Chapter 38.1
Editor: Jodi
Ning Sheng was sitting by the small table, eating a sugar pastry in a poised manner, his expression indifferent.
Somehow, he managed to make this five-yuan dessert taste like it was from a high-end, five-star restaurant.
Xu Ling took a proper cup of tea and brought it over to his biological father.
Who downed three large gulps.
“Let’s keep talking.” His biological father started. “Dad feels that, well, Qing’an Town is a nice place, but in terms of education, it’s relatively lacking.”
A piece of scratch paper was shoved in front of him.
Biological Father: “?”
“Uncle, here’s a good question. Give it a try.” Li Haoyue told him.
Xu Ling: “…..”
“Haha, you underestimate your uncle. I’m a board member of a company, after all.” Xu Ling’s biological father said warmly as he took the question. “A little question like this….”
Xu Ling’s biological father: “…”
“What is it?” Ning Sheng asked Li Haoyue.
Li Haoyue: “Calculus, L’Hôpital’s Rule, solving for the limit.”
Ning Sheng: “….. You’re twisted.”
Li Haoyue: “You’re too kind.”
Xu Ling’s biological father wiped his sweat.
He hadn’t expected, before he came here, that acknowledging his biological son would require him to solve math problems first.
“This is just a small problem.” The math nerd told him, “For someone born and raised in Qing’an Town like me, I just need a glance to solve it. This proves that the education here isn’t all that bad.”
Then the math nerd rummaged through his backpack and scattered a pile of math competition certificates and medals.
Li Haoyue: “I’m just average, really.”
Ning Sheng: “……”
“So…. son.” Xu Ling’s father continued, “maybe the education here is decent, but Dad still thinks that the living conditions in Qing’an Town are a bit tough.”
He went on, “I can see that you even have to help out around the house?”
Ning Sheng picked his cup up and took a sip of coffee.
Xu Ling’s biological father: “….”
Huh, why was there another afternoon tea drinker here?
Wait a minute, the cup in this kid’s hand……. it looked like it cost over two thousand!
“Dad……. Dad feels a bit dizzy.” Xu Ling’s biological father said. “Can you accompany dad out for a walk?”
Folding his arms, Xu Ling leaned against the clothes rack, looked at him for a couple of seconds, then: “Alright.”
Then the two of them walked out of the yard together.
“Princess, heh heh.” Lu Peng plopped down at the small table, “What tasty thing is this?”
“Macarons.” Ning Sheng pushed a rectangular box over. “They’re too sweet, so you guys should pair them with black coffee.”
Then he found two disposable cups and poured a bit of coffee for the two of them.
Lu Peng: “Dang, this is much more bitter than winter break homework.”
“Princess, your cup is kind of ugly today.” He added.
Ning Sheng: “I think so too.”
His grandma had bought it, probably some limited edition from a rare leather handbag.
“You guys, what will we do if Dog Xu goes back to S City with his dad?” Lu Peng asked, slumping onto the table.
“Simple.” Li Haoyue answered. “Princess is from S City, and I, learning god Li, am popular wherever I go.”
Li Haoyue continued: “You can just stay here in Qing’an Town and sell piglets forever.”
Lu Peng: “….”
“Who’s going back to S City with him?!” Ning Sheng kicked a stool. “He can scram off to wherever he wants!”
Ning Sheng: “What kind of stool is this? So hard!”
Pei Qi in the pigsty grunted.
“Want go out and play?” Lu Peng dared to ask, “Dog Xu isn’t around, so what are we even studying for?”
Ning Sheng shot him a cold look. “Why, do you need to filter your knowledge through his brain first?”
Lu Peng: “……”
However Ning Sheng was feeling down and wanted to get out to clear his head.
“That senior said he made a bunch of money working part-time at the brick factory last time, and also said he’d treat us to dinner.” Ning Sheng told them. “Then he vanished.”
This senior, a certain upperclassman, had once tried to collect money from Ning Sheng and got beaten up for it, leading to a friendship that started through fists.
And ever since, they’d kept in touch occasionally.
Lu Peng snapped his fingers. “Then let’s go collect the dinner.”
Ning Sheng: “More like collect the debt.”
*
Xu Ling was listening to his dad go on and on about how amazing S City was and how Qing’an Town just didn’t compare in the backyard.
“Think it over carefully.” His biological father summed up. “As long as you come with me, you’ll have a share in my inheritance.”
Xu Ling: “Done talking?”
His biological father: “I guess so.”
Xu Ling: “Alright, I’m leaving.”
His biological father: “???”
Xu Ling hurried back to the courtyard, only to find it empty, the Three Golden Suns nowhere to be seen.
What’s more a gust of wind blew by, flipping a page of the workbook left on the small table.
Xu Ling: “…..”
Group chat [Four Golden Suns] : (4)
[Ling] : Did Houyi shoot the three of you down?
[AAA Premium Piglet Wholesale] : He did.
[Ling] : Where’d you fall? I’ll come pick you up.
[AAA Premium Piglet Wholesale] : Brick factory.
[Ling] : ??? What are you doing there?
[AAA Premium Piglet Wholesale] : Checking out the bricks.
[Ling] : ???