The little girl was truly perceptive!
Last time when he went to the capital to ask Yuan Bieyun about the little girl’s marriage prospects, Yuan Bieyun had laughed at him for always busying himself with such trivial, boring matters, saying “you don’t break laws, you don’t bully the weak with strength, you don’t frequent pleasure quarters—you’re not like a scholar, not like an official’s son either. What did you take the imperial examination for?”
Cheng Chi had thought he hadn’t taken it to heart, but it turned out he had remembered it all along and had just spoken it in a teasing manner!
He gently shook his head and smiled nonchalantly. “Even if someone is talking about me, they’re doing it behind my back. How would I know?”
That’s true!
Zhou Shaojin felt embarrassed. “Whatever I’ve heard about Uncle Chi has all been praise. Uncle Chi can rest assured.”
The little girl was actually comforting him now!
Cheng Chi chuckled, his voice unknowingly softening. “I’ll speak to Magistrate Wu about this matter. No matter how much he struggles, he can’t change the outcome.”
Zhou Shaojin said, “What if he goes around making a fuss…”
Cheng Chi interrupted her with a smile. “His father died early, and he grew up depending on Nine-As Lane. The Cheng clan school never charged him tuition and supported him all the way to becoming a xiucai. If he becomes desperate and makes a fuss, who would be in the right—him or our Cheng family?
“When that time comes, I only need to remain silent, and people will have all sorts of speculations. Between a xiucai who’s been stripped of his scholarly status and a double-ranked jinshi, who do you think people will believe more? This is also one of the reasons why Magistrate Wu and Instructor Lin dared to promise me.
“Since he’s received the Cheng family’s kindness, he must pay a price for it!”
It was just that Cheng Lu probably hadn’t expected he would have to pay such a heavy price!
Zhou Shaojin’s heart brightened as if dark clouds had dispersed.
She nodded with a beaming smile and couldn’t help saying, “Uncle Chi, you’re truly amazing! I was worried all along that Cheng Lu would use despicable means to scheme against you.”
Her delicate features were like spring flowers in full bloom, bright and radiant.
Watching her, Cheng Chi’s smile grew even broader.
Could it be that the little girl had held back and not come to find him all this time because of this reason?
He said gently, “In the future, don’t brood alone. If something comes up, come find Uncle Chi, understand?”
Zhou Shaojin obediently agreed and asked about Cheng Chi’s experiences on the journey.
Cheng Chi often went to Huai’an, and this trip had been rather hurried without any particularly special events, so he selected stories about Huai’an’s local customs and culture to tell Zhou Shaojin.
Zhou Shaojin listened with great interest, her pair of clear, bright eyes gazing at him without blinking, like a curious little animal.
Cheng Chi suddenly felt somewhat inadequate.
Like an elder who encounters a younger relative during New Year’s but has no gift money to give.
His gaze swept toward the treasure cabinet where he had placed gifts, then passed over the abacus he had just used for calculations.
Cheng Chi’s spirits lifted.
How could he have forgotten about this?
While talking with Zhou Shaojin, he retrieved a small golden abacus from a drawer and handed it to her with a smile. “I left in a hurry on my return and didn’t have time to buy you anything. This golden abacus was originally something I planned to give someone, but later I found something better. I just casually left it in my desk drawer. You can take it to play with!”
The golden abacus was about palm-sized, made with exquisite craftsmanship. Each bead could be moved, and they were solid, no different from a real abacus. A corner even had a bright red tassel about an inch long attached—very beautiful.
Zhou Shaojin loved it at first sight.
Seeing that Cheng Chi had casually taken it from a drawer, she knew it wasn’t a particularly precious gift to him. She smiled and said, “So Uncle Chi’s room has been hiding such a fine thing all along without taking it out earlier. If I’d known, I wouldn’t have needed to commission a set of head ornaments to add to Cousin Jia’s trousseau—I could have given her this instead.”
Seeing her accept it generously, Cheng Chi was in quite a good mood and smiled. “Did you spend a lot of silver?”
Zhou Shaojin tried to amuse him, pouting. “A total of fifty taels of silver.”
Cheng Chi laughed derisively. “Short on money?”
“Who isn’t short on money!” Zhou Shaojin complained to Cheng Chi, half-seriously. “When you have silver head ornaments, you want gold ones. When you have gold ones, you want jewel-encrusted ones… The old woman who sweeps the courtyard is short on money, and so am I!”
Cheng Chi laughed heartily.
Zhou Shaojin wrinkled her nose.
Ever since rewarding Fan Qi, she felt she had never caught her breath—she really was short on money.
But there was no need to tell Uncle Chi all this, lest he misunderstand that she was crying poverty to him.
Neither Zhou Zhen nor Zhou Shaojin’s stepmother Li Shi would ever shortchange Zhou Shaojin.
However, given Zhou Zhen’s wealth, it would be impossible for Zhou Shaojin to spend freely.
In Cheng Chi’s eyes, anything involving money wasn’t really a problem.
He thought for a moment, then turned to take from the treasure cabinet compartment a tightly tied, palm-sized indigo pouch and handed it to Zhou Shaojin with a smile. “Hold it carefully—don’t drop it.”
“What is this?” Zhou Shaojin reached out to take it.
Cheng Chi raised an eyebrow.
Zhou Shaojin held out both hands, and only then did Cheng Chi place the pouch in her hands.
It was heavy. Despite being mentally prepared, Zhou Shaojin still stumbled and nearly dropped the pouch on the floor.
“What’s all this?” Zhou Shaojin placed the small pouch on the tea table. When she opened it and looked, it was full of golden beans.
No, calling them golden beans wasn’t quite right.
They should be called golden kidney beans.