Bai Jing's Plan

Inside the main hall.

Bai Jing was teasing Xu Dezhao in her arms, while Yang Ronghua stood beside her.

Bai Fu stepped forward, craning his neck to look at Xu Dezhao.

As though he had spotted something amusing, Xu Dezhao babbled and stretched out his lotus-root arms, seemingly wanting the smoking pipe in Bai Fu's hand.

"You can't play with this." Bai Fu said with a chuckle, his eyes brimming with affection.

"Father, you're getting on in years. Smoke less." Bai Jing said.

"I know."

"Did something happen? Did that brat Bai Hua cause trouble?"

Sensing that something was off, Bai Jing made a tentative guess.

"Not exactly, it's just..."

Bai Fu found it difficult to speak.

His family's poor judgment and haste for quick gains had led to losses, and now they had to rely on his daughter to fill the gap. It truly put this honest man in an awkward position.

As for telling Xu Chuan, he had even less face to do so.

"Father, what is there to be embarrassed about with me? If you have any difficulties, just say so."

Yang Ronghua was quick-witted. Smiling, she said, "Mother, I think Zhao'er is hungry too. I'll take him back and feed him first."

"Mm." Bai Jing nodded.

After she left, Bai En said, "You found Shitou a good wife."

"She wasn't chosen by our daughter. Shitou set his eyes on her himself. Ronghua was born into a Family, and the Yang Family's upbringing is excellent. They raised her exceptionally well. Unlike Xue Ji, who was like a wild little girl from childhood. Now she practices martial arts all day and acts just like a boy."

"Xue Ji was taught by Sanshu. She won't turn out badly."

After falling silent for a while, Bai Fu finally explained what had happened with himself and Bai Fang's family.

"A Yuan never told me about this. This is also the first time I've heard that our Xu Family has been buying up so many people and fields. A hundred mu of farmland isn't such a large sum."

Bai Jing said with a smile, "I still have some personal funds. I'll pay this money."

"Do you have that much money on hand? Won't you need to draw it from the Xu Family's accounts?"

"When I go to Qingjiang County to buy things or have tea with the ladies of those Families, I need spending money, so I have a sum of my own. Besides, A Yuan sends over one or two hundred taels every two or three months."

"At present, I probably still have seven or eight thousand taels."

"A Yuan truly is a filial, good child."

The corner of Bai Fu's mouth twitched slightly, as though a thousand-jun burden had finally been lifted from his heart.

Different standing, different horizons.

What the Bai and Zeng Families worried over seemed not worth mentioning to his daughter, and was even less of an issue to the Xu Family.

"A Yuan manages all the Xu Family's businesses. Who knows how much money passes through his hands for approval each day?" Bai Jing said as she rose and walked toward her dressing table. "Father, wait for me a moment."

Bai Jing took a gold-lacquered red wooden box from a drawer. After opening it, she took out two thousand taels and handed them to Bai Fu.

Bai Fu looked at it and immediately tried to return part of it. "There's no need for this much."

"Keep the remainder. Let yourself and Mother live more comfortably as well. Consider it your daughter's token of filial affection."

"Alright then. Oh, and there's no need to tell Sanshu about this."

Hearing that, Bai Jing gave a soft laugh. "Father, do you think my husband would look down on the Bai Family because of this? You're truly worrying too much. My husband is still the same husband he was before."

"By the way, Father, what are your plans for the future?"

"Me? I'm already this old. Being able to enjoy my remaining years in peace would be enough."

"Then what about the Bai Family? Younger Brother is our family's only male heir. What will become of him?"

Bai Fu pondered for a long time without speaking.

"How about this? Once this matter is settled, talk to Younger Brother and have him follow the Chen Family's example by affiliating with the Xu Family. With my support, the Bai Family will certainly develop within ten or twenty years."

"If the Bai Family's descendants receive the Xu Family's training, perhaps Martial Arts Experts may emerge among them. In the future, there might even be an Innate Martial Artist."

"Even if I am no longer here one day, Younger Brother will still be Shitou and A Yuan's own maternal uncle. They will help him to some extent."

"For three generations, as long as I am here, the Bai Family will surely have nothing to worry about."

"Then I'll go back and ask your younger brother. After all, he is the one who must make the decision. As for me, there aren't many days left for me to look forward to."

Bai Fu returned home.

After taking the Zeng Family Son-in-Law's land deeds, he divided the silver between him and his wife, and the couple then took their leave.

"Father, I truly can't stand the Zeng Family's ugly faces. When they want benefits, they shamelessly call him 'younger brother, younger brother.' But when trouble comes, they become aggressively overbearing."

Bai Hua said, "By the way, this won't affect Elder Sister, will it?"

"You don't need to worry about your elder sister."

After thinking for a moment, Bai Fu told Bai Hua about Bai Jing's intentions.

"Joining the Xu Family? Becoming an Affiliated Family of the Xu Family?" Bai Hua murmured under his breath.

"Don't look at how the Chen Family is currently working and running about for the Xu Family. Their sights are set on the future. A Family like the Xu Family, capable of rising in a single generation, is something Qingjiang County sees only once in several hundred years."

"Without a Family's resources and cultivation, it is far too difficult to produce a true genius."

"But if we ride the Xu Family's wind, perhaps decades from now, our Bai Family can also stand out from the flock and rise with the tide."

Bai Fu left it at that.

After seriously considering it for a long while, Bai Hua said, "Alright. In a few days, I'll go to the Xu Family and discuss this matter."

Had they not encountered this Great Drought, one seen only once in a century, Bai Hua would have been unwilling.

Yet the present circumstances had also made him see clearly.

Ordinary common folk families simply had no ability to withstand natural and man-made disasters.

Unless they, like the Xu Family, gave birth to a great talent—but whether such prosperity could continue was still unknown.

Not to mention all of Great Wei; Qingjiang County alone had seen countless Families rise and fall.

Every hundred years, a batch would be swept away.

Even the Wu Family, Qingjiang's Top Clan, had a foundation of only nearly two hundred years. Whether it would endure or decline in the next century remained unknown.

If the Chen Family had not possessed ties of friendship with Xu Chuan, the Xu Family likely would not have accepted them as an Affiliated Family.

The Bai Family was the same.

In the eyes of Families, they simply did not measure up.

Several days later.

Bai Hua went to the Xu Family and brought up the matter with Xu Mingwei, leaving him quite surprised.

Naturally, the Xu Family would offer some support to Bai Jing's maternal family, but only to a limited extent.

"Uncle, I still need to ask my father about this. I'll give you an answer tomorrow. Would that be alright?"

"Fine, we'll do as you say, Shitou."

Aside from practicing martial arts during the day, Xu Chuan would go to Jade Cold Pond to tend the medicinal herbs.

He did not return home until the Golden Crow sank in the west.

Xu Mingwei told him about the matter.

"Why would your uncle suddenly bring up becoming an affiliated family of ours for no reason?"

"I asked around. During this drought, the Bai Family suffered considerable losses. Several months ago, they bought the hundred mu of farmland they had been renting, then rented another hundred mu. But once the Great Drought arrived, they were left helpless."

"Mother paid the money for them and bought all the land. Perhaps Mother was the one who suggested it."

Xu Chuan stroked his short beard. After pondering briefly, he raised his head with a smile. "Your mother's horizons have grown higher now. She has begun making plans for her maternal family as well."

"Then fulfill your mother's wishes."

"Yes, Father."

Two days later, the Bai Family also joined the Xu Family.

Bai Hua's six-year-old son was sent to the Dragon Elephant Martial Arts School, where he received the same training as the youths with good Bone Structure selected by the Xu Family.

The Dragon Elephant Martial Arts School's training was divided into three tiers.

The first tier was naturally for members of the Xu Family Direct Lineage, such as Xu Mingxuan. They now consumed the secret medicinal cuisine developed by Xu Chuan.

The second tier was for the children of Servants and guards with decent Bone Structure and hopes of reaching Xiantian. They used the Dragon Elephant Sect's secret medicinal cuisine.

The third tier consisted of disciples from other Families and wealthy merchants who paid Tuition Fees to enter. They consumed ordinary medicinal cuisine collected by the Xu Family.

Under the drought, all the major Families sought only to avoid losses.

Only the Xu Family continued to accumulate strength.

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