Chapter 31
Zong Jincheng was already in a rage, and upon hearing this, he completely lost his cool!
He stomped around in fury, yelling, "Pfft! Fine, if he doesn't want to be friends, then so be it! Who even cares about being friends with him! My roof was beautifully repaired, and he just had to go and ruin it with a single slap! I haven't even settled that score with him yet!"
"And he even dared to ask for my prized blood-sweating horse worth five hundred taels! Only soone with a donkey-kicked brain would give that away!"
"Steward Liu! Where's Steward Liu? Listen, if Zhai Yao ever shows up at Marquis Manor again, you're to beat him out with three sticks!"
Steward Liu hurried over and imdiately morized his young master's instructions, saying, "I assure you, from now on, not even a bird with the last na Zhai will be able to fly into our Marquis Manor!"
Zong Jincheng: "..."
What kind of bird has a last na, you idiot!
"Your dinner is placed in your room. You don't need to go to the front hall tonight. Get so rest." Xu Wan stood up, ready to leave.
"Hey!" The little troublemaker called out awkwardly, his tone stiff.
Xu Wan stopped behind him, the corner of her mouth slightly lifting.
"What is it, young master?"
Hearing this mocking title, Zong Jincheng glared angrily at her back, "The monthly allowance of twenty taels is too little! I want fifty taels!"
Xu Wan turned around, amused, "You know the normal prices outside, so why do you still think it's too little?"
Zong Jincheng struggled for a mont, then grumbled, "It's still too little!"
He added, "It's not even enough to raise two people until adulthood!"
Xu Wan imdiately understood his hidden aning.
The boy wanted to give all the money to Jing Zhe and his sister.
She agreed, "Alright."
Zong Jincheng's eyes lit up, surprised that she agreed so easily.
He thought she would definitely use Zong Wenxiu's allowance to block him!
Apparently, she also knew the difference between legitimate and illegitimate children, and that this household ultimately was his to decide!
However, the little troublemaker's beautiful fantasy didn't last three seconds before he heard Xu Wan say, "Equivalent exchange. If you can understand the aning and write the essence of the books you've morized, I'll give you fifty taels a month, considering your hard work."
Zong Jincheng: "!!!"
That's what I get for thinking there'd be an easy deal!
"You...!"
"You...!"
The little troublemaker pointed at her in anguish, feeling utterly deceived.
But he knew his options were all blocked, and to get money from her, he had to et her demands!
He was furious!
Xu Wan smiled and slapped away his finger, educating, "Pointing at soone is very rude. Young master, you should rest well tonight. Tomorrow, I'll have soone prepare the translated texts for you in the study. Shunzi will read them to you, sentence by sentence, according to your morization habits. Good luck!"
Zong Jincheng: "..."
If the cold wind could talk, it would be playing a mournful erhu right now.
Shunzi saw Xu Wan off and closed the courtyard gate, then hurried back.
He brought the dishes out and placed them on the small stone table in the courtyard, calling, "Master, please eat first. No matter how big the problem is, you can't go hungry. Today, we have your favorite stead jade duck."
Hearing this, Zong Jincheng channeled his anger into appetite, tearing off a duck leg and stuffing it into his mouth, muttering, "Eat! I'll eat back all the suffering!"
"Oh, and," the little troublemaker suddenly rembered sothing, "have soone buy so cotton quilts, clothes, and dicine for wounds, and whatever money is left, send it all to Jing Zhe."
"Ah?" Shunzi was puzzled, "All... all of it? The twenty taels of monthly allowance?"
The little troublemaker firmly said, "Yes, all of it!"
...
Xu Wan went back and imdiately arranged for the preparation of translated texts for the little troublemaker.
There were over a hundred maids and servants in the manor, and many of them could read and write, but when it ca to translating classical Chinese, it was better to leave it to professional tutors.
That night, Marquis Manor, under Xu Wan's orders, quickly invited over a dozen tutors who translated and transcribed all the over a hundred books Zong Jincheng had morized onto paper.
The next morning, Zong Wenxiu saw the hundreds of translated texts and was completely stunned.
"This... can actually be translated and compiled into books?"
Didn't classical texts usually involve morizing them and then listening to the tutor explain while taking notes on key points?
How did this turn into a full word-for-word translation, made so... so formal?!
Zong Wenxiu was amazed.
Not only did he admire Xu Wan's thod for being considerate and efficient, but he also admired how such a massive copying task was completed overnight.
The mistress is so devoted to her brother.
Whether Zong Jincheng was touched or not, Zong Wenxiu was already moved on his behalf.
When Zong Jincheng yawned and arrived, seeing the scene, he was shocked. He took a big step back, horrified, "Why so many? There were only over a hundred books, right?"
"Did Xu Wan sneak in other books without knowing?
"How despicable!!!"
Zong Wenxiu: "..."
Brother, your imagination doesn't need to be that rich.
Shunzi, who knew the situation, explained, "Young master, you're mistaken. The translated text naturally has more words than the original, so there are so many."
Although seeing the hundreds of books filled him with imnse pressure...
But thinking that he only had to read them, while his master had to morize them, Shunzi felt he could handle it.
Better the master than .
Zong Jincheng pouted, "That seems like it can't be finished in a month."
He was very confident in his mory, but there wasn't enough ti.
"It can be done," Zong Wenxiu said.
He was very familiar with his brother's abilities. If his brother tried hard, he really could finish.
"Ah? How?"
Zong Wenxiu took a deep breath and said, "If you increase your study ti from one hour to two hours a day, you'll definitely be able to finish."
Heaven knows how envious he was when saying this.
His brother only studied for one hour a day, yet rembered more than he did in six hours. It was an inhuman blow!
Zong Jincheng imdiately bristled, his pride stung, and retorted, "I spend several hours in the study every day!!!"
"You fall asleep at least eight tis while morizing," Zong Wenxiu made an eight gesture and then counted on his fingers, "The rest of the ti, you're either kicking the desk, throwing books, or tossing pens, fiddling with the inkstone, or picking at the desk corners..."
With each thing Zong Wenxiu ntioned, Zong Jincheng's face darkened a bit, until it was as black as a pot.
The little troublemaker started throwing a tantrum, "Aren't you supposed to be studying seriously? Why are you observing so closely!!!"
"I didn't want to..." Zong Wenxiu said helplessly, "You kept interrupting my study thoughts, so I had to stop and look at you."
Zong Jincheng: "..."
How co it's always my fault when we count it all up?
So infuriating!
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