Chapter 209: Waited All Night

Chapter 209: Waited All Night

Seeing that no matter how much she begged, Wei Pozi remained unyielding, Zhou Wuniang became anxious. She blurted out, "Are you worried that our Qian'an will overshadow Liu Ge'er?"

Wei Pozi was stunned, her shocked expression causing Zhou Wuniang to come to her senses.

Realizing her slip of the tongue, Zhou Wuniang quickly patted her own mouth lightly. "Auntie, just now I wasn't thinking clearly. Qian'an and Liu Ge'er have a close relationship, there's no question of overshadowing... Auntie, think about it, none of your other three children are academically inclined. With Qian'an around, they can support each other, and when they take the imperial exams in the future, they'll have a companion..."

Hearing this, Wei Pozi's expression turned cold.

What did she mean by "none of your other three children are academically inclined"?

Although it was the truth, why did it sound so harsh?

With a cold expression, Wei Pozi said, "Whether they are academically inclined or not doesn't matter. The main thing is, we don't want our children to be illiterate."

Zhou Wuniang endured it and didn't contradict her.

She had always thought it seemed like a waste of money for the Yujia family to send all four children to school.

But now that she needed Wei Pozi's help, she had to go along with everything.

"Yes, yes, auntie is absolutely right. But let me put it another way," Zhou Wuniang pleaded, "Liu Ge'er doesn't need to do anything, he just needs to bring Qian'an to Grand Scholar Liu..."

However, no matter how much Zhou Wuniang pleaded, Wei Pozi refused.

In the end, Zhou Wuniang left disappointed, carrying the basket of eggs.

After Zhou Wuniang left, Wei Pozi let out a breath.

She often inquired about the children's studies in the county. She would frequently chat with her grandsons about school matters.

Wang Qian'an used to stand out in the village school because of his academic abilities, as not many children attended.

But ever since Liu Ge'er and the others enrolled, with Liu Ge'er being a natural scholar to compare against, Wang Qian'an's performance wasn't as impressive.

In the county, it was even more so. Wang Qian'an's performance in the county private school could only be considered average.

Not to mention, even compared to the quick-witted Bai Ge'er, Wang Qian'an fell short.

But Zhou Wuniang probably wouldn't believe this.

She always thought her son was the best in the world, unmatched by anyone.

Even if Liu Ge'er was currently doing better academically, it was just because of his little tricks.

When it came to the imperial exams, those small advantages wouldn't count for much!

For so many years, Zhou Wuniang's expectations for her son had been unrealistically high.

But Wei Pozi, as an outsider, saw things clearly.

How could she ask Liu Ge'er to bring up the matter?

Wei Pozi felt a headache coming on.

Xingxing ran in and, seeing Wei Pozi pressing her temples, felt very concerned. "Grandma, where do you feel uncomfortable? Xingxing will rub it for you."

Wei Pozi smiled and reassured her that it was nothing.

Xingxing whispered, "Xingxing heard everything. Did Grandma and Aunt Zhou have an argument?"

She took out the candy that Zhou Wuniang had given her, "...Should I return this candy to Aunt Zhou?"

Wei Pozi felt her heart soften with affection.

She hugged Xingxing, "Darling, there's no need to return it. Don't worry, Grandma is fine now."

No matter how much Xingxing asked, Wei Pozi kept saying she was fine.

But Xingxing was still worried and insisted on staying by Wei Pozi's side.

With such a caring granddaughter by her side, how could Wei Pozi feel anything but happy? Soon, she forgot all about Zhou Wuniang coming to see her.

...

In the open space in front of the Liu family villa, a crowd of scholars had gathered, engaging in lively discussions or composing poems.

They hoped Grand Scholar Liu would recognize their exceptional talent and take them as his disciples.

With so many people gathered at the Liu family villa, Yu Siyang, squatting not too far away, didn't draw attention at all.

But despite waiting for hours, Yu Siyang saw no sign of Ah Wu leaving or returning to the villa.

Yu Siyang was anxious.

He knew Ah Wu loved to play, but if she didn't go out, could she really be sick?

Yu Siyang waited until evening, when most of the talented scholars in front of the Liu family villa had dispersed, yet he stubbornly continued to squat there.

He had a childlike simplicity and could be quite stubborn at times.

For example, right now, his determination was to see with his own eyes that Ah Wu was fine.

But even as the moon climbed higher, Yu Siyang still hadn't seen Ah Wu.

Finally, it was a guard who had accompanied Ah Wu to Yu family commercial store and was now relieving another guard who had gone out to handle some business that spotted Yu Siyang squatting by the roadside.

It was nighttime, and from a distance, the guard could only make out a silhouette and couldn't recognize who it was.

The guard's hand was already on his sword hilt.

Only when he got closer, under the cool moonlight, did he recognize Yu Siyang.

The guard was startled, "...Master Yu the Fourth?"

Yu Siyang also recognized the guard who had accompanied Ah Wu to their store.

Yu Siyang was overjoyed and jumped up excitedly.

However, because he had been squatting for so long, his legs had gone numb, and he fell straight into the field.

The guard was alarmed, "Master Yu!"

He quickly helped Yu Siyang to his feet.

Yu Siyang, ignoring the numbness in his legs, asked the guard, "Where's Ah Wu?"

The guard had been instructed by Grandfather Liu to only ensure that Miss Ah Wu was safe, without needing to monitor who she met.

The guard could more or less tell that this "Fourth Young Master Yu" had a special relationship with young mistress Ah Wu.

So, when he inquired about Ah Wu's recent condition, the guard paused briefly before replying, "At this time of day, I imagine the young mistress is already asleep."

Yu Siyang asked, sounding worried, "Brother Guard, is Ah Wu sick?"

The guard was stunned for a moment. He hadn’t heard anything about Ah Wu being unwell.

"Not that I’ve heard," the guard replied. He only followed Ah Wu when she left the residence; he knew little else.

Yu Siyang, however, breathed a sigh of relief.

No news usually means good news.

"That’s a relief..." Yu Siyang murmured to himself, before turning to leave, while limping.

The guard was caught off guard, "Fourth Young Master Yu, where are you going?"

Yu Siyang smiled at the guard, "I'm relieved that Ah Wu is fine. I'm going home."

The guard was so shocked that he couldn't speak.

At that moment, the doorkeeper strolled out and started chatting with the guard, "You know him? He seems a little out of it, just sitting there for hours."

The guard was even more astonished. Fourth Young Master Yu had waited this long just to know if young mistress Ah Wu was alright?

He hesitated for a second, then called out to Yu Siyang, "Fourth Young Master Yu, please wait!"

Yu Siyang was a bit surprised but stopped as instructed.

The guard quickly said, "Wait here for a sec, I’ll check with Maoye."

Yu Siyang didn't know who Maoye was, but he remembered Ah Wu mentioning "Grandpa Mao," so he assumed it was the same person.

Yu Siyang didn't ask what instructions needed to be sought from that Maoye. Since the guard asked him to wait, he obediently stood there and waited.