Chapter 133: Chapter 133: Martial Arts
"Brother Jingran, are you sure it’s really that person?" Sun Tiezhu asked.
The next day after they arrived at the county, someone from the yamen informed Sun Tiezhu that they could visit them to negotiate the prices or settle the transaction.
However, he immediately froze upon hearing a familiar name, his face filled with complication.
"Does the Deputy Magistrate really want to buy the house?" Sun Tiezhu took a deep breath and exhaled again.
He hesitated, considering whether he should reject his offer. The Deputy Magistrate was among the ones who had offered a high price.
Seeing that Sun Tiezhu was young and inexperienced, Han Tingxun had reminded the yamen officials to guide him. With both Han Tingxun and the Magistrate trying to help the young teenager’s family, they didn’t dare to neglect him.
The yamen officials helped Sun Tiezhu so that he could get the best prices.
"What’s his purpose?" Sun Tiezhu muttered.
The Deputy Magistrate was the one who was mentioned in Sun Daniu’s letter, someone who had hidden himself quite well.
"Is there something we haven’t found in that house?" He continued doubtfully. "Brother Xiao Jingran, do you think I should sell the house to him?"
Xiao Jingran smiled gently. "He offered you the best price, you should definitely take his offer. Such a high price won’t come twice."
Sun Tiezhu swore that there was something more in Xiao Jingran’s smile, and his eyes... it flashed with a trace of coldness.
"Alright..." he trailed off and nodded.
Xiao Jingran escorted him to the yamen. Han Tingxun was already waiting there. The Deputy Magistrate didn’t come himself, but he had told his people to settle the transaction for him.
Since the transaction happened at the yamen, the buyers definitely wouldn’t dare to deceive an innocent young teenager like Sun Tiezhu.
When they returned, Sun Tiezhu had a relieved look on his face. He gripped the pouch filled with silver notes tightly. The money was their only hope for a better life in the north.
The moment he entered the Zhou family’s old house, his two younger brothers came to him.
"Merchant Yang will arrive in a few days. He intended to bring some rice seeds to the north, so he will definitely stay in this county for a while." Xiao Jingran explained.
Merchant Yang probably would want to join in the harvest process as well. The harvest season this time would surely be lively, considering the Magistrate and Han Tingxun would also join in.
"I see." Sun Tiezhu nodded. "Brother Jingran, I and my younger brothers can help you too."
He felt bad for taking advantage of the Xiao family like that, eating their rice and staying under their roof for nothing.
Xiao Jingran agreed.
In the afternoon, Xiao Fenghao and Xiao Yuxi finally returned. It was unknown where they had been, but the two of them looked rather disheveled.
They both avoided Xiao Jingran’s smiling eyes, and hurriedly went inside.
After they cleaned themselves, they found a tree in the Zhou family’s courtyard and climbed on it. Their eyes scanned the surroundings, and they began to discuss their eldest brother.
"Second Brother, do you think Eldest Brother knows what we are doing?" Xiao Yuxi asked worriedly. "He can communicate with ghosts, after all. Will he think that we are wasting money...?"
Xiao Yuxi pursed her lip. They had been hiding the fact they were learning martial arts from the family.
A lady should be ladylike, and she was nothing like that. She had seen Xiao Fenghao secretly practicing martial arts when she climbed into a tree.
She became interested and asked him to teach her. Her sudden appearance scared him so much.
Xiao Fenghao originally refused, but then Xiao Yuxi became slightly reckless and followed him to the back mountain. Worried she might tell their mother that he was learning martial arts from an unknown individual, he had no choice but to teach her a little.
Unexpectedly, the martial arts teacher found out about Xiao Yuxi. He had noticed the girl’s presence when she was hiding and observing them.
"She is your sister? You can bring her along." The person told Xiao Fenghao, not minding the fact that Xiao Yuxi was a girl at all.
The pair of siblings ended up learning martial arts from the same teacher in the back mountain. They would come there every few days.
He wasn’t actually the first teacher Xiao Fenghao had. Before this old man, he had asked another younger man to teach him martial arts in exchange for medicine. The latter had some injuries on his body.
However, this person was gone when he returned a few weeks later.
Only the old man remained in the cabin. He handed a letter to Xiao Fenghao. The content of the letter told him that he had gone to take care of some business in some faraway place.
And he let the old man take over the part of their deal and teach him instead.
Xiao Fenghao found the matter a little strange and became vigilant of this white-haired old man. Until he noticed that he seemed to know the previous teacher that he lowered his vigilance.
He began to study under the old man’s then. His set of martial skills were completely different from the previous teacher, which was more aggressive and focused on the damage it could cause to the opponents.
On the other hand, the old man put his focus somewhere else, which was strengthening Xiao Fenghao’s body first before anything.
The old man taught him moves that could develop his muscles. He even went as far as giving Xiao Fenghao some bitter medicine, saying it was good for his body.
After Xiao Yuxi joined, he finally had a fellow who could share his misery.
The siblings tacitly never told their family. Xiao Yuxi was afraid of being called unladylike and forced to quit. Xiao Fenghao also gradually became worried Zhou Anran and Xiao Jingran would think he was leading Xiao Yuxi astray.
"Should we silence Eldest Brother?" Xiao Fenghao muttered.
Xiao Yuxi’s mouth twitched. "We can’t beat him."
All of a sudden, the siblings heard the familiar gentle voice behind them. "Silence who?"
