Suddenly, the Qin family had to attend a lot of social gatherings when they rose to the Wealthy Cla.s.s.
On the night when the Family Cla.s.s had ended, the officials from the Zhen Wu Holy Place hosted a banquet and invited every aristocrat in River County to attend. During the banquet, the Zhen Wu Holy Place had highly lauded this Family Cla.s.s Evaluation session regarding its quality and story. They also encouraged everyone to not slack off and work hard so that the next compet.i.tion would be an even better one.
Overall, everything looked good, and everyone was looking forward to a bright future.
Of course, the main character was naturally the Qin family, the new Wealthy Cla.s.s. Different groups all came up to pay their respects with drinks. For a short while, the status of the Wealthy Qin in the eyes of the people was almost on the same level as the Venerable Da Xi family.
Qin Wushuang was not very interested in the banquet and celebrations; this was not the reason why he had fought so hard.
After a brief stay out of courtesy, he returned to the inn.
Everyday, Da Xi Ming continued to bring the Da Xi Matriarch to the inn to visit Qin Wushuang.
The acupuncture treatment was the same each day. When he finished today’s treatment, Qin Wushuang smiled: “Matriarch, your body’s recovery has exceeded my expectations. With such recovery rate, with about one more week, you will become one hundred percent healthy.”
“Since ancient times, heroes were all youngsters. Good, good good.” The Da Xi Matriarch had a sharp sense of judgment and had always felt how Qin Lianshan’s son and daughter become prettier each time. She loved them.
"Little Brother Wushuang, I heard that you will be returning to Eastwood Town in two days?" Da Xi Ming suddenly spoke.
Qin Wushuang did not deny it: “We still have to take care some business at home.”
“What about my grandmother’s illness?” Da Xi Ming was somewhat hesitant.
Qin Xiu suddenly spoke up: “If Matriarch doesn’t mind, you could come to live at our manor for ten days or half a month. This way, Wushuang can also continue to treat her every day.”
“Yes, this is a good suggestion. Just I don’t know if the Matriarch is willing to move?” Qin Wushuang smiled.
The Da Xi Matriarch was br.i.m.m.i.n.g with happiness and said: "I have stayed too long in River County. It will be a good thing for me to go out and to enjoy the sights of the countryside. How could I mind? Yes, I will go."
When Da Xi Ming heard his grandmother’s words, he became even happier.
The Matriarch had watched Da Xi Ming growing up and loved this grandson very much. She knew what was going on in his mind as she added with a smile: “Ming’Er, why don’t you accompany Grandmother?"
“I would love to.” Inwardly, Da Xi Ming was delighted.
Qin Wushuang found it amusing when he saw the two of them hiding the meaning beneath their words.
“Sister, you stay here to chat with Matriarch and Big Brother Da Xi. I am going to see Father. Too many aristocrats in River County are strong drinkers. Hopefully, our father has not become drunk by their drinks of courtesy."
He only said these words as an excuse, in truth, Qin Wushuang wanted to give them some privacy.
As she watched Qin Wushuang walk out, the Matriarch sighed, her eyes filled with fondness: “It is too bad, too bad that Yue’Er is a couple of years older. Otherwise, it would be wonderful if Wushuang could become my grandson-in-law.”
Matriarch had said these words from the bottom of her heart. She had lived for more than seventy or eighty years and she had a sharp eye when it came to judging people.
Both Da Xi Ming and Qin Xiu showed a face full of smiles, but they did not answer.
“Ming’Er, A‘Xiu, don’t play tricks on me. Your little thoughts, I know them very well. This matter, I will stand by your side for sure. As for your father, we will think of a way. Regarding the Xi Men Feudal Lords, we don’t want their riches. When someone of the Da Xi family wants to marry another, we only look at their appearance and personality. The rest comes later.”
…
Inside the Windy Pool Restaurant, aristocrats all came one after another to propose a toast to Qin Lianshan.
“Lianshan, it"s true the saying of how the sage presents himself as an ordinary person, the one that shows their actual color is not a real person. I am actually impressed by the Qin family!"
Being the Wealthy Cla.s.s, the Qian family had prospered through business. They had always made money through connections and friends and did not make many enemies. However, they had never interacted with Eastwood Qin,
Still, it did not matter to Patriarch Qian to worm his way into being friends with Qin Lianshan. After a couple of drinks, they had seemingly become brothers.
This Qian Buba was known for being stingy, and people had nicknamed him as "A man who would never give up a cent." However, Qian Buba had his own interpretation to his nickname and proclaimed himself as "Fort.i.tude." Only by being fort.i.tudinous would allow him to make a lot of profit in the business world.
“Buba, you are too kind. This one"s on me.” Qin Lianshan was in an excellent mood as he followed the trend.
After the two had finished off their cups, Qin Buba suddenly grinned: “Brother Lianshan, your Wushuang showed off quite a bit in this Family Cla.s.s Evaluation session. I believe that soon after, matchmakers will be breaking down your doors. Right, I have one daughter, and she is over fourteen years old, and her looks and other aspects are above average as well…"
Qin Lianshan understood his intention. It seemed that Qian Buba was promoting his daughter.
Qian Buba looked at Qin Lianshan with a smile. He waiting to hear Qin Lianshan’s response.
Qin Lianshan was not someone who did not know how to react in a situation. Of course, he knew the polite words to say: "The things between our children, as a father, I truly do not wish to intrude on them. Buba, I will go home and ask Wushuang, and see what he wants? How about that?”
Qian Buba nodded casually: “Good, good. As soon your son Wushuang makes a decision, please send me a message.”
All those aristocrats around inwardly cursed Qian Buba for acting so boldly by trying to promote his daughter. Although most of them had been thinking of doing the same thing, only Qian Buba, this businessman had dared to bring it up.
Since the Wealthy Cla.s.s Qian had already voiced their proposal, the Yun family, also being the Wealthy Cla.s.s, did not want to lose.
Patriarch Yun Tianhao said half seriously and half jokingly: "Buba, your daughter is simply too young and is unfamiliar with Wushuang. But my daughter has been studying with Wushuang at the River Martial Arts Academy. They are like childhood friends."
Everyone immediately found it amusing when they heard The Yun Patriarch say that.
It was quite an astonis.h.i.+ng scene, watching two of the three Wealthy Cla.s.ses in River County fighting for the Qin heir to become their son-in-law.
On the surface, Qin Lianshan did not show any expression beside a light smile. But inwardly, he was quite happy. His son was quite famous now, how could any father not feel proud?
When Qian Buba heard these words, he was not happy. He smiled, yet he spoke harshly: “Tianhao, I heard that your daughter had gotten into some conflict with Wushuang.”
“Mere rumors, they were definitely just rumors. Everyone knew that it was the son of the Xu family, Xu Ting who had gotten into a conflict with Wushuang. This incident also involved my Qingyan. Because of this, I even made a big scene with the higher-ups at the Academy.”
“Haha, really? Tianhao, I think I heard another version where your daughter brought a bunch of people to kick down the door to Wushuang’s room. They wanted to make him the scapegoat for that incident, and yet…”
These two guys had started an argument on the scene.
Fortunately, Qin Lianshan stepped forward to smooth things over: "You guys, there is no need to mention the past. The Xu had held a grudge with my family because they coveted our family’s a.s.sets. The Eastwood Qin have always sought after peace. Besides the vicious bullying from the Xu and the Zhang family, we did not get into any conflict with the other powerhouses."
…
In the Xu residence, two coffins were sitting in the middle of the main hall. Xu Sanli was garbed in mourning clothes as he stood beforeand kneeled down. Several rows of the Xu family offspring stood behind him. Each and every one of them wore a grim expression with blood moistened on their gowns.
Xu Sanli led his people and pressed their head heavily against the ground. After kowtowing nine times, he then slowly stood up with a cold face.
“Sihai, are the routes prepared?”
“Patriarch, it is ready.” Xu Sihai answered.
“Good, everyone remembers their tasks and retreat routes, right?”
A group of the Xu offspring nodded and replied: “All memorized.”
“Who wants to step down and regret?” Xu Sanli glanced across all the offspring with a lightning-like gaze.
“No cowering, no regret!” The crowd stirred up the emotion.
“Ok, then remember, everything that happened today is for the family, for our survival. If the Xu family does not retreat from River County, we will surely face destruction within half a year.” Xu Sanli said in a chilling tone, “But to run away like this, how can we let them wound us, and allow the enemy rejoice? To let that Qin family who had suddenly gained fame to laugh at us? Thus, this time we go to the Qin residence for a sneak attack. We must destroy all their a.s.sets. Hmph, so what if they’ve taken the Wealthy Cla.s.s seat? If they don"t have any a.s.sets, the Qin would have no foundation and would not survive for long. Soon, they will become a joke in River County."
Xu Sihai suddenly said: “Patriarch, us and the Qin cannot live under the same sky. Everyone will go to destroy their foundations. But this time, we are going to Great Wu Country and must go through thousand miles of the Great Cang Mountains, along with many States. The journey is long, and will be tough."
"We must go, no matter how difficult it may be! Since Bai Yue Country has already abandoned us, why can we not rely on help in Great Wu? And we have an aristocrat acquaintance in the Great Wu who knows Elder Yue. Surely, he can introduce us. Elder Yue, what do you think?"
Elder Yue nodded with a grim face: "Regardless of the difficulty of the journey ahead, we must go. If we stay in River County, the Xu will be destroyed. The Qin will be the first one to deal with us. Before, we were a Wealthy Cla.s.s, and although we had a lot of enemies, n.o.body dared to challenge us. Now, we have fallen to civilians. Think about the consequences! If we do not go, it will be a dead end!"
Death will come if they stayed. Relying on help from another country still gave them hope to survive. To protect the family, this was not a difficult choice at all for the people of the Xu family.
Each and every one of them swore a blood oath and was determined to follow the family until their death. They would live and die with the family.
Xu Sanli nodded when he saw that emotions were well-stirred: "Ok, time is precious, let"s go now. We will divide into four teams; one group will go to the Qin house and burn their house, destroy the ancestral hall and break their faith. One team will go to their land and poison the crops. The third team will go set fire to the Qin"s shop and oil mills. The fourth team will go poison their fish mill. After all of you have succeeded, everyone will ride towards the southeast and regroup at the border of Sky Stone State of Redwood Royal Territory."
With the meeting concluded, everyone prepared to leave.