Free Web NovelChapter 694: Chapter 694: Sanlang, You Have to Rely on Yourself
Liu Ji waved his hand, signaling to the driver from the National Master Mansion who had brought him to leave.
With just a few words, he sent away the curious neighbors who had gathered, slammed the door shut behind him.
He wiped the sweat from his forehead, forced a bright smile, coughed lightly twice, and then stepped towards the dining room.
But before he even reached the dining room, he couldn’t hold it in any longer, grinned at Qin Yao, and said excitedly:
"Wife, don’t you think I’m impressive? You wouldn’t believe it, Sikong Jian is now completely under my control. I tell him to go east, he doesn’t dare go west; I tell him to fly to the sky, he doesn’t dare enter the earth!"
"All of this, it’s all thanks to you, my dear wife!" Liu Ji said this from the bottom of his heart.
If it weren’t for his wife’s strong martial arts skills, how could he have subdued that Sikong Jian?
"Da-da-da!" Liu Ji arrived at the dining room, pushed aside the four children who came up to him, and walked straight to Qin Yao, opening his palm like offering a treasure, revealing a money bag.
The four children of Da Lang exchanged glances, then looked at their father, whose eyes were only on their mother, and sighed helplessly.
It seemed that their father would never escape the palm of their mother’s hand in this lifetime.
"What’s this?" Qin Yao asked suspiciously.
Liu Ji threw her a flirtatious wink, "Silver, it’s a full one hundred taels."
Liu Ji placed the money bag into Qin Yao’s hand, eagerly implying for her to quickly open it and take a look. He didn’t want to miss any of her expressions of surprise.
Qin Yao opened the money bag, and inside lay two large silver ingots, each weighing fifty taels, plump and pleasing to the eye.
"How did you come by so much silver?" Qin Yao asked incredulously while playing with the silver ingots and giving Liu Ji a glance.
She more or less guessed where the silver came from since Ah Wang had already informed her about Liu Ji’s exploits at the National Master Mansion.
But seeing one hundred taels of silver being brought back by Liu Ji, compared to listening to Ah Wang’s description, was an entirely different feeling.
Liu Ji, seeing Qin Yao’s suspicious gaze, rolled his eyes in exasperation and quickly explained that this was his monthly salary for working as a house servant at the National Master Mansion.
"One hundred taels a month?" Qin Yao was in disbelief, "The State Preceptor agreed to this?"
Liu Ji nodded smugly and immediately recounted all the conditions he had negotiated with the National Master Mansion to Qin Yao.
After speaking at length, he sat down at the dining table with a triumphant toss of his head, "So how about it? Isn’t your hubby amazing?"
Such a small National Master Mansion, completely under control!
Sikong Jian must be a fool. This was the common thought of the whole family.
Picked up and dropped off by car, VIP treatment, assigned a servant at his command, and a monthly salary of one hundred taels.
If it wasn’t witnessed firsthand, no one would dare believe it!
Second Lang was shocked, realizing for the first time that his father had some real skills. Maintaining his good learning tradition, he moved closer to Liu Ji and sincerely asked:
"Dad, could you pass some of your skills down to me?"
Da Lang, Sanlang, and Si Niang also gathered around, with Si Niang serving tea, Sanlang massaging his legs, and Da Lang kneading his shoulders, all planning to learn together.
Dad’s trick is impressive; using bare hands to catch a white wolf has been perfected to the extreme. If they could learn even a fraction of Dad’s success, they would never fear going hungry in the Capital City again.
Liu Ji was delighted, enjoying the praise from his children, and said leisurely, "Actually, it’s not much of a skill; it’s just borrowing your mother’s reputation."
This was the truth, but the four kids simply didn’t believe it.
Si Niang: "Dad, don’t you want to teach us?"
Even Second Lang was annoyed; he rarely lowered himself to humbly seek advice from someone he least respected, and here he was being told this wasn’t much of a skill.
"Dad, if you don’t want to teach, just say it." Second Lang waved his hand, signaling his siblings to disperse and not serve this stingy person anymore.
"Hey, hey, hey?" Liu Ji was shocked, raising a hand to try to keep them, but not one stayed.
Qin Yao said, "Let’s eat first, or the dishes will get cold."
Qin Yao gladly weighed the two silver ingots in her hands, ready to store them away.
"Dear!" Liu Ji suddenly called out anxiously.
Qin Yao looked over displeased, and Liu Ji hesitated but still gathered the courage to extend four fingers, softly reminding:
"You six, me four, so..."
Qin Yao clicked her tongue, but under Liu Ji’s pleading gaze, she still allotted him one silver ingot.
"Give me change for ten taels."
Just as Liu Ji thought his wife was being generous in giving him an extra ten taels of silver, he heard her asking for change, secretly pouting, and unwillingly fished out ten taels of broken silver from his money bag to hand to her.
Sixty full taels in hand, Qin Yao smiled with satisfaction, storing it away, and sat down saying, "Let’s eat!"
Perhaps it was the bonus of silver that made this meal exceptionally enjoyable for the whole family.
After the meal, the sky had completely darkened.
According to the lifestyle of the Kuanzheng Square neighbors, they would wash up and prepare for bed around this time.
But Qin Yao’s courtyard was still brightly lit.
Da Lang, Second Lang, and Sanlang continued to work on the homework that hadn’t been completed on the Eight Immortals Table.
They had joined mid-session and missed many courses, so Mr. Fan had specially assigned them book-copying exercises to help them catch up on previously unlearned material.
Sanlang felt like crying; there were thousands of big words, and he didn’t know when he would finish writing them. With a sorrowful face, he glanced around, occasionally checking his brothers’ progress.
He found that his older brothers had completed more than half while he hadn’t even finished a fifth. His emotions got the better of him, and he couldn’t hold back, letting out a loud "wah" as he cried.
Liu Ji, who was randomly playing the piano with his daughter, was startled by the sudden cry.
Father and daughter looked up to see Sanlang with his head thrown back, crying in despair, yet not forgetting to lower his head to write with every cry — both pitiable and amusing.
In the front yard, Qin Yao and Ah Wang, who were giving Yin Le extra practice, heard the sound and looked over, clicking their tongues.
They were grateful it was not them who had to study.
Yin Le, who was lifting a grindstone, looked around the courtyard full of people, secretly mocking a group of heartless fellows!
She looked at the crying Sanlang and resolutely chose to let the child grow freely.
Crying it out wasn’t a big deal; he’d feel better afterward.
The whole family had a great attitude. Si Niang, seeing her little brother break down from studying, handed him a cup of water to soothe his throat, so he could continue crying without straining his voice.
Da Lang and Second Lang also offered their sincere regard to their brother.
Da Lang: "You still have to write after crying."
Second Lang: "I won’t help you write a single word; our handwriting is different, and the teacher would notice."
So, Sanlang, you’re on your own!
The two older brothers patted Sanlang heavily on the shoulder, hoping to give him strength to be resilient.
With a dull "thud," Sanlang sat abruptly on the ground, startled, and momentarily forgot to cry.
The kid had always been a little slow-witted. His tear-blurred eyes searched around and, seeing Senior Sister Le exhausted from the dual blows of Mother and Uncle Ah Wang, in a humorous posture, he suddenly burst into laughter himself.
Quickly wiping away his tears, he climbed back up, ran to the kitchen to grab a plate of cookies Yin Le had baked, sat back down, and continued copying while munching on the cookies.
The night was beautiful, and the courtyard was full of ’warmth’ and ’harmony’.
