Chapter 22: If wrong, just fix it

What's the matter?

One tael of silver is really one thousand wen? This is something he couldn't believe, and also something he urgently wanted to verify.

The boy frowned, looking at him doubtfully.

Are you making fun of me?

No, no, I really want to know.

One tael of silver is one string, and one string is also one thousand wen cash. The boy saw his sincerity, realized he might truly not know, and although he thought it absurd, he also answered seriously.

Is that so?

Is everything Jiang Yunchu said true?

Ning Hanmo fell into deep self-doubt, then hope welled up: "How much silver do you spend in a year?"

The boy's gaze toward him suddenly filled with a pitiful feeling...

Ning Hanmo was shaken by that gaze, right? What's the problem?

We can only scrape by for a year; my mother earns a few wen by doing laundry for others, and in a year she can't even make several tens of wen.

Ning Hanmo, several tens of wen...

Then his monthly silver of ten taels could support them for ten years...

Ten years,..., but it's still not enough for his one meal's cost.

Is this real?

He suddenly stormed out in anger, but when he saw that aunt, his momentum weakened a bit.

"Is this all your arrangement?" Ning Hanmo stood before Jiang Yunchu, asking with a troubled face.

He looked at everything real, unable to convince himself anymore, that it was fake.

But this is real; what about his own life? Is that fake?

At his young age, he suddenly felt a deep malice.

"Listen to your own heart." Jiang Yunchu smiled, neither admitting nor denying.

In the world, how many pitiful people there are!

How bitter is the common folk's bitter life?

Just how far has this gone, and she still uses deliberate arrangements?

Ning Hanmo fell silent, he crouched on the ground, speaking not a word.

"What's wrong with you?" the boy walked over to Ning Hanmo's side.

Ning Hanmo looked at him: "Suddenly I realized that everything I know seems wrong; if it were you, what would you do?"

The boy smiled; under the sunlight, his dark skin seemed to carry some kind of power, because his eyes held hope and yearning.

This seemed to be something he had never had.

"If wrong, just fix it."

"The sage said, 'Knowing one's mistakes and being able to correct them is the greatest good.'"

"Seeing the mistakes already is a fortunate thing; what's feared is making mistakes without knowing, without awakening, without repenting."

The boy is not old, a young lad, standing tall, carrying his cognition, wanting to change something.

"Making mistakes without knowing, without awakening, without repenting.' Ning Hanmo repeated the phrase, and in his mind something seemed to suddenly break.

"I understand, thank you."

Ning Hanmo stood up and gave the boy a big hug.

But...

"Hey, let go, my clothes, my clothes, they're torn, hey, I'm about to expose my butt." The boy lost his earlier composure.

In his view, this person definitely has a problem in the head; otherwise why would he be so jumpy?

But his own clothes...

It seems to have torn even bigger, how?

"I'll compensate, I'll compensate, aunt, don't hit him, it's my fault." Ning Hanmo hastily took out his money bag, but then he suddenly discovered...

That corner of silver, at some point, had turned into copper coins.

He looked at Jiang Yunchu, who merely blinked at him.

He thought of that bowl of porridge...

Clearly it was right under his eyelids, yet Jiang Yunchu managed to switch it, and now that silver is also...

"Fifty copper coins? Is it enough? Not enough, right? One hundred copper coins?" Ning Hanmo blinked, looking at the boy with an inquiring expression.

The boy hastily waved his hands and quickly stood behind his mother.

The older sister also stood up, then looked at Jiang Yunchu: "Little sis, I'm not meddling, you're a good person, that's why I said a couple more sentences."

This child shouldn't be overly pampered; not knowing the price of anything he buys, he'll surely be deceived in the future.

That older sister is also an honest person; just now the two of them chatted about the child's education and were quite happy, that's why she spoke up.

If she were someone who dislikes harmony, she would absolutely not open her mouth like this.

Spoiling a child is like killing him!

"What the older sister said is correct." Jiang Yunchu nodded, with an expression of agreement.

"But since it was my family's boy who broke it, naturally he should compensate himself."

As for how much to give, Jiang Yunchu never told Ning Hanmo in the end, leaving it entirely up to him.

Even if he gave many pleading looks, unfortunately those looks were given to the conscienceless Jiang Yunchu.

This busyness, I can't help even a little.

"Twenty copper coins, maybe," Ning Hanmo knew he had definitely said too much before, which frightened the aunt and older brother.

Only now has it decreased a lot; twenty copper coins, can they buy cloth?

No, can't count; once you count, you realize how many years of others' expenses a single meal of yours consumes.

Until now, he suddenly realized that a tael of silver was so much, so much that it could support many poor people.

"We..." the older sister was just about to speak.

Jiang Yunchu took the copper coins and directly placed them in her hand, "Whether more or less, older sister, please keep them."

"Today, whether it's you or your son, what you teach them is far more important than this."

Ning Hanmo understood what she meant; this time he didn't counter-question, nor did he say anything else.

Once was an accident; what about this time?

He isn't really stupid; he can sense whether that little brother's words are true or false.

He also knows, how could a willow whip used in acting hurt so much when it hits the body?

Thinking of these, his gaze toward Jiang Yunchu changed slightly.

This older brother merely tore his clothes, and the aunt beat him severely; yet, despite all the bad things he had done, Jiang Yunchu never laid a hand on him, never even scolded him.

He suddenly realized that Jiang Yunchu's attitude toward him seemed not bad.

After leaving that household, Ning Hanmo remained silent all the time, walking obediently beside Jiang Yunchu without uttering a word.

"What are you thinking about?" Jiang Yunchu asked.

"I'm wondering, why haven't you hit me?" He raised his head, looking up at Jiang Yunchu.

This was the first time she held his hand; her hand was a bit cool, not as warm as imagined, but her grip on him was very gentle.

All that could be seen was her smiling; even with her face blackened, her demeanor and appearance stood out in the crowd.

"Would hitting you be useful?" Jiang Yunchu asked.

She can hit people.

She can also scold people.

Every spoiled child is different; some need a beating, but the premise is that the beating must be effective, able to produce results.

But Ning Hanmo has had no parents since childhood; his relatives are only the Imperial Consort and Yue Yue. He is a lonely-hearted child; hitting or scolding him would be counterproductive.

Anyway, it's all about teaching him principles; why not choose a good method?