"Alii, are you going to town?" Li Zhiyuan asked.
Li Zhiyuan didn’t persuade further; the town was crowded and indeed not suitable for Alii.
"Wait a minute." Liu Yumei called out to Li Zhiyuan, took off a pair of earrings from her ears and handed them over, "This is a gift from our Alii."
Li Zhiyuan didn’t reach out to take them, saying, "Grandma, it’s too valuable."
"But it’s really not appropriate."
Liu Yumei turned and entered the house, took out a stack of money, and placed it on the coffee table:
"Go buy a gift for Alii too."
"Okay." Li Zhiyuan did not take all of it, just one bill, "Alright, Grandma."
After the three boys rode away in the tricycle, Aunt Liu came over with a bottle of hot water, ready to make tea for Liu Yumei. Seeing the money on the coffee table, she asked with a smile:
"So he didn’t take it?"
Liu Yumei shook her head, somewhat amused and frustrated, "That kid, probably thinks our money stings."
"Xiao Yuan is careful by nature, tends to overthink things."
Liu Yumei shook her head, "He’s not looking at how tough that girl is, like something else, even if the money stings, she can still spend it."
"I know that girl, the village says her family’s fate is tough, but Xiao Yuan probably doesn’t believe in these things."
"He doesn’t believe?" Liu Yumei picked up the teacup, "He’s even keen on books made of Buddha Skin Paper, do you think he can’t see that the girl has a tough fate?"
"Maybe, this kid always seems to know a lot quietly."
"It’s a special time now, we can’t interfere, when Alii’s illness is completely cured, the chains on us will loosen up. I plan to take this kid as a registered disciple."
"Then what are you planning to pass on to him, the Liu family’s or the Qin family’s?"
Liu Yumei smiled, naturally stating: "Of course, Liu’s Qi Observation Technique."
"It might not be up to you to choose by then."
"With him and Alii being so close, once Alii is well, wouldn’t she teach him anything he wants?"
"It’s useless, each family has its own method of passing down techniques. These inheritances, even if they’re clearly written in books, without a master leading the way, one can at best glimpse the surface, it’s not really possible to truly learn."
At this point, Liu Yumei suddenly had the idea of teasing her granddaughter, also because her granddaughter had agreed to attend someone’s birthday party, which delighted her.
Entering the room, she took out a book titled "Liu’s Qi Observation Technique."
The girl sat on the stool, feet resting on the doorstep, but this time, she wasn’t just looking straight ahead, her gaze slowly moved, looking around.
"Alii, do you think Grandma should let Xiao Yuan read this book in the future?"
Last time when she knew the boy needed money, her granddaughter took all the gold bars and bills in the room.
The kid likes to read books; wouldn’t her granddaughter want to rush to give it to him?
But her granddaughter’s reaction now puzzled Liu Yumei; Alii actually ignored the book in her hand.
Did she not see it clearly?
Liu Yumei moved the book closer to Alii’s face.
Alii knocked the book to the ground.
Liu Yumei bent down to pick up the book with confusion, blew the dust off it; she was not much pleased, but rather nervous:
Ah, why is my granddaughter’s elbow turning inwards again?
"Xiao Yuan, are you going to Shinan Town or Shigang Town?"
Tan Wenbin patted Run Sheng’s back and said, "Of course, to Shigang Town, there’s only a few shops in Shinan Town."
"Brother Runsheng, let’s head to Shigang Town then."
Tan Wenbin propped his hands on the edge of the tricycle, facing the wind, pushed back his bangs and said, "Don’t worry, I’m familiar with Shigang Town, I’ll definitely help you pick out a good gift."
Arriving at the boundary of Shigang Town, they passed the grand entrance to Shigang Middle School; Shinan had a junior high but no senior high, so Yingzi, Panzi, and Leizi also studied here.
Tan Wenbin pointed at the school gate and said, "Brother Xiao Yuan, look, this will be your alma mater in the future."
It was Li Zhiyuan’s first time hearing the phrase ’future alma mater.’
On the first teaching building of the school hung two banners: "Today I take pride in my alma mater, tomorrow my alma mater will be proud of me."
"Brother Bin, you’re going back to school in a couple of days, right?"
"Don’t worry about it, no chance, everyone has already collectively written to the education bureau to report the summer classes."
"Did you organize it?"
"Hehe." Tan Wenbin riffled his hair with the wind, "It was indeed I!"
Run Sheng said, "Xiao Yuan, will you be coming here for school in the future?"
"Yeah, you just found out?" Tan Wenbin hurriedly replied.
Run Sheng: "Then great, I’ll ride my bike to pick you up for school every morning and evening."
Tan Wenbin: "The school has dormitories."
Li Zhiyuan: "I’m not staying in the dormitory."
The Grand Master’s House wasn’t very far from here, with Brother Runsheng to pick up and drop off, having good food and drink at home, a spacious bed and Alii.
"How are you going to manage morning and evening study sessions? Our morning sessions start at six and the evening sessions end at ten, think about how early you’d have to get up and how late you’d be back home."
"Then I just won’t attend the morning and evening study sessions."
Tan Wenbin suddenly felt Brother Xiao Yuan had a point.
If he dared to say the same thing to Tan Yunlong, his dad would definitely be unbuckling his belt next.
"Brother Xiao Yuan, then you might as well not come to school when you’re in a bad mood or the weather’s bad."
In Li Zhiyuan’s eyes, how could he let something like school interfere with his searching for corpses.
"Damn it, I’m so envious of you, why can’t I do the same!"
Run Sheng: "You don’t have the brains for it."