Chapter 77

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Chapter 77: Teasing

By now, Zhang Xiaohua had realized that pork belly wasn’t the best thing in the world, nor was it his ultimate dream to eat pork belly. Martial arts had become his new “pork belly”.

But figuring out how to get this “pork belly” would take some thought. Watching the four men walk away, Zhang Xiaohua couldn’t help but ponder silently.

The small courtyard remained quiet, and the group of lazy pigs-like blue-clad servants were probably still dreaming. Do you still want to compete with the disciples of the Piaomiao Sect? Do you have the strength? Zhang Xiaohua, having just arrived yesterday, already felt it was hopeless. Maybe they knew they couldn’t succeed and were just comforting themselves with empty words.

However, looking at the small room he slept in last night, Zhang Xiaohua felt quite distressed. Why did Liu Er have such a roommate? Couldn’t he have found someone a bit better?

Pinching his nose, Zhang Xiaohua opened the window. Although it was already summer, there was still a bit of a cool morning breeze. The stale air in the room quickly dissipated with the wind.

Only then did Zhang Xiaohua leisurely walk back in.

After grabbing a copper basin to wash his face, Zhang Xiaohua sat on the kang and drank some water.

At this moment, Ma Jing finally turned over, stretched deeply, and sat up, mumbling: “Who awakens first from the grand dream? In my lifetime, only I know myself.”

“Clang”, it wasn’t Zhang Xiaohua who fell this time, but the cup that fell onto the kang. Zhang Xiaohua hurriedly tidied up the bedding while smiling bitterly and asked: “Brother Ma, why such poetic sentiment?”

Ma Jing, shaking his head with pride, said: “It came to me in a dream last night. How about it? Do you think your Brother Ma has a talent for poetry?”

Zhang Xiaohua complimented him again and again: “Your shitting talent is amazing, ah!”

[TL_Note: Poem=shī and Crap=shǐ, so I guess he’s covertly insulting him for the stench ]

Breakfast was still eaten in that big hall, and as before, the two groups had different meals. Zhang Xiaohua already knew the reason, so he wasn’t surprised and ate his fill happily. The others, however, couldn’t help themselves, throwing sarcastic and strange remarks at the four men, who acted as if they hadn’t heard a thing, eating as contentedly as Zhang Xiaohua. The murderous glances shot at them were just like extra seasoning to them. They quickly finished eating, patted their buttocks, and left, leaving behind a heap of resentful gazes.

After everyone had finished and left, Zhang Xiaohua patted his belly and walked out of the dining hall. Seeing the leftover food on the table and remembering how much he had eaten, he couldn’t help but wonder, isn’t the work in the medicine field tough? How can they eat so little and still have the energy to work?

When Zhang Xiaohua returned to the room, Ma Jing had already finished tidying up and was about to go out. Zhang Xiaohua quickly followed him, but as soon as they passed the outer gate, they were stopped by Tian Chongxi.

Tian Chongxi smiled and said to Zhang Xiaohua: “Xiaohua since you’re new here, there’s no rush to start working. Wait here for a while. I’ll arrange things for the others and then come back to show you around so you can get acquainted with the place.”

Zhang Xiaohua was taken aback but quickly responded: “Okay, you go ahead. I’ll wait here.”

Seeing Zhang Xiaohua standing at the door, Tian Chongxi led Ma Jing and the other four men in martial attire away.

Zhang Xiaohua didn’t think much of it, but Ma Jing couldn’t help but ask Tian Chongxi quietly: “Brother Xi, why do you need to show Zhang Xiaohua around personally? Couldn’t I just take him with me?”

Tian Chongxi replied: “Even though Zhang Xiaohua came from the Lotus Escort Agency, we still don’t know much about his background. While he seems fine, we should wait until we understand more before making any decisions. That’s what the head steward said last night. We’re just following instructions.”

Ma Jing was stunned and complained: “Why didn’t you tell me earlier? I spilled quite a few secrets about our villa to him yesterday.”

Tian Chongxi was momentarily surprised, then laughed and said: “What secrets could you possibly know? Once you know them, they won’t be secrets anymore. Even I don’t know the important secrets of our villa, so how could you? Don’t worry about it. Zhang Xiaohua should be fine, otherwise, Qiu Tong wouldn’t have brought him back.”

Ma Jing finally felt relieved.

Meanwhile, Zhang Xiaohua stood at the outer gate, watching Tian Chongxi and the others walk away. He heard footsteps behind him and turned around to see Elder Yu approaching. Zhang Xiaohua quickly bowed in greeting. Elder Yu walked over, patted his shoulder, and smiled: “Zhang Xiaohua, I heard you want to learn martial arts?”

Zhang Xiaohua’s eyes lit up: “Yes, Elder Yu.”

Elder Yu continued: “Yesterday, I heard from Qiu Tong that you have a lot of strength, even managing to lift a 500-jin stone lock?”

Zhang Xiaohua shook his head: “Elder Yu, I do have some strength, and I did lift two stone locks yesterday, but I don’t know how heavy they were.”

Elder Yu said: “Wanting to learn martial arts is a good thing, but you’ve missed the best time to start. However, practicing for self-defense is still possible. If you work hard, I’ll find someone to teach you. How does that sound?”

Zhang Xiaohua couldn’t believe his ears and said excitedly: “Really, Elder Yu? You’re not joking with me, are you?”

Elder Yu laughed: “Why would I lie to you? You’ll understand in due time.”

Zhang Xiaohua laughed: “Haha, that’s great! I’ll definitely practice better than my Second Brother.”

Elder Yu asked: “Your second brother joined the Lotus Escort Agency yesterday, right?”

Zhang Xiaohua replied: “Yes, Lotus Escort Bureau’s Fourth Master Wen said he has excellent potential and will achieve great things with some practice.”

Elder Yu smiled encouragingly at Zhang Xiaohua: “Well, if your second brother can be promising, you won’t be any worse. Practice well and make your family proud.”

Zhang Xiaohua bowed again: “Thank you, Elder Yu,  for your help. I will definitely do it.”

Elder Yu then left, but as he walked, he pondered: “This Zhang Xiaohua seems like an ordinary kid, it’s no big deal with he’s strong. Why does Miss value him so much and want him to learn martial arts?”

In fact, Elder Yu hadn’t grasped Ou Yan’s thoughts. Ou Yan didn’t particularly value Zhang Xiaohua, it was just a coincidence from yesterday. Qiu Tong’s fondness for Zhang Xiaohua had reminded her of her own elder brother. She casually suggested it out of a moment of compassion. After all, allowing a little errand boy to learn some martial arts was just a matter of one sentence for someone as high-ranking as her, especially considering that it was for a child who was well past the prime age for starting martial arts training.

Zhang Xiaohua stood at the outer gate, waiting for about the time it took to have a meal before Tian Chongxi returned. Tian Chongxi took Zhang Xiaohua around the villa, just as Ma Jing had described. The Huanxi Villa was indeed full of many strange and diverse plants, including grains, flowers, herbs, and more, each tended by different people. Tian Chongxi and his group were responsible for the cultivation of medicinal herbs. Pointing to the fields from a distance, Tian Zhongxi briefly explained what each type of herb was. Zhang Xiaohua, having never seen these herbs before, could only try to memorize the information.

Fortunately, the tasks mainly involved planting, weeding, and watering, which weren’t much different from tending to regular crops. Having grown up doing farm work, Zhang Xiaohua wasn’t worried about these tasks.

In the following days, Tian Chongxi still took Zhang Xiaohua around and didn’t let him do any work. Even when Tian Chongxi was busy with the medicinal fields and had no time to take Zhang Xiaohua along, he still didn’t let Zhang Xiaohua work. Zhang Xiaohua found it strange. He spent his mornings watching people practice martial arts, wandered around with Tian Chongxi during the day, lounged under trees when free, and listened to Ma Jing’s nonsense in the evenings. This life was rather… boring.

Zhang Xiaohua had come here to learn martial arts but ended up being left behind. Although the food he ate was unlike anything he had eaten before, and what he saw and heard was beyond his previous imagination, he still felt uncomfortable. Not to mention the smell of stinky feet in the room every night.

Initially, Zhang Xiaohua felt embarrassed after just arriving, but later he couldn’t stand it anymore. He had to indirectly tell Ma Jing that it would be better if he washed his feet before sleeping. However, Ma Jing remained indifferent to his advice. Could Zhang Xiaohua not be upset? In the end, Zhang Xiaohua had to sleep with the window open at night, just hoping for some fresh air. However, every night before going to bed, Ma Jing would close the window, and the air in the room remained unpleasantly stale. It seemed that Ma Jing woke up in the night feeling cold and closed it himself.

One afternoon, Ma Jing mysteriously approached Zhang Xiaohua and whispered: “Xiaohua, do you think my feet smell bad?”

Zhang Xiaohua, feeling embarrassed, replied: “Um, not too bad, but a little bit.”

Ma Jing nodded and said: “I understand. Starting from today, you won’t have to worry about it.”

“Really?” Zhang Xiaohua asked incredulously: “You’re going to start washing your feet?”

“No.” Ma Jing shook his head. “I just spoke to Brother Xi about this. He said you can move to his room.”

“Really? Brother Xi told you that?” Zhang Xiaohua asked.

“Yeah, that’s right. It was Brother Xi who said so,” Ma Jing affirmed with a nod.

Zhang Xiaohua gratefully said: “Brother Ma, you’re really a good person. Thank you.”

Ma Jing chuckled but didn’t say anything, then went out to the medicinal fields.

In the afternoon, Zhang Xiaohua packed up his things, a small bundle, and a roll of bedding. The rooms in the small courtyard weren’t locked, so in the evening, he placed his belongings on the empty kang in Tian Chongxi’s room.

Before dinner that evening, Ma Jing and the others returned, but Tian Chongxi wasn’t there. Naturally, Zhang Xiaohua didn’t get a chance to thank him. He followed Ma Jing and the others to the dining hall for dinner.

While they were eating, Tian Chongxi came in covered in dust, looking like he hadn’t washed up yet. As soon as he sat down, he picked up his chopsticks and hurriedly started eating. The person next to him asked softly: “Brother Xi, is the water still not fixed?”

With food in his mouth, Tian Chongxi vaguely replied: “Hmm, not yet. I’ll go fix it in a bit.”

Seeing him eat in such a rush, Zhang Xiaohua didn’t dare approach immediately. He waited until Tian Chongxi had almost finished eating and was about to leave before stepping forward and saying: “Brother Xi, thank you. I’ve put the bedding on the kang first.”

Tian Chongxi was taken aback and asked: “Thank me for what? Where did you put the bedding?”

Zhang Xiaohua said with confusion: “Brother Xi, didn’t you tell me to stay in your room? I placed my bedding on the empty kang there.”

Upon hearing this, Tian Chongxi’s expression darkened. He said: “When did I tell you to stay in my room? Can you just enter someone else’s room at will?”

With that, without waiting for Zhang Xiaohua to explain further, Tian Chongxi hurriedly walked away.