Chapter 22 Winning the bet?

Xu Wan rolled her eyes to the sky.

She just knew it.

I didn't expect that the smart and knowledgeable old man would be fooled by the little devil.

He is indeed the little devil.

Full of ideas.

"Well, well, you are a teachable kid. Jincheng, your progress in the past month has really impressed me. As the old saying goes, it is never too late to mend a broken fold. Besides, you are still young, so it is not too late for you to study hard now."

Baili Xi praised him and laughed at the same time, his eyebrows and eyes were squeezed together with joy, and with his chubby body, he looked very much like Maitreya Buddha.

Zong Jincheng finally felt proud for once, and immediately raised his eyebrows at Xu Wan proudly, with his hands on his hips.

The posture seemed to say:

Look, I won this round!

The boy's arrogance and self-confidence were so dazzling that Cuizhi felt worried for him.

The young master was floating, really floating.

But the lady knew his true strength. He was so bold to provoke her. If she got angry and told the truth, she could easily expose his shortcoming that he could only recite but not write.

But they are just children after all.

Zong Jincheng was a simple-minded person. The calculations in his mind were not as big as a mung bean. He could not think of the consequences so far. He even pretended to be polite and replied, "It's all thanks to the good teaching of the teacher. I am sorry for your trouble."

Baili Xi was even more pleased to see that he had become so polite and courteous.

He stroked his beard and arranged, "In that case, Jincheng should follow Wenxiu's progress and learn Mengqiu together. I will come to teach you tomorrow."

"Thank you, Master." The two children replied in unison.

Xu Wan stood up and sent Bailixi out of the house. On the way, she politely said, "I'm sorry to trouble you, Master. Jincheng has made great progress recently, all thanks to your careful teaching."

"Madam, you are too kind. You have finally brought this child back to the right path..."

The two adults kept praising each other, and they were getting closer and closer in the mutual flattery of adults.

Zong Wenxiu, who stayed behind, was very happy for him. Although his younger brother did not work that hard this month and did not spend too much time on memorizing, his talent was amazing and he quickly caught up with his memorization progress. Zong Wenxiu suddenly felt very stressed. Fortunately, his wife did not stop studying, otherwise he would have been surpassed by his younger brother.

He turned around and saw that his brother's expression suddenly changed.

When Zong Jincheng saw the two of them leave, his smiling face immediately fell and he turned into a fierce look that said "I'm not easy to mess with". The little devil casually threw the book in his hand behind him and it hit the ground with a loud noise. The brand new paper fell to the ground and was covered with a lot of dust.

He was slumped on the chair with his legs spread out, his two feet directly on the table, and he kicked the inkstone to the ground with his gray soles. The ink in the inkstone spilled all over the floor, but the perpetrator didn't think there was anything wrong at all, acting like a dandy boy who didn't care about other people's lives.

Zong Wenxiu, who had just finished praising his brother in his heart, asked: "?"

No, how come he suddenly becomes such a different person?

Isn't my brother getting better?

"Jincheng?" Zong Wenxiu called tentatively.

The little devil continued to paralyze the master, tightly closed his tired eyes, and howled loudly: "I am so tired, and these hard days are finally over. Next time I don't want to be a good person who is brave and righteous. Hurry up, keep the door closed, and wait for that woman to come back and take back my money and people immediately. I don't want to recite a book again in my life!"

Zong Wenxiu: “…”

Yes, I almost forgot that my brother did not study voluntarily, but for his own sake. Now that he has fulfilled the agreement with my wife, does he have to leave the study?

Zong Wenxiu, who was used to taking his younger brother to study every day, still felt a little lost. Although his younger brother got up late, studied hard, left home early, and went to bed early every day, he was still the only peer he could talk to in this marquis's mansion.

As Zong Jincheng's only servant, Shunzi did his duty and kept watch at the door, but after waiting for a cup of tea, Xu Wan did not return.

The little devil was getting impatient even with his eyes closed. He looked outside and said, "What's going on? Did she run away and deny her guilt? She has been here for three round trips."

When he opened his eyes, he saw that there was no one outside, not even the maid, just like the usual situation after school.

Xu Wan...you wouldn't have forgotten about them here, right?

Zong Jincheng put away his legs that were raised arrogantly on the table, and as soon as he got down from the ground, he saw his half-brother squatting on the ground, holding a clean rag in his hand, carefully wiping the ink stains on the ground.

That was the inkstone he had just kicked over.

This little devil had done this more than once or twice, and no one had ever said anything to him. Even in front of his grandparents, his grandmother had always lovingly arranged for the maids to clean up the house.

My brother...

Although he is a concubine's son, he is still his brother.

Zong Jincheng suddenly felt a strange sense of guilt, and inexplicably felt awkward. He stepped forward and pulled the man up: "Just ask Shunzi to clean it up."

Zong Wenxiu smiled at him and said, "No need. Shunzi still has to help you watch the door. I can just clean it. It's not a heavy job."

Zong Jincheng frowned and let him go.

Then I saw someone wiping the floor quickly, changing the rag in his hand, and the floor was soon clean.

After wiping off the ink, Zong Wenxiu put the inkstone back on the table. He also picked up the books that his brother had thrown away, dusted them off, and placed them neatly on the table.

Zong Jincheng thought his half-brother would say something to him about how to treat calligraphy, saying that scholars should be so particular about it. But he said nothing. Instead, he asked, "Did you put something in the inkstone that prevented the ink from writing?"

Zong Jincheng replied proudly: "Hehe, I added some lard."

Zong Wenxiu was at a loss whether to laugh or cry, it was indeed so.

"My lady must have discovered it."

The little devil shrugged fearlessly, not seeming to be afraid at all: "If she finds out, she will find out. Anyway, the master let me pass. If she cheats, she will be a puppy."

Zong Wenxiu shook his head when he heard this.

It's not that simple.

He heard about the agreement between his wife and grandmother, and she would not easily give up on letting her brother go to school.

It's just that the person involved didn't realize it.

Xu Wan had originally planned to settle accounts with the little devil after sending Master Baili away. She had finally managed to get him into the study, so how could she let him run away like that?

Just as she was thinking about what to do, Bailixi suddenly said to her in an ambiguous tone: "Madam, no matter what you do, you should proceed step by step. Don't rush into things, or you will go astray."

Xu Wan blinked her eyelashes slightly, looked at the old man in front of her who was smiling like Maitreya Buddha, and smiled: "Thank you for your guidance, Master."

She thought Zong Jincheng had really fooled Master Baili.

It turns out that great wisdom appears foolish.

I didn't bother with that kid.

After all, he is the one who taught a top scholar, and his mind is as clear as a mirror.

Baili Xi nodded to her and returned to his home. As for what happened next, he thought that his daughter-in-law Zong Zhao would handle it well.

When Xu Wan returned to the inner courtyard, she thought over and over again about various plans, pondered the possible reactions after implementation, and kept trying new methods.

Suddenly, she thought of something.

The steps came to an abrupt halt——

"Cuizhi, how much pocket money does Wenxiu have for a month?"