The Lucky Farmgirl
Chapter 580 - 569: Acquaintance

Chapter 580: Chapter 569: Acquaintance

Daji glanced at it, took the kite, and stuffed it into Zhou SiLang’s hands before silently walking forward to stand behind the three of them.

The leader of the youths glanced at Manbao and pointed at her, "Scram, this is none of your business—we boys settle our fights ourselves."

Manbao swatted his finger away, "Who taught you to point at people when you talk?"

The youth was angered, "You dare to hit me?"

Manbao retorted, "Don’t point fingers when you’re talking!"

Mr. Zhuang couldn’t stay seated any longer, so he stood up, walked over with a frown, and lightly coughed before asking, "What’s all this commotion about?"

The fierce momentum of Manbao and the other two faltered, and they could only turn around guiltily and respectfully to greet him, saying, "Teacher."

When this group of youths heard him too, they couldn’t help but shrink back a little. In this Qixia Mountain area, the most frequent visitors were the local residents and students and teachers from various schools in Yizhou City.

And obviously, they were students who were still in school. Even though Mr. Zhuang wasn’t their teacher, they still felt somewhat guilty in his presence.

As they were pondering what to say, a commanding voice rang out from behind the youths, "What are you all huddled here for?"

Hearing this voice, the youths couldn’t help but stiffen and turned around rigidly, moving a little to make space.

Then, Manbao and Mr. Zhuang also saw a middle-aged man with an imposing face.

Mr. Zhuang was slightly taken aback upon seeing him. The man also paused upon seeing Mr. Zhuang, then stepped forward to greet him with a bow, "Senior Brother Zhuang, what are you doing here?"

Mr. Zhuang quickly returned the gesture, smiling, "So, it’s Junior Brother Huang. The school exams just finished, so I took my disciples out for a walk. And you are here because..."

Huang Chuan glanced at the youths and said, "The weather is good today, so I let them out to fly kites and disperse some bad luck. I didn’t expect to run into you here, Senior Brother."

Mr. Zhuang turned to Manbao and the other two and said, "What are you standing there for? Come and meet Uncle Master Huang."

Huang Chuan also glanced at his students, saying, "Come over and pay your respects to Mr. Zhuang."

These students were not his formal disciples but rather students he taught at the academy, so they didn’t need to call Mr. Zhuang ’Uncle Master.’

But it was different for Manbao and the others; they were formal disciples of Mr. Zhuang, so the courtesy they had to show was more significant.

The three of them bowed deeply and called out "Uncle Master" before stepping aside and glancing at the group of youths.

The youths didn’t dare to quarrel with them further and stepped forward to pay their respects before retreating behind Huang Chuan.

Mr. Zhuang said, "You all must get along. Do not fight or brawl."

Huang Chuan added, "If you dare to bully anyone outside, I’ll have you clean the academy for a month."

After a standoffish exchange of glares, each party went on their way with their respective elders to play.

Mr. Zhuang then invited Mr. Huang to sit down, and they chatted for a while.

When Huang Chuan saw the kite tied to the rock that belonged to Mr. Zhuang, he couldn’t help but laugh, "Senior Brother, you’re still so youthful at heart."

Mr. Zhuang replied with a smile, "It’s just the disciples playing around. Since it’s made, it’s a shame not to fly it."

"Have your disciples taken the school exam yet? How did it go?" Huang Chuan inquired.

"We’ll only know after the results are announced. But he’s young, no rush in a year or two."

Understanding the likely modest expectations from Mr. Zhuang’s tone, Huang Chuan didn’t ask further and instead discussed other topics.

Huang Chuan was Mr. Huang’s youngest son, and Mr. Huang had once been Mr. Zhuang’s instructor at the academy, almost becoming Mr. Zhuang’s master.

During the last Tomb-Sweeping Day, he and Lan Cheng had gone together to pay respects at Mr. Huang’s grave, so they had seen each other not so long ago.

However, Huang Chuan hadn’t met Manbao and the other two until now.

Looking at the trio huddled together, he recognized the vivacity of his own students in them, as well as a rare spirit they possessed, prompting him to ask with a smile, "Does Senior Brother plan to settle down in Yizhou, or..."

"Let’s wait for the exam results. The children are also growing up, and it’s time for them to gain some experience at this age," Mr. Zhuang replied with a smile. "While I’m still able to travel, I’ll take them for two more years. After that, I’ll retire to read books at home, and whether they choose to take exams or do something else, they will have to walk their own paths."

Last time, Mr. Zhuang mentioned he was hired to teach three disciples. Huang Chuan hadn’t thought he would go to such lengths for his students, even personally taking them out for real-life experiences.

Feeling that travel was a tough pursuit, Huang Chuan sighed and made an offer, "Why don’t you stay, Senior Brother? Our academy is actually in need of teachers, and with your scholarship, you could teach many more students."

Mr. Zhuang shook his head with a smile, "I’m getting on in years and no longer fit to move about so much. My family is all in Luojiang County; how could I bear to leave my homeland?"

Luojiang County was only a day’s distance from Yizhou. If he could afford to travel with his disciples, surely he could teach in Yizhou, right?

In the end, it was just an excuse.

Realizing this, Huang Chuan let out a slight chuckle and didn’t bring it up again.

Meanwhile, Manbao and the others had already begun searching in the direction where the kites had fallen, reflecting on the recent events.

All three agreed that they had been too impulsive. "Luckily we didn’t start fighting. They had seven people, and we were just three—we definitely couldn’t have won," said Manbao.

Bai Erlang added, "Next time something like this happens, you two have to hold me back. Don’t just roll up your sleeves and join in."

Bai Shanbao rolled his eyes at him, "Even if we tried to stop you, would you listen?"

After some thought, Bai Erlang guessed it might be a bit difficult.

"Instead of thinking about that, we should figure out how to take on three by oneself. That way, even if we encounter more opponents, we won’t be at a disadvantage if it comes to a fight," Bai Shanbao suggested. "Come on, think of something."

"What can we do? Haven’t you been learning martial arts from Daji?" Manbao asked. "How’s that going?"

"Not bad, I reckon. Don’t look at Bai Er being older than me—I could take him down for sure."

"Try to take on two of me then."

Bai Shanbao fell silent.

Manbao sighed, "Seems like the skills haven’t been mastered yet. Let’s just find the kites for now and be more careful in the future—avoid fighting when outnumbered."

Following the general direction, they crossed the woods and reached the foot of the mountain, where they bumped into that group of youths.

As they encountered each other at the mountain’s base, the atmosphere grew tense.

Manbao was the first to wave and break the awkward silence, "Are you guys also looking for your kite?"

The lead youth snorted, "No kidding, what else would bring us down here if not the kite? My ’Beauty’ kite cost me half a silver coin."

Manbao’s eyes widened, "You got ripped off, didn’t you? Half a silver coin and it flies so low and isn’t even pretty. Our homemade ones are better than that."

"It’s still better than those three ugly kites of yours." The youths had sized up Manbao’s group after the fight and had naturally seen the two kites that Zhou SiLang was holding. Barely visible along the line in the sky, they had spotted two equally hideous kites.

Those two kites were clearly from the same source as the tiger kite; they all found them extremely ugly.