You've Got Mail: Cautionary Tale (YGMCT)

Chapter 26 - The Adviser's Daily Life

During the entire Chinese New Year period, other than visiting some friends and making his prayers on the first day, the rest of his time was spent at home reading. Those books were actually old books that he had read already. Before joining the Peng Society, Adviser Wu had not bought any new books in the past ten years. Each time, he would reread those books that he had fortunately rescued in the past, the books that belonged to his father.

That year when the flood happened, together with the age of the books, no matter how carefully Wu Xingzi took care of the books, the words inside had all started to smudge. Especially the comments that his father wrote, the ink was not of a very good quality. About eleven or twelve years ago, the words had already blurred into an indistinct smudge. However, Wu Xingzi still treasured them, and looked through them annually. After the New Year, he would then carefully wrap them up in a few layers of waxed paper and store them with some insect-repelling herbs.

It seems like it’s too late to go back and take the books this year.

Adviser Wu sighed, feeling a little lost and disappointed.

Right, and what should I do about the offerings? I’m the only one left in the family, to let my parents and my ancestors go hungry this year, as a descendant, how can I do that?!

Wu Xingzi started feeling anxious. Fortunately, Hei’er happened to bring him some Chinese New Year goods, and he hurriedly caught hold of him. “Hei’er, is the general busy recently?”

“Uhh…” Hei’er could not say that the general was not busy, but neither could he say he was. It was just that the general had given all his free time to Mr. Lu. After a moment of silence, Hei’er resolutely shook his head. “He’s not very busy. The New Year is approaching, and so there’s a lot less official duties to handle. If you’d like to see the general, I’ll help you ask him.”

“Thank you, thank you. Please check with him as quickly as possible.” Wu Xingzi heaved a breath of relief. However, he soon quickly wrung his hands uneasily and asked, “What should I do if the general doesn’t have time to see me? Does Vice General Man have the free time to meet me then?”

“I’m afraid Vice General Man is truly too busy.”

After all, the busiest person in Bastion City was Man Yue! Thinking about the man who had again carelessly gained another five kilograms of weight, Hei’er’s face twitched, and he held his laughter back.

“Oh…” He could not just let this be. Even a fast horse would need eight to nine days to travel from Bastion City to Qingcheng County. Not knowing how to ride a horse, Wu Xingzi’s journey was bound to delay even more. Making his calculations, if he wanted to go home for the Chinese New Year to pray to his ancestors as well as change the insect repellent sachet for his pengornis drawings, he had to leave within the next couple of days. “Please help me tell the general, I’d just like to tell him something.”

“Definitely, I would live up to my words.” In Hei’er’s heart, he believed that Adviser Wu was missing the general. Having been in Bastion City for so many days, the two had not even seen each other once. No matter how composed the adviser was, he would definitely feel a little resentful!

Hei’er really did not know what the general was thinking. Since he had made arrangements to bring Adviser Wu here, why did he forget all about him now? Also, since he had already forgotten about him, why would he ask after the adviser every few days? Hei’er admitted that his brain was not too intelligent, and after contemplating about this a few times, he decided to just stop and no longer think about it anymore.

“Thank you, thank you.” Wu Xingzi bowed a few times to express his gratitude, forcing Hei’er to run away from Shuanghe Yard before he stopped thanking him.