The few of them secretly looked at each other. Brother Hao stammered, “We shouldn’t have fought with anyone.”
“What else?”
Sister Huan said loudly, “We didn’t win.”
As soon as she finished speaking, the other three could not help but laugh.
Song Jingchen was silent for a moment before looking at Shen Yijia.
Shen Yijia was confused. She had never taught Sister Huan to say that.
Song Jingchen retracted his gaze and glanced at them. “Were you confident of victory before you attacked?”
The four children shook their heads.
Song Jingchen let out a derisive laugh. “Since you’re not confident, why did you attack? If the other party was really an enemy, do you know what the consequences could have been?”
The four of them reacted and lowered their heads in shame.
“I’m asking you to practice martial arts because I hope that one day, if you’re in danger, you’ll have the ability to protect yourself. I’m not asking you to be a boor who only knows how to use martial arts to solve every problem.”
Shen Yijia rubbed her nose, feeling inexplicably offended.
“What you’ve done wrong is that you didn’t distinguish between friend or foe. Your biggest mistake is not being able to see the situation clearly. You’re too arrogant and don’t know how to think rationally.” Song Jingchen’s expression darkened and his tone became even more stern.
These kids were inexperienced and young. They did not know the ways of the world.
If he didn’t take this opportunity to teach them a lesson, Song Jingchen was worried that no one would be able to save them in the future.
Lin Miaomiao was so frightened that when her tears welled up, she didn’t dare to reach out to wipe them.
Even Shen Yijia was shocked. She lowered her head and stood still, thinking about Song Jingchen’s words.
Song Jingchen looked at them and sighed. If they were born in an ordinary family, they naturally wouldn’t need to understand these things at their age, but their family wasn’t an ordinary one.
His voice softened. “Do you understand your mistake?”
“We understand.”
“Then can you accept my punishment?”
“Yes.”
The kids admitted their mistakes with a good attitude. Song Jingchen didn’t reprimand them too much and only said, “After you’re done with the horse stance, each of you will copy the Fu He Strategy. Think about what you should do next time.”
Madam Li knew about their punishment and didn’t say anything. She agreed with Song Jingchen’s actions.
However, when it was time for dinner, she cooked their favorite dishes.
After dinner, Song Jingchen helped Shen Yijia dry her hair.
However, Shen Yijia did not immediately climb into bed like usual. Instead, she sat by the desk and opened a book. After laying out the rice paper, she took out the ink.
“What are you doing?” Song Jingchen found it funny when he saw her tense expression.
Shen Yijia did not stop. She picked up the brush and dipped it in some ink. Without looking up, she wrote something on the rice paper. “I want to copy the ‘Fu He Strategy’.”
Her beautiful husband was right. She could not be a boorish person. She had to learn to use her brain. It was definitely not wrong to study more.
Song Jingchen naturally wouldn’t dampen her rare ambition. He only reminded her kindly, “Can you understand it?”
Shen Yijia shrugged and looked at Song Jingchen pitifully. “I don’t understand.”
Song Jingchen pursed his lips and walked over to sit opposite Shen Yijia. He put away the book she had placed aside and took out a few books on folklore.
He said gently, “You don’t have to look at that. It’s enough to understand these.”
Shen Yijia blinked and looked at the books Song Jingchen had picked. They weren’t as thick as the original book.
It must be because she was smarter than Brother Hao and the others, so she didn’t need to learn so much.
Thinking of this, Shen Yijia gladly accepted Song Jingchen’s special care.
She seriously picked up a book and opened it. When she encountered words she didn’t know, she asked Song Jingchen. Song Jingchen taught her seriously and explained the meaning to her from time to time.
In the end, it became Song Jingchen reading to her in a simple and easy-to-understand way.
This was the first time Shen Yijia realized that there were so many interesting things in the book. After listening for two hours, she did not fall asleep. Instead, she became more energetic.
After Song Jingchen finished speaking, she looked at him with shining eyes, indicating for him to continue.
Song Jingchen fell silent. He put down his book, picked up his teacup, and took a sip of tea before saying, “That’s all for today. Sleep first.”
“Oh.” Shen Yijia was still not satisfied. She crawled onto the bed and lay down.
Song Jingchen found it funny when he saw her like this. He suspected that she was treating him as a storyteller. He wondered if she understood him.
Song Jingchen had a dreamless night. When he got up, he found Shen Yijia sitting by the desk, reading a book with a bitter expression.
Song Jingchen was very surprised at how hardworking she was.
Shen Yijia flipped the book over. It was clearly the same book, but why was it so interesting to hear it from her beautiful husband? When it was her turn to read it, she felt extremely bored.
If she didn’t know that Song Jingchen had always treated these books preciously, Shen Yijia would have torn them all up.
Realizing that Song Jingchen had woken up, she quickly closed the wrinkled book and pressed it under the other books. She smiled at Song Jingchen fawningly. “Hubby, you’re awake.”
Song Jingchen held his forehead and swallowed the words he was about to say.
Shen Yijia was still the same Shen Yijia.
After breakfast, Madam Li went to the workshop. Seeing that the weather was good today, Shen Yijia took out the bedding in her and Song Jingchen’s room and dried it.
Just as she finished putting it up to dry, Xiao Ruoshui rushed in. “Jiajia, save me.”
Shen Yijia’s jaw ached. She looked up at the sun. It was only dawn. It would have taken at least two hours for Xiao Ruoshui to get here from Anyang County, which meant that she’d woken up before dawn.
Seeing that Shen Yijia was still in a daze, Xiao Ruoshui panicked. She ran to her and cried, “Why didn’t you ask me what happened?”
“Aren’t you going to tell me even if I don’t ask?” Shen Yijia moved two mats from the central room and placed them under the eaves. “Tell me. Other than letting you have my husband, I’ll consider everything else that I can help with.”
Xiao Ruoshui choked and wiped her tears before sitting down. “It’s my father. He sent a letter asking me to return to the capital to get married.”
“Isn’t this a good thing?” Shen Yijia’s interest was piqued. Marriage was great.
“But can you be happy marrying someone you’ve never even met?” Xiao Ruoshui retorted.
Shen Yijia felt that Xiao Ruoshui could meet a good match just like she did.
She glanced at Xiao Ruoshui and saw that her eyes were red. She seemed to be very sad. She probed, “Then how do you want me to help you? Beat your father up and prevent him from marrying you off?”
“That’s my father.” Xiao Ruoshui rolled her eyes.
Shen Yijia spread her hands in confusion. “Then why are you looking for me? I only know how to fight.”
Although she admitted that she was a little smarter than Xiao Ruoshui, there wasn’t a huge difference between them.
“I… Don’t you have Brother Song? He definitely has a way.” Xiao Ruoshui felt that Shen Yijia would think she was coveting Song Jingchen when she mentioned him. After saying that, she glanced at Shen Yijia carefully. “Can you help me ask?”