Yuan Bao scratched his head and said, "This little one doesn't know. Weren't you drinking with Lord Qing San?"
Xiao Jinghong was so furious that he kicked Yuan Bao in the pit of the stomach and roared, "You fool! Go and find him quickly! If you can't find him, don't come back!"
After his heavy drinking, his steps were unsteady. After kicking out, he almost fell himself and barely managed to stand still by holding on to the table.
Yuan Bao scurried away in a flurry.
Xiao Jinghong looked at the ten - thousand - tael silver note in his hand and then slapped his head hard. What a muddled brain! How could he have forgotten the most crucial thing!
The capital city was so big. If he couldn't find Lord Qing San, his path to getting rich would be just a pipe dream.
Xiao Jinghong picked up the teapot on the table. Without caring whether the tea was the cold overnight one, he gulped down half of it from the spout. Only then did his mind clear up a bit.
"Hong'er, did you go to the gambling house again yesterday?" Lady Sima came in with her maid. As soon as her figure appeared from behind the screen wall, her reproachful words followed.
The maid behind her was carrying a three - layer lacquered food box carved with five bats, obviously coming to deliver breakfast to Xiao Jinghong.
Lady Sima had only this one son, so she doted on him a great deal. However, seeing his good - for - nothing behavior, she couldn't help getting angry and nagging.
Xiao Jinghong hated her nagging very much. Hearing her words, he couldn't help pulling a long face and saying, "Anyway, whatever I do is wrong in Mother's eyes. Do I have to go to the battlefield and sacrifice myself for the country before Mother will feel proud?"
Lady Sima was so angry that she almost fainted. Trembling with anger, she said, "Are you trying to kill me?"
Seeing her eyes turn red, Xiao Jinghong was a bit scared—scared that it would be difficult to ask her for money in the future. But then he thought that he was now carrying a huge sum of ten thousand taels of silver, and immediately felt confident. He snorted and said, "Mother, don't look down on your son. I did go to the gambling house, but I wasn't gambling. I was discussing business with Lord Qing!"
How could Lady Sima believe such nonsense? Disappointed with her son, she said, "You really did go there again. Have you forgotten what your father said last time? If you go to the gambling house again, he will cut off your hand!"
"He has said that many times," Xiao Jinghong said impatiently, picking at his ear. "If he really does that, he'll be left without an heir!"
Lady Sima almost choked.
No wonder the Earl would scold that having such a son was worse than having a wooden club. Xiao Jinghong was really infuriating!
"Although you're your father's only son for now," Lady Sima decided to scare him and lowered her voice. "But your father isn't old. Who knows if he won't have other sons in the future?"
Xiao Jinghong frowned at her and said, "What are you going to do then? Let other women give birth to sons for my father right under your nose? You should be ashamed to say that."
Lady Sima said, "… I really owed you in my previous life!"
Xiao Jinghong snorted and said, "It's more like I owed you in my previous life. I'm here to pay off my debt. Look, what's this?"
He waved the silver note in his hand proudly.
When Lady Sima saw the silver note, her eyes lit up like a fly pouncing on rotten meat. She almost rushed forward in one step and snatched the note from his hand. She said in disbelief, "It's really ten thousand taels? Am I seeing things?"
"Of course it is. Son has always said that he won't fly until he soars to the sky; he won't sing until his voice startles the world!" Xiao Jinghong sat down on the chair with his legs crossed, looking extremely proud, feeling as if he had finally gained some respect.
After confirming that the silver note was real, Lady Sima still felt something was wrong. "Tell Mother honestly. Where did you get this silver note? Did you get it from the gambling house?"
Xiao Jinghong said impatiently, "If I got it from the gambling house, would you be willing to tear it up?"
His mother was the stingiest person in the world, no doubt about it.
Lady Sima glared at him, but the smile on her face couldn't be hidden. She carefully flattened the silver note, folded it, and stuffed it into her sleeve.
Xiao Jinghong got anxious at once and said, "Mother, what are you doing!"
"Mother will keep it for you," Lady Sima said.
"No way. It's not your money. Give it back to me! Give it back!"
After the mother - son duo quarreled for a while, Lady Sima reluctantly returned the silver note. She sat down beside Xiao Jinghong and kept asking him where the silver note came from.
After acting coy for a while, Xiao Jinghong told his almost miraculous experience with pride on his face.
After hearing it, Lady Sima asked suspiciously, "You mean, that Lord Qing San took the initiative to be nice to you?"
"Yes!"
Xiao Jinghong felt extremely good about himself. It must be because he was so imposing and extraordinary that Lord Qing San, with his discerning eyes, had picked him out from the crowd at first sight.
But Lady Sima said, "I feel like there might be a trap. Hong'er, people's hearts are sinister. You have to be careful…"
Xiao Jinghong said impatiently, "What sinister? What careful? Would you take out twenty thousand taels of silver to scheme against others?"
Lady Sima said that the available silver in the entire Earl of Yi'an's Mansion was less than twenty thousand taels.
It seemed that what Xiao Jinghong said made sense…
Thinking of Lord Qing San's generosity, Lady Sima was extremely envious.
"Hong'er, you can get in touch with this Lord Qing San more often."
"Do I need you to tell me that? Do you think I don't like silver?" Xiao Jinghong said proudly.
"No," Lady Sima said. "If you want silver, it's better to learn how to do business from him. Only then can you earn silver continuously."
Giving a man a fish is not as good as teaching him how to fish. Her ambition was far greater than just ten thousand taels of silver.
"Son knows. Son isn't stupid!"
This mother - son duo was daydreaming at home. They had already bitten the bait but were completely unaware.
Xiao Tian ignored Yi Qing with a dark face, obviously still brooding over her "out - of - line" behavior yesterday.
"Are you still angry!" Yi Qing sat down across from him with a smile, putting the wine flask in her hand on the table. "How about I accompany you to drink a couple of cups?"
Xiao Tian saw that the wine flask was exactly the one she had used to drink with Xiao Jinghong yesterday. He got even angrier and continued to ignore her.
"Come on. It's such a small thing. Next time I'll listen to you and let you deal with Xiao Jinghong."
Actually, it wasn't that she was willing to take the lead. It was just that for this kind of thing, a person as upright as Xiao Tian couldn't do it. He would easily give the game away!
"Shall I tell you the mystery of yesterday?" Yi Qing said with a grin.
"Speak," Xiao Tian said concisely, but finally opened his mouth.
It was good that he had opened his mouth. As expected, there was no mouth she couldn't pry open, Yi Qing thought to herself.
"Do you know why I always lost and never won in the gambling house yesterday?"
Xiao Tian had actually been curious for a long time, but was too embarrassed to ask because of his pride.
"Do you know that I can't hold my liquor well, but why was I able to drink without getting drunk yesterday?" Yi Qing asked again.
"Speak quickly. Stop being so mysterious!"
"Okay, yes, ma'am!" Yi Qing said. "I can roll the dice, so I can also tell the size of the numbers. This wine flask is specially made. Look, there's a small hole on it. If you press it, water will come out. If you let go, wine will come out…"