Two Strokes

Two Strokes

Zheng Fa looked at Seventh Young Master's face. The expression there was more one of amused interest.

Glancing at the silent Zheng Fa and Gao Yuan, Seventh Young Master rose and lazily clapped his hands. "You two talk it over. I'll come back later."

He said "talk it over," but Zheng Fa and Gao Yuan both understood: he was practically telling them to fight so he could watch.

Seventh Young Master sauntered out of the study.

Zheng Fa and Gao Yuan remained where they were.

Neither spoke.

Zheng Fa turned to look out the window, pondering Seventh Young Master's intentions.

Whether he had one bookboy or two made no difference to him, but for Zheng Fa and Gao Yuan, that difference would tear their already shaky relationship completely apart.

To him, this was probably no more than tossing out a bone and making two dogs fight over it.

Purely for amusement.

"You stay."

As Zheng Fa was thinking, he suddenly heard Gao Yuan speak in a low voice.

"Hm?"

The words truly surprised Zheng Fa. He turned to Gao Yuan and found a hint of self-mockery and gloom on his face.

Yet Gao Yuan did not look at him. He merely stared at the books crammed onto the shelves.

"If he really had to choose one bookboy, it should be you." His tone was calm. "You have more talent than I do, whether in martial arts or studying."

Zheng Fa shook his head.

To be honest, when it came to talent, without his modern knowledge, he could hardly say he was better than Gao Yuan.

Besides, would someone like Seventh Young Master care about a bookboy's talent?

"I'm injured." Gao Yuan's next words finally made Zheng Fa understand why he had suddenly given up.

"It's almost laughable. I wanted to compete with you." There was self-mockery in Gao Yuan's voice. "You entered the Pine Crane Stance in three days. I trained three hours a day, even four, ignoring my father's advice. Now the tendons and meridians in my leg are injured. I need half a year of rest before I can train again."

"So I'm not yielding to you. I just don't want to humiliate myself anymore."

Only then did Gao Yuan truly look at Zheng Fa. Pain showed in his eyes, but there was also a trace of relief.

Zheng Fa was about to speak.

But Gao Yuan cut him off. "Don't pity me. Even if I go home, my father will make plans for me. If you really go home, then you'll truly have nothing."

Zheng Fa: ...Very good. You really knew how to persuade people.

When Seventh Young Master came back in, his gaze swept curiously between Zheng Fa and Gao Yuan.

He seemed to be investigating whether they had fought.

To his slight disappointment, both wore calm expressions, their clothes were neat, and the atmosphere between them seemed even more harmonious than before.

"So, what did you two decide?"

"Seventh Young Master, I am shallow in learning and willingly—"

"Wait!"

Seventh Young Master raised a hand, cutting Gao Yuan off.

"Who said you get to decide for yourselves who stays and who leaves?"

"..."

"My bookboys, of course I choose them myself!"

He looked at them, his eyes narrowing with what seemed like the delight of toying with people's hearts. "Actually, if you two had fought just now, perhaps I would've enjoyed the show enough to keep you both."

"But now, the show I wanted to see is gone, and I'm very unhappy." He crossed his legs as he sat in the chair before the desk. "How about you both get lost together instead?"

"You!" Seventh Young Master squinted at Gao Yuan. "You haven't entered the Pine Crane Stance yet, have you? No... your leg is injured?"

His gaze swept over Gao Yuan's leg, and he saw through it at a glance.

Gao Yuan lowered his voice. "Yes."

"You seem to have decent talent?" Seventh Young Master turned to Zheng Fa. "You entered the Pine Crane Stance in just three days."

Usually, this man barely spoke a word to Zheng Fa and Gao Yuan.

Yet when it came to their affairs, he knew every last detail.

"Even Instructor Xu said you're talented and wanted to take you as his disciple." Seventh Young Master tapped the desk with a finger and smiled. "But the Pine Crane Stance is too weak, and you started martial training too late. If you want to remain at my side, you still don't qualify."

Zheng Fa had not even known that Instructor Xu wanted to take him as a disciple.

Seventh Young Master stood and circled Zheng Fa and Gao Yuan once.

"One has an injured leg, while the other only knows two or three crude moves..." He shook his head, then suddenly said, "Gao Yuan!"

"Here!"

"I have no use for him, but you—I'll give you another chance! Didn't you get the talismans that that previous idiot secretly copied down? How much have you figured out?"

"Seventh Young Master..."

Gao Yuan's face went pale. He had not expected Seventh Young Master to know even about this.

Perhaps he had known all along that the former bookboy had secretly copied down the talismans he studied day and night.

Zheng Fa suddenly had a suspicion: perhaps those drawings had all been deliberately leaked by Seventh Young Master.

"If you can learn even a little from them, never mind an injured leg. Even if you were a lame fool, I'd keep you by my side!"

There was a rare seriousness in Seventh Young Master's eyes.

Zheng Fa knew that he truly cared about this matter.

Seventh Young Master took the rune book he always kept close from the desk, opened it, and placed those familiar patterns before Gao Yuan.

Then he laid out paper and brush, gesturing for Gao Yuan to begin.

"You've studied them for so many days. What have you figured out?"

Gao Yuan looked at him, his expression complicated. There was some longing, but far more helplessness.

He knew that as long as he showed even a little talent in this, he could stay.

But...

"This lowly one is dull-witted..."

Gao Yuan did not even pick up the brush. He only lowered his head.

"Idiot!" Seventh Young Master shook his head, losing interest. "You two..."

Zheng Fa suddenly stepped forward and picked up the brush before Gao Yuan.

"Hm?"

Seventh Young Master frowned at Zheng Fa.

He knew perfectly well that Gao Yuan had spent several days studying those drawings.

But Zheng Fa... had only glanced at them a few times!

On the blank sheet before him, Zheng Fa raised the brush and drew the two patterns Teacher Bai had previously given him.

Gao Yuan watched from the side. Zheng Fa had drawn only two exceedingly simple strokes, seemingly utterly unrelated to those original, complicated diagrams.

Was he just scribbling nonsense?

But one look at Seventh Young Master's face told him otherwise!

Seventh Young Master furrowed his brows and stared at Zheng Fa's brush tip, as though it had revealed something utterly beyond his expectations. After a long while, his gaze shifted from the paper to Zheng Fa's face.

"You figured this out yourself?" For some reason, his voice had turned sharp.

Even Gao Yuan could tell that the two patterns Zheng Fa had drawn were of great significance. He could not help bitterly laughing to himself. So I really was being sentimental... Zheng Fa probably did not need me to yield to him at all.

"No."

Zheng Fa put down the brush as though he had merely drawn them casually.

"Who taught you?" Seventh Young Master hurriedly demanded.

"No one taught me. Brother Gao and I studied this together." Zheng Fa smiled at Gao Yuan beside him. "Right?"

"Huh?" Gao Yuan stared at Zheng Fa, dumbfounded.

"Oh?" Seventh Young Master narrowed his eyes and stared at Zheng Fa for a long time. Then he suddenly said to Gao Yuan, "Go bring me my lunch. Oh, and add another portion for him!"

He pointed at Zheng Fa.

Gao Yuan hesitated and looked toward Zheng Fa. Only after seeing Zheng Fa nod did he rise and head out.