Liu Ji had to hide his disappointment and forced a smile. He took out the land deed with his name on it and handed it to Old Man Liu in a bad mood.

"Well, you can keep the adopted child by yourself. Are you relieved now?"

Do you really think he would take these lands for granted?

Is Liu Xiucai Ji such a narrow-minded person?

Old Man Liu glanced at him and proved his distrust with his actions.

"Pah!" He spat out a mouthful of saliva to moisten his fingers, and counted the pieces of paper one by one, making sure there were this many, then he put them in his arms and nodded happily: "Okay, okay, they're all here."

After saying this, without even looking at Liu Ji, he took the adopted son and hurried home. He just wanted to share this good news with his family as soon as possible to prove that he was not wrong about the third brother, that his adopted son was indeed returned and that the taxes were really exempted.

Liu Ji frowned, looked at his old father's happy footsteps, and made a "hiss" sound.

I suddenly feel a little regretful about returning the pledge. What should I do?

Dalang and his children came back from the fields with fish they caught. They were all extremely dirty, but the smiles on their faces were enough to blind Liu Ji's eyes.

“Father!”

Seeing several children rushing towards him covered in mud, Liu Ji immediately took a big step back.

"Are you guys going to roll in the mud?" Liu Ji asked in disbelief.

The children laughed and tried to fool around. Si Niang held up the basket and showed it off to her father, "Look, father, I caught the biggest one!"

Sanlang sneered, "It was obviously because the eldest and second brothers were trapped in the bamboo cage that you caught him."

Then, he showed off a small fish he had caught, "Dad, look at what I caught. It's the most lively. I'll let Aunt Li make soup with it tonight. It will definitely be very delicious."

Facing the twins' two pairs of expectant eyes, Liu Ji showed no mercy. He lifted their arms with disdain and brought them to the water tank. He really wanted to throw these two clay kids into the water tank to rinse them.

"Clean up yourselves, seriously, you all rebel when I'm not home!"

Liu Ji put down the wooden basin, scooped a large basin of water for the brothers and sisters, stood with his hands on his hips, and supervised them to tidy themselves up.

Qin Yao was sitting in the main room watching the chaos in the yard. Occasionally, there would be splashes of mud, but she would move her body slightly and dodge accurately without getting stained by a speck of mud or water.

Liu Ji was not so lucky, his body was covered with mud.

There were four children in the family plus a little Lai Fu. The five children used up all the water in the water tank and barely made the family look like human beings.

After Awang tied up his horse and came back from feeding the livestock and poultry, he naturally picked up the basket of field fish and gutted them.

After cleaning up, Li took over and stewed a pot of food. The aroma was so fragrant that Qin Yao even started to salivate.

Liu Ji assigned the children, who had washed themselves clean, the new task of fetching water. No one could eat until the water tank was full.

The brothers and sisters would carry buckets if they had them, and would take basins if they didn’t have them, and run happily to the village well barefoot.

After a while, he ran back with not much water left in his hand. The main purpose was to provide an experience.

In the end, Awang couldn't bear it anymore, so he picked up the extra-large bucket that Qin Yao often used and filled the water tank at home in one trip.

As for the dirty clothes, it’s school vacation now, so just wash your own clothes.

Liu Ji also changed into clean clothes and came back. Seeing that the dishes were served, Li led Xiao Lai Fu to leave, and the remaining Qin Yao's family finally started to eat.

"Have all the paperwork been completed?" Qin Yao asked while eating the fish that Liu Ji had already removed all the bones from.

Liu Ji nodded, his hands so busy that he couldn't stop. Seeing that Qin Yao ate two more bites of fish, he picked out two pieces of fish and put them on an empty plate, picked out the bones, and put the meat in her bowl.

Whenever he wanted to do something weird, he was always so attentive. Qin Yao had long been accustomed to it and enjoyed the service with peace of mind.

"Dad, when are you going to the city?" Dalang asked with concern.

Liu Ji picked at the fishbone and answered without even looking up: "We'll leave early the day after tomorrow."

"Ah?" Sanlang couldn't accept it. "But Dad, you just came back a few days ago."

Although it didn't have much impact whether Dad was at home or not, even Qin Yao had to admit that when Liu Ji was at home, the house was always in chaos.

The last time I was away it was two months, and now I have to leave again just a few days after coming back. And it will be September before the results of the college entrance examination come out.

Si Niang counted the time on her fingers and suddenly felt that the fish in the bowl was not fragrant anymore.

Erlang seems to be heartless. He only cares about whether his father can continue to have good luck.

"Dad, do you think you can still get last place in this college entrance examination?" Erlang asked seriously.

If he hadn't looked so serious, Liu Ji would have suspected that this big boy was mocking him.

Just as he finished picking out the fish bones and placed the fish plate in front of Qin Yao, Liu Ji put down his chopsticks and planned to explain to his children what the imperial examination was all about.

"Dad, let me tell you this. Whether or not you can make the list is actually a very mysterious matter. If it is destined to happen, it will happen. If it is not destined to happen, don't force it."

Awang asked, "Master, is it in your destiny?"

Liu Ji choked and raised his eyebrows unconvincingly, "I think so."

"Heh~" Qin Yao laughed, not at Liu Ji, but she thought it was a bit funny that Awang and Dalang, the four siblings, were listening to Liu Ji's nonsense in a serious manner.

However, in Liu Ji's eyes, she laughed because she did not believe in her own ability.

He immediately stood up and announced loudly: "To be absolutely sure, I will go to the temple tomorrow morning to ask the master to change my fate!"

Qin Yao: “.”

Awang: "Can we go together?" He seemed to have never been to a Taoist temple or a Buddhist temple before.

The eyes of the four brothers and sisters of Dalang lit up, "We want to go too!"

Liu Ji laughed and waved his hand, "Then let's go together!"

Qin Yao refused, "I'm not going. If you want to go, go by yourselves." She had no interest in Taoist temples at all.

Besides, it’s so hot now, I just want to stay home and eat cake and drink cold drinks.

So the five of them, father and son, all nodded in unison: "Okay!"

Qin Yao looked at the few people who immediately started discussing enthusiastically, shook her head, and laughed helplessly.

Early the next morning.

Liu Ji asked Awang to drive the carriage and led Dalang and his three siblings to the most popular Taoist temple in Kaiyang County.

Although the father and son felt a little regretful that Qin Yao did not participate, as soon as they arrived at the Taoist temple, they were immediately attracted by the novel things and beautiful mountain scenery, and never thought of her again.

The father and his sons went out in the morning and returned in the evening. Each of them held a talisman. Awang also folded the talisman paper and hung it around his neck with a red rope.

Because the Taoist priest said that he was born with bad luck and was easily attracted by evil spirits, and carrying this talisman with him would bring him peace.

People who had no faith at all before were successfully led astray by their own master and started to believe in ghosts and gods.

Looking at the four younger ones, they also looked convinced. They stacked the talisman papers under their pillows and then fell asleep peacefully.

Qin Yao looked down at the yellow talisman in her hand. Yes, they also gave her a mind-clearing talisman, saying that carrying it with her can prevent her from going astray!

Are you sure you're not implying something about her? (End of this chapter)