Lu Bocheng glanced at his father and said with a smirk, “Did you give it to me? Wasn’t that ten taels of silver for the tuition fee of the Yangweiwu Academy? The director of the academy went to great lengths to teach your son, hoping that he could survive a few more days on the battlefield. You’re not even willing to spare the tuition fee? That’s too stingy! Everyone is making a living in the town. You can’t just turn a blind eye to everything. Aren’t you afraid of not being able to lift your head in front of the academy director? Tut tut.”

Father Lu was so angry at his rebuke, but Lu Bocheng shook his legs happily when he saw that Father Lu was breathing heavily from anger.

“Get him two taels of silver.” Father Lu said to Wu Shi.

“Two taels is not enough.”

“Two taels is not enough for this table? Are you trying to get some into your own pocket?” Lu Bozu said with a sullen face.

Lu Bocheng saw Lu Bozu jump up and looked at him with squinted eyes: “I’m not like you! Every day, you’re scheming to get money. If you can’t get it, you go to the shop to borrow it! Buying paper, buying ink, inviting teachers and classmates to dinner and giving gifts, you’ve spent a lot of money at home!”

“You!”

“What, am I wrong?”

“Okay, what’s going on? Why do you still need more money when two taels are not enough?” Lu Shengcai interrupted the two cross-eyed sons and asked with a headache.

“Two taels is food money, what about the money to buy the home gift tomorrow? Will I go there empty-handed? If the two younger brothers marry the wife in the future, and each house prepares the home gift by itself, then I have nothing to say. And tomorrow, my wife’s tángxiōng ^[1]paternal male cousin is getting married, shouldn’t I be given some gift money?”

“Besides, which martial arts school only charges ten taels of silver for teaching? You have the nerve to give it! Besides, I have already sacrificed my life for my family to go to the battlefield, so don’t I have to buy any clothes or even a handy weapon? Or do you want your eldest son to go to your poor first wife as soon as he goes to the battlefield?” ^[2]wooo, my man is on fire!!!!

“Speak properly!” Father Lu shouted at Lu Bocheng.

Lu Bocheng sneered and shook his legs without looking at him.

“Didn’t you say that your master treats you as his son? He hasn’t asked any tuition fees for so long…” Wu Shi suddenly said.

Upon hearing this, Lu Bocheng’s legs stopped trembling, and he sneered at her, “My master doesn’t charge tuition, that’s because he’s a good person, pitying me for having no one to care for me. Our Lu family values dignity, and not engaging in shady dealings behind people’s backs like some others. Even if my master doesn’t mention it, do you think we’re unaware? Besides, our family isn’t poor. And don’t you care about the reputation of the Lu family? Don’t you want to maintain a good standing in Fengting Town?”

Father Lu became even more angry at Lu Bocheng’s words. He glared at Wu Shi and said angrily to Lu Bocheng, “You can come to me to get it later.”

“Okay. Dad, you’d better be generous. Your son is about to go to the battlefield to fight for his life. If you don’t give him some money, you will never see your eldest son in the future. What if you think about him too much and never see him again?”

Father Lu, after being spoken to in such a manner, didn’t even touch his meal. He slammed down his chopsticks and got up, leaving the table.

Wu Shi glanced at Lu Bocheng and followed suit.

Lu Yuzhu glared at Lu Bocheng fiercely, threw away her chopsticks and left. Lu Bozu ignored his brother and sister-in-law, as usual, straightened his back and walked out.

Lu Bozong seemed not to have eaten enough yet. Seeing that his parents and siblings were gone, while his eldest brother and sister-in-law were still sitting at the table, he felt a little at a loss. He took a big mouthful of rice into his mouth, stood up, and said vaguely: “I’m full, brother and sister-in-law, you guys eat slowly.” After that, he ran away.

Before Su Qingyu could recover, everyone was gone.

“What are you looking at? Eat quickly.” Wu Shi, mother and son left, which did not affect Lu Bocheng in the slightest, and his appetite improved a lot. Facing a table of dishes, he greeted Su Qingyu.

“Tsk, tsk, you just said so much, you are not afraid of your father getting angry and beating you.”

Lü Bocheng appeared fearless, saying, “I’m not afraid of him! It would be best if he beat me to a pulp, then I wouldn’t have to go to the battlefield, and he could send his beloved second son instead. I could just lie at home, living off his food and his money.”

Tsk tsk, this ambition was really great. She also wanted to lie down and be a salted fish. It was a pity that looking at this guy’s appearance, she couldn’t lie down for a while.

After washing up in the evening, when Su Qingnao was about to lie down in bed, Lu Bocheng came back to the room and threw a purse at her.

“Did your father give you money? How much?”

Su Qingyu asked as she poured out the broken silver from her purse…

There was no broken silver, but a large ingot of gold rolled out. Su Qingyu was stunned: “Gold?”

“Look at you like that. Have you never seen gold?” Lu Bocheng looked down on her look.

“It’s gold. I’ve never seen such a big ingot before. How much is it?” Su Qingyu picked up the ingot of gold and looked left and right. The yellow brilliance of the gold almost blinded her eyes, and she barely managed to put it in her mouth. I took a bite to confirm the authenticity.

“Five taels.”

“Five taels? Isn’t that fifty taels of silver? Is your father being unusually generous today?”

Lü Bocheng leaned back in his chair and chuckled, “His son is about to go to the battlefield, maybe he’ll soon be meeting his poor mother. Is he still unwilling to provide me with a decent weapon? He’s afraid my mother will come looking for him in the middle of the night. He’s also afraid of being known for his cowardice.”

Su Qingyu fell silent.

Putting the ingot of gold back into his purse: “Why don’t you want any silver or banknotes? Such a big ingot is hard to spend. And are these enough to buy you a handy outfit?”

From ancient times, good weapons have always been expensive.

“If you want gold, it’s yours to have. I’ll stash it away for you, to leave for our son in the future.”

After listening, Su Qingyi glanced at him skeptically. Just one night, and there might not even be tadpoles, let alone a son. Yet, inexplicably, she felt a touch of emotion.

“You gave it to me, and you don’t want to buy the clothes anymore?”

“I don’t need any fancy equipment. The court provides everything now. Besides, the new recruits bring along plenty of stuff, it’s just an excuse for the old soldiers and higher-ups to plunder.”

Su Qingyu said after a moment of silence: “Then you can prepare a short and inconspicuous one for self-defense.”

“No need. My master has a dagger that can break hair with a blow. It will be used for self-defense when the time comes.”

Mentioning his master, Su Qingyi looked at the purse again and asked him, “So, do we still have to give silver to your master for his tuition?”

“No. My master really likes me so he accepted me. If I give him money, he will be angry. If the master doesn’t like it, even if someone came with money and begged, he didn’t accept them.”

“Then…”

Lu Bocheng glanced at her and said, “When the time comes, I’ll take you to meet my master, so he and my fellow disciples can get to know you. It’s good to have their support and care for you after I leave.”

“Okay.” She also wanted to get to know Master Ma.

Lu Bocheng had no mother since he was a child, and his father didn’t care much about it. Fortunately, he had a master who was willing to teach him some skills.

After Su Qingyu put the purse away, Lu Bocheng threw another purse at her.

Su Qingyu rolled her eyes at him: “What is this? Silver? Can’t you give it to me all at once? I just put it away.”

Lu Bocheng also rolled his eyes at her: “You only have money in your eyes.”

“Otherwise. Don’t you want money?” After saying that, she squeezed the purse in her hand…

it felt wrong: “It’s not silver? Is it a banknote?”

Lu Bocheng looked like she had fallen in the eyes of money: “Your son’s father is still eating at home. Where can I get you a banknote?”

Tsk, tsk, the father of her son, I don’t even know if the tadpole has found his home.

“What’s that look in your eyes?” Lu Bocheng asked, turning sideways when he saw Su Qingyu squinting at him in an indescribable place.

“Looking at trash.”

“What?” Lu Bocheng thought he didn’t hear clearly.

“Nothing.”

After saying this, Su Qingyu opened her purse and looked at it. There were three deeds. A land deed, a field deed and a house deed.

^[3]Author’s Note: Thanks to those who voted and for the support. Your support is my biggest motivation for coding. During this period, epidemics occur frequently in many places, so everyone should … Continue reading

(End of chapter)