Jason Liu could hardly wait to drag the bear boy over and give him a hard spanking, but he could only think about it in his heart. After all, Bran was the heart of the Stark family, and he couldn't really punish him.
Fortunately, he watched as Bran nervously climbed down. The kid was as nimble as a little monkey and descended the ruined tower within a few minutes.
This made Jason Liu greatly relieved.
"Boy, aren't you afraid? If you fall from such a high place, you'll be lying in bed for the rest of your life—" Although he couldn't teach the mischievous child a lesson, Jason Liu still tried to scare him.
Bran wiped the sweat from his forehead, wrinkled his nose, and scrunched up his cute little face. "I won't fall! Even with my eyes closed, I can climb up and down. It's not difficult at all!"
After saying this, Bran pulled Jason Liu's shirt, his big eyes full of anticipation. "Master Jason, where are the toys you said you'd give me? Let's go get them quickly. In a few days, I'll be going with my father to King's Landing. I'm afraid we won't see each other again."
Speaking of this, Bran's face looked a little conflicted—eager to go to a prosperous capital like King's Landing, but also reluctant to leave Winterfell.
Jason Liu placed his hand on Bran's little head and patted it gently like he was stroking a cat. "Don't worry. I may go to King's Landing in the future, and we'll meet again."
Children's sadness comes and goes quickly, and soon Bran was urging him again to go get the toys.
So, Jason Liu took Bran to the front hall and let the kid go and tell his mother, Lady Catelyn, that if she allowed it, he could take Bran back with him.
As the most beloved son of the Stark couple, Lady Catelyn specially arranged for two Winterfell guards to escort Bran back to the store with Jason Liu.
He gave Bran all the remaining toys from the warehouse. The boy was so excited that instead of returning to Winterfell, he stayed and played with Martha's son, Michal, in the front store.
Instructing the two Winterfell soldiers to keep an eye on young Master Bran, Jason Liu climbed into the carriage and headed to the logging farm in the south.
The East Hospital had Boris in charge, which was enough to handle the situation with Bachelor Adrian and Bachelor Abel. Jason Liu went to the lumber mill to check on the assistant bachelor and the apprentice he might recruit.
As soon as he entered the logging farm and got off the carriage, Jason Liu heard the neat sound of reading coming from the spacious wooden houses designated as schools.
It seemed Qyburn had already arranged for someone to teach the children.
Jason Liu asked McCann and the others to get on with their tasks, leaving only Jon, dicken, and four other guards by his side as he walked toward the school.
"Did all the kids who signed up go to school?"
While walking, Jason Liu asked Jon, who was following behind.
Jon's direwolf, Ghost, followed closely behind his master, wagging his tail and occasionally darting around playfully.
"Yes, my lord. The children aged five to fourteen have gone to school to learn reading and writing."
"Very well. Remember to inform their parents not to use excuses to keep the children from school. If they do, they'll be fined!" Jason Liu reminded him.
He worried that ignorant villagers might keep their children home to help with housework or care for younger siblings, using that as an excuse not to send them to school.
"Yes, my lord. I'll keep an eye on it," Jon replied. He understood that his lord's goal was to raise more literate people. These children represented the future development of the Easter family in Westeros.
Without entering the school, Jason Liu simply stood outside and listened for a while. Then he turned and walked toward the lumberyard warehouse.
As he walked along the newly poured, clean concrete floor, Jason Liu stomped firmly on the ground. "Jon, what do you think of this cement road?"
Speaking of the cement floor laid across the open space in the logging yard, Jon looked pleased. "My lord, ever since the ground in the logging yard was covered with cement, the whole place has become much cleaner—even the outside."
"The roads leading to the warehouse, military camp, and Wolf Forest are now extremely easy to walk on. Even when logs are transported by freight wagons, the solid roads allow for more cargo to be moved faster. Master Torrant and the others even want to build this kind of concrete road all the way to the front of the store in the winter market town."
As he spoke, Jon couldn't help but grin. "But such a long road would use a lot of cement. It can't be built right now, so they're just dreaming."
"It can't be done for now—maybe later!" Jason Liu nodded slightly. He didn't have time to build roads at the moment.
Upon entering the vast warehouse, he was met with the sight of piles of logs.
"There are over 470,000 logs stored now. Since many loggers have been reassigned to road construction recently, fewer logs are being cut. We've slowed down logging to avoid overfilling the warehouse," Jon explained.
Jason Liu glanced over the logs stacked beneath the wooden awnings. There weren't many empty sheds left, so slowing down was fine.
After instructing Jon and the others not to ease up on soldier training, Jason Liu returned to the castle in his carriage before nightfall.
"Lina, did Bran return?" Jason Liu asked casually after washing his face with the water Lena brought.
Lina handed him a towel and nodded. "Yes, my lord. Bran was escorted back by Winterfell's soldiers."
Nodding, Jason Liu wiped his face, then went to the table to enjoy his dinner. As he ate a grilled steak, he remembered that he had promised Benjen Stark to donate twenty wagons of wheat and one thousand cotton coats to the Night's Watch.
"Did I tell you to buy everything from the winter market town?"
Lina blinked and nodded repeatedly. "The wheat has already been purchased, but the cotton-padded clothes are still a bit short. The merchants promised to deliver them as soon as possible."
"Be sure to find a horse-drawn convoy in Market Town and ask them to follow Benjen Stark to the Wall. Since we agreed to donate to the Night's Watch, we won't make them worry about transport!"
"Yes, my lord. I'll take care of it, don't worry!" As a Northerner, Lina had a favorable impression of the Night's Watch.
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