Zuo Xiaonian coughed repeatedly, turning her back and constantly shooting Zuo Xiaoduo meaningful looks.
Don't sell me out, don't sell me out...
Zuo Xiaoduo hesitated. Under his mother's gaze, he hesitated for just two seconds before selling Zuo Xiaonian out. "Yes... remember that day I asked you for money and you didn't give me any... Sister Niannian gave me ten thousand... then I bought a piece of jade for eight thousand..."
Zuo Xiaonian's expression darkened again. Biting her lower lip, she glared resentfully at a certain traitor.
Wu Yuting gave Zuo Xiaonian a meaningful sidelong glance, then said, "Oh, I see. All right, then."
She counted the money in her hand. "Seventeen thousand and twenty? What's this twenty about..."
Zuo Xiaoduo swallowed. "A little sum... spare change..." Even if she beat him to death, he wouldn't dare say he'd earned it telling fortunes again.
Wu Yuting said, "You don't need this much money for school... your sister gave you ten thousand, and you turned around and spent eight thousand. That's... rather free-spending of you..."
Zuo Xiaoduo stared despairingly at the money in his mother's hand, the corner of his eye twitching nonstop, his heart cut by knives. "So...?"
"So I'll keep it safe for you for now."
Wu Yuting put the money into her little handbag as a matter of course. After a moment's thought, she said, "But you're a Martial Warrior now. Sending you to school without any pocket money wouldn't do either. Here, take this twenty in change. Spend it sparingly."
Zuo Xiaoduo woodenly accepted the twenty, feeling waves surge through his heart, filled with a thousand emotions.
She left my sister sixty thousand...
And left me just twenty...
That ratio...
Still, it's all right, it's all right. Isn't Sister Xiao Nian's money as good as mine?
If I can escape a beating, it'll count as worth it. Struggling to soothe his heart, which hurt so badly it was almost dripping blood, he turned grief and indignation into appetite and began eating and drinking heartily again, stuffing himself.
Sure enough, Zuo Changlu and Wu Yuting pursued the matter no further. The family finished their meal in harmony, exchanging toasts in a warm, cheerful atmosphere.
Zuo Xiaonian's and Zuo Xiaoduo's uneasy hearts slowly settled.
Zuo Xiaoduo was even working out whether he could get his original five thousand in private savings back. The twelve thousand in ill-gotten gains could go into the family coffers-he'd intended to hand that over anyway. But if getting his own money back was possible, how should he bring it up with his mother?
Zuo Xiaoduo thought hard, weighing his words. He had saved that money himself over all these years.
He had painstakingly saved it, then consolidated the small sums into larger ones, exchanging it all for crisp, brand-new notes with consecutive serial numbers. The whole family knew how much trouble that had taken...
So my chances of getting it back seem pretty good...
As his imagination ran wild, he kept raising his glass to drink. Without realizing it, he had actually drunk quite a lot.
Now he truly had his fill of food and drink!
"This five thousand..."
Wu Yuting spoke.
She's giving it back after all. Zuo Xiaoduo perked up, his eyes shining.
"I'll hold on to it for now and see how you behave. If you behave well, I'll give it back," Wu Yuting said.
"Okay. Mom really does love me."
Zuo Xiaoduo hastily slipped in a smooth bit of flattery. His heart settled considerably. Mm, there's still hope.
Quite a lot of hope...
"Mm, isn't this salted fish your favorite?" Wu Yuting said. "Don't just eat one side. Turn the salted fish over."
Zuo Xiaoduo hurried to obey.
But... somehow, something about those words felt rather wrong.
Zuo Xiaonian had already burst out laughing.
By now, Zuo Changlu was a little tipsy too.
He was all smiles.
Zuo Xiaonian, however, wasn't as optimistic as Zuo Xiaoduo. Her intuition as a high-level martial artist gave her a vague sense that the danger seemed to have been lurking all along, still brewing, its momentum far from spent...
In other words, this place isn't safe!
Seeing that they had finally finished eating, Zuo Xiaonian put down her chopsticks and stood, her pretty face perfectly serious. "Dad, Mom, I still need to cultivate, so I'll just..."
"No hurry to leave."
Zuo Changlu lifted his eyelids. "You're a grown girl now, and all you know is how to eat? Don't you know to clear the table after a meal?"
Zuo Xiaonian looked sweet and obedient. "Yes, Dad. I'll clear it right away... Mom, put that down. I'll do the dishes..."
Zuo Xiaoduo hurried to help. The two cleared away the bowls and chopsticks together, exchanging looks.
What do we do? Hurry up and think of a way to slip away...
Slip away where?
Anywhere will do. The biggest problem now is whether we can get away at all...
I'm at my wits' end...
...So am I...
At last, the siblings had cleaned everything spotless. After dawdling for ages, they came into the living room and were just about to say something about going back to their rooms.
But before they could speak, Zuo Changlu spoke first.
"I'll leave Zuo Xiaonian to you. She's a grown young woman now, so you mother and daughter can settle it yourselves," Zuo Changlu told Wu Yuting. "I'll deal with His Lordship Martial Warrior Xiaoduo."
"Mm."
Swinging the thick ruler in her hand, Wu Yuting reached out and pulled over a long bench from the living room. Her face frosty, she told Zuo Xiaonian, "Lie across it!"
Chapter 26: A Beating Each
Zuo Xiaonian went deathly pale. Instinctively covering her backside, she tried to wheedle. "Mom..." Her voice was soft, sweet, and pitiful.
"Lie across it!"
Wu Yuting remained unmoved. Her face was cold, and not even her gaze changed.
Zuo Xiaonian's eyes reddened, but she dared not resist. Obediently lying across the bench, she choked out, "Mom, go easy..."
Smack!
The ruler came down with a whistle, landing on her full, rounded buttocks.
Zuo Xiaonian cried out in alarm, then clenched her teeth, doing her utmost to suppress her body's instinctive defenses. With her Spiritual Power cultivation at the Grandmaster level, even the slightest backlash could severely injure an ordinary person.