Xie Qiao kept doing her own thing. She scrubbed the horse’s tummy and then patted it. The horse rolled on the ground to turn over. She then proceeded to scrub it.
It was like autumn wind blowing and a warm moon shining on her side. It was so relaxing that the students were envious.
On the other side…
Xia Yayun had taken horseback archery classes, so she was not a stranger to horses. However, it was her first time cleaning horses.
She led the horse out carefully and scrubbed it back and forth with a brush in a stiff manner. It was unknown whether she was too soft or the horse was feeling uncomfortable—it was moving around and not behaving at all!
Meanwhile, Meng Jifang was suddenly kicked by the horse. Xia Yayun was so scared that she didn’t dare to mess with the horse.
In reality, she had not attended many horseback archery classes. She had ridden on a pony and had run for a few rounds at most. She was not an expert in that skill.
At that moment, Meng Jifang was very annoyed. “The horses in this courtyard are still wild!?”
He had ridden horses before, so how would a tamed horse be so fierce!?
He got up while covering his ribs and glared at Xie Qiao.
He realized that her movements were extraordinarily smooth. Meanwhile, the horse next to her even neighed twice in enjoyment. It looked like a dog!
He knew that as long as he followed the rules and made the horses comfortable, it was only natural that he would not be kicked. However, now that there was someone next to him doing the job in such a relaxed manner, he looked very foolish to be putting a great effort.
Meng Jifang frowned and asked, “How did you do that?”
Xie Qiao did not even lift her head. She proceeded to scrub the horse’s hair and back.
Meng Jifang was getting irritated now. However, he should not throw tantrums at a gentle young lady like her. He thought about it and spoke much gentler now. “Young Lady Xie, how come the horse listens to you?”
Xie Qiao remained silent.
“Xie Qiao?” Meng Jifang raised his brows.
Xie Qiao got up and helped the horse up. She fetched another pail of water and rinsed it simply. Just like that, she was done cleaning a horse.
She did not spend too much time overall.
“I ran into your brother yesterday afternoon! I even treated him wine.” Meng Jifang shamelessly tried to chat with Xie Qiao.
That was not a lie, but neither was that the truth.
Xie Niushan’s eldest son, Xie Pinggang, was known to be the most courageous man in the Imperial City. He had killed barbarians when he was some ten years old. It was said that the barbarians looked like they had seen a ghost when they saw him. They would run away from the scare.
Any ambitious men in the Imperial City, including Meng Jifang, wanted to meet such a person.
He had met Xie Pinggang not long ago. Apart from being taller, he was nothing much. Therefore, he had gotten the waiter to send Xie Pinggang a jar of the cheapest wine sarcastically when he saw him at the restaurant with his colleagues investigating a case yesterday afternoon.
He had just been messing with him, so he had not expected Xie Pinggang to really finish the wine. Xie Pinggang had even thanked him calmly after drinking and given him a plate of… premium snacks!
It made Meng Jifang look petty.
However, Xie Qiao reacted when she heard that. “I look kind and pretty. That’s why the horses are warmer to me.”
“I don’t look too bad either, right?” Meng Jifang frowned and glanced at Xie Qiao.
He felt rather guilty.
This young lady was rather beautiful, had great charisma, and gave off a gentle vibe. When he had approached her earlier, he could even smell a light fragrance on her. It was nice.
“Maybe you can teach me?” said Meng Jifang.
“I can’t teach you, but we can collaborate,” Xie Qiao stopped what she was doing.
