Chapter 41: Lai Lu, the Debt-Ridden Scoundrel
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When he followed the sound with his eyes, he saw a familiar figure walking toward him.
“Old Loafer Lu? What brings you here, you old rascal?”
Old Master Qin stared at him in surprise, clearly caught off guard.
“What, Old Ghost Qin? You don’t welcome me?”
With his hands clasped behind his back, Lu Wenyong strolled over to Old Master Qin, his tone carrying a hint of amusement.
“Hah! Welcome you? Have you forgotten the fifty taels of silver you owe me?”
Old Master Qin curled his lip disdainfully and immediately dragged up an old grievance.
“Ahem, ahem, ahem! How many years ago was that? And you still remember, you old relic?”
Lu Wenyong nearly choked on his own saliva. He answered irritably.
“Hmph! Enough nonsense. Pay me back!”
Old Master Qin snorted and held out his hand.
This time, Lu Wenyong was genuinely embarrassed. He had long been accustomed to living frugally.
Whenever he had any money, he used it to aid poor scholars. Not only did he lack fifty taels on hand—even his entire fortune, added together, would not amount to that much.
Yet he did not want to back down in front of his old friend. After thinking it over, Lu Wenyong simply gave up trying to save face. He dropped himself onto a stone stool and said irritably,
“Look at you, being so stingy. It’s only fifty taels of silver, yet you remember it so clearly. With a grand residence like the Prime Minister’s Qin Estate, surely you aren’t short of such a trifling sum.”
“That’s none of your concern. I may let other people off, but when it comes to money owed by you, old rascal, I intend to recover every last coin.”
Old Master Qin waved a hand, his voice tinged with smugness.
“You old ghost. I have no money to give you—just this one life.”
Lu Wenyong spoke with shameless bluntness.
“Well, well, Old Loafer Lu, are you playing the scoundrel in my own home again?”
Seeing Lu Wenyong’s shameless, come-what-may expression, Old Master Qin grew furious. He pointed straight at the old man’s nose.
“What? Are you going to hit me, Old Ghost Qin? Oh dear, how frightened I am!”
Seeing Old Master Qin’s exasperation, Lu Wenyong felt immensely pleased with himself and began putting on an exaggerated show of fear.
“Ugh! You old thing, aren’t you ashamed of yourself? Stop acting like that in front of me.”
Watching Lu Wenyong’s affected manner, Old Master Qin felt a wave of revulsion. He could almost feel gooseflesh rising all over his body.
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After their long-awaited reunion had passed through a bout of bickering, the two old friends finally turned to serious matters.
“All right, enough fooling around. You had time to come here today, so you didn’t come merely to see me, did you?”
Old Master Qin settled back into his reclining chair and casually picked up the tea beside him. As he sipped, he spoke to Lu Wenyong.
“I’m impressed you still have that much self-awareness. I did not come merely to see you today.”
Lu Wenyong made himself at home and poured himself a full cup from the nearby teapot.
“Then what brings you here, you old rascal? Don’t tell me you want Shaotian to join your academy?”
Curious, Old Master Qin could not help guessing.
After all, in the entire Qin household, the only person who might interest a great scholar like Lu Wenyong was Qin Shaotian, whose literary talent was considerable.
“Please. Don’t guess wildly. Shaotian may have some ability, but our Peace Academy is filled with talented people. Why would I make a personal trip here for him?”
Lu Wenyong spoke without the slightest restraint before Old Master Qin, paying no heed at all to Qin Shaotian’s status.
“Oh? Then who else could have brought you here?”
Old Master Qin truly cared little about the matter of Qin Shaotian. He was far more curious about Lu Wenyong’s real purpose.
“Do you know Shen Xuan?”
Lu Wenyong did not conceal his intentions and asked directly.
“Xuan’er? What do you want with that brat?”
The moment he heard Shen Xuan’s name, Old Master Qin’s expression turned serious, and he spoke with an odd look in his eyes.
“Take this and have a look.”
Lu Wenyong pulled a sheet of rice paper from his robe and handed it to Old Master Qin.
Old Master Qin accepted it and glanced over it casually. But as he continued reading, he could not help exclaiming in admiration.
“Oh! These paired verses are rather clever. What is this? Did you come up with them yourself and hurry over here to show off?”
After a long while, when Lu Wenyong still said nothing, Old Master Qin raised his head. He looked at the old man sitting across from him, whose lips wore a faint, enigmatic smile.
Old Master Qin’s expression shifted. He was not senile yet, and after a moment of thought, he furrowed his brows and asked uncertainly,
“Could it be that Shen Xuan wrote this?”
Even as he said the words, Old Master Qin found them absurd.
He knew his precious grandson far too well. Though Shen Xuan had somehow learned a remarkable skill in medicine during the three years they had been apart, how could literary talent be learned as well? Was such a gift not something one was born with? Could that boy Shen Xuan truly possess it?
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“What? Do you think I’m trying to deceive you? Surely you know whether your own grandson has such ability.”
Seeing the magnitude of Old Master Qin’s reaction, Lu Wenyong spoke irritably.
“Heh heh!”
Old Master Qin laughed awkwardly. In truth, he really did not know. But he could hardly admit that to the old man, so he had no choice but to change the subject.
“All right, then. Tell me why you want Xuan’er. Are you thinking of inviting him to join the Peace Academy?”
“I have considered it. But a few paired verses are not enough to reveal what the boy is capable of. I want to examine him personally before making a decision.”
Lu Wenyong explained.
“Oh. Then you came at an unfortunate time. Xuan’er moved out of the estate several days ago.”
Old Master Qin nodded in understanding, then spoke with some resignation.
“What? He moved out? Wait—Shen Xuan may only be your adopted grandson, but surely you didn’t drive the child away!”
Lu Wenyong became anxious at once. He looked at Old Master Qin as though the old man had deeply disappointed him.
“Go on, get out of here! Who drove him away? I can hardly bear to let anything happen to my grandson, so how could I throw him out? The boy insisted on moving out and living on his own.”
Old Master Qin answered irritably.
“So that is how it was. Shen Xuan certainly has some backbone. He even reminds me a little of you in your younger days.”
After learning the general circumstances, Lu Wenyong could not help developing a measure of admiration for Shen Xuan.
“You might ask who raised him.”
At hearing such a frank compliment from the old rascal, Old Master Qin’s beard practically curled upward with pride.
“Praise you a little, and you start preening. Enough. Since Shen Xuan is no longer staying at the Qin Estate, where is he living now?”
Lu Wenyong rolled his eyes and asked.
“He opened a restaurant on Vermilion Bird Street. I believe it is called Here You Come Again.”
Old Master Qin did not conceal the truth. After thinking for a moment, he told him.
They had been friends for many years, and Old Master Qin understood the other man’s character well. If Lu Wenyong did not truly admire Shen Xuan, he would never have traveled such a long way to seek him out.
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