Besides, there were very few of them.
They were very hard to find when cutting stones open.
Finding a single mid-grade piece in several hundred Star Soul Stones was already considered a very good result.
Dad was actually being this generous today!
He had never been this generous even with Sister Xiao Nian!
Zuo Changlu said evenly, "Like I said, as head of this household, I'll handle all the money matters. You two only need to study hard and cultivate hard."
"For now, this family doesn't need you two to support it yet. When your old man really can't get by anymore, you can make your own decisions. Got that?"
"Oh, and give him back those five thousand in secret savings. This little miser spent ten years saving up five thousand without spending a cent. Ahem, give it back, give it back."
After giving Wu Yuting those instructions, Zuo Changlu turned and left, heading straight into the study at a brisk pace.
Yet Zuo Xiaoduo suddenly felt very happy.
Because he felt his dad seemed somewhat flustered as he left. There was very much a sense of him beating a hasty retreat.
Mm, he must feel he wrongly accused me and beat me by mistake, but can't swallow his pride and apologize to his own son.
Hehehe, Dad, that retreat of yours looks a little flustered...
And recovering his lost five thousand was simply a colossal victory!
Although someone's backside still burned with pain, in spirit, he seemed to have won a battle!
For the first time in his life, he had seen that look on his dad's face in front of him.
One word: glorious. Even another ten or a hundred times wouldn't be too many!
"Becoming a Martial Warrior really is fucking awesome!"
Zuo Xiaoduo was smugly pleased, his face beaming. He actually felt as though his backside barely hurt anymore.
Both siblings had taken a beating, but now, looking at Zuo Xiaonian, Zuo Xiaoduo instead felt brimming with superiority. I was misunderstood, while you really were asking for it, Sis. There's a fundamental difference between the two. A fundamental difference, get it?!!
Ha! Ha! Ha!
Serves you right!
That's what you get for asking for it!
Along with his secret delight, a little glee at her misfortune welled up in Zuo Xiaoduo. After all, there had been very few times in his life when he had gotten the better of his big sister.
"Dad, you're playing favorites!" Ignoring the pain in her backside, Zuo Xiaonian raised her head, her face full of indignation. "Back when I went to school, you didn't give me even a single Star Soul Stone! This isn't fair..."
Zuo Changlu's voice drifted out of the study. "You... needed me to give you any?"
Then he said nothing more.
Zuo Xiaonian pouted, but she, too, fell silent.
Zuo Changlu was right. As soon as Zuo Xiaonian's extraordinary talent had emerged, not only had all her tuition been waived, but the school had also issued her a fixed allotment of Star Soul Jade, of a quality far beyond what an ordinary household could afford.
Under those circumstances, there truly was no need for Zuo Changlu to prepare any.
Besides, if he really had needed to prepare some, it seemed he genuinely... couldn't have afforded it.
Wu Yuting slipped into Zuo Changlu's study, and the door immediately closed. Only then did Zuo Xiaonian clutch her backside and rise from the bench. Pouting at Zuo Xiaoduo, she snapped, "What are you standing around for, brat? Hurry up and help me to my room! It hurts like hell!"
Zuo Xiaoduo was circulating his energy to ease the pain. He snapped back, "Mom and Dad have both gone inside. What are you still pretending for? It's something one circulation of your energy can fix, yet you're still putting on an act. It's so fake, you know that? Besides, could Mom bear to hit you hard? So affected! Disgusting!"
Humiliated and furious, Zuo Xiaonian abandoned her pretense and grabbed Zuo Xiaoduo. "You dare use foul language with your big sister? Come with me!"
With a whoosh, they had already vanished from the living room.
Inside the study.
Wu Yuting's face was full of worry.
Zuo Changlu's expression was also graver than ever.
"Since he's already stepped onto the path, we'll have to make other plans. We need to prepare more resources."
Zuo Changlu sighed. "I'd been quite happy lazing about, blending into the mundane world and keeping my light hidden, enjoying my freedom. Who knew Doggie would suddenly break through and become a cultivator... This is forcing me to work myself to the bone making money."
"Why is enjoying myself so hard..." Zuo Changlu was despondent.
Chapter 27: From Now On, I'll Train You!
Wu Yuting sighed. "You're the head of the household. If you don't work hard, who will? Whatever happens, we have to smooth out this road a little for Doggie. Back then, Nian'er didn't need us to worry much, but with Doggie this time, there's no getting out of it."
Zuo Changlu nodded slowly.
"Don't worry."
Then husband and wife began discussing things in hushed voices, conferring in secret for a very, very long time.
"Mercy..."
Zuo Xiaoduo once again experienced the sensation of being a high-flying acrobat thirty or forty times, shooting into the sky like a rocket, then plummeting like a meteorite. After more than thirty such free falls, all his hair had been blown straight. At long last, he endured until Zuo Xiaonian took pity on him, caught him, and stopped throwing him.
"Will you dare... yell at me again? Will you dare use foul language again?" Zuo Xiaonian wore a demure expression.
"No, no, never again."
Zuo Xiaoduo's face had already turned blue from the cold high in the sky. Shaking his head repeatedly, he said ingratiatingly, "Sister Niannian... your cultivation has truly reached the level of an immortal. I'm so envious of you. When will I ever have vast supernatural powers like yours? Ah, I probably couldn't catch up in a hundred or two hundred years... You're incredible!"
With admiration all over his face, Zuo Xiaoduo gave her a thumbs-up and wildly heaped flattery on her.
Zuo Xiaonian's expression once again turned from sunny to overcast. She scolded angrily, "Can't you work hard, brat? You couldn't catch up in a hundred or two hundred years? How can you even say that! Not a scrap of manly ambition!"
"Say you can't catch up again, and I'll... throw you another hundred times!"
Zuo Xiaonian made it clear that she was very angry.
Zuo Xiaoduo, meanwhile, looked positively green.
He truly hadn't expected his attempt to pat the horse's rump to land on its leg instead...
I honestly don't know why! You get angry when I say I can't catch up to you, and you still get angry when I say I'll catch up and beat you...
This is too hard!
It really is too hard!
But as Zuo Xiaoduo looked at Zuo Xiaonian's face now, the danger was still there, yet it was dispersed rather than gathered, like dark clouds hanging overhead.