A Terrible Lunch and Night (Part 1)

As the birthplace of common law, 17th-century England was, to some extent, similar to the Qin Dynasty in its homeland:

It defined relevant laws for every conceivable situation, employing an almost exhaustive approach.

From matters of war to everyday squabbles, even calling someone an idiot had a corresponding punitive regulation.

Right was right, wrong was wrong, and wrongdoing must be punished, leaving no room for leniency or reason.

However, as a modern person from the 21st century, Xu Yun's concept of "punishment" was clearly different from that of the 17th-century English.

He wasn't a saint, but from a normal person's perspective, punishing a five or six-year-old child by whipping them twenty times with a sea buckthorn branch for throwing a pile of cow dung seemed overly harsh.

It was what people commonly called excessive sentencing.

But if he chose to forgive her without doing anything, regardless of whether Xu Yun would feel appeased, would Lilani truly repent?

That was obviously impossible.

Don't forget, in the actual historical timeline, another unfortunate soul had been pranked by this mischievous child. At that time, Lilani was already two years older than she was now.

Therefore, such behavior could not be explained away as a mere "unintentional mistake."

Thus, after some thought, Xu Yun made the decision he had previously reached.

Evils have varying degrees of severity. Whipping Lilani three times with the sea buckthorn represented Xu Yun's judgment of the extent of her wrongdoing.

And whipping himself three times with the sea buckthorn was Xu Yun's declared stance:

No matter what, Lilani was still just a child, so out of his own moral integrity, he chose to be punished along with her.

Of course.

Xu Yun could have also used the excuse of "substitute punishment" and had Little Ox take the whipping in place of the young girl, while also taking the beating he himself received in retaliation.

But he wasn't Wang Qiang, and couldn't say such a flippant thing.

In conclusion.

After his 21st-century mindset was repeatedly battered by the society and culture of 400 years prior, Xu Yun finally let out his own voice in this era.

Even if that voice was small, so small that perhaps no one would hear of it after today, its significance could not be ignored.

At the very least, at this moment, everyone present was stunned by Xu Yun's actions.

Of course, while stunned, each person's situation was different.

Mrs. William and the two twins looked on with pure eyes; they simply felt Xu Yun's actions were unexpected, a surprise born from their preconceived notions.

Lisa Escoe's expression was more complex, carrying a hint of thoughtful contemplation, as if she half-understood.

As for William Escoe and Little Ox...

Their expressions weren't exaggerated, but the information conveyed in their eyes was far greater than that of the ladies.

England's ideology was currently at a point of intense collision and change. Therefore, although Xu Yun's actions were somewhat beyond the norm, for those like Little Ox, Lisa, and William who had received intellectual enlightenment (William was also a Cambridge graduate), it wouldn't be incomprehensible or even draw silent curses of "idiot."

After a long while, William gave Xu Yun a deep look.

He walked to Lilani's side and ruffled her hair:

"Lilani, aren't you going to thank Mr. Fat Fish?"

Lilani was silent for a moment. The limited capacity of the five-year-old girl's brain was filled with question marks and an emotion she couldn't comprehend. However, she finally mumbled:

"Thank you, Mr. Fat Fish."

Xu Yun nodded with an expression of "a promising student," while subtly placing his hands behind his back, a thought intensely strong in his mind:

Damn it, that hurt like hell, I hit too hard.

Seeing that a potential incident with severe consequences had been resolved relatively satisfactorily, William let out a sigh of relief and regained his composure as the head of the household.

He cleared his throat lightly, turned to Mrs. William, and asked:

"My dear, is lunch ready for today?"

Mrs. William pointed to the wild vegetables on the table:

"The wild vegetables and lentils are almost washed. They'll be ready to simmer in ten minutes at most—the lentils today are very fresh, perfect for eating with bread."

William nodded with satisfaction:

"Good, then hurry and get things ready. I'll sit with Mr. Fat Fish for a while."

Mrs. William acknowledged him, re-tied her apron, picked up the wild vegetables, and returned to the kitchen.

William Escoe then led Xu Yun to sit by the fireplace and gestured to his four daughters:

"Mr. Fat Fish, you already know Lilani and Lisa; they happen to be my youngest and eldest daughters.

The remaining two are Elula and Andrea. As you can see, they are twins and are exactly 12 years old this year.

Elula, Andrea, quickly greet Mr. Fat Fish."

Compared to their elder sister and younger sister's liveliness, Elula and Andrea were much more shy. The sisters bowed slightly to Xu Yun and said softly:

"Hello, Mr. Fat Fish."

Xu Yun responded with a nod.

"Hello, it's a pleasure to meet you."

Elula and Andrea were very thin, looking like two little bean sprouts that hadn't grown at all.

The reason for this was actually quite simple:

Their growth period overlapped significantly with the time William was losing money, leaving them with few opportunities to get proper nutrition.

And unfortunately, this situation also affected their future life paths—due to malnutrition, the two sisters passed away successively at the ages of 38 and 41.

Of course.

There were also some emotional factors involved, which we will not discuss for now.

After introducing his daughters, William began to converse with Xu Yun with some curiosity—like Little Ox, he knew of the existence of Easterners but had never interacted with one.

Although their worldviews were separated by a full four hundred years, William was, after all, a graduate of Cambridge University, and his horizons and intelligence were considered top-tier.

Coupled with the fact that while he hadn't made much money over the years, he had traveled extensively, so he knew a little bit about everything when chatting, much like an old buddy on a fishing trip.

Therefore, after a long conversation, Xu Yun found that he and William were surprisingly compatible.

What, you ask what Little Ox was doing at this time?

He was just munching away, of course.

About twenty minutes passed like this.

Mrs. William emerged from the kitchen, her hands holding a steaming crucible, her steps small and quick.