“The second elementary school…” Roland said with a thoughtful expression, swallowing the noodles in his mouth. “Don’t you think the second elementary school isn’t quite the same as the other elementary schools?”
“I discovered that long ago. It seems to have been converted from an old building, with green bricks and tiles, a front yard, a welcoming room in the middle, and a backyard.” Night Tide Sands asked curiously in return, “Is there some kind of story?”
“That elementary school is a building from the dynasty of braids[2], the period of a certain emperor in jocular stories who loved to mingle with women secretly. It was actually the ancestral hall of the Yu family. Later on, during the years of political turbulence, the Yu family was broken up into several branches, and the ancestral hall that represented the glory of the Yu family was also confiscated and transformed into an elementary school. It has been used until now.”
Night Tide Sands was even more surprised now. “Such a large ancestral hall!”
Roland chuckled lightly. “Here in the southern border, unlike the Central Plains and the north, the feudal forces were not so thoroughly swept away. Many clans were reduced to nothing and hidden in the ocean of the people. Although the clans can no longer hold much influence in current society—as they say, a centipede dies but never falls down, and it’s still possible for it to come out and spew bubbling poison at critical times. Li Lin’s family connections are on the surface, while Schuck’s family connections are in the dark. Schuck’s family is a direct line of descent, and he is the only son, so in fancy terms, he is actually the young clan leader. So he is essentially a remnant of the feudal forces. Of course, nowadays, no one in this society still calls anyone a young clan leader or whatever. It would be laughable for outsiders to hear.”
Night Tide Sands covered her mouth. “That’s no way to talk about your best friend.”
“True friends don’t hold back,” Roland said with a smile. “I used to call him a foolish son of a landlord.”
“So how did he insult you?”
Roland curled his lips. “Ugly.”
Night Tide Sands laughed even harder.
After finishing the noodles, Roland came back to the training ground, where Qi Shaoqiu was already instructing a group of new students.
Roland sat on a long concrete pier to consume his food. It was not long before Raffel and the others finished their daily practice and sat next to him.
Brazil bumped Roland’s shoulder. “How’s it? How’s it going with Night Tide Sands, when are you getting married?”
“What the hell, we’re not even dating. When did we get to the point of marriage?”
Schuck also wanted to laugh at Roland, and just as he was about to comment, his phone rang. He picked it up and immediately answered it, asking, “Li Lin, what is it?”
There was an indistinct voice coming from his phone.
“Some trouble? No problem. I’ll make a call to the elders.”
Then Schuck stood up and made another call. He stepped aside, his voice low, barely reaching Roland and the others.
“Mom, have my third uncle scratch the blisters of the Jin family’s boxing club, and its related companies or industries.”
“Yeah, there’s a girl in the Jin family trying to do something harmful toward me and a few friends… Li Lin’s already made his move, but he can’t seem to handle it on his own.”
“What, parasites? No need for parasites!” Schuck’s voice grew a little louder. “Nowadays, in this scientific society, where are there any parasites… Not even if it’s inconspicuous. Back then, my father-in-law was almost scared to death by you, and here you go again!”
When Roland and the others heard this, they felt sweat bead on their foreheads.
According to Schuck, his mother, before she married, had been the Bai clan’s maiden witch, of mixed Chinese and Bai ancestry. Though growing up, Schuck always told his few close friends that there was no such thing as parasites or Gong Tau[3].
But Roland remembered clearly that he had seen large centipedes at least thirty centimeters long squiggling in the shadows and the cracks of the room on more than one occasion when he used to go to play at Schuck’s old house.
He’d also seen sharp-nosed vipers as thick as an adult’s thighs squirming on the beams of Schuck’s old family home.
Anyway, they didn’t quite dare to play at Shuck’s house, and instead asked him out to play.
Shortly after, Schuck put away his phone and sat next to Roland.
Roland said, “There’s no need to alarm Aunty about this small matter.”
“My old man took my stepmother to the capital. It seems that my stepmother’s father is seriously ill.”
That explains a lot!
They then practiced their miaodao arts and sparred for a while, and soon it was noon. They wiped off their sweat with towels that had been prepared earlier, changed their clothes, and then prepared to leave the saber arts club together.
But as soon as they reached the door, they saw a red sports car brush up against the door of the saber arts club.
Jin Wenwen, who wore a plain dress, got out of the car, her face dark and very gloomy.
She went to the door, blocking Roland and the others, then scanned them one by one.
Of course, Roland and the others were not afraid of her. They were all smiling and looking at her directly.
Qi Shaoqiu, who was in the training hall, also saw Jin Wenwen, and he put a Jia Tian Xia in his mouth, lit it with a lighter, put his hands in his trouser pockets, and walked slowly to the door.
Upon seeing Qi Shaoqiu come out, Jin Wenwen said furiously, “Good, Qi Shaoqiu, you’ve become a man, uniting outsiders to bully your ex-girlfriend.”
“Heh!”
Qi Shaoqiu sneered and used his hand to remove the Jia Tian Xia from his mouth, then breathed out the smoke and said disdainfully, “Of course I’m a man, it’s not like you haven’t tried me before.”
Roland and others held back their laughter.
Jin Wen Wen said furiously, “You sure know how to talk now—that honest look back then was all a disguise?”
“Whatever you say.” Qi Shaoqiu shrugged. “You’re not welcome here, so if there’s nothing else, please leave.”
Qi Shaoqiu no longer had any good thoughts about Jin Wenwen, so he appeared indifferent.
Jin Wenwen noticed this as well, and she turned her attention to Roland and the others, staring at them again.
After a while, she gritted her teeth and said, “I don’t know which one of you and Li Lin came together to deal with me, but I admit defeat this time. Come at me if you can. I can close the boxing club, and you all can even toy with me together if you want, but don’t touch my parents’ property. Don’t you understand the principle of not afflicting misfortune to one’s family?”
“We’re not mobsters, we don’t know your jargon.” Schuck shook his head. “This is just a warning, so don’t ever get any ideas about us again.”
Schuck then left, and Roland and the others followed and left the saber arts club on public bicycles.
“To think that you’d be in this situation!” Qi Shaoqiu revealed a happy expression at Jin Wenwen and turned to leave.
Left alone in the doorway, Jin Wenwen stood trembling with anger for nearly half an hour.
Roland returned home, ate lunch, and opened the game’s website habitually, then immediately saw the new official announcement.
“The game’s maintenance went faster than expected, and the servers will start tonight. Please understand the inconvenience caused to all players during this period.”
Roland was extremely happy after reading the announcement.
When he got into the game at night, as he usually did, just as he showed up in the hotel, a soft body fell into his arms.
“You’re back!”
Andonara’s smile was like a hundred flowers blooming.
[1] An institution where children can take part in extracurricular activities
[2] Qing Dynasty
[3] Aka. Tame Head, Black Magic of Southeast Asia
