El viaje de un mendigo alrededor del mundo

Capítulo 35

"Just as you two were exchanging glances, she said, 'You! You! You've gone too far! I hate you!' Fan Bing mimicked Qiu Yi's tearful and resentful voice before she left, then returned to his expressionless state. 'That's it,' he said, and then he ran away."

Fan Qingbo felt inexplicably ashamed, but she always knew how to make herself happy, so she quickly transferred that shame to someone else. She swiftly stood next to Fan Bing, and together they looked at the scholar with disapproval, shaking their heads and sighing, "Look at you, what a mess you've made."

The scholar was completely bewildered. "What does this have to do with me?"

Fan Bing snorted coldly, leaned closer to Fan Qingbo, and began to chime in: "Master, you saw it, didn't you? I was right, wasn't I? This scholar is a wolf in sheep's clothing, he eats people without spitting out the bones! He's the epitome of a wolf with ambitions, deceiving the world, stealing fame, and committing lewd acts!"

"Hmm, you've expanded your vocabulary again after just one day."

Fan Bing was taken aback, then his eyes lit up. "Really? Really?" He was practically begging for a reward.

"Really, really, it won't be long before you catch up with your master, me." Fan Qingbo didn't hold back his praise.

"And what about those surnamed Shu?" Mentioning this, he suddenly remembered what he had said earlier, and his face turned annoyed. "Master, change the subject!" Hearing the chuckle, his murderous gaze suddenly turned to the scholar.

The scholar quickly suppressed a laugh and gently reassured her, "Brother Fan, Miss Fan and I are already engaged. From now on, we are family."

"Who's family with you?"

As soon as Fan Binghua spoke, he realized that his master was speaking in unison with him. He looked at her in surprise, only to see her pout and say, "My surname is Fan, and my surname is also Fan when I have an episode. When did our Fan family get someone with the surname Shu?"

Fan Qingbo glanced at Fan Bing, whose face was full of excitement, then put on a stern face and poked his forehead. "And you, you always have paranoia. You maliciously target people for no reason and you still think you're right? You even ran away from home? Why don't you go apologize to the scholar? Don't let people say that the Fan family has no manners."

After saying that, she pushed him and then turned and went into the house.

Fan Bing wasn't stupid; he could tell who was closer and who was less so in those words. So all the resentment, grievances, fear, and despair he had felt all day vanished. He was happy to bow and apologize to the scholar: "Hello, outsider. This is Fan family lad apologizing to you. Goodbye, outsider!" Then he scurried off after Fan Qingbo.

"Hey, Master! Did you bring someone fish tofu?"

"Just kidding."

"Waaaaah, Master, you can't do this! A young man's heart is fragile and easily broken; it can't withstand such hurt—"

"Cooking rice, boiling water, washing clothes, sweeping the floor, quickly."

"yes!"

"If you're so capable, let go of my leg and get to work, you bastard!"

"They haven't even tried to express their respect to their master all day, yet it's like a surging river, endless and unstoppable, like the Yellow River overflowing its banks... Waaaaah..."

"..."

"Master, what would you do if someone really disappeared?"

With a blank expression, Fan Qingbo uttered four words from the bottom of his heart: "Slaughter, pig, reward, god."

...

The Fan family finally returned to its former liveliness, while the scholar's house across the street remained as quiet as ever. Unfortunately, only the house was quiet; as for the people... the scholar had locked himself in his study since returning, pacing back and forth, deep in thought. Finally, as the lanterns were lit, a loud slam of the table echoed from the scholar's house: "So that's how it is!"

With a whoosh, the study door was pulled open, and the scholar leaped out of the door, stopping at the entrance of the Fan family's residence, and knocked.

"Who is it?" came Fan Bing's voice.

"It is I. I have something to say to Miss Fan."

There was a pause inside the room, followed by Fan Bing's panting voice, "It's late, my master doesn't receive guests, go back."

"Wait, Brother Fan, I really have something important to discuss with Miss Fan!"

"Is it really that important?"

"real!"

"That's great!"

Hearing this, the scholar fully expected him to open the door, but instead, he was met with two loud bangs—the door was bolted shut from the inside, followed by the sound of Fan Bing skipping and hopping away happily, whistling. No matter how much the scholar knocked, there was no response from inside, only disturbing the neighbors—"Is someone summoning a spirit outside? It's so noisy!"

The scholar silently took two steps back, blinked, and stared at the wall.

At that moment, Fan Qingbo had finished eating and taking a bath and was washing his underwear in the backyard with his sleeves rolled up. Hearing footsteps behind him, he said without turning his head, "You're having another episode. How many times have I told you that you only need to wash your sheets, blankets, and outer robes? I can do the rest myself."

"Miss Fan."

"Ah!" Fan Qingbo stiffened instantly upon hearing the scholar's voice. "You, you, you... how did you get here?"

The scholar smiled confidently, "Now I finally understand why you refuse to marry me."

Fan Qingbo didn't breathe a sigh of relief upon hearing this. Instead, she frowned with some suspicion. "What exactly do you understand?" Her intuition told her that what he understood was completely different from her real reason.

"Just now you said that you and Brother Fan are family, and that no one in the Fan family has the surname Shu, so—"

Fan Qingbo took a breath, only to hear the scholar declare resolutely, "So you actually want me to marry into your family!"

Oh no! She almost fell headfirst into the laundry tub!

"Although I am the only son in a family of calligraphers, and there is no precedent in my family for an adopted son-in-law, everything is still negotiable..."

She couldn't hold back any longer. She suddenly stood up, turned around, and gave the scholar a big X: "Wrong, wrong, wrong! I won't marry him because we're not compatible! Do you think I don't want a man? I've been living a long and arduous life for two lifetimes combined, I'm practically dying of thirst, how could I not want one? The key is that we're not compatible!"

Compared to her agitation, the scholar was much calmer. "What's wrong with it?"

"Nowhere is suitable!" she glared.

As a teacher, the scholar was very patient. "For example?"

"His identity alone is inappropriate!"