Borrowing a Brain

Borrowing a Brain

(Non-story: The previous chapter was overwritten by new content. If you read the previous chapter before two o'clock last night, please go back and reread it so you don't lose the thread.)

Looking at the milk tea before him, Zheng Fa looked at Tang Lingwu in confusion. "I already knew Old Man Bai was afraid of dying, but you're still so young..."

"It can make me whiter."

Tang Lingwu said softly.

Zheng Fa stared at her little face for a long while, unable to understand. "Does your skin even need that?"

In his eyes, Tang Lingwu's face was already fairer and smoother than his.

A fervent look filled Tang Lingwu's eyes as she nodded earnestly, indicating that she really did need it.

Zheng Fa shook his head in incomprehension, then turned to look at Old Man Bai beside him.

Old Man Bai also felt that Zheng Fa did not understand him, and he defended himself in a low voice. "That isn't called being afraid of death. That's called being full of attachment to this world!"

As he spoke, he sighed. "Those young people online keep complaining every day about wanting to die, wanting to die. When you reach my age, you'll understand what it means for life to be beautiful and living to be precious. A lifetime passes in the blink of an eye, and then you learn to cherish this life."

Looking at Old Man Bai's pale hair and wrinkled face, listening to his sigh filled with reflections on life, Zheng Fa could not help but feel moved.

Tang Lingwu looked even more admiring as she said, "Grandpa Bai, I rarely see someone like you who loves life so much."

"You don't understand!" Old Man Bai waved his hand. "When I was young, my doctoral thesis was written like a pile of dog shit. I was terrified I wouldn't graduate. After I started working, my boss didn't treat me like a human being either. I wanted to become a great mathematician and leave my name through the ages, but I didn't have the brains for it. I wanted to be an academic freeloader, muddling along and waiting to die, but I didn't have the father for it either."

"Back then, the moment I got out of bed, I wished the world would end. Every day, I wanted to hang myself from that crooked-neck tree outside the department office and show that idiot boss of mine what for."

"But things are different now! My pension is several tens of thousands a month. I own a home in the capital, don't have to work, and don't have to look after grandchildren. Every morning, I stroll through the park and exercise. I'm strong, free of disaster and illness. Even when I take the bus, I don't need young people to give up their seats for me."

"At night, I go out and watch the square dancing. Those little old ladies on the square, ten years younger than me, hear about my circumstances and want to have a twilight romance with me every day."

Old Man Bai looked at the two of them and sighed sentimentally. "I paid social security for decades and finally waited for this day. If it were you, would you want to die?"

Tang Lingwu's eyes widened. "So when you said we'd understand at your age..."

"Exactly. You'll understand once you retire."

Old Man Bai said it as if it were only natural.

"Martial teachings are not passed on lightly, much less the secret arts of my sect. Your heart for learning martial arts is truly not sincere."

Although the old man's argument was logical and convincing, Zheng Fa did not agree so easily.

"Master, look, can you give me another chance? I'll definitely study properly!" Old Man Bai looked at Zheng Fa eagerly.

"You really want to learn?"

"I do!"

Zheng Fa nodded. "Let me make this clear first. Your aptitude isn't particularly good. If you truly want to learn, then there can be no more giving up halfway in the future."

"Absolutely not!" Old Man Bai slapped the few ribs on his chest until they rang.

"Wait! Let me see your sincerity first!"

Zheng Fa turned around and took several thick stacks of draft paper from the backpack on the chair.

They contained Talisman Diagrams from the Complete Guide to Talisman Diagrams that he had recorded from memory. There were only the first few volumes, but he had put considerable effort into them.

One pleasant surprise was that after apparently mastering the Spirit Crane Body, the improvement in his physical condition had made his memory somewhat stronger than before.

Old Man Bai looked at the thick stack of drafts, his lips trembling as a bad feeling rose in him. "This sincerity... how many volumes are there?"

Zheng Fa slowly held up one finger and smiled. "A roomful."

Old Man Bai was now whiter than Zheng Fa without even needing to master the Spirit Crane Body.

In fact, Zheng Fa had not given Old Man Bai many Talisman Diagrams to analyze recently. More often, he had been learning topology from Old Man Bai.

After all, he still preferred to master this field of knowledge himself.

But he had to admit that the talent he displayed in this field was truly scant.

He looked at Old Man Bai's curly-haired head.

You curse my brain for not working every day, but yours seems to work quite well. Let me borrow it.

Before this, Old Man Bai had been far too lazy and had not been the sort willing to serve as a tool.

Now... wasn't Old Man Bai the one making trouble himself?

Since the other party was feeling guilty, Zheng Fa naturally seized the opportunity.

"How about I continue teaching you topology instead? This knowledge is safest when it's kept in your own brain." Old Man Bai rubbed his head, seemingly finding it a little cold. Clearly unwilling to become a tool, he continued struggling.

"I never said I wouldn't study. I'm just learning slowly, aren't I?" Zheng Fa smiled.

He wanted the top-tier private tutoring.

He also wanted the tool's brain.

"Actually... I suddenly realized that you are also an uncut jade in topology." Old Man Bai said sincerely.

Zheng Fa sighed softly. "Then it seems your heart for learning martial arts isn't all that sincere either."

Seeing that Zheng Fa would not relent, Old Man Bai looked toward his side—mainly at the milk tea beside Zheng Fa.

In a flash of inspiration, he remembered that he still had a teammate. His eyes twitching, he signaled to Tang Lingwu:

We're on the same side. Don't you want to learn too? Help me plead for mercy!

Tang Lingwu nodded as though she understood. She walked over to the table, picked up the cup, and personally inserted the straw into it.

A smile appeared on Old Man Bai's face. Lingwu understood him well. When asking someone for a favor, one needed a service mindset!

The next moment, he watched helplessly as Tang Lingwu put her mouth around the straw.

"You're feeding him with your mouth?" Old Man Bai hurriedly reached out. "That service is a little too much!"

Tang Lingwu swallowed the milk tea in her mouth and looked at his anxious expression in confusion, seemingly not understanding what he meant.

Old Man Bai stared blankly at her. "You drank it yourself?"

"Mhm!" Tang Lingwu nodded.

"Wasn't that your apprenticeship gift?" Old Man Bai pressed.

"I'm not learning." Tang Lingwu lowered her head.

"It can make you whiter!"

"I was born beautiful."

"It can make you even prettier!" Old Man Bai grew anxious.

"It attracts bees and butterflies."

Old Man Bai had not expected Tang Lingwu to switch sides so quickly.

Remembering the passion in Tang Lingwu's eyes when she had mentioned becoming whiter, he could not help shaking his head. The way he looked at Zheng Fa became even less friendly.

Zheng Fa also looked deeply at Tang Lingwu and understood her thoughts. She probably just did not want to make things difficult for him.

After all, to hire a tool at the level of a Capital University professor, even a lifetime's worth of milk tea probably would not be enough.

As though she had noticed that both men were looking at her, Tang Lingwu's gaze drifted aside as she muttered, "I'm just a little afraid of pain and hardship. It's not like I really wanted to practice martial arts that badly."

Looking at her, Old Man Bai could not help slapping his forehead. This friendly force was worse than having none at all!

He looked conflictedly at the stack of drafts Zheng Fa had placed before him. After frowning and thinking for a long time, he finally sighed softly and pushed it away.

That action took Zheng Fa somewhat by surprise.

Old Man Bai had been very persistent about living a few more years.

"You are...?"

"I really don't have time. I still need to write my book."

Zheng Fa froze. "You really are writing a book?"

"...So you thought I was lying?"

Zheng Fa nodded.

Old Man Bai looked at Tang Lingwu beside him, and Tang Lingwu was nodding too.

"There isn't even a shred of trust among the three of us!"

(End of chapter)