Starting as a Train Driver to Enter the Ministry
Chapter 24 - A Grandson Is an Old Man’s Treasure!

Chapter 24: A Grandson Is an Old Man’s Treasure!

Jia Dongxu wanted to compete with Chen Shi over whose in-laws would welcome them more warmly during the bridal return. But since Chen Shi had to visit his grandparents first, there was nothing Jia Dongxu could do.

All he could say was, “Chen Shi, go early and come back soon!”

Chen Shi rolled his eyes and ignored him completely.

Chen Shi followed Chen Laohan and Tian Xiulan to East Qin Village. As soon as they entered, a gunshot rang out from the village wall, followed by flames shooting into the sky.

Curious, Chen Shi asked, “Is the militia hunting?”

Chen Laohan looked at him with exasperation. “Even if you moved to the city with me, our ancestors were farmers! How can you not know this is straw burning to fertilize the fields?”

Chen Shi rubbed his nose. “Even if I’m a farmer’s kid, I grew up in the capital. You never gave me a couple of acres to tend!”

“You—!” Chen Laohan raised his hand, ready to smack him.

Tian Xiulan intervened, “Husband, today’s the bridal return! Don’t start a fight!”

Chen Shi, however, smirked. “We’re already at the village entrance. You wouldn’t dare hit me here.”

Chen Laohan scoffed. “I’m your father. There’s nothing I wouldn’t dare!”

He lunged, and Chen Shi deliberately dodged halfway, letting his father’s kick land on his pants instead.

Tian Xiulan quickly pulled Chen Laohan back, still trying to mediate.

Chen Maihua watched, gloating at Chen Shi’s misfortune.

But Chen Shi was more interested in the spectacle in East Qin Village—he had never seen anything like it.

With each gunshot, fires erupted all around.

It turned out the villagers were carrying out frost prevention measures.

Every household had prepared piles of straw in their wheat fields. At the signal of the gunshot, fires were lit simultaneously, filling the sky with smoke that lingered like a dense fog.

From a distance, Chen Shi could hear the villagers chanting:

“A single flower in the field, all thanks to the fertilizer’s yield!

Hard work keeps the land strong, more fertilizer—harvests long!”

Only then did Chen Shi understand what “fertilizing the fields” really meant—this was the straw-burning practice later banned due to so-called “expert” opinions, much to the farmers’ frustration.

Chen Laohan led the family eastward to the Chen family’s land. Since Chen Shi had often visited East Qin Village as a child, many villagers recognized them.

After all, Chen Laohan was the only one from this village working in the city. His father, Chen Datan (“Bold Chen”), always walked with his back straight, proud of his son’s achievements.

Now, seeing the family return, the villagers greeted them warmly:

“Hey, Chen Laohan’s back!”

“Wow, Little Laoshi’s grown so tall!”

“Little Laoshi, remember when you peed on my lap as a kid?”

“Haha, Little Laoshi, remember when my goose chased you into the manure pit? I fished you out and washed you three times—still stank!”

“Little Laoshi, remember when you set my firewood pile ablaze? The whole village had to haul water in the middle of winter!”

In a village, small incidents became legends retold for decades.

Chen Shi was instantly bombarded with embarrassing childhood stories.

Even with his usual thick skin, he flushed slightly. Shen Youchu looked at him in surprise, never imagining he had such humiliating tales.

Chen Maihua burst out laughing. “Brother, now you can’t make fun of me anymore! Hahaha, you fell into a manure pit! Chased by a goose into a manure pit!”

She doubled over, clutching her stomach.

A nearby auntie chimed in, “Maihua, don’t laugh at your brother. Remember when you ate my soap and spent hours blowing bubbles? Or when you got lost and hugged some old man, calling him ‘Mom’?”

Chen Maihua’s face turned beet red.

Chen Shi grinned triumphantly. “See? At least I never hugged a grandpa and called him ‘Mom’!”

“Little Laoshi!”

A booming voice cut through the chatter.

Old Man Chen—Chen Datan—hurried over, his cotton-padded coat frayed at the sleeves, a long tobacco pipe in hand.

“Haha, my precious grandson’s back! Why didn’t you tell me earlier? I’d have fetched you with the cart!”

“Grandpa!”

Chen Shi immediately pretended to limp.

Chen Laohan paled. He grabbed Tian Xiulan’s arm, ready to bolt.

Chen Datan’s expression darkened when he saw Chen Shi’s “injury.”

“My dear boy, what happened to your leg? Did you get hurt?”

Chen Shi sniffled, turning slightly to show the footprint on his pants. “Grandpa, it’s nothing…”

“CHEN LAOHAN! YOU UNFILIAL BRAT! HOW DARE YOU HIT MY GRANDSON? STOP RIGHT THERE!”

Chen Laohan grimaced. “Dad, let me explain! I didn’t hit him—he was being disobedient!”

“You little rascal! When you were young, how much trouble did you cause? Your Third Uncle spent his life saving to build a house for his marriage, and you burned it down! He didn’t marry until he was over forty—did I ever lay a finger on you?”

Chen Datan’s roars and Chen Laohan’s yelps echoed through the village.

Meanwhile, Chen Shi’s grandmother—wrapped in a faded green headscarf—hurried over, trailed by a pack of children.

“Little Laoshi, you’re back! Grandma missed you so much! Come inside, warm up!”

“Grandma, this is my wife, Shen Youchu.”

“A wife? Oh, wonderful! Grandma finally has a granddaughter-in-law! Come, let’s go home!”

Chen Shi’s four uncles, over a dozen cousins, and more than twenty nephews soon swarmed around them.

“Little Laoshi’s back? Quick, let’s get you home to rest!”

Shen Youchu, overwhelmed by the crowd, nervously clutched Chen Shi’s sleeve.

She suddenly worried—she wasn’t as pretty as Qin Huairu, nor did she come from a good family. Would Chen Shi’s relatives look down on her?

Chen Shi squeezed her hand reassuringly. “Don’t worry. Grandpa and Grandma adore me. Let’s go—I’ll get you some treats!”

Before he could react, a dozen children latched onto his legs, some even ducking between them like a game.

“Uncle Sixteen, when will you take us out to play?”

“Uncle Sixteen, let’s catch sparrows!”

“Uncle Sixteen, Third Ya’s uncle took her to find wild duck eggs! Can we go too?”

Chen Shi quickly plucked one child up by the collar. “Enough! Let’s go home first!”

“Uncle Sixteen, I want a piggyback ride!”

“Uncle Sixteen, carry me too!”

“I want to crawl between Uncle Sixteen’s legs!”

The chaotic chorus made Chen Shi wish he could stuff them all back into their mothers’ wombs.

Boys in this era were terrifying—each one a little troublemaker, let alone a whole pack of them.

Pinching Shen Youchu’s cheek, Chen Shi declared, “We’re having daughters. Boys are too much trouble!”