After hearing the Lin family head finish reading, Chu Tian shrugged from below the stage, "Still not enough. If it were 988, that would be great!"
Lin Yu and the others beside him asked, "Why?"
"988, call me daddy!" Chu Tian said with a smile.
"Uh..." Lin Ran and the others were stunned. This was the first time in their acquaintance that they had seen Chu Tian joke, and he seemed to be in a good mood today! Chu Tian was indeed very happy because he would get to see Luo Luo.
After reading the list, the Lin family patriarch looked down at the audience and said, "Today's literary competition has concluded. The martial competition will begin tomorrow morning at eight o'clock."
"The top fifty from the literary competition can gather here tonight at six o'clock. Someone will lead you to attend the Luo family's banquet, and the Luo family's eldest young lady will also be present!" He said with a meaningful smile.
Today's competition was now over. The members of the eight great families began to withdraw one after another. The remaining outsiders were all extremely excited, especially the men, who were all discussing the Luo family's eldest young lady.
"I heard this eldest young lady is a peerless beauty."
"Yes, I heard that too. They say she possesses unparalleled beauty, a face that could make a fish sink and a goose fall."
"Although I'm sure I won't be able to win first place, it'll be a feast for the eyes just to catch a glimpse!"
"..."
Even Ma Deju excitedly said to Chu Tian and the others beside him, "This eldest young lady is about to be married. Tsk tsk, I like married women the most... Awoo... Ouch..."
As he was speaking, Lin Ran poked him in the ribs!
"Hmph... Utterly shameless!" Lin Yu gave him a disgusted look. Ma Deju cried out in pain, yelping like a wolf! Seeing him like this, Lin Yu actually giggled.
"Heh heh... Brother Chu Tian, someone is taking the place of your wife!"
Upon hearing this, Ma Deju forgot his pain. With a contorted expression, he looked at Chu Tian. The latter gave him a sinister look.
"Brother Tian, you..." There were too many people around, so he didn't continue. Lin Ran patted his shoulder and whispered something in his ear. Ma Deju's expression shifted from surprise to excitement. He grabbed Chu Tian and said, "Brother Tian, you must take me along for such fun!"
His actions made Chu Tian unsure of how to respond. He could only nod silently.
"Heh heh... For this kind of exciting thing... I'll drag Qi Shushu and Song Zijing along later. I'm sure they'll be happy to join too!" Hearing him say this, Chu Tian's expression turned strange. These young masters from aristocratic families thought such dangerous things were fun! It was truly a case of comparing people and feeling inferior. Anyone else would likely steer clear. This was an act that would offend at least two major families at once, and the repercussions would be immeasurable. This fellow actually said that Qi Shushu and Song Zijing would be interested.
Suddenly, he felt that Lin Ran was being too talkative. The more people who knew about something, the easier it was to expose. He had originally planned to sneak Luo Luo away. If these guys got involved, wouldn't it be a direct confrontation with such a massive family like the Luo family?
"Are you scared now? That only proves I misjudged you!"
"If you're so timid, how will you be able to save the people around you in the future?"
"The enemies you face in the future will not be comparable to a small family!" Suddenly, Dao Tian, who had been absent for a long time, said such words.
Chu Tian's heart trembled. He communicated with Dao Tian calmly in his mind, "Don't talk the talk without walking the walk. I don't know how powerful your future enemies will be."
"All I know is that right now, I can't handle the Luo family!"
"If you dare, I'll tear the heavens apart, and you'll cover for me. See how brave I am!"
"It's not that I look down on you, I truly do."
"To be afraid of being discovered, afraid of this and that, with your little courage, you still have the nerve to talk about me?"
"Pat your old face, aren't you ashamed?"
Chu Tian had been in a good mood today, but Dao Tian, who hadn't spoken for eight hundred years and wouldn't answer when called, suddenly appeared in his mind for no reason, treating his mind like a public bus. He came and went as he pleased. Chu Tian had been holding back for a long time because of this. Today, he let it all out. He was almost spitting at Dao Tian's face!
"This..." Dao Tian managed to blurt out a single word after a long while. Then he disappeared again! Chu Tian couldn't be bothered with him. On his way back with Lin Ran and the others, they happened to meet Qi Shushu and Song Zijing. Originally, they lived on the other side, where only people of status lived. Chu Tian and the others lived in a place for the disorganized and wandering, those without a sect. In short, it was where the lower class lived. Qi Shushu and Song Zijing were waiting for them here specifically. They even told Chu Tian and the others that they wanted to move to their side.
It turned out that Song Zijing, like Qi Shushu, was also an unwelcome figure in his family. As for Ma Deju, although the Ma family was protective, they were severely biased towards females and neglected males. He was beaten every day at home. This led him to run away from home and cause trouble everywhere. His family didn't look for him; instead, whenever he caused trouble, someone would clean up after him.
Chu Tian looked at Ma Deju with envy. Look at him, then look at himself! It's truly said: comparing people can kill you, and a child without a mother is not loved. The Ma family was quite peculiar, a typical case of "I can hit and scold, but you dare to touch me?" With a bitter smile, he shook his head and walked towards their residence with everyone.
...
He didn't know that Dao Tian, whom he had just berated, was sitting cross-legged in the depths of chaos. A gourd emanating a strong aroma of wine sat beside him. It wasn't capped. Normally, even a slight scent of wine would make him feel heartbroken. But now, Dao Tian was in a daze. After being berated by Chu Tian, even the wine didn't taste as good. No one knew what he was thinking.
After a moment, "Alas..." he sighed and picked up the wine gourd. Just as he brought it to his lips, he hesitated. In the end, he capped the gourd and hung it on his waist!
...
Blue Star, Luo Family's Small World.
In the courtyard where Chu Tian and the others lived, three more people had arrived, making it livelier. Ma Deju took out a pile of utensils from his treasure pouch. It turned out to be a set of barbecue tools.
"This... will it be alright?" Qi Shushu was a little worried. He knew that in their Qi family's small world, it was explicitly forbidden to use such things. Because... it polluted the air! The air in the small world was filtered through a barrier, filtering the air from the outer great world before supplying it to the inner small world.
"What's there to be afraid of..." Ma Deju brazenly started a fire. Soon, smoke could be seen rising from Chu Tian's courtyard from afar. Even Chu Tian started to worry, thinking that someone would come to drive them out. Ma Deju was truly not a worry-free person, no wonder he was always beaten at home. With such behavior, who else would they beat if not him?