Chapter 669: You've Been Like This Since You Were Little, Wooden

This wasn't the first or second time.

Ruyi felt terribly stifled, as if an entire mountain had risen between Ping'an and herself, and between Ping'an and Mister Chen.

From morning to night, he was always putting on that bureaucratic tone.

It made Ruyi uncomfortable to hear, but she had held her tongue.

But that single sentence just now had truly pushed her past her limit. She couldn't hold it in any longer.

Ruyi's two sharp reprimands gave everyone a start.

Especially Lihua.

It had rarely ever seen Ruyi angry.

She truly looked terrifying right now.

Ping'an lowered his head. "Uncle Chen, Ping'an knows he was wrong."

Chen Changsheng reached out and helped him up. "Sit down and eat. What's all this about being wrong? Just eat."

Ruyi curled her lip. "Keep indulging him, Uncle Chen! He becomes the Metropolitan Governor and thinks he's so incredible, refusing to tell anyone anything! Anyone can see that the servants in this estate are dressed in rags, yet he insists on suffering just to keep up appearances!"

"Since when did you decide you didn't even need to tell your older sister about these things?"

Ping'an froze, a little at a loss.

"Sister..."

"Don't call me sister," Ruyi snapped.

Lihua blinked. Sensing the shift in the air, it quickly scurried over to sit beside Mo Yuan.

Mo Yuan looked down at it. "Are you scared?"

Lihua nodded. "Ruyi is so fierce when she scolds people. Even a passing dog would get an earful."

Mo Yuan chuckled, wondering what kind of description that was.

Ping'an opened his mouth, then looked toward Mister Chen again.

Chen Changsheng glanced at the food on the table. "Sit down and eat. The dishes will get cold soon."

Ping'an didn't sit. Instead, he asked, "So... Uncle Chen, you all knew?"

Ruyi scoffed lightly. "You really thought you could hide your little tricks from Uncle Chen?"

He truly thought he was clever, believing he could fool an Immortal.

Ping'an's lips parted slightly. Letting out a long sigh, he slumped down to sit.

"Did I tell you to sit?!" Ruyi barked.

Startled, Ping'an immediately stood straight again.

Ruyi took a bite of greens. "Eat standing up!"

Ping'an opened his mouth. "Sister, I'm not eating."

Hearing this made Ruyi even angrier. She snatched up Ping'an's rice bowl and slammed it down against the table.

"Eat! If you don't eat, I'll force it down your throat!"

Helpless, Ping'an picked up his bowl anyway.

Meanwhile, over in the corridor, a few servants were eavesdropping on the commotion in the courtyard. The noise was so loud that it was hard not to hear.

"The master is getting lectured."

"This is the first time I've ever seen the master get put in his place."

"Why isn't the master talking back?"

"I don't know. I always used to hear people say that no one could out-talk the master. I don't know what's going on today."

"Ah! She's really making the master eat standing up."

Having practiced martial arts, how could Ruyi possibly fail to hear the whispers coming from the corridor?

"Do the rest of you want to eat standing up from now on too?"

As soon as those words fell, everyone instantly shut their mouths.

Ruyi glanced around before finally turning back to her food.

But as she picked at it, she lost her appetite.

"I'm not eating!"

She slammed her bowl down and simply walked away.

Seeing this, Ping'an hurried after her. "Sister! Sister!"

The two of them quickly vanished from sight, running off to who-knows-where.

Mo Yuan swallowed his mouthful of food and looked toward the Mister. "Mister, should we go take a look?"

"It's between the two siblings," Chen Changsheng said. "Why should we butt in?"

"Aren't you their uncle, Mister?"

Chen Changsheng picked up some food with his chopsticks. "So what if I'm their uncle? If that girl Ruyi gets truly furious, she'd probably scold me right alongside him."

"She's that fierce?!"

Mo Yuan paused in surprise. "She doesn't seem like the type..."

Then it suddenly dawned on him. He looked at Chen Changsheng and asked, "So you're just afraid of getting scolded, Mister?"

"This Chen never said that," Chen Changsheng replied.

Lihua blinked. "Chen the Good Man is just afraid of getting scolded. Even Lihua can see it."

"Oh, you know everything now, do you?" Chen Changsheng said.

"Of course."

Lihua huffed. "Because Lihua is scared too."

"..."

It seemed there was no good way to refute that.

"Eat your vegetables!"

Chen Changsheng simply picked up a leafy green and tossed it to Lihua.

Lihua looked down at the leaf. "Cats don't eat leaves."

"Who told you that?"

"Ruyi did."

"She was talking nonsense," Chen Changsheng said.

"Oh..."

Lihua muttered, hesitating over whether to eat it or not.

Mo Yuan chimed in, "Don't listen to Mister Chen. Leaves don't taste good."

"Ah?"

Lihua was completely confused now.

Chen Changsheng paused and looked at Mo Yuan.

Mo Yuan threw his hands up. "You can't say I'm talking back, Mister. You have to be fair, don't you?"

Hearing this, Chen Changsheng smiled. "You..."

Mo Yuan chuckled, feeling much more cheerful inside.

Lihua hesitated a moment longer, but eventually ate the leaf anyway.

It chewed a few times and said, "It's true, leaves don't taste good."

"I told you so," Mo Yuan said. "And you didn't believe me."

Lihua looked at Chen the Good Man. "Chen the Good Man is such a liar."

"How did this Chen trick you?" Chen Changsheng asked.

"You just do, anyway."

"Alright, alright."

"Hmph."

As Chen Changsheng ate, his thoughts drifted to what Yan Ruchu had told him earlier that day.

In truth, it had been weighing on his mind ever since he returned.

Honestly, the rise and fall of nations had nothing to do with him. Yet, seeing the tragedy of such a chaotic era unfold wasn't something he wanted to witness either.

Soon, the meal was over.

Mo Yuan sought out the Mister and brought the matter up.

Mo Yuan asked, "You've been distracted ever since you came back, Mister. Did something happen today?"

Having spent so many years at Liuyun Temple back then, he knew the Mister better than anyone.

Chen Changsheng snapped back to the present. "Nothing really happened, and I'm not distracted. I was just thinking about a few things."

Mo Yuan looked at him and finally said, "Alright..."

It was just as he had expected.

In the end, the Mister still wasn't going to talk about it.

.

.

Ping'an lit the candle in the study and closed the fire starter.

He sat down and let out a long breath.

Remembering what had happened that afternoon, he felt awful inside.

His older sister had been right to lecture him, and he accepted it. In fact, getting yelled at had made him feel much more at ease.

At least he didn't have to pretend anymore.

Just as he was thinking this, he suddenly heard a knock at the door.

"Open the door!"

He could tell from the tone alone that it was Ruyi.

Ping'an hurried over and opened it.

Ruyi walked into the room and dropped a money pouch onto the table.

"Sister, what's this for?" Ping'an asked.

"This is all there is," Ruyi said. "Spend it sparingly."

Ping'an stared at the money pouch on the table, unsure of what to do for a moment.

"Sister..."

"Shut up."

"Oh."

Ruyi crossed her arms. "I really don't understand it. What kind of official acts like you? You're so utterly broke."

Ping'an smiled helplessly. "It's different, naturally."

"You've been like this since you were little."

Ruyi threw out one final word: "Wooden."