Taking the Usual Shots at Auntie

"Thwack!"

In the little courtyard, Xu Qi'an stood beneath the eaves and casually tossed a diamond-shaped throwing weapon. He had not bothered to aim properly.

Yet it struck the red bull's-eye on a wooden stake twenty paces away with perfect accuracy.

This was not because Xu Qi'an possessed any great skill with throwing weapons, but because he was lucky.

"There's definitely something wrong with this body," Xu Qi'an muttered.

His luck was far too good. Over the past month, he had picked up a total of one tael and two mace of silver, the equivalent of half a month's salary.

That money could support an ordinary family of three for three months if they scrimped and saved.

The strangest thing was that he found exactly one mace of silver every time. Luck alone could no longer explain it.

There was no need to ask Yuanfang to know something was fishy.

"Daddy System? Come out. Stop playing hide-and-seek with me," Xu Qi'an ventured.

The system ignored him.

Over the past month, he had made countless attempts to awaken the system.

The facts told him there was no system at all.

Then how could he explain his bizarre luck?

To think an unlucky bastard like me, who never won even five yuan on a lottery ticket growing up, could one day evolve into a luck emperor. But luck emperors have such short lifespans... Xu Qi'an gave a bitter, self-mocking smile.

One thing was certain: the original owner had possessed no extraordinary luck. If he had, Auntie would not have disliked him; she would have enshrined him like an ancestor.

The whole family could have stopped working and lived on the money he picked up.

"Gifts of unknown origin like this leave me strangely uneasy." Xu Qi'an's gaze grew solemn, and he sighed. "I can only take things one step at a time."

He had the day off. Xu Qi'an vaulted over the ten-foot wall and went to his second uncle's house for breakfast.

The little courtyard where he lived had originally belonged to an elderly steward of the Xu family, with only a wall separating it from the main residence.

After the old steward died, the courtyard had remained vacant until Xu Qi'an fell out with Auntie and moved there in a fit of anger.

The original owner had been as stubborn as an ox and normally cooked all three meals himself. His second uncle would occasionally climb over the wall with wine and dishes to share a few drinks with his nephew.

The current Xu Qi'an had no need to pay for the original owner's obsessions. If he cooked breakfast himself, he would have to get out of bed. Eating out would be such a waste of money.

Wouldn't listening to songs at the entertainment houses be better? Mainly because he could watch young ladies in gauzy skirts shaking their bottoms.

The inner hall.

Auntie, dressed in a dark red gown with wide sleeves, pursed her lips when she saw Xu Qi'an enter, then lowered her head to drink her congee.

Auntie was not the daughter of a wealthy household. Her father was a licentiate, which barely qualified hers as a scholarly family. Having grown up under that influence, she was reasonably sensible. She had only just received a favor from her ill-fated nephew and could not bring herself to drive him away. As for this nephew, who had gone from "never bully a young man for being poor" to "smells good after all," she simply turned a blind eye.

The little bean stood in front of a round stool, on which sat her breakfast: three meat buns, two fried dough sticks, a small plate of side dishes, and a large dish of plain congee.

"Big Brother," she called indistinctly.

"Where's Cijiu?" Xu Qi'an asked.

Cijiu was Xu Xinnian's courtesy name; a courtesy name complemented one's given name.

"Shut in his room writing poetry," Xu Pingzhi said.

Xu Qi'an sat down, and Lü'e brought him a bowl of plain congee, six meat buns, a small plate of pickled radish, and a bowl of tofu pudding.

Martial artists in the Essence Refining Realm had much larger appetites than ordinary people.

Once they reached the Qi Refining Realm, like his uncle, their appetites were instead little different from those of ordinary people.

This will only half fill me. Xu Qi'an glanced at the little bean and said amiably, "Lingyin, would you share a meat bun with your big brother?"

Everyone glanced at him. The youngest daughter cared about nothing except food. Anyone who snatched food from her bowl would have to fight her for it.

"No!" Sure enough, the little bean spread her arms, guarding her food like a little hen protecting her chicks.

"Don't get worked up yet. Your big brother won't let you lose out." Xu Qi'an picked up a meat bun, placed it on her plate, and pointed at the four buns.

"These four meat buns belong to both of us, right?"

Xu Lingyin bobbed her little head.

"So we should divide them equally, right?"

Xu Lingyin tilted her head, thought about it, then nodded.

"Two buns for you, two buns for me, and then I'll give you half a fried dough stick. Doesn't that mean you've come out ahead?"

"Mm." Swept along by his reasoning, Xu Lingyin felt she had scored a great bargain and beamed.

Xu Lingyue: "..."

Xu Pingzhi glanced at his nephew: (_)

Auntie snapped, "How did I give birth to such a stupid daughter? You'll be the death of me!"

The little bean felt terribly wronged. She had clearly earned half a fried dough stick, so why was her mother scolding her?

Just then, Xu Xinnian entered, muttering under his breath, his eyes unfocused. He sat down and ate while pondering.

Auntie let out a breath, ignored her foolish youngest daughter, and turned her concern toward her promising son.

"Nian'er, why are you suddenly writing poetry? Everyone has their strengths and shortcomings. Don't mind other people's gossip."

Xu Xinnian excelled at policy essays; poetry was his weakness.

"Cijiu, when will you break through Enlightenment and reach the eighth-rank Self-Cultivation Realm?" Xu Qi'an suddenly asked.

Xu Xinnian followed the Confucian path of cultivation. Cloud Deer Academy had been founded by the Confucian Sage's eldest disciple and had a history stretching back twelve hundred years.

It was the sacred ground of every scholar's dreams.

Cloud Deer Academy's exalted position did not rest solely on its founder being the Sage's disciple. Most importantly, it was the only remaining academy where one could cultivate the Confucian path.

The ninth rank of Confucianism: Enlightenment.

Enlightenment only improved memory, allowed one to read ten lines at a glance, and enhanced learning ability. In combat, one was still trash with a power level of five.

"I have no leads for now. My teachers said I must comprehend it myself." Xu Xinnian shook his head regretfully.

"You could use the Enlightenment Realm as a reference," Xu Qi'an said. "How did you reach the Enlightenment Realm?"

Xu Xinnian recalled, "Once you know the Sage's classics backward and forward and make them your own, you have reached the Enlightenment Realm."

Know them backward and forward... make them your own... The former required vast amounts of time spent memorizing; the latter required a certain degree of comprehension. Xu Qi'an nodded thoughtfully.

In that respect, it was like the martial system's Essence Refining Realm, which required years upon years of tempering one's Qi and Blood and honing one's physique.

"Then does Self-Cultivation also require honing your physique?" Xu Qi'an asked.

Xu Xinnian considered this before saying, "Confucian scholars in the Self-Cultivation Realm have no fear in their hearts. Their every word and deed can inspire conviction and fighting spirit. I've been trying to work backward from the abilities displayed in the Self-Cultivation Realm to deduce its cultivation method."

"And have you succeeded?"

Xu Xinnian pretended not to hear and turned to his mother. "An elder at the academy has accepted an official post in Qingzhou. It's a long journey, so the academy's students will see him off tomorrow and present farewell poems."

At this, Xu Xinnian said in distress, "I still haven't written a farewell poem."

Xu Lingyue said softly, "Second Brother has no talent for poetry."

Auntie glared at her and said unhappily, "Your second brother brims with talent. He simply never paid any attention to poetry before."

Xu Pingzhi scratched his head. "Just write a few lines. I thought that verse you blurted out the other day had plenty of spirit."

"Heh heh heh..." Xu Qi'an laughed aloud.

The corner of Xu Xinnian's mouth twitched, and he stiffly changed the subject. "That elder is a great scholar renowned throughout the world, particularly accomplished in poetry. Those seeing him off are all students with considerable poetic talent. Besides their respect for an elder, they also hope to build connections."

"There would be many benefits to winning that senior's appreciation."

Not bad. You're finally thinking about making connections.

Xu Xinnian was proud and aloof, always quoting "the friendship of gentlemen is as mild as water" and "gentlemen associate, but do not form factions."

After this crisis, he had finally realized the benefits of backdoor deals.

As his big brother, Xu Qi'an was deeply gratified.

Someone Erlang would rack his brains to befriend despite his poor poetry skills must be an important figure. Auntie grew anxious. "Whatever shall we do?"

Xu Xinnian said helplessly, "Mother, fine writing is born of nature, found by chance by a skilled hand. Poetry is no different."

Then he sighed. "If I had befriended this literary senior earlier, perhaps I could have saved you from prison instead of having nowhere to turn for help."

Auntie's face immediately clouded with worry. No one cared more about her son's future than she did.

Truly great scholars had integrity. Silver and gifts would not work. One had to appeal to their tastes and make them feel one was worth befriending, worthy of their regard.

Xu Pingzhi's brows knitted tightly. "Your maternal grandfather is just like you. He can only write essays and has no talent for poetry."

Auntie bristled, her lovely willow-leaf brows rising. "What do you mean by that? So it's my father's fault?"

"Xinnian passed the provincial examination entirely thanks to my Li Household, because he takes after me. Look at Lingyin. She takes after you and still hasn't even begun her schooling."

Xu Xinnian and Xu Lingyue had inherited their mother's looks and were enviably attractive. The little bean, Xu Lingyin, had inherited her father's features, which made her look adorably dopey.

Second Uncle Xu was left speechless.

Xu Qi'an objected. "Auntie, that's not right. By your reasoning, are you saying the Xu family's genes are stupid?"

Auntie did not understand what genes were. She sneered. "If you'd been cut out for studying, you wouldn't have gone off to practice martial arts."

If even someone with Xu Erlang's rotten temper wants to take the initiative to make backdoor connections, that academy elder must hold considerable status. Erlang's connections are my connections, and my connections are still my connections. I should help him. Thoughts flickered through Xu Qi'an's mind as he considered timeless masterpieces from his previous life that could serve as farewell poems.

Although I don't intend to join scholarly circles, why wouldn't I put resources to sensible use and gain something in return?

Soon, he had an idea and settled on a poem.

Xu Qi'an took a forceful bite of his meat bun. "Poetry, is it? Today I'll show Auntie that everyone in our Xu family is talented."

What he now had to consider was whether this poem might be too outstanding. After all, every poem that made it into a textbook was a masterpiece passed down through the ages.

PS: This chapter is nearly three thousand characters long, which proves I'm not short.

The previous chapter wasn't filler, actually. It took a lot of brainpower to write. Writing everyday life in diary form was an experiment of mine. It satisfied those readers who enjoy daily-life scenes without dragging out the plot, and let me plant some foreshadowing too.