Boss, He’s Becoming a Father [Arc 1] Chapter 11: The Prodigal Son (20)
Shao Dabao just wanted to run away immediately, but the Yamen’s grip on him was surprisingly strong. At this time, he was looking at him with bright eyes, as if he was looking at a role model.
The Yamen leader had already led a long team, but the team was full of reluctant people. When meeting someone like Shao Dabao, he naturally felt refreshed.
“Good boy, don’t let down your father’s expectations!” After the Yamen finished speaking, he completely ignored Shao Dabao’s struggle and sent him directly into the long corvee queue.
Even though Shao Dabao was reluctant, there were people following him on both sides. He wanted to escape, but with so many pairs of eyes staring at him, he had no choice but to continue moving forward with the team.
When he was about to leave, Shao Dabao looked back, but until the gate of Qingzhou Fucheng disappeared from sight, he did not wait for any turning point.
“Young man, is this your first time doing corvee service?” Suddenly an old man approached him and asked.
Shao Dabao nodded blankly.
The old man had watched the whole scene in Shao’s house earlier, so he had a good impression of Shao Dabao, and said: “It’s normal to feel homesick when you are so far away from home for the first time.”
Shao Dabao was not as reluctant to leave his family as the old man thought. He just didn’t want to suffer, so he said, “I don’t know anything.”
“Don’t worry, we will teach you. You are a filial child and you will definitely learn quickly.”
Everyone likes filial children. They don’t know Shao Dabao’s past. They only see Shao Dabao taking the initiative to serve for his father. Therefore, in their hearts, Shao Dabao has become a filial son.
Shao Dabao was about to blurt out his accusation against Shao Yu, but the sentence of filial piety was immediately stuck in his throat, and he could only respond vaguely.
Although the place where the river embankment was built is within the territory of Qingzhou Prefecture, Qingzhou Prefecture is vast, so it took a whole day to reach the section of the canal embankment that was being built.
There are many mountains and rivers in Qingzhou Prefecture. It is not easy to walk all the way through mountains and rivers for a day.
Shao Dabao even felt that he had walked more roads today than he had walked in the first half of his life.
At first he wanted to memorize the route, and planned to run away when he could no longer bear the burden of doing the corvee.
But after walking all day, Shao Dabao was so tired that his legs were broken. His mind was so exhausted that he could not remember these complicated mountain roads.
“Young man, you don’t seem to have suffered at home?” Old Man Zheng asked with some doubts.
After all, people’s physical strength cannot be deceived. People who really work at home will feel tired even if they walk for a day, but they will not be as tired as Shao Dabao is now.
Shao Dabao nodded. He felt that he had no strength to even speak. His legs seemed to be filled with lead and he could not lift them at all. Every step he took, he felt that he was suffering some extremely severe torture.
The team set out in the morning and ate steamed buns all day long. Shao Dabao was already hungry.
Tired and hungry, Shao Dabao actually felt that the days when he was tortured by Shao Yu at home were as far away as a blessed nest.
Old man Zheng frowned, but out of his habitual love for the junior, he pulled him to continue walking.
For some reason, Shao Dabao felt a sense of reliability in his heart when he was pulled forward by the old man’s calloused hands. Looking at the old man’s figure, he thought of his father for a moment.
Not the ruthless father now, but the father who helped him with everything in the past.
When he was sent to school for the first time, he was as nervous as he is now. His father’s hands were full of calluses, and he pulled him into the school step by step.
But now, the father hates the son, and the son hates the father.
And the root of all this is gambling, gambling to the point of bankruptcy, gambling to the point of losing his sister.
When Shao Dabao recalled it, he couldn’t help but touch the severed finger on his hand. He seemed to be unable to believe that one who gambled red-eyed was himself. If he hadn’t gambled, even if he had achieved nothing in his studies, he would still be able to make friends at home. His family could afford the fine of the corvee, instead of letting him suffer as he did now.
“You are still young. Even if you have never done heavy work before, you can get over it if you take it easy.” Old Man Zheng’s sigh interrupted Shao Dabao’s random thoughts.
Shao Dabao wanted to reply with a polite word, but because he rarely interacted with people, he didn’t know what to say.
Old Man Zheng’s words were full of wistfulness: “It’s great to be young. For an elderly person like me, I don’t know when I’ll just fall asleep and die.”
Seventy years is rare in life.
The old man was over sixty years old this year. He just felt that his days were coming to an end. The corvee work was heavy. It was estimated that one night during his service, he died without taking a breath.
Shao Dabao’s heart trembled when he heard this. Although he only had a brief contact with Old Man Zheng, he still had a lot of goodwill for the old man.
Old Man Zheng said again: “Your father is lucky. Although he is old, he can’t do it without you as a filial son. The children at home are useless and don’t want to come here.”
Shao Dabao felt something in his heart when he heard this. He didn’t come to this place on his own initiative, and Old Man Zheng did come here because of his children.
He thought about how his father had served as a corvee in the past. Was he like Old Man Zheng, who had to drag his old body here because the children at home were unwilling?
At that time, was his father envious of others like Old Man Zheng?
Shao Dabao dare not continue to think about it.
It wasn’t until the sky darkened that the team finally arrived at their destination.
Shao Dabao looked around and saw that this was a camp with several rows of simple houses, but he did not see the shadow of the canal.
As if he knew his concerns, Old Man Zheng smiled and said, “The canal is still one mile away from here.”
After hearing this, Shao Dabao asked the old man in surprise: “Have you been here before?”
The old man nodded with a smile and said: “This canal embankment needs to be repaired every few years, and it is always not repairable.”
“Can’t be repaired? Then why haven’t we heard about floods in the past few years?” Shao Dabao was confused.
“It can’t be repaired well. The affected villages and towns are all nearby. The mountains and roads in the city are high and far away. It’s normal that we didn’t hear much in the past.” Old man Zheng had already received his dinner while he was talking and stepped aside.
Shao Dabao took the dinner handed over by the officer, two small steamed buns, and a bowl of porridge that was clear enough to catch fish.
“Is this all there is to eat?” Shao Dabao asked with some dissatisfaction.
He had been walking all day today and was very hungry. If he only had this little food, he might not even be half full.
After hearing this, the man in charge of serving the rice became impatient. He pushed him aside and said, “It’s good to have just one bite. Do you still have so much?”
With this push, most of the bowl of porridge was thrown out, and the old man Zheng beside him felt a little distressed.
He quickly supported Shao Dabao and said, “You kid, how can you stand up to these gentlemen?”
Shao Dabao was stunned when he heard this and said, “How can you be full with such a small amount of food?”
“It’s the only way to be full.” Old Man Zheng said helplessly, he only thought that Shao Dabao had experienced these things for the first time, so he didn’t have the slightest experience, so he said: “We are here, life and death can be in their hands, if you offend them, it will be difficult in the future, you should be more careful.”
Shao Dabao was heartbroken after hearing this. He wanted to continue to say something, but Old Man Zheng had already turned around and started to apologize to the officer.
“You’re a decent old man.” The officer immediately let the matter go.
After apologizing, Old Man Zheng started to eat without any mental burden, completely forgetting how uncomfortable he felt when apologizing just now.
“Why do you want to help me apologize?” Shao Dabao suddenly asked.
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