Boss, He’s Becoming a Father Chapter 10: The Prodigal Son (19)
Shao Dabao opened his mouth wide, he wanted to refute, but he didn’t know where to start.
They don’t know how long he stayed there before he finally stumbled and said: “No one ever told me this before…”
If no one tells him to take responsibility, he can forget the burden on his shoulders with peace of mind. He obviously accepts the support of the whole family, but he only thinks about personal enjoyment, and forgetting that he also had to bear the future of the entire family.
“No one told you? You were in the school, didn’t your teacher teach you the way of loyalty and filial piety?” Shao Yu asked.
Shao Dabao was stunned again. He was a poor student and had never thought about these issues.
“Okay, just pretend you haven’t learned anything before.” Shao Yu said.
Shao Dabao just wanted to breathe a sigh of relief.
Shao Yu continued: “I will give you a choice directly.”
“Either you go to do corvee service and you will still have a home when the corvée service is over; or you leave now and I treat you as dead and you can save some head tax,” Shao Yu said.
“Either, you go to corvée, and you’ll have a home after the corvage; or, if you leave now, I’ll treat you as dead, and you can save some poll tax.” Shao Yu said.
Shao Dabao’s face immediately became tangled, but he quickly said: “I am your only son, you will not treat me like this.”
Shao Yu’s mouth curled into a cruel smile, and said, “You are my only son, don’t you still have a broken finger?”
Shao Dabao suddenly had an expression on his face as if he had been struck by lightning. Looking down at his severed finger, he immediately realized that it was true that Shao Yu wanted him to make changes, but it was also true that he would be driven out of the house if he was forced to do so.
Now is the coldest season. If he leaves home, where can he go? Go to a ruined temple and fight with beggars? Can he do it again?
Shao Dabao didn’t have any friends, and now even Mrs Wang who loved him the most was treating him very harshly. Shao Dabao suddenly looked desperate.
“Dad, I’ll change, I’ll change, just spare me this time.” Shao Dabao used his usual tricks.
But Shao Yu just looked at him and said, “When will I forgive you?”
Shao Dabao was stunned for a moment, and suddenly felt that this scene seemed very familiar. He didn’t know how many times he begged Shao Yu like this, but Shao Yu never let him get his wish.
“Forget it, you’d better go out.” Shao Yu said and was about to drive him out of the house.
Shao Dabao was in a hurry and had no other choice but to say: “I will go, I will definitely go!”
Shao Yu let him go, and even gave him an extra half bowl of rice at night.
“Eat more, eat enough to go on the road.” Shao Yu said with a smile.
Shao Dabao had not had a full meal for a long time, but when he heard what Shao Yu said, he was not happy at all, but became more and more trembling.
He misses his father who was like a good old man. Now, Shao Yu looks dangerous in his eyes, as if, if he does anything wrong, he will be greeted by Shao Yu’s violent storm.
Shao Dabao didn’t think that Shao Yu had a change of heart. He just thought that it was all because he had lost his fortune in gambling that that was why Shao Yu’s temperament changed so drastically.
The meal he ate at night left him unable to taste anything. He lay in bed, and the more he thought about it, the more bleak his future became. It was not that he had never thought about stealing the money and running away, but the Shao family was now impoverished and had no money for him to steal.
After struggling all night, Shao Dabao didn’t come up with a good idea at dawn. Instead, he had two huge dark circles on his face.
No matter how reluctant Shao Dabao was, when the government sent someone to pick him up, he was still pushed out by Shao Yu.
Many people escaped from the corvee every time, so the government had no choice but to let the yamen go from house to house to take people by force.
“Old man Shao, why are you willing to let this precious son of yours do all this hard work?” an older meddler asked from the side.
Shao Yu heard the words, glanced at Shao Dabao, who was a little timid, and said, “My son is filial, and he was afraid that I would be affected, so he took the initiative to go.”
After hearing this, Shao Dabao couldn’t help but glance at Shao Yu in surprise. At this glance, he could clearly see the pride on Shao Yu’s face.
He had seen Shao Yu praising Shao Xiaocao every day, but this was the first time he saw Shao Yu showing such an expression because of him. For some reason, a very strange emotion rose in his heart.
The life of a poor family is not easy. The corvee service is too hard and tiring. Many families who cannot afford to pay for the corvee service will have quarrels between the father and the son because of the quota.
Many people even know that people doing corvee labor may never come back. For the future of their families, many elderly people are still the main force in the family participating in corvee labor even though they are in their twilight years.
At this time, Shao Yu mentioned that Shao Dabao took the initiative, and many elderly people in the corvee team couldn’t help but feel envious.
Shao Yu glanced at the corvee team. Most of them were middle-aged and elderly people over forty years old. There were not many young men like Shao Dabao.
Before leaving, Shao Yu did not hold Shao Dabao’s hand to give instructions, but held the officer who took the person: “Master, when you reach the embankment, don’t be polite, what kind of heavy work is there? You can leave it all to my son, the government official is benevolent, and building the river embankment is a great deed for the benefit of the people, this kid is looking forward to making a good contribution!”
This corvee service was ordered by the government officials. So many people were levied to build canal embankments.
Although corvee labor is a waste of money and labor, the situation this time is different. Qingzhou Prefecture, where the Shao family is located, has a canal flowing through it. If there is rainy weather, the canal will overflow, easily causing a major disaster.
Shao Yu could tell that the current official really wanted to do something practical, so he took advantage of the winter break to recruit people to build the river embankment.
Hearing this, the yamen official was stunned at first, but then his expression softened. He encountered a lot of resistance along the way in recruiting corvees. It was rare to meet such a reasonable person as Shao Yu, so he couldn’t help but keep it in mind.
“Don’t worry, old man, since your son is so determined, I will definitely make good arrangements.” The Yamen patted his chest and assured Shao Yu.
Shao Dabao felt his eyes go dark.
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