Chapter 139: Hoping for Wei Jinyi's Assistance with an Introduction

Wei Ruo looked over the ledger, and a joyful smile involuntarily appeared on her face. She was very satisfied with the profits.

Wei Ruo said to her wet nurse, "You've worked hard, wet nurse."

The wet nurse hurriedly waved her hands, "How can you say I've worked hard? I hardly have any opportunities to do heavy work nowadays; it's all handled by the hired hands."

The wet nurse did not feel that being busy with these matters was hard work in the slightest.

They had enough to eat and warm clothes to wear, lived in a fine house, and when the weather turned cold, they could burn charcoal to make the room cozy and warm. It was indescribably comfortable.

Comparing herself to those starving and freezing commoners, the wet nurse felt immensely fortunate.

And all of this was entirely due to the young miss's blessings. Without the young miss, her family of three would certainly still be starving and freezing back in their hometown, worrying every day about where their next meal would come from.

"Wet nurse, rest for a few days. Later on, I'll have to trouble you and Uncle Xu to make a trip to the prefectural city. The estate there needs to arrange for wheat planting. I'm not yet familiar with the people on that estate, nor do I know their capabilities, so I need you and Uncle Xu to go keep an eye on things."

"What rest? I'll have Old Xu set off for the prefectural city tomorrow. The wheat planting cannot be delayed; the time is already late. What will we do if we plant any later and it doesn't survive? Leaving that much land empty for over half a year would be such a waste!"

"No need, I have it all figured out. Even a bit later, it will still grow." Wei Ruo had confidence in the seeds provided by her spatial dimension.

"We still need to go ahead of time. The fields for wheat planting need to have fertilizer buried first so that the wheat can grow well later. What if the soil quality on that estate isn't very good, and composting takes a long time?"

With that, the wet nurse urged Uncle Xu, who was standing nearby, "Old Xu, what are you still standing there for? Go pack your things."

"Ah, right, right!" Xu Zhushan repeatedly agreed, then quickly turned around and headed back to his room.

"Wet nurse, just rest for a few days. There's no such rush," Wei Ruo persuaded.

"There's nothing to rest for. Neither of us is usually all that tired; why would we need to specially stop for a few days to rest? Compared to our life back in the hometown, our days now are just like one continuous rest!"

In the end, Wei Ruo failed to persuade the wet nurse and Uncle Xu to rest for a few days. Early the next morning, Xu Zhushan took two hired hands and set off for the prefectural city.

After Wei Ruo had been busy for two days, word came from the Xie residence that Mr. Wang had resumed his lectures.

A few days prior, because of the disaster relief, Mr. Wang had specially given Wei Ruo and Xie Ying a leave of absence. Now that the disaster had passed, it was time to resume classes.

In the evening, after class ended, Wei Ruo returned to the mansion and headed straight to the dining hall.

Wei Mingting did not come today, but unexpectedly, even Wei Jinyi, who rarely dined with the others, had arrived.

Curious, Wei Ruo walked over to Wei Jinyi's side and asked in a low voice, "Why did Second Brother come to the dining hall today?"

"Mother sent someone to invite me," Wei Jinyi replied.

Yun Shi had actually gone out of her way to send someone to invite Wei Jinyi to dine in the dining hall?

Wei Ruo found this rather strange. Wei Jinyi having his own small kitchen set up in his courtyard and dining independently was specially permitted by Wei Mingting. Yun Shi tacitly allowed this primarily because she herself held no affection for Wei Jinyi.

When things happen against the norm, there is bound to be a demon behind them. This action today likely had an ulterior motive and was probably not just for the sake of the family having a meal together.

Since Wei Mingting was not coming home for dinner, once Yun Shi arrived at the dining hall, she had everyone take their seats and instructed the servants to serve the dishes.

During the meal, in accordance with the rule of remaining silent while eating and sleeping, no one spoke.

Once the meal concluded and everyone moved to the side to drink tea, Yun Shi finally spoke: "Jinyi, you have been studying under Master Canglin for quite some time now, haven't you?"

"All things considered, three months," Wei Jinyi answered.

"This time, Master Canglin permitted you to return and even allowed you to stay at home for quite a few extra days. I suppose it's because he holds you in great affection," Yun Shi said.

"My teacher's intentions are not for me to know," Wei Jinyi replied.

"Jinyi, your eldest brother will be taking the provincial examination next year, and his studies have stalled for some time now. If he could receive guidance from a renowned teacher, he would surely have the opportunity to reach new heights," Yun Shi continued.

"Mm," Wei Jinyi acknowledged.

As for Yun Shi's underlying meaning, he seemed to have understood it, yet also seemed entirely oblivious.

"Since Jinyi has now gained the appreciation of Master Canglin, if you have any spare capacity, you ought to contribute some effort to the household as well," Yun Shi added.

"When my studies are complete one day, I will surely bring honor to our ancestors," Wei Jinyi deflected, speaking of entirely unrelated matters.

Yun Shi frowned. She had dropped her hints so clearly; she refused to believe Jinyi had not understood.

At this point, Wei Yingchen could no longer hold his tongue.

"Second Brother, actually Mother is asking on my behalf, wanting to know if you might help introduce me to Master Canglin."

Wei Yingchen did not particularly care for his mother's roundabout way of questioning.

Such an approach might be fine with outsiders, but when dealing with one's own family, Wei Yingchen felt such tactics were unnecessary. It would be much better to speak one's mind directly.

"My teacher has no intention of taking on another disciple," Wei Jinyi refused very directly, too lazy to even put up a pretense of saying he would go back and ask on their behalf.

Hearing this, Yun Shi's expression inevitably darkened a fraction.

Wei Yingchen felt somewhat disappointed, but he could not say much either; the fault lay not with others, but solely with his own lack of capability.

After observing the expressions of Yun Shi and Wei Yingchen, Wei Qingwan spoke up:

"Second Brother, Master Canglin may not have had the intention of taking another disciple in the past, but perhaps after meeting the eldest brother, he might think differently. Didn't people outside always say that Master Canglin had retired to the mountains and would no longer take disciples? Yet he still made an exception to take you, Second Brother. Since he could make that first exception, there should be a chance for a second exception as well."

Yun Shi immediately nodded in agreement with Wei Qingwan's words: "Wanwan is entirely right."

Wei Jinyi still maintained a blank expression: "Then you can go ask him yourselves."

Yun Shi widened her eyes: "Jinyi, what is the meaning of this?"

"I believe I have expressed myself quite clearly." Wei Jinyi's demeanor remained unruffled, as if he were completely blind to Yun Shi's anger.

Yun Shi grew furious: "I am your nominal mother! Even if you were to be ennobled as a marquis or appointed as a prime minister, I would still be your mother. Now that you have merely studied under a renowned teacher, how dare you speak to me in this manner?"

"Since I have merely studied under a renowned teacher and it amounts to nothing major, why make such a great fuss over the matter of studying under him?" Wei Jinyi asked Yun Shi in an unhurried counter-inquiry.

"You!" Yun Shi choked with anger.

Over the years, she and this concubine-born son had almost no interactions, yet she had no idea he possessed such an arrogant demeanor that completely disregarded his elders!

"Someone! Take the second young master to the ancestral hall!" Yun Shi commanded.

She was the mother; disciplining a concubine-born son was completely justified and natural.

However, after Yun Shi gave the order, the guards outside remained motionless. Only Jinghu walked in.

Yet he merely walked in and did not make a single move.

"Jinghu, I order you to take the second young master to the ancestral hall!" Yun Shi issued her command once more.