After Luo Wei arrived home, he paid respects to his mother Bo Hua, then returned to his own part of the estate and stayed in the study for the rest of the day.
In his past life Luo Wei didn"t pay attention to his studies, he was an uneducated rich playboy. However, he"d managed to learn the four arts(1) after he"d become a male prost.i.tute, and even developed a beautiful calligraphic hand. It"s a little funny, but not so much after you think about it. Male prost.i.tutes use their bodies to satisfy customers, but they also need other skills to ingratiate themselves to the customers. At that time, Luo Wei especially needed these skills because he had to keep himself alive, he tried harder to ingratiate himself to his customers, hoping it would make them happy from time to time and thus make himself suffer less. Other people studied hard for merit and fortune, but he studied for survival. The motivations were different, and since his was more pressing, he put more effort into it and pushed himself harder.
"Young Master," Xiao Xiao entered the study. He wasn"t that scared of Luo Wei anymore. After Luo Wei woke up from his injury, he"d never raised his voice at him, "Would you like to take your meal now?" Xiao Xiao stood in front of the desk, asking Luo Wei, and glanced at the book that Luo Wei was reading in pa.s.sing. Surprisingly, it was a copy of "Theory of World Governance"(1).
Luo Wei put the book down and turned to look out the window. The sky was dark already. "Sure," He said to Xiao Xiao, "I"ll eat."
Xiao Xiao ran out and came back with Qi Zi not long after, the two of them carrying two containers. The two of them filled the table with food in no time.
The eldest brother of the Luo family was always away, and to this day has not started a family. Luo Zhi Qiu and Luo Ze were both often busy with governmental matters, neither came home at a strict time. And Luo Wei was hated by everyone, so in the Luo home it was often that the second daughter-in-law, Xu Yue Miao, who ate with the matriarch, Bo Hua. All the other people ate by themselves.
Luo Wei looked at the table full of food, and said to Xiao Xiao and Qi Zi, "Next time don"t bring so much, I can"t finish it all by myself."
"Understood," Xiao Xiao and Qi Zi shared a glance. The questions were building up inside, more and more, but it"s not something they could easily ask, so they could only agree.
"Are my dad and older brother home?" Luo Wei asked as he ate.
Qi Zi answered, "The second young master came back a little earlier, lord chancellor only just arrived at home."
"Have you both eaten?" Luo Wei only picked some vegetables to eat. Meat and fish were his favorites before, but in the past life, he"d been forced to slice off and grill a piece of his own flesh, then eat it piece by piece. After that, even the sight of meat makes him want to throw up.
Xiao Xaio replied, "Yes sir."
Luo Wei didn"t know what else to say, so he kept his head down and ate.
However, Xiao Xiao spoke up beside him, "Young master, is the steamed fish not good today?" In the past little while, Luo Wei had not touched a single bit of meat, and Xiao Xiao just couldn"t wrap his mind around it. Do people have a change of appet.i.te after recovering from an illness too?
"I don"t want to eat meat right now," Luo Wei has already finished. He set his bowl and chopsticks down as he spoke to Xiao Xiao, "Tell the kitchen not to make any for the time being. When I want to eat it again, I"ll tell them."
Xiao Xiao nodded.
Luo Wei finished dinner and walked a few times around the yard in place of taking a stroll. He estimated when his older brother Luo Ze would finish dinner, and only after did he head to Luo Ze"s part of the house to find him.
Luo Ze had finished dinner and was having some fruits. He startled when he saw Luo Wei. Luo Wei had never set foot in his part of the house before, not that he was scared, it was because he didn"t want to.
"Big brother," Luo Wei address Luo Ze, then as he saw Xu Yue Miao who looked as if she didn"t know wehter to stay or to go, he addressed her too, "Sister-in-law."
Xu Yue Miao was stunned, staring at Luo Wei who was barely recognizable standing in front of her, and was completely at a loss. Luo Wei had never address her in polite terms, not even on the day she was married into the house.
Luo Wei pretended not to notice how much at a loss she was, and said to Luo Ze, "Are you free right now, big brother? Could you go somewhere with me?"
Luo Ze answered, "You want to go out of the house?"
"No," Luo Wei replied, "I want to show you something."
Luo Ze didn"t know what tricks Luo Wei was up to. His heart filled with suspicion. But since Luo Wei had come looking for him especially, Luo Ze nevertheless followed Luo Wei out.
FOOTNOTES:
1. The Four Arts - Refers to the four arts that a person could be trained in to be viewed as someone who is accomplished and knowledgeable. They include knowing how to play the Gu Qin / Qin, how to play the game of Go / Wei Qi, how to write beautifully, and how to draw / paint.
TRANSLATOR"S NOTES:
Double upload for tonight as the plot THICKENS. Thank you all for the support! I will try to keep uploading every night, and will let you know if there"s a change in schedule.