SPMT : Chapter 69 Partiality

“Big Brother, your information network is really well-informed! I just bought the spirit tower this morning, and you already know about it so quickly,” Xiao Jingting said with a cold laugh.

“There aren’t many big customers like you, little brother, so naturally people talk about it eagerly, and news spreads quickly,” Xiao Qingyan said.

Xiao Qingyan thought: Xiao Jingting bought this magical instrument definitely expecting his parents to pay the remaining money. If his parents don’t pay, Xiao Jingting will be arrested by the trading company and thrown in jail. His parents naturally won’t stand by and watch. His monthly allowance from his parents was only five or six spirit jades, one or two thousand taels of silver, adding up to about three thousand taels total.

When Xiao Jingting bought this magical instrument, he’d need to pay ten thousand taels monthly. Was Xiao Jingting trying to force his parents to spend money on him? Too excessive.

Wang Lu looked at Xiao Jingting and sighed, “Jingting, you’re too unrestrained. How can you spend money like this? How do you plan to pay back the money in the future?”

Xiao Jingting said unhurriedly, “I plan to ask Father and Mother to allocate some fields to me. When I was in Tuqiu Village, I got used to the life of working at sunrise and resting at sunset. These past few days with nothing to do, I feel somewhat unaccustomed. Mother, if you allocate some fields to me, I can farm to pay back the money.”

Xiao Jingting thought secretly: When the original owner’s aunt sent him away, she also gave him quite a lot of fields. As his actual parents, they shouldn’t be stingier, right?

“You want fields? The Xiao family’s fields are all concentrated outside the city – they’re not close to home!” Wang Lu said.

Xiao Jingting nodded, “I know this. With fields, I’ll take Mu’an and our son to build a house near the fields. My son’s temperament is too wild, and he doesn’t get along with Big Brother’s two sons. If we stay in the Xiao family, I’m afraid he’ll be fighting with people every day, which isn’t good.”

Wang Lu hadn’t expected Xiao Jingting to say this and was immediately stunned, “You want to move out?”

Xiao Jingting nodded, “Moving out would be good for tending the fields nearby. My son discovered he has good talent for farming after going out this time. I think if he works hard, he should be able to barely pay back the money. Actually, the thirty thousand taels I paid as down payment came from farming before.”

Xiao Linfeng’s face showed traces of guilt, and Wang Lu’s expression also softened.

Xiao Qingyan frowned and scoffed, “Third Brother, do you think everyone’s an idiot? You were only at the fifth layer of Qi Refining before, even lower – farming can earn that much money? Did you sell other heavenly treasures you found?”

Xiao Jingting glanced at Xiao Qingyan, “I did sell some heavenly treasures, but most was earned from farming.”

Xiao Qingyan ignored the latter part of Xiao Jingting’s words. Hearing that Xiao Jingting really sold heavenly treasures, his eyes turned blood red, “You actually really sold heavenly treasures! What were you thinking? Selling everything!”

Xiao Jingting said matter-of-factly, “Without money, naturally I had to sell things. The premium fields Big Aunt gave me – if left barren for a month, I had to pay a month’s fine. When I got them, the fields had been barren for a long time. With so much compensation, if I hadn’t sold heavenly treasures, I couldn’t have paid it back at all!”

Xiao Jingting looked innocently at Liu Xian, who was watching the drama from the side.

Liu Xian had been enjoying the show, but seeing the fire directed at her, her expression became unpleasant.

Wang Lu’s eyes turned toward Liu Xian with hatred.

Liu Xian smiled awkwardly, “Jingting, what are you saying? The fields were barren when you got them? How could such good fields be barren? I didn’t know about this!”

“Those fields weren’t just barren with fines to pay – they also frequently had demon beast infestations. Big Aunt must have been deceived, giving me such fields. Fortunately, Second Brother helped, otherwise even if I planted spirit plants in the fields, they would have been ruined by demon beasts,” Xiao Jingting said coolly.

Hearing this, Wang Lu’s expression became even more unpleasant.

“Big Aunt, how could you give me such fields? Because of those fields, I was tricked by people from the Marquis’s mansion and had to pay two thousand taels. Big Aunt, remember to give me this money! You were deceived and gave me such fields, but made me, your nephew, pay the wrongful money. This doesn’t make sense!” Xiao Jingting said righteously.

Under Wang Lu’s glare, Liu Xian could only agree, “Big Aunt was negligent. This money will naturally come from Big Aunt.”

Liu Xian gritted her teeth. Originally, she had been quite pleased about giving Xiao Jingting fields with fines to pay. She hadn’t expected Xiao Jingting to actually ask her for money.

Hearing this, Xiao Jingting felt much better. Actually, he had only paid fifteen hundred taels in fines originally – he casually asked for five hundred more. Two thousand taels wasn’t a lot for the current Xiao Jingting, but it wasn’t little either.

Xiao Qingyan didn’t care at all about what Xiao Jingting experienced in Tuqiu Village. He only cared about the heavenly treasures.

“Third Brother, where did you sell the heavenly treasures? There are swindlers everywhere now – you could easily be cheated,” Xiao Qingyan asked unwillingly. If Xiao Jingting had sold those heavenly treasures to small towns near Tuqiu Village, maybe there was still a chance to get them back. Such small cities had no real experts.

“I had Second Brother sell them to big trading companies in Wind City,” Xiao Jingting answered.

“Wind City.” Xiao Qingyan seemed to think of something and suddenly widened his eyes, looking at Xiao Jinfeng. “Jinfeng, when I met you in Wind City that time, you were going to sell heavenly treasures?”

“Yes,” Xiao Jinfeng nodded.

Xiao Qingyan said with a dark face, “We’re all brothers – why didn’t you tell me about such a big matter?”

Xiao Jinfeng laughed coldly twice, “Big Brother, I was going to tell you then, but you didn’t give me a chance to speak! You said don’t call you Big Brother, that you didn’t have such a shameless brother, and told me to leave Wind City quickly and not cause you trouble. I listened to Big Brother’s words – after selling that spirit plant, I immediately left Wind City.”

Xiao Qingyan’s face turned green and white alternately.

Xiao Jingting looked at Xiao Jinfeng’s expression and thought: There are many who add flowers to brocade, but few who send charcoal in snow. When Xiao Jinfeng encountered Xiao Qingyan, he was at his lowest point. At that time, Xiao Jinfeng should have had great expectations of Xiao Qingyan, but unfortunately…

This guy Xiao Qingyan, seeing his own brother in trouble but showing such coldness – really not a good person.

Xiao Qingyan looked at Xiao Jinfeng’s cold profile, angry at Xiao Jinfeng’s heartlessness while secretly regretting his attitude toward Xiao Jinfeng then. If he had been more pleasant then, maybe Xiao Jinfeng would have shared the item, and perhaps he would be at the sixth layer of Qi Refining now.

Recently, people often told him about his family’s “three outstanding sons,” all at the fifth layer of Qi Refining. Some half-jokingly told him to work hard and not let his two brothers surpass him.

Xiao Jinfeng and Xiao Jingting advancing to the fifth layer gave Xiao Qingyan enormous pressure.

Xiao Qingyan worried about letting his two brothers get ahead. From childhood, he had always been the most outstanding one in the family. If his two brothers surpassed him, he would definitely become the family’s laughingstock.

Xiao Linfeng held his forehead, looking completely headache-ridden.

Seeing Xiao Jinfeng’s expression, Xiao Linfeng knew he held deep grudges against Xiao Qingyan. Xiao Linfeng had originally hoped that when Xiao Jinfeng became successful, he would help Xiao Qingyan. With their relationship so tense now, the possibility was slim.

“Third son, having heavenly treasures, you should have saved a portion for your big brother!” Xiao Linfeng said somewhat reproachfully.

Xiao Qingyan was after all Xiao Linfeng’s most beloved son. In his heart, Xiao Linfeng still wanted to secure more benefits for Xiao Qingyan.

Xiao Jingting felt disgusted inside but didn’t show it on his face. He smiled awkwardly, “Father, at that time I couldn’t pay back the money and was about to be arrested for prison. I couldn’t think about Big Brother for the moment.”

Hearing this, Wang Lu looked at Liu Xian with blade-like eyes.

Xiao Linfeng looked at the tense atmosphere between the three brothers and said, “Forget it. If you want to move out, then move out. I’ll allocate ten mu of premium fields, twenty mu of medium fields, and thirty mu of lower-grade fields to you.”

Xiao Jingting said excitedly, “Thank you, Father.” He really was his biological father! Much more generous than his aunt. The fields Xiao Linfeng gave should be in good locations.

“Work hard. The debt you have isn’t light,” Xiao Linfeng said.

Xiao Jingting nodded, “I know.” Xiao Jingting thought: Xiao Linfeng’s implication was that he wouldn’t handle the ten thousand taels monthly debt.

Xiao Jinfeng stood up, “Father, I also want some fields.”

Wang Lu looked at Xiao Jinfeng with some resistance, “You’re not a spirit plant master – what do you want fields for?”

Xiao Qingyan immediately chimed in, “Yes! Second Brother, with your attributes, you’d only ruin spirit plants when farming. Then you wouldn’t earn money but would lose money instead. The family has many fields, but they can’t be wasted like this.”

“I’m not, but Shuyu is! Shuyu is at the fifth layer of Qi Refining. With fields, we can also earn some pocket money to raise our child,” Xiao Jinfeng said.

Wang Lu glanced at Xiao Jinfeng and sighed, “Alright.”

Xiao Qingyan listened from the side with an extremely ugly expression. He had originally brought up the spirit tower to cause trouble for Xiao Jingting with his parents, but unexpectedly, it allowed Xiao Jingting to ask his parents for fields.

“Father, Mother, you can’t be biased – only giving Second Brother and Third Brother fields!” Zheng Pei’er said.

“Eldest, do you also want fields?” Xiao Linfeng asked Xiao Qingyan.

Xiao Qingyan nodded, “Yes.”

Xiao Linfeng nodded, “Alright, I’ll include you too.”

Xiao Jingting glanced at Xiao Qingyan, thinking: Students at Bifeng Academy shouldn’t be able to leave the academy for too long! Even if Xiao Qingyan got fields, he wouldn’t have time to tend them.

Xiao Jingting secretly felt it was unfair for Second Brother. When Second Brother asked for fields, Wang Lu asked why he wanted fields when he wasn’t a spirit plant master. After Xiao Qingyan spoke up, even though his parents knew he couldn’t tend the fields, they still gave them to him.

R : This favoritism is (ノಠ益ಠ)ノ彡┻━┻