Dawn Hides in the Dark Night, Old Seeds Bear Good Fruits

"As you sow, so shall you reap"—good seeds yield good fruits, and evil seeds bear bad ones. Though Hu Xueyan was adept at sowing good seeds, he lacked systematic knowledge of the "Law of Seeds." His kindness was rooted in instinct and habit; he knew neither how to uproot evil seeds nor nurture good ones, leaving the seeds to grow unchecked. After seeing Wang Youling off, the evil seed of "embezzling bank funds" finally erupted in full force.

I. Hu Xueyan: The Onset of Darkness—The Darkest Hour of Evil Seeds' Outbreak

The backlash of the evil seeds came swiftly and fiercely:

● Loss of job: When the bank owner learned Hu had lent money privately, he flew into a rage and fired Hu on the spot. A career built over a decade vanished overnight—this was the fruit of the evil seed "causing the boss financial loss," manifesting as "losing his own source of income."

● Difficulty finding new work: All banks in Hangzhou knew he "had mishandled money" and dared not hire him. He tried switching to rice shops, cloth stores, and other workshops, but faced repeated rejection. He could only make ends meet by doing odd jobs.

● Family chaos: Having failed to send money home for months, his mother asked his wife Sujuan to check on him. But as soon as Sujuan stepped out, Snail Girl’s alcoholic father showed up at their door and shouted in front of neighbors: "Hu Xueyan seduced my daughter and tricked her out of the 100 taels she got from selling herself!" When the truth came out, his mother trembled with anger, and Sujuan burst into tears.

● Punishment by family rules: As soon as Hu Xueyan returned home, his mother dragged him to his father’s memorial tablet and lashed him hard with a red rattan whip. "Unfilial son! Your father is watching from heaven, and your wife is beside you—you must be disciplined today!"

Jobless and homeless, Hu Xueyan walked out the next day and searched for work along the Grand Canal, only to be rejected everywhere. On the surface, it was "a slump across all industries"; in reality, it was the evil seeds continuing to fester. As the saying goes, "Fortune and misfortune are not sent by heaven, but brought upon oneself." He wandered all the way to Huzhou and eventually resorted to begging. One cold, hungry night, he was knocked down by the bitter wind and fainted on the spot.

Yet there is no need to worry: Hu Xueyan had sown far more good seeds than evil ones in his life. This fainting spell became a "watershed" in his fate—when the darkest night before dawn enshrouded him, the first light of dawn had quietly emerged in the east. The backlash of the evil seeds was nearly over, and the good seeds he had sown in his early years were finally about to germinate. Hu Xueyan’s true story of rising to prosperity would also begin from this point.

Who saved him after he fainted? What life-changing job did he find? Let’s set these questions aside for now and turn to Wang Youling’s experience—his life was about to take an unexpected turn, all thanks to an "old good seed."

II. Wang Youling: A Turn of Fortune Midway—The Blossoming and Fruiting of an Old Good Seed

Wang Youling traveled north with 500 taels of silver for the "Tougong" (a procedure for securing an official position in the Qing Dynasty). Before reaching Beijing, however, he had to switch from water transport (due to blockages in the Grand Canal) to land travel, and first arrived in Tianjin.

At noon, he entered a teahouse and chose a window seat on the second floor—a spot where he could rest and enjoy the street scene of Tianjin Wei. He had just bowed his head to look at the menu when a group of people came up from downstairs. Among their conversations, a few phrases in the "Yunnan dialect" suddenly caught his ear—it was the local accent of his childhood home.

He looked up and saw the group’s leader: an imposing man in fine clothing. The moment their eyes met, both froze:

"Are you Brother Youling?"

"Are you He Guiqing?"

The two immediately forgot their decorum and hugged tightly. Who was He Guiqing? He was the son of a "gatekeeper" who worked when Wang Youling’s father served as a prefect. In their childhood, He Guiqing often played with Wang Youling. Back then, He Guiqing’s family was poor, and he cried because he wanted to go to school. When Wang Youling’s father heard about this, he took the initiative to provide financial support, allowing He Guiqing to attend the private school with Wang Youling. He Guiqing himself was an old good seed that Wang’s father had inadvertently sown years ago—and now, it was finally time for it to bear fruit.

The two entered a private room, ordered a feast, and chatted over drinks. By then, He Guiqing was no longer the poor boy he once was; he had become an official in the capital. He was passing through Tianjin on his way to Zhejiang to investigate a case. Upon hearing that Wang Youling’s father had passed away, He Guiqing’s eyes turned red. "Your father’s kindness to me is as heavy as a mountain, yet I never got the chance to repay him. When I go to Hangzhou this time, I must pay my respects at his memorial."

When He Guiqing learned that Wang Youling was heading to Beijing for the "Tougong," he said directly: "How can 500 taels of silver be enough to navigate official networks? The Governor of Zhejiang is my fellow jinshi (successful candidate in the imperial examination). I’ll write a letter for you—you can go straight back to Hangzhou to find him, and he will definitely arrange an official post for you. This is far better than going to Beijing and spending money to beg others!"

Wang Youling was both shocked and delighted. "Brother Guiqing, you are truly my benefactor! If my late father knew this in the afterlife, he would thank you too!"

"Heavy as your father’s support was, this is nothing," He Guiqing raised his cup and said. "Without him, there would be no me today."

Do you remember the "blind fortune-teller" from Chenghuang Mountain earlier? When Snail Girl had asked him to tell Wang Youling’s fortune before, he said nothing. Instead, he pulled Wang Youling into the Chenghuang Temple and insisted Wang sit in the seat of the "City God"—a position that had originally been held by a former Governor of Hangzhou. In hindsight, this fortune-telling had subtly foreshadowed Wang Youling’s fate of "obtaining an official post through the Zhejiang government."

An old good seed sown many years ago not only saved Wang Youling from the troubles of traveling to Beijing, but also directly paved his path in officialdom. Meanwhile, Hu Xueyan, who had fainted in Huzhou, was about to be illuminated by the "dawn" of good seeds. The fates of these two men were still tightly bound by the "Law of Seeds."