During the reign of Kangxi in the Qing Dynasty, there was a rich man named Gao Dongfang in Jimo County, Shandong Province. Unfortunately, his wife passed away due to illness, leaving behind a boy of less than five years old, Changfu. How could a big man in Gao Dongfang pull the child?
Changfu's stepmother was named Xiliu, who was nineteen years old. After getting married, Xiliu and Gao Dongfang raised their eyebrows and loved each other in every way. It was rare that Xiliu also cared very much about Changfu and never beat or scolded. Once, when Xiliu wanted to go back to her parents' house, Xiao Changfu cried desperately and had to follow, but Gao Dongfang didn't listen to any advice. Seeing that their mother and son were so deeply in love, a stone in Gao Dongfang's heart finally fell to the ground, which was very comforting.
A year later, Xiliu also gave birth to a fat white boy who was named the eldest parent. It was when the family was happy and beautiful, but unexpectedly, Gao Dongfang had a drink with a friend one day, and fell from the horse and died on the way home. Xiliu and the two children became orphans and widows.
Time was like an arrow, and Changfu was ten years old in a flash, and Xiliu sent him to a private school to study. However, Changfu was very playful, fishing for three days and drying nets for two days. He skipped school at every turn, and as soon as he skipped school, he played wildly with a group of cattle herders, often without seeing his figure for three days or two. Xiliu first scolded Changfu, and then beat him so hard that several sticks were broken. Every time Changfu was beaten, it hurt so much that wolves cried and howled, but strangely Changfu was not afraid of being beaten at all, so he still skipped school. When he healed his scars and forgot the pain, he was still playful, and Xiliu had nothing to do with him.
One day, Xiliu called Changfu to him and said, "Changfu, since you don't want to study, I can't force you. Anyway, I'm worthy of your dead parents. However, we are not rich and rich people who can't afford to eat idle food. From today on, you have to learn to support yourself. Don't you like herding cattle? Well, you take off your clothes and put on old clothes to herd cattle. Remember, if you don't work for a day, you won't have food to eat! I'm going to beat you hard!"
So, from that day on, Changfu put on shabby clothes, went out to herd cattle before dawn, went home late at night, and there was no delicious food waiting for him when he returned home - he had to heat the thin willows and the leftovers of his parents' leftovers. After ten days like this, Changfu couldn't take it anymore, such a day was too hard. So he knelt in front of the thin willows crying and said, "Mother, please send me to study, I will definitely study hard." The thin willows were as frosty as if they didn't hear at all, and turned to the back room. Changfu knelt for half an hour, and seeing that his stepmother would not change her mind, he had no choice but to herd the cattle with a bullwhip and tears in his eyes.
It was late autumn, and the cold wind was blowing, Changfu was still wearing that tattered single dress, and a few toes were all exposed from the tattered shoes; the cold rain was continuous, and Changfu was frozen to the point of shrinking his head, like a little beggar. When the neighbors saw it, they all shook their heads: "A child without a mother, pitiful! There is no good-hearted stepmother in the world!" Xiliu heard it in his ears and saw it in his eyes, but he still had a hard heart, and he didn't feel sorry for Changfu at all.
Poor Changfu finally couldn't bear it anymore, so he ran away. When the neighbor Aunt Wang heard about it, she asked Xiliu with a cane, "Mother, you have to find that child, at least he is also a seedling of the Gao family!" Xiliu didn't even lift his eyes: "His feet are on him, he wants to leave, what can I do!" This time, the neighbors accused Xiliu of being vicious behind his back.
Three months later, Changfu was begging for food outside and couldn't get enough to eat, so he had to go home in disgrace. But he did not dare to enter his house rashly, so he begged his neighbor, Aunt Wang, to help him hand over Xiliu. Xiliu said, "If he can get a hundred sticks, he will come to see me, otherwise, he will not enter this threshold!" Changfu heard this, and suddenly rushed into the house, crying bitterly: "I am willing to be beaten, I just hope that my mother will let me go home!" Xiliu asked, "Do you know about repentance?" Changfu said, "I know." Xiliu said, "Since you already know about repentance, you don't need to be beaten. Take care of your cattle!" Changfu cried: "Mother, I am willing to get a hundred sticks, I just hope you let me continue studying!" Xiliu shook her head like a rattle and firmly disagreed: "Let you read, that's a blind man lighting a lamp - wasted wax!" After Changfu's repeated pleas and Aunt Wang's persuasion, Xiliu reluctantly agreed.
After experiencing this ordeal, Changfu knew that the opportunity to study was hard-won, and he began to change his mind and become a new person. He worked hard and made great progress in his studies. At the age of fourteen, he was admitted as a scholar and became a leader among the young students in the county. He was very appreciated by the county magistrate Yang Gong. This is exactly what happened: after a cold spell, he won the fragrance of plum blossoms.
Two flowers bloom, one on each watch. Xiliu's youngest son has been studying for five years, but he can't write a decent article. Xiliu knew that Changzhi was not a material for reading, so he sighed and asked him to go home to a farm. Every day, Changzhi faced the loess and turned his back to the sky, and beads of sweat flowed into the soil in strings. Of course, he was not happy. Changzhi showed a little bit of this thought, and Xiliu was immediately furious: "Since ancient times, the common people have had a kind of ability to settle down. You can't read, and you can't farm. Do you want to starve to death in the stinky ditch?" Saying that, Xiliu picked up a rolling pin and hit it in the face. Seeing that the situation was not good, Changzhi had to work obediently. After that, as long as Changzhi was a little lazy, Xiliu would curse and stick. And what made the eldest parent unconvinced was that the good clothes, good food, and fine willows at home were all left for his brother Changfu. Looking at all this, the eldest parent dared to be angry and did not dare to speak.
Three years later, when Changzhu was familiar with all the farm work, Xiliu took out the capital and asked Changzhu to learn to do business. Changzhu suddenly became relaxed, and he still had a little money to control, so he started gambling in the casino. When he lost the money, he lied to his mother, saying that he had met a thief and had bad luck. Xiliu slowly found out the truth of the matter, called Changzhu over, and beat Changzhu again, and beat Changzhu several times to faint. Changfu was worried that his brother's life was in danger, so he knelt straight in front of his mother with a "plop" sound: "Mother, my brother is young and ignorant, and it is my responsibility to not teach my brother well. Please hit me!" Xiliu stopped. After this, as soon as the eldest mother went out, the thin willow sent powerful servants to follow, and the eldest mother had to be a good person with her tail between her legs.
A few months later, the eldest parent said to Xiliu: "Mother, there are a few people in our village who are going to to Jinan Mansion to do business together. I also want to have a better experience. Can you see it?" After saying that, the eldest parent stood respectfully. Xiliu pondered for a moment, smiled and nodded: "It's okay, you can go and lie down." The eldest parent was overjoyed.
The next day, before the eldest parent left, Xiliu took out thirty taels of silver and a gold ingot and said to him, "The elder parent, these thirty taels of silver will be used as capital for you. It doesn't matter whether you earn or lose money. Young people, gaining knowledge is the most important thing. This gold ingot is a relic of your ancestors. I gave it to you so that it can bless you on a safe journey. You must not touch it!" The elder parent was ecstatic in his heart, but nodded repeatedly on the surface.
Arriving at Jinan Mansion, the eldest parent found an excuse to get rid of his fellow countrymen, and swaggered straight to the famous casino in Jinan - Shenglou. In less than ten days, thirty taels of silver were wasted, and he still owed some gambling bills. The eldest parent thought that there was a big gold ingot, and he was neither flustered nor distressed in his heart. He proudly took out the big ingot and asked the casino owner to replace it with broken silver. Unexpectedly, as soon as the boss split it open, it was actually made of copper! The eldest parent's face turned white now, and his palms began to sweat. The casino owner rolled his eyes at the eldest parent and said with a smile, "Does this uncle dare to be joking?" The eldest parent quickly defended: "The little one really doesn't know. Well, I'll borrow money right away, and I'll definitely pay you back!" The boss whispered to a friend, then pointed to the stool and said to the eldest parent, "This master, you stay here for a while, I still have something to do."
After a while, two yamen came over aggressively and tied the eldest mother firmly. After arriving at the yamen, the eldest mother was still confused and did not know why he had entered the official government. He asked the yacht in a low voice, only to find out that it was the casino owner who reported to the yacht that he had made fake money. Because the evidence was clear, and there was no guarantor, after being beaten, the eldest mother was locked up in prison. In prison, how could he have a penny to please the prisoners, so the prisoners punched him even more, and the eldest mother suffered a lot.
Let's go back to talking about Xiliu again. At the beginning, when Changfu left the house, Xiliu said to Changfu: "Twenty days later, you will go to Jinan Mansion. I am old, and I am afraid that I will not remember it by then, so you can remember it." Changfu didn't know what his mother meant, thinking that her mother was really old and confused, so he couldn't help but feel sad secretly. After twenty days, Changfu asked his mother, Xiliu said: "Your brother's frivolity and debauchery now is like how you didn't like studying back then. Back then, if I hadn't been afraid of being scolded by the evil queen on my back and tried to restrain you, where would you have achieved such an achievement today? Back then, when I saw you like that, I cried behind my back again and again!" As he said that, Xiliu shed tears, and Changfu stood beside him respectfully, not daring to say a word. Xiliu continued, "Your brother didn't completely care, so I deliberately gave him a fake ingot to make him suffer a little bit. Now, I guess he is already squatting in prison. Lord Yin of Jinan Mansion is our county magistrate Yang Gong back then. He appreciates you so much, you go and beg him, you can definitely let your brother out, and in this way, your brother will definitely repent." Changfu immediately set off.
When Changfu arrived in Jinan to inquire, his brother had indeed been in prison for three days. He looked like a person and a ghost. When he saw his brother, he cried aloud.
After his parents arrived home, he saw his mother, but he could not kneel down. Xiliu's face was full of anger: "Now you are satisfied, right?" His parents wept in shame, begging his mother for forgiveness, and Changfu also knelt down to plead for his brother.
From then on, the eldest mother changed her ways, did business steadily, and worked hard. Xiliu finally raised two good sons.