Two Strokes

Zheng Fa looked at the Seventh Young Master's face, which held more of a playful expression.

Glancing at the silent Zheng Fa and the other person, the Seventh Young Master stood up, lazily clapped his hands, and said, "You two discuss it amongst yourselves. I'll come back later."

He said "discuss it amongst yourselves," but both Zheng Fa and Gao Yuan understood that he basically meant, "You two fight, and I'll watch."

The Seventh Young Master gracefully walked out of the study.

Zheng Fa and Gao Yuan stood in place without moving.

No one spoke.

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

Whether it was one page or two pages, it made no difference to him, but for Zheng Fa and Gao Yuan, the difference would completely tear apart their precarious relationship.

To him, this matter was probably no different than throwing a bone for two dogs to fight over.

Purely for amusement.

"You stay."

While Zheng Fa was contemplating, he suddenly heard Gao Yuan say in a low voice.

"Hm?"

This sentence truly surprised Zheng Fa. He turned to look at Gao Yuan, whose face held a hint of self-mockery and a touch of dejection.

Gao Yuan didn't look at him, only gazing at the books filling the bookshelves.

"Actually, if we really had to pick one page, it should be you," he said calmly. "Your talent is better than mine, whether it's in martial arts or studies."

Zheng Fa shook his head.

Honestly, regarding talent, if it weren't for modern times, he couldn't confidently say he was better than Gao Yuan.

Moreover, someone like the Seventh Young Master, would he even care about a page's talent?

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

"It's funny, I actually wanted to compete with you," Gao Yuan's tone held some self-mockery. "You mastered the Crane Pine Stance in three days. I practiced for three, even four, hours every day, ignoring my father's advice. Now, my leg meridians are injured, and I'll need half a year to recover before I can train again."

"So, I'm not letting you off the hook, I just don't want to humiliate myself further."

Gao Yuan's gaze finally landed on Zheng Fa, his eyes holding pain but also a hint of relief.

Zheng Fa prepared to speak.

Gao Yuan, however, interrupted him, "Don't pity me. Even if I went home, my father would have plans for me. If you really went home, you'd have nothing."

Zheng Fa: ...Very good, you're quite persuasive.

When the Seventh Young Master entered, his eyes curiously scanned Zheng Fa and Gao Yuan.

As if trying to figure out if they had fought.

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

"How did you two decide?"

"Seventh Young Master, I am untalented and ignorant, and I willingly..."

"Slow!"

The Seventh Young Master raised his palm, interrupting Gao Yuan.

"Who said you two get to decide who stays and who goes?"

"..."

"My pages, of course, I pick myself!"

He looked at them, his eyes narrowing, as if deriving pleasure from toying with people. "Actually, if you two had fought just now, maybe I would have been happy watching and let you both stay."

"Now, the good show I wanted to see is gone, and I'm very unhappy." He crossed his legs on the chair in front of the desk. "Why don't you both just get lost!"

"You!" The Seventh Young Master narrowed his eyes at Gao Yuan. "You haven't even mastered the Crane Pine Stance yet, have you? No, your leg is injured?"

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

Gao Yuan whispered, "Yes."

"Your talent seems pretty good?" The Seventh Young Master turned to Zheng Fa. "You mastered the Crane Pine Stance in three days."

This person usually didn't say much to Zheng Fa and the other person.

But regarding their matters, he was clear about everything.

"Even Instructor Xu said you're quite talented and wanted to take you as a disciple." The Seventh Young Master tapped his finger on the desk, smiling brightly. "But the Crane Pine Stance is too weak, and you started martial arts too late. You're not qualified to stay by my side."

Zheng Fa didn't even know Instructor Xu had the intention to take him as a disciple.

The Seventh Young Master stood up and walked around Zheng Fa and Gao Yuan.

"One has a leg injury, and the other only knows a few moves of boxing..." He shook his head and suddenly said, "Gao Yuan!"

"Here!"

"I don't think much of him. You, I'll give you another chance! Didn't you get that talisman that the previous idiot secretly copied? How's your understanding of it?"

"Seventh Young Master..."

Gao Yuan's face turned pale. He hadn't expected the Seventh Young Master to know about this.

He probably already knew that the Page had secretly copied the talismans he had been studying all day.

Now, Zheng Fa had a guess in his heart: it was possible that the Seventh Young Master had deliberately leaked those few diagrams.

"If you can learn something from it, I don't care if you have a leg injury. Even if you were crippled and an idiot, I'd keep you by my side!"

The Seventh Young Master's gaze was unusually serious.

Zheng Fa knew that he truly cared about this matter.

The Seventh Young Master picked up the talisman book he always kept by his side from the desk, flipped it open, and placed the few familiar patterns in front of Gao Yuan.

He then laid out paper and brush, gesturing to Gao Yuan.

"You've been looking at them for so many days, what have you figured out?"

Gao Yuan looked at him, his expression complex, a mix of longing but mostly helplessness.

He knew that if he could show even a little talent in this area, he could stay.

But...

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

Gao Yuan didn't pick up the brush at all, merely lowering his head.

"Stupid!" The Seventh Young Master shook his head, somewhat disheartened. "You two..."

Zheng Fa suddenly stepped forward and picked up the brush in front of Gao Yuan.

"Hm?"

The Seventh Young Master frowned, looking at Zheng Fa.

He knew very well that Gao Yuan had spent several days studying those diagrams.

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

On the white paper in front of Zheng Fa, he dipped his brush and drew two patterns that Teacher Bai had given him earlier.

Gao Yuan watched from the side. Zheng Fa had only drawn two very simple strokes, which looked completely unrelated to the original complex diagrams.

Was he just doodling?

But looking at the Seventh Young Master's face, he knew he wasn't!

The Seventh Young Master frowned, staring at Zheng Fa's brush tip, as if it were revealing something unexpected. After a long while, his gaze shifted from the paper to Zheng Fa's face.

"Did you figure this out yourself?" His voice was somehow a little sharp.

Even Gao Yuan could tell that the two patterns Zheng Fa drew must have some significant origin. He couldn't help but smile bitterly to himself: perhaps he had been overly optimistic... Zheng Fa probably didn't need him to step aside.

"No."

Zheng Fa put down the brush, as if he had drawn them casually.

"Who taught you!" the Seventh Young Master asked urgently.

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

"Huh?" Gao Yuan looked at Zheng Fa, a bit dumbfounded.

"Oh?" The Seventh Young Master narrowed his eyes, staring at Zheng Fa for a long time before suddenly saying to Gao Yuan, "Go and bring me my lunch. Oh, and add an extra portion for him!"

He pointed at Zheng Fa.

Gao Yuan hesitated and looked at Zheng Fa. Seeing Zheng Fa nod, he then got up and left.