"Hmm," Fourth Master Xiao said with a frown as he hung his coat on the screen. Xiqiu asked, "Is it serious? Was he injured, or did he injure someone else?"

Fourth Master Xiao walked over to touch Zhi’s small hand. Instantly, Zhi grabbed his father’s finger and tried to drag it into his mouth. Fourth Master Xiao tapped his little nose and pulled his hand back, saying, "He got involved with the local barbarian bandits and stormed the Pingliang county government..."

Xiqiu frowned tightly. Ren Jun never seemed to settle down. His skills had grown, daring enough to incite bandits to storm the local county government!

Seeing Xiqiu’s confusion, Fourth Master Xiao sat down on the edge of the kang bed, replying, "...it’s said that someone found a silver mine while digging, and a conflict erupted..." Actually, he knew Ren Jun didn’t have the ability to lead such a disturbance, but the report from Pingliang claimed Ren Jun instigated the trouble. It’s likely he offended someone upon arrival, and now they are taking the opportunity to kick him while he’s down.

Xiqiu sighed; all she could do was sigh at Ren Jun’s actions.

Without anyone attending to him, Zhi made displeased cooing sounds. Xiqiu turned to tease him, "What do you want to say? Do you want mommy to take you for a walk?"

Zhi didn’t speak, but he raised his hand to point outside, his little body straining towards the door.

Xiqiu found it hard to hold him, so Fourth Master Xiao came over to take Zhi in his arms. "It’s windy outside, let’s go out later," he said, turning to place him back on the kang...

Zhi wasn’t willing to settle and immediately pouted, looking as if he would cry.

At that moment, Min’s voice came from outside, "Father, Mother!" Hearing his brother’s voice, Zhi’s eyes sparkled, and he reached out towards the door, cooing and waving his hands eagerly. Xiqiu chuckled helplessly, as Chunliu lifted the curtain, allowing Min to run inside.

Xiqiu took his cold, red hands, rubbing and warming them. "Why are you so cold? Wasn’t there any coal burning in your room?"

"No," Min replied, winking at Zhi and answering Xiqiu’s question. "I was building a snowman in the backyard. I saved some snow for today to build a snowman for my little brother." With that, he dashed over to Zhi: "Shall we build a snowman?" 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

Zhi didn’t understand him, but seeing his brother made him excited, reaching out with his hands for a hug. Min quickly gestured with his hand: "Wait a bit, my hands are cold!" While saying, he rubbed his little hands vigorously.

Feeling pained for him, Xiqiu turned to Chunliu, "Bring the hand warmer." Chunliu smiled and obliged, going out to fetch it. Xiqiu took it and handed it to Min, helping him out of his cloak and crouching to warm his little face with a smile: "Why did you think of building a snowman for Zhi? It’s freezing, you could have let the maids do it. Why freeze yourself like this."

"I promised my little brother," Min replied earnestly. "I said once it snows, I’d make him snowmen to play with. But the past few days we’ve been busy drawing the Nine-nine Cold Relief Map with Mr. Ji. We wanted to create one ourselves, so... so it got delayed till today." He looked slightly guilty.

Fourth Master Xiao frowned, looking at Min, "Why make the Nine-nine Cold Relief Map yourself? Did Mr. Ji tell you anything besides this?"

"Yes!" Min responded. "Every time Mr. Ji draws a plum branch, he makes me learn a poem. He said by the time we finish the whole drawing, I will have finished learning all the poems."

A smile crept into Xiqiu’s eyes, and when she exchanged a glance with Fourth Master Xiao, their reactions were quite opposite. While Fourth Master Xiao seemed a bit discontent, Xiqiu was delighted. She thought Mr. Ji’s teaching method, which enhanced the children’s interest without compromising their studies, truly embodied the idea of learning through play.

Zhi waited a long time but saw no sign of Min coming to hold him, so he unhappily crawled towards them, grabbing Min’s hair with his tiny hand. Min yelped as he caught his topknot, yet Zhi, thinking they were playing, started giggling.

Xiqiu frowned, patting Zhi’s little hand: "That’s your brother’s hair; you’re not allowed to pull it." She pried open Zhi’s little hand as she spoke.

Min tilted his head, enduring the pain while replying: "It doesn’t hurt, Mother, don’t scold him!"

"Of course, it hurts." Xiqiu pried open Zhi’s little hand and couldn’t help but give it a couple of light slaps. "You shouldn’t be naughty like this. How come you can’t break the habit of pulling others’ hair?"

Min chuckled, waving his hand, "It really doesn’t hurt." He looked at Zhi, who was already pouting, "It doesn’t hurt, Zhi, don’t cry!"

Zhi laughed again through his tears, embracing his brother joyfully, pulling out a hand drum from the kang to give to Min...

"Thank you," the brothers shared a laugh together.

Fourth Master Xiao frowned, looking somewhat displeased at Zhi. Min noticed his father’s somber expression and explained, "Zhi’s still young; he’s just curious!"

Fourth Master Xiao shifted his gaze to Min’s equally childish face, a look of approval in his eyes, and nodded, "It’s not easy for you to understand this principle." Pausing, he added, "You and Xing want to go horseback riding? This month’s day off, let’s bring Xing here, and we’ll go riding!"

"Really?" Min had been thinking about it for a long time. "Father will take us riding?"

Fourth Master Xiao nodded slightly.

Min’s face broke into a wide grin as he nodded quickly, "I’ll have Erquan tell Xing tomorrow; he will be thrilled." He then looked at Xiqiu in uncontrollable glee. Xiqiu pursed her lips and patted his head with a smile: "There’s still about ten days left. I’ll make you a short coat, pants, and leather riding boots. It’ll be more convenient for riding then."

"Thank you, Mother!" Min nodded vigorously and then turned to Fourth Master Xiao: "Thank you, Father."

Fourth Master Xiao said nothing, but Xiqiu smiled, "Our Min is really thoughtful!"

Without attention, Zhi crawled over to his treasure trove, pulling out a Nine Rings, teasingly making noise as if to say, whoever plays with him will get this prized item.

Xiqiu found his earnest demeanor amusing and burst into a fit of laughter, "Our Zhi is amazing too! If only he could get rid of his habit of pulling hair, he’d be even better."

Min chuckled with a nod, and Fourth Master Xiao couldn’t help but smile. Yet Zhi, unable to comprehend what they laughed about, giggled along with them, shaking the Nine Rings with a crisp sound.

Min eventually took Zhi to the backyard. Xiqiu instructed the others to follow, while she stayed to speak with Fourth Master Xiao in low tones: "Is Fourth Master planning to talk to Mr. Ji?"

"Hmm?" Fourth Master Xiao raised an eyebrow. Xiqiu smiled, "I understand Fourth Master’s concerns. Min is still young. What he learns now might not stay with him. Perhaps Mr. Ji can let him learn through play instead. To learn while playing could help him retain more. As for the things you want Min to learn, there’s no rush; you can teach him later. Besides, Min is very smart and knows how to handle things."