Chapter 122 - 122 Giving the Wrongdoer an Opportunity
122 Giving the Wrongdoer an Opportunity
Gousheng from the Third Grandma’s house ran over to the First Born, “First Born, when you took a puppy from me last time, you promised to make me whatever new toy you get.”
The First Born turned to Lu Jiao. Lu Jiao agreed.
“Okay, I will make you one. Everyone else shares these three.”
Children’s laughter soon filled the yard.
Though the four little ones weren’t too excited about sharing their new toy, everyone else’s happy laughter was infectious. They started to teach the others how to skateboard.
Gousheng stayed with Lu Jiao and watched her make the skateboard. At times, he would happily announce, “This is mine! This is mine!”
Outside the trellis, the parents who came to drop off their kids to study all laughed at how excited the kids were.
They were more than willing to have their children play with Yunjin’s children.
Yunjin was a scholar, someone who will pass the national imperial exam and become an honorable official. As for Lu Jiao, she was a miracle doctor.
Lu Jiao and Xie Yunjin’s children were well educated and if their own children played with the quadruplets, they may all end up smart and cute.
Some villagers greeted Lu Jiao, “Yunjin’s wife, thank you for this.”
“If my son misbehaves, tell me and I will beat him up.”
Lu Jiao waved at them, indicating that it was no big deal.
The villagers left little by little while Lu Jiao made Gousheng his skateboard.
Outside the trellis, an adult and a child arrived.
They walked right up to Lu Jiao.
Lu Jiao didn’t notice until Gousheng started to shout, which startled her.
“You are a bad person! This is my skateboard! Don’t you try to steal my skateboard!”
Luo Wangcai was not popular amongst the kids because every kid’s parents would warn their children to stay away from that guy. That guy was a thief and a bad man, so children should walk away when they see him.
This was why Gousheng started to shout the moment he saw Luo Wangsheng. He was worried that this guy would steal the skateboard.
His skinny fragile silhouette stepped before Lu Jiao.
Lu Jiao glared at Gousheng and raised an eyebrow. Gousheng was so small and skinny he would have collapsed onto the ground within a second if an adult truly wanted to steal his toy.
Lu Jiao ignored Gousheng and looked up at Luo Wangcai and the young girl beside him.
Lu Jiao recognized the little girl. She was Shen Xiu’s daughter, Su Xiaoya.
Why did Luo Wangcai bring Su Xiaoya over here today? Was he going to interrogate Lu Jiao about Shen Xiu’s whereabouts?
Lu Jiao faked a smile at Luo Wangcai, which made him silently shudder.
He then looked at his Su Xiaoya. Ah, no, he had changed her name. She was now Luo Wangcai’s daughter, Luo Xiaocao.
“Yunjin’s wife, can you also take in my Xiaocao for today’s lesson?”
Lu Jiao narrowed her eyes. Luo Wangcai pulled Luo Xiaocao closer, “She is my daughter, Luo Xiaocao.”
Lu Jiao was surprised. Based on the way Luo Wangcai treated Luo Xiaocao, he seemed to care about her quite a bit. He even changed her name and brought her here today to study under Xie Yunjin.
Lu Jiao’s first instinct was that Luo Wangcai was pulling another scam. However, when she looked at the little Luo Xiaocao, she realized she was overthinking it.
Luo Xiaocao was younger than her quadruplets. Her gaze was still hazy and confused. She understood nothing.
So Luo Wangcai indeed was here because he wanted Luo Xiaocao to learn how to read?
“You think I would let you leave Luo Xiaocao here?”
Not only did this man try to seduce her once, but Luo Xiaocao’s mom had also done terrible things to her. She didn’t want anything to do with that family. Who knew whether or not Shen Xiu’s daughter had learned a thing or two already from her mother?
Luo Wangcai’s face dimmed.
Lu Jiao could tell he was sad. Luo Wangcai however, didn’t trouble her further and took Luo Xiaocao’s hand and walked away.
Behind them, Lu Jiao watched the tall one and the short one leave. A thought appeared in her head. Was it true that after making a mistake, people have no way of changing for the better? Was there value in giving opportunities to those who regretted their past decisions?
Lu Jiao called out, “Luo Wangcai.”
Luo Wangcai stopped and turned to look at Lu Jiao. Lu Jiao asked, “You want to raise Luo Xiaocao, do you have the financial means to do it?”
She remembered that Luo Wangcai had an elderly mother, who he was already having trouble taking care of. Now, he has Luo Xiaocao. Did he have the ability to keep both of them alive?
Luo Wangcai had a serious expression on his face, “I will do everything in my power to raise her.”
He turned back to leave. Lu Jiao stopped him, “Luo Wangcai, it’s not that there’s no way for Luo Xiaocai to stay and learn.”
Luo Wangcai’s eyes brightened and his energy returned. With Luo Xiaocao’s hand in his, they walked back.
“Tell me, what do you need me to do? I will do whatever I need to do if Xiaocao gets to learn under Yunjin.”
Lu Jiao was confused, “Why must Luo Xiaocao learn how to read?”
Luo Wangcai smiled, “Reading can make someone smart. I want Xiaocao to grow up to be an intelligent woman.”
Not stupid like her mother.
Lu Jiao nodded slightly, “If you agree to two of my conditions, I’ll let Xiaocao stay.”
“Speak of them.”
“First of all, you need to stop stealing. Second of all, you need to put all your energy into educating Luo Xiaocao and make sure she doesn’t grow up like her mom.”
Luo Wangcai agreed right away, “Okay, I won’t be a scumbag like I was before. I will learn how to hunt from Uncle Xiao, so I can make money for Xiaocao and my mother.”
Lu Jiao nodded in satisfaction, “You better remember what you are saying. If your old problems come back, I may just beat you.”
Luo Wangcai shuddered. However, he also sighed in relief.
As long as Xiaocao could stay and learn, he will happily accept any beatings.
Lu Jiao scanned the adult and the kid. It wasn’t going to be easy for Luo Wangcai to raise a child and take care of his old mother. The Luo family had no land and needed to hunt to make a living. It was hard to make enough cash for three people to live off of.
Xu Duojin was a capable hunter and often got prey. Even for him, taking care of the family gets hard.
Since he had the right attitude, Lu Jiao decided to help him out.
“Wait for me here.”
Lu Jiao went to the kitchen, took out some medicinal herb samples then walked back out to give them to Luo Wangcai.
“Here are some herbs, take them and study them. You can harvest these when you are up in the mountains and sell them to Baohe Tang. If you manage to make money, save it. Try to save enough to buy some land. That way, you’ll be able to take care of your mother and Xiaocao.”