Chapter 30

The two continued their chat for a long time. Then Mrs. Mu reluctantly watched Han Qiao leave the room.

She thought about it for a while before she told her four rowdy daughters to sleep.

When the four children stood before her, she instantly noticed the differences between them.

Even though they were still drenched in sweat, it was clear that they were clean. They had also changed their clothes, because they were happy and their eyes were sparkling.

The members of the Han family were not bad-looking. She was also good-looking. The four children might be a little tan, but they were still cute and adorable.

Msr. Mu’s heart softened. “Hurry up and wipe yourself off.”

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“Mother, Auntie gave me some candy for you to eat.”

“Mother, some of mine is still left.”

The two older ones handed over the candy.

The two younger ones watched eagerly, because they had eaten all of theirs.

“Auntie gave it?” Mrs. Mu asked.

“Yes, there’s a little bit left. Auntie gave it to us to split,” Zhaodi said quickly.

She liked her auntie very much. She was also very fond of her cousins, Sun Yi, Sun Xiu and Sun Ke.

“Your auntie has gone through a lot of hardship in life. You need to be more filial to her in the future.”

Compared to her, Han Qiao indeed had suffered a lot.

She told the four children to sleep.

When Han Qiao returned, the three children were already waiting for her on the bed.

“Mother, hello.”

“Quickly pack up and sleep. Tomorrow morning, Xiu and Yi will follow me into the mountains.”

“Okay.”

The four of them shared a bed. Sun Ke wanted to sleep next to Han Qiao. Han Qiao let do so, then took a fan to cool off with.

She, too, was tired from that day and dropped off to sleep very quickly.

But that night, there were others who weren’t sleeping so soundly.

For example, Heng Yi from the Heng family, next door neighbors of the Sun family.

He pricked up his ears to listen for any movements next door, but didn’t hear anything. There was no movement at all.

He thought about how he saw the door had been locked when he returned. At the time, he didn’t think much about it.

Meanwhile, in the back rooms of the bookstore, Sun Yiming at last put down his pen, then stood up to stretch his stiff body.

He had already written forty-five copies of Thousand Character Classic that day. His waist and back were all sore, and his wrists ached.

He took a deep breath and planned to rest for a while.

Outside the room, the servant immediately came forward. “Mr. Sun.”

“Yes.”

“Are you going to rest? The shopkeeper said that, before you go to sleep, he would like to invite you to his study.”

Sun Yiming was stunned.

He looked over every copy he had made that day, carefully checking to make sure that there were no mistakes.

Feeling a little nervous, Sun Yiming entered Shopkeeper Xie’s study.

Shopkeeper Xie was also copying books, but he was copying more precious books–those that were the only ones in existence. He was also copying earlier scholars’ commentary with a red brush. This kind of work was more meticulous and tiring.

Seeing Sun Yiming come in, he put down the brush and invited Sun Yiming to sit.

After the servant served tea, Shopkeeper Xie told the servant to go out.

In the study room, it was just him and Sun Yiming. Shopkeeper Xie said, “There was a huge ruckus in the town today.”

“…”

Sun Yiming’s heart skipped a beat when he heard that.

“You didn’t guess wrong. It’s about your family. Now, everyone in Ninghe Town knows about it.”

“…”

Sun Yiming stood up abruptly, but he seemed as if he had been drained of energy. He slowly sat down.

“I don’t know what you are thinking, but all I want to say is that, if you were my brother, and, despite having a bright future before you, you failed the imperial examination and became a depressed drunkard, I definitely wouldn’t lend you a single cent> Certainly not for three or four years. I would have given him a good beating and told him how lucky he is to know how to read.

“Since ancient times, it has never been easy to succeed in the exam. Countless people have given up halfway.”

“I have never believed that a person who can write even one good character is a bad person..”

“What kind of man gets drunk and beats his wife and kids? If you are really unwilling, then start all over again. The world says that a prodigal son never turns over a new leaf. But if you have the courage to step into my bookstore, it means that you can change.”

“If that’s the case, why don’t you try again?”

Hearing this, Sun Yiming’s eyes gradually reddened, and in the end, his tears fell.

“I. . .”

He had let down the Han family. He let all those late nights he toiled away at his studies go to waste.

He had also let down his former high-spirited self.

“You should think long and hard about what has led you to this stage in your life.”

As he spoke, Shopkeeper Xie stood up and took a money bag. He placed it in front of Sun Yiming.

“Go and get the house and the fields back. You are a lucky person. Your wife is gentle and well-mannered, and your daughter is sensible and well-behaved.”

“It’s not too late to make things right.”

Sun Yiming looked at the money bag in front of him.

Inside the big bag were fifty taels of silver.

“Shopkeeper Xie, what was all that commotion today?” Sun Yiming asked.

Shopkeeper Xie wasn’t going to lie to him. He told him everything that happened at the Sun family’s front door in a concise and comprehensive manner.

Sun Yiming fell silent.

After a long time, he stood up and bowed to Shopkeeper Xie. “Thank you, Shopkeeper, for your help today.”

“I will return the money as soon as possible.”

Sun Yiming took the money bag and left the bookstore. He stumbled towards Sun’s grocery store.

Along the way, he thought a lot. With a spell of wind, his mind became clear.

His heart also hurt a lot.

When he arrived, Sun Yixi opened the door.

Separated by the door, the two brothers didn’t say a word to each other.

“Is it Yiming?” Madam Sun called out softly at the door.

Then she cried out, “Yiming, you’re finally here. That vixen Han Qiao is forcing me into an early grave.”

Sun Yiming felt that Han Qiao must have had the same dream as him, which is why her temperament changed so drastically. She had been daring enough to risk her life to fight against the Suns.

“Mom, I’m here to pay back the money and take back the house and land deeds.”

“…”

“…”

Hearing Sun Yiming’s words, Madam Sun and Sun Yixi were dumbfounded.

They didn’t see this coming.

“Big Brother…This is the last time I’ll call you that. Our brotherhood of many years ends tonight..” Sun Yiming’s voice was very soft, but his words were cold.

“At this point, you and I have no relationship whatsoever. From now on, we will go our separate ways.”

“Yiming, you are crazy!” Madam Sun shouted loudly.

“Am I crazy? You are crazy. You know what you have done. I am here today very simply to repay the debt and take back the loan, as well as the land and house deeds.”

Sun Yixi was silent.

After a long while, he said, “You can repay the debt, but forget about the house and land deeds. They do not belong to you. In the first place, Mother and Father are the ones who saved money to buy the house and land. And in the second place, I, too, saved up the money to buy them. What have you done?”

“…”

Sun Yiming heard this.

Suddenly, he laughed. “I was too naive.”

How could someone who plotted such a wicked scheme as betraying his brother’s wife and daughter be kind enough to take his own brother seriously.

“Alright, let’s take out the IOUs.”

Sun Yixi went to take the loan.

Madam Sun went to pull him back, not letting him go.

Sun Yixi said coldly, “Mother, you still want to protect him? Do you still think he is going anywhere in life?”

“It’s said that mud cannot support a wall. Even a stupid person like Han Qiao can’t wait to get away from him. Do you really think that he’s going to turn a new leaf?”

Sun Yixi looked at Sun Yiming. He was looking at him through the crack of the door. Sun Yixi was looking down on him.

Well, he never really looked up to Sun Yiming to begin with.

In fact, he even hated him.

“You hate me!” Sun Yiming said firmly.

“Yes, I hate you. I hate you so much I want you to die. I am obviously better than you in every aspect. How come you got to study for the imperial examinations, while I had to become a poor merchant?”

“Look at you. Are you even good at studying?”

“In the end, you are still worse off than a poor merchant like me.”

Sun Yiming expected a reaction like this, but he remained calm.

Madam Sun was so shocked that she couldn’t even speak.