Having a Baby Before Marrying a Wicked Husband - Chapter 124

The growth of the second sapling made the two old fathers somewhat worried. Yan Cai suspected whether it was because Keke had absorbed too much energy, causing the younger sapling to now suffer from malnutrition.

Originally, Keke as a seedlings didn’t grow as slowly as his younger sapling. The younger one has too few leaves, and its flowers are tiny, with no sign of blooming. Since they returned to the capital half a month ago, it’s still as small as a red bayberry, hanging pitifully on thin branches.

The color of the leaves isn’t vibrant enough, looking dry and yellowish.

“It can’t go on like this.” Yan Cai frets, looking at Jiang Manyue. “How can it keep growing poorly? Could it be bad feng shui?”

“Could it be that the soil and water here aren’t suitable for its growth?” Jiang Manyue gently strokes the leaves. Sensing Jiang Manyue’s touch, the leaves sway lightly and brush against his fingertips.

Seeing this, Keke quickly grabs hold, pressing his big face against the younger sapling’s tiny bud, overly enthusiastic, his saliva smearing all over the leaves and buds.

Yan Cai hurriedly lifts him away.

“You’re right. Qingke grew up in Qingqu at that time. Maybe the capital isn’t suitable for its growth. Let’s go back immediately.” Originally, they planned to wait until the younger sapling grew up before leaving, but with the current situation, they can’t delay leaving any longer.

However, they still have numerous shops and fields to manage in the capital. If they were to leave now, it’s probable they wouldn’t return for quite some time. Hence, they need to allocate some time to organize matters here.

One such establishment is Jixiangju, which was launched with Lin Shu. While the shop could continue functioning without Yan Cai, his absence would result in the loss of certain distinctive qualities.

Surprisingly, when Yan Cai discusses this with Lin Shu, Lin Shu expresses his intention to return to Qingqu as well.

He has been in the capital for more than a year, but he still hasn’t gotten used to the climate, customs, and dietary habits here. Moreover, the Lin family had sent letters urging him to return home. Lin Shu doesn’t understand why, after forcing him to the capital for studies before, now they want him back after just a little over a year.

However, the letters from home were urgent, and Lin Shu had no choice but to prepare to return to his hometown. As a result, with Yan Cai also returning to Qingqu, with both heads of the shop absent, can the business still continue?

After some consideration, they had no choice but to sell the shop to someone else. Since it was a rush sale, the price was much lower. Because of the prime location and the previous good business, someone even took over their trained employees.

They didn’t bother to raise the price; it was already quite favorable. Besides, Jiang Manyue still had many other shops to deal with. They sold some and kept some for profit. Jiang Manxing had no say in any of the family’s properties and estates.

Luckily, he had complete trust in Jiang Manyue, fully complying with his arrangements without any objection.

Jiang Manyue didn’t intend to treat him harshly, but Jiang Manxing didn’t care. It was better to keep the things in his eldest brother’s hands than to keep them himself.

Seeing that his older brother’s family was about to leave, Jiang Manxing felt reluctant. He didn’t want to live alone in this big house; he wouldn’t feel comfortable. In the end, he decided to go back to Qingqu with them.

Yan Cai asked him, “Aren’t you going to study anymore?” What’s the point of abandoning your studies and running away?”

“There is also an academy in Qingqu. Studying in the academy there is the same.”

“That’s not the same. Qingqu is a small place, while the capital is under the Emperor’s feet. Whether it’s the quality of teachers or everything else, it’s much better in the capital. I’ve only seen fools who insist on studying in the capital, but I’ve never seen someone as silly as you. Why go to the countryside to study instead of the Imperial College?”

Since his elder brother was present, Jiang Manxing didn’t dare to argue with Yan Cai. He just twisted his head and said, “Brother Yan, it’s really different here. Everything here is bad, nothing is as good as in Qingqu”

“How could that be? So many people strive to study at the Imperial College. You don’t appreciate what’s good; you lack vision.”

“No matter how good it is, I won’t go.” The more he spoke, the more anxious he became, and Jiang Manxing almost burst into tears. Keke, who had been paying attention to the younger sapling, suddenly looked up and saw his uncle shedding tears. He hurriedly ran over, embracing Jiang Manxing’s legs.

“Uncle Su Su! Hug!”

Jiang Manxing squatted down, lifted Keke, and tears flowed even more freely. Those unaware might have thought Yan Cai had bullied him.

“Why are you crying all of a sudden? It’s embarrassing to cry at your age. Your little nephew will laugh at you for crying.”

Jiang Manxing couldn’t hold back his sorrow any longer and burst into sobs.

“I want to go back to Qingqu with you, Brother Yan. I–I don’t want to be left here alone. Don’t abandon me, don’t reject me.”

Yan Cai was speechless, unsure whether to laugh or be angry.

“Who said we’re going to abandon you or don’t want you anymore? You idiot, it is better for you to stay here and study in the Imperial College than in the countryside.”

“No, no matter how good it is, I’m not staying.” Jiang Manxing sniffled. “I don’t want to stay here alone.”

Seeing that his brother-in-law was made to cry, Yan Cai felt embarrassed. It seemed like he had done something wrong.

Anyway, studying anywhere was still studying. There was no rule that said one had to study at the Imperial College to achieve good results. Jiang Manyue hadn’t studied at the Imperial College, and Lin Zhu had come from the Qingqu as well. There wasn’t much difference between students from the Imperial College and others.

“Alright, I’ll talk to your brother and let you come with us.”

After saying this, Jiang Manxing’s sobs turned to laughter. He was happy, but still couldn’t stop his sniffles. After crying for so long, his throat was hoarse, and his eyes were as swollen as walnuts.

“Quick, go get some eggs to apply on your eyes. Otherwise, you really won’t be presentable.”

Jiang Manxing agreed and went to the kitchen with his most cherished nephew to fetch some eggs to apply on his eyes. At that moment, he had no idea that there would soon be another nephew or niece added to the family.

Yan Cai, on the other hand, picked up the flowerpot that had been set down by the older brother and returned to his room.

Not only was Jiang Manxing going back to the Qingqu, but there was also another person accompanying them who surprised them: Lin Zhu.

Lin Zhu was different from Jiang Manyue. He held a leisurely position at the Hanlin Academy, leisurely enjoying access to its extensive collection of books. His life was quite comfortable. Moreover, he didn’t have the special circumstances like Jiang Manyue, so there was really no need for him to return to Qingqu.

It was known that it’s easy for officials to be transferred elsewhere, but transferring back to the capital could be quite troublesome. Otherwise, when Jiang Nan’s other son, Jiang Mantian, was assigned to work as an official outside, the Jiang family’s mistress wouldn’t have gone around trying to transfer him to a better place, so that he could be transferred directly back to the capital.

Yan Cai didn’t understand, but since he wasn’t close to Lin Zhu, whether Lin Zhu returned to the capital or not didn’t concern him.

On the contrary, after Jiang Manyue heard about this, he thought deeply for a moment, revealing a meaningful expression. Yan Cai had an intuition that Jiang Manyue must know something.

Jiang Manyue didn’t directly tell Yan Cai; he simply said that Yan Cai would know once they returned. However, they ended up returning to Qingqu much earlier than originally planned.

Afterwards, something happened that prompted them to leave the capital as soon as possible.