CHAPTER 421: CHAPTER 0402: REFUSAL (2)

Lady Liu shivered when shouted at, "I... I... I’m the biological mother of Er Dan, I’m talking to him about something, why... Why can’t I say?"

Prince Luling sneered, pointing at Liu Yanbai, "He’s so young, and one of his arms is disabled, how can he work? Even if he did work and earn money, why should he give money to his brother? Is his brother perhaps disabled with both arms?"

Before Lady Liu could answer, someone herding a cow passing by laughed and said, "Teacher, the eldest son of Lady Liu from the Liu Family, his arms aren’t disabled. He’s fully able-bodied and a big fellow."

Prince Luling laughed, "Lady Liu, you expect a disabled son to support a fully-abled big son, does that make sense?"

Lady Liu stammered, "I’m thinking of Er Dan’s good. In his condition, he surely can’t get a wife. When he’s old, won’t he rely on his older brother’s children for support? If he gives a little money now to help his brother marry, how can his brother’s children not support his old age?"

Prince Luling laughed even more, "Lady Liu, even as his biological mother, you are unwilling to support him, pushing him out at such a young age, and you still expect his brother’s future children to support him? By then, he’ll be old and disabled, even more worthless. Would you really have the heart to support him then?"

"Ah, the teacher is right. In the village, there’s a family where, after the parents died early, the older brother took care of the younger siblings until they grew up, helping them marry and establish themselves. It delayed his own marriage. But when he got old, none of the three siblings supported him. Nephews and nieces couldn’t even be bothered to look at him. He died before sixty years old. That year, there was a heavy snow, his house collapsed, and he froze to death. No one in the village doesn’t know about it," continued the old man herding the cow.

Prince Luling asked Lady Liu, "Look, isn’t this a living example? That deceased older brother, with normal arms, was neglected by nephews and nieces, so what about Liu Yanbai, who has one less arm?"

Lady Liu was speechless, her face alternating between green and white.

But she still defiantly shouted, "If brothers calculate so clearly, are they still brothers?"

"Even real brothers should settle accounts clearly! Lady Liu," Prince Luling said coldly, "For his older brother’s marriage, if he helps, it should be within his means. If he has one thousand coins, he should give his older brother three hundred. If he has twenty liang, ten liang. It’s not about how much he has, and you wanting him to give everything. Should he not live? And this is just a loan, not a gift! Write a proper IOU, one hand gives the IOU, the other hand gives the money."

The old man herding the cow nodded, "The teacher is absolutely right. Many families in the village have relatives falling out, brothers turning into enemies, all because they didn’t write IOUs. The money lent is like throwing buns to a dog, gone forever. The side that got the money lives comfortably, while the side that lent struggles and is even scolded for being stingy and not valuing family ties, all for pursuing a bit of money. Bah, what kind of people don’t repay borrowed money?"

"The old man speaks wisely," Prince Luling bowed towards the old man.

The old man hurriedly waved his hands, "Oh, I dare not accept the teacher’s praise. I, an old man, am just talking about the village matters."

Liu Lady was left speechless by the exchange between the two.

She stammered, pointing at Liu Yanbai, "Fine, fine, fine, if you don’t help your brother today, don’t expect him to help you when you need it in the future, hmph!"

With that, she stormed off in anger.

Liu Yanbai continuously watched in the direction where Lady Liu had left, his expression defeated.

Prince Luling patted his shoulder, "Alright, don’t overthink it. For selfish people, even if you give them everything, they won’t be satisfied. If you agree this time, there will be a next time, endlessly entangling you. It’s better to refuse once and for all."

The old man herding the cow also said, "Er Dan, your teacher is right. You need help yourself, how do you have the ability to help others? They have hands and feet; let them find their own ways. They’ve driven you out of the house, and still want money from you, how does that make sense? Isn’t this bullying an honest person?"

Their alternating advice made Liu Yanbai feel a bit better.

He thanked the old man, "Thank you, Grandpa Chen."

"It’s getting late, hurry back with your teacher," the old man waved them off, herded the cow, and left.

Prince Luling and Liu Yanbai continued on their way.

Because of Lady Liu’s obstruction, they returned home a bit late.

When they arrived home, Second Young Master Li Xingsheng and others who went to the market had already returned. The whole family was just waiting for Prince Luling and Liu Yanbai to have dinner.

Li Yuzhu asked why they were late in returning.

Prince Luling explained the situation.

The whole family criticized Lady Liu, saying that driving someone out of the house and still expecting them to send money back, expecting a disabled son to support a fully-abled son, was too heartless.

Everyone spoke up for Liu Yanbai, advising him not to dwell on the matter and just live his own life well.

Liu Yanbai was very touched and became even more diligent at the Li Family.

He helped Nanny Jiang wash dishes and swept the floor.

Nanny Jiang couldn’t dissuade him.

He said he had to learn to do things; otherwise, he would truly become useless.

Even though he only had one arm that could exert strength, his dishwashing technique was not clumsy.

He used his left hand to place the bowls one by one into a dedicated dishwashing basin, then scooped clear water using his left hand to pour into the basin. With his underdeveloped right hand, which had minimal strength, he held the bowl, using his left hand with a cloth to wash.

Even though he washed slowly, he washed seriously. It took him two ke for twenty-some bowls and pots to be washed.

Li Yuzhu picked up a bowl and praised, "Washed very cleanly, just as clean as Nanny Jiang’s washing."

Nanny Jiang also praised him for being capable.

Liu Yanbai grinned wide with the praise.

Sweeping was a bit simpler; he used his left hand to hold the broom, gathered the fallen leaves in front of the kitchen and the mud brought in by everyone’s walking to one place, then used his disabled right hand to hold the dustpan, and swept the dirt into the dustpan with his left hand gripping the broom.

He did it slowly, but earnestly and well.

The three little kids kept watching him, observing how he worked.

The talkative Li Jing and Chai Tianlang kept praising him, "Wow, you’re amazing."

Liu Yanbai looked around and saw that the adults from the Li family weren’t nearby. He quietly asked the three kids, "Am I really amazing?"

Li Jing nodded, "Amazing. My third uncle and second uncle both have two arms, but they can’t sweep the floor and often get scolded by my grandma, saying they’re useless, can’t even sweep the floor properly."

Chai Tianlang added, "My dad can’t sweep the floor either. My mom says his greatest skill is eating, and he can’t do anything else." He sighed, "My mom makes me sweep the floor, but the broom is too heavy, and I can’t do it well."

Li Jing frowned, "I can’t sweep well either."

Guoguo glanced at the two brothers and sighed as well.

Liu Yanbai didn’t expect to be praised by the three little kids, so he smiled and patted the heads of Li Jing and Chai Tianlang, "It’s getting dark. Go call the adults to help you bathe and go to sleep."

"Oh, time to sleep, time to sleep." Li Jing and Chai Tianlang pulled Guoguo along and joyfully ran to find the adults.

.

With the help of Mu Yuanxiu, the open area for the Li Family School was leveled very quickly. By this evening, it was entirely flat.

By mid-morning the next day, the Liu family father and two sons arrived at the Li family with a man driving a mule cart.

The mule cart was loaded with blue bricks.

"There’s one more cart of tiles. I’ll go get it now. You can check the number of bricks first," said the driver.

Li Xingmao, Li Xing’an, and Mu Yuanxiu all put down their shovels used for digging ditches and came onto the road.

"Grandpa Liu, Uncle Liu, Uncle Liu," Mu Yuanxiu greeted them with a smile.

Liu the bricklayer chuckled, "Yuanxiu, you’re here too."

"I’m here to help out. More hands make light work," Mu Yuanxiu replied with a smile.

"Hahaha, that’s right, more hands do make light work," Liu the bricklayer laughed.

The Liu family father and sons and Mu Yuanxiu all began unloading the bricks from the cart, stacking them in the roadside trench. Li Xingmao stepped forward to count the number.

The numbers matched exactly.

As agreed, pay when the goods are all delivered.

But the goods weren’t all delivered yet.

The cart driver handed over a slip for Li Xingmao to sign his name and then went back to fetch the tiles for the roof.

Liu the bricklayer, with his pipe in hand, came over to look at the piece of land they had leveled.

He laughed and said, "You guys have leveled quite a big piece of land."

Li Xingmao said, "Father said more students might come, so we made it bigger. Also, having a bigger space makes it convenient for the kids to play. Our school will offer both literary and martial arts classes in the future, so we need a large area."

Liu the bricklayer said in surprise, "That’s great! We should build quickly so that my two mischievous grandsons can come and learn."

Liu Er laughed, "Dad, big brother said his grandson wants to come too."

Bringing up this again!

Liu Laoda’s grandson is still in Liu Da Niu’s belly and won’t be born for another three months.

"As if your grandson won’t be coming to study in the future," Liu Laoda laughed too.

Liu Er’s two sons are only fifteen and thirteen years old, just a couple of mischievous kids themselves. Who knows how long it’ll be before the grandson comes to study.

Liu Er laughed and pointed at Liu Laoda.

Li Xingmao also laughed along and said, "Then we’ll trouble Grandpa Liu and both Uncle Lius."

"Oh, it’s only natural," Liu the bricklayer laughed.

Building houses is their trade; it’s how they’ve made a living for years.

Before long, the mule cart driver brought another load of tiles.

Li Xingmao paid the money.

Bricks were one coin each, tiles two coins for three.

The Liu family already had the beams for the house.

With no shortage of materials, Liu the bricklayer led everyone to start digging the foundations.