Xue Cong frowned and struggled as Lin Xuan Qi seemed to be talking in a foreign language.
She was only able to catch the terms Addition and Subtraction.
Multiplication, division, modulus and algebra...
She knew none of it.
Yue Jie and Yue Xin were able to understand up until multiplication.
They hadn't learned about division yet.
And when it came to modulus and algebra, they were totally lost.
But they instinctively knew what Lin Xuan Qi taught was something that few in Da Qian Dynasty had mastered.
They looked up at Lin Xuan Qi and their view of him changed again.
Lin Xuan Qi must have made his fortune with his knowledge.
"And so, we can substitute the X over here with..."
Lin Xuan Qi stopped writing the equation on the paper he had in front of him.
He had realized that Xue Cong, Yue Jie and Yue Xin were lost.
Even though they were around the same age as he was, the education that they had was totally different and not on par with what he knew.
He could try and start from the beginning again, but it might not help too much. Best if he spent some time planning and writing a curriculum for them first.
So, Lin Xuan Qi decided to change it around.
"That's all from me today." Lin Xuan Qi put down his brush and said, "Now it's your turn to teach me more about Hong Feng City."
He thought for a moment and asked, "Are there any martial halls around here?"
Xue Cong, Yue Jie and Yue Xin thought for a moment.
Yue Jie was the first to reply, "There are several martial halls around here.
"The biggest of them all is the Cloud Sword Martial Hall, belonging to the Qing Yun Sect.
"Next is the Iron Fist Martial Hall, with Thunder Fist Sect behind them.
"Lastly, the Golden Palm Martial Hall, rumored to have the imperial court behind it.
"That's all I had known from my father when he was still an official."
Lin Xuan Qi nodded and said, "Do you have any idea which is the best for me to find someone to be in charge of building up the guards for the mansion?"
Shaking her head, Yue Jie replied, "Sorry Master Lin, I don't have any idea about that."
Lin Xuan Qi nodded his head.
It looked like he would have to ask around for a suitable candidate.
Either Luo Bao or Fei Luo should be able to help him.
He was however more wary about Fei Luo.
Lin Xuan Qi wouldn't want to have a mole inside the mansion instead and cause him more headaches.
But this would have to be done after he dealt with the thieves.
He looked out the door and saw that it was evening time.
"Time to prepare dinner. Let me go to the kitchen and see your progress." Lin Xuan Qi said.
He wasn't going to let them out of his sight as much as he could.
You never know when and where the thieves would strike.
Xue Cong was surprised by Lin Xuan Qi's request, and she nodded.
She wasn't sure why Lin Xuan Qi would suddenly want to do that.
He didn't complain about the food, as far as she could recall.
So, maybe he really wanted to see their progress, she thought silently to herself.
Xue Cong, Yue Jie and Yue Xin proceeded to keep the brushes and paper.
After which, they proceeded to go to the kitchen with Lin Xuan Qi following behind them.
Xue Cong and Yue Jie got the ingredients out and prepared them.
Yue Xin carried the firewood needed for the stove one by one.
When Lin Xuan Qi saw Yue Xin's hands tremble as she gritted her teeth and carried the firewood, he was impressed.
Yue Jie and Yue Xin delivered on their promise.
Enduring and doing back-breaking work.
This made Lin Xuan Qi feel a sense of duty to keep them safe.
He wanted to offer to help but stopped himself.
It wouldn't be wise for him to do so as it would blur the line between master and servants.
Lin Xuan Qi watched as Yue Xin started the fire within one try.
The ingredients were chopped and seasoned at a faster speed than yesterday.
Xue Cong then proceeded to put water, noodles and other ingredients into the huge wok.
Soon, the noodles were cooked, and dinner was ready.
...
After they had dinner, it was already nightfall.
The darkness of the night had descended within moments.
The servant girls headed back to the servant quarters.
Lin Xuan Qi followed them and found a nice corner outside of the servant quarters and hid behind some landscaping plants.
He watched and waited.
Tick Tock, Bang.
The night watchman walked past the mansion, hit his clapper and smashed the gong, reporting the time to those inside their residences.
Slowly the clapper and gong's sound of the night watchman grew softer as the night watchman got further away from the mansion.
The boss and Er Gou appeared outside the walls of the mansion.
They were now dressed and covered in black, with only their eyes showing.
"Er Gou, the usual." The boss said and Er Gou leaned against the wall with his knees bent, as if he were sitting on an imaginary chair.
The boss ran towards Er Gou, stepped onto Er Gou's knee, and then Er Gou's shoulder.
With a leap after stepping onto Er Gou's shoulder, the boss got to the top of the wall.
The boss smirked when he saw the mansion dark with only a few lanterns lit.
No one was in sight.
It was perfect for them.
The boss turned around and stretched his hands downward.
Er Gou stood up and grabbed onto the boss's hands.
"You should lose some weight." The boss's face turned red as he pulled with all his might, trying to get Er Gou to the top of the wall.
Er Gou kicked downward at the wall, trying to bring himself up.
It worked and the boss with a hard yank, successfully pulled Er Gou to the top of the wall.