Chapter 58 Yang the Six-Fingered

"Of course it's true! From now on, you all can just sit back and enjoy a good life!"

"Good, good, good! This time, our old Yang family has really produced a college student!"

Hearing his son's words, Yang Chunsheng almost forgot about smoking his pipe. He accidentally choked and coughed heavily several times before catching his breath.

Seeing this, Yang Xiaolan quickly walked behind her father to pat his back and help him soothe his breath. Hearing her second older brother's words, she felt immensely happy inside as well!

With Yang Xingwu's announcement, the household instantly became lively, and it remained bustling for a long time before slowly quieting down.

As soon as Yang Xingwu finished his meal, he made a move to wash the dishes, but his mother snatched them right out of his hand.

"It's getting late. Now that you're back, go over to your grandfather's place and let them know!"

Hearing this, Yang Xingwu realized she was right and immediately got up, ready to head over to his grandfather's house!

Before leaving, Yang Xingwu walked over to the sack, took out a packet of corn candies, unwrapped it, and handed a few to each of his two younger sisters. Just as he was about to hand some to his parents and eldest brother, Wang Zhaodi saw him and waved her hand in refusal.

"We're such big adults, not little kids. What are we eating candy for?"

"Who says adults can't eat candy? Come on, try it, this corn candy is quite sweet!"

With that, Yang Xingwu unwrapped a piece of paper and popped a candy into his mother's mouth.

Realizing she couldn't win against her son, Wang Zhaodi had no choice but to eat it. The sweetness of the corn candy was average at best, but to Wang Zhaodi, it tasted sweeter than honey.

After feeding a piece of candy to his mother, he gave two to his eldest brother. As for his father, he beckoned his youngest sister over and told her to deliver them instead.

Once everyone in the family had their share of candy, Yang Xingwu poured out a small portion of the remainder and handed it to his two younger sisters to save for later, taking the rest with him to his grandfather's house.

Arriving at his grandfather's place, Yang Xingwu saw the courtyard gate wide open. He called out a few times toward the courtyard before walking in, where he found his grandfather's family enjoying the cool evening breeze!

"Grandpa, Grandma, Second Uncle, Second Aunt!"

Hearing the voice, the family turned their heads and saw that Yang Xingwu was back.

"Little Wu is back? Come sit down. Chunni, go pour a cup of brown sugar tea for Little Wu!"

Delighted to see him back, Liu Cuihua hurriedly pulled Yang Xingwu down to sit with them and urged her daughter-in-law to pour the tea!

"Grandma, Second Aunt, don't bother. I just had tea at home!"

Yang Xingwu quickly waved his hands in refusal.

With that, he took out the half-packet of candy he was holding, gave two pieces to each of his four younger cousins, and handed a few to his grandmother and second aunt, leaving the remaining pieces right in front of his youngest female cousin.

"These are all yours. If anyone tries to grab them, let me know!"

"Thank you, Second Brother!"

Seeing the remaining candies in the wrapper, Yang Xia Feng was thrilled!

Watching this scene, the adults felt deeply gratified!

"How was it? Did the exam go smoothly?"

"Pretty smoothly. If there are no major issues, I should be able to get into college!"

"Really?"

"Really!"

"Wonderful! Our old Yang family is going to have a college student!"

Hearing his grandson's words, Yang Kaishan felt a profound sense of relief and boundless joy!

Yang Donglai was even more thrilled, sighing that his eldest brother had finally made it through the hard times!

After the family enjoyed the lively atmosphere for quite a while, Yang Kaishan finally spoke up:

"Keep this to yourselves for now. Don't go shouting it out everywhere. Wait until the results actually come out before making a fuss!"

"That's true. Thankfully Jianguo helped out with the trouble last time; if anyone gets jealous again and it affects Little Wu, that wouldn't be good!"

Hearing her husband's words, Liu Cuihua nodded in strong agreement!

Then she went on to give a few more cautionary words to the younger children.

Although Yang Xingwu felt it was making a mountain out of a molehill—in his view, petty schemes and petty jealousy were utterly insignificant—from the older generation's perspective, it was undoubtedly a form of wisdom!

After all, in their eyes, having their grandson simply get into college was already an incredible feat. As for achieving the soaring expectations Yang Xingwu had in mind, that wouldn't just mean their ancestral graves were smoking with good fortune; it would mean their ancestral graves were literally on fire!

Yang Xingwu stayed at his grandfather's house for half an hour before heading home to rest.

Upon returning, Yang Xingwu briefed his father on the situation. Yang Chunsheng agreed and told the rest of the family to keep quiet about it, specifically lecturing his youngest daughter for a good long while!

Seeing that it was getting late, the family climbed onto the heated brick bed to sleep.

Early the next morning, Yang Xingwu was woken up by the commotion made by his family. He checked his pocket watch and saw it was only four-thirty. Seeing everyone else getting up, he didn't linger in bed either, immediately dressing and climbing down from the bed!

Yang Xingwu saw his eldest brother pushing a flatbed cart toward the manure pit, the bottom of the cart blocked off with a wooden board, and using a shovel to load the fertilizer onto the cart.

"Are we fertilizing the corn with this?"

"Yeah. The heavy rain the day before yesterday left the fields wet, so we need to get the fertilizing done while the soil is still workable!"

Hearing this, Yang Xingwu immediately picked up another wooden shovel, intending to help scoop the manure into the pit!

Seeing this, Yang Xingwen quickly stopped him.

"You don't need to shovel this. I've already got it all over me. Go to the kitchen and shovel out the stove ash instead! That needs to be scattered too, and it's a bit cleaner!"

Hearing this, Yang Xingwu turned around and headed to the kitchen!

Around these parts, manure pits in the 1980s were mostly located right inside people's own courtyards. While it wasn't too bad in the winter, the smell in the summer was truly indescribable—thankfully, the courtyards were large enough!

As for why they didn't put them outside? It was simple: they were afraid someone would steal the fertilizer!

At noon, while the family was sitting together for a meal, Yang Xingwu took out his pocket watch!

Seeing it, Yang Chunsheng said:

"This belongs to Teacher Yang Liuzhi. Take it back to him this afternoon when school lets out!"

"Alright!"

After the meal, the family took a nap before heading back out to work in the fields.

Yang Xingwu worked until five-thirty, then went back home to wash up before taking the pocket watch over to Yang Liuzhi's house!

Yang Liuzhi had been the original owner's foundational teacher, and in many ways, the original owner had been deeply influenced by him!

The teacher's original given name was lost to time. Because he was born with an extra joint on the thumb of his left hand—somewhat resembling a small growth, though it was painless and didn't affect his daily life—no one paid it any mind.

His real name was long forgotten, replaced by the nickname "Six-Fingers" which stuck with him. As time went on, the nickname practically became his actual name, Yang Liuzhi.

When Yang Xingwu arrived at Yang Liuzhi's house, he called out a few times into the courtyard. Seeing no response, he figured that since it was the time school let out, the teacher was probably still at the school.

Yang Xingwu patiently waited for a short while before he spotted an elderly man approaching.

Yang Xingwu hurriedly ran over.

"Hello, Teacher!"

"Is that Little Wu? When did you get back? Come on, let's go inside and sit down!"

With that, Yang Liuzhi walked up to his front door, opened the courtyard gate, and led Yang Xingwu inside!

"I just got back last night!"

Yang Xingwu answered while following his teacher into the courtyard.

Yang Liuzhi led Yang Xingwu into the main room and invited him to sit down before asking:

"Was the gaokao exam difficult?"

"Aside from mathematics, which had some tricky parts, everything else felt normal!"

"That's good. How is it? Are you confident?"

"Fairly confident. Thank you for your help, Teacher; if not for your pocket watch, things wouldn't have gone nearly as smoothly!"

As he spoke, Yang Xingwu placed the pocket watch on the table!

Hearing Yang Xingwu's words, Yang Liuzhi felt a deep sense of comfort!

"When did you get so worldly?

Still, it's for the best. I used to worry that your too-honest nature would cause you to be taken advantage of, but it seems I was worrying over nothing!

You might as well keep this pocket watch and use it! This old thing has been around for quite a while; being able to still be of some use is its good fortune!"