Hearing Xie Wenyuan persuade the family to sell their land to save a life, Xie Wenqi was genuinely moved. Although he wasn’t a history major, he understood just how important land was to farming families in ancient times.

He felt ashamed for previously thinking that this scholar cousin was hypocritical and selfish because of the original owner’s memories! Sure, the scholar cousin was a bit proud, but he had every right to be—at just 17 years old, he was a talented scholar from a humble background, a true genius! What was wrong with having a bit of pride?

The effort he put into studying brought glory to the Xie family and allowed him to enjoy the most resources from the family. Wasn’t that only natural? It was normal that he didn’t pay much attention to the original owner’s cousins; he was likely focused entirely on his studies, lacking in emotional intelligence when it came to daily life.

After all, many highly intelligent people in modern times need dedicated assistants for social interactions! Just look at the present situation: when the original owner and his father had an accident, didn’t he do his utmost to help?

In contrast, the original owner’s gentle and kind mother, as remembered, was infuriating. It’s in critical moments that you can truly see a person’s heart.

Xie Wenqi was deeply touched and wanted to tell the Xie family not to worry so much; he had a golden finger from his time travel, and the spiritual spring in his space could cure all ailments, so there was no need to waste money.

Unfortunately, the original owner was severely injured, and he couldn’t control his body yet, so he couldn’t speak at all.

In the end, he could only watch helplessly as the Xie family, under Xie Wenyuan’s insistence, painfully decided to sell their best 10 acres of rice paddies to save a life.

Wah! The original owner’s family was truly wonderful! Xie Wenqi, who had been an orphan without parents before his time travel, was utterly moved and quickly became addicted to the happiness of having a loving family.

The villagers of Tongshu Village were equally touched.

At the village head’s house, the village head, who was also the Xie clan leader Xie Youde, puffed on his dry tobacco and sighed to his wife.

“Wife, it seems we underestimated the Xie family. Although the couple from the third branch usually acts a bit off, they still have a sense of righteousness when it comes to major issues.”

“That child Wenyuan is also cold on the outside but warm on the inside. He may seem a bit proud, but scholars are often a bit pretentious; it’s normal. In the end, he has a good heart.”

“Now, to delay his own future for the sake of saving his uncle and cousin, he surely won’t forget his roots when the clan needs help in the future. He’s a good kid…”

The village head’s wife nodded in agreement, “Exactly! Looking at the third branch of the Xie family in the past, I was worried that we might have a white-eyed wolf in our clan. After all, there have been cases like that in the surrounding areas.”

“Now it seems we were indeed too stingy. The Xie boy is a good one; our clan should take better care of him in the future. It’s better to send coal in the snow than to add flowers to the brocade.”

“Don’t worry, my wife. I’ll call a few clan elders to discuss this tomorrow.”

The village head took a couple of puffs from his dry tobacco, exhaling circles of smoke.

There’s no such thing as a free lunch in the sky; if the clan wants to benefit from the Xie family in the future, they must give something in return.

Other families in the village were also discussing the Xie family’s situation, especially their act of selling land to save a life.

They felt they had misjudged the Xie family. The third branch may have a quirky temperament, but their hearts were still good!

Tongshu Village was close to the imperial city, and land prices were already higher than in other places, not to mention the high-quality rice paddies.

The Xie family’s 10 acres of rice paddies sold for over 100 taels of silver, which was more than enough for the medical expenses of the elder and cousin, but the Xie family’s living conditions became even more strained. Whether Xie Wenyuan could participate in the next imperial examination was also uncertain.

The entire Xie family was shrouded in gloom.

But no matter what, saving two lives was a good thing. As long as they worked hard, there would come a day when the family could recover.

The clan knew about their difficulties, and the next day, they gathered 20 taels to send over.

Don’t underestimate these 20 taels of silver.

The Xie clan was genuinely poor. Being able to settle near the imperial city relied entirely on their ancestors’ good fortune, having come early to occupy land during the chaos of war.

Their ancestors had no remarkable talents and left behind no family fortune. Each household had little savings aside from their land, so gathering this much to help the Xie family through a tough time was no small feat.

Xie Wenyuan didn’t despise it; he understood the clan’s situation, and this gesture was not insignificant.

Moreover, in his previous life, after he lost his leg, although there were plenty of idle gossip in the village, when his family needed help, the clan did not refuse, nor did anyone come to bully them.

He still recognized this clan.

After taking the medicine, the injuries of his uncle and cousin were no longer life-threatening; all that was left was to recuperate.

Once he confirmed that both of them were out of danger, Xie Wenyuan prepared to send the Liu family on their way.

Whether it was for the revenge of his previous life or to eliminate future troubles, he could not keep the Liu family around.

Don’t tell him about mercy; that was all in the past. In this life, their crimes didn’t warrant death.

He, Xie Wenyuan, was not a good person!

What is conscience anyway?

He only knew that being merciful to enemies was cruel to oneself.

His cousin from the previous life was the best example.

…

As dawn broke, Xie Wenyuan did not get up to exercise or study as usual.

Instead, he changed into a coarse short outfit, carried a bamboo basket, took a water jug and a knife, and packed a few steamed buns. While the family was not paying attention, he left a note for them and quietly set off to the back mountain.

The reason for sneaking out was naturally that he was afraid the family would not agree to let him go up the mountain.

After all, someone had just had an accident in the mountains, and everyone was now a bit wary of going up there. How could they let a scholar like him go to a dangerous place?

However, Xie Wenyuan wasn’t particularly afraid of the mountains.

He was quite skilled in martial arts, and in his previous life, when he was in a harsh environment, they, as exiles, were treated as cannon fodder in death squads, fighting on the battlefield.

Those who survived the mountains of corpses and seas of blood would hardly fear wild beasts in the mountains.

When they met, it was more likely that the wild beasts would be afraid of him.

Xie Wenyuan walked calmly in the mountains, glancing around as he searched for the memory of that wolf cub that had been taken away and killed by a bear from a wolf den.

In his previous life, his uncle and cousin were severely injured not by the bear but by a wolf pack that had attacked them and caused them to fall into a ravine.

The reason was that the bear had gone to the wolf den to take the cub, and during its escape, it encountered a few hunters from Tongshu Village. The hunters couldn’t defeat the bear and scattered in fear.

His uncle and cousin were unfortunate enough to get blood from the young wolf on them while fleeing, and the pursuing wolf pack mistook them for accomplices of the black bear and attacked.

But that wasn’t the end of it!

Two days later, a child from a nearby villager accidentally found the already dead young wolf. Tempted by the meat, he took the wolf’s corpse home and begged his family to cook it.

As a result, that night, the vengeful wolf pack came looking for them, killing the entire family.

Xie Wenyuan thought this kind of death was quite fitting for the Liu family.

However, memories are memories; he still had to put in some effort to find out where the young wolf’s body was.

So he continued walking in the mountains.

Suddenly, a faint cry for help reached his ears.

“Help… is anyone there… help…”

Xie Wenyuan stopped and carefully discerned the direction of the voice before heading over.

He wasn’t the kind of person who would just help anyone out of kindness.

He was just going to take a look; if it was worth it, he would lend a hand and earn a favor; if not, then the person could just accept their fate and die.

After all, he had important matters to attend to and didn’t have the time or mood to do good deeds for free.

The voice was not far away.

When Xie Wenyuan approached, he found it was a poor fellow who had accidentally fallen into a hunter’s trap!

The poor fellow was a young man, around seventeen or eighteen years old.

His voice was very pleasant, and his autumn-like eyes were extremely beautiful, but paired with his only moderately handsome features, it was a bit of a shame.

When the young man saw Xie Wenyuan, he was very excited and hurriedly shouted, “My lord, help! I’m a little servant from a noble family in the capital, out running an errand for my young master. I accidentally fell into this hunter’s trap and hurt my foot. Please, my lord, help me up, and I will surely reward you handsomely!”

A little servant from a noble family in the capital?

Xie Wenyuan didn’t move, sizing him up a few times with a smirk in his heart.

His clothing was indeed appropriate; he looked like a little servant from a high-ranking family, but the exposed skin was fair and smooth, and his fingers were delicate and uncalloused, clearly someone who had never done any hard work and lived a life of luxury.

Most likely, he was a young master who had dressed up to sneak out for some fun.

Who knows what he was thinking, to have come to this mountain, and there wasn’t a single attendant around…

Could it be that he had encountered some kind of scandal?

Xie Wenyuan thought for a moment and stood up to leave, not intending to meddle in this matter.

A young master or young lady from a noble family shouldn’t be saved casually.

If he saved them, it would either be a romantic entanglement, or he would be resented for his kindness, or he would get caught up in some inner household scandal.

He didn’t want to be involved in any of that.

It was better to just walk away.

But the young man in the trap, having finally seen someone, couldn’t let him go easily.

Seeing that Xie Wenyuan was about to leave without helping, the young man became anxious and quickly continued to plead.

“My lord! Saving a life is better than building a seven-story pagoda! Please, my lord, save me! If you are willing to help, I will give you this golden bracelet as a token of gratitude, and there will be even more rewards later!”

Saying this, he took out a golden bracelet studded with gems from his bosom.

Just looking at its weight, it was probably worth over a hundred taels of silver, not to mention the gems on it.

In short, it was two words: valuable!

Xie Wenyuan was successfully attracted by the dazzling light and stopped his departing footsteps.

Seeing that there was hope, the young man immediately breathed a sigh of relief and hurriedly added, “My lord, my master is the son of a noble family, and I am highly valued by him. My father is the chief steward of the household, and my mother helps manage the dowry shop. As long as you can save me, my family will surely thank you properly.”

Whether his identity was true or not, it was clear that the young man was not short on money.

Although his appearance was only moderately handsome, his voice was truly pleasant, soft and sweet, and his pair of affectionate eyes were so beautiful they could easily capture a man’s soul. Yet, he was completely unaware of it, with a clear and innocent gaze.

Even if his looks were just average, he could still be considered a beauty.

What a pity.

Xie Wenyuan valued power, not beauty.

Looking down at the handsome young man in the pit, Xie Wenyuan smiled gently and humbly, but his voice was cold and ruthless.

“If you die, everything valuable on you will belong to me.”

Young man: …