Mu Dazhong looked at everyone in the Old Mu Family with a face full of surprise and asked.
But no one knew!
After all, nobody in the family could read!
Mrs. Lin chid in from the side: "Is it really, or is it just another call for money? After all, eldest brother’s family hasn’t returned yet, and the last letter was asking us for twenty taels of silver."
Mrs. Lin’s words instantly dampened everyone’s joy.
Old Mrs. Mu shouted angrily: "What nonsense are you spouting? How could the eldest not have passed? I’m telling you, if he didn’t pass, I’ll have the second son divorce you, you blabbermouth!"
Upon hearing Old Mrs. Mu’s words, Mrs. Lin shrank back, scared, and didn’t utter another word, no matter what others said next.
There’s a knot in everyone’s hearts; they can’t read the letter themselves, nor dare to show it to anyone else.
If he didn’t pass, what should we do? It would be such a disgrace!
"Why don’t we ask the mailman?" Mu Dajiang suggested.
He had barely spoken when Old Mrs. Mu scolded him: "Fourth brother, are you intentionally trying to embarrass ? Let tell you, you from the fourth branch have no authority to speak in household matters, go stand aside!"
Mu Dajiang’s face turned red, and he stood up angrily, followed by Mrs. Liu.
Since the fourth branch wasn’t welco, they might as well leave.
Mr. Mu quickly spoke up upon seeing this: "Fourth brother, and fourth brother’s wife, sit down, just listen to what your mother says."
In recent days, Mr. Mu seed to have beco a different person and began actively maintaining order in the family.
Originally, his word held the most authority in the family.
Moreover, he had reprimanded Mu Dazhong and Mu Danian last ti, so when Mr. Mu spoke, Mu Dajiang and Mrs. Liu sat back down.
Everyone continued to discuss.
"Why don’t we take it to the town today and ask the scholars selling paintings and calligraphy? They can read, and don’t know us. If worst cos to worst... our family won’t lose face." Mu Dalang chid in from the side.
His suggestion was unanimously agreed upon by everyone in the Old Mu Family.
"Fourth brother, this afternoon, don’t go to the cotton fields, take your wife to town and figure this out."
"Second branch, you will peel cotton today; you can’t leave until the pile of cotton at ho is finished."
Mr. Mu allocated the tasks and Mu Dajiang and Mrs. Liu were thrilled.
They never expected that the fourth branch would be sent to town.
Thinking that they still had twenty-eight coins in their pockets, Mu Dajiang decided to take the children along and eat sothing good in town.
"Dad, we won’t peel cotton, that pile of cotton sitting there looks like crap, and it’s full of bugs. Let the fourth branch do it; Lin and I will go to town without asking for a penny, ensuring the task is done well!"
Mu Dazhong refused to peel cotton at ho and proactively shared his thoughts with Mr. Mu.
"You lazy bum, what I say goes. If you don’t work, you won’t eat dinner tonight. Fourth brother, get so five-flavor pork this afternoon; we’ll have dumplings for dinner!" Mr. Mu said angrily.
Mu Dazhong had no objections now.
With food on the table, he had nothing to say.
That’s how the matter was settled.
anwhile, Mu Shuangshuang and Lu Yuanfeng watched Chen Hong head to Er Gui Village.
No need to think; Chen Hong was going to seek refuge with Mu Shuangshuang’s uncle, Mu Danian.
Mu Shuangshuang remarked: "Fengzi, you have to admit, Chen Hong is indeed clever. She’s looking for my fifth uncle, the Old Mu Family’s only scholar in the village. Not even the Old Wang Family dares to provoke him lightly. Wang San wouldn’t dare to co and demand her either."
"Plus, my fifth uncle has two holes poked in his behind and needs soone to take care of him. Even my grandma couldn’t drive her away!"
Lu Yuanfeng nodded in agreent.
"I suppose your family will be even more chaotic in the future."
Chen Hong isn’t one to play by the rules; it’s hard to predict how things will get with Old Mrs. Mu.
However, this has nothing to do with the third branch.
The third branch has split from the family, so no matter how fierce Chen Hong gets, it won’t affect them.
"Shuangshuang, I think we shouldn’t just let the human trafficker slide. Although we tied them up, we haven’t checked the backyard yet. There might be kidnapped children from elsewhere held there."
Initially, Lu Yuanfeng thought the people the trafficker had were part of a voluntary trade, but now it seems that’s hardly the case.
At least Yuanbao and Little Zhi were captured on the road.
Could there be others captured in the sa way, including his mother...
Mu Shuangshuang understood what Lu Yuanfeng ant. At dawn, she struck each trafficker with a few punches, knocking them unconscious.
That’s why they probably won’t wake up for a while.
Furthermore, as traffickers, they had only just profited from involuntary trades, those silver pieces should still be untouched.
Such a good opportunity to make money, Mu Shuangshuang would hardly miss it.
The two quietly returned to the trafficker’s place, checked to confirm they were still unconscious, and began searching the room.
After rummaging around, surprisingly there was nothing of value.
Mu Shuangshuang was puzzled.
Logically, traffickers should have had silver after selling Little Zhi and Yuanbao, not possibly empty-handed.
Mu Shuangshuang glanced around briefly, and eventually looked up to see a corner of black cloth dangling from the roof beams.
Mu Shuangshuang’s eyes lit up; she pointed to the spot and said to Lu Yuanfeng, "Fengzi, there’s sothing up there."
Lu Yuanfeng also noticed the black cloth on the beam.
Originally, Mu Shuangshuang wanted to look for a ladder or sothing in the corner, but to her surprise, Lu Yuanfeng climbed right up. He stepped on the wall corner, in a few swift moves, scaled the wall, and got onto the beam. Hanging from the beam, that little black cloth bag was full of silver.
Lu Yuanfeng threw the silver down and then jumped down from the beam.
Despite jumping from such height, he landed steadily without a sound.
Mu Shuangshuang watched in shock.
And blurted out: "Fengzi, do you know Qinggong?"
The kind of people in TV dramas who leap dozens of ters, climb walls and rooftops—simply amazing.
Unfortunately, things weren’t as Mu Shuangshuang imagined.
Lu Yuanfeng looked blank when he heard the word Qinggong.
Upon further questioning on how he scaled the beam so effortlessly.
Lu Yuanfeng pointed to his pant leg.
"I used to tie sandbags here. This ti I went out looking for Yuanbao and Little Zhi, fearing I’d encounter bad people, so I untied the sandbags and weights from my hands and feet!"
"What Shuangshuang described as flying over walls actually stems from practicing with heavy weights, running and jumping. Once the sandbags and weights are removed, walking feels especially light."
"However, there are drawbacks; you must rely on external force, like stepping on a wall corner or whatnot."
Mu Shuangshuang finally understood!
No wonder Lu Yuanfeng had stepped on the corner when scaling the beam.
However, realizing Qinggong doesn’t exist was sowhat disappointing.
But it’s actually better this way, since without those powers, success relies solely on skill.
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