The Mute Wife Who Brings Prosperity-Chapter 537 - 504: The Nemesis of the Lazy

Song Yuanbao only took a day’s leave from Zhao Xi and returned last evening, so he must leave this afternoon.

Before leaving, Song Wei said, "Since you rarely come back, go to the ancestral hall and offer some incense."

When Song Wei had the house renovated, he specifically set up a small ancestral hall in the rear wing, which not only honored the Song family’s ancestors but also had memorial tablets for the Da Lang couple.

Song Yuanbao agreed with a nod.

As he was heading towards the rear wing, Jinbao happened to be coming back from school. The little one saw him and excitedly shouted, "Brother!"

Shouting as he ran towards him.

Song Yuanbao was worried that he might miss a step and fall, so he quickly went forward to hold him.

"Is brother leaving?" Jinbao asked, looking up with his little head.

Song Yuanbao was eleven years older than him and naturally much taller.

Looking into Jinbao’s bright eyes, Song Yuanbao nodded, "I’m going to offer incense to our ancestors and then I’ll leave soon."

"Jinbao wants to go too." The little one was eager.

Song Yuanbao did not refuse, holding his little hand, they walked along the cobblestone path between the trees, through the garden, to the rear wing.

In the capital, the ancestral halls of wealthy families are quite elaborate, some even larger than residential houses.

The ancestral hall in the Su Family’s West Garden was comparable to two ordinary houses.

The Song family came from humble beginnings, generations were simple folks toiling the earth. Back in their hometown, the clan’s ancestral hall wasn’t very large. The current hall only housed the tablets of three generations of ancestors and the Da Lang couple.

There was a servant responsible for cleaning the hall, and upon seeing the Song Yuanbao brothers, he hurried over to greet them, "Mr. Song, young master." 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Song Yuanbao nodded in acknowledgment, saying he wished to enter and offer incense.

The servant hesitated, "The ancestral hall is a solemn place; Mr. Song can enter, but the young master cannot."

"Why not?" Jinbao asked.

The servant scratched his head, "Children are not allowed in the ancestral hall; this has been a rule since ancient times. It’s not up to me. If you wish to enter, you might need the master’s consent."

Jinbao had never been inside an ancestral hall and was very curious about what was inside.

Song Yuanbao didn’t intend to go back and ask Song Wei, so he asked Jinbao to wait outside.

Jinbao watched as his brother closed the hall door after entering, unable to see anything inside. He pouted and lazily sat on a bench by the corridor, his little legs dangling.

Song Yuanbao stood in front of the altar, where several candle stands flickered, illuminating the memorial tablets.

He took three sticks of incense, lit them, his gaze falling on the tablets of the Da Lang couple, bowing three times, he inserted the incense into the incense burner, and stood quietly for a while before coming out.

Upon hearing the door open, Jinbao jumped off the corridor bench and ran over, "Brother, what’s inside the ancestral hall?"

Song Yuanbao smiled, "You’ll know when you’re older and can go in yourself."

"Mom and Dad said the same thing," the little one muttered, "but Jinbao has been eating and sleeping very diligently and is still so small."

The two chatted as they walked back along the path they came from. Jinbao noticed a gardener tending to the plants and suddenly beamed, "Brother, if they pour water on Jinbao’s head like they do with the flowers, will Jinbao grow big quickly?"

Song Yuanbao chuckled, "Watering? I might fertilize too, little one, don’t joke around."

He added, "Brother is entering the palace; study hard and try to get away from Mr. Man soon."

Mentioning Xu Dengke made Jinbao grumble, "What a slow person, so slow, even a turtle is faster than him."

Song Yuanbao laughed again, "Yes, even a turtle is faster, so our Jinbao should be faster than a turtle. Can you do that?"

The little one nodded listlessly, saying he could. He personally saw his brother off, and then turned back to see Wen Wan.

Wen Wan was in the Western Side Room, receiving a few visiting ladies.

Seeing the little one peeking in through the door, Wen Wan waved at him, "Jinbao, what are you doing outside?"

Having been spotted by his mother, the little one could only lower his head and walk in.

The ladies all turned their heads, seeing a delicately featured little boy enter, their eyes lit up, "Mrs. Song, is this your little son? What a handsome child."

Wen Wan smiled and nodded in agreement, and then instructed Jinbao to bow to the various ladies present.

With so many people watching, the little one didn’t dare be lazy. He followed his mother’s instructions and addressed each person, this aunt and that older sister, finally sitting down next to Wen Wan.

One of the ladies curiously said, "I can’t tell, Mrs. Song looks so young and tender, yet she has two sons already, and the first is over ten years old. How do you maintain yourself? Can you teach me?"

The woman in a dark green jacket beside her nudged her, "What nonsense are you talking about? Mrs. Song is only in her twenties, how could she have a son over ten years old? It’s obvious that this son was born by the main wife’s first marriage, isn’t it?"

Before she finished her sentence, someone from outside interrupted, "Who cares who gave birth to him? As long as Mr. Song is willing to call Wen Wan ’mother’, that’s even better than if she were his birth mother."

Everyone looked over to see that it was none other than Dudu’s wife, Lin Xiaoyue. Their expressions changed, and they all stood up to pay respects.

Lin Xiaoyue apologized with a full face of sincerity, "I’m sorry, everyone, I’m here to see Mrs. Song on urgent business, I might have to ask you to leave first."

"What are you saying, Dudu’s wife, if you’re busy, please go ahead. We will take our leave first."

Lin Xiaoyue smiled faintly and instructed Wen Wan’s close maid, "Yun Cai, hurry up and see the guests out."

Yun Cai reacted and quickly responded, following the guests out.

Wen Wan, with her belly prominent, was too lazy to get up, so she continued to lean on the Arhat Bed with a cushion under her waist. She looked at Lin Xiaoyue, "Why did you come without saying anything?"

Lin Xiaoyue said, "To give you a surprise! Your family doesn’t play the invitation card game, so it’s convenient for me. I just came over directly and didn’t bother notifying your servants—you’re not mad about that, are you?"

Wen Wan raised her hand, signaling Linglong to come in and serve tea to Lin Xiaoyue.

Thinking of the previous incident, Lin Xiaoyue was indignant, "I’m telling you, what kind of people are you associating with, they don’t know how to talk. Do they even speak like humans?"

Wen Wan laughed, "It was they who were speaking, not me. Why are you angry with me?"

"They’re gossiping right under your nose, and you don’t show them a lesson?"

"I was planning to, but didn’t you just come? With such a strong backer here, why should I bother to speak myself? It’s tiring."

Lin Xiaoyue was genuinely exasperated by her and scolded, "No wonder Jinbao gets lazy enough to drive people mad—it runs in the family."

Wen Wan glanced at herself, then looked at her son sitting on a nearby embroidered stool, suddenly at a loss for words.

Seeing Lin Xiaoyue gulping down her Tie Guan Yin tea in frustration, Wen Wan’s mouth twitched, "You’re already Dudu’s wife, can’t you pay more attention to your image?"

Lin Xiaoyue was indifferent, "It depends on who I’m with. You know my nature. Trying to maintain an image in front of you—I’m overdoing it, aren’t I?"

Wen Wan adjusted to a more comfortable sitting position, "So tell me, what’s your business with me?"

Lin Xiaoyue looked at Jinbao, "I heard that your family invited that famous slow coach from the spring examinations, Xu Dengke, to tutor Jinbao. Is that true?"

Wen Wan nodded, "Mr. Song invited him, I wasn’t informed in advance."

"Why?" Lin Xiaoyue was puzzled, "I heard that he is extremely slow at everything he does, not just average slow—how does he teach? Are you and your husband conspiring to set up your son?"

Discussing this topic in front of Jinbao was not appropriate, so Wen Wan asked Linglong to take him out, then said, "Jinbao doesn’t like studying. Mr. Song thought of bringing someone in to stimulate him. Otherwise, as soon as he sees books, he feels sleepy. How will he ever succeed like that?"

Lin Xiaoyue still couldn’t understand, "How does he stimulate him?"

Wen Wan said, "Today’s lesson is over. If you’re free tomorrow, come over during the day, and I’ll show you how it works."

...

The next day, Lin Xiaoyue arrived just when Jinbao’s class was starting. The weather was hot, and Wen Wan was too lazy to move, so she let Song Jiao take her to see.

The two of them crouched outside the window, peering through a hole in the paper to see inside.

The spacious schoolroom was simple in structure—just a table, a chair, a teacher, a student, and a servant.

The teacher took as much effort to turn a page as he did to blink, struggling endlessly to turn one over.

The student had cotton stuffed in his ears, ignoring the teacher’s lecture. His small paws held a pen, busily scribbling something.

The servant didn’t act like a servant should; sunflower seed shells were scattered all over the floor, and his legs were propped up higher than his master’s.

Lin Xiaoyue was about to say something when she heard Xu Dengke’s voice inside, attempting to instruct Jinbao to turn to a certain page. But this sentence took him ages to say, with pauses between each word testing Lin Xiaoyue’s patience.

"I finally get it," she resisted the urge to scratch the wall, "Xu Dengke is honestly a nemesis for lazy people. No matter how lazy you are, being tormented by him will change you drastically. No wonder little Jinbao doesn’t sleep in class—with this, even I couldn’t doze off!"