They had come to an empty space by a little grove, with not a single cropland in sight. Very few people would come here, hence it was filled with overgrowth.
Indisputably, without giving a heads up, Ye Yang punched Ye Xuan squarely on the jaw.
Stunned by the sudden attack, it took a while before Ye Xuan reacted. He felt the pain as he rubbed his jaw. He protested, “Yang, what was that for?”
He did not expect Ye Yang to get rough and physical. That should be Ye Mo’s style of doing things!
He always believed that Ye Yang, whose words were few and far between, was a man of reason, and one with impeccable maturity and resolution.
Ye Yang rolled his eyes coldly. He chose not to speak, and instead he landed several more blows on Ye Xuan.
Ye Xuan might have been a man of great stature, but he was a scholar after all and had never done manual labor in his life. There was no way he could compete with Ye Yang.
“Ow… Seriously, Brother Yang, what’s that for? You must have a reason for beating me!” Ye Xuan protested as he tried to evade.
Ye Yang nevertheless did not reply to him as he continued with the beating. Ye Xuan grimaced at him whenever a punch landed on him.
On the other hand, Ye Ling walked with Liu Ran for a certain distance before making a U-turn.
Dumbfounded, Liu Ran asked, “Brother Ling, why are we going back?”
“We’re going back to pack your things, including your blanket,” Ye Ling answered patiently, but without the smile that usually hung on his face.
He believed that scum like Ye Xuan was not qualified to teach Liu Ran!
They would bring back whatever he had in school, and at night they would consider enrolling him in the school in town.
The tuition fees there would be a lot more costly, but they could afford it now, so money was not a real problem. Spending it on Ran Er was worth it.
“But why?” Liu Ran asked, confused. Exactly what had happened?
Was it something I did? Have they decided to pull me out of school? Liu Ran thought, looking especially cautiously at Ye Ling.
Ye Ling could feel his young brother-in-law’s careful demeanor. He stopped in his tracks, squatted down such that the two stood at the same level, and said, “Ran Er, don’t imagine things. It’s not because of you. There are some personal matters between your brothers-in-law and your teacher Ye Xuan, and so we don’t want you to learn from him.”
He gave Liu Ran the general facts but skipped the details.
Liu Ran nodded obediently and did not ask for more. Since Ye Ling refused to talk about it, that meant he did not want him to know, so it was best he refrained from asking.
In the future when he became an adult and would be able to share their burdens, he believed his brothers-in-law would let him in on the decision-making process.
Seeing Liu Ran pull himself together, Ye Ling stood up and patted Liu Ran on the head, took his hand, and walked towards the schoolhouse. They headed to the backyard of the campus to collect his belongings.
“Little Ran, what are you doing here?”
Yuan Fang had seen them leave earlier, yet now they were back and heading to the hostel. Sensing something was up, he followed.
Incidentally, he saw the two packing the bedding and other items. He popped the question curiously.
He was on good terms with Liu Ran and their friendship was quite tight.
Liu Ran heard his friend’s voice and came to Yuan Fang’s side. “Little Fang, I won’t be attending classes here anymore, but I’ll come to visit you at your house every so often, and you can always come to mine. Alright?”
Yuan Fang, who was also a sensible kid, did not probe further. He knew Liu Ran would tell him the reason some other time.