Dropping Out

No matter how Zheng Fa guessed, he could never have imagined that Madam would reasonably yet absurdly infer, from his mastering the Spirit Crane Body, that a Nascent Soul True Person was hiding behind him.

Now, his problem was that the old man behind him—Old Man Bai—had grown sick of studying.

No, he wanted to drop out.

One evening, after he had tutored Tang Lingwu, Old Man Bai suddenly said to Zheng Fa, "Little Zheng, I probably won't have time to practice martial arts anymore."

Old Man Bai's progress in martial arts had been far too slow. He could not see any results, so naturally, his enthusiasm dwindled day by day.

Zheng Fa had been watching it all along and had long expected this day to come.

Looking at Old Man Bai, Tang Lingwu could not help suspecting, "Grandpa Bai, you want to give up because practicing martial arts is too exhausting and painful, right?"

"What do you mean, give up?" Old Man Bai argued with great conviction. "I have other important matters to attend to and can't split myself in two! Important people are busy, understand?"

"You're retired. What could you possibly be busy with?" Tang Lingwu clearly did not believe him.

"You'd better believe it!" Old Man Bai lifted his chin. "The people from Capital University Press called me just a couple of days ago, saying they were waiting for my new book!"

Both Zheng Fa and Tang Lingwu were somewhat surprised at that.

"You're still writing books and expounding theories? You never mentioned it before."

"Why would I brag to you two juniors?" Old Man Bai crooked his mouth. "I may be retired, an old cabbage stalk already, but they're crying and begging me to write a book!"

The more he boasted, the more suspicious Tang Lingwu became. "What kind of book did you write?"

At that, Old Man Bai sighed. "You don't know this, but some of our university textbooks were written in the last century. It's not that they're bad—they were all written by great scholars. But now people have realized, eh? It seems they could be written better, and some new knowledge hasn't been updated."

"So the book you wrote is a textbook for Capital University?"

There was a hint of reverence in Tang Lingwu's voice.

"One book. Just one." Old Man Bai waved his hand, looking very modest. "It's not some important book. They're just rushing me for it. I truly have no time!"

Seeing that he did not seem to be blowing smoke, Zheng Fa gained a new level of respect for the old man.

"So it's not that I gave up practicing martial arts. I truly don't have the time." Old Man Bai explained again. "When I think of those students still learning from outdated textbooks, crying for food like hungry chicks, my heart burns with anxiety! I can't even sleep properly!"

Hearing that, Tang Lingwu glanced at Zheng Fa, faint concern showing in her eyes.

Sure enough, Old Man Bai continued to Zheng Fa, "Little Zheng, if you have questions later, come to my house on weekends. I'll spare an hour or two to explain things to you. As for Topology and the like, you won't need it for now anyway. It wouldn't hurt to study it after the College Entrance Exam."

Tang Lingwu opened her mouth as if she wanted to say something, but seemed not to know how to say it.

Zheng Fa nodded, but he did not blame Old Man Bai.

Zheng Fa had genuinely benefited from Old Man Bai's private tutoring during this period. Though he had not yet entered the door of university Mathematics like Topology, he was confident that he had gained far more insight into the topics covered by College Entrance Exam Mathematics.

As for Old Man Bai... he had practiced the Pine Crane Stance for quite some time now, yet he really had not cultivated anything at all.

When all was said and done, Zheng Fa was the one who had gotten the better deal.

As for Old Man Bai's current change of heart, on one hand, practicing martial arts had clearly not given him enough positive feedback.

On the other hand, Zheng Fa truly had been learning too slowly.

A disciple chose a master, but a master also chose a disciple; this was even more the way of things in the Xuanwei Realm.

After all, Old Man Bai taught those proud sons of heaven at Capital University. It was only natural that he found Zheng Fa's learning progress somewhat lacking.

Moreover, he did not mean any harm. In his eyes, Zheng Fa's main task right now was the College Entrance Exam, not learning Topology from him.

Zheng Fa was actually a little grateful: Old Man Bai was letting him come ask questions on weekends, which showed real affection, considering he wanted nothing from Zheng Fa now.

Seeing him nod with an unchanged expression, Tang Lingwu let out a soft breath. Then, as though she had discovered something, her gaze fixed on Zheng Fa's face, her expression deeply puzzled.

"Why are you staring at Zheng Fa?" Seeing her unblinking look, Old Man Bai immediately bristled and said with a stern face.

"He... seems to have changed somehow?"

Old Man Bai narrowed his eyes and looked Zheng Fa up and down, but seemingly could not see anything. "No change. One nose, two eyes."

"You're presbyopic, of course you can't see clearly." Tang Lingwu ignored him completely and stared hard at Zheng Fa's face. "Zheng Fa, what skincare products have you been using lately?"

Zheng Fa knew that Tang Lingwu had noticed the changes after he mastered the Spirit Crane Body.

"I've made some progress in martial arts lately."

He explained it to Tang Lingwu.

"Martial arts!" Tang Lingwu's little mouth fell open, as though she had not expected Zheng Fa to give her that answer.

"What's wrong?"

"I thought..." Tang Lingwu glanced at Old Man Bai, who had gone to look for his reading glasses. "I thought you were fooling Grandpa Bai before."

Old Man Bai put on his reading glasses and shoved his face right in front of Zheng Fa, scrutinizing him closely as if conducting some sort of research.

"Can you see the change now?" Tang Lingwu asked.

"No!" Old Man Bai answered.

"Then why did you stare at him for so long?"

"How would I know what he looked like before? What change could I possibly see?" Old Man Bai said righteously. "It's not like you, a little girl who stares at young boys every day!"

"..."

"So you're saying that after you mastered a martial art, your skin got better?"

As if she had not heard the old man at all, Tang Lingwu asked Zheng Fa curiously.

"Yes. One morning when I woke up, it felt like my whole body had shed a layer of skin."

"Then what you said before about extending one's lifespan was true too?" Tang Lingwu's eyes shone brighter than ever.

"Of course it's true. Did you think I was lying to you?" Zheng Fa asked in return, then turned toward Old Man Bai. "Did you think I was lying too?"

The two of them nodded in unison.

"Then why did you keep practicing?"

"Well... retirement was boring, so I just practiced for fun."

Old Man Bai smiled awkwardly.

"That's really amazing..." Tang Lingwu extended a finger, seemingly wanting to poke Zheng Fa's face, but stopped herself.

"No, is that really the kind of person you two think I am?"

Zheng Fa was becoming a little depressed.

Had these two been playing house with him all this time?

"There are just too many scammers in short videos."

Both of them smiled at Zheng Fa somewhat sheepishly.

"Do you believe me now?"

"We believe you, we believe you!" Old Man Bai and Tang Lingwu nodded furiously, staring at Zheng Fa's face.

After a while, Old Man Bai's expression suddenly turned bashful. "Little Zheng... I want to learn martial arts again."

"You want to learn again?"

"I do!"

"Weren't you very busy?"

"Busy with what? I'm not busy! I'm a retired old cabbage stalk. Who would care about me?"

"Aren't you writing a book?"

"I can write it slowly."

Zheng Fa slowly shook his head. "That won't do. Your students are crying for food every day."

"Let them cry. They won't starve to death!" Old Man Bai did not care in the slightest. "What am I? It's not like I'm some great mathematician. Do I really think I'm such a big deal? The book I write would be too hard even to wipe one's ass with. It's not important, not important."

Zheng Fa could barely stand to look at that fawning old face. He turned to Tang Lingwu instead.

Tang Lingwu used one finger to push the unopened milk tea she had not touched today toward Zheng Fa.

"?"

"I want to learn too." There was a passion in Tang Lingwu's eyes that was rarely seen in her. "I'll buy you milk tea from now on."