Shi Baigu was a little exasperated. Her own son being this clueless, she sighed inwardly. “At his age, what’s he doing making investments? He’d be better off putting it in the bank and earning interest, at least that way he’d have more set aside for his coffin.”
The words weren’t pleasant, but they were the plain truth.
Making money grow was never that easy, and at his age, why go chasing the thrill of investment?
Shi Rongchuan saw it differently. “Mom, what kind of person is Great-Grandfather Jiu?”
Shi Baigu thought about it. “A dazzling genius. In Nanyuan he was once known as the one man you’d better not provoke—Shi Jiu.”
That was what her grandfather had told her.
She herself had never actually met Shi Jiu.
Shi Rongchuan spread his hands. “Then there’s no problem, is there? Unless he’s gone senile in his old age? The ginger of our Shi family only grows hotter with age [1]experience only makes us sharper jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_2946420_1_1').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_2946420_1_1', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });. Besides, it could be that someone in his household needs funds, which is why he’s asking the Shi family for it.”
Shi Baigu was blunt. “He’s a man of cultivation. Would he have married?”
Shi Rongchuan looked to the ceiling. “No idea. Nobody said cultivators can’t marry, either.”
Shi Baigu was stumped.
That was true enough.
Since nothing could be gotten out of him over the phone, and Shi Jiu had told her to bring the child along, Shi Baigu felt there really was a need.
So she said to Shi Rongchuan, “While you’re on summer break, make a trip to Sikun Mountain, first to feel out the truth of things, and second, to meet an elder.”
Delighted at the chance to travel on his own, Shi Rongchuan agreed at once. “Sure. Mom, send me the address and I’ll go buy a ticket right now.”
“He’ll send the detailed address over shortly and I’ll forward it to you. He said it’s at Sikun Mountain in Nandian. I’ll give you his phone number, call him once you arrive. And remember, be polite, keep a good attitude,” Shi Baigu instructed.
Shi Rongchuan stared at the ceiling, his expression a little dark. “Mom, am I really as bad as you make out?”
Shi Baigu pressed a hand to her forehead. “You just don’t know your Great-Grandfather Jiu’s temper.”
Back when Shi Baigu’s grandfather was still alive, he’d told her: whatever Shi Jiu wanted to do, let him have his way, money if he wants money, goods if he wants goods.
In his day in Nanyuan, though Shi Jiu was the prodigy everyone praised, he was also the demon king everyone gave a wide berth.
Shi Baigu recounted a whole string of Shi Jiu’s “glorious feats” from his Nanyuan days, so much so that Shi Rongchuan came to feel this Great-Grandfather Jiu he’d never met was a formidable figure, and instantly fell in love with the idea!
“All right, all right, I’ve got it. I’ll be humble, absolutely.” Shi Rongchuan was afraid his mother would keep on and change tack, which wouldn’t be good.
Shi Baigu knew she shouldn’t say too much ill of an elder, and waved him off to go buy his ticket. “I’ll have someone prepare gifts. There’s an early-morning flight to Nandian tomorrow. Go stay a couple of days, scope out the situation, and if you find it interesting, play a few more days.”
Shi Baigu rubbed at her brow. Lately it had been one thing after another, and the Shi family had few people left it could call upon.
Just as Shi Rongchuan was about to leave, he saw the utter weariness on his mother’s face and felt a pang.
He walked over and kneaded her shoulders. “Mom, don’t wear yourself out too much. Some things you can set down, set down. The Meng family, leave them to me.”
After careful deliberation, Shi Rongchuan told Shi Baigu his decision.
Shi Baigu looked up, studying Shi Rongchuan seriously, a little uncertain. “You, can you?”
Shi Rongchuan’s tone was firm. “There’s nothing I can’t do. All these years, our Shi family has treated him with more than enough kindness and honor.”
“All right.” Shi Baigu was deeply moved.
Children always have to grow up, and she could only walk part of the road with him. Growth always exacts a price, only, her own son’s price was too great.
Well, it was time to let him be tempered a bit. Once he came back from Sikun Mountain, she’d hand the Shi family over to him.
After hanging up, Jiuxiao sent Shi Baigu his address.
In all these years he’d rarely contacted the family, for one thing, his elder brothers had all passed on, for another, he worried the grandchildren might get ideas.
He was, after all, the sole survivor of the Shi family’s most senior generation. If he returned to the Shi family, whom would everyone be expected to obey?
To spare the head of the Shi family that difficulty, he’d cut off contact after his brothers’ deaths.
He still received a portion of dividends transferred to his account at the holidays, though.
This time he’d told Shi Baigu he wanted to withdraw all the dividends he’d accumulated in the Shi family over these decades. Given Shi Baigu’s caution, she was bound to send someone to look into it.
It was, after all, no small sum.
Sure enough, an hour later, Jiuxiao received a message from Shi Baigu.
It said her son Shi Rongchuan would take the earliest flight to Nandian the next day, and asked Jiuxiao to send someone to pick him up.
She included Shi Rongchuan’s contact details.
Jiuxiao decided to tell Zengyue about this once she was back, she’d have to make a trip to Nandian City anyway, so she could pick up Shi Rongchuan while she was at it.
By the time Yang Zengyue and Chen Jia’er had finished up their business at the foot of the mountain, it was already eight in the evening.
Uncle Liu had brought in more than two hundred people, luckily they could use machine excavation, and by the end of the day nearly all the herbs had been dug up.
Only the finishing work remained for tomorrow.
Yang Zengyue settled the wages and found people to load the herbs onto the dealer’s trucks. Watching the herb-laden trucks pull out along the mountain road one after another, Yang Zengyue let out a breath.
The herbs were handled, and the money was in hand.
Back home, she immediately transferred the payment for the building materials to Fan Jinggang.
Jiuxiao saw the two girls come back full of vigor, as if they had inexhaustible energy.
Yang Zengyue took a drink of water and told Jiuxiao about the day’s gains. “Master, I’ve already hired people for the seedbeds. Once all the herbs are hauled out tomorrow, we can bring in the machines to work the land, after we let the water in, we can sow in a couple of days.”
She reported the total sum the herbs had brought in as well, accounts so clear that Chen Jia’er clicked her tongue.
Chen Jia’er looked at Yang Zengyue with a face full of admiration: My goodness, a big shot really is a big shot, outstanding in any field.
After the three of them had a simple dinner, Jiuxiao told Zengyue that the Shi family members would arrive in Nandian the next day, and asked her to go pick them up.
Yang Zengyue and Chen Jia’er had met a few Shi family members before, though she’d heard they were all from cadet branches.
After thinking for a while, Yang Zengyue asked, “Master, what’s the relationship between the Meng family and the Shi family?”
Jiuxiao thought about it. The Meng and Shi families had only crossed paths in this generation. “One of the Meng children in this generation married into the Shi family as a live-in son-in-law.”
As for the fact that Shi Baigu had already divorced Meng Yunchong, Jiuxiao wasn’t aware.
Jiuxiao knew his granddaughter wouldn’t ask this for no reason. “What, is there a problem with this Meng family?”
Yang Zengyue knit her brows. “How many children do Meng Yunchong and Shi Baigu have?”
Jiuxiao said, “As far as I know, Shi Baigu has only one son.”
Both of the Shi family’s last two generations had been sparse in descendants.
Not like the days of him and his brothers.
Yang Zengyue and Chen Jia’er exchanged a glance, both wearing an “I knew it” expression.
Yang Zengyue told Jiuxiao about Meng Chuyang. She and Chen Jia’er had both seen Meng Yunchong, Meng Chuyang was a hundred percent his son, because the two of them, father and son, were cast from the same mold.
Meng Chuyang had also claimed to be a child of the Shi family, saying his father was Shi Baigu’s husband.
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