Chapter 126 Generous

"Phew! This is none of your business. You can leave now. Never cause trouble for Zhou Chengyu again, do you hear me? I have something to say to your father. Go now," Dean Su said, taking a few deep breaths while patting his chest. Only then did he suppress the urge to kill his only grandson and let him leave.

Knowing he had angered them, Hu Xuan stopped arguing and quickly left, leaving his pale-faced father and furious grandfather alone.

"From now on, you should stay home and take care of Xin'er. Don't interfere in the affairs of the academy. Instead of worrying about him, you should spend more time disciplining Xuan'er. At least if you're a useless father, you should raise your son to be successful. Otherwise, you'll really be useless." Dean Su poured himself a cup of tea. Seeing his miserable state, he didn't bother to pay attention to him and spoke with sarcasm.

"I truly do not know why this has happened. If I had known, I would have been much more careful. I beg you, Father-in-law, to find me another way out. I will never dare to do it again!"

"Are you truly remorseful? If you were truly repentant, you should have restrained yourself two years ago when a teacher revealed to me that you had embezzled the salary allocated to the teacher by the academy. Unfortunately, you haven't made any progress in the past two years. If it weren't for the fact that you are Xin'er's husband, I would have kicked you out long ago. But it's not too late now. You should stay at home and keep Xuan'er in check. As long as I'm here, you won't starve."

Dean Su had no intention of finding a way out for this hopeless son-in-law anymore; otherwise, he would only have to clean up more messes in the future. He was getting old and couldn't help for much longer.

"Senior Brother Shen, thank you so much for your help today!" Zhou Chengyu said to Shen Xiuyuan with deep gratitude.

"What's the big deal? At least I made a good impression on the prefect today, which is something many people dream of. Besides, I should apologize to you. After all, I trusted Master Hu more at first, but I didn't expect him to be this kind of person. You've suffered these past few days."

Shen Xiuyuan admired Zhou Chengyu and her son for having the courage to come to the academy and expose the true colors of the Hu family father and son. If it were him, knowing the relationship between Dean Su and the Hu family father and son, he would probably have to swallow his anger and only dare to expose the matter after he had a good future.

“My mother and I have made the worst-case scenario plan. Even if we drop out of school, we will run the restaurant together. It’s not like we have to take the imperial examination,” Zhou Chengyu said with a smile.

"You are quite free-spirited. So many people have exhausted their efforts for the imperial examinations. For someone your age to say such things shows that you are a person of strong character. It seems that I should learn from you."

Shen Xiuyuan knew that Zhou Chengyu was always diligent and inquisitive. Although his comprehension was not as good as his own, he was always willing to work hard, which earned him a lot of praise from his teachers. Shen Xiuyuan was quite surprised that Zhou Chengyu would say such a thing.

"Senior Brother Shen, there's no need to be surprised. I wasn't a bookworm when I was young, but I've matured a lot since then. I know that although the imperial examination path is difficult, it's the best option among all my choices. That's why I'm giving it my all. If the result isn't what I expected, I won't dwell on it. There are always other options."

"Being able to take things on and let them go is something many people still can't let go of in their old age; I'm ashamed to admit that I'm not as good at that as you, senior brother."

The two exchanged a smile as they talked, which brought them closer together.

Song Yushu was surprised that the matter was resolved so smoothly. The worst-case scenario he had envisioned did not occur, so he returned to the restaurant with peace of mind. He then sent a letter back to explain the situation and let the others know that he was safe.

"Won't that family come back to our restaurant to report us again?" Xiong Erni had been with Song Yushu for so long and had seen so much, so she couldn't help but worry.

"Probably not. If it really comes to it, I'll go to the academy and cause a scene. The academy's headmaster values ​​his reputation and shouldn't tolerate their nonsense," Song Yushu explained.

"The county town is still better. The people here are all rich and powerful. We can't afford to offend any of them, and yet quite a few of them still come looking for trouble," Xiong Erni sighed. She used to think that the prefectural city was big and had novel and beautiful things, but now she remembered the advantages of the county town.

“If you want to go back, I can give you a few days off. You can bring Chengzhu back with you next time,” Song Yushu said, turning the abacus and thinking of Zhou Chengzhu who had been sent back. Without this money-grubber to check the accounts with him at night, he always felt that something was missing.

"Forget it, I need to get full attendance bonus this month, money is the most reliable thing!" Xiong Erni gave up. Her salary in the prefectural city was twice as high as in the county town, which immediately dispelled her prejudice against the prefectural city.

Seeing this, Song Yushu didn't try to persuade her to go back. She calculated her monthly income and the dividends from selling Rubik's Cubes. She could now earn more than 500 taels a month, which was more than enough to support her family.

If Zhou Chengyu continues to take the exams, she has money in her pocket and can go to the capital to broaden her horizons. If she doesn't pass, she can save up some money and go sightseeing after settling Zhou Chengyu and Zhou Chengzhu. She wonders what will happen between her and Xue Huai'an then. Song Yushu was lost in thought.

The reason her long-distance relationship has lasted so long is entirely due to Xue Huai'an's persistent efforts to send a letter every three days. Of course, she replies, but they mostly talk nonsense, and the two of them do have a bit of an online romance feel to them.

"Just live like this, for as long as I can, let nature take its course," Song Yushu murmured to himself.

"What do you mean by 'let nature take its course'?" Xiong Erni thought she had misheard when she heard her mutter.

"It's nothing, these are all the dishes left today. You can pack them up and share them, and go home early." Song Yushu had a fight with that Mr. Hu and Dean Su today, and after returning to the restaurant, he really didn't have the energy to stay there any longer.

Seeing that Song Yushu looked tired, Xiong Erni quickly had the others pack up the leftovers and clean up the mess before driving the carriage back to take Song Yushu to rest.

After returning home, Song Yushu washed up and then lay down on the bed and slept soundly for days.

It wasn't until the next day, when Xiong Erni saw that she hadn't gotten up and there was no response to her knocking, that she finally broke down the door.

Only then did they realize that Song Yushu was delirious with fever, his face flushed, and his lips dry and chapped.

Xiong Erni fed her some tea, then hurriedly dressed her, carried her onto the carriage, and headed to Doctor Wu's clinic.

"This is...it's tough on her. Yesterday she silenced the people from the academy, and today she's fallen ill like this. Luckily, she was brought in in time. In the future, she should take it easy and not think that just because she's young she can ignore her health. Overworking herself can damage her body and affect her age!"

Fearing that Song Yushu would neglect his health like the old man Liu after waking up, Doctor Wu exaggerated the seriousness of the situation, which frightened Xiong Erni so much that she nodded repeatedly, indicating that she would keep a close eye on Song Yushu in the future, before leaving satisfied.