My Green Tea Junior Sister Smells So Good - Chapter 16

As the days passed with Du Yuanluo’s forceful daily meal deliveries and insistent tidying of the house, Shen Qingyi finally reached the time for her adult cultivation trial.

She inspected her magical treasures one by one and used spells to polish her sword until it gleamed.

Du Yuanluo sat quietly by her side packing her clothes, stuffing more dried rations and pastries into the bags than actual garments.

Shen Qingyi had grown used to this. In the past, she would have patiently explained that she didn’t need these things, but she realized the girl wouldn’t understand, just as it was difficult for Shen Qingyi to understand some of Du Yuanluo’s own thoughts.

Since she enjoyed doing it, she might as well let her be.

“Senior Sister, was it also a trial that time the First Senior Brother saved me?” Du Yuanluo asked in a small voice.

Shen Qingyi’s hand paused while wiping the sword. She gave a lukewarm “Mm.”

“So, trials are very dangerous… people might get hurt, right?”

Always worrying about unnecessary things. Shen Qingyi looked at her face, which was puffed up from holding back tears, and couldn’t resist pinching her cheek. “Do you have so little faith in me?”

“But everyone says First Senior Brother’s cultivation is ranked first and yours is second, and he almost lost his life during that trip.”

Hearing her mention Jiang Linchuan for the second time, Shen Qingyi didn’t want to endure it anymore. “I am not him. Don’t compare me to him.”

Du Yuanluo was sensitive enough to detect the change in Shen Qingyi’s mood and should have had the sense to shut up, but she couldn’t help but speak up again: “Have you and First Senior Brother still not made up?”

“When was I ever ‘up’ with him? You don’t listen to a single word I say, yet you believe everything others tell you?”

Du Yuanluo didn’t dare say another word and lowered her head. Shen Qingyi felt a flicker of irritation and didn’t want to speak further.

However, that annoyance lasted only a moment. She quickly thought better of it, things must be spoken clearly and not be led astray by emotions, this was a lesson she had summarized from living hundreds of years across two lifetimes.

The matter regarding Jiang Linchuan had to be settled once and for all.

“Fine. We’ll talk openly about Jiang Linchuan today, but only this once…”

Seeing Shen Qingyi relent, Du Yuanluo said cautiously, “I ruined my young mistress’s marriage prospects once before. I don’t want to ruin yours, Senior Sister. Otherwise, I’d truly be a jinx.”

“Was that Miss Li’s fiancé even a good man? Ruining that marriage was a blessing for her. What ‘jinx’? You’re a lucky charm.”

“But First Senior Brother is a good person.”

“What kind of good person is he?” Shen Qingyi replied, only to realize she couldn’t actually list any of Jiang Linchuan’s faults at the moment. “Even if he is good, why don’t you ask if I like him or if I want to be with him before you start forcing a match?”

Perhaps it was an illusion, but Shen Qingyi thought she saw a flash of joy in Du Yuanluo’s eyes.

“Then who does Senior Sister like?” Du Yuanluo unconsciously shifted the topic.

“Cultivators have no desires or grudges. I like no one,” Shen Qingyi said, but then she sensed something. “Could it be that you like someone?”

The tips of Du Yuanluo’s ears turned beet red, and her face began to burn. “No, how could I?”

This obvious attempt at a cover-up set off alarm bells in Shen Qingyi’s mind. “You don’t still like Jiang Linchuan, do you? I don’t care who you like, but if you dare be with Jiang Linchuan, I’ll…”

Shen Qingyi couldn’t think of a threat for a moment, and Du Yuanluo immediately pointed to the sky and swore: “No! I have no feelings for First Senior Brother anymore. If I fail my Senior Sister, let the heavens strike me with five bolts of thunder!”

Cultivators could not make poisonous oaths lightly, as they almost always came true.

Shen Qingyi lightly patted her mouth. “Childish words carry no weight, don’t speak nonsense in the future.”

Ending that topic, Du Yuanluo began whining again with a request: “Then can I go down the mountain with you?”

“I’m going for a trial, not to play in the mortal world. Why would you go?”

“I’m afraid you’ll be in danger.”

Du Yuanluo spoke with total sincerity, but Shen Qingyi found it somewhat funny. “Are you going to protect me?”

These words filled Du Yuanluo with shame, she had no ability to protect Shen Qingyi at all. “If there is a need, I could block a blow for you… even delaying for a moment would be good.”

She wanted to say that if Senior Sister was injured she could take care of her, but she felt those words were unlucky and didn’t say them.

This, however, reminded Shen Qingyi of her past life, where Du Yuanluo had used her thin, fragile body to block a heavy strike for her. She would never allow that to happen again.

“It’s enough if you take care of yourself.”

Du Yuanluo knew she couldn’t help, so she could only offer sweet words. Shen Qingyi had seen through her little thoughts over these past few days and finished her sentences for her.

“Before I leave, make a table of good food to see me off.”

“Mm, okay.” Du Yuanluo had already prepared for this, she just didn’t want to take credit.

“When I return, make more good food to welcome me back.”

“Mm, I’ll cook every day. No matter which day you return, there will be food to eat.”

“If I get hurt, you must personally look after me.”

“No, no, no, Senior Sister won’t get hurt.”

Shen Qingyi said everything she had guessed, but Du Yuanluo still had something left unsaid.

“Is there anything else you want to say?”

Du Yuanluo hesitated for a long time. “Senior Sister… will you bring someone back with you?”

“Aside from Jiang Linchuan, I haven’t seen any other Yunyin Sect disciple bring someone back from a trial.” Shen Qingyi changed her tone. “Do you want me to bring someone back?”

“Ah? I… I’ll listen to you. As long as Senior Sister likes them, I’ll like them.”

Shen Qingyi knew immediately that she wasn’t being honest.

Sure enough, after a moment, Du Yuanluo spoke again: “However, I was here first. The job of taking care of Senior Sister belongs to me.”

Shen Qingyi didn’t know whether to feel relieved or not. The person she had taught was finally expressing her feelings and needs, but her “need” was to take care of someone else.

The night before Shen Qingyi’s departure, an outer disciple delivered several exquisite dishes, saying Du Yuanluo had made them.

Shen Qingyi suspiciously opened the food box; it was indeed Du Yuanluo’s cooking.

These were the dishes she liked, well, that wasn’t quite right. Shen Qingyi hardly had a preferred palate, but if she took a few extra bites of a dish once, Du Yuanluo would memorize it, eventually compiling a menu of “Senior Sister’s favorites.”

“Du Yuanluo didn’t come to see me off?” Shen Qingyi found it strange.

“The Little Junior Sister said saying goodbye would make her sad, so she asked me to deliver this.”

This wasn’t right. With Du Yuanluo’s clingy nature, she wouldn’t stop until she had followed Shen Qingyi to the mountain gate. She wasn’t the type to skip a farewell out of fear of sadness.

Shen Qingyi went to the dormitory and saw that Du Yuanluo was indeed not there.

“Where is Du Yuanluo?”

When Shen Qingyi asked, no one dared not answer.

“Little Junior Sister got into a fight and was punished with kneeling in the Discipline Hall. Since Second Senior Sister is leaving for her trial tomorrow, she was afraid you’d worry, so she told us not to say anything.”

Fighting? An imperceptible smile actually tugged at the corner of Shen Qingyi’s mouth.

Good. Rather than treating Du Yuanluo like a pet in her palm, she would much rather have the girl be herself, knowing what she wanted and knowing how to fight for it.

She took the sugar cakes Du Yuanluo had made and headed toward the Discipline Hall. This was where Yunyin Sect disciples were punished.

At this time, two rooms were lit by candlelight.

Shen Qingyi first checked the western wing. A young man was kneeling there, likely the person Du Yuanluo had fought.

Though the youth’s face was green, he had sixty years of cultivation experience. If they truly fought, he could crush Du Yuanluo like an ant. Even putting cultivation aside, his tall and sturdy build would usually make a weak girl like Du Yuanluo shrink back in fear.

In the past, Du Yuanluo had swallowed her pride even when bullied by little servant girls. What could have happened this time to make her raise her hand against such a disproportionate opponent?

Shen Qingyi drifted leisurely to the eastern wing and, as expected, saw Du Yuanluo with disheveled hair, a bruised lip, and a large bump on her forehead, kneeling before the portraits of the sect ancestors.

Behind her, Shen Qingyi tossed a sugar cake over her head. Surprisingly, Du Yuanluo heard the sound of the wind and caught it steadily.

She was startled to see the sugar cake, and her eyes widened even further when she saw Shen Qingyi.

“Senior Sister… why are you here?”

“Aya, the time isn’t up yet, don’t get up. If you’re sentenced to kneel, you kneel.”

Shen Qingyi pressed her back down onto the prayer mat and sat in the grandmaster’s chair in front of her, picking up the tea from the offering table for a sip.

“Not bad. You’ve grown some guts.”

Du Yuanluo lowered her head in shame. “I’m sorry, Senior Sister. I’ve embarrassed you.”

“It’s not embarrassing. That Senior Brother is forty years older than you and has a full cycle more cultivation. The fact that you dared to strike him means you’ve already won.”

Shen Qingyi spoke with praise. Although she hadn’t figured out the reason yet, she had to affirm the action.

“Come on, tell me why you fought.”

“It was nothing big, just a few words. I won’t dare do it again.”

“Don’t say that. If the emotion is there, you should hit when you need to hit. If you endure humiliation and don’t vent your anger, wouldn’t that ruin your Dao heart?”

Shen Qingyi was relieved to hear it was just a verbal dispute.

Du Yuanluo had a soft nature and had been bullied for years, she had long lost the ability to distinguish right from wrong, always feeling that being scolded or beaten meant she was the one in error.

Shen Qingyi couldn’t teach her to perfectly discern good and evil overnight, so she had taught her a simple method: If someone says or does something that makes you feel bad or want to cry, that is malice, and you must fight back.

Yunyin Sect disciples wouldn’t do anything too outrageous, so Shen Qingyi didn’t dig deep into what trivial matter they had argued over.

“Only, you should be a bit more realistic when you take action. If that Senior Brother hadn’t shown restraint, you’d be lying in bed right now. Don’t fight battles you can’t win.”

“But I can’t beat anyone. I won’t fight anymore,” Du Yuanluo nodded obediently.

“Who said you shouldn’t fight? If you can’t win, come find me. I’ll fight for you.”

Shen Qingyi never thought she would one day say such words.

In her past life, because she was upright and fair, juniors would bring their unsolvable disputes to her for judgment, and she had never shown favoritism to anyone.

“Won’t Senior Sister be punished for fighting?”

“Of course. But if I’m punished, you won’t have to be. You just worry about telling on them.”

Shen Qingyi thought about how many times she had wrongly punished Du Yuanluo in her previous life, taking a punishment for her now was only right and proper.

Hearing this, Du Yuanluo suddenly burst into tears.

This caught Shen Qingyi off guard. She quickly got up from the chair and hugged Du Yuanluo.

“What’s wrong? Are you hurt somewhere?”

Du Yuanluo shook her head.

“Is there some grievance?”

Du Yuanluo shook her head again.

“Then tell me why you’re crying!”

After wailing for a long time, Du Yuanluo finally managed to say: “Senior Sister, you are too good to me.”

Truly nonsensical. Shen Qingyi pushed the wailing girl away with feigned disgust.

Not only could the girl express her emotions now, but her crying was also much louder than before. It made Shen Qingyi’s head ache. She grabbed the sugar cake from the girl’s hand and stuffed it into her mouth to quiet her down.