Sang Yufei knew immediately they must have caught wind of something, and scoffed secretly in his heart, yet his expression remained unchanged.
Beaming with joy, Sang Pingliang couldn’t keep his mouth shut as he eagerly pulled Sang Yufei in front of Li Zheng, saying, "Li Zheng, look, Xiaofei has no objections, let us draft the document now, shall we?"
"Yes, yes, to avoid further complications and sabotage by anyone!" Mrs. Li hastily agreed, casting a sideways glance at Sang Hong.
"Second Uncle Sang!" Sang Yufei bluntly pulled his hand away, "I am unwilling! I have lived with my elder brother and sister-in-law for so many years, I don’t want to be adopted away!"
"Are you also learning from that ungrateful and unfilial child?" Sang Pingliang’s face turned cold.
"Unfilial? What am I to Second Uncle Sang? You shouldn’t speak recklessly about such things!" Sang Yufei was not as easygoing as Sang Hong, his lips curling up in mockery.
"I, I am your Second Uncle! You can’t change that fact!"
"But the fact was changed by you personally yesterday, Second Uncle Sang wouldn’t forget so quickly, would you? If forgotten, please go home and read it again!" Sang Yufei said coldly, confidently pulling Sang Hong, "Elder brother, let’s go home."
"Now, Brother Sang, you should give up, right?" Li Zheng pushed him impatiently, "It’s getting late, let’s go, you better hurry home and cook dinner! Let’s put an end to this matter and not bring it up again! Isn’t it the same if you adopt a child from somewhere else? Or perhaps invite a son-in-law to join the family through your daughter. Why split up a family!"
Instant karma! It hasn’t even been a day and he’s already contradicting himself! Seriously, what’s the fuss all about!
Li Zheng shook his head in confusion, finding it hard to understand the logic of such people.
"You did it on purpose, you were definitely intentional!" Sang Pingliang fumed and fretted, forgetting to care as he pointed at Sang Hong and Sang Yufei, "You two brothers must have plotted together yesterday to trap us! You heartless child, Sang Yufei, upon becoming a Xie Yuan, you disregard your own relations! You are beyond redemption!"
"What!" Li Zheng and Sang Yufei exclaimed in surprise, Sang Hong paused, a flicker of panic crossing his eyes before he swiftly composed himself.
"What Xie Yuan? You mean, me — passed the Xie Yuan exam?" Sang Yufei widened his eyes unbelievably, pointing to his own nose and laughed, "Second Uncle Sang, you can’t possibly joke ! If I don’t pass, will you compensate me?"
"What on earth is going on?" Li Zheng was also confused. "Did you hear it wrong, Xiaofei really, truly topped the Xie Yuan exam?" he asked excitedly.
"The whole town knows about it, how could it be wrong!" Sang Pingliang sneered, recounting his experience in town today, then pointed at Sang Yufei accusingly, "You dare say you didn’t know! Haha, how could you have acted like that yesterday if you didn’t? You clearly feared that we would benefit from your success, so you deliberately laid a trap!"
"Second Uncle Sang!" Sang Yufei spoke coldly, "Yesterday I merely went to your house to borrow flour. If you wouldn’t lend it, that’s fine, but what words did we exchange, need I repeat them? It’s one thing to scold my brother and me, but not even sparing our father! And today you have the audacity to accuse me of being unfilial! Afterwards, it was you who insisted on severing relations, asking Li Zheng to mediate. How many times did my sister-in-law persuade you, but did you listen? So, I actually passed, haha, no wonder now you say I should be adopted! Second Uncle Sang, Second Aunt Sang, what a clever scheme you’ve plotted! My brother and sister-in-law have worked hard to provide for my living and education, and here you come trying to reap the benefits!"
Li Zheng, suppressing his elated mood upon hearing this, sighed and said, "Brother Sang, regardless, you’ve already severed ties. Xiaofei, um, Second Master does not wish to be adopted, then let it be so! Let’s not discuss this matter any further!"
Unaware before, now that it is known that Sang Yufei has topped the Xie Yuan exam, even the county magistrate would have to bow and greet each other upon meeting him, a mere Li Zheng, of course, wouldn’t dare to call him by name directly.
"You all, you all colluded! Deceiving us!" Sang Pingliang, furious and embarrassed, even accused Li Zheng.
"How can you talk ?" Li Zheng angrily said, "Who was asking me to make decisions yesterday? Huh?"
"No, no, I didn’t mean you! They, they must have known the news already, that’s why they—" Sang Pingliang faltered, again pointing at the Sang brothers.
Sang Yufei scoffed, "Weren’t you the one who saw the government officials announcing the good news in town today? How could the government office not have the news if I had it beforehand? Besides, if I knew such great news, would I still come back so plain? Second Uncle Sang, could it be that you’re deceiving me? Did I really pass?"
Sang Yufei spoke, his brows lightly furrowed, his face filled with hopes and fears.
"You—" Sang Pingliang was convinced he already knew and seeing him acting this way got so infuriated he almost couldn’t catch his breath.
"You two at your age, why do you keep doing such absurd things! When others were in trouble, you stood by idly, mocking and scoffing. Now that they have made something of themselves, you want to claim the ready-made. Is there such cheap thing in this world? Enough, I’m unable to help with this, please go back!" Li Zheng sent them away coldly.
Li Zheng wasn’t foolish; he had already picked up some clues and suspected that yesterday’s incident was premeditated by the Sang brothers, but he wouldn’t foolishly speak of this. Sang Pingliang, a man who wouldn’t rise early without benefit, would not seek to adopt Sang Yufei if there were no advantages. If he proceeded with it, it indicated that the news he brought back was ninety-nine percent true! This means Sang Yufei is now a Xie Yuan! There might be much he needed from him in the future, now he was more than willing to curry favor with him!