Inside the Junyue Inn on Xichun Road, Zhou Yi was busy clicking away on an abacus, balancing accounts in a fifth-floor office.
"Knock knock!"
The door was tapped symbolically twice, followed by a bright female voice: "Son, I'm coming in!"
The door opened, and a smartly dressed woman walked to the desk. Looking at Zhou Yi, who didn't even raise his head, her eyes were full of admiration: "Oh! My son is so capable! Such a good boy!"
"Mom, if you have something to say, just say it. I'm busy, I don't have time to chat with you."
Zhou Yi glanced up at Hong Yuanping, who had already sat down nearby, then returned his gaze to the account book.
"Oh, I actually do have something!"
Seeing that Zhou Yi wasn't paying attention to her, Hong Yuanping continued on her own: "My good son, do you remember that small courtyard our family owns on Late Winter Road?"
"I remember. I told you, I gave it to my brother and his wife to live in," Zhou Yi replied while continuing to work the abacus.
"That's exactly what I want to talk about." Hong Yuanping sighed, with a hint of helplessness: "Today, Old Wu came to me and said someone wants to buy this house..."
Zhou Yi stopped what he was doing and looked at his mother, asking, "You didn't sell it, did you?"
Hong Yuanping smiled and continued, "Of course I didn't agree at first. I remembered you said your brother was living there, and besides, our family doesn't need that bit of money."
"Then there's no problem," Zhou Yi nodded and went back to his abacus.
"But..." Hong Yuanping spoke again, with some hesitation.
"But what? Mom, can't you say everything at once?" Zhou Yi rubbed his eyes. After looking at the account book for so long, his eyes hurt, and he welcomed a break.
Hong Yuanping leaned in closer, unconsciously lowering her voice: "But son, do you know who the buyer is?"
Without waiting for Zhou Yi to speak, she answered her own question: "It's the Lou Family! The Lou Family of Grand Preceptor Lou! The Lou Family wants to buy our house, how could I not sell? So I came to find you right after handing over the deed. You need to go quickly and tell your brother and his wife that they can't live there anymore. Our family has other courtyards, just find them another one."
Hearing this, Zhou Yi's eyes widened, and he blurted out involuntarily: "What's wrong with this Lou Family, they—mmph!"
Hong Yuanping clamped her hand tightly over Zhou Yi's mouth, scolding him in a low voice: "You little brat! Are you tired of living? How dare you insult an imperial official? And the Lou Family at that! Do you have enough heads to be chopped off?" Not satisfied with just scolding, she raised her hand and gave him a hard knock on the head.
Zhou Yi rubbed his head, feeling a bit scared. He stood up from behind the desk and said to Hong Yuanping: "Mom, I'll go find Brother Liu now."
"Mm, go on then. Have them move out as soon as possible. We're just common folk, it's best not to get entangled with officials," Hong Yuanping instructed.
Zhou Yi grunted in agreement and hurriedly walked out, pushing open the door.
He rushed all the way from Xichun Road to Late Winter Road. Arriving at the small courtyard, he raised his hand to knock on the door, calling out: "Brother Liu! Brother Liu! Are you home?"
Almost as soon as he finished speaking, the door opened from inside, and Liu Ming'an called out with a smile: "Brother Zhou." Then he stepped back to let him in.
Zhou Yi entered the courtyard and immediately noticed that the stone table used for drinking tea and chatting was covered with brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones. He was quite surprised, which explained why Liu Ming'an had opened the door so quickly.
"Brother Liu, why are you studying and writing out here? Isn't it cold?"
Zhou Yi sat down at the table and asked as he watched Liu Ming'an close the door and walk over.
"The light is better outside, and it's a bit stuffy indoors," Liu Ming'an casually answered, then went into the room to pour a cup of water for Zhou Yi.
"Haha... I see. I thought you might be waiting for someone specifically."
Zhou Yi was indeed thirsty and gulped down the water in one go after speaking. He didn't notice that Liu Ming'an had paused for a moment at his words.
"Brother Zhou, would you like more?" Liu Ming'an asked as he put down the water cup.
"No, no, I'm not thirsty anymore. I came to tell you something."
Zhou Yi was about to mention the Lou Family matter when he suddenly realized he hadn't seen Jiang Ning. He glanced inside the room and lowered his voice to ask, "Is sister-in-law sleeping again?"
In Zhou Yi's impression, Jiang Ning seemed to love sleeping during the day, at least he had encountered this twice.
Liu Ming'an neither confirmed nor denied, only asking what the matter was.
"Brother Liu, it's like this. My mother told me that this courtyard has been bought by the Lou Family. You know, when officials want to buy something, how dare we, as mere businesspeople, refuse? So now this courtyard belongs to the Lou Family."
Zhou Yi took a breath, his face showing some apology: "I'm sorry, Brother Liu, but you can't live here anymore. You and sister-in-law will have to move. Our family has many other properties, where would you like to live? How about Yuqin Street? We have a residence there too, it's very quiet..."
Liu Ming'an smiled and shook his head: "Brother Zhou, there's nothing to be sorry about."
Liu Ming'an knew the Lou Family had come, but he couldn't leave here for the time being, otherwise Jiang Ning wouldn't be able to find him when she returned.
He was just worried about how to tell Zhou Yi about his connection to the Lou Family.
"Knock! Knock! Knock!"
At this moment, there was another knock at the door. Zhou Yi stared at the door, muttering, "It can't be the Lou Family coming to claim the house, can it?"
Liu Ming'an got up to open the door, but Zhou Yi had already walked over ahead of him.
As soon as the door was pulled open, Lou Lianyu stood there in casual clothes. Seeing Zhou Yi, and then Liu Ming'an behind him, he quickly guessed the identity of the person in front of him.
"Are you Young Master Zhou Yi, the young owner of the Junyue Inn? I am Lou Lianyu, pleased to meet you!"
Lou Lianyu politely greeted Zhou Yi, giving him a respectful bow.
Zhou Yi had thought it would be a servant at most, who could have imagined that Lou Lianyu himself would come!
Zhou Yi stood frozen for a moment, not knowing how to react, until Lou Lianyu bowed to him in a gesture of equals. He suddenly came to his senses, exclaiming: "This humble one greets Lord Lou." He was about to kneel down.
Lou Lianyu quickly stopped Zhou Yi, walking into the courtyard and closing the door: "No need for such formalities. Today I'm just here as an elder brother visiting his younger brother, not as any lord."
Visiting his younger brother?
Hadn't his mother only given birth to him?
There were only him and Liu Ming'an here, so that meant...
Zhou Yi's head was spinning, feeling like he hadn't quite grasped the situation. Yet he saw Lou Lianyu walk past him and ask Liu Ming'an with a friendly smile: "Ming'an, how have you been lately?"
Liu Ming'an hesitated for a moment between addressing him as "Lord Lou" or "Elder Cousin," but finally chose the latter: "Elder Cousin, thank you for your concern. I'm doing well."
With his suspicions confirmed, Zhou Yi stood to the side with eyes as wide as copper bells, looking from Liu Ming'an to Lou Lianyu, suddenly feeling very out of place.
Liu Ming'an hadn't ignored Zhou Yi, knowing he felt awkward standing there. He patted Zhou Yi's shoulder and said: "Brother Zhou, I'm sorry for troubling you to come all this way. I'll come to the Junyue Inn to find you later. You should head back first."
"Oh, oh," Zhou Yi was more than happy to comply. He bowed to Lou Lianyu saying, "Lord Lou, I take my leave," and dashed off in a flash.
It wasn't until he had left Late Winter Road that Zhou Yi slowed his pace, slowly reaching down to pinch his leg.
"Ouch!"
It wasn't a dream. His dear Brother Liu really did have an impressive background!