Chapter 7: Let Ning Zhuo Come Home

The Ning Clan's young patriarch summoned Ning Ze again, inquiring about the progress of his mission to contact the "Tuft-haired Guest."

Ning Ze bit the bullet and delivered his report.

*Bang!*

Young Patriarch Ning Xiaoren was so enraged that he snatched the inkstone from his desk and hurled it violently.

The inkstone struck Ning Ze's forehead, causing blood to flow instantly.

Daring not to wipe it away, Ning Ze's knees buckled, and he fell to the ground, wailing, "Young Patriarch, it's truly not that I, Ning Ze, haven't tried my best! I've exerted all my strength, but that Tuft-haired Guest is impervious to persuasion!"

"My abilities are simply insufficient. I truly cannot complete such a task."

"Young Patriarch, you overestimate me far too much. I have no confidence or capability to accomplish such a thing."

Ning Ze dared not reveal the matter of the Yellow House Three Fiends, as that was entirely his own doing.

He had long wanted to cast aside this mission. Now that the situation had deteriorated to its limit, he decided to go all out, confessing his inadequacy and admitting outright – he could not fulfill this assignment!

"You… you… you!" The young patriarch's fingers trembled with anger, and for a moment, he was speechless in the face of Ning Ze's recalcitrance.

He leaned back in his chair, breathing heavily for a long while before finally waving his hand dismissively, "You can't even handle such a simple errand! Fine, I'll assign it to someone else. Get out! Just looking at your useless appearance gives me a headache."

Ning Ze hastily took his leave, but just as he reached the doorway, the young patriarch called out to him again.

"Hold on!"

Ning Ze's heart skipped a beat. He turned back and bowed, "What are your orders, Young Patriarch?"

The young patriarch softened his tone, "I've reviewed the list for the upcoming Grand Examination, and Ning Zhuo is on it."

"He ranked thirty-first this time. As his uncle, what do you have to say?"

Ning Ze wore a bitter smile, "Speaking of Xiao Zhuo, I am deeply troubled, Young Patriarch."

"The child has grown up and thinks his wings have hardened. He argued with my wife and me yesterday after the examination."

"Alas, perhaps it's because Xiao Zhuo lost his parents at a young age, and we haven't done enough, leading to his eccentric temperament and withdrawn nature. He is extremely stubborn, unwilling to accept favors, unwilling to let us pull strings, because it would shame him."

The young patriarch's gaze sharpened, "Hmm?"

"Ning Ze, you know very well that Ning Zhuo's father, Ning Zhong, who was your own younger brother, was my savior. I promised them both that I would take good care of Ning Zhuo and help him cultivate properly."

"Children may be foolish, but are you also foolish?"

Ning Ze hastily bowed, "Young Patriarch, I understand your meaning. I will return at once and persuade Ning Zhuo to change his mind."

"Hmm!" The young patriarch waved his hand, issuing a final ultimatum, "If you cannot handle this small matter, you will no longer be qualified to be a procurement steward!"

A heavy stone weighed on Ning Ze's heart as he returned home, his face clouded with gloom.

Ning Zhuo's aunt, Wang Lan, saw him and exclaimed in alarm, "Husband, you're injured!?"

"Naturally, it was inflicted by the young patriarch," Ning Ze sighed.

His wife said resentfully, "That Ning Xiaoren is something else! If he's so capable, he should recruit the Tuft-haired Guest himself! What's he good for except bossing around his subordinates?"

While complaining, his wife gently applied medicine to the wound on Ning Ze's forehead.

The pain from the wound caused Ning Ze's lips to twitch. He snorted coldly, saying, "Fortunately… I finally managed to pass off this hot potato."

"But Ning Xiaoren has another matter for me to handle."

"Alas, it's that mess involving Xiao Zhuo!"

Ning Ze briefly explained the situation.

Upon hearing this, his wife raised her eyebrows, like a cat with ruffled fur, "What? Are we really going to spend money to pull strings and get him into the family business?"

"No, I don't agree!"

"How much money would that cost?"

"We've raised him for so many years, bringing him up was already no easy task. Now we have to spend even more money?"

The husband sighed, "His life at the academy doesn't involve tuition fees, only some living expenses. It's not much, is it?"

"Besides, his mother left behind a sum of money."

His wife exclaimed, "Do you even understand? That money is ours!"

"Back then, when Ning Zhuo's mother lay dying on her sickbed, she held my hand and gave me that money."

"You were there at the time, and several other elders were also present."

"Ning Zhuo's mother said clearly that this money was not for Ning Zhuo's upbringing, but a gift of gratitude for us!"

"This money should be ours, and we can use it however we want."

The husband sneered, "Precisely, which is why we cannot mistreat Xiao Zhuo."

"I am, after all, his uncle, and he ranked thirty-first this time. I can't ignore it."

His wife gritted her teeth, her brows furrowed, and flatly refused, "You might as well kill me than take out such a large sum of money."

"That troublesome little brat, and that greedy ghost Ning Xiaoren, they should all die!"

"Husband, can't you see? Ning Xiaoren specifically brought this up because he wants you to bribe him, to pull strings through him to arrange for Ning Zhuo to enter the family business."

"You don't know what kind of person he is, what his intentions are?"

"He is narrow-minded and ungrateful. A promise he makes publicly today, he can easily claim to have forgotten tomorrow."

"In the past, we also thought that having such a relationship would make things easier. But when we sought his help, he either shirked his responsibilities or demanded money."

"To get you the position of procurement steward, how much money did we have to give the young patriarch? Three times as much as others!"

"Now, he wants to use the matter of Ning Zhuo to extort us again."

"Heh, if he truly cared about his debt of gratitude, why hasn't he shown any concern or offered any comfort to Ning Zhuo in the past ten years!? If he really wanted to repay the favor, he would have used his own power to directly arrange for Xiao Zhuo to enter the family business. He is the young patriarch, after all."

"Hypocritical, so very hypocritical!"

The husband sighed, "Alas, do you think I don't know? His meaning is clear. If I handle this matter poorly this time, if I don't take the opportunity to please him and give him a bribe, he will strip me of my position as steward!"

His wife was incredulous, "Husband, you're just giving in like that? Letting him extort our family?"

"You have a son too."

"Ji'er also needs to cultivate, and he needs resources for cultivation. What can we give him? We can't even satisfy his desire for the pastries from the Golden Delicacies Hall."

The husband's face darkened, and he hissed, "Nonsense!"

"Even senior stewards can't eat those Golden Silk Jade Dew Cakes as snacks."

"Don't rush. Let me consider this matter carefully."

Ning Ze felt a strong aversion to spending money to find connections and send Ning Zhuo into the family business.

Compared to his wife, Wang Lan, it wasn't that he was reluctant to spend the money, but that he cared about his own dignity.

Ning Zhuo had fallen out with them both and was stubborn. Yet, on this basis, Ning Ze was supposed to eagerly seek a good place for him. Was he really acting like an elder?

Wasn't he acting more like a servant?