But the trouble arises from the fact that, even though Lin Shuyou was under a gag order and couldn’t divulge specifics, he kept laughing and shouting from his sickbed, "Great fortune!" "Huge opportunity!" "Head of the table at the New Year’s feast!" "A whole new page in the family genealogy!"
This scene, in the eyes of the family elders, was the spitting image of their own foolish son being sold yet helping to count the money for the buyer.
"Give us the details, what exactly happened?"
"Alright."
Tan Wenbin started organizing his words. Concerned about Grandma Liu’s health and not wanting her to suffer any backlash, he couldn’t speak plainly, and so he had to keep making taphors and analogies, looking for indirect ways to broach the subject.
What a tireso effort, to finally explain the whole matter.
Grandma Liu was also tired from listening, to the point where she wanted to say flat-out: Stop speaking in riddles. I’d rather cough up so blood than rack my brains like this.
But by the ti she heard the conclusion, Grandma Liu’s eyes suddenly bulged, and the Chenghua-era Doucai chicken cup in her hands was crushed to pieces.
"What audacity!"
Tan Wenbin was stunned, huh?
Liu Yui was truly angry because she had been taken advantage of.
Her side had been forming a good relationship over the past year, with her own granddaughter accompanying him, even offering to rge the heritage of both families to bring him into their fold. What a high price they had paid!
And that person, he had the nerve to demand the Secret Technique without offering anything in return!
It was as if the Buddha, whom her family had painstakingly worshipped day and night, was taken away by others to shake sticks for Divination.
Since ancient tis, if you dare covet my family’s Secret Technique, that’s declaring a feud unto death!
Grandma Liu looked down at Tan Wenbin, knowing he probably didn’t understand, and as for Xiao Yuan, it didn’t matter if Xiao Yuan understood, he likely didn’t care.
But her family was not a charity. Whether I care or not is my business, how dare you covet it?
In the past, anyone wanting the Secret Technique or to have their family heritage system organized would have to submit their entire household as servants to our family, setting a term before they could leave; or they would work for us at the forefront, resulting in the death of half their family.
But soon, Liu Yui realized sothing was amiss. With such a great opportunity at hand, why did those two individuals still co over acting as they did?
Perhaps it’s because Tan Wenbin’s Chinese language proficiency was only on par with high school level, unable to cite classics like Xiao Yuan could; getting the gist of the story across was already an achievent, so why bother with fleshing out characters?
Liu Yui asked, "That boy, is he a bit silly?"
"Hm?" Tan Wenbin nodded, "Not silly, but sowhat simple."
"Heh..." After finally making sense of the past events, Liu Yui was amused again.
This family sure was interesting, managing to irritate her twice yet make her laugh twice as well.
"Tell Xiao Yuan about the Secret Technique..." Liu Yui stopped mid-sentence, "Never mind, don’t tell Xiao Yuan. Let him make his own decisions about his affairs."
"Ah, okay."
"Also, you handle that matter. They are still there, not daring to co over again, but certainly they dare not leave either."
"Sure, Grandma Liu, please give a directive."
"I have nothing to say."
Tan Wenbin observed Grandma Liu’s expression carefully, confirming it wasn’t a case of hidden aning, but that Grandma Liu really seed to be at a loss for words.
"Then I’ll head over there now."
"Wait a bit longer. We haven’t had today’s lesson, yet. They can stew a bit longer over there; let them suffer more. It’s their own doing."
"You say, I’ll listen." Tan Wenbin, originally kneeling beside Grandma Liu, now pulled out a stool and sat down.
"Zhuangzhuang."
"Yes, I’m here."
Tan Wenbin imdiately stood up.
Grandma Liu rarely called him by the childhood nickna Grandmaster had given him, but every ti she did, it ant she had so serious advice or instruction.
Looking at it from another angle, this nickna was indeed well chosen.
"Are you trying to emulate Xiao Yuan?"
"Co on, Grandma Liu, isn’t that what I’m supposed to do? This is... seeking to emulate the worthy."
"But does Xiao Yuan truly like his current state?"
"This..."
"What you should learn and what you shouldn’t must be weighed in your heart. Think about when you first t; why was Xiao Yuan willing to play with you? It can’t be just because you were like him, right?"
"I..."
"In this life, we’re always doing one thing: constantly taking up and constantly putting down. The worst fear is being unable to let go, always holding onto sothing.
No matter what you’ve experienced before, I’m not asking you to forget, but you must learn to see through what should be seen through."
Even if you have soone in mind, he probably wouldn’t be happy seeing you getting tired just holding him up, inadvertently making him your burden.
Zhuangzhuang, you’re good at cheering others up, but don’t just focus on making them happy, forget about yourself."
"I understand so of it now, thank you, Grandma."
"No need to thank , I’m also thinking of Xiao Yuan’s best interest. Xiao Yuan is indifferent by nature, I know that. When he was with Li Sanjiang, he would appear very enthusiastic, but now, he’s less and less willing to pretend.
As his boatswain, you need to speak for Dragon King when he doesn’t want to, and handle the situations Dragon King doesn’t want to deal with..."
Liu Yui paused, then continued:
"If Dragon King has any weaknesses, you have to cover for them, so outsiders can’t tell."
"Phew..." Tan Wenbin smiled, "Got it."
"Go then." Liu Yui lifted her hand, "Rember, though I have nothing to say, don’t make it too easy on those two guys."
"Don’t worry, I’ll go cheer them up for you. I’ll tell you all about it tonight for so bedti amusent."
"That’s settled then, I won’t be satisfied if there’s no fun."
"Rest assured, certainly."
...
"He’s here."
Lin Fu’an and Chen Shoun exchanged glances, both seeing the seriousness in each other’s eyes.
"Master, soone from that side is coming to give us an explanation, whether it’s fortune or disaster..."
"And you’re still thinking about fortune now?"
Chen Shoun: "..."
Lin Fu’an: "If disaster doesn’t ruin the temple, we should light incense in gratitude."
Tan Wenbin walked up the stairs, with a smile as he approached the ward.
Although Lin Fu’an and Chen Shoun were nervous inside, they managed to force a smile. This difficulty was almost as hard as when they first started divination.
Tan Wenbin ignored them and entered the ward: "Ah You, feeling any better?"
Lin Fu’an and Chen Shoun glanced at each other again, then silently followed into the ward.
They didn’t believe this guy wouldn’t recognize them.
"Brother Binbin, I’m feeling much better. Oh, let introduce you. This is my master, this is my grandpa, they’ve co to see ."
Lin Shuyou pointed as he introduced, his attention on Tan Wenbin, not noticing that every person he pointed at trembled.
Lin Fu’an and Chen Shoun stepped forward half a step, ready to do the Jianghu courtesy.
Tan Wenbin "plopped" down on his knees before them:
"Uncle, Grandpa, I’m sorry for Shuyou, I’m at fault for his terrible situation, I am to bla, please punish !"
"Plop! Plop!"
Lin Fu’an and Chen Shoun felt as if the sky had collapsed, and they also knelt down.
Sitting on the hospital bed, Lin Shuyou suddenly felt it was improper for him to sit.
"Uncle, Grandpa, why are you kneeling? The one at fault is ."
Chen Shoun: "No, you’re not to bla!"
Lin Fu’an: "We are to bla, it’s Ah You who didn’t educate us well."
"Uncle, Grandpa, with your understanding, what am I to do. Here, I’ll kowtow to you!"
Lin Fu’an and Chen Shoun now not only felt the sky had fallen, but it was about to explode. What kind of kowtow was this, was it possible the Dragon King family had sent him to end their temple?
"Not at all, not like this."
"Oh, okay." Tan Wenbin swiftly stood up, then went to help them up, "Uncles, Grandpas, please stand up too. I am younger, it’s proper for to kneel before you. Don’t you have a tradition of giving a red envelope when you kowtow?"
Lin Fu’an and Chen Shoun were helped up, still dazed, with minds like mush, only the word "red envelope" stuck in their heads, subconsciously starting to pat their own pockets.
If giving a red envelope or sothing else could resolve this resentnt, then they’d definitely agree to anything.
Tan Wenbin then said:
"My elder says, when our family’s fortunes decline, even friends from outside would look down on us, they disdain to enter our ho, fearing it’ll dirty their shoes, and prefer to pretend not to see it and quickly move on, afraid if they linger, we’ll chase after them to borrow money, sigh.
Hey, hey, hey, Uncles, Grandpas, don’t kneel, no, if you kneel, I’ll have to kneel too."
Just then, Fan Shulin was doing his rounds and ca back here, peeking in, he said in surprise:
"Wow, are we having a sworn brotherhood here?"
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