Volume 1 Chapter 19: The Gift

  As soon as Zeng Lang left, the sister and brother happily locked the door tightly, piled up a fire in the room, and sat by the light to examine the gifts sent by the wealthy families.

  First to be opened was Wang Dasanren's wooden box, and as expected by Lu Xuan, both boxes were full of fabrics. Although they were just some very ordinary satin fabrics, for the impoverished sister and brother, it was still a generous gift.

  As she flipped through them, Lu Xuan's lips curled slightly as he said in a low voice, "Indeed."

  Lu Yun didn't understand, he turned his bright and shiny eyes curiously and asked: "Sister, what did you say?"

  Lu Xuan smiled and said, "I say, it's indeed not some good fabric." She turned her head to look at her younger brother and gently explained, "The Wang family is extremely wealthy, with countless treasures. Logically speaking, I have saved the life of their son, so whatever he sends should be substantial. Even if he sent a hundred taels of gold, it would still be a matter of course. However, we are orphans, and I am just a weak woman. With such an identity, even if there is kindness, there's no need to express deep gratitude."

  She looked at Lu Yun and said seriously: "So Ah Yun, even if you have kindness to others, if your status is not enough, that kindness will not be valued by many people."

  Lu Yun never thought of this, he was stunned, pursed his lips and nodded. For a moment, the excitement of getting so much unexpected wealth was greatly reduced.

  Seeing her brother looking a bit down, Lu Yue smiled and reached out to stroke his soft hair. But as soon as her hand touched him, Lu Yun's face turned bright red and he unhappily shouted: "Sister, I'm a man now, you can't touch my head! Humph, and don't laugh either."

  "Alright, you're a man." Lu Xue smiled and withdrew her hand. "A Yun, we should be happy. Think about it, I stood up for myself back then, not for those people. So even if I did them a favor, that's all there is to it. They're already being generous by sending us gifts. Besides, these gifts can be exchanged for silver and will let us live comfortably for a while."

  Lu Yun knew his sister was advising him to be in a good state of mind, so he nodded.

  After covering the wooden box again, the brother and sister opened the four wooden boxes sent by the Tang House.

  The wooden box was not large, and inside were some silver ornaments. Upon closer inspection, there was also a golden hairpin. These gifts were the same as those sent by Wang Dasan's family, and although they looked like many things, they were actually worthless trinkets. Of course, being worthless is relative to rich people; for the sister and brother, they still had great use.

  Lu Yun stood up and looked through all the gifts before muttering, "Each of you made such a big show, but the things you brought are nothing special."

  Lu Yuwen bent her waist and carefully put away the gifts, while responding: "They made such a big show of it to let everyone know that they are people who know how to repay kindness. The things they sent over aren't much, because we're too poor to be worth their courtesy. It seems what the sage said is right, in this world, everything is based on self-interest. To make others not dare to bully you, first you must have some power."

  This month, she studied the classics of the sages day and night, and what surprised her was that she suddenly understood the profound meaning contained in them. No wonder the common saying goes: "A scholar who doesn't go out can know everything under heaven." It turns out that people's hustle and bustle, their actions and deeds, are all traceable.

  The brother and sister had been busy for more than half a day, checking all the gifts one by one, and after putting them away neatly, it was already late.

  Looking out at the sky outside, enjoying the spring breeze coming through the door gap. Lu Xuan calculated and said: "If these things are converted into money, they should be worth eighteen or nineteen taels of gold. Ah Yun, tomorrow I will sell them out and buy a house, how about that?" Han Yang is close to Chengdu, which is also a place where culture and education gather, and the housing prices here are not cheap. With these valuables plus the golden cake given by the nobleman, it should be possible to buy a small house in a relatively inner location.

  Lü Yu had thought that she and her brother might have to live in this house borrowed from the Ping Manor for many years. She really hadn't expected that they would be able to have their own home so soon.

  Hearing his sister's words, Lu Yun asked: "Sister, so much money? Don't we save it?" He had never seen so much money from childhood to adulthood, and for a moment he really couldn't bear to spend it all.

  Lu Xuan said faintly, "Can't. Everyone knows that we received gifts from the wealthy family, if we don't spend them, our lives might be in danger." She straightened her waist and said seriously, "So, not only do we need to spend it, but also in front of everyone's face. Tomorrow I will call for Qian Shu's mule cart, these satin brocade silver decorated boxes, no need to remove them, just sell them together like this."

  "Ah, okay, sister." Thinking that their family would soon be moving into a bright and spacious new house, Lu Yun couldn't help but smile. After being delighted for a while, he reminded her, "Sister, are you really going to cancel the engagement with Zeng Jialang? He seems unwilling to do so."

  Lu Xuan hesitated for a moment, then slowly said: "He might have been willing at first, but after today, he's probably having second thoughts." She didn't mind, waving her hand to tell her brother not to worry too much. "Don't bother with him for now. If he's unwilling, I'll find a way to make him willing!"

  "Alright." Lu Yundid replied concisely, turning his head to look at his sister, happily thinking: After my sister recovered from her injury, she really changed a lot. But I like this change in her.

  The next day, Lu Yun didn't go to school, but instead helped Lu Yue move the gifts they had received last night onto Qian Shu's donkey cart next door. As they were moving the gifts, their front door was wide open, attracting Yang Shu and others to keep peeking in.

  Yang Shu walked around the house for a while, and when she reached the donkey cart, she stroked the large wooden box and couldn't help but say: "Ah Yue, what's all this? Let Auntie take a look?"

  Luoyue Zheng was waiting for her words and smiled: "Good. A Yun, open all the boxes and let Yang Shu take a look."

  "En." Just as Lu Yun had barely responded, a swarm of neighbors surrounded him from all sides.