Chapter 304 - 302: Bringing the Teachers Home

Chapter 304: Chapter 302: Bringing the Teachers Home

After seeing Mrs. Ping off, Zhou Lian hummed a little tune and happily made her way to the study. The thought of luring Ping Jing into her trap delighted her; she truly hadn’t expected him to fall for it so easily.

Mrs. Ping’s lingering resentment, the Eldest Young Madam’s disdain, Liu Shengnan’s disbelief, and Ping Jing looking like he wanted to die—it all gave Zhou Lian a rare thrill. ’So they’re only human after all.’ Because of her past life, Zhou Lian had always kept the people in this circle at a respectful distance. Even when fate brought them together, she always harbored an unconscious fear of them. Their power to turn tides with a flip of a hand had terrified her. ’But now,’ she thought, ’it seems they’re not so scary!’

The thought that Li Xiu could finally climb out of this pit filled Zhou Lian with joy. She just wasn’t sure if Li Xiu would like how she did it. ’But he should,’ she reasoned, ’after all, none of this was what he wanted in the first place.’

Professor Xiao and Professor Fan looked at the student before them, feeling a bit helpless. She was over thirty. If you called her naive, you’d be wrong—she was more perceptive than anyone. But if you called her scheming, then why would she dare tell them about something this major? ’What on earth is this child thinking?’

"Come, tell your Grand-mentor what you were thinking. Why did you decide to tell your Professor and me?" Professor Fan asked gently, looking at Zhou Lian with a kind expression.

Zhou Lian looked at her Professor and Grand-mentor, confused. "I didn’t really think about it that way. I know how serious this is, but you two aren’t strangers. You would never hurt me, so why shouldn’t I tell you?"

"You silly child! When are Jin Chen, Nuonuo, and Yanyan coming back?" Professor Xiao asked directly. ’Better to ask when the reliable one is returning,’ she thought. ’This girl... I’m afraid she’d help count the money if someone sold her!’

Shaking her head, Zhou Lian said, a little unhappily, "Professor, I don’t know either. I just told him to stay a few extra days in his hometown with the kids. I have no idea when they’ll be back."

Thinking about Jin Chen’s personality, Professor Xiao figured he wouldn’t stay in his hometown for long. ’But he’ll have to stay for at least seventy or eighty days, won’t he? After all, the elders at home are getting on in years. What will happen during that time? This student of mine is far too careless.’

Glancing up at Professor Fan, Professor Xiao looked at Zhou Lian and said sternly, "Your Grand-mentor and I will go back with you in a bit. We won’t stay in the Garden. Just find a room for us in the quadrangle courtyard. We’ll talk about other things after Jin Chen returns!"

Professor Fan glanced at his wife with amusement in his eyes. ’She’s so worried she’s not thinking straight. With Jin Chen’s personality, for him to obediently listen to Zhou Lian and take the two children back to his hometown, he must have arranged everything perfectly. Otherwise, given how he’d love to carry Zhou Lian around in his pocket, how could he possibly leave her alone in the Capital City with a clear conscience?’

He then glanced at Zhou Lian, who in his wife’s eyes was as innocent as a little white rabbit, and smiled helplessly. ’Little white rabbit? She’s a cunning little fox that’s mastered her craft.’

Meeting her Grand-mentor’s gaze, Zhou Lian gave him a rare, provocative look. ’My professor still likes me best. See? She’s packing up to go with me right now! That’ll teach my Grand-mentor to complain about me always hanging around her.’

Professor Fan sighed and put a hand to his forehead. ’This girl holds such a grudge. I told her just once not to always be hovering around my wife, and how long has it been? She still remembers!’

Professor Xiao had originally planned to have Zhou Lian stay for lunch, but given the situation, she decided to pack everything up to go. She’d only feel at ease if they had lunch at Zhou Lian’s home. After all, there was still a troublemaker living in the Garden.

Seeing Professor Xiao and Professor Fan get out of the car, Sister Fang greeted them with a smile. "Professor Xiao, Professor Fan, you’re here! Please, come inside and rest. It’s quite cold out."

Hearing this, Professor Fan raised an eyebrow. ’I knew it. This girl is no little white rabbit. Look, she had everything arranged before she came over to sweet-talk her professor!’

Just as Zhou Lian was about to follow her professor into the courtyard, a team leader discreetly whispered to her, "Someone from the Garden is looking for you."

Zhou Lian paused. After a moment’s thought, she first helped Sister Fang get her Professor and Grand-mentor settled in, reminding Sister Fang to keep an eye on things. Then, she turned and strode toward the decorated gateway.

Arriving at the small building and seeing that Ping Jing was also there, Zhou Lian raised an eyebrow. She smiled at the three people sitting on the sofa and said, "What’s up? I was just visiting my Professor and Grand-mentor."

They all knew Zhou Lian had formally taken a master, so the Eldest Young Madam simply nodded and said with a smile, "Have a seat first, we can talk then."

Unbuttoning her coat, Zhou Lian casually draped it over the back of the sofa, then walked over and sat down. She asked unhurriedly, "What happened, Brother?"

"No rush, no rush. You should rest for a bit first!" Ping Jing said, looking a little embarrassed. How was he supposed to bring this up?

Glancing at Ping Jing, Zhou Lian turned to Liu Shengnan and said softly, "If Brother doesn’t want to say it, then Shengnan, you can tell me. What’s wrong? You have to say it sooner or later anyway."

"Sis, it’s nothing major, really. It’s just... my husband’s eldest sister called, wanting to come back. She was making a huge scene, crying and screaming, and the old master got furious. He forbade my mother-in-law from getting involved and dumped the whole thing on us. We’ve been discussing it for ages but couldn’t come up with a good solution, so we thought we’d ask you for help!" Noticing the displeasure in Zhou Lian’s tone, Liu Shengnan hastily spilled everything out at once.

Frowning slightly, Zhou Lian said deliberately, "The Eldest Miss probably did more than just cry and scream. I imagine she also made threats, otherwise Elder Ping wouldn’t have gotten so enraged."

"Er, yes. I heard the scene she made was... quite ugly," Liu Shengnan said in a small voice. ’Ugly was an understatement,’ she thought. ’It was a total disgrace!’

"Brother, Sister-in-law, Shengnan, this is the Ping Family’s private affair. What were you thinking, asking me to get involved? No, really, Sister-in-law... as for those two, Brother is a man and doesn’t fully grasp the intricacies of these things, and Shengnan is still learning the ropes. But you, Sister-in-law, how could you not know better?" Zhou Lian said with a touch of exasperation. ’What a mess. Is this really something I can meddle in?’

The Eldest Young Madam looked at Zhou Lian, also looking helpless. "My dear sister-in-law, we’re not asking you to interfere, just to help us brainstorm some ideas. We’re truly at our wit’s end!"

"The Eldest Miss is just relying on the affection Elder Ping and Aunt Zhou have for her, and on the fact that you younger siblings can’t do anything about her. Crying and screaming is one thing, but that third act... that’s going a bit too far. The great Eldest Miss of the Ping Family, the matriarch of the Sun Family, acting like this... I heard that before she was married, she was famous throughout the Capital City for being well-read, reasonable, and considerate. How did she end up like this?" Zhou Lian said, feigning indifference.

They were all intelligent people; the three of them instantly understood the meaning behind Zhou Lian’s words. That’s right. Before their elder sister married, she was renowned for being considerate and well-mannered. How could she have changed so much after marrying? What on earth did the Sun Family do to turn a fine, well-bred lady into an unreasonable, irrational shrew?

The Eldest Young Madam’s thoughts raced even further. The Sun Family in the Capital City had just been completely uprooted. If they didn’t handle her sister-in-law properly, it could create a vulnerability for them to be exploited. But if they could shift the blame onto the Sun Family... now that would be an excellent solution!