Chapter 63 Pah! Such Filial Piety and Paternal Love

"Jiang is not good at conversing with others. Asking me to go search—are you trying to trick me?"

Xie Yanzhi blinked blankly, his anger successfully ignited by the latter's final remark. "Who cares about tricking you? Isn't it just helping you find someone? Give me some time, and I will definitely make proper arrangements for you."

"But mere words carry no weight."

"Then—then what do you want? I don't have any extra silver."

Xie Yanzhi parted his lips. He had thought the other person was easy to talk to; why had he suddenly become so difficult to deal with at the very end?

He wanted to take back what he had said earlier!

"Can you give me this jade pendant as physical evidence? I will return it to you when the time comes."

Xie Yanzhi followed his gaze and looked down, instinctively covering the emerald-green jade pendant with his hand as the tips of his ears turned red.

"This was left to me by my mother!"

Even when their estate was confiscated and they were sent into exile, he had tried every possible means to hide it, only daring to wear it out in the past two days.

Seeming to catch a certain keyword, Jiang Yun's gaze shifted fluidly.

"Brother Xie is truly not sincere about cooperating with me. Could it be you still worry that I will pocket your jade pendant? Once the matter is settled, I will return it to its rightful owner."

"Very well. Since that is the case, perhaps it is destined to be. Jiang shall rely on his own strength after all. It amounts to nothing more than getting beaten a few more times, though given my frail constitution, I fear I won't have the energy to come out anymore."

Jiang Yun turned his head and coughed lightly, his slender, thin back bowing slightly like a bamboo stalk.

Not coming out? How could that be allowed?

Xie Yanzhi anxiously pulled at his sleeve. Whether the fabric was too fragile or he used too much force, with a "rip—", a large piece of the right sleeve tore away, exposing the alternating pale and bruised marks on his fair forearm.

A flash of anger instantly appeared on Jiang Yun's gentle face.

With a loud slap, Xie Yanzhi tore off the jade pendant and thrust it against the other's chest.

"Take it, take it, take it then! But you must protect it well; you are not allowed to let it shatter!"

Xie Yanzhi had no idea what was wrong with himself. This was the first time in his life he had encountered such a person—one whom he could neither out-scold nor bring himself to strike, leaving him with a dull, throbbing ache in his chest from sheer fury.

Jiang Yun seemed capable of changing his expression at will. The corners of his lips curved up slightly, as if his flash of anger just moments before had been nothing more than an illusion.

He bowed slightly, cupping one hand in the other.

"Rest assured, Brother Xie. As long as I live, the jade survives. During tomorrow's noon break, Jiang will arrive as promised."

"Fine, fine. Then I'm leaving."

Having been thus "tricked," Xie Yanzhi lost all inclination to speak with him. Seeing the sun sinking behind the western mountains, he hurriedly bid farewell.

The afterglow of the setting sun shone upon the youth's sprinting figure, his high ponytail seeming to emit a faint light.

Jiang Yun's jade-like, slender fingers stroked the jade pendant—cool at first, it gradually grew warm.

---

The bakery also closed its doors at the hour of *Shen*, though closing the shop did not mean one could enjoy leisure.

Reviewing the day's accounts fell entirely to Cheng Yuan, while Uncle Wang and Xie Changzhi remained busy in the back kitchen preparing tomorrow's ingredients and whipped cream batter.

Therefore, when Xie Yanzhi borrowed the ox cart, although Uncle Wang had some misgivings, seeing him holding the ox by its lead with a confident expression, he decided not to follow.

Xie Yanzhi walked to a wide dirt road just outside the county town before finally plopping himself down onto the ox cart. Brandishing the ox whip, he looked left and right, letting out a mental sigh of relief.

As expected, it was just like riding a horse.

"Giddyup!"

Xie Yanzhi swung the whip down. The old ox let out a startled bellow, but after looking left and right, it remained standing right where it was, flicking its tail with utter indifference.

Refusing to believe it, Xie Yanzhi lashed out a few more times, yet the old ox still refused to budge.

"Come on, are you sick?"

Xie Yanzhi was just about to climb down to see if the ox was mentally deficient when, the moment he swung one leg down, the old ox suddenly lunged forward at a dead run.

"What the hell!"

Taken completely by surprise, Xie Yanzhi clung desperately to the ox's neck while still being tossed violently from side to side.

"Hey! Wait, don't run yet! Let me get back on first!"

"Ah, ah, ah! I'm going to fall off! Is anyone there?!"

...

"Finished calculating?"

Xie Changzhi rested his head on one hand, sitting beside the table as the flickering candlelight made him drowsy, until he finally saw Cheng Yuan let out a soft sigh and stretch her arms.

He hurriedly poured a cup of hot water and handed it over. "Warm your hands."

Cheng Yuan moistened her throat and set down the teacup. Her face bore traces of exhaustion, but her eyes were brimming with excitement.

"Changzhi! Guess how much our net profit was today?"

Xie Changzhi was startled. "Net profit?"

"It's today's total sales minus the cost of purchasing the ingredients."

Observing the excitement on her face, Xie Changzhi tentatively hazarded a remarkably high figure: "Fifty taels?"

"Seventy-eight taels!!"

The young girl's excited voice and the warmth of her embrace caused Xie Changzhi's body to stiffen.

"Sister Yuan..." His voice was somewhat hoarse.

Only then did Cheng Yuan realize her overfamiliarity. She quickly released her hold, bit her lip awkwardly, and was about to say something to ease the atmosphere when a knock sounded at the shop door.

Cheng Yuan simply slipped away. "I'll get the door!"

---

The shop door opened to reveal the servant who had led them to view the premises a few days prior. Upon seeing Cheng Yuan, he handed over the invitation card in his hand.

"My young mistress invites you to the estate for a chat tomorrow."

Taken aback, Cheng Yuan accepted it and slipped him a few copper coins before closing the door and walking back.

"An invitation? What is it, is there a problem?"

Xie Changzhi skipped over what had just happened and asked.

A look of a guilty thief hung on Cheng Yuan's little face, as if she were afraid someone might fail to notice.

She shook her head.

"Nothing major. You might need to handle a bit more work in the shop tomorrow, as I won't be here in the morning. When the noon break comes, I'll go buy a couple of assistants so we can share the load."

---

When Xie Yanzhi returned to the village, it was pitch black, not even fingers could be seen in front of his face.

Supporting his lower back and leading the ox, he stumbled unevenly, slipping countless times on the treacherous ice and snow.

The old ox let out several low moos, its tail swatting impatiently against his back.

"Oh, don't rush, I'm in a hurry too." The distance from the village entrance to his home was no short journey, and Xie Yanzhi had already resigned himself to sacrificing his backside when he suddenly spotted a torch in the distance.

He paused for a moment, and without caring who was on the other end, he waved frantically. "Over here, right here!"

The night was pitch black, forcing one to grope their way along, but with a torch, the speed of returning home would surely pick up quite a bit.

The torch drew closer and closer to him. A smile bloomed on Xie Yanzhi's face—before his expression froze stiffly in place.

Why was it his father?

Xie Tingyun's expression was far from relaxed, his eyebrows and beard frosted with snowflakes.

Only upon seeing that Xie Yanzhi was completely unharmed did he imperceptibly let out a breath of relief.

"What made you drag things out so late? Weren't you out before dawn? Where did you go gallivanting? Do you have any concept of time?"

Xie Yanzhi directly shut off his hearing, bypassed him, and walked onward.

He couldn't tell if this was simply adapting to local customs. In the past, Xie Tingyun had been the epitome of aloof detachment, at most reprimanding his studies with a couple of sharp words, yet nowadays he had developed an increasing fondness for nagging.

Xie Yanzhi had every reason to suspect that his father had picked up bad habits from the village gossips.

His relationship with Xie Tingyun nowadays could hardly be called good, yet neither could it be called poor.

Perhaps, once the illusion of filial piety and paternal benevolence was torn away, this was simply what their relationship had always been.