Sun Chengyuan's eyes widened instantly, and he was stunned.
There's several times more food here than he brought!
Life is truly unpredictable... whether surprises or unexpected events will come first!
Xiao Youran glared at her senior brother, "You did this on purpose!"
Wen Yuanbai received a glare from his junior sister and returned a look that said, "So what if I did it on purpose?"
Then, straightening her back, she said to Sun Chengyuan, "Don't you know that Xiao Youran comes from the Su family, the richest family in Dingzhou? When has she ever needed you to deliver grain to her?"
His arrogant tone made it seem as if he were the richest man in Dingzhou and could spend money like water at will.
Sun Chengyuan was somewhat bewildered, muttering, "I thought... I thought... that even if you had money, it would be difficult to buy grain here in Taizhou. I only managed to... manage to scrape together a little over a hundred jin by borrowing from all sides..."
Xiao Youran tugged at her senior brother's sleeve, "Brother Chengyuan, I appreciate your kindness. But please leave this food for those who need it more."
Sun Chengyuan slumped his shoulders dejectedly. "Alright then... I wasn't much of a help..."
Xiao Youran quickly said, "Magistrate Cao is short of food! If you donate this grain to him, Magistrate Cao will be extremely grateful to you!"
Sun Chengyuan could only nod, then asked again, "You Ran, are your family members all well?"
Xiao Youran pointed towards the door and said, "Brother Chengyuan, why don't you come inside for a cup of tea?"
Sun Chengyuan was about to nod when Wen Yuanbai grabbed Xiao Youran's hand, "Let's not delay Young Master Sun's trip to the county government to donate grain. Didn't you say you wanted to quickly prepare some things to take back to the capital?"
Sun Chengyuan's eyes lit up. "You Ran, are you going back to Beijing?"
Xiao Youran nodded and said, "Yes, we all have to go back."
Sun Chengyuan said happily, "I passed the county-level imperial examination this year and became a Xiucai. Next year, my mother plans to send me to the capital to study! Maybe we'll be able to meet in the capital!"
Wen Yuanbai:......
He took a deep breath. "Maybe Xiaoyou Ran will have to go back to Dingzhou next year."
Xiao Youran was immediately filled with utter confusion: ???
When did she say she was going back to Dingzhou?
Sun Chengyuan's face showed a moment of awkwardness, but he made up his mind and said, "You Ran, it's almost December now. I'm sure you won't be returning to Dingzhou so soon after the New Year, right? I will definitely set off for the capital after the sixteenth day of the first lunar month. You must wait for me!"
What are we waiting for?
Wen Yuanbai's eyes grew even colder, and he secretly wondered if he should find a way to get Sun Wenzheng transferred to a remote mountainous area to serve as a sub-prefect.
He took Xiao Youran's hand and led her inside. "Master told me to keep a close eye on your calligraphy practice. Has your scribbles improved?"
Sun Chengyuan could only say to her retreating figure, "See you in the capital!"
Xiao Youran didn't understand why he was so persistent, so she could only give him a perfunctory reply, "Then Brother Chengyuan, hurry up and go to the county government office."
She was led to the study by Wen Yuanbai and was stunned to see that her senior brother had actually laid out paper, ink, brush and inkstone for her.
"You really want to practice calligraphy?"
"Practice!" Wen Yuanbai's tone was icy. "Don't you know that the one thing that doesn't suit you the most is your scrawled handwriting?"
Xiao Youran's eyes widened. "Senior Brother Da Bai, have you taken the wrong medicine? Where on my body is there any writing that makes my handwriting ugly?"
Wen Yuanbai's tone grew even colder as he tapped the desktop, "Then write a few words for me to see?"
Little Youran snorted, "I won't write! How could Master let you watch me practice calligraphy? I'm only five years old! I can't even hold a pen properly! I don't even recognize many characters!"
She's only five years old, who is she afraid of?
It's not impossible to be illiterate for life!
She was a highly talented woman in her previous life, skilled in poetry and painting, but she still didn't have a good ending!
Wen Yuanbai took a breath, picked up his pen and wrote a neat page, then said, "It doesn't matter if you don't recognize it! Practice writing like mine."
Xiao Youran was shocked.
She knew from later generations that raising children with tigers was the parents' job, but mainly the mother's job.
But when it came to me, why did it become my senior's job?
Is he so desperate to be her mother, or rather, her father?!
She strongly resisted, saying, "My master never complained about my handwriting! I'm only five years old!"
Wen Yuanbai sneered, "Are you really only five years old?"
Xiao Youran glared at him, feeling inexplicably guilty. "If you're not five years old, are you five hundred years old?"
Wen Yuanbai sneered, "If you really lived to be five hundred years old and could still write like this, then you would have truly wasted your life!"
Xiao You Ran: ……
How is this so heartbreaking?
Wen Yuanbai pushed the paper forward. "Write ten pages every day, otherwise your senior brother will have to investigate the origin of your magical tricks."
Xiao You Ran: ……
"Senior brother, you have no martial ethics!"
"To practice or not?"
"What's wrong with you that you want me to practice calligraphy?"
"I don't have time to flirt with other people because of you."
"I...#\\u0026...￥*" Xiao Youran was speechless with anger. "Who did I flirt with? I'm only five years old, you know? I don't even know what flirting means, so who could I possibly flirt with?"
Can't we just treat her like a five-year-old?
Wen Yuanbai stared intently at her, then suddenly pulled out a package from his sleeve, opened it, picked up a piece, and stuffed it into Xiao Youran's mouth.
Xiao Youran was stunned for a moment, and then... her eyes widened suddenly.
These dragon beard candies are so sweet and fragrant!
He said, "Ten pages a day, ten dragon beard candies!"
Xiao Youran quickly swallowed the saliva from her lips and nodded vigorously, "Deal!"
Nan Zhuo, who was guarding outside the door: ...
Little county princess, you've actually met your match? Hehehe!
...
With the food problem properly resolved, Xiaoyou and her friends rested for two days before embarking on their journey back to Beijing, bathed in the bright morning sun.
Wen Yuanbai also escorted Hamuyi on their journey back to the capital.
Before setting off, Yun Manwan came to several elders with great difficulty and said that her aunt, Yuan Jie'er, did not want to go to the capital city and said that she wanted to stay in Wufeng County to wait for Zhao Huai to return.
Everyone was surprised to hear this.
Everyone had seen Zhao Yuanyuan a few times. She looked to be eleven or twelve years old, thin and small, timid and unassuming, with a very low profile, always hiding behind Yun Manwan.
She had thought that since the whole family was going to the capital, she could just go along. But now she was able to say no. How much courage did that take?
Zhou asked, "Did you say what the reason was?"
Yun Manyan shook her head. "She only said she didn't want to go back to the capital, she was fine with anywhere else."
Zhou stood up. "I'll go talk to her."
Zhou was quite efficient; she returned in the time it takes to drink a cup of tea. "We've convinced her; she'll come back with us. She's already all alone, and with her brother not around, what's the point of leaving her here in Wufeng County all by herself?"
No one took this little incident to heart, assuming that the girl didn't want to return to the capital because she was worried that her brother wouldn't be able to find her when he came back from leaving Wufeng County.
To prevent Zhao Huai from returning with a message and finding no one to receive it, Madam Su left a guard behind to watch over the residence.
Accompanying them to Beijing were Shi Wenxia's sickly mother and her younger brother, Shi Xing.
Xiao Youran knew that their mother was dying and that she was also her great-aunt's niece, so she had no reason to object.
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