In fact, he wasn’t trying to be sarcastic; it was just a casual thought that came to mind. He walked slowly, dispersing his food, and casually said something.
Qu Xiaojue glanced at him and stepped closer: “Father doesn’t like sweet, rich food.”
“Oh.”
The conversation ended there, and they fell silent again. Xu Wanzhi’s initial curiosity about going out diminished. He looked around; their clothing and behavior seemed normal. He continued walking without stopping. As he passed a small stall selling accessories, Qu Xiaojue suddenly blocked his arm.
“What?”
Qu Xiaojue gently pulled him aside, somewhat amused: “You stepped on someone’s silver note.”
“Hm? Stepping on a silver note in the street?”
Xu Wanzhi moved his foot, and indeed, a white paper emerged, with black characters and a red seal. Even in the Qu household, he had never seen such a legendary item. He was about to bend down and pick it up, but Qu Xiaojue reached out first and pressed down slightly. The silver note fell into his hand. As he was about to look closely, a clear and bright voice, slightly urgent, entered his ear: “Young master, that’s my silver note!”
The newcomer was a man around twenty, wearing a blue robe and carrying a gray bundle.
He was tall, with thick eyebrows and large eyes, and a hint of naivety at the corners of his mouth. In the middle of the street, he shouted, clearly anxious.
“Yours?”
Raising the silver note he hadn’t yet examined, Xu Wanzhi’s tone rose. The man’s appearance seemed relatively normal to him. Thus, he playfully teased, “How can you prove this is yours?”
The man had originally rushed forward but stopped at these words, his face growing more anxious. He simply said, “It is mine! My master gave it to me when I left the village!”
However, Xu Wanzhi was amused, and he spoke a modern, unreasonable phrase: “Yours? Can you call out to it?”
“I—” The man stepped forward, staring directly at him. Xu Wanzhi unexpectedly felt mischievous, maintaining an indifferent expression. The man stared at him for a while before frustratedly saying, “No, I can’t.”
“Then how can I give you the silver note? If it’s not yours, wouldn’t I be wronging its original owner?”
