Chapter 116: Ling Ruyue

The Hongqi car drove away, leaving behind an old woman and a young girl. I did not care at all what they looked like. There was only one thing on my mind, my hair.

“Master, I am running back first!” I finally made up my mind and said to my master.

But before my master could even respond, I heard a clear voice.

She said, “Are you going back to wash your hair?”

I was furious and glared at her hard, but my mother smiled and said from the side, “Oh my, what a well behaved little girl. Even more delicate and pretty than my two girls at home.”

Then my master also said, “Xiao Yi, walking back together would not be better?”

I felt uneasy and did not bother with any of them. I turned around and ran off on my own.

Behind me, I could still hear my mother’s voice. “Come here, Auntie will hold your hand while we walk. Ignore my son. He has been like a fool since he was little, never as worry free as his two sisters.”

“That is right, this disciple is really not worry free,” my master added.

I felt like crying at that moment. If there had been a word for running away in tears, it would have perfectly described my state. It was the New Year, early in the morning, and I had not even done anything wrong. Who exactly had I offended?

After washing my hair at home, I went to my two sisters for comfort. I did not think I was a petty person, but the moment that girl got off the car, I suddenly felt that I really disliked her. What kind of mouth did she have, saying such annoying things?

My eldest sister put her arm around my shoulder and said, “San Wa Er, it is fine. Later your eldest sister will help you teach that little girl a lesson.”

My second sister also said from the side, “San Wa Er, do not be angry. Second sister knows you are the best behaved.”

I was already being treated like a little child being comforted, but I felt no relief at all. I said angrily, “My mother even said that girl is well behaved, more delicate than both of you. My mother is a traitor. What kind of taste is that?”

“Hahaha...” my eldest sister could not hold back her laughter.

My second sister also smiled and used a towel to dry my still damp hair. I did not understand what they were laughing at. I just felt deeply wronged.

While the three of us were talking, commotion came from the alley. My eldest sister shouted and ran out immediately. “Second sister, come out quickly. Mom and the others are back. Dad already went to meet them. Oh wow, that little girl is so well behaved.”

My second sister answered and hurried out as well. In anger I shouted, “She is not allowed to come to our house for dinner. Eldest sister, second sister, you are all traitors.”

My eldest sister did not even bother with me and just said from the balcony, “San Wa Er, can you not be so childish?”

Childish? My eldest sister actually said I was childish. I had always been very sensible. I suddenly felt like a defeated rooster.

When we returned to the mountain, even during evening practice my mood was still very gloomy.

It felt like everyone around me liked that girl called Ling Ruyue. My father liked her, my mother liked her, my eldest and second sisters liked her, and even my master doted on her.

The only one who seemed to like me slightly more was her grandmother.

Her grandmother was not bad.

Especially my mother, she was absolutely unbearable. We only went back to the mountain after lunch. During the meal she kept saying, “Such a well behaved little girl. I even want to arrange a childhood marriage for San Wa Er. But our San Wa Er is not good enough for her.”

It was so embarrassing. A childhood marriage? Not good enough? Could my mother say anything more outrageous?

Luckily, her grandmother still liked me and said, “Master Jiang’s disciple is your son. He is really quite good. Do not be so modest.”

After completing a set of the Twelve Section Brocade exercise, I was drenched in sweat. Just as I was about to grab a towel to wipe myself, I suddenly noticed a small figure beside the table where I kept my towel.

Looking closely, it was Ling Ruyue sitting there, tilting her head and watching me. I ignored her. During dinner she had deliberately asked about my hair twelve times in a naive tone, making everyone laugh at me. She had done it on purpose. I held a deep grudge and had no reason to talk to her.

“Maimai, what are you doing? Are you dancing some kind of ritual?” The girl spoke when she saw me walking over coldly to get my towel.

“I do not understand what you are saying,” I replied. I was not used to the Kunming dialect and simply used it as an excuse.

This little girl was clearly targeting me on purpose. At dinner she spoke Mandarin fluently, but the moment she talked to me, she switched to the Kunming dialect.

“I am saying Grandma and Grandpa Jiang are talking. I am bored. Can you play with me?” she said innocently.

To be honest, her eyes were big and watery, making it hard to refuse. But I still disliked her and rejected her bluntly. “No, I am busy. I do not have time to play with you.”

“Brother, I think you are really dumb. You cannot even understand Kunming dialect. If I speak Miao language, you would not understand that either, right?” she said with an innocent tone and pure eyes, but the meaning was clearly that I was stupid.

A surge of anger rose in me. I pointed at Ling Ruyue and said, “Go away. Stop bothering me. Do not think that just because you have big eyes and fair skin everyone praises you as a good girl, I do not like you at all.”

Ling Ruyue pouted, her eyes immediately becoming misty as if she was about to cry. I felt a bit soft-hearted, but I still turned my head away. I could not be soft with this girl. For some reason, the moment I saw her, I felt I had to stay on guard.

No crying came. Instead, Ling Ruyue suddenly stood up, walked in front of me, and slapped my towel twice, as if hitting my hand, then said, “You are a bad brother. I am not playing with you anymore.”

She turned and ran off, but after only a couple of steps she came back and hit my waist and arm twice before running away again.

I wiped my sweat with the towel, thinking this girl was really strange. She hit people just because of a few words. I almost felt sorry for her earlier.

My master was talking with Ling Ruyue’s grandmother. My evening practice was already finished, so I probably would not get the medicinal bath prepared by my master tonight. I planned to boil some water and wash myself. My master had not taught me how to prepare the fragrant bath decoction, so I did not know how to do it.

In the kitchen, my medicinal stew was still simmering on the stove, making a bubbling fragrance. I placed another pot on a different stove and was about to add water when I suddenly felt an itch on my body. I looked down and was helpless.

Since when were there so many ants crawling on me?

There were many snakes, insects, rats, and ants on the mountain. My master had said the bamboo in our Bamboo Forest Cottage was specially treated, handled by Xiao Ding and Old Wu. I did not know the exact method, but it was very effective.

At the very least, in all my years living on the mountain, there were almost no mosquitoes inside the Bamboo Forest Cottage. My master also often sprinkled powder made by Old Wu around the area, which worked extremely well.

Where did these ants come from?

I did not think much of it. I took off my clothes and shook the ants off my body. Looking again, there were quite a few on my pants as well. Helpless, I repeated the same process and shook them off.

When I turned around again, Ling Ruyue was hiding near the doorway watching me. My face turned red and I shouted at her, “Little girl, have you no shame? Can you not see I am going to take a bath?”

Ling Ruyue did not answer. She glanced at me, turned around, and ran off. I did not bother thinking about it and focused on boiling water.

But today was truly strange. While I was boiling water, ants kept crawling onto my body from time to time. At first I patiently flicked them off one by one, but later they came in swarms, and I simply slapped them off in batches, yet nothing could stop them from coming again and again.

Could I have honey on me? Come to think of it, I did eat some sweets at noon. Did it get on me?

At this moment, the water finally boiled. I decided to wash quickly. Once I was clean, these annoying ants would stop coming. I would have to tell my master later to add more powder. The Bamboo Forest Cottage might be losing its effectiveness.

After shaking off the ants once more, I filled my usual wooden bath barrel with water. When the temperature was right, I immediately jumped in.

Warm water enveloped me and I let out a long sigh of relief. Finally clean. Everything should be fine now.

Thinking back, the whole day had been exhausting. I was dragged out early in the morning to pick someone up, rushed back after dinner, and still had to do my practice. Under the warmth of the water, I slowly began to doze off in the tub.

It had always been like this. I often soaked in the fragrant bath decoction and fell asleep. My master would sit nearby smoking a dry tobacco pipe, waiting to wake me at the right time. I was used to it.