What had she forgotten?
Tang Zhuyun really didn't realize at once. Only when Linlin secretly mimed flapping wings did it dawn on her.
"Oh, right, let's buy a few chicks to raise at home. Then we won't have to go out and buy eggs."
Linlin had seen some fluffy yellow chicks outside and liked them very much. Raising chickens was too dirty, so Tang Zhuyun had been unwilling at first, but her heart softened when she saw his pleading eyes.
Now she even had to speak up for him in front of the family's breadwinners.
"Besides, Linlin said," Tang Zhuyun said with a smile, "he'll help with the sweeping and cleaning."
What she actually worried about was that the two men in the family would think he was playing with toys and neglecting his ambitions.
To her surprise, Tang Mingfan was very open-minded. "Then buy a few."
He remembered how, when his late wife had been at home, she had done every dirty, exhausting chore and still been constantly reproached by his mother.
She had been timid, and whenever his mother scolded her, she had been too frightened to speak and had always needed Tang Mingfan to rescue her.
Yet timid as she was, because he was so thin and frail, every few days she somehow managed to steal an egg from the basket his mother guarded so closely and secretly slip it to him.
At the thought, Tang Mingfan could no longer eat. He rose and returned to his room, looking dejected.
Tang Baixin watched his father walk away, sorrow on his face.
At first, Tang Zhuyun didn't understand. She asked in a low voice, "Big brother, does Father not want to raise chickens? Should we forget it, then?"
Making the child happy was important, but with Father like this, wouldn't they be asking too much of him?
Tang Baixin lowered his eyes. "Father just remembered Mother, that's all. Go on and eat."
"Oh."
The next day, Tang Zhuyun took Linlin to buy some chicks. When they returned, she got a handful of millet and poured some water, then let Linlin feed them.
Linlin was still a child, after all, and couldn't resist the fluffy, adorable creatures. He played around the chicken coop for a long time without getting up.
Seeing this, Tang Zhuyun smiled. "Linlin, how about I give you a problem for you to try to solve?"
At the mention of a problem, the academic ace suddenly perked up as if he'd been injected with chicken blood, his eyes sparkling. "Go ahead, Auntie!"
Tang Zhuyun smiled. "There's a cage with chickens and rabbits inside, twelve animals in all. They have thirty-four feet between them. Do you know how many chickens and rabbits there are?"
Linlin thought hard, but after a long while, he still hadn't found the answer.
Tang Zhuyun wasn't surprised.
Studying here didn't include mathematics. A junior-high level of math was the level of a bookkeeper from a family of bookkeepers; for the vast majority of people, knowing addition and subtraction was good enough.
This kind of math olympiad problem was still too difficult for a five-year-old.
But Linlin refused to give up. "Auntie, wait. I'll go inside and get paper and a brush to draw it out, then come back and tell you."
"All right. I believe you can do it."
Linlin didn't disappoint her. After another quarter of an hour of working at it, he said, "Auntie, I know! There are five rabbits and seven chickens."
As Tang Zhuyun kneaded dough, she smiled. "Well done. You really are a clever child."
To her surprise, Linlin said sheepishly, "No, I tried the numbers one by one. If the number were very big, I wouldn't know how to do it. No, I'll go back and think of another way."
Then Tang Zhuyun watched him go thump-thump-thump as he ran off.
Tsk, tsk. An academic ace was an academic ace.
Xiu'er was also helping knead the dough. She asked her, "Miss, isn't this enough?"
Tang Zhuyun rolled her eyes. "Chang the rice bucket is coming. Do you think it's enough?"
Besides, Chang Zhi had been pushing his luck lately. Not only did he come himself, he often brought people with him. It never hurt to prepare more.
To save trouble, she decided to have noodles for lunch. Mixing wheat flour with sweet potato flour would make the noodles smooth and refreshing. She could simply make a few dishes to go with them.
Before long, Chang Zhi's booming voice came from afar. He seemed to be talking to someone.
Tang Zhuyun thought, I knew it. This man really doesn't stand on ceremony.
But considering how loyal he was to her father, how he brought things every time and never took advantage of them, and how he taught Linlin to ride, she put up with it.
But honestly, what did he mean by bringing the Prince of Jin here?
The moment Chang Zhi saw her, he boomed, "Sister, you really helped us out of a tight spot yesterday. We stayed up all night and worked until now, so we came for a bite before heading home to sleep."
Heh. So he was treating this place like a restaurant.
"Look who I brought!"
Tang Zhuyun said, "My eyes have been a bit blind lately. I don't recognize him."
Chang Zhi was speechless.
The Prince of Jin said mildly, "I came uninvited. Sorry to disturb you."
Oh, he was quite aware of it.
But would she fall for that? Leaving everything else aside, she could remember for the rest of her life how he and his lackey had plotted to harm her.
Although the original owner had also been in the wrong, this matter of the Prince of Jin waiting to take advantage of her wasn't over.
If something had merely happened between their bodies, that might have been all right. Given the Prince of Jin's physique, saying he'd taken advantage of her was a little unfair. But he had been plotting against her father and brother, which made him a bastard!
Chang Zhi gave her a surreptitious nudge. "Don't be unreasonable. Add a few more dishes."
Tang Zhuyun turned and went inside, leaving Chang Zhi looking awkward.
Despite such a cold reception, the Prince of Jin didn't turn around and leave. He still followed Chang Zhi inside.
Linlin came out and greeted everyone with a bow. On hearing that the Prince of Jin had come, he greeted him like a little grown-up and told Xiu'er to serve tea.
The Prince of Jin noticed the undried ink on his fingers and walked over to the desk. "What are you writing?"
Linlin answered honestly, "Auntie gave me a difficult problem, and I can't solve it no matter what I do."
Chang Zhi laughed. "Let His Highness give you some pointers."
The Prince of Jin had been thinking the same thing.
Yet after a few glances, he discovered to his surprise that he couldn't solve it either.
That was awkward.
And Linlin was gazing at him expectantly, clearly hoping for his guidance.
The Prince of Jin said, "I can't solve it either. You can ask the person who gave you the problem."
Tang Zhuyun happened to come in to get something. Hearing this, she said mildly, "Make all the rabbits stand up on two legs, then think about it again."
Linlin and the Prince of Jin both quickly figured it out.
Linlin in particular was so excited that he rushed over and hugged Tang Zhuyun's leg. "Auntie, how can you be so clever?!"
The Prince of Jin, meanwhile, was surprised. Tang Zhuyun had been the one who came up with the problem?
Chang Zhi laughed it off. "Too tricky, far too tricky. I've heard that Your Highness has excellent calligraphy. Linlin, ask His Highness to write something for you."
The Prince of Jin was a prince, after all. However much of a roughneck Chang Zhi was, he knew he couldn't afford to offend him.
Before Linlin could speak, the Prince of Jin said, "All right."
He walked over to the desk, his brush moving like a dragon and a snake, and quickly wrote four large characters. Then he looked at Tang Zhuyun beside him.
Tang Zhuyun said, "Why are you looking at me?"
The Prince of Jin said, "Miss, please give me your appraisal."
"I can't read."
The Prince of Jin was speechless.
Serves you right for showing off. Is it so hard to admit you're not as good as me?
In fact, Tang Zhuyun had really misjudged the Prince of Jin. He hadn't been showing off; he only wanted to befriend her because he had a favor to ask of her.
That was why he hadn't brought Song Jingyang, whom Tang Zhuyun disliked. And after arriving, he hadn't left, no matter how sarcastic she was.