Chapter 3: 003 Fifth Master has been sick and eccentric for a long time, doesn’t know how to behave? I’ll teach you. Chapter 3: 003 Fifth Master has been sick and eccentric for a long time, doesn’t know how to behave? I’ll teach you. Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation The sky after the rain was cool due to the breeze, yet it still carried the lingering heat of midsummer.
As that person followed Old Tang into the room, his gaze met Tang Wan’s. She nodded slightly as a greeting, and at that moment, the wind blew in from outside, stirring a nameless restlessness within her.
“Fifth Master, please have a seat.” Zhang Liyun restrained her nervousness, discreetly observing the person in front of her.
At his age, being addressed as “Master” in Sijiu City was rare. Though he wasn’t very old, one needed to speak to him with a certain degree of politeness, considering the rumors that this person…
Did not have a good temper.
Perhaps due to prolonged illness, he had a pale complexion, cold as frost, making him hard to approach.
“Tang Madame, you’re too kind.” His voice was warm but carried a chilly undertone.
Tang Wan had already diverted her attention to her grandfather, Old Tang, who suddenly laughed. “Wanwan, isn’t it such a coincidence? I just went out for a stroll and met Xiaowu, so I brought him back with me. Pingjiang is really too small.”
“It is indeed quite a coincidence.” Tang Wan did not expose him, instead turning to the person beside him and politely greeting, “Fifth Master.”
That person merely nodded, his gaze indifferent, as if he had no interest in her whatsoever.
This Fifth Master Jiang’s full name was Jiang Jinsang.
He was simply an invalid; it was said that when he was seriously ill, he was either bedridden or reliant on a wheelchair, and it was only in recent years that his health had improved a bit.
The Jiang Family would love to keep him in a greenhouse; how could they possibly let him wander outside aimlessly!
“Why call him Fifth Master? You’re around the same age, just call him brother.” Old Tang laughed.
That person said nothing. However, Tang Wan had enough sense to understand that he did not refute out of respect for her grandfather, and she certainly wouldn’t be tactless enough to really call him brother.
“What were you two talking about earlier?” Old Tang noticed their distant expressions and promptly changed the subject.
Just now outside, he could tell that the atmosphere in the room was somewhat off but didn’t quite catch the gist of it.
“Nothing much, just chatting casually.” Zhang Liyun immediately spoke up, fearing Tang Wan might say something if she delayed for even a second.
At this moment, a servant from the Tang Family had just brewed tea and brought it in. Zhang Liyun immediately nudged the person beside her. Tang Mo, who was staring blankly at the person opposite, was suddenly nudged back to reality.
“Why are you standing there? Quickly serve the tea to Fifth Master.” Zhang Liyun seized the opportunity.
“Alright.” Tang Mo immediately got up, took the tea from the servant, and, feeling nervous, the cup was hot in her hands, clanging against the porcelain tray.
After following her mother into the Tang Family post remarriage, she had met quite a few people, yet she had never seen anyone like the person before her.
Arrogant, pampered, every gesture exuding grace.
When you’re unfamiliar, you often evaluate by looks. Fifth Master Jiang, both in appearance and bone structure, was exemplary. As a girl in her maidenhood, how could Tang Mo not be moved?
Being a fellow girl, Tang Wan could discern her thoughts but remained silent.
“You child, what are you doing standing there? Look at you, so nervous. Hand over the tea.” Zhang Liyun urged her, a hint of exasperation in her tone.
Creating an opportunity for her, yet she didn’t know how to make the most of it.
“Fi—Fifth Brother, please have some tea.” Tang Mo, quite pretty, spoke with a coy tone.
In her prime, with her head slightly lowered, her face all blushing timidly, it was rare for a man not to be swayed.
Tang Wan picked up the cup of tea in front of her. Just as she lowered her head to sip, she heard him say, “Tang Mo?”
He knew her name, startling Tang Mo, and making her blush even more.
“Just now, Old Tang asked your sister to call me brother. She knew it was inappropriate, understood the rules, and knew the boundaries, what to say to whom and when, while you…” he slightly raised his eyebrows.
“You should learn more from her.”
“Your words and actions should match your status.”
Tang Wan took a sip of water and looked up at Tang Mo. She was standing there, her face turning even redder, hands trembling as she held the teacup.
They said Fifth Master Jiang was eccentric due to long illness, and it really seemed true.
His words were nearly equivalent to telling Tang Mo,
“She wouldn’t dare call me brother; you, even less!”
Moreover, her relationship with Tang Mo was already precarious; yet he picked on her while stepping on Tang Mo.
It seemed there was a deeper meaning to his words:
Recently, in Pingjiang, there had been many rumors that Tang Mo would replace Tang Wan to marry into the Jiang Family. How these rumors spread, any smart person could see. These words were a veiled warning to the mother and daughter, saying, “Your status doesn’t match; don’t covet what isn’t yours.”
“Fifth Master, I’m sorry. She’s young and doesn’t know any better.” Zhang Liyun immediately stepped forward, taking the tea, and subtly shielding Tang Mo behind her, offering the tea personally to him. “Please don’t mind a child.”
Zhang Liyun, after all, was his elder, yet he still didn’t accept the tea, instead shifting focus abruptly.
“Speaking of children, I suddenly thought of my nephew.”
Zhang Liyun didn’t know what his intent was, just forced a smile and went along, “I know that. Heard he’s smart and cute.”
When complimenting a child, only speak of the good—can’t go wrong.
“I myself have no children, not sure how to educate them. But my brother manages to educate his child well, because since my nephew was very little, he never treated him as a mere child.”
“Because my brother says…”
“If you don’t treat him like a person when he’s young, he won’t become a person when he grows up.”
Zhang Liyun stood there, her face immediately turning bluish-green. Just now, Tang Wan mildly chided her, and now Fifth Master Jiang had slapped her hard on the face.
“Tang Madame, do you think my brother’s educational philosophy is correct? He says if parents are irresponsible and fail to teach their children properly, society will teach them when they grow up.”
His voice was calm, but the corners of his lips held a coldness even more chilling than before.
His implicit meaning was:
Zhang Liyun failed to teach Tang Mo how to behave, so…
“I think it’s very correct.” Zhang Liyun had no choice but to go along reluctantly, even though frustration was boiling inside her, she couldn’t oppose him.
Tang Wan lowered her head sipping water. True, Fifth Master Jiang had a sharp tongue, and his heart was pitch black.
Under the guise of his brother’s name, if Zhang Liyun rebutted, it would mean opposing his brother, at which point, he could entirely use this as a pretext to retaliate, keeping himself clean.
The mother and daughter of the Zhang Family suffered in silence, being slapped in the face but having to applaud, likely never having felt so aggrieved in their lives.
Tang Mo was even more embarrassed, using the excuse of going to the restroom to retreat to her room.
She had specially dressed up today, only to look like a clown.
Though Tang Wan held old grudges against this pair of mother and daughter, they were, at the end of the day, family. Still, she had never openly torn into them and wouldn’t be so blunt with some words.
Today, however, a sense of relief washed over her as she sipped the tea, feeling a profound sense of satisfaction.
She knew certain people didn’t need a knife to kill, and clearly, Fifth Master Jiang was an expert at it.
Sharp as flowers and leaves, all could wound.
Meanwhile, Jiang Jinsang went out to take a phone call, probably from home; after a brief chat, he hung up, turned to reenter the house.
“Fifth Master, I heard those rumors about Tang Mo being a replacement daughter-in-law in Pingjiang City were spread by that mother and daughter. Your earlier warning to them was right.”
“Warning them?” Jiang Jinsang’s voice was gentle, “Are they worth my attention?”
“Then, were you… doing it for Miss Tang?” Moments ago, even outside, one could feel the tension inside the house, and besides, the Tang Family was endlessly embroiled in inheritance disputes, stepping on that mother and daughter was indirectly elevating Tang Wan.
“After all, if the marriage goes through, if she isn’t my sister-in-law, she might just be…” my wife.
The few Jiang family members who came along exchanged glances, what Fifth Master said was indeed true, but coming here this time…
Wasn’t it to break off the engagement?
Why did it seem like he was starting to “defend his future wife”?