"Li Wei? Ah! that kid…"
Uncle Chen frowned briefly at the name before quickly connecting the dots.
"He went with my other guard to retrieve the land contract from his home."
Who else could Li Changming be asking about, after all?
After my second uncle was knocked unconscious by Guard Sun Tie, the remaining people immediately lost all hope.
They became noticeably more obedient once they realized that both guards were at the same, or an even higher, Body Tempering realm than my second uncle.
When Sun Tie was once again about to break a leg, Li Wei immediately stepped forward and revealed the whereabouts of the land contract at his home.
Uncle Chen promptly sent his other guard, Zhao Hu, to retrieve it.
Everything happened extremely fast the moment my second uncle was defeated.
They must have truly believed my second uncle was some kind of powerful figure.
But to me, his strength was deeply disappointing.
"Land contract?!"
Li Changming exclaimed.
"Why do you need that? What are you all planning to do?"
Seeing the alarmed expression on Li Changming's face, Uncle Chen let out a deep sigh and calmly recounted everything that had happened.
"…and now, we intend to reclaim what my friend Li Yuan was owed by your eldest brother and transfer it under Little Tianyuan's name."
Once Li Changming heard the full explanation, everything finally began to make sense, yet it was still hard to believe.
He already knew his eldest brother was capable of such actions, so that part did not surprise him at all.
What truly unsettled him, however, was the child standing in front of him.
If he wasn't mistaken, that kid, no, that midget was only twelve years old.
Not only did the kid discover the intentions of his elder uncle and first aunt, he immediately went to his father's friend for help.
But he was still naïve, after all, a kid was still a kid.
There was no way a man capable of hiring two Body Tempering realm experts would help him without expecting something in return.
It's very obvious what he after.
"Hmph, so what?"
Li Changming said coldly.
"My brother and sister-in-law are at least related to the kid by blood. They won't let him starve to death. But on the other hand, what would you do after becoming his guardian? Kill the kid and inherit everything?"
As he spoke, Li Changming cast a sideways glance at me, a smirk tugging at his lips.
I simply looked back at him, my disappointment deepening.
I had thought he would be at least a little different from Li Zhenhao and his wife, but it seemed I had expected too much.
What was he trying to imply?
That Uncle Chen had helped me only because he was after my assets?
That was ridiculous.
Uncle Chen had clearly stated that the land would be transferred to my name.
Or perhaps Li Changming thought the assets would be under my name while Uncle Chen acted as my legal guardian, but neither assumption was true.
A long sigh escaped Uncle Chen's mouth.
He wore the same expression I did as he said calmly, "Little Tianyuan, it seems both of your uncles belong to the same piece of rotten flesh…"
I nodded in response.
From the way Li Changming spoke, it was painfully clear to me that he already knew exactly what would happen to me, yet he chose to remain silent and offer no help.
Unlike the rage I felt toward my eldest uncle, what I felt now was pure disappointment.
Was this really all he was?
I still remembered how Father and Mother worried about him being left alone, with no one to care for him.
They genuinely wanted him to be happy.
But looking at him now, I didn't even want to see him anymore.
Seeing our lackluster reactions, Li Changming frowned in confusion.
Uncle Chen then spoke up, explaining calmly, "If you think I'm doing all this because I want to be Little Tianyuan's guardian, you're wrong."
Li Changming's eyes narrowed with smile.
"You're not?"
Uncle Chen gently patted my head, completely ignoring Li Changming's smug expression, and said calmly, "Little Tianyuan doesn't need a guardian to take care of him. He'll do just fine on his own. He plans to rent out his assets to pay taxes and also work for me in my store. He already knows how to read and write complicated characters and can do even more complicated calculations, ones that even I find hard, he can solve within a few moments. He also knows accounting…"
I smiled proudly back at him.
Yeah, I can take care of myself.
"He can do… what?!"
Hmm?
I looked at Li Changming's petrified expression.
The other two were also staring at me with strange looks, mouths agape in shock.
Uncle Chen, on the other hand, wore a proud, smug smile as he enjoyed their bewilderment.
I was genuinely confused by their reactions.
First, Uncle Chen's eldest daughter didn't believe I could read, write, or do simple math, and even cried, accusing me of cheating when I proved it to her.
Now all of them looked as if they had seen something unbelievable.
Was reading, writing, and doing calculations really that amazing?
I didn't know.
My parents had always just looked proud and bought me many things whenever I did those.
I thought I was only a little special because I learned everything from that kind person in my dreams.
Was I wrong?
Was this really such a big deal?
From what I had seen in my dreams, all of this was basic, very basic.
Children could do it easily.
Am I not normal?
But kind man said I am a normal child.
Countless questions flooded my mind, but Uncle Chen's voice pulled me back to reality.
"Now that I've explained everything, let's move on to something more important…"
As he spoke, Uncle Chen took my father's ledger from his robe and began to read aloud.
"Great Mu Laung Calendar, Year 785, third day of summer. Li Changming, my younger brother, borrowed twelve silver taels for his martial arts enrollment at the Azure Banner Martial Hall in Qinghe City. He promised to repay within a year, but nothing was returned until the Great Mu Laung Calendar Year 788. There was no urgency in repayment, as I knew how hard life was for him in the city. Unlike my eldest brother, who inherited everything, both my younger brother and I were left with nothing. I never intended to ask him to repay at all. I only hoped that he would live a good life."