Chapter 611: We Are the Real Family

"Is this all you’ve got?" Gu Jinli laughed: "You are indeed a clever person, but you are not the only smart person in the world. Don’t take everyone for a fool, thinking they don’t know what crooked ideas you’re harboring."

She pointed at Master Xia, unsparingly declaring: "Xia Gu, let me make it clear now, Brother Cheng is from my family, and you are merely his teacher. Agreeing to let Brother Cheng attend school was because you possess true knowledge. Your duty is to teach him to be accomplished, as for the rest..."

Gu Jinli laughed, a murderous intent filling her smile: "That is but wishful thinking!"

Master Xia knew Gu Jinli was fierce, but he did not expect her to dare to be so confrontational. Her words were a blatant slap to his face. He, Xia Gu, had been respected for decades, even giving the Emperor of Great Chu a pause for thought, yet now he was being pointed at and scolded by Gu Jinli.

Infuriated, Master Xia retorted: "I know Brother Cheng is your family’s child, but..."

"Brother Cheng, between Master Xia and Second Sister, whom would you choose?" Gu Jinli was uninterested in hearing Master Xia’s excuses, cutting him off directly to ask Brother Cheng.

Brother Cheng was a bit dazed. Why were Second Sister and the teacher arguing again? But then... he came over and hugged Gu Jinli, saying: "I choose Second Sister."

Then he ran to hug Gu Jin’an, looking up at him with a smile: "And I choose Big Brother."

Thinking it over, not wanting to show partiality, he also ran to hug Gu Dashan: "Brother Cheng also likes Daddy."

This way Daddy wouldn’t be sad.

Gu Dashan had been confused by Gu Jinli’s fierce scolding of Master Xia but hearing Brother Cheng embracing him brought a smile: "Brother Cheng is good."

Seeing this, Gu Jinli turned to Master Xia, stating: "Master Xia, you should think over what I just said. Once you’ve pondered it, our family will decide whether to allow you to continue teaching Brother Cheng."

She added one last remark: "Remember, matters concerning Brother Cheng can only be decided by my family. Whether he attends school, where he lives, where he spends his birthdays—all are up to us to decide. You are just a teacher. If you overstep your bounds, our family will find a new teacher ourselves!"

Gu Jin’an, too, was good at dealing a final blow, displeased with Master Xia repeatedly crossing their family’s lines, he smiled at Brother Cheng and asked: "Do you want to go study with Big Brother at Uncle Shang’s Family?"

Brother Cheng’s eyes lit up, throwing himself at Gu Jin’an: "I do!"

Worried that Master Xia would be upset, he quickly explained: "Master Xia is more formidable than Uncle Shang, Brother Cheng just wants to study with Big Brother."

Master Xia was deeply hurt, wanting to say something, but as he mustered a call to Brother Cheng, Gu Jinli had already said to Gu Dashan: "Dad, let’s leave. We should give Brother Cheng a break. What child not even five years old studies every day? It’s too tiring, he could get sick."

Saying this while already walking away, Gu Jin’an held Brother Cheng’s hand and followed.

Brother Cheng, a bit worried, glanced over at Master Xia before quickly looking away: He was going to stick with Second Sister and Big Brother!

Gu Dashan was troubled, but he too disliked Master Xia’s insistence on having Brother Cheng spend his birthday with the Xia Family.

Among the Great Chu people, birthdays were always spent within one’s own home, never at someone else’s place. What would it mean if one celebrated their birthday at another’s home?

As for the matter of teachers, they were invited over to join in a meal at the family’s home, never asked to arrange the birthday festivities, unless the student’s own father had passed away—in which case, a teacher, as an elder, would have that privilege. But he was not dead.

Thus, he merely gave Master Xia a polite bow and chased after Gu Jinli and the others, leading the mule cart, taking them to Yanfu Building, to an elegant room upstairs.

Though angry, Gu Dashan did not want Brother Cheng to lose Master Xia as a teacher, after all, a Master Scholar was not easy to find.

"Xiao Yu, are we really not letting Brother Cheng go to Master Xia’s place for classes?" Gu Dashan said: "A Master Scholar is hard to find."

Gu Jinli replied: "Don’t worry, Dad. Even without studying under Xia Gu, our Brother Cheng will still become talented. Our Brother Cheng is smart, right, Brother Cheng?"

Brother Cheng nodded, feeling quite clever, but then hesitantly said, "Second Sister... Brother Cheng really likes Master Xia."

Glancing at his own Second Sister and seeing that she wasn’t angry, he continued, "Even though the teacher can be strict sometimes, Brother Cheng likes Master Xia to continue being the teacher."

Uncle Shang had visited Master Xia a few times. He saw Uncle Shang treating the teacher with great respect, mentioning his own limited knowledge couldn’t compare to Master Xia, who had passed the imperial examination. When older brother takes the exam in the future, he would need his guidance.

Brother Cheng thought if he continued to study with Master Xia, he could help his older brother.

Gu Jinli looked at Brother Cheng and said, "Brother Cheng can continue to study with Master Xia, but Brother Cheng must remember that the teacher is just a teacher. You can respect him, but you can’t follow him blindly... Do you know what it means to follow blindly?"

Brother Cheng shook his head.

Gu Jinli explained, "It means that aside from your studies, you don’t have to listen to what he says, just like how he wants you to go to his house for his birthday. Birthdays are celebrated at home, only if there are no family members left would one go to the teacher’s house for it. Do you want all our family members to die out?"

Brother Cheng started crying and hugged Gu Jinli, sobbing, "Wah wah wah... No no, Brother Cheng doesn’t want family members to die, nor does he want Second Sister to die."

With tears, he asked her, "Does Second Sister still have a headache? Brother Cheng will blow on it, blow on it and it will stop hurting."

Gu Jinli was startled; the little guy still remembered the time she had been knocked unconscious by the Niu family brothers.

What a touching moment, such a good brother!

Gu Jinli comforted him: "Don’t cry, Brother Cheng. Second Sister’s injury has long healed. But Brother Cheng, remember, dad, mom, big brother, and big sister are our true family. Family is different from the teacher. You can listen to the teacher about studying, but for other things, you should listen to the family. However, when you grow up and have your own ideas about what you want to do, you can go do it, provided that you’re willing and not being led by someone else. Do you understand?"

Brother Cheng: "Kind of understand, but also kind of confused... Second Sister, Brother Cheng doesn’t quite get it."

Gu Jin’an laughed from the side: "You’ve made him all dizzy."

He walked over, squatted in front of Brother Cheng, and said, "Just listen to the teacher about study-related matters, and listen to our family for everything else. As long as Brother Cheng understands this for now, it’s fine. Big brother will teach you more slowly later. No rush."

Brother Cheng nodded, "I understand."

Gu Jin’an praised, "Brother Cheng is really smart. As a reward, today Brother Cheng can eat as much as he likes."

Brother Cheng was overjoyed: "Big brother is the best. I want to eat lots of delicious food."

Gu Jinli teased him: "You glutton, all you know is to eat."

Brother Cheng puffed up his little face in protest: "It’s with big brother’s permission."

Gu Jinli smiled and pinched his face: "Our big brother is a crazy brother-pamperer."

Brother Cheng didn’t understand: "What’s a crazy brother-pamperer? Big brother is the best, not a demon. Second Sister, you shouldn’t say that."

Gu Jinli felt jealous: "You always side with big brother. ’Crazy brother-pamperer’ doesn’t mean big brother is a demon. It means big brother is very good to his little brother. Come on, Second Sister will take you to the kitchen; you can choose whatever you want to eat."

Brother Cheng was elated and hurriedly pulled Gu Jinli’s hand to leave.

In the elegantly decorated room, Gu Jin’an saw that Gu Dashan was very worried, so he said, "Dad doesn’t need to worry. Master Xia wouldn’t dare do anything to our family."

He revealed a bit of the inside story to Gu Dashan: "Master Hu has been gracious to Master Xia. Master Hu will help our family. You don’t need to worry about Master Xia’s matters, our family won’t suffer."