Chapter 49 Future

"Please come in, please come in!"

The little girl recognized the person and, with a beaming smile, ushered them inside.

The other person was a well-dressed, greasy-faced mother. Her slanted eyes glanced disdainfully at the dilapidated courtyard that was completely exposed above her, and she waved her handkerchief in the air.

"Alright, I won't go in. Just a reminder to your brother, he hasn't done what our guest asked him to do yet. If he delays the guest's important business, then we won't get a single penny of the remaining silver!"

She lowered her voice and finished speaking quickly.

The little girl clearly knew what she was talking about; her expression stiffened, and she made up a flimsy excuse:

"Mom is right. It's just that my brother has been studying lately and hasn't had a chance to catch up, which is why he's fallen behind a bit. Don't worry, Mom, I'll explain everything to him as soon as he gets back. I promise I won't let anything interfere with your important plans!"

"Hmph! You'd better be."

After the woman finished speaking, she covered her nose with her handkerchief, as if disgusted by the other person's unpleasant smell, rolled her eyes, and swayed away.

Once the figure had completely disappeared into the narrow alley, the girl spat out a "pui!" and then slammed the door shut with a loud "bang," before bolting it shut as well.

Xie Yunyun rolled her eyes and walked inside, muttering filthy curses under her breath. Once inside, her expression softened, and she said to Xie Tingzhou, who was engrossed in a book in the corner:

"Brother, did you hear that? That important person is here to urge you, saying that you've been dragging your feet and delaying their business."

She was Xie Tingzhou's half-sister, and they weren't particularly close in the past.

Later, her father passed away, and the family fell into decline. In the end, only her mother, Xie Tingzhou, and she were left to depend on each other. Xie Tingzhou was young and intelligent, and he always ranked first in the imperial examinations. This gave her a glimmer of hope to restore the family's honor, and that's how she gradually developed feelings for him.

A while ago, an uninvited guest suddenly came to our house. He asked my brother to do a business deal: to meet and get to know a girl by chance, and he also wanted to play the role of a flower seller to make the two of them mistaken for lovers.

The deposit alone amounted to over a hundred taels of silver, enough to keep my brother's medicine until next year's imperial examination. After the deal was done, countless gold and silver treasures would be presented to him.

Such a large-scale undertaking was unprecedented, even when the family was relatively well-off.

Xie Yunyun was very tempted, but for some reason, it didn't work out that time. So, she had been urging Xie Tingzhou to find another opportunity to complete the task.

Once she gets a large sum of money, she'll quickly move away from this awful place. Then she can go back to wearing gold and silver, eating and drinking well, just like before. It couldn't be more wonderful.

Hearing the sound, Xie Tingzhou put down his book.

Even though it was already April and the daytime weather was getting warmer, he was still wearing thick winter clothes. His cheeks were thin and his lips were pale. Despite this, it was hard to hide his refined and aloof temperament and his handsome and otherworldly face.

Xie Tingzhou clenched his fist and pressed it to his lips, coughing lightly twice. His long, thick, raven-feather-like eyelashes drooped, concealing the fleeting disgust in his eyes.

"I heard you, but I don't need to pay attention to it."

Xie Yunyun said anxiously:

"How can that be? What if we offend a powerful person and it delays your imperial examination? Besides, that's a huge sum of money, enough for us to live on for many years. Waiting for you to pass the imperial examination and become an official to receive such a small salary each year, how can that be enough for the three of us to live on?!"

She has said this countless times over this period of time.

Xie Tingzhou closed his eyes wearily.

He recalled his visit to the Xiao family a few days ago, where he met the so-called "distinguished person," who turned out to be just a fourteen or fifteen-year-old girl. Suddenly, he understood the whole story.

That day, Xiao Yuyao's ambition and ruthlessness were almost overflowing. She stared at Xie Tingzhou, who seemed detached from worldly affairs and untouched by mortal life, and spoke with disdain:

"Xie Tingzhou, since you dared to take on this job in the first place, you should have known what you were getting paid for. Now you're pretending to be high and mighty, saying you don't care about this kind of thing. Isn't that just too ridiculous?"

"Besides, you're going to take the imperial examination this year, so you must know the Xiao family's status in the examinations and even in the court. My father is the Minister of Personnel, my elder brother is the Junior Chamberlain, and my uncle is the Chancellor of the Imperial Academy. If you're willing to marry Xiao Yuxuan, the Xiao family can guarantee your official career. Isn't that a sure-fire deal?"

Xiao Yuxuan patiently persuaded him, almost uttering the words, "Exchange a position as a lady for your future."

Xie Tingzhou remained unmoved. He didn't even glance at the young girl opposite him, but instead gazed at the ornately decorated Xiao mansion in the distance, speaking in a flat tone:

"Is the Xiao family's current status also due to the sure-fire, risk-free business that Miss Xiao Fourth mentioned?"

Xiao Yuyao's expression changed:

"How dare you humiliate our family?! Xie Tingzhou, don't be so stubborn!"

Xie Tingzhou shook his head:

“I merely repeated what Miss Xiao had said. How could that be considered an insult? I misunderstood back then. I have already returned the deposit in full, so please keep it safe, Miss Xiao.”

Xie Tingzhou had figured it out. He didn't want to get involved in the power struggles within the Xiao family, and he certainly didn't want to rely on his decent looks and feigned affection to exchange for money and the so-called support of the Xiao family.

He handed over the silver note in his hand, but waited a long time for the other party to take it.

Xiao Yuyao looked at the tall, elegant man with a face like that of an immortal.

Such a person is acceptable in appearance, background, and talent, and few people know that he has a congenital illness and poor health. She only found such a perfect candidate by chance after making inquiries from various sources.

If he is unwilling to marry Xiao Yuxuan, Xiao Yuxuan, relying on her status as the biological daughter of the Xiao family, is very likely to overpower him, and may even take away the position of the future fourth prince's consort that he has painstakingly sought...

She would absolutely not let that happen. Even if Xiao Yuxuan returned, she would only be able to live in her own shadow for the rest of her life. Xiao Yuyao tried hard to suppress her furious tone:

"Xie Tingzhou! I'll give you one more chance."

His thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a shaking of his arm, and Xie Yunyun's voice rang out:

"Brother, brother, are you even listening to me?!"

"How can you just give up such a large sum of money?! It's not like it's anything shameful, it's just seducing a young girl!"

"If you don't like her, you can just marry her and treat her like a decoration. She's a daughter of the Xiao family, the legitimate daughter of a second-rank official. Her dowry alone could be several thousand taels of silver!"

Xie Yunyun didn't understand why Xie Tingzhou, who had agreed to the plan before, suddenly refused to do it after visiting the Xiao residence.

Although the Xiao family girl was only recently found, that's precisely why she would be willing to marry into their family, which had fallen on hard times.