Chapter 606 - 378: Directly Changing How One Addresses Others

Chapter 606: Chapter 378: Directly Changing How One Addresses Others

Everyone else was all shooed out, and little Mi and Wei Ziang were no exception.

Once they came out, it was like everyone’s curiosity finally burst its banks; they all started peppering Wei Ziang with questions.

Wei Ziang’s explanation came easily: he said something about suddenly remembering, secretly checking the others’ constitutions at home, and in the end confirming that only little Mi could learn that sort of thing.

Little Mi pricked up her ears and listened carefully at the side, then firmly memorized it so she wouldn’t slip up later.

Half an hour later, Jiang Hu and Second Mother opened the door and came out; both their expressions were grave, clearly they’d had a serious discussion.

A moment later, the whole family gathered in the main hall. Jiang Hu and Second Mother sat in the main seats, the other kids stood off to the sides, and only Wei Ziang stood straight across from the two of them.

"Ziang, tell us honestly: was this something you just thought up on the spur of the moment, or do you have a set plan?"

Jiang Hu’s face was dark. Even though he knew Wei Ziang was never a reckless person, the fact that he knew there was trouble at the border was enough to show this matter had been carefully thought through.

But he still couldn’t help thinking: what if this really was just a passing impulse? What if, once he calmed down, he wouldn’t want to go anymore?

Clearly, though, the two of them were overthinking it.

Right after Jiang Hu asked that question, Wei Ziang dropped to his knees with a thud, and banged his head on the floor three times in a row, "bang, bang, bang."

This move genuinely shocked everyone, but it also truly showed his determination.

For the first time, rare as it was, Wei Ziang spoke with solemn gravity.

"Father, Mother, back then when you took me in as your adopted son, it was only out of my own selfishness that I kept calling you Uncle and Aunt. But in my heart, I’ve always respected you as if you were my own parents."

"Today’s decision is something I came to only after long deliberation. Please rest assured—since I’ve decided, I will most certainly come back safe and sound."

Listening to him, little Mi wanted to say that her father and mother were just over thirty and not that old yet.

But she couldn’t laugh; she’d never seen Wei Ziang this solemn before, and hearing the resolve in his voice only made her worry more.

Even knowing how capable Wei Ziang was now—far beyond what Father, Mother, and Big Brother had seen—blades and arrows had no eyes, and this was war on top of that.

Most importantly, Wei Ziang was only eleven. Even if he looked a bit taller and more mature than his peers, he was still just eleven.

How could she not worry?

Up above, Second Mother had already started wiping away tears.

Though Wei Ziang always called her "Aunt," in name he was indeed the Jiang family’s adopted son; and after all these years, she’d always treated him as her own child.

Now the child suddenly said he was going to enlist, and to such a dangerous place at that—how could she not worry?

But everyone could see that, with Wei Ziang having gone this far, it fully demonstrated his resolve; trying to forcefully stop him probably wouldn’t work.

Jiang Hu fixed his eyes on Wei Ziang for a long while before his imposing air finally sagged. He waved his hand weakly and said, "Get up first."

It looked like he had already compromised.

Second Mother covered her face with her hand and burst into tears outright. Jiang Hu held her hand with one of his, trying to soothe her, but it was clearly not very effective.

Wei Ziang stood up and went over in front of Second Mother, speaking gently: "Aunt, please set your mind at ease. I’ll be fine."

At the side, Jiang Hu, for the first time, snapped at him without much patience: "Just now you were calling us Father and Mother."

Wei Ziang froze for a moment, then suddenly glanced at little Mi standing on Jiang Hu’s other side, and instantly broke into a smile. "Father, Mother, this time I was in the wrong. I promise, I’ll be back within five years!"

Five years—sixteen. Just right.

By then, little Mi would be fourteen.

Beside them, Jiang Yu’s nose almost twisted out of shape from anger; he snorted directly. "You sure changed how you address them fast enough!"

Liu Ze didn’t say anything, but he nodded hard.

Exactly!

Strike while the iron’s hot; today really broadened his horizons.

Unfortunately, aside from the two of them, no one else understood what they meant.

Still, with that, the heavy atmosphere from earlier eased quite a bit.

Anyway, just based on the strength Wei Ziang had shown, he was indeed beyond ordinary people’s expectations.

That being the case, age didn’t seem so important anymore; a boy genius wasn’t bound by age.

Though the decision was made, he wasn’t leaving immediately. Wei Ziang set his departure for three days later.

Tomorrow he still had to go to the academy to tell his teacher and say farewell.

Second Mother cried for a while and then stopped, but she kept looking sad, and her eyes stayed red and swollen.

She didn’t even feel like cooking at noon. She went straight to catch two chickens and two rabbits, and even led a goat out.

Without his wife having to remind him, Jiang Hu already knew what she wanted to do. He picked up a knife and told the kids to go boil water.

Lunch was cooked by Wei Ziang, with little Mi helping out; after all, once these few days were past, if she wanted to eat his cooking again, she’d have to wait five years.

The other kids went to help Father and Mother.

They slaughtered chickens and geese—not only would they eat well these next few days, they also had to prepare dry rations for Wei Ziang’s journey.

As for the little goat, they stewed the bones and roasted two legs, and all the remaining meat was marinated. After a night of marinating, they would get up early the next morning to roast it all into jerky.

It was already the fourth month; the weather was getting hotter. But meat dried until it was very, very hard could still be kept for a while.

Even knowing that with Wei Ziang’s hunting skills and his knack for cooking, he wouldn’t let himself suffer even without their preparations—

They still couldn’t help fussing over him. Even Jiang Yu, who’d been angry at him for thinking about his little sister, forgot his anger for the time being and kept telling him to be careful and not act rashly.

Even though they knew Wei Ziang was always the patient type—otherwise he couldn’t have hidden how capable he was for so many years.

Over these three days, the other sisters didn’t go to the school or the embroidery workshop. They all stayed home, helping pack Wei Ziang’s things.

Little Xue and Second Mother even stayed up late to rush out more than ten sets of clothes for him, all in black and gray, easy for riding and traveling.

Little Mi couldn’t make clothes, but she rummaged through her space and found a few things.

"Big Bro, keep these on you and stash them secretly. Don’t let anyone see."

Little Mi took out one large and one small wooden box. She’d specially asked someone to buy them in town, since there weren’t any in her space.

Wei Ziang was curious. "What’s all this?"

He said as he opened the small box, and in the next instant his eyes went round. "This—ginseng? Such big ginseng? Little Mi, where did you get these?"

They were indeed ginseng, a matching pair at that, plump and round, with complete roots and moist soil still clinging to them.

One look and you could tell they’d just been dug out of the soil.

Little Mi snorted twice. "Don’t worry about that. Just keep them safe. They’re for emergencies."

Suppressing his shock, Wei Ziang forced himself to calm down, then opened the other big box.

This time, Wei Ziang was completely stunned.