In the Wei Family, the eldest brother Wei Zhe looked at the young man in front of him with a complex expression, as the young man played an exciting game in the courtyard with little Ximo.
The courtyard originally had many square stone slabs, which were now used as a game board.
There were ten slabs as large as water tanks, horizontally and vertically, and the rules of the game were even simpler.
The two of them played rock-paper-scissors, and whoever won could draw their mark on the territory.
The winner was determined by Go rules, but where to mark was all up to luck.
Little Ximo was trapped in the corner, Yuchi’s territory surrounding her on all sides, her eyes pleading for mercy.
"Uncle, spare my little life, this is the empire I worked so hard to build."
"Uncle, no, please don’t!"
"Uncle, I have nowhere to run, will you please throw rock this time?"
"Uncle, you’re such a trickster, you promised to throw rock, yet you threw paper!"
Despite all of little Ximo’s sweet and flattering words, praising how wonderful her dear uncle was, she was ultimately vanquished in one strike by Yuchi.
She plopped down on the ground, rubbing her eyes with an aggrieved look.
Meanwhile, Yuchi stood with hands on hips, laughing heartily, and exclaimed:
"The traitor has finally been vanquished, and from now on, the world is unified—magnificent, magnificent."
So while the young man laughed wildly, the little girl cried her heart out, and the maids in the distance watched with stifled laughter.
"Sanlang still insists on being strong," Wei Zhe chuckled helplessly.
He noted how Yuchi indeed had a dual personality—far from easy to get along with outside, but with his family...
Look at that smug look, as if he had gambled everything on this game.
"Is this how Sanlang plays with little Ximo?"
The maids gathered in twos and threes, watching secretly from afar.
Their eyes were on Yuchi, and he seemed so appealing they wanted to eat him up.
Looking at the pouting little Ximo before him, Yuchi glanced at the sky.
The sky was clear and boundless; the afternoon break was over, and it was about time.
He gestured for the maids to come over by nodding in their direction.
The maids hurriedly complied, and two who usually took care of little Ximo briskly approached.
"Uncle, one more game, this time I’ll defeat you, leaving you in utter defeat!"
Little Ximo, with her rolling pin-sized fist, was downright dissatisfied.
"It’s ’utter defeat,’ not ’utter dog-downfall,’ I’m not riding a dog into battle against you."
"Also, you’ve said the same thing for the past three rounds."
Yuchi laughed, lifting her up from the ground.
"Now go obediently to the tutor and listen to the lecture, learn how to write properly, your handwriting is even uglier than mine!"
That excited little Ximo.
Even uglier than uncle’s? Doesn’t that mean I surpassed him? I’m still pretty awesome.
This little girl’s way of thinking was simply brilliant, Wei Zhe interjected:
"Yes, Sanlang’s writing is already hard for ordinary people to imitate, and your writing, little Ximo, is simply divine."
"A random stroke of ink from a thrown rope looks more like words than your handwriting."
"At this point, only your third uncle knows what your writing really means."
The implication was you two amateurs should stop playing encrypted conversations...
"Alright, fine, I’m going."
Little Ximo looked very reluctant, with a touch of regret.
Lonely, she followed the maids, looking back three steps at a time, pitifully.
It was as if she believed she would never return.
"Don’t make the tutor angry; I’ve noticed lately his hair seems to be falling out from stress."
Yuchi yelled from afar.
He had been spending quite a lot of time with little Ximo lately, thus exchanging words occasionally with the tutor too.
He could tell the tutor definitely wanted to make a good impression.
After all, the Wei Family hired him back, definitely hoping the little girl would learn some basic poetry and phrases.
However, young children are so hard to teach.
Yuchi clearly saw the tutor’s gradually thinning hair.
Worries, indeed, plenty of worries.
He even remembered very clearly one occasion.
Just the afternoon before yesterday.
He was about to pick up little Ximo from class to take a stroll around town, and then witnessed the poised old tutor grabbing his hair in vexation.
His eyes full of bloodshot, clearly tormented by little Ximo’s antics.
At that moment, Yuchi had a thought:
"This job isn’t easy at all."
And as Yuchi watched little Ximo leave, his big brother Wei Zhe approached him.
"Sanlang, after tonight, tomorrow Xufu Town is going to change."
After saying that, he mused to himself, Yuchi had already told him roughly what was going on so that their family would not be caught off guard.
So he and their father were now aware of the situation, each more anxious than the other.
They knew something significant would happen tonight in Xufu Town, yet Sanlang seemed completely unfazed.
This attitude was so relaxed that Wei Zhe didn’t know if it was an act, or if he genuinely didn’t see it as anything remarkable.
Hearing what his brother said, Yuchi smiled, looked down at the stone slabs beneath his feet covered with marks, and said: