Chapter 70: Has the Timeline Changed?
The three of them left the Xie household and politely declined the carriage the steward offered to send them back. They decided to walk back to the clinic on foot.
Along the way, Wen Xiuyi subconsciously kept a hand over his pocket. After all, there were two hundred taels in there—an enormous sum for their family.
“Yaoyao, you’d better keep this.” Wen Xiuyi looked around, and seeing no one nearby, pulled the siblings into a narrow alley and shoved all the silver ingots into Wen Yao’s hands.
Wen Yao, quick as lightning, caught them and instinctively stashed the silver into her dimensional space before even replying.
“Dad, what are you doing? What if someone had seen that?” Two hundred taels—in her space’s valuation, that was the equivalent of two hundred thousand! She suddenly felt like she’d struck it rich.
With the silver no longer on him, Wen Xiuyi finally relaxed. Once back on the main road, he reminded his son, “Jun, make sure to avoid the Xie family from now on. If there’s a house call, let your master handle it. Don’t go getting involved again.”
Wen Jun nodded. “Understood.”
All three of them were smart. They knew exactly what the Xie family’s intentions were with this gesture—throwing money to shut them up.
But they didn’t mind. If anything, they’d be glad for more hush money like this.
Wen Yao, on the other hand, was thinking about how to spend it. “Dad, Jun, we’ve struck gold! Think about it—how should we use the money?” she said, rubbing her hands together, eyes sparkling.
Wen Xiuyi, however, shook his head. “We’ll talk about spending it later. Yaoyao, I want to ask—why did you react so strongly when you heard that child’s name at the Xie household? Is there something special about him in the future?”
Wen Jun also looked over, curious.
Wen Yao glanced around. Since this wasn’t a main street and there weren’t many people within a few meters, she lowered her voice and said, “That name belongs to someone who was a close friend, business partner, ambiguous maybe-lover, and personal money tree of that guy. His mother’s side was in business, and his father’s side, though a minor branch of a prestigious clan, rose to prominence thanks to his growing wealth. He was later heavily favored by his paternal clan and became one of the most sought-after golden bachelors of his time.”
She paused dramatically. “But here’s the thing—he had a brilliant business mind and, while working with that guy, ended up falling in love. Then, using their partnership as a cover, they started this back-and-forth ambiguous relationship. Whatever that guy wanted, as long as he had it, he’d give it.”
“Tsk tsk, the novel even vaguely implied the two of them slept together—left it just ambiguous enough for readers to go wild speculating. Among all the cannon fodder characters, he was one of the few who actually came out on top.”
Wen Xiuyi was instantly annoyed. So his son was the unlucky one again?
Meanwhile, back home, Da Tou suddenly sneezed, prompting Granny Luo to worry he’d caught a chill while playing with water and quickly ushered him indoors to warm up.
Back on the street, father and son simultaneously raised a hand to stroke their chins—same gesture, same side.
Wen Yao watched them for a moment and then mimicked the motion herself, drawing suspicious glances from passing pedestrians who thought the three of them were nuts and gave them a wide berth.
“Are you sure it’s him?” Wen Jun asked.
Wen Yao thought for a moment. “Pretty sure.”
Wen Xiuyi clicked his tongue. “But wait. You two were the ones who saved him, right? But you weren’t in the story before, were you? That kid was supposed to die from this accident, wasn’t he?”
Wen Jun and Wen Yao exchanged a glance. Right—if this really was the same Xie Anyi from the book, then he shouldn’t have survived this incident. They weren’t even supposed to be part of the story. Without their intervention, wouldn’t the kid have just choked to death?
“There’s only one explanation.” Wen Xiuyi pursed his lips, furrowed his brows, and stroked his chin again.
The siblings turned to him in unison, just in time to hear him continue, “Our arrival has altered many events here. So his fate changed as well. Maybe he wasn’t originally meant to encounter this accident at all. But because we changed the timeline, he ended up choking—and just so happened to meet you two.”
Wen Xiuyi looked at his children. Wen Jun and Wen Yao locked eyes again.
“…”
So they were the reason this kid, who was supposed to grow up smoothly, almost ended up killing himself?
Right—if they hadn’t saved him, he really would’ve died.
Talk about… creating karma…
Suddenly, the two hundred taels felt a little… morally heavy.
In order to ease her guilt, Wen Yao decided the best solution was: spend it fast.
“Dad, Jun, so… how should we use the money?” she asked again.
Wen Xiuyi thought for a moment. “Why don’t we build a house? That old place of ours is falling apart. I want each of you kids to have your own room.”
Wen Yao nodded. That was actually a great idea. No matter the era, having a home of your own was what really mattered.
Wen Jun, however, remained quiet. Wen Yao nudged him. “Hey, Jun, what about you? Any ideas?”
He looked at Wen Yao, then at their father, and finally said, “I’m fine with whatever. But… did you forget? We still owe Grandpa and Grandma money.”
Even though Wen Laohan and Granny Luo had never once mentioned repayment, the fact remained—they’d sold off their land to help pay Wen Xiuyi’s debts. That debt of gratitude was something they couldn’t ignore.
Wen Xiuyi and Wen Yao both froze, then quickly realized he was right. Wen Xiuyi looked to Wen Yao and said, “Then let’s buy the land back first. Return it to your grandparents.”
Wen Yao nodded. “That works.”
Wen Xiuyi smiled at them and said reassuringly, “Don’t worry. I’m making decent money these days. We’ll save up enough to rebuild the house soon enough.”
The siblings looked at each other and smiled.
They dropped Wen Jun off at the clinic. Wen Xiuyi, still concerned about his lunch stall at the docks, didn’t linger. Even with money in hand, he didn’t want to slack off on income.
Before leaving, he made sure to tell them, “Don’t tell your grandparents about buying back the land. We’ll surprise them when the deed’s in hand.”
“Got it. We won’t say a word.” The siblings made a zipping-their-lips gesture at the same time.
Once he was gone, only the siblings remained. Wen Jun suddenly asked, “Yaoyao, do you remember what Dad always said he wanted to do most?”
Wen Yao went quiet for a moment, then replied, “I remember. He said that after he retired, we’d move back to the countryside and lease a few hundred acres to grow rice.”
Professor Wen had spent his whole life working with agriculture and food. That was not only his profession—it was his passion. Even his retirement dream was to contract land and farm it himself.
And now, just to support them, a renowned research institute professor was standing by the docks, selling boxed lunches with a spatula in hand.
Wen Yao touched the pouch at her waist. “I wonder how much land we can buy with two hundred taels.”
