Chapter 25: How Should I Say This

Li Qingtian, seeing that Su Tang was unharmed, turned to Xuanjizi and bowed deeply. "Thank you, sir."

Su Tang hurried to offer her thanks as well.

Did Xuanjizi just save her? How did he do it? Was he, like Li Qingtian, also a formidable master?

"Ah, yes, many thanks, sir," she echoed.

Lu Dashan, who had been standing awkwardly in the courtyard, suddenly seemed to come to his senses and offered his own clumsy salute.

Xuanjizi flicked his sleeve and smiled, his gaze settling on Su Tang. "No need to thank me. I have come today to collect donations."

Lu Dashan's eyes widened in astonishment.

What on earth?

Li Qingtian stared at Lu Dashan, equally stupefied.

It seemed this man had no idea what was happening!

Observing their reactions, Su Tang quickly understood. She said, "The master truly has divine foresight; you must have come on account of me."

Xuanjizi nodded. "You are perceptive."

Su Tang smiled. "May I ask how much the master wishes to collect?"

"Three coins will suffice," replied Xuanjizi.

Li Qingtian instinctively glanced at Su Tang, who almost reached for her purse at her waist.

Aside from a few bits of silver, there were precisely three copper coins left in her purse. But did the master mean the three coins in her purse, or the three coins left at the temple outside Ping'an Town last night?

Xuanjizi's lips held a faint smile, and his clear, youthful eyes regarded her intently.

Those eyes were like a mountain spring—pure, without a trace of impurity.

Suddenly, Su Tang seemed to understand. She took out three copper coins from her purse and placed them in Xuanjizi's hand. "Thank you, master."

"You are truly blessed," Xuanjizi said.

Su Tang returned his smile.

With a flip of his hand, the three coins vanished without a trace.

As the coins landed in Xuanjizi's palm, a faint glow appeared in the system's "Make a Donation" task, and a crisp notification chimed in her ear: "Reward received."

Su Tang was momentarily dazed.

Yesterday, she had completed a daily task, but the system hadn't responded at all. Today, at last, it had.

Xuanjizi, so close at hand, seemed to notice nothing at all and turned leisurely to leave.

Li Qingtian, standing beside Su Tang, watched Xuanjizi's departing figure and murmured, "A true master."

"He is indeed," Su Tang agreed softly, her mind preoccupied as she scrolled through the system tree, searching up and down, left and right.

Where was the reward?

But after searching thoroughly, she found nothing.

Ha! So the system could make empty promises too!

"Young lady?"

"New wife~"

Voices called out to her, rising and falling.

Su Tang curved her lips into a smile.

"What happened?" Li Qingtian asked.

"Weren't you supposed to fetch Jingyuan? Jingyuan is already back, so why is the new wife only returning now?" Lu Dashan asked.

"As long as my husband is back, all is well," Su Tang replied with a gentle smile. "I'll go find him now."

She headed straight for the house.

Nearby, the big black dog wagged its tail and sat down beside Lu Dashan.

Lu Dashan glanced at the dog.

How uncharacteristically well-behaved.

...

Bang!

The door swung open.

The doorframe struck the side wall with a thud.

Inside, paper was spread across the table. Beside it, the young gentleman set down the inkstone, dipped his brush, and seemed about to write.

Su Tang walked over. The paper was completely blank, not a single character written.

She couldn't help but smirk.

"When did you come back, husband?"

"…"

"You started writing as soon as you returned, didn't you?"

"…"

"You haven't written a single word. Are you stuck?"

"…"

"Is the inkstone too precious? Or is your conscience uneasy?"

Jingyuan never did finish his writing. He set down the brush and turned his head to look at her.

Su Tang smiled. "'By observing one's faults, one understands virtue.' That truly is an interesting saying."

Jingyuan stared at her.

Su Tang went on, "You said I scold well. But tell me, do you think you're scolding yourself too?"

Still, the young man said nothing.

Su Tang suddenly felt as if all her pent-up anger had been spent beating a pillow—utterly futile.

If he wouldn't speak, what was she to do?

She exhaled and said, "Yesterday, little Nannan comforted me, so I gave her a piece of candy. Only then did she give me her beloved duck. As for the bamboo baskets I bought, it's because I like them. Originally, I picked out even more, but her father insisted I shouldn't buy any more."

"Today, Nannan only wanted to give you her duck because she saw how close we were. But you—without asking, without understanding the situation—lost your temper at a child."

"Even if it was Nannan's father who told her to do those unsavory things you spoke of, the one at fault is her father, not Nannan! Do you know how much trouble you caused after leaving? Two hundred coins—two hundred!"

"A gentleman's virtue is like the wind; a petty man's virtue is like grass. When the wind blows over the grass, it must bend," Jingyuan replied indifferently. "Parents are the wind, children the grass; as the wind blows, so the grass follows. If parents are anxious and petty, how virtuous can their children be?"

Su Tang chuckled. So, it was the old saying: dragons beget dragons, phoenixes beget phoenixes, and the children of rats are born to burrow.

"If that's the case, then good people's children must always be good, and bad people's children must be bad?" she retorted with a light scoff.

Jingyuan replied, "If a child has not yet learned the ways of a gentleman and remains under the care of their parents, it is only natural."

Su Tang was momentarily speechless.

Right now, she wished she could summon an AI to quote classic texts and spar with this man.

But alas, she had none.

She smiled sweetly. "Husband, you truly are a prodigy among scholars."

Then, she turned and left.

Bang!

She shut the door with force.

Inside, Jingyuan lowered his eyes slightly.

Outside, in the kitchen, Li Qingtian and Lu Dashan exchanged glances.

"What happened?" Lu Dashan asked.

"Clearly your Jingyuan has upset my little sister," Li Qingtian sniffed.

"Impossible—" Lu Dashan started to protest, but then he saw Su Tang approaching. He quickly lowered his head and busied himself, casting a sidelong glance at Li Qingtian, who had already moved several steps away to the stove.

When Su Tang entered the kitchen, she found Lu Dashan and Li Qingtian fully occupied.

She quietly stepped beside Lu Dashan. "Father-in-law, let me help."

"Oh, I can manage," Lu Dashan replied.

Through her long skirt, Su Tang pinched her leg discreetly, her eyes growing moist. "At my husband's age, he should be serving his father, not the other way around. To trouble you so for his sake—your daughter-in-law is ashamed."

Seeing Su Tang about to bow, Lu Dashan hastily jumped aside. "No need! It's only right for a father to look after his own son. You have nothing to be ashamed of. If not for you, how would Jingyuan have been able to attend school? It is Jingyuan's good fortune to have married you."

Su Tang, on the verge of tears, said, "Father-in-law, you truly are the kindest elder I've ever met. But your daughter-in-law has a question and hopes you might answer it."

"Ah? What question?" Lu Dashan asked.

All the while, Li Qingtian, who had been listening closely, suddenly felt his heart skip a beat.

He watched as Su Tang's eyes grew misty and distant. "I've been here for several days now, but I've rarely heard my husband address his father with proper respect. Why is that?"

Her gentle, plaintive voice tugged at the heartstrings, but the meaning behind each word made cold sweat break out on Lu Dashan's back. He nearly wiped his brow.

Hardly ever calls him "father"?

Heh, of course. In fact, not even once would be more accurate.

If Jingyuan dared to call him father, would he dare to answer?

But what should he say now?