Chapter 1530: Returning

Tingting ate some grilled meat before starting on the hotpot vegetables. She had told her sister about wanting to become an actress. Her sister had advised her to control her cravings. So even though she was tempted, she restrained herself and ate less.

Yang Run Tai didn’t say anything either. He had a general attitude towards Tingting, unlike how he was with Shi Xian and Ah Bao.

Finally, Shi Xian asked for twenty meat pies to take back for his sister.

"Brother Yang, aren’t you going to invite us to watch a movie?"

Yang Run Tai shook his head with a smile, "Not today, but in a few days I’ll make up for it. You can watch a few shows at your leisure, my treat."

The four youngsters didn’t show any disappointment.

"Brother Yang, we’re headed in opposite directions. I’ll take these four back home. Sorry for taking up your time today."

He had just returned and hadn’t even stepped into his home before being dragged out to host by our group, he felt it was quite impolite.

"Alright. Be careful on your way home."

The five of them walked home, and snowflakes started falling again, but not heavily.

After living in the Northeast for so many years, they were already accustomed to the cold. So even though it was snowing in the Capital, they didn’t feel especially cold.

"You three, calm down a bit. We just ate, don’t be too rambunctious, or you’ll feel uncomfortable later."

The three obediently stopped their horseplay.

"Second brother, this guy Yang isn’t too bad," Ah Bao said with a laugh.

"Hmm, just one meal and you’re won over, is that all it takes?

Besides, you’re also a Yang, remember?"

"Just because I’m a Yang too, what does that have to do with him? Oh right, Master Shang said that maybe five hundred years ago we were from the same family."

When they got home, they didn’t feel stuffed anymore. Their parents, Master Shang, and their sister were in the living room. Their sister was playing the piano while the three listened.

Tingting ran over to Jiang Xinyu, "Mom, we’re back."

"So, did you satisfy your cravings today?"

The three boys nodded, "Yes, and tomorrow morning we’ll have to hold horse stances for twenty more minutes."

Shi Xian quite obediently mentioned the extra exercise for tomorrow.

Ah Bao and Er Bao looked at their second brother with resentment.

Shi Xian glanced at his naive younger brothers, hadn’t they noticed their dad’s displeased expression? They really were too dense. It’s better to add more for oneself than to let dad or Monk Master add more.

Jiang Xinyu gave each of them a cup of hot water and only then allowed them to go wash up and rest.

When Yang Run Tai got home, he saw his grandfather wearing a disgruntled look.

"Coming back and not even coming home?"

"Isn’t this me coming back to see you now?"

"I was waiting to have dinner with you. From the smell on you, you must have had hotpot lamb."

"Tomorrow we can go have it as a family."

"That’s more like it. He Run, why do you still want to go to university?"

"To increase my value."

Yang Jiu Long knew his grandson had plans in mind. "Hurry and go take a bath; hot water is ready for you."

After washing up, Yang Run Tai didn’t rest; he still had a lot of work. Over the past few years, his path had already been paved, leading to a large workload.

It wasn’t until after ten that he wrapped up his work. Taking out his wallet, he smiled at the slightly stiff photo of the pretty girl.

She wasn’t used to having her photo taken. The little girl was growing prettier each day. Her looks were surely going to cause trouble. Who knows how many people will pursue her once she gets to university?

The next day, Shi Jing and Feifei joined the younger ones in extending their exercise by twenty minutes.

After breakfast, the four youngsters headed to Teacher Zheng’s house.

They didn’t need to be taken there; the four went on their own. Although the three boys couldn’t sit still, they were doing well, now able to play a full piece.

Tingting was very diligent. Her sister had told her that if she wanted to achieve her dreams, she must work hard.

If she wanted to be an actress, she definitely had to work hard at her piano lessons.

So she diligently studied, despite lacking talent, making up for it with effort and persistence.

In the morning, Feifei tidied up at home and then read the newspaper to Master Shang.

Shi Jing was studying "The Book of Changes;" he had a liking and a bit of talent for it.

Feifei didn’t like topics related to the Five Elements and Eight Trigrams, so she wasn’t interested in learning them.

Jianbin arrived, and Feifei laughed at the sight of him.

"Do you have to be like this?"

"It’s just a few days away, how about you go?" Jianbin gave Feifei a pointed look, this guy finding schadenfreude amusing. Uncle Wei was much better; if not for Uncle Wei’s strong opposition, Dad would’ve dragged Feifei and Shi Jing along too.

"You go ahead. How does the saying go? Better for a fellow Taoist to die than oneself."

"I think so too."

"How’s the harvest?" Feifei quickly changed the subject to avoid riling him up further.

"I made a few thousand bucks on this trip; it’s the one thing I’m satisfied with."

"Haha, that doesn’t appeal to me. Why don’t you tell Shi Xian?"

"Hmph, he’ll definitely be over the moon if I take him with my dad, I’ve noticed their temperaments are pretty similar."

Both Shang Zhenkun and Feifei nodded in agreement. Yes, Shi Xian and Han Xiangjun had similarly flamboyant personalities.

"Aren’t you going out today?"

"Tonight I am. I’m thinking of having dumplings for lunch today."

"Sure, I’ll knead the dough. What filling do you want?"

"Cabbage and meat."

"Simple enough, you can handle cutting the meat and making the filling. It’ll be good for you to move around."

Jianbin waved it off. It was actually something meant for Shi Jing and the others to do.

Once the study had just the two of them, Jianbin picked up the newspaper to continue reading to Shang Zhenkun.

Feifei was still kneading the dough when Jing Chu and the others came with a few children.

"Sister-in-law, big sis, is dumplings for lunch okay?"

"Sure. We haven’t had dumplings in a long time."

Li Xue took over the dough work from Feifei; she handled the kneading.

Guodong and Chaoyang were in the living room, chatting with Shang Zhenkun, while the children played nearby.

"Brother Jianbin, where’s Sister Tingting?" Ruoyan asked.

"She’s learning piano."

Ruoyan grabbed onto Guodong’s hand, "Brother, I want to learn too."

Guodong nodded with a smile, "Sure. Jianbin, where are they learning? I’ll take Ruoyan there."

"I’ll take you. Actually, do Yiqing, Yixin, and Jing Chen want to go too? Ah Bao, Er Bao, and Shi Xian are all learning?"

Jing Chen thought for a while; since Second Uncle and the others were learning, might as well learn too.

Yiqing and Yixin looked at Jing Chen and nodded, following suit.

And so, Jianbin took them, and Chaoyang, holding Chenxi’s hand, went along too.

By the time they arrived, the lesson was almost over.

Ruoyan saw Tingting and happily ran over, "Sis, I’ve come to learn the piano too."

Tingting held Ruoyan’s hand, "Great, come listen to a piece I learned today, you’ll like it."

Jing Chen and the three boys were by Shi Xian’s side.

Er Bao sympathetically looked at the four of them, "Are you going to learn too?"

Jing Chen nodded, "Yes, since you’re all learning, we three will join to accompany our little aunt in learning."