Xu Qiguang neither nodded nor shook his head.
He just gave his daughter a sidelong glance, jutting his chin to signal for her to take off the back-basket she was still clutching to her chest.
‘No way, there’s a lot of good stuff in here.’ Xu Changqing shook her head, refusing.
She sat sideways on the back of the bike, perfectly positioned to hug the basket with one arm and hold onto her dad with the other.
“There’s rope.”
“Holding it makes me feel more secure.”
Since his daughter insisted, Xu Qiguang had to drop it.
He tied the mesh bag to the front handlebars, then told his daughter to get on the back so they could set off.
Sitting sideways on the back, Xu Changqing mulled it over for a long time.
After a bump in the road, she bit her lip.
“Dad, Master gave me a package earlier.”
“Oh.”
“I said, Master gave me a package.”
“I heard you.”
“It’s not food.”
‘It’d be more likely for you to be giving *him* food.
How much money could that old man possibly have on him these days?’ Xu Qiguang shook his head.
“Do you know what he gave you?
Did you look?”
“Be careful on the bike,” Xu Changqing reminded him first.
“I haven’t had a chance to look yet.
From the way Master acted, it seemed like it wouldn’t be convenient to open it while we’re out.”
“That’s right.”
‘And then?’
‘That’s it?’
Xu Changqing had no choice but to speak up again.
“Dad, leave me some time tonight.
I want to have a serious talk with you.”
Pedaling the bicycle up front, Xu Qiguang chuckled.
“Talk about what?
There’s no one else on the road right now, isn’t this the perfect time?
Go on, Dad’s listening.
I won’t let you fall.”
“I can’t explain it in just a few words.”
“If you’re curious about what’s inside, Dad can tell you the answer right now.
If I’m not mistaken, it should be a few gold bars and some jewelry.”
Hearing this, Xu Changqing glanced at the basket in her arms with a complicated expression.
“Where did they come from?”
“From your Master.”
“Dad!”
Xu Qiguang let out a soft laugh.
“Alright, no more joking.
I’ve never lied to you.
Our family really isn’t short on money.
We’re not rolling in wealth, but we have no problem putting food on the table.”
“I didn’t say you were lying.”
‘So stubborn.’
‘If you hadn’t been so suspicious, even going so far as to harvest wheat on your own, would I have needed to do this?
I deliberately let the old Master show you these things just so you could see them with your own eyes.’
Xu Qiguang shook his head to himself, not bothering to argue with his daughter.
“One year, your grandma was gravely ill.
The family spent all its savings and even went into debt.
It was your Master who lent us a hand back then.”
Xu Changqing frowned.
“It was a rather large sum.
He even had to hide it from his wife and go to all his friends in private just to scrape it together.” At this point, Xu Qiguang paused.
“Later, your grandpa gave me an idea.
He knew I had a lot of old classmates in other places, so he figured he could find a source for things like wild mountain ginseng, and I could be the one to sell them.
After that, your grandpa and I made quite a bit of money working together.
At first, I didn’t dare pay your Master back all at once.
Later on, I paid off the debt bit by bit and even managed to save a nice sum.
We never dared let your grandma know about this whole affair.
Later, when I had more money on hand, I converted it into gold bars and gave them to your Master for safekeeping.
The package he gave you today should be the things I’ve given him to look after all these years.
It’s not that he didn’t want me to hold onto them myself before; I was the one who refused to take them back.”
Now finally understanding the origin of the package and the family’s savings, Xu Changqing let out a long breath.
“Dad, aren’t you afraid that after giving those things to Master…
”
Hearing his daughter trail off mid-sentence, Xu Qiguang, who was pedaling the bike at a leisurely pace, knew exactly what she meant.
He chuckled.
“It got lost?”
“Yeah.”
“A man who offers his student the greatest possible help in their time of need—that shows his character.
What’s there to be afraid of?
Even if I put my trust in the wrong person, I’d just treat it as interest on the original loan.”
“No, it’s not that I don’t trust Master’s character, it’s his family…” Xu Changqing paused.
“Like Grandma Yu.
Grandma Yu is…
a bit different.”
Xu Qiguang had no doubt that his Changqing could see Grandma Yu’s true character.
Hearing this, he laughed again.
“What if I told you I did it on purpose?
Would you believe me?”
“I believe you!” ‘With the way you and Grandpa pulled the wool over everyone’s eyes to save up all that money, I have to believe you.’ Xu Changqing nodded emphatically and added, “I really do.”
Hearing the earnestness in his daughter’s voice, Xu Qiguang was amused again.
“Then would you believe me if I said I suspect some of the things inside might have already been swapped out?
That’s why I said you were right not to open it on the spot.”
‘What does that mean?’ Xu Changqing’s eyes went wide.
She was confused again.
‘If you knew this could happen, why didn’t you keep them yourself?’
“Do you know why your Master has been able to live so peacefully all these years without anyone causing him trouble?” Xu Qiguang began.
“There are plenty of highly respected teachers out there.”
“His family has ‘red’ roots.”
“That’s part of it.
Another reason is Grandma Yu’s nephew from her side of the family.” ‘Otherwise, even Uncle Shi wouldn’t have told me today to go find Brother Ding for backing.’
There were many things he originally hadn’t wanted to tell the child so soon.
But now, it seemed he had to give her a heads-up about what needed to be said, lest she stumble around in a daze and make a mistake.
No matter how mature or sensible she was, her age and experience were still limited.
She still couldn’t grasp that everyone has two sides; you just never know which one you’ll see until a critical moment arrives.
“Your Master has always thought that if he wants to hide something, he can actually hide it from the people closest to him.
How is that possible?
More or less, your Grandma Yu has an idea of what’s going on.”
‘So you used him as bait and dragged Master into it?
No!
I can’t think of my own dad like that.’ “Should we pull over?
I can check if anything inside has been swapped.”
‘With your eye for things?’ Xu Qiguang was greatly amused.
It really wasn’t that he looked down on his own child, but his Changqing had never even touched gold before.
How could she possibly tell if the items were real or fake?
“Dad!”
Xu Qiguang finally managed to stifle his laughter and flatly refused.
“No need.
There’s absolutely no reason to.
I just want you to understand something today.
Money is a good thing, but the moment you get too serious about it, you’ve already lost.
To get by in this world, you have to learn to play dumb when it’s time to compromise.
You can’t be too rigid.”
Hearing this, Xu Changqing didn’t ask why it was necessary to endure it.
Hadn’t she, too, slowly learned the meaning of “endurance”?
Hadn’t she gotten used to the idea of taking a step back to find a broader path?
Even though, after that one dream, she clearly understood that she had often made the wrong move by stepping back, a thought was just a thought.
When faced with a similar situation, she was afraid she still wouldn’t be able to change.
After a moment of silence, Xu Changqing couldn’t help but ask a question she had buried deep in her heart.
“Then when you married Mom, was that a time when you had to compromise?”
“Nonsense!” Xu Qiguang shook his head with a laugh.
“Who’s been spouting nonsense to you now?
Your mom was one of a kind in a hundred-mile radius.
What could I have possibly compromised on?”
‘But they all said that Grandpa schemed against you to get you to marry Mom, to have her ward off bad luck for Grandma; they all said…’ “It really wasn’t Grandpa who tricked you into marrying Mom?”
Hearing this, Xu Qiguang’s smile vanished.
His tone became serious.
“I was the one who wanted to marry your mother.
If it weren’t for her, I never would have been able to work away from home with any peace of mind.”
“That’s true.
Mom is wonderful.” ‘Although she plays favorites a little, she’s still completely devoted to our family.’ “I’ve never seen a more filial daughter-in-law than my mom.”
“Mm.”
“Dad?”
“Hm?”