Chapter 329: Shan Xu of the New Jianghu

Year Thirteen of the Xia Era, Yong Province, Hecheng.

The Great River flowed from west to east, and Hecheng was located right where it passed.

Thirty li outside of Hecheng, there was a colorful mountain range, and within the mountains, a small lake.

Next to the lake was a small manor.

Inside the manor, in an elegant courtyard.

“Dad! How do you solve this problem?”

Eleven-year-old Shan Huanhuan held her homework book and pointed to a math problem.

She was about eleven or twelve years old, cute, and wearing a blue school uniform.

“Dad” was the local dialect for father.

Shan Xu frowned and looked at the problem.

Two boats, A and B, are sailing in a river 90 kilometers apart. If they sail towards each other, they will meet in 3 hours. If they sail in the same direction, boat A will catch up to boat B in 15 hours. What is the speed of boat A in still water?

He recognized every character, but when they were put together, he couldn’t understand it.

Why did they meet in 3 hours, and why did they sail in the same direction for 15 hours?

What kind of boring boats were these?

“I don’t know how to do this problem,” he said.

“Dad! This is an elementary school problem!” Shan Huanhuan looked at her father and said with a pout.

I never went to elementary school, how would I know!

“You work on the other problems first. When your sister Juanjuan gets back from school, you can ask her,” Shan Xu said helplessly.

“But sister Juanjuan is so mean, she tattled on me to you last time!” Shan Huanhuan snorted when she heard Shan Juanjuan’s name and continued.

“You’re sisters, why would you dislike each other!” Shan Xu said comfortingly, seeing his younger daughter’s dislike for his elder daughter.

“But she’s not my real sister! She was born to Aunt Chun!” Shan Huanhuan said.

“But you’re both my daughters! To me, you’re both the same!” Shan Xu patted Shan Huanhuan’s head and said.

“Dad! I know you’re the best,” Shan Huanhuan said.

“Of course! You’re Daddy’s good girl!” Shan Xu said with a smile.

“Dad, I saw a pair of red boots…” Before Shan Huanhuan could finish, Shan Xu interrupted her.

“No buying! I just bought a pair for you and Juanjuan last time,” Shan Xu said with a dark expression. “And your mother nagged me about it for half a day!”

“Hmph, my mother is so stingy!” Shan Huanhuan said. “She and Aunt Chun are the ones who buy the most.”

“You little rascal, talking bad about me again!”

A roar came from the next courtyard!

Following the roar were the sounds of footsteps.

It was a beautiful woman, even though she was already a mother. As a Qi Sea realm cultivator, she didn’t look old, but had a mature beauty.

She was one of Shan Xu’s wives, Qi Jing.

“Do your homework properly, or you’ll be pestering your dad to buy things! You don’t know how expensive things are if you don’t manage the household!” Qi Jing scolded her daughter.

Shan Huanhuan was used to her mother’s nagging and silently started to do her homework.

“Alright, alright. She was just mentioning it,” Shan Xu said, trying to smooth things over as he saw Qi Jing scolding Shan Huanhuan.

“And you! Don’t spoil the child! Look at other men, they’re all pillars of support, they’re all…” Qi Jing, hearing Shan Xu speak, turned to lecture him instead.

“My dear, I…” Shan Xu couldn’t speak.

He knew his wife was referring to him staying at home all day.

“We have enough savings to live on, why bother working for others?” Shan Xu, unable to bear the lecture, tried to defend himself.

“But other people are so impressive! Model Worker Xia, the brightest person in all of Hecheng!” Qi Jing said. “I want my husband to be like that too.”

“Exactly, husband, you’re a Zhoutian realm martial artist, you can strive for it too!” Another person entered the courtyard, accompanied by a little girl.

She was Shan Xu’s other wife, Qi Chun.

She was Qi Jing’s elder sister, and they looked very much alike, both very beautiful.

✿✿✿

Beside her was their daughter, Shan Juanjuan.

As soon as Shan Juanjuan returned from school, she saw her mother and Aunt Jing bombarding her father with criticism.

She gave her younger sister a look.

The two exchanged glances.

Although they occasionally argued and fought over things, they were surprisingly united on this issue.

Dad, you’re so pathetic.

“You’re a grown man, staying at home all day…”

“The two of us women are holding up the household…”

“You said you know Shi Feizhe, Chairman Shi, why don’t you use your connections!”

“I think you’re just bragging!”

“Shan Xu… I really misjudged you…”

“Sister, me too.”

Seeing her mother and Aunt Jing’s accusations getting more and more outlandish, Shan Juanjuan rolled her eyes and said to Shan Xu:

“Dad, the sword technique you taught me last time helped me get first place in swordsmanship class!”

“Teach me a couple more moves!”

With his daughter’s intervention, Shan Xu finally escaped the combined assault of his two wives.

The New Jianghu promoted monogamy. For practices from the Old Jianghu like polygamy, concubinage, or polyandry, the principle was not to support them and to encourage these individuals to voluntarily divorce.

However, if, like Shan Xu, there were couples who voluntarily chose to live together in a polygamous relationship, they wouldn’t be forced to separate.

The goal was to ensure there was no forced concubinage or polyandry while not breaking up families with a genuine emotional foundation.

This was the New Jianghu’s way of handling things!

Was having multiple wives truly a good thing?

If it were like before, with thousands of acres of fertile land and servants at their beck and call, they could spend their days leisurely, traveling and enjoying life with their two wives, discussing martial arts and sparring.

That would naturally be good.

Even when the children were young, they had wet nurses, and when they grew older, they could practice martial arts without much effort.

Now, the New Jianghu didn’t allow servants. There were only a few elderly people in the manor who were allowed to stay and live out their days. Everyone else had been dismissed.

Most of the vast estate and land had been distributed to others.

Their family of five was left with only this one manor to live in.

Later, Shan Xu built a few more rooms so they could live more comfortably.

But with a larger space, the daily maintenance of the manor and the family’s needs kept Qi Chun and Qi Jing busy all day.

Fortunately, there were still a few elderly people in the manor. Although they couldn’t do heavy work anymore, they could teach the two young mistresses how to do things.

In the eyes of these elderly people, the two young mistresses had been wandering the Jianghu and rarely managed household affairs, so they hadn’t been beheaded like the old master.

But seeing them doing the work themselves was also an eye-opener for them.

And Shan Xu was a son-in-law who married into the family.

After the family’s upheaval, the two sisters did all the work, while their husband idled around all day, doing nothing, not even clearing his own dishes after meals.

This little bit of resentment, accumulated over time, led to Qi Chun and Qi Jing’s complaints.

Life was not just about love, romance, and adventure; it was also about daily necessities, trivial matters, and mundane chores.

And chores were the biggest drain on one’s passion for life!

I’m back from my trip, there should be fewer typos, but they are inevitable.