Yuan Yunzhong and Song Jixue both turned around simultaneously.
They saw Song Jiyun standing with his arms crossed against the red-lacquered, colored glaze inlaid partition of the study, smiling warmly at them.
It was unclear how long he had been standing there.
Yuan Yunzhong stood up at once, "You’re back!"
Song Jixue, like a little firecracker, burst into Song Jiyun’s embrace with a "plop".
Song Jiyun hugged his sister, his gaze, however, rested on Yuan Yunzhong, "Yes, I thought it should be about time for Mother to give birth, so I hurried back earlier."
He didn’t expect that he would fulfill the responsibility of the eldest daughter, nor that he would get along so well with his own family.
As she spoke, her eyes couldn’t help but sweep across the study.
The walls were adorned with an Illustration of a Winter Holiday with seven or eight petals painted on, juvenile characters scrawled on Xuan paper hung on the screen, a Drunken Master’s Chair was draped with a little blanket of sable fur with bright red brocade, half-eaten snacks were haphazardly arranged on the tea table, and the large desk was cluttered with abacus, rulers, water basins, pen racks, Model Calligraphy, Xuan paper, and other items. Under the Taishi Chair in front of the desk, there was even a footstool of pear wood.
Yuan Yunzhong’s usual teaware was squeezed onto a wooden tray.
His favorite orchids were relegated to a high shelf, moved to a multi-treasure rack.
At this moment, the study bore no trace of its former tidiness and elegance; it was like a child’s playground.
Song Jiyun was silent, gently patting his sister on the head.
Yuan Yunzhong’s gaze towards her, however, was vivid and shining like the stars, "When did you get back? Did everything go smoothly? Have you seen the lady? On the tenth day of the twelfth lunar month, Jixue got a little sister."
Song Jiyun smiled, "I’ve just got off the boat, haven’t changed yet. Things went quite smoothly. Once I’ve washed up, I’ll go see the lady. I’ve heard, my mother gave birth to a little sister, and I also heard that you named her Jisu. It’s a nice name!"
Her eyes never left him, "You’ve had a tough time these days!"
Upon hearing this, Yuan Yunzhong coughed slightly, feeling somewhat uneasy. "It’s fine, but you..." Just arriving and not yet seeing her mother before coming to see him, his mouth couldn’t help but curl into a smile, "Once you’ve seen the lady, rest early! Whatever matters we have, we can talk about them tomorrow."
"Mm!" Song Jiyun nodded, yet still stood at the doorway continuing the conversation, "I owe you for sending Shao Qing with me to Nanjing this time. It wouldn’t have been so smooth without him. I have to thank you!"
"Shao Qing is impetuous," Yuan Yunzhong looked at Song Jiyun, "He might not do well in other tasks, but when it comes to running errands and doing odd jobs, he’s quite astute."
Song Jixue, stuck between them, looked back and forth from Yuan Yunzhong to Song Jiyun, but for a long while, neither of them glanced at her.
She shouted loudly, "Sister! Brother-in-law!"
Both looked down at her together.
She scratched her head, not quite sure what she wanted to say. It just felt to her that upon her sister’s return, only her brother-in-law and sister talked to each other. When her brother-in-law saw her sister, he only talked to her. No one paid attention to her, nor asked if she was okay. She was not happy.
But now that both her sister and brother-in-law were looking at her, her displeasure instantly vanished like smoke, and like Hundred Spirits Birds, she looked up and chattered away to Song Jiyun, "Sister, brother-in-law is teaching me mathematics. He’s really good at it! He even knows things that the master doesn’t! He also told me about writing. Look! Look!"
Song Jixue, saying this, dashed over and climbed up the Taishi Chair in front of the screen, showing Song Jiyun a large character she wrote, "This is my handwriting."
Not great yet, but it was certainly a lot of improvement compared to the past when she couldn’t even write horizontal and vertical lines straight.
Song Jiyun affirmed her, "You’ve made progress!"
"Of course!" Song Jixue said proudly, "Brother-in-law said if I can write in small script, he will give me a horse."
She also emphasized, "Not the tall, big horses that brother-in-law rides, but a short-legged horse. He said it’s from the Yunnan-Guizhou area and needs to be transported from there." She then asked Song Jiyun, "Sister, do you know where Yunnan-Guizhou is?"
She climbed down from the Taishi Chair and ran back behind the screen to grab a very rudimentary map, which was clearly drawn hastily, and pointed it out to Song Jiyun, "Here, this is the place. Brother-in-law explained that we are more than two thousand six hundred li away from Yunnan-Guizhou. If we walk, it would take two years; if we ride a horse, it would take over four months."
"Really?" Song Jiyun laughed and touched Song Jixue’s head again, lifting her gaze to Yuan Yunzhong, she sincerely said, "Thank you."
For teaching her little sister so wholeheartedly.
"She has always been smart and clever, lively and active, but she seemed to have a bit of a block when it came to her studies," she laughed. "I didn’t expect her to improve so much."
Yuan Yunzhong also touched Song Jixue’s head and said, "She was a bit slow to catch on. However, her arithmetic is truly good. I was thinking, I have a senior who really enjoys researching these things. Maybe I can see about sending her to study with him for a few years."
Ignoring her again!!
Song Jixue’s mouth could hang an oil bottle now. 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺
She protested loudly, "Sister, brother-in-law, you’ve messed up my hair."
Song Jiyun and Yuan Yunzhong looked down.
Song Jixue’s hair bun was somewhat disheveled, and the hair tie had also come loose.
The two exchanged glances and burst into laughter without coordination.
Now, Song Jixue was even less pleased. She stomped her feet and kept calling out "Sister," "Brother-in-law," and managed to make Yuan Yunzhong and Song Jiyun burst into laughter again.
Shao Qing rushed in, looking travel-worn, and when he saw Song Jixue, he reached out to touch her head.
Song Jixue stomped her feet in anger.
Song Jiyun couldn’t help laughing.
Shao Qing then said, "Boss Song, the goods have been brought back. Do you want to take a look?"
Only then did Song Jiyun say her goodbyes to Yuan Yunzhong, "I’ll come back later to thank you properly."
Yuan Yunzhong saw the touch of green at the bottom of her eyes and nodded, sending her and Song Jixue out of Yinyu Hall.
But before he could turn back to his study, Shao Qing had him cornered in the hallway.
"My goodness!" he exclaimed in astonishment, glancing around to make sure no one was nearby and then lowering his voice. "Young Master, I’m sure you could never guess. Boss Song, she sold her porcelain for this price!"
He held up five fingers, extending one hand, "Five hundred thousand silver taels!"
Yuan Yunzhong was also surprised.
But he looked at Shao Qing without any change of expression and coldly said, "Why do you talk so much?!"
Shao Qing replied anxiously, "There’s no one else here. I didn’t tell anyone else!"
He even asked Yuan Yunzhong, "Aren’t you curious at all?"
Yuan Yunzhong said nothing and turned to go to his study.
Shao Qing huffed in dissatisfaction and muttered to himself as he watched Yuan Yunzhong’s retreating back, "I don’t believe it. You’ll have to hold back from asking me. When you want to know, then we’ll see if I feel like telling you!"
Yuan Yunzhong, who was walking ahead, suddenly turned back and gave Shao Qing a warning glance.
Shao Qing immediately shrank his shoulders and obediently followed Yuan Yunzhong into the study.
"Speak!" Yuan Yunzhong sat down on the Taishi Chair behind the large desk, "What happened when you went to Nanjing?"
Shao Qing instantly forgot the incident earlier and eagerly said, "Young Master, you missed out by not coming to Nanjing with us. Boss Song, she really opened my eyes!"
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