yao.

"Okay, I understand. I'll talk to Village Chief Zhao about it."

Then Tian Guang looked at Xia Lanyue and said to Xia Yao, "I'm leaving these two children in your care. I'm going back now, and I'll come see you another day."

"Don't worry, Third Uncle," Xia Yao said with a smile.

“I saw Uncle Tian out, and then I went to the fields,” Acheng said.

Xia Yao nodded to him.