Top Scholar

Chapter 188 A complete show

When Su Lu returned to the office that day, it was just getting dark. It wasn't that the teacher had a change of heart and dismissed get out of class early, it's just that... the days had grown longer.

Today, Steward Tian was not at the gatehouse to greet them. As soon as the gatekeeper Yu opened the door, he reported to Su Lu: "Young master, a couple with a child have come looking for you. They say they are your parents and sister."

"Oh?" Su Lu asked in surprise, "Where are they?"

"Steward Tian led them to the young master's courtyard," Yu Men said. "They've been keeping him company there. Oh, right, the second young master has returned too..."

"Okay," Su Lu replied, then quickly rushed back to the courtyard. Sure enough, he heard Su Youcai's familiar laughter:

"Haha, Xia Ge'er has grown into a man!"

"Hey hey hey..." Su Tai's long-lost hearty laughter rang out again.

"Father!" Su Lu pushed open the door and called out affectionately.

"Oh, Qiu-ge'er, I've missed you so much!" Su Youcai excitedly opened his arms to Su Lu. "Let Daddy hug you."

"Don't give me that." Su Lujing declined, then bowed to his godmother and smiled, "It's been so long since I've seen you, Mother. I miss you terribly."

"Your mother misses you very much too." The godmother looked at Su Lu happily and said, "Xia-ge'er has grown strong, how come you've lost weight?"

"My second brother always gives me snacks," Su Lu joked, then smiled at Su Youma and Xiao Tiantian, "Uncle and sister are here too?"

"Hello, brother." Little Tiantian smiled sweetly.

"You little rascal, you thought you didn't see me?" Su Youma laughed.

Steward Tian, ​​who was standing by, smiled and apologized, "Now that both young masters have returned, I shall take my leave. I'm going to the kitchen to see how the welcoming banquet is going."

"Thank you for your trouble, Mr. Tian. Please don't trouble yourself. Just a bowl of noodles will do." Su Youcai saw Steward Tian to the door and even took out five taels of silver and stuffed it into his hand.

"What's this for?" Steward Tian naturally didn't want it.

"Mr. Tian, ​​you must accept this." Su Youcai said gratefully, "My son has received your meticulous care during this time. This is just a small token of my gratitude."

He hadn't originally planned to give that much, but after hearing Xia Ge'er talk about how good the meals were and how comfortable the accommodations were, he gritted his teeth and decided to double it!
"Oh, this is all part of my job. I've already received my wages, so I can't accept such a generous reward from Mr. Su." Steward Tian hurriedly declined, saying, "Please accept it, please accept it. It's all public money; I haven't spent any of my own money."

After much back and forth, Steward Tian finally accepted only one tael of silver from Su Youcai as a reward and left happily.

Su Youcai looked at the silver in his hand that he couldn't give away, shook his head helplessly, and turned back.

~~
Kitchen.

Flames roared and leaped in the wok. The head chef tossed the food in the wok while asking Manager Tian, ​​who was sitting to the side drinking a little wine, a question.

"Steward, didn't you say that Young Master Su was the master's son...? How come his biological father has come knocking on our door?"

Steward Tian picked up a piece of shredded pig's ear with his chopsticks, took a sip of wine, and scrunched up his face like a chrysanthemum, saying, "What do you know? This is called playing the part completely!"

"Huh?" the chef asked, puzzled. "What do you mean?"

"How is our young master Su's studies?" Steward Tian asked.

"It would be wonderful to be able to attend Heshan Academy!" As the chef spoke, he cooked a dish, washed the wok, and prepared to start cooking the second dish.

Steward Tian then placed the dish into a food box, closed the lid, and said, "The county examination will be next year after the Lunar New Year. Do you think the master will arrange for him to take the exam?"

“That was the one I specified!” the chef replied matter-of-factly.

"When we appoint Young Master Su as the top scholar, everyone will ask, 'Who is this guy? Who is his father? Who is his mother?'" Steward Tian took another sip of wine, exhaling as he said, "Don't you think it would be awkward if we didn't arrange it now?"

"That would definitely be awkward," the chef nodded.

"So," Steward Tian said with a smug smile, "now you understand?"

"I understand, I understand, you're brilliant!" The chef gave a thumbs up.

"It's the master who's wise; I'm just a novice," Steward Tian chuckled. "Do you know how I figured out that this family was operating independently?"

"How did you figure that out?" the head chef asked, playing the straight man.

"We must focus on the children!" Steward Tian then shared his experience: "The little girl they brought calls that woman 'Mother' and Mr. Su 'Uncle'!"

"Later, Young Master Su returned, calling Mr. Su 'Father' and that woman 'Godmother'!"

"When Young Master Su returns, he will still call Mr. Su 'Father,' but he will call that woman 'Mother'!"

"What is all this nonsense? I'm completely confused." The chef smiled wryly, "Three children, three different names..."

"It's not that you're confused, it's that they haven't figured it out themselves!" Steward Tian said confidently, "Those mother and daughter are indeed mother and daughter, but that woman is definitely not Young Master Su's mother. Don't be fooled by Young Master Su calling her 'mother,' she isn't!"

"How can you be so sure?" the chef asked.

Manager Tian then asked the head chef, "What's the first thing you say when you come home?"

“'Mom, I’m back!' Ah…” The chef quickly cooked another dish.

“But when the two young masters Su returned, they both called him ‘father’ first!” Steward Tian slammed his hand on the table and said.

"Oh!" the chef exclaimed in realization. "That can't be it. Anyone would call for their mother first!"

"That's right!" Steward Tian packed the last dish into the food box. "I reckon the eldest son of Young Master Su is Mr. Su's biological son, while the younger son was raised by Mr. Su from a young age, so they look like family!" "That makes sense." The head chef picked up two soup pots from the small charcoal stove and prepared to go with Steward Tian to deliver the food. "Then why not just have Young Master Su's biological mother come?"

"Are you stupid? Wouldn't that make the master a cuckold?" Steward Tian rolled his eyes at him.

"Oh, I'm so silly," the chef chuckled.

As they left the kitchen, they both fell silent, their expressions becoming quite professional.

~~
Candlelight shone brightly in the courtyard hall, where the family sat around the octagonal table.

Steward Tian respectfully laid out eight dishes and two soups, clearly announcing the names of the dishes:

"Four meat dishes: Braised venison with fermented rice wine, Drunken chicken rolls with Shaoxing wine, Steamed shad with ham, and Stewed duck with matsutake mushrooms!"

"Four vegetarian dishes: Braised winter melon with crab roe, stir-fried radish with dried scallops, stir-fried mustard greens with chicken oil, and stir-fried yam with pine nuts!"

"There are also two soup dishes—scallop and winter melon soup with dried shrimp and morel mushrooms, and chicken and tofu soup with morel mushrooms!"

Su Youcai and the others were stunned: "This is too extravagant!"

"No need to spend money, these are all leftovers from the New Year. Since you're here, you can help us eat them." Steward Tian hurriedly said with a smile, "Besides, isn't this a family reunion dinner? We don't usually have many dishes. Haven't you noticed how thin the young master has become?"

"Thank you so much." Su Youcai finally realized that he hadn't given five taels enough...

"Please enjoy your meal, everyone. Don't hesitate to call if you need anything." After the Su family had eaten for a while, Steward Tian took his leave with a smile.

After he left, Su Youcai sighed, "I was worried all day that you two weren't eating or drinking well, but it turns out I was worrying for nothing..."

My uncle couldn't help but say, "We've both worked for the government, so why is there such a big difference?"

“You’re eating prison food, how can that be the same?” Su Youcai laughed.

"Alright..." The uncle gave a wry smile, picked up his wine cup and said to Su Lu, "I've been lying down all this time, so I haven't had a chance to toast you yet."

He was initially confused and didn't know how he had been released. Now, seeing the situation, he realized it was all thanks to his nephew's influence.

"Uncle, why are you being so polite?" Su Lu smiled, picked up his teacup and said, "I'd still like to congratulate you on your recovery and comeback. May your bad luck turn into good fortune."

"Haha, alright, let's toast each other, we men." The younger uncle clinked glasses with Su Lu, took only a small sip, and put down his wine cup.

As the saying goes, "A fall into a pit, a gain in your wit," and this time he fell into a deep pit, so naturally he has gained a lot of wisdom, at least he is much more composed now.

At this moment, the godmother asked with a smile, "Tell us about your experiences studying during this time. I was only listening to Xia-ge'er reciting the names of the dishes."

Su Luxin thought to herself, "If my second brother doesn't recite the names of the dishes, he'll just become a broken record, repeating 'She Yunluo, She Yunluo, She Yunluo...'"

He's been hearing it so much lately, he's practically worn out. The reason he's lost weight is because he's been eating too much dog food, which has affected his appetite...

He recounted their experiences since arriving in Luzhou, even mentioning some of the more interesting details about She Yunluo...

"Hiss..." Su Youcai gasped when he heard that the two of them had run into the chieftain's daughter again. "You met her on your very first day here? That's too much of a coincidence!"

"It wasn't me, it was my second brother," Su Lu said, pursing his lips.

"I tried my best to deny it, but she was convinced it was me. What could I do?" Su Tai said, feeling wronged.

"Don't worry, Dad. She probably understands our concerns and hasn't publicized that we saved her back then," Su Lu quickly reassured his father.

"That's good, that's good." Su Youcai breathed a sigh of relief and said, "We're living such a good life now, let's just not get into any more trouble."

"What? Second Brother? You guys even saved She Saihua's daughter?" Su Youma exclaimed in disbelief, "How many have I missed out on?!"

"Don't be sad, I haven't even told Dad and my older brother about this." Su Youcai then briefly recounted what had happened.

Although his tone was calm, just mentioning terms like "Du Zhangman" and "Duanbi Luoluo Qianhu" was enough to convey a breathtaking and unimaginable experience for ordinary people.

The proprietress's eyes welled up with tears... She never imagined that Su Lang would have such a heroic side—

In the deep mountains and forests surrounded by tigers and wolves, he alone led three children, evading the pursuit and interception of the chieftain's men, and safely returned the chieftain's daughter to her family. Then, having accomplished his task, he left without a trace, concealing his merit and fame!

What a hero she is! If it weren't for the children, she would have, she would have, absolutely...

Even Xiaotiantian looked at Su Youcai with admiration, thinking to herself that Uncle Su wasn't a henpecked husband after all...

Su Youma looked at his second brother, then at Su Tai, and felt that the mother and son seemed to have mistaken the main characters.

Enjoying the admiring gazes, Su Youcai sat with an air of authority and said in a deep voice, "It's best if she doesn't mention it. We saved people back then out of loyalty, not for anything in return! From now on, let's part ways peacefully and forget each other in the world!"

Then he asked his two sons, "You've lost contact with them, haven't you?"

“I didn’t,” Su Lu shook his head and said, “I’ve never contacted her either.”

Everyone turned to look at Su Tai; Su Lu's implication was quite clear...

Then Su Tai lowered his head shyly: "I even had a sword fight with her today..."

"What the hell?!" Su Youcai suddenly raised his voice, seemingly lost in thought.

(End of this chapter)