Feudal superstition

"Hey, how much are these talismans?" A little boy with a backpack appeared in front of the stall, his round, chubby face set in a stern expression.

Ye Fan glanced at the boy and drawled, "Thirty thousand each."

Ye Fan didn't hold out much hope for this kid. What would a little brat know about something even adults couldn't afford?

Sure enough, the boy protested indignantly, "That's highway robbery!"

"Kid, your mom's calling you home for dinner! Run along." An entire afternoon without customers had left Ye Fan feeling rather discouraged.

"What's that supposed to mean?" the boy demanded. "You can't brush me off just because I'm young. The customer is king, understand?"

Ye Fan was speechless. This little brat sure is cocky!

"You look familiar, kid." Ye Fan studied the boy's chubby face.

The boy flushed slightly. "You don't recognize me?"

"Should I..." Ye Fan abruptly stopped. He had suddenly remembered who this kid was: the nephew he had inherited along with this body.

The body's original owner had lost his mother early. From his memories, the cousin on his maternal uncle's side had treated him fairly well. Still, the original owner was a member of the Ye Family, so his cousin couldn't interfere too much. Besides, his cousin was a very busy man.

"Oh, it's you!"

"How many talismans do you have here?" the boy asked, clearing his throat twice.

"Six. One hundred and eighty thousand."

The boy took out a bank card. "The PIN is 888888. Stop running this scam and find something respectable to do. Even though you've been kicked out of the Ye Family, that's actually not a bad thing. That family's a complete mess. Staying there wouldn't do you any good anyway."

Ye Fan was speechless. Did I just get lectured by a kid? And the PIN is 888888? Is using a PIN like that really a good idea?

"Is there a hundred and eighty thousand on this card?" Ye Fan asked.

The boy stared at Ye Fan through gritted teeth, looking as though he had suffered a terrible insult.

Ye Fan shook his head. "Forget it. Since we're family, I'll give you all the talismans even if there isn't enough."

The boy's face went red. "I don't want your talismans! My teacher says we shouldn't indulge in feudal superstition."

Ye Fan was speechless. This kid didn't come to buy talismans. He came to give me charity!

Ye Fan handed two Peace Talismans and two Illness-Expelling Talismans to the boy, then gave the remaining Peace Talisman and Illness-Expelling Talisman to the little girl.

Ye Fan generously picked up two sticks of candied hawthorn for them. "All right, all right, you two should get going. Watch out, or some creepy old guy might kidnap you after dark."

The boy glared at Ye Fan, then took the little girl's hand and left.

Ye Fan toyed with the card in his hand and muttered, "I wonder how much money's on here."

"Want to find out? I have a card reader. I can check the balance for you."

Ye Fan nodded. "Sure!"

"There's a million on the card," Master Yuan said enviously.

Ye Fan's eyes widened. There's that much on it? This kid is loaded! Aren't girls supposed to be raised in comfort and boys taught to get by with less? That cousin of mine really knows how to spoil a kid! Raised like this, he'll definitely turn into a little delinquent.

"Young man, with relatives that well-off, you could just ask them to find you a steady job. Why come out here and scam people?"

Ye Fan was speechless. Seriously, do I look that much like a con artist? I'm an expert!

Wu Haoqiang sat in the car, fiddling with a toy car.

Wu Sihan set down his laptop. "Did you give him the money?"

Wu Haoqiang nodded. "I did, but Dad, why did you have to give him money? You know Uncle can't say no. If someone asks him for a loan, he'll lend it all away again."

Wu Sihan shook his head. "He's your great-aunt's son, after all. We can't just watch him run out of options and start scamming people."

Wu Haoqiang nodded. "Exactly! Honestly, Uncle could do anything else, but he just had to get into feudal superstition! Imagine how embarrassing it'd be if someone saw him."

"Ye Fan's behavior embarrasses our Wu Family, but it embarrasses the Ye Family even more."

"Honestly, Uncle was about to get engaged to Liao Tingting, and then he went and caused that scandal," Wu Haoqiang said with a pout.

Wu Sihan shook his head. "Your uncle wouldn't have the nerve to do that. But he was far too unguarded, letting someone take advantage of him so easily and land him in this mess. That woman Ye Hongwen married has gotten far too brazen."

After Ye Fan's scandal, the marriage arrangement between the Liao Family and the Ye Family remained in place. However, Liao Tingting's prospective husband changed from Ye Fan to Ye Zhize.

As far as Wu Sihan knew, Liao Tingting had already been involved with Ye Zhize for some time. That meant the two of them had most likely set Ye Fan up.