Chapter 111: A Master Suddenly Appeared Halfway

  I didn't take Xuan Yuan's words to heart, and it wasn't until the next day that I realized what was going on. [ww] At 7:30 in the morning, Lu Zhanfeng got up to use the restroom, rubbed his eyes, and said drowsily, "Cousin, you're getting up so early, what time is it? Today's the last day of the National Day holiday, you can sleep in late, why aren't you sleeping?"

  I looked at him speechlessly and said, "Brother, didn't you say yesterday that I would have a hard time learning piano and dance today? How did you forget now? Alright, go back to bed and sleep, I'll wash up and leave."

  "Sister, be careful on your way." "Got it, you have a good game of chess with Lord Zhou."

  Grandma Meng's Sunday class starts at 9 o'clock, and I was all set to leave by 8 o'clock. I thought it would be good to go a bit earlier and chat with Grandma Meng for a while, even if it can't be considered as making amends, but rather a small explanation.

  It was already half past eight when I arrived at Grandma Meng's house after taking a detour. Originally, I was going to knock on the door, but strangely, her front door was wide open today. After entering, I found that Grandma Meng wasn't sitting in her usual armchair listening to opera like she normally did. Although she used to study Western instruments and dance when she was young and had always rejected traditional Chinese operas, it seemed that as she grew older, she started to enjoy them. Every time I came here, she would be holding a small radio listening to the opera. But today was strange, there was no one in sight.

  But the gate was open, and someone as meticulous as Meng Nainai wouldn't let that happen. What could be the reason? A thought floated in my mind - could it be a thief? The more I thought about it, the more possible it seemed. I grabbed the long bamboo pole next to the Guifei chair, which Meng Nainai usually used as a clothes rack. I tried to make as little noise as possible as I walked towards the inner room, thinking that the thief might have taken Meng Nainai in there - after all, she had many valuable fans and paintings hidden away in there. Just as I was about to reach the inner room, I saw that the door was actually closed. My heart became even more certain of my suspicions. Summoning up some unknown courage, I kicked open the door quickly.

  I saw Old Lady Meng sitting on the edge of the bed, her face still tearful, and I thought for sure that the "little thief" next to her had bullied this old lady. Without even taking a closer look at the "thief", I quickly raised my bamboo pole and struck out, only hearing a pained cry of "ahh". I was feeling proud of myself, having beaten him up in an instant, but when I took a closer look... it turned out to be Xuan Yuan Ruo. I suddenly felt embarrassed, threw away the bamboo pole, stood still on one side, and didn't move again.

  Grandma Meng took both Xuan Yuan and me to the outer room, saying: "Xuan Yuan, sit down. Give this to Xiao Xiao, it's a medicine for dispelling blood stasis. First bring a large basin of hot water to apply heat to him, then give him the medicine." Her tone carried a hint of blame towards me, as well as a hint of apology on my behalf to Xuan Yuan.

  Xuan Yuan said, "Master uncle, it's nothing serious, not particularly severe. My skin is thick and I don't need a hot compress, just apply the medicine directly. You don't have to let Xiaoyu go boil water, her hands are weak, if she gets scalded again, that would be terrible."

  Meng Wuyou heard Xuan Yuan say that he was thick-skinned, but in fact, he was a fair and handsome young man. When he spoke like this and affectionately called Xiao Xiao "little girl", the smile on his face and the sparkle in his eyes showed that he had taken a liking to Xiao Xiao. Meng Wuyou decided to tease him a bit and said: "Xuan Yuan, don't worry, look at your hands, they're all bruised! Xiao Xiao isn't new here, she's said herself that she's very familiar with the work. Xiao Xiao, what are you still standing there for? Go on, this guy knows when to admit his mistakes!"

  Actually, I was just too careless and didn't see clearly before acting, no wonder Meng Nainai said I was reckless. But on the other hand, if it were really a "thief", I would have lost the initiative to hit him after seeing clearly. Anyway, I'm not bold and meticulous enough. Fortunately, the person who came was Xuan Yuan, if it were someone else, I don't know how they would scold me with a straight face. Earlier, I heard that miserable cry, it's not easy for him to speak up for me like that after what happened. I have to take good care of his wounds and apologize sincerely so he can recover soon. I carried a large basin of hot water carefully and walked to the outer room, as Xuan Yuan said, my arm strength is really not great, so I had to be careful not to spill it. As I entered the outer room, Xuan Yuan was chatting with Meng Nainai about something, seemingly in a pleasant conversation.

  Meng Wu You saw Nan Xiao Xiao coming, and her eyes hinted that she should hurry up with the hot compress. I thought Meng Nai Nai would personally help Xuan Yuan with the hot compress and apply medicine again, after all, I didn't have any experience, what if my hands were too heavy or too light? But seeing Meng Nai Nai's eyes and her calmly sitting there drinking tea, it was clear that she wouldn't help me. I took a deep breath, looking like a heroic warrior who had gone to battle and would never return.

  Xuanyuan Jun looked at Xiaoyao's expression, his eyebrows relaxed and a smile appeared on the corners of his mouth. He said, "Little Yao, don't be so tense, I can endure pain very well, I won't cry out loud."

  I rolled my eyes and said, "Me?... I'm not nervous at all, I just don't know it very well." "That's okay, I'm willing to let you practice on me, come on."

  Meng Wuyou watched the interaction between the two, shook her head and thought of that handsome young man who had been lingering in her heart for over thirty years.

  The hot water was just right, I kept stirring it to make it not too hot, then I wrung out the towel so that it was about 80% dry and put it on Xuan Yuan's arm. I could clearly feel his hand tremble slightly, was it very painful? I looked at him with a very apologetic gaze and said: "Is it uncomfortable? Otherwise, I'll let Mother Meng come to help you with the hot compress instead. This is my first time helping someone with a hot compress, before this I only watched my mom do it for my dad and me."

  Xuanyuan grabbed my other hand and said, "No need, since you've never done it before, everything has a first time, I'm honored, you continue, I'm not very uncomfortable, look at me talking, if your hands are too heavy, I'll remind you." Hearing Xuanyuan say this, I gradually loosened my grip, thinking to take it slow and easy, but at the beginning, one careless move would make a mess, so I could only use my hand to wipe and wipe nonstop.

  Meng Wuyou saw Xiao Xiao carefully wiping away, saying: "Xiao Xiao, use a bit more force, you can't dissolve the blood stasis with such light strokes. You're usually quite bold, why are you being so cautious today when you see Xuan Yuan?" Thinking to herself that it seems Xiao Xiao also has some hidden meaning in her heart.

  Before long, Zhang Yu arrived late. She was indeed a bit late today. Usually she arrives quite early, generally around 8:30. But today she overslept and didn't arrive at Grandma Meng's house until 9:10. It seems that as soon as she goes in, she'll have to sweetly apologize to Grandma Meng and ask for her forgiveness.

  Zhang Jing rushed into the room, eager to show that she had hurried over. However, she found that Grandma Meng hadn't started teaching yet and was sitting aside drinking her favorite flower tea. Meanwhile, Nan Xiangxiang was carefully staring at a boy's arm, slowly applying Yunnan Baiyao. Upon taking another look at the boy, Zhang Jing felt he looked somewhat familiar. Oh, right! He was that Xuan Yuanrui she saw yesterday.

  Zhang Jing hurried to Grandma Meng's side and said, "Grandma Meng, hehe, I'm late today, it wasn't on purpose, oh, it's just that my dad and mom weren't home today, and my alarm clock didn't go off for some reason, definitely won't happen again next time."

  Meng Wuyou was in a good mood today and didn't want to blame Xuanxuan too much, so she said: "Don't make this an example, you can remember what you said yourself."

  Zhang Jing turned his head and whispered, "Master Meng, it's already 9:01, why haven't you started class yet? And what's going on here, how is Nan Xiangxiang applying medicine to Xuan Yuanrui? And how did Xuan Yuanrui end up here?"

  Meng Wu You smiled warmly and said, "Is that really what you saw? By the way, you also know Xuan Yuan Zuo? How do you know him? What's this guy like?"

  Zhang Jing had a hint of doubt in her mind, wasn't Meng Nainai the one who hated gossiping the most? What was wrong with her today? She said: "Meng Nainai, to be honest, I don't really understand this Xuan Yuan Ruo either, I've only heard rumors about him, and it wasn't until yesterday that I saw his true face at Lushan. Yesterday, because of Lu Ajie's new store opening, we coincidentally met at the Purple Gold Building. However, Nan Xiao Xiao is very familiar with him, as far as I know, this Xuan Yuan Ruo is quite formidable, even Nan Xiao Xiao sometimes gets tongue-tied in front of him, and Nan Xiao Xiao also admires him a lot, the two of them have a pretty good tacit understanding, because sometimes they would say some strange things that we couldn't understand, but they both knew what each other meant..."

  Meng Wuyou thought to herself that this was really not bad, Xuan Yuan being her senior's disciple. Although she had once sworn that in this lifetime she would never again take on a disciple, and it was also the case that she allowed Cui Cui and Xiao Xiao to call her "grandma", but fundamentally speaking those two were indeed her disciples. She and her senior only had a half-life connection, so perhaps Xuan Yuan and Xiao Xiao could make up for this regret. The more Meng Wuyou looked at Xuan Yuan and Nan Xiao Xiao, the more she felt that they were well-matched, and couldn't help but smile as she nodded her head, saying: "Cui Cui, this Xuan Yuan is my senior's disciple, so he's also your and Xiao Xiao's senior."

  "Oh, no wonder he showed up here today. Master Meng finally acknowledges us as her disciples, yay! It's great! Nan Xiangxiang, I'm telling you, Master Meng has acknowledged us as her disciples, and the guy next to you, Xuan Yuanrui, is our senior fellow disciple."

  As soon as I heard the news, my hand couldn't help but tremble a bit. Xuan Yuan's eyebrows furrowed slightly, and I quickly said: "Sorry, sorry, I didn't mean to. I didn't expect you to be our senior brother. Others might have killed their way out with a Cheng Yaojin, but you're the one who killed your way out as a senior brother halfway through - that's impressive!"

  Here is the translation:

  "Second update, what do you guys think about Xuan Yuan's shoes? Leave a comment, and also on an old topic, if you still think it's passable, leave your vote!"