Chapter 323 - 321: A Huge Sum of Money

Ancient glanced over at Yun Xiao Ba. "Let’s watch a little longer."

When Yun Xiao Ba finished drawing, he walked over and placed a set of brush, ink, paper, and an inkstone on the table.

"In the old days, we didn’t have things like pencils or fountain pens."

As he spoke, Ancient began to grind the ink stick.

His movements were fluid and practiced, possessing a certain indescribable charm.

Yun Xiao Ba stared at him intently.

He then watched him pick up the brush, dip it in ink, and begin to paint on the paper.

"Ink wash painting may not have many colors, but it is a part of our country’s cultural heritage, passed down for thousands of years. It can use the simplest of colors to outline the most breathtaking works of art."

With his movements, the lines drawn with black ink gradually outlined the blue-and-white pattern from the porcelain shard.

Though it was only in shades of black, its beauty mesmerized Yun Xiao Ba.

He moved a little closer, his eyes visibly brightening.

When Ancient put down the brush, Yun Xiao Ba asked with eyes full of admiration, "Grandpa Gu, I want to learn this. Can you teach me?"

The corners of Ancient’s mouth lifted. "If you really want to learn from me, it won’t just be painting."

Yun Xiao Ba answered without any hesitation, "I want to learn."

"HAHAHA... Good. Then starting tomorrow, you can come to my place."

He added, "But school is starting soon, and your studies are also important. Once school starts, have your dad bring you here after class."

Yun Xiao Ba nodded without any hesitation. "Okay!"

"Yun Jiao, has your master told you to start learning calligraphy yet?"

Traditional Chinese Medicine was also a national treasure, passed down for thousands of years.

That fellow, Elder Xu, was also a bit old-fashioned; learning Traditional Chinese Medicine with him meant one also had to learn calligraphy.

Yun Jiao nodded. "Master told me to buy a brush and other supplies to get ready."

Ancient snorted. "Look at how cheap your master is, can’t even part with a single calligraphy set. Don’t bother buying one. You and your brother can come to my place tomorrow.

"I prepared sets for you both during the apprenticeship ceremony. Your brother’s is his apprenticeship gift. As for yours, we’ll call it a thank-you gift from you, little girl, for bringing me a new apprentice."

Yun Jiao smiled, her eyes crinkling. "Thank you, Grandpa Gu."

’As for Grandpa Gu taking a jab at her master, she’d just pretend she didn’t hear it.’

’It wasn’t the first or second time these two old men had ribbed each other.’

Yun Linhai and Yun Linhe hadn’t expected that this trip would result in Little Eight becoming an apprentice.

HISS...

’Counting Jiaojiao, their family now had four children who had taken masters.’

’And if you looked at it, they were all the even-numbered children.’

’The fourth child, Xiao Liu, Little Eight, and Yun Jiao, who was the tenth.’

’Hehehe... This was a bit uncanny.’

Yun Linhe grinned from ear to ear, warmly trying to cozy up to Ancient.

"If my boy gets mischievous, please feel free to discipline him in the future. Don’t hold back."

Ancient replied, "Don’t worry. The lad has some talent."

Everyone sat and talked for a while longer before it was time to leave.

Carrying a suitcase full of cash, Yun Linhai and Yun Linhe were scared out of their wits.

’This wasn’t just a few hundred yuan; this was sixty thousand yuan in cash!’

’Such a big suitcase, stuffed to the brim with large-denomination bills.’

’They had no idea where Ancient had gotten so much cash.’

Yun Linhai grabbed the suitcase with one hand, scooped up his daughter with the other, and ran toward the motorcycle.

Because they had to bring the three children and also pick up the cash, the two brothers had come together today.

Yun Linhe was not to be outdone. He grabbed the other two children by the hand and ran just as fast, as if something was chasing them.

Then they quickly lifted the still-bewildered children onto the motorcycle, and with a VROOM, they sped away.

’Thank goodness they’d brought their own vehicle today. They couldn’t even imagine how nervously they would have had to guard it if they’d taken the bus with this much money.’

Back in Bailong Village, the two adults finally breathed a sigh of relief and quickly ran to the Village Chief’s house.

"Village Chief!"

The Village Chief’s family was in the middle of dinner when Yun Linhai burst in with the suitcase and pulled the old man into the inner room.

"Village Chief, this is all the money from selling those gold items."

Yun Linhai acted like he was a covert operative.

"Sixty thousand in total."

"What? Six—"

The Village Chief swallowed the rest of his words, but the shock on his face was still palpable.

"Th-that much."

The Village Chief’s voice trembled as he spoke, and he swallowed hard, staring at the suitcase.

He truly hadn’t expected those things to sell for so much money.

"This... this is more than we need to repair the ancestral hall and the village temple."

Yun Linhai said, "Here’s what we were thinking. Since we have all this money, we might as well go big. We can expand the village temple and the plaza in front of it, paving it with cement. That way, there will be a proper place for people to worship the deities or to burn incense for the wandering spirits during the seventh month."

"We’ll expand the ancestral hall, too."

"As for the leftover money, we can put it in a separate savings account. We’ll inform the clan elders. That fund can be used for anything, whether it’s for paving roads in the village or helping poor children and elderly folks."

’Of course, these weren’t his ideas. His brain couldn’t come up with such detailed plans.’

’It was all from Lao San, Yun Chen Nan. That kid is full of ideas.’

The Village Chief’s lips quivered a few times, unsure of what to say.

He just suddenly grabbed Yun Linhai’s hand, his emotions getting the better of him, and started to cry.

Yun Linhai: !!!

’What’s happening? What’s wrong? I didn’t bully an old man!’

"Lin Hai, ah, thank you. For this great kindness, the entire village ought to kowtow to you all."

"No, no, no..."

Yun Linhai looked terrified.

"I’m not worthy of that."

"Then this money... you should keep it here, Village Chief. We’d feel uneasy taking it back home."

’They’d never had this much cash in the house before.’

The Village Chief: ...

’To be honest, he felt pretty uneasy himself.’

But this money concerned the entire village. As the Village Chief, he had to protect it.

"Don’t worry. This old man can lose his life, but he won’t lose the money."

Yun Linhai: ... ’That’s not really necessary.’

After Yun Linhai and the others left, the Village Chief called his eldest son into the room.

Then he told him what had happened.

The Village Chief’s eldest son was so shocked by the news that he was speechless for a long moment.

He was even more stunned that someone as young as Yun Jiao would think of repairing the village temple and ancestral hall, and then actually follow through with it.

’This was no child; this was clearly the God of Wealth! Their village’s own little God of Wealth!’

The Village Chief instructed him, "Go find some reliable construction crews right now. Since we’re doing this, we have to do it right. And buy good materials. We can’t let Yun Jiao’s family down."

The Village Chief’s son was his successor and the one everyone tacitly accepted as the next Village Chief.

The father and son were very responsible toward the village, and everyone trusted them.

To be the next Village Chief, one certainly didn’t lack ability, and he really did know quite a few people outside the village.

"Dad, just leave this to me."

’In his heart, he truly admired Yun Linhai’s family.’

Forgetting all about his meal, he immediately went out to find people for the job.