“Big brother, you really have the inside scoop! I just bought the spirit tower, and you already know about it so quickly,” Xiao Jingting sneered.
“There aren’t many big spenders like you, little brother, so naturally people gossip. News spreads fast,” Xiao Qingyan replied.
Xiao Qingyan thought to himself: Xiao Jingting must be counting on our parents to pay the remaining silver. If they don’t, Xiao Jingting will be arrested by the trading post. Our parents won’t stand by and watch. They give him a monthly allowance of about five or six spirit jade pieces, which is about one or two thousand taels of silver, totaling about three thousand taels.
But Xiao Jingting has to repay ten thousand taels a month on this item. Is he trying to force our parents to spend money for him? That’s excessive.
Wang Lu sighed lightly and said, “Jingting, you really lack restraint. How can you spend money like that? How do you plan to pay off your debt?”
Xiao Jingting responded calmly, “I plan to ask Father and Mother to allot me some farmland. When I was in Tuqiu Village, I got used to farming from sunrise to sunset. These days of doing nothing here feel strange. Mother, if you give me some land, I can farm and repay the debt.”
Xiao Jingting silently thought: When my eldest aunt sent me away, she gave me quite a bit of farmland. As parents, they shouldn’t be stingy.
“You want farmland? Xiao family’s farmlands are all outside the city; they’re not close by,” Wang Lu said.
Xiao Jingting nodded, “I know. Once I get farmland, I’ll build a house by the fields for Muan and our son to live there. My son is too wild and doesn’t get along with big brother’s two sons. If he stays here at the Xiao residence, he’ll probably get into fights every day. That’s no good.”
Wang Lu was surprised by this and froze, “You want to move out?”
Xiao Jingting nodded, “Moving out means I’m closer to the fields. After going out recently, my son discovered he has a talent for farming. If he works hard, he should be able to barely repay the debt. In fact, the 30,000 taels down payment I made came from the proceeds of farming.”
Xiao Linfeng’s face showed some guilt, and Wang Lu’s expression softened.
Xiao Qingyan frowned and snorted coldly, “Third brother, do you take us all for fools? Before you only reached fifth level Qi Refining, farming could make you so much money? Did you sell the other spiritual treasures you found?”
Xiao Jingting glanced at Xiao Qingyan and said, “I did sell some spiritual treasures, but most of it came from farming.”
Xiao Qingyan ignored the latter part and, hearing that Xiao Jingting really sold spiritual treasures, his eyes turned bloodshot. “You actually sold spiritual treasures. What were you thinking? You’re selling everything.”
Xiao Jingting replied matter-of-factly, “Without money, you naturally have to sell things. The premium farmland eldest aunt gave me had been left fallow for a long time. There’s a penalty for uncultivated land every month, equivalent to a month’s silver. When I got the land, it had already been neglected for a long time. The compensation alone was huge. Without selling spiritual treasures, I wouldn’t have been able to repay the money.”
He looked at Liu Xian, who was watching the scene with a forced smile.
Liu Xian was originally enjoying the fact that she managed to give Xiao Jingting penalized farmland—but she didn’t expect Xiao Jingting to ask her for money.
Wang Lu looked at Liu Xian with a murderous gaze.
Liu Xian awkwardly smiled and said, “Jingting, what are you saying? The farmland was left fallow when you got it? Such good land left fallow—I didn’t know!”
“That land was not only fallow and punished with fines but was also frequently haunted by beasts. Eldest aunt must have been deceived into giving me such land. Fortunately, Second Brother helped. Otherwise, even if we planted spiritual plants, the beasts would have destroyed everything,” Xiao Jingting said coldly.
Wang Lu’s expression grew even grimmer.
“Eldest aunt, how could you give me such land? Because of this land, I was cheated by the Hou family out of 2,000 taels of silver. Eldest aunt, remember to give me that money! You were tricked into giving me such land and had me pay the unjust money. That’s unreasonable!” Xiao Jingting said righteously.
Under Wang Lu’s sharp glance, Liu Xian could only admit, “It was eldest aunt’s negligence. That money naturally comes from eldest aunt.”
Liu Xian gritted her teeth. She had been pleased about giving penalized land to Xiao Jingting but now felt clueless after he asked her for money.
Xiao Jingting felt better after hearing that. Actually, the penalty was only 1,500 taels, and Xiao Jingting casually asked for another 500 taels. Two thousand taels was not much for current Xiao Jingting, but also not trivial.
Xiao Qingyan didn’t care about Xiao Jingting’s experiences in Tuqiu Village; he only cared about spiritual treasures.
“Third brother, where did you sell the spiritual treasures? There are many scammers now; you could easily be fooled,” Xiao Qingyan asked reluctantly. If Xiao Jingting sold the treasures in a nearby small town, there might still be a chance to retrieve them. Small towns don’t usually have experts.
“I entrusted Second Brother to sell them to the big trade houses in Feng City,” Xiao Jingting answered.
“Feng City,” Xiao Qingyan’s eyes suddenly widened as if he recalled something and looked at Xiao Jingfeng. “Jingfeng, when I met you in Feng City that time, you were selling spiritual treasures, right?”
“Yes,” Xiao Jingfeng nodded.
Xiao Qingyan frowned darkly, “We’re brothers. For such a big matter, why didn’t you tell me?”
Xiao Jingfeng sneered twice, “Big brother, I wanted to tell you, but you never gave me a chance! You told me not to call you big brother. You said you didn’t have a shameless little brother like me and told me to leave Feng City quickly and not cause you trouble. So, as soon as I sold the spiritual plants, I immediately left Feng City.”
Xiao Qingyan’s face turned pale and flushed repeatedly.
Xiao Jingting looked at Xiao Jingfeng’s expression and thought to himself: Many offer congratulations in bloom but few come to help in the cold. Xiao Jingfeng must have held great hope for Xiao Qingyan when he was low, but sadly…
Xiao Qingyan was really heartless seeing his own brother fall.
Xiao Qingyan looked coldly at Xiao Jingfeng’s indifferent profile, angry at Xiao Jingfeng’s ruthlessness, but secretly regretted his own poor attitude toward Xiao Jingfeng. If he had been kinder, Xiao Jingfeng might have revealed the treasures and perhaps be at sixth-level Qi Refining now.
Lately, many told Xiao Qingyan that their family had three great talents, all at fifth-level Qi Refining. Some half-jokingly urged him to train harder so the two younger brothers wouldn’t surpass him.
Xiao Jingfeng and Xiao Jingting’s advancement to fifth-level Qi Refining put great pressure on Xiao Qingyan.
Xiao Qingyan worried that if the two younger brothers surpassed him, he would be the family laughingstock—having been the outstanding one all his life.
Xiao Linfeng rubbed his forehead, looking troubled.
Seeing Xiao Jingfeng’s expression, Xiao Linfeng knew Xiao Jingfeng held a deep grudge against Xiao Qingyan. Xiao Linfeng had hoped Xiao Jingfeng would grow and support Xiao Qingyan, but given the tension, that seemed unlikely.
“Third brother, if you have spiritual treasures, you should share some with the eldest brother!” Xiao Linfeng said a little reproachfully.
Xiao Qingyan was still Xiao Linfeng’s favorite son at heart and the latter wanted to gain more benefits for him.
Xiao Jingting was uncomfortable inside but didn’t show it on his face. He awkwardly smiled and said, “Father, back then, if I hadn’t paid the silver, I would’ve been sent to prison. At that time, I couldn’t think about big brother.”
Wang Lu glanced sharply at Liu Xian.
Seeing the tense atmosphere among the three brothers, Xiao Linfeng said, “Fine, if you want to move out, then move out. I’ll give you ten acres of premium farmland, twenty acres of medium farmland, and thirty acres of lower-grade farmland.”
Xiao Jingting was excited, “Thank you, Father.” At least a real father is more generous than the eldest aunt. The farmland Xiao Linfeng gave should be in a good location.
“Work hard. Your debts are not light,” Xiao Linfeng said.
Xiao Jingting nodded, “I know.” Xiao Jingting thought: Xiao Linfeng meant that he probably wouldn’t care about the monthly debt of ten thousand taels.
Xiao Jingfeng stood up and said, “Father, I want some farmland too.”
Wang Lu looked at Xiao Jingfeng with some resistance, “You’re not a spirit planter; what do you want farmland for?”
Xiao Qingyan immediately agreed, “Yeah! Second brother, your properties can only ruin spiritual plants. You’ll lose money instead of making it. We have plenty of land at home; it can’t be wasted like that.”
“I’m not the one; Shuyu is! She’s at fifth-level Qi Refining. With farmland, we can earn some pocket money to raise the kids,” Xiao Jingfeng said.
Wang Lu sighed softly, “Alright.”
Xiao Qingyan listened grimly. He originally wanted to use the spirit tower to embarrass Xiao Jingting in front of parents, but unexpectedly, Xiao Jingting used the opportunity to ask for farmland.
“Father, Mother, you can’t be partial! Don’t only give land to second and third brothers!” Zheng Peier said.
“Eldest son, you want farmland too?” Xiao Linfeng asked Xiao Qingyan.
Xiao Qingyan nodded.
Xiao Linfeng nodded, “Okay, you too then.”
Xiao Jingting glanced at Xiao Qingyan and thought: Students at Bifeng Academy probably can’t leave the academy for long. Even if Xiao Qingyan got farmland, he wouldn’t have time to tend it.
Xiao Jingting quietly sympathized with Second Brother. When Xiao Qingyan wanted farmland, Wang Lu even asked, “You’re not a spirit planter, why do you want it?” But after Xiao Qingyan spoke, the parents gave him land anyway, even knowing he couldn’t take care of it.
Edited by: Tetsu
Proofreader: Taalia
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