LAVW – Chapter 96 A Bountiful Trial

Chen Niu ran his hand through his hair, breaking the strange triangular silence in the house first.

He asked the old lady, “Grandma, can you tell me first—what’s this about selling the bowl?”

Zhang Peiyue didn’t reply immediately. She went straight into the house and brought out the gold bowl wrapped in cloth.

Before unwrapping it, she instructed Chen Niu to close the main door. Chen Niu shut the door, then turned back, his eyes fixed on the golden bowl.

He widened his eyes, but lowered his voice: “This—is this bowl made of gold?”

Zhang Peiyue nodded and explained clearly, “That night when we ate the brown sugar steamed buns, it was given to me by Qian Niuhua.”

Then the old lady looked at Xiao Niu: “Qian Niuhua, what did you want to say?”

Having cleared up Chen Niu’s confusion, it was now Zhang Peiyue’s turn to be puzzled. She hadn’t understood what the little yellow cow meant just now.

Shi Qian lifted his hoof and carefully traced out: “I… want to learn, too.”

This time, Chen Niu reacted first: “Learn high school knowledge like you?”

But he still wasn’t clever enough: “But it’d be troublesome to have someone teach me like that, right?” He had been making time every day to study with the little cow.

Finding a teacher who could teach everything would not only be troublesome, but the requirements would be too high.

Zhang Peiyue rewrapped the gold bowl and smiled faintly: “I mean… just study at home.”

Shi Qian noticed that when the old lady smiled, the coldness on her face melted away, leaving her exceptionally gentle. Ever since the Xianghong family had been taken to the Public Security Bureau, the old lady had been smiling more.

He nodded and said, “Moo moo.”

Yes, just study at home.

Shi Qian thought that going to high school now would obviously be too late.

But self-study would take about a year, and since Chen Niu now had the comprehension and self-discipline of an adult, self-learning shouldn’t be… too slow.

If it didn’t work out, they could seek help from others, which would also help others start learning earlier.

If that still didn’t work, Shi Qian could go through the material himself and cram the “knowledge” into Chen Niu’s brain.

Since arriving in this world, the knowledge Shi Qian had learned didn’t reject him; even with a cow’s head, he could learn smoothly.

How to put it… it didn’t feel like the way the Dao excluded him, maybe because of the parallel world’s shared origin. Unlike in the cultivation world, where spirit beasts seemed like random adopted kids.

Chen Niu suddenly understood.

He exclaimed with delight: “Ah! Why didn’t I think of that earlier? Just get the books and study at home by myself. This way we save money and can still take care of the house.”

For Chen Niu, balancing school and taking care of Grandma had always been a dilemma.

Now, the problem was solved.

Seeing that he was willing, Zhang Peiyue pulled out a blackened silver hairpin from under the cloth and handed it to Chen Niu.

“Take this and try to sell it. Once you find a buyer, remember to quietly tell the Party Branch Secretary.”

Chen Niu took the hairpin, hesitating: “Do I have to find someone in the black market to sell this?”

He knew where the black market was but had never been there.

Earlier, being naive, Zhang Peiyue would never have trusted him to deal with such things.

Zhang Peiyue said, “What’s there to be afraid of? Just go see, someone will oversee it. Remember to give the secretary a few eggs and explain why, so he doesn’t chase you out.”

Hearing someone would supervise him, Chen Niu nodded: “Okay, thanks, Grandma.”

Shi Qian saw the old lady nod politely and then tuck the gold bowl back into her arms just as it had been.

So this house really did have money!

He just didn’t know it.

Shi Qian looked at the old lady’s departing back and felt a little reluctant about the gold bowl being sent out.

Zhang Peiyue turned back and saw the little cow looking pitiful, smiling: “You don’t need Grandma to keep it for you, right? You can hide it yourself.”

Shi Qian shook his head: “Moo moo.”

No need, no need—let it count as shared food expenses.

It was all given away; getting it back—unless it was from Chen Niu—Shi Qian wouldn’t dare from Grandma’s hands.

No surprise, the grandmother’s indulgence was real; otherwise, Chen Niu wouldn’t have dared suggest putting a nose ring in his own nose.

Then he saw the old lady, looking happy, set down her door curtain and went to hide the bowl.

Shi Qian, feeling he had nothing to do, asked Chen Niu to open the door and went outside to graze.

Left alone in the main hall, Chen Niu glanced at the little cow outside, then stepped into his grandma’s room.

“What are you doing? No manners.”

The old lady, having just hidden her things, was slightly displeased that her grandson came in silently.

Chen Niu didn’t notice, and whispered: “Grandma, do you think Qian Niuhua is one of those magical creatures in stories who comes to deliver treasures? You saved him in a past life—or I did—and now he’s here to repay the favor?”

The old lady rolled her eyes at her grandson: “Qian Niuhua said the gold bowl was taken right here in this courtyard. Understand?”

“Right here in our courtyard?”

Chen Niu thought of earlier events and guessed: “Could it be from our ancestors?”

Zhang Peiyue closed her eyes, humored him with a false ‘hm,’ and said: “Maybe, I guess.”

“Yeah, otherwise how could it be so perfect?” Chen Niu felt even more certain he was right.

Shi Qian pricked up his ears, hearing his own name and sneaking closer…

Starting from the old lady, he probably had some connection with that “Brother Qiao” for her to recall past events.

Now, it seemed like they tricked Chen Niu into thinking Shi Qian was truly their “ancestor.”

Shi Qian had considered being the “ancestor,” but hadn’t expected the old lady would go along with Chen Niu’s guess and make it happen.

Then he heard Zhang Peiyue chase Chen Niu out: “Go out, Grandma’s old and needs to rest.”

Her voice was airy, soft, and weak.

She really had aged.

Shi Qian thought this was just brushing Chen Niu off.

But that night, when Chen Niu took a bath, Zhang Peiyue gently touched his head again and asked softly: “Did you eavesdrop at noon?”

“Grandma knows lying is wrong, but I really am old now.”

Shi Qian suddenly realized—the old lady was already thinking about his and Chen Niu’s future.

Chen Niu could teach him, indulge him like the old lady wished, not put a nose rope on him, treating him like a playmate. But clearly, he didn’t maintain the special emotional bond that the old lady did with Shi Qian.

Adding a bond between Shi Qian and Chen Niu wasn’t meant to give Shi Qian any power or freedom to act recklessly—it was simply to deepen their connection, to make their emotional ties stronger.

Some things only exist once a beginning is made.

A relationship like this clearly benefited Shi Qian more.

Because if you only looked at his “status,” he was just a cow under human control.

Shi Qian gently nuzzled the old lady. “Moo moo.”

Grandma, may you live a long life!

Zhang Peiyue stroked the little calf’s head and smiled, “Even if he’s not clever, you still have to watch over him.”

So—there was no need to let the not-so-clever grandson know the truth.

Shi Qian nodded, solemnly promising to help Zhang Peiyue take good care of her grandson, while also sending a “good person card” to that “Brother Qiao.”

He must be a very, very good person for the old lady to still remember him after all these years, and to worry so much about a little calf that actually had nothing to do with him.

Chen Niu’s path to selling silver hairpins was not smooth.

The farm work was simply too busy, and it wasn’t until it rained that he got a day off.

Taking advantage of the light rain and the holiday, Chen Niu could finally make another trip to the county town.

Shi Qian knew he was noticeable, so he stayed home with the old lady, occasionally helping—or accidentally messing things up—while she sewed a quilt.

Winter was approaching.

Zhang Peiyue wanted to use old clothes to make a new quilt. The cotton from old, worn-out jackets had been brought to the county town by Chen Niu, intending to have a cotton specialist fluff it up again.

The old clothes were sorted by color by the old lady. Shi Qian looked on, thinking that when patched together, it would probably look very nice.

The old lady had excellent taste in colors, probably from having learned embroidery or color matching in the past.

Shi Qian helped finish sorting the threads, then lay on the side.

He couldn’t help but wonder what kind of life the old lady had lived before getting married.

When Zhang Peiyue took a break, Shi Qian used his hoof to write the characters for “Before,” wanting to hear a story.

“Before? Nothing much,” Zhang Peiyue refused to continue and just shook her head.

Seeing that she was unwilling, Shi Qian didn’t press and instead wrote to compliment the quilt.

Zhang Peiyue nodded at the little calf’s head and smiled, “Luckily, you can’t talk. If you could, that would be something else.”

Shi Qian: “Moo moo.”

That was enough—already impressive.

When Chen Niu returned, he went to see Xu Youguang, and after a while, took a half-day off to get the cotton.

The difficult, covert money-exchanging journey had finally succeeded.

The next problem was where to get textbooks.

Chen Niu, while working hard to study, also became friends with Xie Guoan.

Xie Guoan naturally had a good temper. Chen Niu wasn’t eloquent, but he jumped at work, tried not to disturb anyone, and showed a genuine attitude toward learning. It didn’t take long for Xie Guoan to become a “private tutor.”

Sometimes, when Shi Qian played with Lin Nanyin and Xu Guozi, he almost misunderstood—had Chen Niu forgotten about Lin Zhiqing, the one he had been thinking of so much?

In fact, Chen Niu had simply made a schedule: work diligently, study diligently, and ask about Lin Zhiqing every ten days.

As for Teacher Xie, he was just a new brother.

They could slack off together without hesitation.

Only that one day, after Chen Niu went fishing in the river and gave some to Teacher Xie, Xie Guoan privately scolded Xu Youguang.

“You go fishing if you go, but once you bring it to the team leader’s house to eat, how are you going to explain it?”

Xu Youguang didn’t forbid everyone from thinking of their own ways privately, but he had to set an example himself.

However, after the scolding, Xie Guoan realized—his treatment at Xu’s house had actually improved.

To show gratitude, Xie Guoan found a way to get a full set of high school textbooks at a low price and gave them to an excellent farmer brother, Chen Niu, who couldn’t attend high school due to poverty but still wanted to keep learning.

The villagers also noticed Chen Niu’s eagerness to learn.

They found it hard to understand why he was so intent on studying books, thinking it useless. He couldn’t go to the city anyway—he didn’t have an urban household registration.

But then they noticed Chen Niu wanted to teach Qian Niuhua to study, and they all laughed heartily, occasionally jokingly calling him Teacher Chen Niu.

Chen Niu breathed a sigh of relief. He had felt a little embarrassed and didn’t want to appear “strange” in the village, but it turned out others didn’t mind as much as he thought.

Every day brought new “news.”

Lin Nanyin felt the same way.

As time passed, living at the village head’s house, she gradually forgot about that night.

She started to forget some details, only vaguely remembering the fear she had felt, but now she no longer trembled in fear when looking out the window before sleep.

Especially, the rumors and others’ gazes she had worried about didn’t seem as frightening as she had imagined.

Even with new friends, she still felt somewhat “different” from most people.

She didn’t have conflicts with others, but this “difference” was something she could sense even in the city.

She might simply dislike talking and socializing, and thus feared “crowds,” preferring to read and immerse herself in another world.

One day, Lin Nanyin received another reply from her family.

Because of her previous concern, her family had sent her a newspaper reporting the successful hybrid rice experiment harvest.

Lin Nanyin took the newspaper and went out with Xu Guozi.

Xu Guozi went to see Xie Guoan, while Lin Nanyin handed the newspaper… to the little yellow calf.

Shi Qian took the newspaper to Chen Niu.

“Moo moo.”

Brother, I think you’re in trouble.