Buying Out Favors!

The car drove past the administrative avenue, onto the Su Causeway, crossed a bridge, and then stopped in front of a white mansion nestled among green trees and red flowers.

The ancient bronze gates opened to the sides, and an old man in a gray uniform stood at the entrance to greet them.

The old man stepped forward to help open the car door, saying kindly, "Miss Cui is back? Madam and young master are waiting for you to have dinner."

Cui Xiaoxin thanked the old man and said, "Uncle Yan, you are too kind. I am the junior, I can do it myself."

The old man chuckled and said, "It's no trouble, I'm used to it."

The man in the green robe got out of the car, cupped his hands in greeting to the old man, and then walked towards the backyard. Ning Xinhai dared not show any disrespect to this old man who had been guarding the Yan family for decades.

Accompanied by Uncle Yan, Cui Xiaoxin walked towards the hall.

The hall was brightly lit, and a graceful noblewoman in a purple qipao and a handsome young man in a light blue satin shirt were playing chess.

"Mom, I won't let you win this time. You just said your minister can cross the river and your cannon can turn corners, but now you're saying my advisor is a traitor and you want to use my advisor to checkmate my king—Mom, even though I'm your own son, you can't bully me like this!"

The beautiful woman rolled her eyes at her son, showing a youthful shyness.

"You are my son. What am I supposed to do if I don't bully you when I'm unhappy and vent my anger?"

"Mom, who bullied you? Tell me their name, and I'll bring people to break their legs tomorrow—" the young man said, feigning anger, but with an unreadable smile in his eyes.

"Uncle Yan, come here," the woman said.

The young man blinked and said with a wry smile, "Mom, can we change? This one is like a steel plate to me. I'm afraid I'll hurt my foot if I kick him—"

"No, it's him." The woman angrily condemned the man's tyranny, saying, "Three years ago, he promised to take us to see the ancient battlefield of dragon slaying, but he broke his promise. A year ago, he promised to come back to Tiandu for Chinese New Year, but he said he had to be on duty and asked us to go back alone. Half a month ago, we agreed that I would go to the West Port for a big shopping spree, but he said an official was coming down to inspect the work, and he needed to receive and accompany them—Count it yourself, how many meals has he eaten at home this month? How many words has he said to us? Shouldn't such a person be taught a lesson? Aren't you a famous prodigal son in Jiangnan? Everyone says how amazing you are, how fierce you are at bullying people. I, as a mother, am also happy and proud—You help me get revenge, and I'll owe you a favor, okay?"

The handsome man smiled sheepishly and said, "We prodigal sons also have IQs, otherwise people would laugh at us for being shallow and short-sighted, and losing face for our circle. You know, people already have great resentment towards us, so we should act with more discretion, shouldn't we? I'll make a note of the person you mentioned, and when there's an opportunity, I'll help you get revenge and get back at him fiercely?"

"Hmph, I knew you were a disloyal scoundrel. Don't you even think about whose womb you crawled out of." The woman flew into a rage, pointing at the young man's forehead.

Pfft—

Cui Xiaoxin giggled and walked towards the woman, saying, "Auntie, you're really making it difficult for my cousin. If you ask him to bully his own father, he wouldn't dare even if he had a hundred guts."

"Oh, Xiaoxin is back." The woman looked at Cui Xiaoxin with great joy, beckoning her. "Come here, come here, let Auntie have a look—Where did our Xiaoxin go to play today? Did you have fun? Did anyone bully Xiaoxin? If there's any ignorant fellow causing trouble, tell Auntie, and Auntie will have your cousin bully him. Your cousin is idle all day, so we need to find something for him to do."

Cui Xiaoxin sat down in front of the woman, letting her hold her hand. "Auntie, I'm fine. I just went out for a walk."

Yan Xiangma placed a cup of tea in front of Cui Xiaoxin, baring his neat teeth as he smiled and asked, "I heard Xiaoxin has been tutoring classmates recently?"

The smile on Cui Xiaoxin's face faltered for a moment, then quickly returned to normal. "Yes. The written examination is approaching, and a classmate's grades are not very good. I want to help him catch up."

Cui Xin Ci looked at Cui Xiaoxin with loving eyes and said, "Our Xiaoxin is so kind. Alas, she's beautiful, has a good temperament, and a good background. What kind of man will be worthy of our Xiaoxin in the future? Fortunately, Tiandu is full of talented people, with heroes emerging one after another. The Cui family will naturally find someone who complements you. But thinking that you will return to Tiandu in the second half of the year, it feels like a piece of my heart has been dug out. You've lived with me for five years, and I've always treated you like my own daughter. Now that you're leaving—"

"Mom, are you done? You put on this sad drama every day. If you're not tired of it, Xiaoxin can't stand it anymore. The more you're like this, the more Xiaoxin wants to go back to Tiandu—Xiaoxin, isn't that right?" Yan Xiangma looked at his Oscar-worthy mother helplessly and said.

"How could that be?" Cui Xiaoxin smiled and squeezed her aunt's hand. "I'll miss you too, Auntie. I've had a very happy time living in Jiangnan. If it weren't for my studies, I wouldn't want to leave."

"Xiaoxin is the one who understands me, unlike those ungrateful people surnamed Yan," Cui Xin Ci said with relief. "Xiaoxin, let's go eat."

"Okay." Cui Xiaoxin stood up and followed.

"My mom knows Xiaoxin likes fish, so she specially had a barrel of stone rock fish sent from Mount Tai. These stone rock fish grow in the springs between rock crevices. Their meat is tender and boneless. When placed on stones and lightly sun-dried, they melt completely." Yan Xiangma explained as he served soup for his mother and Cui Xiaoxin, "When this fish is used to make soup, the whole fish melts into the soup. You can't find any fish meat, not even a single fish scale. But when you drink this soup—it feels like a small fish is swimming in your mouth, it's incredibly delicious."

"You're just flattering me," Cui Xin Ci chided her son.

"I'm flattering you, Mom," Yan Xiangma said with a smile. "Isn't this to let cousin Xiaoxin know your heartfelt intentions?"

"Hmph, intentions are in the heart. Once you say them, they lose their meaning," Cui Xin Ci shook her head. "You, just like your father, have a complicated mind. Aren't you tired?"

"Fine. Fine. I won't talk anymore, okay? I won't talk anymore, okay?" Yan Xiangma pleaded repeatedly.

Cui Xin Ci and Cui Xiaoxin looked at each other and smiled. Cui Xin Ci gestured for Cui Xiaoxin to drink the soup, saying, "The hot soup is delicious, but when it cools, it will have a fishy smell. Xiaoxin, quickly taste it and tell me how it is. If it's too salty or too bland, tell Auntie, and I'll ask the kitchen to improve it next time."

Cui Xiaoxin took a spoonful with her spoon. Her mouth was filled with rich flavor, and she praised, "It's very delicious. The saltiness is just right."

"That's good." Cui Xin Ci then lowered her head to drink the soup.

"By the way, Xiaoxin—" Yan Xiangma looked at Cui Xiaoxin and smiled, "Is the classmate you're tutoring the one who saved your life at the Beast-Faced Pavilion last time?"

Cui Xiaoxin's eyebrows twitched slightly, and she looked up at Yan Xiangma. "Yes, cousin. He's a very good person, but his academic performance is not good. The written examination is in less than two weeks, so I wanted to help him a bit more. After all, if he hadn't helped me back then, Uncle Ning might not have been able to rescue me in time—"

"Hmph, the assassin Crow, he'll die a terrible death sooner or later." A naked ferocity appeared on Yan Xiangma's face. Because he displayed it appropriately, the ferocity turned into righteous indignation. "Tiandu has already taken action. Experts from the Cui and Yan families are all searching for Crow's whereabouts. Jiangnan City is also conducting a city-wide search, and the city lord's mansion has also dispatched all its experts—Don't worry, Xiaoxin, Crow won't dare to come again. Even if he does, he'll be wrapped up like a zongzi by Uncle Ning and his men and be utterly destroyed."

"Thank you, cousin and uncle," Cui Xiaoxin said with a deep voice of gratitude.

"What are you thanking me for? We're all family, you're like my own sister," Yan Xiangma said with a smile. "However, cousin, you should still maintain some distance from that classmate—"

Cui Xiaoxin looked at Yan Xiangma calmly and asked, "What do you mean, cousin?"

"Think about it, your classmate is an ordinary person. Ordinary people are too far removed from our world—Uncle Ning arrived in time this time, so he intercepted Crow. If there's a next time, will your classmate be so lucky? I know cousin wants to help her classmate, but if something happens, and your classmate gets injured or suffers even more serious harm—given cousin's nature, she might never be able to free herself from this guilt for the rest of her life?"

Cui Xiaoxin's eyes became sharp. "Are you warning me, cousin?"

"Cousin, this is just advice, where does it count as a warning? I'm completely thinking of you and your classmate, don't you think so? If cousin feels that these words should not be said, then I won't say them. Cousin is intelligent and clever; you can figure these things out for yourself."

"I've already thought about it," Cui Xiaoxin said.

Cui Xin Ci looked at her son, then at Cui Xiaoxin, and said, "Xiaoxin, after all, your classmate helped you, and our family should remember this favor—You said his academic performance is not good. Then, let your uncle use his connections to help him get a special admission spot at Jiangnan University. Although Jiangnan University is not as good as Xifeng University, it is still a top-tier university in the Empire. He can choose any major he wants. What do you think?"

Cui Xiaoxin's heart surged, and the knuckles of her fingers holding the spoon turned white.

She understood her aunt's intention. This was to buy out Li Mu Yang's life-saving favor once and for all.

But, can a favor be bought out?