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The first word that came out of his mouth was neither "father," nor "mother," nor "brother," nor "dog," but rather he pointed at a pretty little girl who had come to visit and shouted, "sister!"

The second word that popped up was: 'money'...

Then Song Xiaohua covered her face and ran away in tears. Her son's future seemed to be summed up in two words—

Greedy. Lustful.

Author's Note: I plagiarized and parodied "The Return of the Condor Heroes 1992" a bit, hehe...

Chapter Seventy-Three: The Child's Trivial Matters

The lingering heat of late summer is unbearable.

Song Xiaohua locked herself in her room, burying herself in a pile of account books, sweating profusely and with smoke rising from her head, working from afternoon until evening.

When I came out, the blazing sun overhead had turned into the setting sun on the horizon, but the waves of heat seemed to be even more intense, making my pores feel clogged and sticky from head to toe, which was extremely unpleasant.

As soon as Xiaoyan saw her come out, she immediately ordered someone to prepare bathing utensils, while Tingxian brought over a plate of peeled and seeded chilled watermelon chunks.

"Second Madam, are there any problems with this month's accounts?"

“Except for a few small amounts, it basically matches.” Song Xiaohua frantically fanned herself with one hand and kept stuffing watermelon into her mouth with the other, saying to Tingxian in a muffled voice, “With this amount added, Lu Ping’s deficit is almost complete. Go and give him a warning tomorrow, let him know that we have something on him, and he’d better be careful in the future.”

"clear."

After Madam Yuan left, the fourth concubine and the second young mistress took over the management of the Lu family's backyard.

Fourth Madam had been in charge of the household for many years and was naturally very skilled. Second Madam, on the other hand, had to learn everything from scratch. Since her child was still young, she was inevitably distracted. Therefore, in order not to affect the normal operation of the family affairs, she proposed to temporarily only be responsible for the monthly reconciliation and help with some trivial matters when she had time.

Many people initially had doubts, since very few women in that era were skilled in accounting. However, they gradually changed their minds after seeing how quickly she picked it up and how clearly and flawlessly she handled things.

Song Xiaohua was, after all, a science student who used to deal with all sorts of complex formulas every day. She had also learned some mental arithmetic and abacus in middle school, and her work after graduation involved some finance and accounting departments. She was confident in her abilities and took the initiative to take on this task, which was likely to be thankless and could easily turn into a mess of bad accounts.

Lu Ziqi never questioned or interfered with her decisions, but every time he saw the mother of his child, who was overwhelmed and irritable during the days of reconciliation, he couldn't help but sigh, "Why bother?"

The invariably reply was a vicious, "I love money! I'm happy to do it!"

In fact, apart from Tingxian, almost no one knew that since last month, Song Xiaohua, who had been in charge of the accounts for nearly a year, had suddenly started to take action. After quietly investigating several clansmen who had been taking advantage of their positions for a long time, she did not expose them, but only secretly warned them and made it clear that all the evidence was in her hands.

These people originally took advantage of the fact that the newly appointed second mistress knew nothing, thinking that they might as well take advantage of her. Although the amount of money they embezzled each time was not particularly large, it added up to a considerable sum over the years, enough to warrant a report to the authorities and a prison sentence.

In truth, they were all people with some status and ability in their respective branches of the family. Who would have thought that they would fall into the hands of a seemingly honest and kind woman because of their greed for petty gains? This is a classic case of a horse stumbling and capsizing in a ditch.

However, things have come to this point, and no matter how unwilling they are, they cannot gamble with their lives and fortunes. In addition, given the Second Master's rising influence in the court and the unshakeable position of the Second Branch in the mansion, neither force nor persuasion will yield any benefit. They have no choice but to obediently follow Song Xiaohua's orders.

The reason why Song Xiaohua went to the trouble of taking them in, even going so far as to falsify accounts to maximize her leniency, and then capture them all at once when the time was right, was not for any real big move, but simply to be on the safe side.

After all, in this seemingly peaceful and harmonious but actually fraught with constant struggles, it's always a good thing to have some useful power at your disposal.

As for so-called professional ethics, well, let's talk about that later. Anyway, the Lu family has plenty of money...

Furthermore, though the ledger is small, it contains a vast world. Each transaction may contain some hidden secrets that cannot be told to outsiders.

The fourth concubine, having lain dormant for many years, has now regained power and desires nothing more than to be able to wield influence and wield authority within the Lu family. Song Xiaohua, on the other hand, desires things outside the household, so there is currently no conflict between them.

Moreover, Fourth Madam is no longer young, and after the incident with Ziqin, Old Master Lu will inevitably be more wary and restrictive of her. No matter how glamorous she appears on the surface, how powerful can she really be, and how long can she last?

Given this, why bother making her feel threatened or creating a direct conflict of interest with her? It would be much better if everyone just continued this harmonious, 'muddled' state of affairs.

Song Xiaohua soaked in the pool and sighed contentedly. Back then, she was such an innocent and kind child; in just a few short years, she had become full of scheming and plotting. That's life, ah…

Just as I was marveling at this, the bathroom door slammed shut, and a childish voice rang out: "Mommy, bath time, look!"

She instinctively shrank further into the water, clutching her head; Song Xiaohua felt a little dizzy…

"Your Majesty, Your Majesty, Your Majesty..."

"You little pervert, you want to watch your mother take a bath?! Your Majesty, my foot! If you talk nonsense again, I'll wipe out your entire family!"

Unable to withstand the cacophony of wailing, Song Xiaohua resignedly got dressed, cursing as she opened the door.

A bright red, fleshy ball pounced in and crashed to the ground with such a loud thud that Song Xiaohua's resentment instantly turned into heartache.

"Oh my darling, are you hurt? Let Mommy take a look."

She quickly picked him up and turned him over, and the maternal love that was about to burst forth instantly turned into a raging fire: "You little rascal, what naughty thing have you been up to now?!"

Lu Yue's face, body, hands, and even mouth were covered in ink. When he chuckled, his few black, tiny teeth became even more conspicuous.

As if he had figured out that Song Xiaohua would lose her temper as soon as she saw his grinning face, he started gesturing wildly and beaming, as if the fall he had just taken not only didn't hurt him but actually made him feel great.

Since turning one year old, Lu Yue has almost never cried. No matter what, he always has his eyes squinted and his lips twitching into a happy smile. Whether he is being scolded or beaten, whether he is sick or has a scrape, his most remarkable reaction is just a slight frown, and in the blink of an eye he is happy again.

Song Xiaohua always thought she was carefree and happy all the time, but she never expected that her son would be a hundred times more capable than her. It's truly a case of the younger generation surpassing the older, leaving the older generation stranded on the beach…

"Mother, my little brother is missing!"

Lu Ling rushed over in a fit of rage, then patted her chest and gasped for breath: "I thought my little brother had gone hiding somewhere again. I was just about to call Wuque back from Grandpa's."

From the moment Lu Yue could crawl, he was practically never at peace. If his caregivers weren't careful, he could vanish into thin air. Under the bed, under the table, behind the cabinet, behind the screen—wherever it was hard to find, he'd disappear. Later, he gradually crawled out of the house and into the yard, into the grass, the flowerbeds, the tree hollows—once he even crawled into an empty, upright soy sauce jar, and nobody knew how he got in. Once he could run all over the place, it only got worse, expanding his reach to the entire mansion. As a result, the Lu residence was almost constantly in a chaotic scene of 'human flesh search'.

Thankfully, Song Wuque's nose was there; otherwise, Song Xiaohua would definitely have chained this infuriating little devil to within a meter of her...

"Ling'er, what happened to you, you look like this too?" Song Xiaohua put Lu Yue down on the ground, then pulled Lu Ling, who was also dressed as an African little black child, over: "Yue'er, did you go and cause trouble in your study again?"

"It's Ling'er's fault for not watching her younger brother properly, which is why the ink spilled. It's all Ling'er's fault."

"You're just going to keep protecting that little rascal!"

Gently tapping his forehead, Song Xiaohua sighed for the ten thousandth time, wondering why she couldn't have given birth to such a sensible and lovable child...

Before he could finish his thought, he heard a 'plop' behind him, followed by Lu Ling's exclamation: "My little brother fell into the pool!"

Immediately afterward, a dark figure darted out from the side, followed by another 'plop' and Lu Ling's exclamation: "Wu Que fell in too!"

When Song Xiaohua, whose heart had been racing and stopped, stood up groggily and turned around, she saw a big, wet black dog leaping out of the bathtub with a wet baby in its mouth. The baby's face, which was a mess of water, was still covered with a huge smile that no one knew why it was smiling...

"You're truly my nemesis! How much money did I owe you in my past life?!"

As soon as Lu Ziqi returned, he saw Song Xiaohua, her clothes half-wet and her head covered in sweat, using a square towel to wipe Lu Yue's naked body, while muttering to herself. Lu Lingqing, who was helping out, was dressed neatly in a vest and shorts, and looked like she had already taken a shower.

Why did you wash them so early today?

Do you think I wanted this?

His tone was quite unfriendly, he must have been angered by his son again. It was best not to press him further to avoid adding fuel to the fire, so he changed the subject: "Where is Wuque?"

"Wuque is afraid of the heat and is cooling off in Grandpa's ice cellar." Lu Ling cleverly answered first, "Father, it's Ling'er's fault for spilling ink all over my little brother. Mother is washing him now!"

"Don't listen to Ling'er." Song Xiaohua slapped Lu Yue's little bottom: "It's all this little troublemaker's doing!"

"Father~"

Picking up the little guy who stumbled and rushed over, Lu Ziqi pretended to have a stern face: "Yue'er, did you make your mother angry again?"

"Daddy, darling~"

"Alright, Daddy will give Yue'er a kiss. Then Yue'er will give Daddy a kiss too, okay?"

"Honey, money~"

Seeing that he had exchanged a copper coin for a kiss from his son, Song Xiaohua couldn't help but nag again: "You just keep spoiling him. Sooner or later you'll spoil him into a greedy and lecherous spendthrift!"

"It's just to amuse the little one, you don't need to be so nervous. Besides, Yue'er is still so young, there's no rush to teach him, there will be plenty of time later."

"Anyway, he's your son, so do whatever you want with him. Ling'er, come over here and dry your hair."

Although there are two children in the family now, there is no question of who is more favored, because both parents have their own preferences, so it's even.

Because Lu Ziqi missed Lu Ling's growth, he inevitably cared more about Lu Yue. Watching him grow from an infant whose eyes couldn't even open to a taller, sitting, crawling, walking, running, crying, laughing, and talking, his feelings for him became more real day by day, and his affection deepened day by day.

In addition, Lu Yue's face, which was always smiling with his teeth showing, could instantly make people feel happy and relieve their troubles. Lu Ziqi, who had been working hard all day, naturally liked to tease him more when he had nothing to do.

Song Xiaohua, however, clearly favored Lu Ling, who wasn't her own child. It was unclear whether it was because she had spent more time with him, or because of his sensible and obedient nature that made him impossible not to love, or simply because he was more handsome…

People say that in a mother's eyes, her own child is always the cutest and most beautiful in the world. But in Song Xiaohua's opinion, Lu Ling was simply better born than Lu Yue.

Although the little dumpling is also a handsome young boy in the making, compared to the little dumpling, he's still slightly less striking. This just goes to show how important a mother's genes are...

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Lu Yue was premature, so he was slightly shorter and thinner than other children his age. Song Xiaohua put a lot of effort into his daily diet, hoping to make up for his congenital deficiencies later in life.

When he was eight months old, I resolutely weaned him and switched to feeding him more nutritious and varied staple foods. The little guy is quite easy to raise, and he's not picky at all, except that he absolutely hates green vegetables.

"Yue'er, be a good girl and eat this."

"No, Mom, it's bitter~" As soon as Lu Yue saw the shredded vegetables in the rice spoon, his face scrunched up into a bitter gourd, and he stuck out his tongue vigorously.

"Your mother isn't suffering! Stop nagging and open your mouth!"