Chapter 2: The Fool

After dinner, Lu Wanzhou went to his room. When Yu Mian saw Lu Wanzhou return, he quickly padded over on small steps to fetch water for washing his feet.

Then he squatted down to wash Lu Wanzhou’s feet, which startled Lu Wanzhou. Seeing Lu Wanzhou react this way, Yu Mian’s big round eyes immediately welled up with tears.

“N-no… the water isn’t hot. I tested it.”

“It’s not the heat.” Lu Wanzhou looked at the little one’s frightened face and said in a low voice, “I’m not afraid of heat. I’ll wash them myself.”

“Myself… wash them myself?”

“Mm.”

“I’m not a fool. I can wash them. I’ll wash.” Yu Mian said pitifully, “I’ll wash.”

“It’s not your job. I’ll wash them myself.”

In his modern life, Lu Wanzhou’s mother would help him wash his feet, but ever since he started elementary school, he’d done it himself. Yu Mian was just a stranger—there was no way he’d let him wash his feet.

“I’ll… wash them. I can do it well.”

Yu Mian stood to the side, his lips quivering, and finally the tears spilled out.

It startled Lu Wanzhou. He quickly pulled Yu Mian’s hand over and said in a low voice, “Why are you crying?”

Yu Mian didn’t speak, just kept shedding tears. After a long while, he finally stammered out a sentence.

“I can wash them. I’m not a fool.”

“I know you’re not a fool. I can wash my own feet.”

Yu Mian’s lips quivered, and his tears fell even harder. Lu Wanzhou, at his wit’s end, finally put his clean feet into the basin and said in a low voice, “Then you can help me wash them.”

“Okay!” Yu Mian nodded, his eyes bright, and smiled. “Mianmian isn’t foolish. Mianmian is only fit to wash Zhouzhou-gege’s feet. Mianmian likes washing Zhouzhou-gege’s feet.”

“Who taught you that?”

“Hm?” Yu Mian rubbed Lu Wanzhou’s feet with his hands, a blank look in his eyes.

“Who taught you these words?”

“Taught me…” Yu Mian blinked and said quietly, “Zhouzhou-gege. Zhouzhou-gege taught me.”

Hearing this, Lu Wanzhou felt a pang of discomfort in his heart. According to his memories, this family treated the original body poorly, but the original body didn’t dare take revenge on them—he only dared to bully this little fool.

The little one was still squatting on the ground, obediently washing Lu Wanzhou’s feet. Lu Wanzhou pulled his feet back and smiled. “I’m done washing.”

“Done washing?” Yu Mian tilted his head, a trace of confusion in his eyes.

“Mm.” Lu Wanzhou nodded and raised his hand to rub Yu Mian’s head, but Yu Mian dodged away.

“Don’t hit me! Zhouzhou-gege, don’t hit me!”

Seeing the little fool’s instinctive reaction, Lu Wanzhou felt even more disdain for the original body—the bad habit of bullying the weak and fearing the strong.

Lu Wanzhou tried his best to show a kind smile and said, “I won’t hit you. Your hair is messy. Let me fix it for you.”

Hearing this, Yu Mian obediently lowered his head and said quietly, “Fix… gege fix it.”

Lu Wanzhou rubbed Yu Mian’s little head and said in a low voice, “There, done.”

“Done. Done is good.”

Yu Mian blinked, brought over a chair, and sat beside him to wash his own feet. After washing, he carried the foot-washing water out to dump it.

The foot basin was made of wood and looked somewhat heavy. Lu Wanzhou watched him sway and wobble, afraid he’d fall. Fortunately, although the little fool walked unsteadily, he was fairly stable. After dumping the water, he came bouncing back.

The next morning, when Lu Wanzhou got up, he found the Yu family eating together. Seeing Lu Wanzhou up, Zhao-shi froze for a moment, then smiled. “Zhou’er is up. Are you going to study now?”

Lu Wanzhou nodded and smiled. “After I eat. Mom didn’t forget to make mine, did she?”

Zhao-shi’s expression stiffened for a moment, then she smiled. “In the past, you never ate.”

Lu Wanzhou smiled and said, “In the past, I saw that Dad and Mom weren’t eating, so I didn’t want to be special.”

“Now it seems… it was just that I got up late.”

When Yu Mian got up, he rubbed his eyes and saw Lu Wanzhou eating. He swallowed at the sight of the noodles. Seeing this, Lu Wanzhou smiled. “Hungry?”

Yu Mian blinked, then nodded.

Lu Wanzhou chuckled. “If you’re hungry, ask Mom to cook you some.”

Hearing this, Yu Mian looked at his mother, then his eyelashes trembled, and he quickly shook his head. “No eat. Mianmian isn’t greedy. Mianmian isn’t greedy… otherwise Dad and Mom will hit.”

Hearing this, Lu Wanzhou felt somewhat speechless. The couple in this family were truly vicious—treating him that way was one thing, but being so stingy with their own flesh and blood too.

Lu Wanzhou hesitated for a moment, then took a small bowl and gave the little fool half of his portion.

The little fool stared wide-eyed at the noodles in the bowl, blinking for a long while. Finally, afraid the noodles would get cold, Lu Wanzhou smiled. “Eat up.”

“Eat.”

“Mm.” Lu Wanzhou nodded. “Eat.”

After finishing his meal, Lu Wanzhou took his textbooks and went to study at the village school. The original body actually hadn’t gone to study for quite some time.

The reason was simple: the village teacher was an old stick-in-the-mud who only knew how to force-feed knowledge. The original body was clever and had a bit of pride—he was a tongsheng who had previously studied in town—so he deliberately went against the teacher.

Naturally, the teacher wouldn’t tolerate him. If he didn’t listen, a few bamboo whacks came down, which stirred up Lu Wanzhou’s rebellious streak. After that, he stopped listening to the lessons… and the teacher kept punishing him, creating a vicious cycle.

Having transmigrated here, Lu Wanzhou still decided to study. With this small, frail body, if he didn’t study, he’d probably have nothing to do in the future—he might even starve himself.

At the Yu house—

“Husband, what do you think is going on with that little brat these past few days?” Zhao-shi frowned. “Today he made a fuss about wanting breakfast. In the past he never ate. What a waste of my fine flour.”

Yu Da frowned and said in a low voice, “If he eats, let him eat. He can’t eat much anyway.”

“But he… last night, and today, something seems off.”

Yu Da waved his hand. “Maybe after being sick, he’s come to his senses. These are small matters. The real priority is getting the deed to their house.”

Yu Da said in a low voice, “I originally thought the boy was clever and planned to support his studies, but now it seems he’s just a good-for-nothing. Better we secure the benefits first.”

“Mm.”

“Last time the academy exam cost five taels of silver, all wasted. We can’t let him squander any more.”

Yu Da nodded. “Get the house deed, then find an excuse to drive him out.”

“What about our little Mian? They have a betrothal,” Zhao-shi said with a frown.

“That one’s a fool. When the time comes, drive them both out and just give them a bite to eat. In the future, take good care of your health and give birth to a son—that’s the real business.”

Although Zhao-shi felt some reluctance, having given birth to a fool son had brought no small amount of mockery in the village. Hearing her man’s words, she could only nod. “Alright, I’ll listen to you.”

“Be nicer to them in front of outsiders. No need to earn a bad reputation.”

Zhao-shi said in a low voice, “I know what to do.”