CHAPTER 388: CHAPTER 370 MU YUANXIU IS THE SMARTEST PERSON (1)

Having someone to help look after the child, Sister-in-law Chai naturally couldn’t ask for more.

But she felt embarrassed to actually ask the Li Family to look after her child, saying something about asking Chai Eying to watch the child, but Chai Eying was pregnant!

In the end, wouldn’t it still be the other members of the Li Family looking after Chai Tianlang?

"If someone can help me watch over Tianlang, of course, I’m happy, but wouldn’t this bring trouble to your family? He’s still young and doesn’t understand things," Sister-in-law Chai said embarrassedly.

"I think he behaves better than Jingjing, Jingjing learned quite a few manners from him," Li Yuzhu laughed and said, "If Sister-in-law Chai is assured, just leave him with us. Once we close the gates of our house, they can’t run out and can only play in the yard. Sister-in-law Chai has seen that yard; it’s big enough for a carriage to run."

The Li Family’s courtyard lacks ponds, rockeries, and high buildings with stairs, making it very suitable for children to play.

After Guoguo learned to walk, she often played hide and seek in the yard with Jingjing.

However, Guoguo is small and runs slowly, so Li Jing doesn’t really like playing with her.

Sister-in-law Chai thought about it and then smiled, "Alright, then I’ll trouble you."

"If this little guy causes any trouble, just send word, and I’ll immediately come to fetch him," Eldest Young Master Chai smiled and said.

"I won’t cause trouble!" Chai Tianlang, who understood the adults’ words, responded loudly.

"Neither will I," Li Jing patted his chest and followed suit.

This made everyone laugh.

That night, Li Jing still stayed at Sister-in-law Chai’s shop, keeping company with Chai Tianlang.

Li Yuzhu and Li Xing’an went to stay at the County Magistrate Mansion.

At dawn the next day, Li Yuzhu, Li Xing’an, and Li Lixing came to pick up the two children.

Knowing they’d be living together for quite a while, the two kids got up early, waiting for Li Yuzhu and the others.

"They got up as soon as it was light," Sister-in-law Chai laughed, packing Chai Tianlang’s clothes into a big bundle and placing them in Li Lixing’s carriage.

In the carriage, there were also the luggage of Li Yuzhu and the others.

Li Yuzhu smiled and said, "The next time we return to town is after the Mid-Autumn Festival. Sister-in-law Chai, come to our house for the festival? Then we’ll go to town together again."

Eldest Young Master Chai laughed, "We’ll return to the old house to pick up your sister-in-law for the festival. Getting together sounds good."

They agreed on a time to meet and waved goodbye.

Chai Tianlang leaned at the carriage window, waved to his parents, and then turned to talk to Li Jing.

The two kids chatted enthusiastically, completely ignoring Sister-in-law Chai’s continuous nagging outside the carriage.

Sister-in-law Chai laughed and scolded, "Has this child forgotten his parents now that he has a friend?"

Chai Tianlang didn’t hear and continued chatting.

Eldest Young Master Chai laughed, "It’s not like he’s going to someone else’s home, just to his aunt’s home. There’s nothing to worry about."

"I’m only concerned that he talks too much. A perfectly good boy with a chatterbox mouth!" Sister-in-law Chai was both angry and amused, "When he grows up, what kind of job can he get? He might scare the owner away."

Eldest Young Master Chai laughed, "The kid’s only four, it’ll be at least fifteen years before he finds a job! We’ll see by then, maybe he won’t like talking anymore?"

Li Yuzhu waved to Eldest Young Master Chai and his wife, shouting for Qin Hu to drive the carriage onto the main road.

The journey back to the village was long, and the two kids talked the whole way on the carriage, and they were still talking when they reached the Li Family’s house.

Throughout the journey, Li Xing’an plugged the corners of two handkerchiefs in his ears, but it was no use.

"I think you two should start learning to tell stories now. It can be a way to make a living in the future," Li Xing’an said as he lifted the two kids off the carriage,

Li Jing didn’t understand and asked, "Third Uncle, what does storytelling mean?"

Li Xing’an pointed at the two of them, "Just like you two, chattering non-stop, that’s storytelling."

"Then, what does making a living mean?" Li Jing asked again.

"It means earning money," Li Xing’an said while carrying the luggage.

Chai Tianlang was surprised, "We can earn money by talking this way?"

Li Xing’an nodded, "Of course."

"Third Uncle, we talked all the way, and you listened all the way, pay up?" Li Jing extended his hand to Li Xing’an, then seeing that Chai Tianlang hadn’t reacted, grabbed Chai Tianlang’s hand and opened it, "Brother Tianlang wants some too."

Li Xing’an was dumbfounded, "..."

Li Lixing clapped his hands and laughed, "Li Xing’an, you’ve fallen for their trap!"

"Naughty brats, get inside!" Li Xing’an picked up one in each hand and carried them into the house.

After bugging him, they still wanted money?

Keep dreaming!

Once inside the house, there were plenty of helpers, and Li Jing shouted, "Help, Third Uncle owes us money and won’t pay! Help!"

Uncle Gui came out first, "Hey? Third Brother, you owe Jingjing money?"

Uncle Gui was part of Chai Eying’s dowry and after becoming familiar at the Li Family, called Li Xingmao Third Son-in-law, called Second Young Master Li Second Young Master, and called Li Xing’an Third Young Master.

Chai Eying heard the commotion and came over immediately, "What’s going on? Third Brother, why are you holding the two kids like this? Put them down quickly!"

"He owes us money and won’t pay, Aunt Chai, you help me ask Third Uncle for the money." Li Jing’s collar was still in Li Xing’an’s hand, his feet dangling in the air, but his momentum was strong, pointing at Li Xing’an to complain to Chai Eying.

Chai Eying, "..." didn’t understand.

Li Xing’an loosened his grip, and the two kids landed simultaneously.

Actually, he didn’t hold them high; the kids’ feet bounced on the ground twice before they were energetically clamoring for money again.

Li Xing’an, with a dark face, said, "Alright, alright, you little brats, I’ll give your money back."

He fished a handful of coins from his pocket, gave five coins each to Li Jing and Chai Tianlang, and sent them off.

Chai Eying asked Li Yuzhu the reason, but before she could answer, Li Lixing replied first.

"Why is Tian Lang leading the mischief? He’s going to teach Jingjing bad things." Chai Eying covered her forehead and chased after the two children.

Li Jing ran towards the back courtyard with Chai Tianlang to see Prince Luling and his wife.

Upon hearing Li Jing’s loud voice, Prince Luling and his wife came out of the house with Guoguo.

Li Jing was only a little over three years old and couldn’t articulate complex things entirely, but with the help of Chai Tianlang, who was a few months older, Prince Luling and his wife understood what they were saying.

"Oh, so Tian Lang wants to stay at our house," Princess Consort Luling laughed, "That’s fine, I agree, that way Jingjing and Guoguo will have a playmate."

"He’ll be staying for many days," Li Jing added.

"How many days?" Chai Eying came over and asked with a smile.

The two kids couldn’t recall the adults’ words about how many days.

"My parents said they’d come to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival," Chai Tianlang remembered something and mentioned it.

Princess Consort Luling laughed, "The Mid-Autumn Festival is still far away, that means Tian Lang will stay here for half a month."

Li Jing blinked, "What moon is half a month?"

Chai Eying smiled and patted his head, "It’s fifteen days, the number you count with one hand three times."

Li Jing made an "oh" sound, "Three hands is half a moon?" It doesn’t look like a moon when combined!

Arranging Chai Tianlang’s stay was easy.

Princess Consort Luling let him sleep in the same bed as Li Jing.

Li Jing happily pulled Chai Tianlang to show him his cartoon-embroidered bedsheet.

.

After Chai Tianlang arrived at the Li Family, the laughter in the house increased.

With more children, came more plotting, and ideas. The three children played differently each day.

The Li Family worried they would cause trouble, so arranged for someone to watch them in shifts every day.

Sometimes, the brothers in the Li Family played with them, sometimes, the sisters Li Yuzhu did.

Mu Yuanxiu also helped out, taking them to his small cabin to watch him weave baskets.

The children watched with great interest.

Moreover, most of the time, the children liked to follow Mu Yuanxiu around.

Because Mu Yuanxiu could do anything, he could chop trees, make little stools, dig pits to catch wild rabbits, use a slingshot to shoot birds, braid Guoguo’s hair, and even make delicious egg meat rolls.

He could whistle, climb trees.

Spinning tops made tops spin for so long without stopping.

Counting numbers he could count to a thousand, while the smartest Chai Tianlang could only count to two hundred, often forgetting while counting, but when Mu Yuanxiu counted from one to a thousand, he didn’t stop to take a breath. Mu Yuanxiu was too smart!

Mu Yuanxiu was simply omnipotent.

The three children worshiped Mu Yuanxiu so much they almost prostrated themselves.

Additionally, Mu Yuanxiu could write their three names.

Li Jing admired Chai Tianlang for not being able to write the word "Lang," Li Jing himself couldn’t write "Chai" and "Lang," and he thought Guoguo was the dumbest because she couldn’t write a single word, not even her own name "Guo."

Li Jing worriedly looked at Guoguo, "Guoguo, you don’t recognize a single word, so dumb, what will you do when you grow up?"

Guoguo glared at him with a dark expression, "..."

"Guoguo, you need to be like Uncle Yuanxiu who can do everything," Li Jing added.

Mu Yuanxiu laughed and patted Li Jing on the back of his head.

...

From when Chai Tianlang came to the Li Family, these half a month until the Mid-Autumn Festival were the busiest days for the Second Princess.

She was busy making mooncakes.

When other family members had free time, they would lend a hand to help her.

The Second Princess had always been skilled in cooking.

In just half a month, she made a net profit of sixteen liang of silver.

The business was run together by her and Second Young Master Li Xingsheng.

They each divided eight liang.

"If only there was a food festival every month!" The Second Princess counted money, smiling broadly.

The Great Princess snorted coldly, "It would be better to celebrate the Qixi Festival every month, my handkerchief sachets sell fast."

Li Jing objected, "It would be best to celebrate New Year every month, that way I could receive red envelopes every month."

The Great Princess, Second Princess, Li Yuzhu, and Second Young Master Li Xing’an all objected together, "You’re dreaming!"

Li Jing liked receiving red envelopes monthly, but they had to give them out each month!

.

On the evening of the Mid-Autumn Festival, Eldest Young Master Chai and his wife came to the Li Family to pick up Chai Tianlang.

Chai Eying laughed and said, "Why are you two so late? A little later, the festival will be over!"

Sister-in-law Chai looked worried, "Something happened with the Zhao family, that’s what held us up."