Chapter 161: Planning for Him

Wang Mei slapped her thigh. "Oh, right! I hadn’t even thought of that. You... what are you going to do if you can’t even recognize your own wife in the future?"

Being stared at by his whole family, Yun Chenbei’s face turned beet red. He hung his head, not daring to look back at them.

"I... I’m still young."

"Young my ass! You’re already sixteen. Plenty of people are going on match-making dates and finding partners at your age."

In the end, Yun Chenbei made up an excuse to leave, practically fleeing in defeat.

This little interlude helped to dispel some of the heavy atmosphere.

Granny Yun instructed, "Since our fourth boy is going to learn to be a carpenter from Old Man Mu, we need to prepare a proper gift to send him. If Old Man Mu is going to teach him seriously, we have to show our sincere gratitude."

"Let’s bring a cured pork leg."

Once the decision was made, it was up to them, the adults, to plan properly for their child’s sake.

Aside from Yun Chenbei, everyone else in the Yun family thought Old Man Mu was just a carpenter.

And Yun Chenbei wasn’t about to go around telling everyone that his master was not only a carpenter, but also a sculptor and a Mechanical Master.

Even if he did, they probably wouldn’t understand anyway.

While the adults were talking, Yun Jiao snuck into her fourth brother’s room.

"Fourth Brother."

"Jiaojiao, come in."

Yun Jiao walked over. "Fourth Brother, can you teach me how to write then? Jiaojiao wants to write to Eldest Brother and Second Brother."

"Okay."

Yun Chenbei readily agreed. He took out a palm-sized, half-finished wood carving to show her.

"Look."

His tone, no longer cautious like before, was now tinged with a hint of anticipation.

"Wow, is that me? And a killer whale! It’s Jiaojiao riding a killer whale."

Yun Chenbei nodded. "It’s not finished yet. The face and hair are a bit difficult to carve. Master helped me with it."

"You’re still super amazing, Brother."

Hearing his little sister call him amazing was enough to satisfy Yun Chenbei.

Yun Jiao admired the small wood carving for a moment before handing it back to him.

"Fourth Brother, are you going to see Grandpa Mu today? I want to go too."

"Okay."

It wasn’t just Yun Jiao who wanted to go. Except for those away at school, the entire family was going, and they had all changed into new clothes.

Yun Chenbei was speechless. ’...Aren’t there a few too many people?’

But he also knew that Grandpa Yun and the others were doing this for him.

He couldn’t help but feel touched.

Looking at the pork leg, the corner of Yun Chenbei’s mouth twitched.

"Grandma, we’re not bringing this."

Granny Yun’s face was full of disapproval. "He’s your master. From now on, you’ll be following him to learn this trade, which makes him your elder. This is the most presentable thing our family has to offer right now. Oh, and Grandpa Yun, get out a bottle of that Maotai liquor. We’ll bring that too."

Mr. Yun didn’t hesitate either, turning to go get the bottle of liquor.

In fact, when Yun Chenbei had first told them he’d taken Old Man Mu as his master, they had already brought gifts like white sugar and dried noodles.

Granny Yun was a little vexed with herself. "We should have invited your master over for a meal and some drinks before. But our place is small and we’re so busy right now. We won’t be as busy once the new house is finished. When that time comes, Lin Hai, Lin He, Jiaojiao—you all go out to sea and find some good things to treat him with."

"Oh, right. Your master doesn’t have a bad impression of our family, does he? Will we be bothering him by showing up so suddenly?"

Yun Chenbei replied, "No, Master really likes the food our family makes."

Because his own cooking was truly terrible.

"That’s good."

"Master, uh, isn’t very good at cooking."

Yun Jiao added, "It’s terrible."

"The kind even a dog wouldn’t want to eat."

The Yun family: "..."

’Jiaojiao, you can’t say things like that to his face!’

Granny Yun said, "What does that matter? The gift must be delivered. If your master can’t cook it, then you cook it for him."

"It’s only right for you, as his apprentice, to show respect to your master. If you don’t know how to cook, just watch us and learn. It’s really simple."

One person against so many, Yun Chenbei couldn’t win the argument, so he could only tag along with everyone to his master’s house.

Yun Jiao went to Granny Liu’s house and gathered up the two puppies in her arms.

Because their father was at Grandpa Mu’s house.

She wondered if he was still there.

Old Man Mu’s house was in a remote location, and he rarely had so many visitors.

Hearing a knock, he opened the door and was stunned by the sight.

"Beixiaozi, didn’t you go to school?"

"Brother Mu, we hope we’re not disturbing you by coming here?"

Old Man Mu shook his head and stepped aside from the door. "It’s just me at home, what is there to disturb? Come on in."

Of course, if it had been anyone else, the eccentric old man would have bluntly said they were, indeed, disturbing him.

But these were his own apprentice’s relatives. Besides, he was quite fond of that little girl, Yun Jiao. And on top of that, he had enjoyed more than one meal prepared by his apprentice’s family.

Old Man Mu brought out a few stools, and everyone sat down in the courtyard.

Yun Jiao, with the two chubby puppies waddling behind her, happily went to call for Big Black.

She just called him Big Black, a name similar to Dabai—simple and easy to remember.

Meanwhile, Grandpa Yun and the others didn’t beat around the bush and explained Yun Chenbei’s situation to Old Man Mu.

Old Man Mu took a puff from his long-stemmed pipe. "So that’s why the boy doesn’t like to go out."

Since he lived alone, Yun Chenbei didn’t have any trouble recognizing him.

"So, you’re not going to school anymore?"

Yun Chenbei nodded. "I... my grades aren’t very good. Even if I kept studying, I wouldn’t get into a good school later on. Besides, I prefer doing woodwork."

Old Man Mu snorted. "Woodworking is a skill too. If you master it, it’s no worse than going to a university."

"Some of those universities even have programs for this. And the professors there aren’t necessarily better teachers than I am."

He was quite confident in his own abilities.

Yun Chenbei looked at him, his eyes sparkling.

Old Man Mu was a bit taken aback by the boy’s gaze. ’There’s no need to worship me *that* much.’

Still, he was quite pleased.

Grandpa Yun grasped Old Man Mu’s hand gratefully. "Then from now on, we’ll have to trouble you with our boy, Brother Mu."

Old Man Mu nodded. "Since I’ve accepted him as my apprentice, I will naturally teach him well. The boy, Chenbei, has some talent in this area."

Surprisingly, Old Man Mu got along very well with the family. In the end, he insisted they stay for a meal.

"I don’t know how to cook this pork leg. It would be a waste of good food to give it to me. I’ll have to trouble you, ma’am."

Granny Yun smiled and said, "We’re all one family, no need to be so formal!"

And with that, everyone got busy.

It was a rare burst of liveliness in Old Man Mu’s house. Smoking his pipe with his hands clasped behind his back, he wandered over to see what Yun Jiao was up to.

"What are you doing over here?"

Yun Jiao was rummaging through Big Black’s fur while the two chubby puppies yelped as they clambered all over the big dog.

"Big Black has bugs on him, Grandpa Mu, look."

Old Man Mu took a look. "Whoa! That’s a huge louse!"

"This stupid dog, how long has it been since he’s had a bath?"

"And you’re leaning all over him. Aren’t you afraid of those lice getting on you!"

Yun Jiao stuck her chest out proudly. "I’m not scared!"

Old Man Mu grabbed her and pulled her away. "You’re not scared? Well, I am, and your mom and the others are! Why can’t you keep your hands to yourself? And this dog needs a bath. Good thing this old man didn’t let him in the house!"