Recueil des beaux hommes du monde des arts martiaux

Chapitre 13

The scholar slowly opened his eyes, carefully pushing the woman off him. Looking down at the tangled bandages wrapped around his body, he couldn't help but smile bitterly. The wound on his shoulder had started bleeding again after all the fuss, so he pressed several acupoints. After catching his breath, he finally realized that he was almost naked and in bed with a woman.

Realizing this, all the blood in his body began to rush to his originally pale face.

He jumped off the bed as fast as he could, clutching his clothes, but stopped when he touched the door. He suddenly turned back to the bed, thought for a moment, took the silver hairpin from his bag, and placed it on the bedside table.

I smelled that comforting fragrance again...

He saw her face, even paler than his, and the dark circles under her eyes, and his heart clenched. The sudden emotion was so unfamiliar that he involuntarily raised his hand, his cold fingers touching her eyes. Noticing her flinch, he suddenly realized he had taken advantage of her when she wasn't looking!

Shocked, he staggered backward, knocking over a chair without realizing it, and fled out the door in a disheveled state.

The person lying in bed was completely unaware that they had disturbed a pool of spring water, and fell asleep soundly, dreaming a deep dream.

As soon as the scholar returned home, he went into his study and read the classics all night long. He finally suppressed his restlessness and collapsed on the bed, exhausted.

"Little girl, I think the Master is dead."

"Piered Egg, you're talking nonsense. The Master is clearly asleep."

"It's not even dinner time yet, who would sleep at this hour? The Master must be dead."

"No, that's not true!"

"It must be!"

The scholar woke up amidst the murmurs of discussion about whether he was dead or not.

When he scrambled to his feet, clutching his head, all the children who had been surrounding his bed screamed, "The teacher has come back to life!" and ran away, including the little girl who insisted he wasn't dead.

He didn't have time to figure out what was going on, because his stomach was growling loudly. Come to think of it, he had run into that group of persistent guys after buying books at Huanxitian yesterday morning, and by now... it was probably dusk, and he hadn't eaten anything for almost two days.

"Over here! Over here! The Master has come back to life!"

The chattering of the children came from outside the door, and they ran back, followed by another person.

"Young Master Shu, you're awake?"

It was Qiuyi. Realizing there was a woman in the room, the scholar immediately got up from the couch, straightened his clothes, and bowed apologetically, saying, "Please excuse my rudeness. May I ask what brings you to my humble abode, Qiuyi?"

Qiu Yi blushed slightly and lowered her head, saying, "These children said they were coming to collect their books today, but they couldn't wake you up, so I came to check on you."

The boy named Pidan chimed in, "Yeah, yeah, we couldn't wake him up no matter what we did. Xiaoya and I thought the teacher was dead!"

The little girl named Xiaoya muttered, "I didn't think so at all." Pidan glared at her domineeringly and continued to shout, "We were so scared that we ran to the other side to find Boss Fan, but we couldn't wake him up either. Little Fan even chased us all out, so we had no choice but to go fight crickets."

Pidan's words were rambling and incoherent, but the only certainty was that he didn't mention Qiuyi. It turned out that she herself wanted to find the scholar, but felt it was inconvenient for a lone man and woman to be alone, so she brought along the children who were fighting crickets, using the pretext of getting books to actually visit him.

Qiu Yi was beautiful and well-educated, a rare gem in the chaotic world of Qingmofang. She was of high ideals, yearning for a learned and gentle man, rejecting many suitors and even wasting her youth. Not wanting to become an old woman like Fan Qingbo, she seized the opportunity when she met this scholar—a man who perfectly matched her desires—at eighteen.

On one hand, she hoped he would understand her feelings, but on the other hand, she was afraid that he would think she was not reserved enough. Qiu Yi twisted her fingers and secretly glanced at the scholar, only to see that he was blushing and even more embarrassed than she was.

She thought he had finally come to his senses, and felt both shy and happy. With the children around, she could only say in a voice so sweet it could squeeze out honey, "Shu Gong—Shu Lang, I've cooked for you in the hall. I...I...I'll come to visit you another day!" After saying that, she turned around, covered her face, and ran away shyly. Her butterfly-like figure quickly disappeared from everyone's sight.

The children looked at each other in bewilderment: "What is Uncle Shulang? Has Sister Qiuyi been possessed?"

At this moment, the scholar, who had been keeping his head down and blushing, suddenly looked up and asked, "You mean... even your Boss Fan couldn't wake him up?"

Pidan felt a little uneasy. The teacher's eyes were dark and bright, just like the little white dog at Ahua's house in Chess Lane. Every time the dog looked at him like that, it meant it wanted the meat bun in his hand. He took a few steps back, then realized he didn't have any meat buns, and his heart calmed down. He nodded at the teacher.

Then he saw the teacher pursing her lips, her face turning red again. Now he was completely confused. She looked the same way when he licked Ahua's face last time. So the teacher wasn't the little white dog, but Ahua? Then who licked the teacher? Wait, Qiuyi's face was also red just now, who licked her?

Before they could figure out who was licking whose boots, the Master spoke again: "Eh? Where's Qiuyi?"

Pidan frowned, deeply regretting that he shouldn't have listened to his mother. This teacher was foolish; how could he possibly be as good as Master Fan? Pidan crossed his arms and looked very seriously at the teacher, who seemed to have some mental issues, and sincerely suggested, "Teacher, why don't you go and sleep for a while longer?"

The scholar had no idea what the preserved egg was thinking. He thought the preserved egg was concerned about him, so he smiled shyly and declined the egg's offer.

Next, the scholar seemed to finally regain his composure, remembering his role as a teacher, and began distributing books to the children. Leading the children out of the study to arrange seating in the courtyard, he passed the living room and saw the food on the table.

"Huh? Where did all these come from?"

This time, all the children, like Pidan, crossed their arms and looked seriously at their teacher, whose mind had just returned to normal but seemed to have malfunctioned again, and said in unison, "Teacher, why don't you go and sleep for a while longer?"

The scholar was somewhat bewildered by this scene, not understanding why these children were so insistent on him going to sleep, even though he had already slept all day...

Just as I was about to say something, I suddenly heard a loud commotion outside the door.

"Get out of here! So what if you're the son of a general? So what if you're a captain? My master won't see you! Get out of here!"

Author's Note: Finishing... All sorts of unrequited love...

10

10. The Second Silver Scholar in the World...

When Zhou Zice asked to see Fan Qingbo at the door, Fan Qingbo had just gotten up and was drinking porridge.

Fan Qingbo hadn't expected him to come looking for her again, so her heart skipped a beat when she heard his voice. Therefore, she didn't stop Fan Bing from stopping the person. So much had happened last night; her inability to wake up in the early hours was partly a way of escaping the reality of having to face everything upon waking. But now there was no escaping it; even though her mind was a complete mess, she still had to make a decision.

Ignoring the commotion outside, she calmly and attentively ate her porridge and vegetables. By the time she finished the last mouthful and put down her spoon, her mind was much clearer. She wiped her mouth, picked up the bundle she had prepared earlier, and went outside.

"What's all the noise about? You're having a vocal crisis, and you're still yelling and shouting during puberty. Watch your throat!"

Upon hearing Fan Qingbo's voice, Fan Bing immediately scurried over to her side, while Pidan and the other kids excitedly shouted, "Boss Fan, you're awake!" "Boss Fan, you're not dead?"

The scholar then realized that this woman wasn't actually that unpopular; at least children aged three to thirteen liked her.

"Commander Zhou."