Li Ge'er nodded; he understood the reasoning, but he couldn't bear to part with his younger brother.
But the younger brother can't hide behind them forever; he'll have to grow up eventually...
At this moment, two young men walked in from outside. They were quite surprised to see the mess at Jiaren's place and asked, "What's going on here? Is the academy about to have a holiday?"
If Jiayin were here, she would recognize him immediately.
They were the two young men who had helped Baozhu when she was being treated.
Jiaren cupped his hands in greeting and said with a smile, "There's something going on at home. My brother and I are planning to take a few months off from school. We were originally planning to talk to you about it later, but I didn't expect you to come first."
Li Ge'er was also busy pouring tea, saying, "Brother Jia, Brother Lu, have some tea."
Jia Xu patted him on the shoulder, "If you two leave, what will happen to Cat Brother? Will he come back to Broken Gold Beach with you?"
Last time, when Jia Xu went back to celebrate his grandmother's birthday, he witnessed Jia Yin save his cousin and generously taught them the secret method of saving people. He then felt that the Li family was a good family.
So, after returning to the academy, he took the initiative to get to know Jiaren and his brother, and they have been seeing each other a lot and have become very close.
Li Ge'er looked at his elder brother, and Jia Ren said, "Brother Jia, you've only been back at the academy for a few days, so you may not know yet, but our family has a small fleet that frequently travels between Xindu and Quanzhou to transport seafood and the like."
“Our family has plans for me and Li Ge’er to go south this time to broaden our horizons. The academy’s dean has also found a passenger ship and arranged guards and boatmen to accompany our family and take some students to Quanzhou for academic exchanges with the local academies.”
Going to Quanzhou?
Jia Xu and Lu Zong's eyes lit up. Jia Xu pressed on, "Has the list of academy members going on the ship been finalized? I wonder if we can add more people? I'd like to go too!"
Jiaren shook his head. "Our family's fishing boat is dirty and cramped. Lige and I need to go on the boat to help with the work, so we won't take up any spots at the academy. I haven't asked about the arrangements for the academy's passenger boats."
Jia Xu looked at Lu Zong and asked, "What about you, Brother Lu? Do you want to go to Quanzhou? Should we ask the dean to make an exception for you?"
Lu Zong laughed and said, "Great! I've been studying abroad for the past two years, so it would be nice to see the seaside."
Jia Xu excitedly pulled him up, said hello, and then hurriedly left.
Li Ge'er asked quietly, "Brother, that Young Master Lu seems to have an unusual background?"
Jiaren patted him and said, "Who cares about his identity? It has nothing to do with our family. We only judge people by their character, not their background."
Li Ge'er nodded, and remembering that he was going home tomorrow, his men sped up their work.
Just as the two brothers finished tidying up, Jiaren's servant, Gousheng, brought Lige's servant, Zheng Liu, running in happily from outside.
Gou Sheng'er called out, "Young Master, Sixth Young Master, someone from home has come. They're talking to the Third Master in the dining hall. It seems that Jiaxi and Jia'an have returned home from the city. The Old Madam is worried about you and the Sixth and Seventh Young Masters and wants you to come home early."
Jiaren and Lige were both happy to hear this, because the older the brothers in the family got, the harder it was to get them together.
Jiaxi and Jia'an were sent away to learn new skills, and they've been gone for more than half a month. They've been missing them.
Thinking this, the two brothers hurried to the cafeteria. After receiving confirmation, Jiaren asked the teacher for leave, then picked up Cat Brother from the classroom and packed his luggage.
After arranging the work at the canteen, Li Laosan and Zhao Yuru took the children and rushed back to Suijintan.
The sun was setting in the west, and dusk was deepening.
The Li family's courtyard was filled with the aroma of food.
It was a rare occasion for Li Laosi to return from the military camp, and his son was also at home, so Tao Hongying cooked several more delicious dishes.
Jiayin, accompanied by the little fox and Shuiling, ran to the big tree at the village entrance and sat there looking around.
A master, a servant, and a fox sat side by side, eating fruit, which made the villagers who came and went laugh non-stop.
Jia'an and Jiaxi came down from the mountain, and of course they wanted to join in the fun. They quickly climbed up the tree, shared two fruits, and chatted with their sister while eating them.
"Little sister, you don't know, our teacher who taught us the foreign language is amazing. If you didn't look at his face, you would think it was a foreigner speaking." Jia'an clearly admired his teacher, and his eyes were shining as he said this.
Jiaxi nodded in agreement, adding, "Yes, Master said he visited the land of the barbarians when he was young. He also told us that if we ever go there, we shouldn't be bewitched by those white-breasted demons!"
"Cough cough cough!" Shui Ling suddenly started coughing violently, startling Jia An and Jia Xi, who quickly patted her back, afraid that she would choke to death.
Jiayin knew perfectly well why Shuiling had interrupted her two brothers, but she could only pretend not to understand.
After catching her breath, Shui Ling watched her young master happily munching on fruit and secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
Fortunately, the family's carriage arrived at that moment.
Cat Boy stuck his head out of the car window and waved frantically at his older brother and younger sister.
Jia'an and Jiaxi hugged their younger sister, jumped down from the big tree, and ran over.
Soon, the brothers successfully reunited, laughing and jumping, their joy and closeness palpable.
Li Ge'er and Mao Ge'er argued, asking their older brothers what skills they had learned.
Jiaren carried the chubby little girl on his back and followed behind, listening with a smile.
Li Laosan and Zhao Yuru didn't disturb the children's reunion, and only got out of the car at the door.
The quiet Li family courtyard suddenly became lively because the boys had all returned.
Grandma Li beamed from ear to ear, repeatedly calling for more food, wishing she could make up for all the good food her grandchildren had missed while they were away from home in just one meal.
Zhao Yuru rolled up her sleeves and went to the kitchen to chat with Tao Hongying while they cooked and fried food.
Before long, Li Zhensheng heard that his sons had returned, so he brought Jiayi, Jiahuan and Liu Yang back to join in the fun.
Liu Yang said a few words, then took a plate of braised pork and went home.
The Li family members remained, along with Mr. and Mrs. Wen, making a total of nearly twenty people, young and old, creating quite a lively atmosphere.
Uncle Zhao and the others, along with Doctor Zhang, were also invited. They also wanted to invite the village elders, but Hui Niang had already cooked meat and invited the old couple over early.
Right now, the elderly couple are playing with their chubby grandson and definitely won't come over.
As usual, two tables were set up for the banquet, one for the men and one for the women.
But once the boys had all gone home, the men's table became too crowded.
So, Li Ge'er and Mao Ge'er joined the women's table.
Cat Brother ate with great gusto, his chopsticks practically flying through the air.
Although Li Ge'er had the title of Xiucai (a scholar who passed the imperial examinations), he was still a child at home and didn't feel wronged sitting at a table with women.
He smiled and sidled up to his grandmother, talking about the academy while eating, which made the old lady beam with joy.
The women don't drink alcohol, they eat quickly, and after the table is cleared, they gather together to chat.
Speaking of Jiaren and Lige'er's trip to Quanzhou, Grandma Li said, "Winter is coming soon. It's warm in the south. It would be best if they stayed there for two months and came back for the New Year."
Mrs. Wen smiled and said, "Yes, I heard that it's still lush and green everywhere there in winter, and there's never a shortage of fruits and vegetables. I'd like to go and see it when I have the chance."
"Okay, okay, Auntie, take me with you then." Jiayin was eager to try. She was just too young, otherwise she would have gone long ago.
Before Old Lady Li could say anything more, Cat suddenly threw himself into her arms and started crying…
Served at midnight~~~
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