The small business owner jumped in fright and stuttered, "Sang, Sang Yufei!"
"From which village?"
"Seems like... Sihe Village!"
"Are you sure? You didn’t hear wrong?" Sang Pingliang’s face turned deathly pale, his hand gripping the small business owner’s collar tightened, nearly strangling him.
"No—what are you doing? You’re suffocating me!" The small business owner came to his senses and, annoyed, shoved Sang Pingliang, fuming, "You have a problem! What does someone achieving Xie Yuan have to do with you! Why are you so agitated!"
"How can it not concern me? He’s my nephew! My own nephew!" Sang Pingliang stomped his foot and rushed out.
"Hey hey, you haven’t paid yet!" The small business owner grabbed him, "Five coins, thanks!"
Sang Pingliang angrily said, "My nephew has achieved Xie Yuan, and you still want my money? I need to rush home!"
"Even if he had achieved top scholar, you’d still have to pay!" The small business owner, having been angrily questioned and grabbed for no reason, was in no mood to relent. Rolling his eyes disdainfully, he retorted, "Besides! How do I know you aren’t some big scammer cheating for food and drinks? With the likes of you, your nephew could achieve Xie Yuan? My son could become a top scholar then!"
"Don’t you dare look down on me, I’ll remember you!" Sang Pingliang, trembling with anger and too anxious to argue further with the small business owner, fished out five coins and threw them at him, then hurriedly chased after the news.
After confirming that indeed Sang Yufei had achieved Xie Yuan, Sang Pingliang was overjoyed, grinning so wide his mouth almost split to his ears. How wonderful! This was great! Now he was the uncle of Xie Yuanlang, the only elder in Xie Yuanlang’s family!
Suddenly, his exhilaration plummeted from peak to valley, his ecstatic smile freezing on his lips, as Sang Pingliang remembered yesterday’s events.
"How could this happen, how could this happen!" Sang Pingliang stamped his foot in remorse, lamenting why the bearer of good news hadn’t come a day earlier.
"So what! I am his uncle, no one can change that fact! If that boy gets rich and thinks to deny it, he has no way out! The saliva of the public will drown him!" Sang Pingliang scoffed coldly.
Besides, the village still doesn’t know this news, right? He guessed that boy didn’t know either. He needed to hurry back and undo yesterday’s matter, wouldn’t everything be alright then?
Yes! That’s what he should do! Sang Pingliang couldn’t help but feel a burst of self-satisfied cleverness. Without further delay, no longer stingy, he spent three coins on a carriage hire, his concern for buying a concubine forgotten, and hurried back to the village.
As the joyous news spread through the streets, Sang Wan and Shi Fengju were sitting in a restaurant’s private room having lunch by the street. Hearing the clamorous gong and the loud heralding, Sang Wan’s eyes lit up, her smile unstoppable.
"The news has finally come back! That’s wonderful, really wonderful!" Leaning at the window looking down, Sang Wan said with a joyful smile.
"The government officials will only come to announce the news tomorrow, let’s head out early tomorrow!" Shi Fengju said with a smile. The officials bringing the good news would march in procession, probably reaching around noon. It’s a custom designed to conveniently have lunch at the host’s place.
"Hmm! Everything depends on your arrangements tomorrow, I’m not familiar with these matters," Sang Wan said with gleaming eyes, smiling at him.
"Don’t worry! I have brought reliable people who can handle the tasks, I’ll explain everything well." Shi Fengju, seeing her dependence on him, felt even happier.
Sang Wan suddenly exclaimed, pointing into the crowd, "Look, isn’t that my second uncle? What’s he doing here!"
Following her finger, Shi Fengju saw a man in his fifties, tall and thin, weaving through the crowd, seemingly asking someone something—it was indeed Sang Pingliang.
Shi Fengju himself was puzzled and seeing the slight frown on Sang Wan’s brow, he said with a smile, "It must be a coincidence! By now your whole village must know. Shall we head back now?"
Shi Fengju did not know that Sang Yufei and Sang Wan had planned to set Sang Pingliang up, as it was not a matter to be proudly shared with him.
"No need," Sang Wan thought that regardless of whether her second brother had handled yesterday’s matter or not, she would only add to the chaos if she returned now. If her uncle pressed her with questions, wouldn’t that just be asking for trouble? Better wait for tomorrow.
"Alright, tomorrow it is then!" Although Shi Fengju found it odd, he didn’t ponder it much.
Sang Pingliang, anxious and restless, rushed towards Sihe Village, getting off the carriage and hurrying home.
Mrs. Li, also curious about the appearance of her new "sister-in-law," had been looking out the door countless times since Sang Pingliang left. Seeing him rushing home alone, she couldn’t help but feel agitated, muttering resentfully under her breath.
Upon a closer look—something was off! It was only her husband alone, with no concubine in sight!
Mrs. Li was overjoyed, her heart ready to burst with flower-like joy. Calling out "Master! Master!" she ran towards Sang Pingliang, excitedly saying, "Master didn’t buy a concubine!"
"What time is it, and you’re talking about buying a concubine!" Sang Pingliang replied gruffly.
"Yes, yes!" Mrs. Li, unable to contain her happiness, "Let’s inquire slowly and find a good one later! No rush, no rush!"
"Enough of that, come home with me quickly, I have an extremely important matter to discuss with you!" Sang Pingliang walked on, increasingly vexed, casting a greedy glance at Sang Hong’s house.
"Oh, oh!" Mrs. Li, still giddy with mirth, completely disoriented with happiness—since Sang Pingliang wasn’t considering a concubine, to her, that was already a huge deal—so she mindlessly agreed to whatever he said.