Having been up late the night before, everyone in the Wang Youfu household, except for Caiyun, looked decidedly under-slept the next day.

Sitting in the study hall, Wang Qingchen let out another involuntary yawn. Ugh, how many was that now? If he recalled correctly, this was the thirteenth yawn of the morning, each one leaving his eyes watery. The lecturing fuzi kept glancing over at Wang Qingchen’s lapse in decorum. Wang Qingchen felt helpless; he didn't want to be like this, but the yawning was completely involuntary—he couldn't stop it.

There, another yawn, tears stinging his eyes. So engrossed was Wang Qingchen in the act of yawning that he failed to notice the expression on Wang Qingtong’s face beside him—a look of wanting to speak but holding back.

Wang Qingtong had been feeling quite down these past few days. The promises made by Wang Youliang and Tian Shi had amounted to nothing; not a single shadow of the promised half of the money had appeared, making his dream of opening a shop seem endlessly distant. Furthermore, because he had taken his father to Boss Xue's residence earlier in pursuit of that dream, without consulting Wang Qingchen beforehand, he felt a bit guilty facing him now.

All of this had kept Wang Qingtong rather quiet lately. However, when Wang Qinghua came to the old house late last night to summon people, he had woken up. He knew the Old Master, the Old Madam, and his own mother had gone with Wang Qinghua, but when they returned, his father had come back too, constantly complaining about his eyes hurting. Wang Qingtong couldn't make sense of what had happened. Yet, he faintly overheard the Old Master berating someone about "thieves" and "disregarding brotherhood," which sparked a bad suspicion in his heart: Could his father have gone to his second uncle’s house to steal, knowing that huā was valuable?

This morning, when Wang Qingtong asked Tian Shi, she not only refused to answer but also lectured him about something else entirely, which left him feeling rather glum. But upon arriving at the study hall and seeing Wang Qingchen constantly yawning, Wang Qingtong knew he hadn't slept well and surely knew what had transpired last night. It seemed this was something he could ask Wang Qingchen about.

However, Wang Qingchen had been yawning nonstop all morning, attracting frequent glances from the fuzi. If he were to speak to Wang Qingchen now, Wang Qingtong couldn't begin to imagine what the fuzi would do.

It wasn't until they were walking to the mess hall at noon that Wang Qingtong finally mustered the courage to ask about his doubts, feeling a little ashamed. Given his nature, holding out until this moment to speak was already quite an achievement for him.

“Qingchen, did my father go to your place last night?” Wang Qingtong asked cautiously, watching Wang Qingchen’s expression.

Wang Qingchen let out another yawn, looking quite listless. “Yes, he came to my place.”

Wang Qingchen inwardly grumbled. In his past life, pulling an all-nighter was trivial; how come now, just being up for a little while at night made him feel like he hadn't slept in days? Had moving to ancient times also made his habits conform to the ancients?

“Then… what did my father go there for?” Wang Qingtong, dissatisfied with Wang Qingchen’s brief answer, continued to press.

“Naturally, for something important.” Wang Qingchen thought to himself: wasn't stealing that huā a very important matter for Wang Youliang!

Wang Qingtong interpreted Wang Qingchen’s words to mean that Wang Youliang had an important discussion with Wang Youfu and that was why he went to Wang Youfu’s so late. The boy had clearly forgotten that his father had returned home wailing about his eyes hurting.

With this interpretation, Wang Qingtong breathed a sigh of relief. As long as it wasn't what he feared, everything was fine. One had to admit, some misunderstandings were quite beautiful, as Wang Qingtong instantly felt much better.

Putting that matter aside, Wang Qingtong suddenly remembered something else. “Qingchen, I didn’t intentionally bring my father with me last time. It’s just that my parents said it would be better to have an adult present to handle things, and that I would get half the money once the huā was sold…” As he spoke, Wang Qingtong recalled that his parents had never fulfilled their promise, and he abruptly cut himself off.

Wang Qingchen certainly knew what Wang Qingtong was referring to. After another yawn, he dismissed it nonchalantly. “It’s nothing.” What was done was done; saying anything now was too late. Of course, he didn't voice that last part. Then Wang Qingchen asked, “If your uncle and auntie gave you half the money from selling the huā, you could save twenty taels of silver right away. With a bit more effort, opening a shop would just be a matter of time.”

Upon hearing this, Wang Qingtong’s dejected mood surged up again. “Sigh, don’t even mention it. I doubt I’ll ever get to open a shop now.”

Wang Qingchen looked puzzled. “What happened?”

Wang Qingtong struggled for a while before deciding not to hide it from Wang Qingchen. “The money my parents promised me, they never gave it to me. They said the family had too many expenses right now, and since I’m still young, they’d give it to me when I’m older. They only gave me one tael of silver, saying it was for buying paper and brushes or something.”

Wang Qingchen wasn't overly shocked. Given the personalities of Wang Youliang and Tian Shi, if they hadn't done this, he would have found it strange.

“Don’t be sad. Who knows what the future holds? Maybe you’ll have a chance to open a shop later!” Wang Qingchen could only offer comfort since the boy looked so disheartened.

Wang Qingtong just nodded, saying nothing more.

The same situation afflicted Wang Qinghua; he was also listless today, either mixing up items or mishearing instructions. Fortunately, his usual performance was decent, and it was clear today that he hadn't slept well, so the people in the shop didn't blame him much, assuming something had happened at home. He, however, felt extremely guilty about it.

Yang Shi was always one to worry excessively about any matter, let alone what happened last night. After the incident, she barely slept the rest of the night. Moreover, the noon meal required preparing more dishes than usual, and Yang Shi lacked energy, so the result was predictable.

Zhang Shi, seeing Yang Shi stirring vegetables in the wok looking like she might swing the ladle clean off, quickly went over to take over. “Let me do it. You just watch the fire.”

Yang Shi smiled at Zhang Shi and didn't refuse; after all, her current state was truly unsuitable for cooking.

“Did you go thieving last night? You look like you haven't slept a wink today,” Zhang Shi couldn't help but ask.

Hearing "thieving," Yang Shi immediately sighed. “Ah, isn't that exactly what happened!”

“Huh? I was just saying casually, was there really a thief?” Zhang Shi asked, puzzled.

“Ah?” Yang Shi suddenly realized she had let something slip and became flustered.

Seeing Yang Shi’s expression, Zhang Shi was almost certain she had guessed correctly and pressed further. “Did your house get robbed last night, right?”

Seeing Zhang Shi’s certainty, Yang Shi decided not to conceal it any longer and recounted the events of last night to Zhang Shi. “…Sigh, who would have thought it would be the child’s paternal uncle?”

Zhang Shi felt like she must have misheard. Wang Youliang was truly bizarre, to actually go and steal from his own brother’s house. Zhang Shi felt her perception of Wang Youliang had been elevated to a new level.

“You absolutely cannot tell anyone about this!” Yang Shi cautioned.

“Don’t worry, I won’t say a word outside. If this gets out, it’s the reputation of our entire Wang clan that suffers,” Zhang Shi replied, then added somewhat indignantly, “Why does the eldest uncle cause such trouble?”

Yang Shi sighed helplessly. “Who knows? You don't know how shocked we were when the master flipped him over and we saw it was his elder brother. Who would have thought one of their own would act as a thief?”

Zhang Shi thought that if this happened to her, she would definitely give Wang Youliang a sound thrashing first. It was too easy for Wang Youfu to let him off so lightly. And without making Wang Youliang suffer a setback and learn a lesson, who knew if he would do it again?

At the old house, Wang Youliang’s eyes didn't hurt as much now. But the thought of being caught last night, and the fact that the Old Master and Old Madam knew about it—the Old Madam was easier to deal with, but the Old Master was far less lenient. He needed to find a way to smooth this over.

Tian Shi came in and found Wang Youliang lying on the kang, deep in thought. She walked over and handed him two biscuits. “Eat quickly. Mother asked how your eyes are.”

As soon as he heard this, an idea struck Wang Youliang. Of course, he wouldn't say his eyes felt better. “Tell Mother that my eyes still hurt terribly, and I can barely see anything.”

“What? You can’t see? Husband, are you alright? Should we call a doctor to take a look?” Tian Shi said anxiously.

“Look how worried you are. If I say they’re better right now, Father and Mother don’t know how much they’ll scold me. But if my eyes haven't healed, or have gotten worse, do you think Father and Mother will still blame me for this matter?” Wang Youliang sneered slyly.

Tian Shi’s eyes lit up. “Right! We’ll say your eyes can’t see clearly because Qingchen did this to you. Then the Second’s family will have to compensate us money. Husband, this plan of yours is excellent.”

Wang Youliang chuckled proudly. “Haha… Is there ever a bad plan I come up with? You go tell Mother about my vision problems first.”

Before long, Tian Shi, feigning distress, rushed into the Old Master and Old Madam’s room, crying and sadly detailing how severely Wang Youliang’s eyes were affected, saying he couldn't see things clearly now.

As expected, the Old Couple, who had been furious with their eldest son, had their anger replaced by worry upon hearing Tian Shi’s words, and they rushed to Wang Youliang’s kang. Wang Youliang was prepared. He spoke of his guilt over last night’s affair, then lamented that his poor vision was deserved retribution, not Qingchen’s fault, and so on. He spoke so movingly that the Old Madam even began to shed tears, and the Old Master was hardly better.

Under Wang Youliang's repeated emphasis that Wang Qingchen was not to blame, the Old Couple did not disappoint; they recalled that the eldest son’s eye problem was indeed caused by Wang Qingchen! (To be continued)