Tomb raiders: You stole my little Qilin?

The weather in Beijing these past few days has been unbearably hot.

The pomegranate tree in the courtyard was so hot from the sun that its leaves curled up, and the stone benches and tables were burning hot to the touch. It was only a short time in the morning and evening when people could barely stay there.

Wu Wei's aversion to school has relapsed.

Every morning, Zhang Qiling's knocking on the door never stopped.

Wu Wei went from resistance to numbness, and from numbness to resignation.

Black Bear also suffered bad luck.

His room was right next to Wu Wei's, and the three "knock knock knock" sounds he made every morning were more punctual than an alarm clock.

For the first few days, he would come out in his clothes and curse a few words, but later he found that he was actually awake before the knocking sounded, waiting for the three "knock knock knock" to arrive as expected.

"It's over." Black Bear muttered to himself, staring at the roof beam. "He's turned my biological clock into one."

Wu Wei, who should have been nurtured, was not nurtured, but Hei Xiazi was.

When they finished practicing their skills and were having breakfast that day, Hei Xiazi looked at Zhang Qiling with a serious expression.

"You mute, you have to compensate me. I now wake up at 5:30 every morning, more punctual than an alarm clock."

"I used to be someone who could sleep until I naturally woke up."

Zhang Qiling picked up a piece of green pepper and scrambled eggs with her chopsticks and ignored him.

Wu Wei lay on the table, trembling as he scooped up porridge.

My right hand was still trembling after practicing the sword finger technique, so I couldn't hold chopsticks and had to use a spoon instead.

Hearing Black Bear's words, he lifted his face from the bowl and weakly echoed, "Pay up. You must pay up."

Zhang Qiling glanced at him.

Wu Wei immediately lowered his head and focused on drinking his porridge. "...It's not that necessary."

Black Bear exclaimed in exasperation, "Is this all you've got?!"

"You're kidding me. If you could take a beating for me every day, I'd still support you wholeheartedly."

Wu Wei looked at him expectantly. What was the difference between defending against Zhang Qiling's attacks every day and getting beaten up?

Just as Hei Xiazi was about to aggressively rally allies, he saw Zhang Qiling reach out his hand to him:

"My card."

Hei Xiazi's imposing aura dissipated instantly, and he looked at Wu Wei with disapproval.

"Being mute is also for your own good."

Wu Wei: "..."

Wu Wei's spirit of resistance reached its peak two weeks later, only to be quickly extinguished.

That morning he tried to fake illness, clutching his stomach and saying he had a stomachache.

Without saying a word, Zhang Qiling lifted him out of bed and pressed two fingers on his abdomen a few times.

I don't know which acupoint I pressed, but my stomach stopped hurting. However, I felt so awake that I was almost hyperactive, like I had drunk ten cups of iced Americano in one go.

"Is there anything else that's bothering you?" Zhang Qiling asked.

Looking into his sincere eyes, Wu Wei couldn't utter a single word.

It's unclear whether he genuinely cares or is just being malicious.

Black Bear leaned against the doorframe, gloating as he ate an apple.

"You're faking illness with the Zhang family? With your constitution, no matter how convincingly you fake it, they'll still think you can be cured."

Wu Wei resigned himself to his fate.

But after practicing for two more days, I realized that accepting my fate didn't mean giving up.

Wu Wei's intelligence was fully utilized in his attempt to avoid practicing martial arts.

He came up with a brilliant idea: to run back to Wu Erbai's place.

Although Wu Erbai was sharp-tongued, he had raised him all these years, so he wouldn't drag him out of bed to hang bricks first thing in the morning.

When Wu Wei first went back to live there, Wu Erbai was genuinely happy.

Wu Erbai was happy that his son, who was usually away from home, had come back to stay with him for a few days, even though he didn't say it.

I declined the social engagements and had dinner with Wu Wei that evening. We even played a few games of chess afterwards.

This heartwarming moment lasted for two days.

On the third day, Wu Wei stayed in bed until nine o'clock before getting up and sitting at the dining table to eat breakfast slowly.

After finishing my meal, I brewed a pot of tea and curled up on the sofa to play with a jigsaw puzzle.

When Wu Erbai came out of the study and saw his leisurely appearance, his brows furrowed slightly.

"Aren't you practicing your skills today?"

Wu Wei pieced together another piece, his expression unchanged: "Brother, give me a few days off so I can keep you company."

Wu Erbai felt that this was not something Zhang Qiling would say.

He was happy to have his son by his side, but he didn't say anything.

But after returning to his study, he felt something was amiss and asked Erjing to invite Zhang Qiling over.

Wu Wei had just finished piecing together a picture and was sitting cross-legged on the sofa peeling an orange when the courtyard gate was pushed open from the outside.

Zhang Qiling stood at the door, her gaze sweeping across the courtyard and landing directly on Wu Wei, who was stuffing an orange into his mouth in the living room.

Wu Wei almost dropped the orange in his hand.

Wu Erbai came out of the study, glanced at Zhang Qiling at the door, and then at Wu Wei on the sofa, who was so guilty that he didn't dare to look up.

"He said you gave him a holiday." Wu Erbai's voice wasn't loud, but Wu Wei felt a chill run down his spine.

Zhang Qiling walked into the living room, looked at Wu Wei, and said calmly, "He said you missed him and asked him to stay for a few days."

Wu Wei felt like he had been publicly executed.

He gave a pleading smile, but neither of them was moved.

After all, Wu Erbai knew Wu Wei all too well, having raised him from a young age.

"Clan Chief Zhang."

Zhang Qiling looked at Wu Erbai.

"There are still rooms available. Would you like to stay for a couple of days?"

Wu Wei suddenly looked up, his eyes filled with "Dad, are you serious?"

Wu Erbai ignored him and continued speaking to Zhang Qiling, "Since Xiao Wei wants to keep me company, why don't you stay for a couple of days too? That way, it won't interfere with him keeping me company or his training."

Wu Wei dropped the orange from his hand.

He looked at Wu Erbai, then at Zhang Qiling, trying to find any ally he could win over between the two adults.

But Zhang Qiling's expression clearly showed that he was seriously considering the suggestion.

Wu Erbai wore that familiar, composed smile.

When it comes to educating children, a shrewd businessman and the head of a thousand-year-old family have reached a surprising consensus.

"Okay," Zhang Qiling said.

After enjoying two days of "dual-person mixed teaching" with Zhang Qiling teaching and Wu Erbai supervising, Wu Wei slunk back to Hei Xiazi's courtyard house.

At least here, Hei Xiazi won't be watching him.

Not only do they not supervise him, but they also occasionally plead for him when he is being severely abused.

Although the success rate of pleading for leniency was practically zero, Wu Wei kept this sentiment in his heart.

Seeing the remarkable results of her recent teaching, Zhang Qiling was even somewhat reluctant to leave.

Wu Wei stared at him pitifully, and almost had to beg and cling to his leg to move him.

"Hey, isn't this our little Wu?" Hei Xiazi was sitting in a rocking chair next to the air conditioner, fanning himself.

Seeing Wu Wei dragging his suitcase in, looking disheveled, his eyes lit up. "How's it going? Isn't your dad's doing pretty well? You have food, drink, and people to wait on you."

Wu Wei pushed his suitcase against the wall, slumped onto the sofa, and said weakly, "My dad betrayed us."

Black Bear laughed: "Tell me what happened."

Ignoring Hei Xiazi's gossip, Zhang Qiling went straight to his room to put away his luggage.

Wu Wei recounted from beginning to end how Wu Erbai exposed him to his face, how he took the initiative to invite Zhang Qiling to stay, and how he sat on the veranda every morning with a cup of tea watching him practice horse stance.

Towards the end, Wu Wei's voice carried a betrayed indignation: "To supervise the training, he gets up at 5:30 every day; he used to get up at 7:00!"

Black Bear laughed so hard he almost dropped his fan: "If you ask me, your dad is just worried about you. Where else can you find one-on-one tutoring from a top teacher?"

"Do you want this good fortune?" Wu Wei looked at him resentfully.

Black Bear immediately stopped laughing and said seriously, "No."

Wu Wei buried his face in his arms and let out a muffled sigh.

Hei Xiazi's lips curled up again as he looked at him.

He waved his fan twice and slowly said, "Alright, the mute is doing this for your own good. The Zhang family's methods are something others can't even learn. You're only getting taught because of your bloodline."

Wu Wei lifted one eye out of his arm to look at him: "Blind, whose side are you on?"

"I stand on the side of reason," Hei Xiazi said righteously, then added.

"Of course, I'm on your side about getting up too early."