Chapter 27

Leaving the Courtyard House, He Yuzhu felt much relieved. This also let He Yuzhu see what 'deep water' meant. Although He Daqing's departure came from Old Lady Rong's threat, perhaps he didn't want to make things too absolute, but He Yuzhu still couldn't figure out why Old Lady Rong was protecting him so much.

He Yuzhu felt a sudden headache; he felt his qi cultivation was still insufficient. If it weren't for Old Lady Rong stepping in at the end, the matter could have been resolved, but it definitely wouldn't be that simple.

These are still secondary; today's incident let He Yuzhu see Old Lady Rong's control over Yi Zhonghai—even a close nephew wouldn't be like this, he always felt there was something hidden here.

The water here is too deep; He Yuzhu wouldn't dare step in for a while. Right now he's just a slightly stronger ant, able at most to hop a couple of times. If Old Lady Rong made a move today, He Yuzhu definitely wouldn't leave so easily—even if he kept knocking his head, he'd have to shed a layer of skin.

Actually, since the incident began, He Yuzhu had been keeping an eye on Qin Huairu; from the start to the end, Qin Huairu didn't even show her face, which instantly made Comrade He Yuzhu feel that his past-life understanding of Qin Huairu wasn't true. Thinking of this, He Yuzhu's head went numb, he shook his head and rode toward Huaxia University.

In the Back Courtyard, inside Old Lady Rong's room: 'Kneel down for me.' Old Lady Rong tapped her cane and said to Yi Zhonghai.

With a plop, Yi Zhonghai knelt on the ground: 'Old Lady, I was wrong.'

'How did I tell you? Are you tired of our long life or bored with good days? I told you not to provoke him, yet you refuse to listen.' After saying that, Old Lady Rong helped Yi Zhonghai up and softened her tone: 'Zhonghai, don't think I'm making a fuss; our identities are too special—if we're discovered, we're both done for.'

'Old Lady, I understand; I won't provoke him again, you can rest assured.' Yi Zhonghai helped Old Lady Rong onto the bed and said.

'Zhonghai, don't blame me for making you lose face in front of these people in the courtyard; if you really get into it with that kid, no matter the reason, think about those people—would they let us off?' After hearing Old Lady Rong's words, Yi Zhonghai thought again about those people's ways, and just thinking about it made his scalp go numb.

'Zhonghai, I have to say this: keep an eye on your foolish disciple, don't let him provoke the He family again; also, I haven't seen his love interest, but did you see her come out today? Alright, go back, Zhonghai.' After saying that, Old Lady Rong waved her hand, letting Yi Zhonghai leave.

After leaving Old Lady Rong's room, Yi Zhonghai kept thinking about her last words, feeling that Jia Dongxu might lose control. Thinking of this, he hurried toward the Jia Family.

In the west wing room: 'Dongxu, are you alright?' Seeing Jia Dongxu and them enter the house, Qin Huairu hurriedly took a wet towel to wipe Jia Dongxu's face. Jia Zhangshi snatched the towel from Qin Huairu's hand and said, 'What were you doing just now? You've run out—no need for you; I'll wipe Dongxu myself.'

'Mom, Huairu is here for the first time today—how can you let her go out?' Jia Dongxu took the towel from Jia Zhangshi's hand, wiped himself a bit, then said to Qin Huairu.

'Huairu, don't take it to heart; my mom is just too anxious, don't let it bother you.'

'Dongxu, don't say it; what just happened was indeed my fault. I had already gone out, but seeing so many people in the courtyard, I came back—I'm a little scared, after all I'm from the countryside, I'm afraid...' Saying this, Qin Huairu lowered her head.

Seeing Qin Huairu like this, Jia Dongxu felt heartbroken and quickly said, 'Oh, Huairu, it's fine, I don't blame you.' After saying that, he stepped forward and held Qin Huairu in his arms.

Seeing this, Jia Zhangshi thought, 'Well, might as well accept fate,' sighed inwardly, then coughed twice and said, 'Cough, cough, Dongxu, why don't we go out to eat this noon?'

Hearing Jia Zhangshi's voice, Qin Huairu immediately broke free from Jia Dongxu's embrace, sat to the side with her face red as an apple, head lowered and silent.

Seeing Qin Huairu like this, Jia Dongxu felt even hotter; he wanted to marry Qin Huairu quickly. With his mind wholly on Qin Huairu, he gave a perfunctory reply: 'Sure, Mom, you handle it.'

Alright, seeing this, Jia Zhangshi hurried out: 'Fine, I'll go book a table at the restaurant; we'll go to that place at the alley entrance. You two sit here a moment and then come over.' After saying that, Jia Zhangshi left the door.

Did Jia Dongxu think his mother had left him an opportunity? Not at all—he walked over to Qin Huairu, held her in his arms, was about to lower his head to kiss her when he heard a voice: 'Dongxu!' Then Yi Zhonghai pushed the door open and entered.

Jia Dongxu quickly let go of Qin Huairu, while silently cursing, 'You old immortal, why didn't you come earlier or later? You had to show up now and ruin my fun.'

Seeing Yi Zhonghai enter, Jia Dongxu hurried over and said, 'Master, I've let you down today, I'm sorry.'

'It's fine, Dongxu, it's all past. By the way, how's your mom?' Yi Zhonghai waved his hand at Jia Dongxu and asked.

'Oh, my mom went to the restaurant. Let's go, Master—we weren't waiting for you here. Let's talk at the restaurant.' Saying this, the three left the Courtyard House and headed toward the restaurant at the alley entrance.

Inside the restaurant at the alley entrance, four people sat at the table. Jia Zhangshi spoke up: 'Dongxu's master, we can't just let this kid off so easily, and today he made you lose face. We really need to teach him a lesson, or else we'll be overturned.' Before Jia Zhangshi finished, Yi Zhonghai interrupted.

'What are we treating? Don't you want Dongxu to be all right? He's about to become a regular employee; at this critical juncture we should avoid trouble. Besides, after the New Year Dongxu is supposed to get married, and we'll still need Silly Zhu then. If we offend him to death now, what will we do later?' After saying that, Yi Zhonghai glanced at Qin Huairu, who kept eating her vegetables, giving off an attitude of 'you talk, I just eat.'

Yi Zhonghai felt they couldn't wait any longer; they needed to speed up. In fact, although Jia Dongxu now calls Yi Zhonghai 'Master,' it's only in name, unlike He Yuzhu and Wang Youde—He Yuzhu had properly kowtowed and offered tea.

Therefore Yi Zhonghai now had the idea of truly taking Jia Dongxu as his disciple; even if he couldn't control Jia Dongxu later, this master-disciple bond would mean he couldn't ignore Jia Dongxu. After all these years, Yi Zhonghai had never taken a formal disciple.

Thinking of this, Yi Zhonghai spoke up: 'Jia's sister-in-law, I have something I'd like to discuss with you—what do you think?'

'Hey, Dongxu's master, do we two families even need to discuss this? You're Dongxu's master—what's not allowed? Just say it and it's done.' Jia Zhangshi said this and took two bites of food.

'That's right, Jia's sister-in-law—I want to take Dongxu as my true disciple. What do you think?' After saying that, he still looked at Jia Zhangshi.

'Dongxu's master, hasn't Dongxu always been your disciple? What's the difference between that and a true disciple?' Jia Zhangshi asked, puzzled, but her chopsticks never stopped moving.

'A true disciple requires a bowing ceremony; after the ceremony, Dongxu will be like my son. From then on... Dongxu will have to support me in my old age and see me to the end.' Yi Zhonghai said this and took a sip of wine.

Hearing Yi Zhonghai say that, Jia Zhangshi put down her chopsticks and said, 'So you mean all your future possessions will be Dongxu's?'

Yi Zhonghai was provoked by Jia Zhangshi's words, coughed twice, and gave a faint 'uh' with a slightly pale face.

In fact, Jia Zhangshi doesn't really care whether Dongxu will support Yi Zhonghai in his old age—who knows how the future will turn out? Jia Zhangshi is eyeing Yi Zhonghai's possessions, like the house he currently holds. As long as Yi Zhonghai remains childless, his property will eventually belong to Dongxu; even if he has a child, couldn't they still fight over it?

Thinking of this, Jia Zhangshi exclaimed excitedly, 'Ah, pah pah pah, I misspoke, Dongxu's master—don't mind it, you're Dongxu's master, anything goes. Since you have this idea, I'll answer for Dongxu—let's decide when to do this.'

Yi Zhonghai felt like strangling Jia Zhangshi, but he still smiled and said, 'There's no rush—although it's a new society, we can't make it too grand, but we do need witnesses, right? I'll go back, pick a date, invite a few old coworkers, set out some wine, and then this will be settled.'

'Alright, then we'll follow your lead, Dongxu's master—Dongxu, you'd better really look after your master from now on.' While Jia Dongxu was busy serving vegetables to Qin Huairu, he replied, 'Alright, Mom, you can relax.'