Danger loomed, yet no one noticed.
Zong Jincheng was intently hooking lotus seed pods when he suddenly felt a shove on his left shoulder. Already unsteady on the riverbank, he lost his balance and tumbled forward to the right...
"Ah—!" The little troublemaker instinctively reached for his brothers nearby. He Zheng, panicked, grabbed for him while yanking at the others with his other hand.
One after another, they all missed their holds and plunged into the river like dumplings dropped into boiling water.
"Young masters!!" The servants cried out in alarm.
The five boys flailed in the pond—few of them could swim. Xu Wan was startled by the sudden mishap and rushed over, shouting, "Someone! Quick! Get them out of the water!"
Su Xi laughed heartily and blocked her path. "Madam Zong, don’t fret. The pond isn’t deep. You mustn’t... let concern cloud your judgment."
Xu Wan felt as if her heart had leapt into her throat, but Su Xi’s intervention helped her calm down. She then remembered the pond was indeed shallow, only reaching their waists.
This old man Su Xi… his antics were always so unpredictable.
The boys thrashed in the water for a moment, their faces and clothes thoroughly soaked. Zong Jincheng had it the worst—caught completely off guard, he’d swallowed several mouthfuls of water.
After spitting it out with a few disgusted "Pah! Pah!"s, he fumed, "You’re terrible! You promised we could pick lotus pods, but then you pushed us in! You’re downright malicious!"
He Zheng chimed in, "Exactly! This time, you’ve gone too far, sir. We came here to learn poetry, but you’re just toying with us. What kind of teacher disrespects his students like this?"
"Protest! I protest!" Shen Yibai wiped water from his face and howled. "I want a new tutor! I’m going back to my Teacher Jiang. So much for being a poetry master—you’re just a nasty old man! I won’t stand for this humiliation!"
The young rascals were incensed. Even Zong Wenxiu couldn’t hold back. "Sir, as the ancients said, respecting one’s teacher is a virtue students should uphold. No matter how much you tested us before, we obeyed. But now, isn’t your disrespect toward us a breach of a teacher’s dignity?"
"Right! A teacher without dignity!"
"A teacher without dignity!!"
"......"
Su Xi crouched at the bank, grinning. "Respect? Dignity? I don’t care for such formalities. Do what brings you joy—roam free among mountains and rivers, unrestrained. That’s the essence of writing good poetry."
The boys’ scoldings fell on deaf ears, fueling their fury. Zong Jincheng’s chest heaved with anger. At a glance from Shen Yibai, the two troublemakers lunged, each grabbing one of Su Xi’s arms, and yanked the crouching old man into the water!
"SPLASH—"
A massive wave erupted.
Zong Wenxiu was drenched anew, while He Zheng and Wei Xinglu stood frozen before erupting in cheers. "Jincheng! Yibai! You two are the best!"
Xu Wan had barely recovered from one shock before another hit.
Cui Zhi gasped. "Madam… should we hurry and rescue Master Su Xi?"
Xu Wan gulped. "Let’s wait and see. Master Su Xi never follows the script. He might not need our help—after all, the pond is shallow." Those were Su Xi’s own words moments ago.
Cui Zhi covered her face, too afraid to watch.
Su Xi, thoroughly amused by the children’s antics, was abruptly dragged into the water. It took him a moment to regain his bearings. Soaked, he stood up and bellowed at the fleeing boys, "Stop right there! You dare pull me in and then run? Get back here!"
"Ugh… you wretched old man, you made me swallow more water!"
Su Xi snorted. "Your family’s pond is clean enough. A few sips won’t hurt you. A little dirt never killed anyone."
The boys rolled their eyes in unison, ignoring him.
Su Xi clapped his hands. "Now that we’re all wet, let’s pick the pods this way. Much faster than using hooks."
"Hmph."
"Hmph."
"Hmph."
"Hmph."
Four synchronized scoffs. Though their voices dripped with disdain, the boys obediently waded back to work.
Su Xi was right—plucking lotus pods in the water was far quicker. No need to measure stick lengths, calculate hook angles, or worry about dropped pods. A simple twist of the wrist, and fresh pods came free.
"Brothers, we can stash them in our clothes first," He Zheng suggested, lifting the hem of his robe to form a makeshift pouch. This way, they wouldn’t have to make endless trips to the bank.
The others quickly followed suit. Zong Wenxiu, ever practical, called to the servants onshore, "Could you fetch us some small baskets? It’d make things easier."
They glanced at Xu Wan and Su Xi for approval. Seeing no objection, the servants scurried off to retrieve the baskets.
The baskets proved handy—slung over their backs, they freed both hands for picking. Now unencumbered, the boys began savoring the joy of harvesting.
Su Xi plucked a pod from one of their baskets, earning a glare from Zong Jincheng. Undeterred, he snatched the largest one, deftly shelled a lotus seed, and popped it into his mouth. "Mmm, excellent. Fresh."
Shen Yibai mimicked him, peeling open a pod and sampling a seed. His eyes lit up. "Wow, these are really good! Crisp and a little sweet."
Wei Xinglu perked up. "Yibai, toss me one!"
Shen Yibai lobbed a seed at his head. Wei Xinglu caught it midair with his mouth and grinned. "Now that’s teamwork! Even brothers aren’t this in sync!"
"Hahaha!" Shen Yibai beamed. "Who else wants one? My pod’s huge!"
He Zheng waved eagerly. "Me! Me, Yibai!"
"Here, catch!"
He Zheng leaped but, unsteady in the muddy water, face-planted into the pond—
"Glug glug glug…" He emerged sputtering.
Wei Xinglu roared with laughter. "He Zheng, you call that teamwork?"
He Zheng wiped his face indignantly. "I’ll prove it with Big Brother!"
Zong Jincheng joined the food-flinging frenzy, hurling seeds across the lotus leaves and water. He Zheng scrambled to catch them, determined to prove his bond with his "big brother" was strongest.
Soon, Zong Jincheng got hooked. "My turn!" He flung half a pod at He Zheng.
"Hahaha… Jincheng, your aim’s worse than He Zheng’s!"
