Chapter 714: Chapter 433: Sword Fighting and Mountain Climbing
After shooing Mr. Qian away, Xue Yuantong and Jiang Ning continued to eat.
The tofu pudding contained soybeans, which gave it a crispy bite. Xue Yuantong finished it in just two spoonfuls.
Then, he blew in the evening breeze and looked towards the distant Huishui River, feeling the cool moist air on his skin.
Mr. Qian had found a small table and ticulously wiped it until it shone before sitting down.
Soon, Aunt Gu brought over the tofu pudding, and Mr. Qian stared at the bowl, his eyebrows tightly furrowed.
“Big sister, co here,” Mr. Qian called.
His voice was loud enough to turn heads around them. Aunt Gu, having no choice, put down what she was doing and hurried over.
Mr. Qian crossed his legs and waved his fan, adopting the tone of a long-ti teacher. “Do you rember what I told you?”
Aunt Gu replied, “You ordered a bowl of tofu pudding.”
“What else?” Mr. Qian pressed.
Aunt Gu appeared troubled—she really couldn’t rember.
Mr. Qian gestured towards the tofu pudding with his fan and said, “Think harder about what I told you.”
Aunt Gu looked at the tofu pudding and pondered for a while. As other custors started to get impatient, in her desperation, she finally noticed a hint of green in the bowl.
Aunt Gu realized her mistake. “I’m sorry, I forgot you didn’t want cilantro. I’ll change it for you right now.”
She hurried to make a new batch.
Xue Yuantong, who had witnessed the whole exchange, comnted, “Mr. Qian could have just pointed out the issue directly, but he insisted on making her figure out the mistake herself.”
Jiang Ning explained, “It’s called the Socratic thod. First, let the boss realize the mistake, then have her correct it.”
“Teaching, huh…” Xue Yuantong pondered for a mont and then added, “This isn’t a school, and she isn’t his student.”
Jiang Ning remarked, “That’s why he’s always ddling.”
…
After finishing their dinner, Jiang Ning paid the bill.
Xue Yuantong said, “That’s not expensive at all, just 12 yuan in total, an average of 6 yuan each.”
Jiang Ning replied, “I only had one pork sandwich. If we’re averaging it, I only had 4.5 yuan.”
Xue Yuantong unreasonably responded, “We were together, so it should be averaged.”
“Fine,” Jiang Ning reluctantly agreed.
Xue Yuantong happily followed him and said, “Jiang Ning, you’re so nice!”
Both of them walked along the river dam. During the stroll, Jiang Ning received a ssage from Shao Shuangshuang, who had arranged a mid-year venue in Nan City and even paid for so performances, making it quite a grand event.
“Is the raffle ready? Are you sure about the single travel voucher?” Shao Shuangshuang asked.
“Yes, sure.”
After getting the affirmation, Shao Shuangshuang said, “Alright, I’ll arrange the raffle tonight.”
Upon seeing Jiang Ning on his phone, Xue Yuantong called out, “My mom won’t be coming ho tonight.”
Aunt Gu had gone to Nan City for the event, and her accommodation was arranged by the company.
“Then you can stay up late,” Jiang Ning said.
“Yeah, I’m going to Chuchu’s place tonight to hang out, want to co?” Xue Yuantong asked.
“No.”
“Fine, I’ll go by myself.” Xue Yuantong ditched Jiang Ning.
…
As the sky darkened completely, Chuchu returned and instead of getting busy with dinner, she cooked a bag of instant noodles.
The house felt stuffy, and Chuchu carried her bowl to the doorway to eat, not minding rural customs.
Xue Yuantong stood by, watching her eat.
Mr. Qian, returning from his walk, slled the instant noodles and shook his head while lanting in a tone of disappointnt:
“Eat less instant noodles, they have no nutrition. The more you eat, the thinner you get.”
Chuchu, ever so polite, smiled and replied, “You’re right, Mr. Qian.”
Mr. Qian felt like he had saved the youth of the nation.
anwhile, Dongdong was munching on instant noodles as he stepped outside, and Mr. Qian once again adopted his educational deanor:
“Dongdong, eat fewer instant noodles. Look at how plump you are, you’ll turn into a ball!”
Xue Yuantong was confused.
Dongdong completely ignored Mr. Qian, treating him like air, which embarrassed Mr. Qian.
Dongdong quickly finished the instant noodles and continued working on his wooden sword.
He had previously smashed Mr. Qian’s ladder and selected the best piece of bamboo to craft into a wooden sword.
Though Dongdong was uncouth, he was skilled with his hands. He smoothly borrowed Uncle Zhang’s sharp butcher knife and carved the wooden sword with swift “click-click” sounds.
While others were dining, he was carving; while others chatted, he still carved.
Stars don’t ask the travelers, and ti doesn’t fail those who try.
From smashing the ladder to crafting the sword, it took a total of four hours!
Dongdong finally produced a handso wooden sword. He carefully sanded it, removing all the splinters, and then wrapped the hilt with a cloth strip.
Holding the sword in one hand, Dongdong stood in the doorway under the bright light. He drew the sword, and it shimred as though it emitted a light, even projecting a sword beam!
It was truly cool!
At the doorstep, Jiang Ning maintained a spell, continuously adding special effects to Dongdong’s “treasure sword.”
A bright spark lit up in Dongdong’s eyes as he exclaid:
“My peerless treasure sword!”
“Ha! Treasure sword!” Dongdong swung the sword, producing a sky filled with dazzling sword shadows.
He waved it around, and the multitude of sword images overlapped until they slowly unified, forming a ghostly figure.
Gripping the sword, Dongdong felt a surge of excitent. What greater sense of achievent is there for a child than to create his own treasure sword?
Mr. Qian, who had been eating pumpkin seeds, was astonished. He had never seen such a marvelous sword and imdiately exclaid:
“Great sword!”
“A treasure sword for a hero. Dongdong, I’ll engrave so characters on your sword!” Mr. Qian was itching to do it.
Dongdong agreed, but before that, to make the sword acknowledge its master, he pricked his finger with a needle, letting a drop of blood fall onto the blade.
After the acknowledgent ceremony, Mr. Qian took up ink and brush and wrote a line of poetry on the wide sword blade:
“A single sword’s cold light crosses nineteen provinces.”
Waiting for the ink to dry, Dongdong, holding his peerless sword, strode confidently to Jiang Ning’s door.
He raised the treasure sword, pointing it at Jiang Ning, his eyes defiant.
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