To Get Married - Chapter 19

Chapter 19

Facing the small knife at his throat, Mu Chensan swore to the heavens that he knew nothing.

No matter how many bad things he’d done in the deep mountains and wilderness before, in this human city, he was now a law-abiding good yāo. If Manzhu hadn’t asked him for this favor, would he have dared to use even a bit of magic on a human?

He honestly, truly hadn’t expected his yāo power to hurt Lu Yudong. If he had known that setting a simple seal could have side effects, he wouldn’t have taken the job even if it killed him.

After all, among the yāo registered in Far River City, Manzhu had the highest cultivation. Who would dare bully her precious little darling? Was he tired of living?

“Hong Hong, I think you really can’t blame me for this. I’m more wrongly accused than Dou E… I didn’t want to do it then; you forced me. Look at me now, getting no thanks for my efforts. What do I gain from this?” Mu Chensan explained, nervously watching Manzhu’s expression, terrified that she might get emotional and actually stab him. “You also said the little girl accepted your identity, right? This isn’t a bad thing. It’s a blessing in disguise… a blessing in disguise…”

“That’s right, Sister Manzhu, calm down, calm down!” Huanxi held Manzhu’s sleeve and fanned her.

“My old scars are ugly enough. Don’t add a new one, please. I still have to be seen by people…” Mu Chensan extended his right hand, cautiously pinching the sharp knife with his thumb and forefinger, trying to push it aside.

Manzhu insisted, “No, your yāo power is definitely not right. Are you sure you didn’t do this deliberately?”

Mu Chensan raised his left hand, and a black, misty yāo power condensed in his palm. “See for yourself, is there a problem? I cast the spell right under your nose. If there was a real problem, could it have escaped your eyes?”

Manzhu frowned, a flicker of doubt in her eyes. The knife in her hand finally lowered, and Mu Chensan breathed a huge sigh of relief.

This yāo power was indeed somewhat different from what she had seen inside Lu Yudong last night. A yāo‘s cultivated power couldn’t be easily altered. If it was truly different, then it definitely didn’t come from the same person.

Manzhu briefly self-reflected. She had known this guy, Mu Chensan, for over two thousand years. As fierce as his bloodline was, his personality was just as cowardly. He really wouldn’t dare pull a stunt under her watch.

Ultimately, she had received so much help, big and small, from Mu Chensan during her half-year here. To suspect him immediately just because Lu Yudong was injured was indeed unfair to a friend.

But besides Mu Chensan, who else had the ability to tamper with Lu Yudong right under her nose without her knowledge?

“Sister Hong, m-maybe it’s yāo p-power in-incompatibility.” Yan Zhaomu said.

Gou Hongjie quickly nodded in agreement and helped elaborate: “That’s right, Sister Manzhu. Little Sister Yudong’s spiritual meridian already contains your yāo power, and the boss injected his yāo power. Maybe the two incompatible yāo powers clashed, causing this strange phenomenon?”

“Sound and logical. That’s very scientific,” Mu Chensan gave Gou Hongjie a thumbs-up.

Although the idea of a yāo talking about science was clearly nonsense, what Yan Zhaomu and Gou Hongjie said was indeed plausible.

Manzhu sat down, pondered for a moment, and said, “Perhaps I worried too much.”

“Exactly,” Mu Chensan felt relieved. He casually pulled up a stool and sat down. Just as he was about to say something to lighten the mood, Manzhu glared at him.

Well, that did it. His heart sank, and the words on the tip of his tongue were instantly forgotten.

“It is a fact that Lu Yudong was injured. I require compensation,” Manzhu curled her eyebrows, her eyes half-smiling. She enunciated every syllable: “E-mo-tion-al dam-ag-es.”

“…” Mu Chensan’s eye twitched a few times. He grit his teeth and asked, “Who did you learn that from?”

Manzhu countered, “Shouldn’t I?”

“You should…”

Well-intentioned deed, bad result. Wasn’t that just tough luck? Fine, he’d just deduct it from her debt.

The closer it got to the final exams, the more astonished Zhang Ziyun was by Lu Yudong’s performance.

Lu Yudong was not a top student in the class; her grades were roughly mid-to-high, not lazy but not overly diligent either.

But ever since her fever two days ago, her deskmate had been incredibly driven. When she was awake, she was either reciting her textbook or practicing problems. She even held a small vocabulary book to memorize words during P.E. class.

How strange. Could a fever actually make a person more ambitious?

Zhang Ziyun was curious how long Lu Yudong’s diligence would last. It turned out Lu Yudong persisted until ten minutes before the last final exam started.

When the final results were posted, Lu Yudong’s rank had significantly improved, reaching over two hundredth place in her grade.

When they collected their report cards, Zhang Ziyun’s eyes were filled with admiration.

“What’s gotten into you lately? What kind of motivation did you get?”

“Nothing,” Lu Yudong smiled radiantly, practically beaming with happiness.

Seeing she couldn’t get an answer, Zhang Ziyun didn’t press further. She only lamented, “You improved so much, you’ll have a great winter break. I’m different… I’m going home to get scolded again.”

Lu Yudong thought for a moment and asked, “Zhang Ziyun, want to hand out flyers together this winter break?”

“Huh?” Zhang Ziyun thought she misheard.

“I want to find a place to hand out flyers and earn some money.”

Zhang Ziyun was about to blurt out “Seriously?” but remembering Lu Yudong’s cramped little home, she couldn’t bring herself to say it.

She thought for a moment and agreed, “Sure, that’ll be good for filling out my social practice form. When?”

Lu Yudong: “These next two days? It’s the weekend. There are lots of people on the street, so the flyers will be easy to give out!”

“That fast?” Zhang Ziyun was shocked.

Lu Yudong nodded, her expression very serious. “Mhm!”

So, the next day, the two little girls, fresh out for winter break, took the subway to the city center to hand out flyers for a client, braving the light snow of deep winter.

Lu Yudong was full of energy. Her hands and face were red with cold under her hoodie, but she was having fun.

Zhang Ziyun was the opposite. She was already complaining after half a day. She whined about being tired even during lunch. After signing the social practice form that day, she didn’t come back the next day.

When they chatted online, Lu Yudong said she had continuously handed out flyers for six days. Zhang Ziyun was so impressed she sent five bowing-in-awe [worship] emojis.

For those six days, Zhang Ziyun was Lu Yudong’s shield.

Every morning after breakfast, the first thing Lu Yudong would say before leaving was: “Elder Sister, Zhang Ziyun asked me out. I won’t be home during the day!”

Every time Manzhu wanted to give Lu Yudong some money, she couldn’t catch her before Lu Yudong shut the door.

Lu Yudong claimed Zhang Ziyun was paying for everything these past few days, which led Manzhu, who was home alone during the day, into a prolonged state of deep thought.

Paying for everything for a week straight—why was this Zhang Ziyun so generous to Lu Yudong?

Manzhu didn’t know that Lu Yudong had borrowed money from Zhang Ziyun for lunch and dinner on the first day outside. For the remaining days, she used the money she earned from handing out flyers.

On the seventh day of winter break, Lu Yudong finally stopped going out. Instead, she clung to Manzhu, begging her to take her to Not Old Acquaintance.

Manzhu couldn’t say no to her, so without a word of warning, she took Lu Yudong to the bar during working hours.

When the bar staff saw this little matriarch’s little matriarch, they panicked. Their first reaction was to hide and quickly conceal their racial characteristics.

However, before they could slip away, Manzhu sighed softly. “Alright, alright, you don’t need to hide.”

Lu Yudong grabbed Manzhu’s sleeve, hiding behind her, and poked out her small head. Her eyes were bright, as if to say—stop pretending, I know everything!

Huanxi sighed with relief, smiling as she waved at Lu Yudong. Her small ears twitched, looking extremely charming.

“Little Sister Yudong is going to be a regular of ours now,” Xiao Zhi also greeted Lu Yudong.

Gou Hongjie heard the commotion and emerged from the kitchen. He walked up to Lu Yudong, bent down, and asked, “What would our little guest like to eat today? I’ll go make it for you now.”

Lu Yudong put her hands behind her back, smiled shyly, and looked up at Manzhu. “I’ll listen to Elder Sister.”

Manzhu casually grabbed a menu nearby. Just as she finished ordering and handed it to Gou Hongjie, she saw Lu Yudong being surrounded by a group of little yāo.

“Yudong, do you want milk tea? I’ll go buy it with you.”

“Xiao Zhi, how about we let Er Gouzi make Yudong some freshly squeezed juice instead? It’s healthier. My treat.”

“Maybe milk tea is better. I actually want some too…”

It was clear that the little yāo were quite fond of Lu Yudong.

The girl’s features were well-formed, but a few months ago, she had looked sallow and emaciated, and her eyes were timid, which made her less immediately likable.

Now that the little girl was eating and sleeping well, she was no longer so skinny. Her personality had brightened up a bit, making her naturally more obedient and cute, as a child her age should be.

Children like this were always popular.

Only now did Manzhu completely let go of her anxiety.

Perhaps it really was a blessing in disguise, just as Mu Chensan had said.

Lu Yudong accepted everything about her, and the small world she was a part of was also willing to open its arms to Lu Yudong.

It was good. Very good.

After dinner, everyone got busy.

Busy, that is, but the bar wouldn’t really get lively until eight or nine o’clock.

This evening, Mu Chensan was out on business. Lu Yudong was either watching Yan Zhaomu mix drinks at the bar or running around following Huanxi.

The regulars here had seen the little girl before, and their initial surprise was gone. Occasionally, someone would start a conversation with her, but Lu Yudong was shy. Every time she was addressed, she would hide behind Huanxi and run away timidly.

A little after half-past nine, Mu Chensan returned from outside. Before he could even shake the snow from his clothes, Lu Yudong was running toward him with a thump-thump-thump.

The little girl looked up with a rosy face and quietly called out, “Little Uncle Mu!”

Mu Chensan looked at Yan Zhaomu with a bewildered expression, seemingly asking, “Why is this little matriarch here again?” but the latter didn’t give him any attention.

He cleared his throat, leaned down, and asked in a coaxing tone, “Why did you come here?”

“I came to pay you back,” Lu Yudong blinked, taking out a small bundle of folded money from her coat pocket.

Mu Chensan instantly felt his old face burn. He quickly looked around to make sure no one was watching. He then pulled Lu Yudong aside and whispered, “Where did… where did you get this money?”

Lu Yudong answered honestly, “I earned it by handing out flyers. Little Uncle Mu, please count it to see if the amount is correct!”

The little girl’s eyes were resolute, completely conveying the attitude that “I won’t leave until you accept this money.”

Mu Chensan looked at the money in Lu Yudong’s hand, unsure whether to take it or not.

He had initially thought the child was just casually saying she’d pay him back. Who would have thought she’d actually go out to earn money to repay him?

He hesitated for a moment. Just as he was about to tell Lu Yudong not to mention this to Manzhu, Lu Yudong spoke first.

“Little Uncle Mu, can we not tell Elder Sister Manzhu about this?”

“Uh…” Mu Chensan choked. He reached out and took the money. “Yes, yes… I’ll keep it a secret.”

Of course he had to keep it a secret. If Manzhu knew he was haggling over five hundred-plus dollars with Lu Yudong and let her hand out flyers outside in the cold winter, she would definitely take the knife to his throat again.

Fine, from now on, everything she eats and drinks here is on the house.

Anyway, she didn’t order alcohol, so it wouldn’t cost that much…

“Little Uncle Mu.”

“Now what?” Mu Chensan’s heart jumped again.

He was terrified of neglecting this little matriarch now.

Lu Yudong bit her lower lip, reached out to pull Mu Chensan’s sleeve, and asked, “Can you be my master?”

“What?” Mu Chensan thought he was hearing things.

“Can you be my master? Teach me magic. I…” Lu Yudong could tell that in this bar, besides Manzhu, only Mu Chensan and Yan Zhaomu could maintain their human form all the time.

She wanted to learn magic, but she couldn’t choose a master who couldn’t even fully transform into a human, could she?

If she had to choose between these two, Mu Chensan seemed like the easier one to talk to.

However…

“No, no, no, no, no, no, no…” Mu Chensan turned and fled, shaking his head furiously, as if he’d taken the wrong medicine.

He wouldn’t take on any more tasks related to this little matriarch. None at all!

So Lu Yudong, holding Mu Chensan’s sleeve, followed closely behind him, pitifully walking all the way to the bar counter.

Mu Chensan took off his coat and threw it to Yan Zhaomu.

Lu Yudong immediately let go of his sleeve and grabbed his little finger, letting out a small whimper from her nose, extremely similar to the sound a kitten or puppy makes when it’s been wronged.

Mu Chensan: “…”

Yan Zhaomu hung up the coat, turned to look at the big and small figures in front of him, and frowned. “Did you… bully her?”

Mu Chensan was so distressed he stuttered: “I… I really… didn’t!”

Yan Zhaomu: “Don’t, talk, like me!”

“S-sorry, I wasn’t copying you…” Mu Chensan lifted Lu Yudong onto a tall stool. Since his finger was still being tightly held, he could only say helplessly, “This girl wants me to teach her magic. Isn’t that ridiculous? While I consider my skills high and certainly wouldn’t mislead a student, if I actually agree and something goes wrong later, I’ll be the scapegoat again… If you ask me, whoever’s child it is should teach them. You can eat whatever you want, but you can’t just take on any apprentice.”

“Elder Sister won’t teach me. She told me to find a master myself,” Lu Yudong bit her lower lip and lowered her head.

Yan Zhaomu thought for a moment, then hesitated. “I… I’ll teach?”

“Come on, Zhaomu. She’s interested in me, not—”

Before the person could finish his sentence, Lu Yudong let go of his finger, put her hands on the bar, and happily called out to Yan Zhaomu, “Master!”

The sound was incredibly sweet.

Fine, fine. The little girl changed her mind pretty quickly.