"Chu Little Black... Chu Little Black... haha, you have the nerve to return back, aren't you afraid of the great eunuch demon coming to trouble you? Come out, hurry up, your master Xu is here to visit you!"
Just as Chu Mo sat there, lamenting the loss of his entire stock of primordial stones, a loud ruckus echoed from afar. If one didn't know better, they might assume it was someone seeking revenge. On Chu Mo's face, a knowing smile spread.
Standing up, he reached out with his left hand and pushed open the door to go out. Though his fractured right arm had been mended, it had yet to fully recover, requiring more time to heal.
"Xu Erfu, you big idiot, if you dare to shout again, I'll reveal the time when you were seven and secretly watched...." Chu Mo called out loudly.
Before he even finished, a pained voice erupted from outside, "Chu Little Black, do you ever give it a rest? That was so long ago, why do you keep bringing it up? Don't you feel shameless?"
Chu Mo responded with a cold snicker, "Alright then, let's not discuss what happened when you were seven and talk about something more recent. Like last autumn, when you were courting Minister Guo's young daughter and got caught by him, leading him to demand you to marry his daughter."
"I mean... Can't you show some mercy and stop picking at old wounds?" A weak voice rang out from outside the door. Then, a figure walked in, looking at Chu Mo with a face full of sorrow: "Your grand lord Xu came to visit you out of kindness, and this is how you welcome your brother?"
"That's what you get for pissing me off!" Chu Mo laughed, extending his left arm for a hug from the approaching Xu Erfu.
"What happened to your right arm? Got injured?" Xu Erfu asked, frowning at Chu Mo, examining him from head to toe, "Chu Little Black, why do I feel you've changed somewhat since I last saw you?"
"What's changed?" Chu Mo beamed at the slightly shorter handsome young man in front of him, "I still have all my limbs, same as before."
"No, no, you've changed a lot!" Xu Erfu studied him closely, frowning: "First, you were considerably shorter than me half a year ago... now, you look as tall as me!"
"Actually, I'm a little taller than you," Chu Mo responded nonchalantly.
"We're the same height!" declared Xu Erfu, who had a rather handsome face, irritated, "The same!"
"Alright then..." Chu Mo rolled his eyes, not interested in stooping to this idiot's level.
"Come on, since you're finally back, I can stop worrying. Let's go out and celebrate!" Xu Erfu cheerfully pulled Chu Mo along.
The veteran guards and servants at the Fan Residence turned a blind eye to Xu Erfu's antics, long since used to such scenes.
Just like "Chu Little Black," Xu Erfu was a nickname the two of them had playfully given each other since their childhoods. Xu Erfu's real name was Xu Fufu, but since it was a repeated character name and Chu Mo thought him quite dim, he decided to rename him Xu Erfu. Not backing down, Xu Erfu removed the 'earth' beneath the 'ink' in Mo, claiming Chu Little Black had a better ring to it.
So, those nicknames came about. However, there weren't many people who could address them that way in Yanhuang City!
Xu Fufu came from a family with a formidable reputation, typical of a high-ranking bureaucratic household.
His grandfather, Xu Zhongliang, was second to none in the imperial cabinet. It was unknown whether he climbed the ranks after the dismissal of Prince Xia Jing's Prime Minister. It seemed plausible considering Xu's grandfather was only in his sixties and continued to be deeply trusted by the emperor.
Xu Fufu's father, Xu Shan, was the City Lord of one of the most critical cities in southern Great Xia. Even though it was a city, its administrative level was equivalent to a province!
The administrative divisions of Great Xia included provinces, prefectures, counties... with the highest-ranking official in each province being the provincial governor. In Great Xia, this position was one of real power.
At his father's young age of forty, he held a top position. Many people predicted that in five years, there could be a scenario where both father and son were in the cabinet. They were talking about the Xu family.
In addition to Xu Erfu's grandfather and father, his uncles, aunts, and in-laws were also quite remarkable. Almost all of them held some post in the government, with many of them occupying critical positions.
As a result, the Xu family was referred to as the preeminent bureaucratic family of Great Xia!
The magnitude of their influence was impressive.
Xu Erfu's generation, particularly his older brothers, had already entered the varying levels of Great Xia's bureaucracy, leveraging their family's influence to build and hone their careers.
Perhaps because his father wasn't around for much of his childhood and his grandfather was especially indulgent of his youngest grandson, Xu Erfu developed a downright unruly nature. It's quite unnerving when a member of such an elite bureaucratic family becomes the apple of their family's eye.
Producing a prodigal son who bullies men and oppresses women would be minimal, it could get even worse.
However, Xu Erfu did not end up this way. On the contrary, he was recognised as a rare academic prodigy. Not only was he widely read, but he also read through virtually every classic text of wise men in Great Xia from ancient times to current and was able to express his unique insights.
It was expected that a prodigy from such a powerful family would have an immeasurable future. Without exaggeration, if he wanted to pass the scholar's examination, he would certainly be the top scorer!