Chapter 55: The Unexpected Visit of Yao Tianyuan

Tong Chuxue slept all the way until the afternoon of the next day without waking up once. Realizing her daughter was thoroughly exhausted, Xu Niangniang had checked on the room several times in between, but ultimately lacked the heart to wake her.

There was still a considerable amount of cotton they had picked from the mountains left to process. The villagers gathered in the enclosed clearing to work on the cotton, while Luo Hui'an and Luo Huiqing temporarily stayed at Tong Chuxue's house.

Ever since the separation of the third branch of the Luo family, although they still lived under the same roof as the other two branches, they cooked and ate separately. The family members left early and returned late every day, leaving very little room for interaction.

Therefore, whenever Luo Hui'an and Luo Huiqing had free time, they stayed over at Tong Chuxue's place. As for Luo Huifeng, who was still studying, he basically just came home to sleep at night.

"Knock, knock, knock."

Luo Huiqing was sweeping the courtyard when she suddenly heard a knock at the door. Cautiously peering through a crack in the door, she chose not to open it immediately.

Standing outside was Yao Tianyuan. Because he rarely walked about the village and spent most of his time studying in town, Luo Huiqing was not familiar with him.

The knocking continued, prompting Luo Huiqing to run and fetch Luo Hui'an.

Yao Tianyuan had been knocking for quite a while without receiving any response and was just considering whether he should turn back when the door suddenly swung open.

Luo Hui'an looked at Yao Tianyuan with unconcealed hostility, asking politely yet distantly, "Is something the matter?"

Yao Tianyuan never expected the person opening the door to be Luo Hui'an, and astonishment was clearly written across his face. "Why is it you?"

Luo Hui'an frowned slightly, seemingly extremely displeased by the question. "Just what business do you have here?"

What business? To settle accounts, naturally, Yao Tianyuan thought to himself. He usually studied at the academy in town and rarely came home. Upon returning today, however, he found the atmosphere in his household unusually heavy. After persistent questioning, he discovered that his father had eagerly purchased cotton seed hulls in advance, only to have them completely blow up in his hands.

He understood his father to a certain extent; although his father disliked farming and preferred tinkering with business ventures, he was not a complete fool. Without the sudden appearance of wild cotton, his father would certainly not have suffered such a loss.

After pondering over it repeatedly at home, and combining what his father and Tong Yu'er had told him, he deduced that the whole cotton seed hull affair was a deliberate trap set by Tong Chuxue to lure Yao Zhongbao into taking the bait. The Yao family also deemed Yao Tianyuan's analysis logical, with Tong Yu'er fanning the flames on the side.

"I'm looking for Tong Chuxue." Yao Tianyuan stepped past Luo Hui'an, intending to walk toward the rooms, but Luo Hui'an raised an arm and firmly gripped his shoulder.

"For Young Master Yao to barge into a young woman's private quarters like this—if word gets out, where does that leave Miss Tong's reputation?"

Luo Hui'an's words were entirely reasonable; for a grown man to barge into a woman's bedchamber in broad daylight was indeed highly inappropriate. Yao Tianyuan halted his steps, though his gaze still lingered toward the inner rooms. "Then I must trouble this little sister to go and call Tong Chuxue out."

Neither he nor Luo Hui'an was appropriate to go fetch Tong Chuxue, leaving Luo Huiqing as the only person present who could help.

Yet Luo Huiqing clearly had no desire to be ordered around by Yao Tianyuan. Pouting, she retorted, "Sister Tong is sleeping. My mother told us not to disturb her."

"She's still sleeping?" Yao Tianyuan had anticipated a barrage of excuses to turn him away, never expecting such a plain and simple reason.

Since she was indeed asleep, it became even more inconvenient for him to drag her out of bed. Yao Tianyuan found himself caught in a dilemma.

"Young Master Yao has chosen an inopportune time. You should head back," Luo Hui'an said indifferently.

Unable to see Tong Chuxue, he had at least seen Luo Hui'an. If he returned without a shred of explanation, it would be difficult to face the Yao household.

"Is there really cotton on the back mountain?" Yao Tianyuan's tone was laden with suspicion.

"Naturally. The cotton stalks are still planted in the ground. Would Young Master Yao like me to take you there for a look?" Luo Hui'an said calmly.

Judging by Luo Hui'an's demeanor, he did not appear to be lying; the cotton must truly have been harvested from the mountain. Yet other villagers who had ventured into the mountains over the past few days had only found scattered individual plants, with nothing resembling a cohesive cotton field.

"Did you people know all along that there was cotton on the mountain?" Yao Tianyuan asked.

Observing Yao Tianyuan's expression, Luo Hui'an understood instantly—the man most likely assumed they had known the location of the cotton all along and had deliberately set a trap to fleece Yao Zhongbao.

Yet Yao Tianyuan failed to consider that Yao Zhongbao's decision to buy the cotton seed hulls was entirely his own doing, instigated by no one. Now that he had suffered losses, running to the Tong family to demand an explanation was nothing short of unreasonable and absurd.

"We discovered the mountain cotton only after returning from the Yao household," Luo Hui'an said unhurriedly.

"Is that so?" Yao Tianyuan raised an eyebrow. "You rejected my family's cotton seed hulls on the very first day, and discovered a previously unseen cotton field on the mountain the very next day. Do you honestly expect anyone to believe that makes sense?"

The two events occurred too close together in time for Yao Tianyuan not to suspect premeditation on the Tong family's part.

"Things happen in a sequence. The Yao family made their acquisition first, and we picked the cotton afterward. Are you suggesting we forced the Yao family to buy them? I should be asking how the Yao family ever came up with the idea of purchasing such unwanted trash in the first place." Luo Hui'an stepped closer to Yao Tianyuan with every word, backing him all the way to the doorway.

"Business is all about seizing opportunities. Since the news leaked, the Yao family merely capitalized on the momentum," Yao Tianyuan retorted.

"Capitalizing on the momentum to stab us in the back—you certainly calculated well," Luo Hui'an said with a mocking half-smile.

"You!" Yao Tianyuan was incensed. "The Yao family never intended to harm anyone."

"It seems you are entirely unaware of what your father said that day. He intended to use those worthless cotton seed hulls to take a cut from our business," Luo Huian stated.

Yao Tianyuan was struck speechless. Of course he knew his father harbored such intentions, even if his father had not explicitly spelled it out to him at first. Though not deeply versed in household finances, he was far from oblivious. He knew very well that the family was in desperate need of money.

"Doing business is about welcoming guests from all directions. Are you suggesting you should turn away anyone willing to cooperate?" Yao Tianyuan argued.

"Willing cooperation and extortionate coercion are hardly the same thing. As a scholar who has passed the district examination, surely Young Master Yao understands the difference between these terms," Luo Hui'an replied, dripping with sarcasm.

Whenever people mentioned his status as a county student, they looked at Yao Tianyuan with admiration and longing. Only Luo Hui'an—solely Luo Hui'an—delivered such mockery through a completely placid tone.

What right did he have to look down on him?

Come to think of it, he seemed to have heard people mention certain things recently.

Yao Tianyuan looked at Luo Hui'an and suddenly burst into laughter. "I heard you've been searching everywhere for a private tutor lately."

Luo Hui'an silently met Yao Tianyuan's gaze, waiting for him to continue.

"You haven't found anyone yet, have you? After all, at your age, studying is no easy feat. Still, it doesn't matter. Let me calculate: if you start memorizing the *Three Character Classic* from today, roughly ten years from now, you might just be able to pass the district examination. That is, provided you can actually find a suitable tutor," Yao Tianyuan said.

Yao Tianyuan had always known he enjoyed a prominent reputation across dozens of villages; nearly all scholars and teachers in the surrounding area knew his name. He had even heard that the county magistrate held high hopes for him, expecting him to achieve great things in his examinations.

Consequently, Yao Tianyuan wielded considerable influence among these studious circles.

Looking at Luo Hui'an's increasingly solemn expression now, he felt immensely gratified, believing he had finally turned the tables.

"Starting today, you can forget about finding a single teacher willing to take you under their wing. Do I need to spell out what not having a tutor means for you?" Yao Tianyuan declared. Having studied diligently for years, he had finally attained a shred of distinction, yet he now intended to use that very scrap of achievement to completely block another person's path to scholarship.