The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.
The council hall.
Ning Fengzhi sat in the seat of honor, a teacup in his hand, but he hadn't taken a sip.
He was listening.
Listening to Gu Rong and Chen Xin's complaints.
"Sect Master, I'm still worried."
Gu Rong paced back and forth across the hall, his footsteps heavy, each one seeming to land on Ning Fengzhi's heart:
"Rongrong's never even washed a bowl in her life, and now you're sending her to that lousy academy to wash her own clothes and make her own bed? Can she really handle that?"
"She washed a bowl last night." Ning Fengzhi set down his teacup. "Flender wrote in his letter that Rongrong volunteered to wash the dishes after dinner. She was a little clumsy, but she took it seriously."
Gu Rong paused, then resumed pacing.
"What does washing dishes matter? Rongrong is the little princess of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, not a dishwasher."
His voice rose with every word. "That lousy academy doesn't even have a proper kitchen. Its cafeteria is just a ramshackle hut, and the tables are all cobbled together. Rongrong's used to delicacies from the sect. How could she stomach that coarse fare?"
"She ate it." Ning Fengzhi's voice remained calm. "Flender said in his letter that Rongrong finished a whole bowl of braised pork and drank two bowls of soup."
Gu Rong opened his mouth as if to say something, but swallowed the words.
Chen Xin sat in his chair and hadn't said a word.
But his fingers tapped lightly on the armrest, betraying his inner turmoil.
"Uncle Jian, what do you think?" Ning Fengzhi turned to Chen Xin.
Chen Xin was silent for a long time before finally speaking. "Sect Master, it's not that I disagree with your decision. I just..."
He paused, seemingly weighing his words. "I'm just not used to it."
"Not used to what?"
"Not used to days without Rongrong's racket."
A wry smile tugged at Chen Xin's lips.
"That girl used to run to my courtyard every morning to practice her Martial Soul. Though she called it practice, all she really did was make a mess. One minute she'd ask me to look at a new Soul Skill she'd learned, the next she'd ask me for pointers, and then she'd cling to me, begging for candy. She was a real nuisance."
His voice dropped. "But this morning, the courtyard was quiet."
Ning Fengzhi said nothing.
"I went to her room and took a look," Chen Xin continued. "Her quilt was folded neatly, and she'd tidied the things on her desk. Before she left, she cleaned her room."
Gu Rong stopped pacing.
"That girl never used to fold her own quilt."
Chen Xin's voice turned hoarse. "The servants always did it for her at the sect. She learned how to fold it before she left."
Ning Fengzhi drew a deep breath, then slowly let it out.
"Sect Master, I want to go see Rongrong at Shrek Academy," Gu Rong suddenly said. "I won't bring her back. I'll just take a look. Just one look, to see if she's doing all right there."
"No." Ning Fengzhi's answer was curt.
"Why not?"
"Because if you go, you won't be able to stop yourself from bringing her back." Ning Fengzhi looked at him. "Gu Rong, you're a Titled Douluo. You're tougher than anyone. But when it comes to Rongrong, you're softer than anyone. You'll see her living in a shabby room, eating coarse food, and washing her own clothes. Your heart will ache, and the moment it does, you'll ask me to bring her home."
Gu Rong opened his mouth, but couldn't argue.
"My heart aches too." Ning Fengzhi rose and walked to the window. "Rongrong is my daughter. The day she was born, I held her in my arms and didn't sleep all night. When she first called me 'Dad,' I cried. When she awakened her Martial Soul, my hands trembled. I was even more nervous than I'd been when I awakened mine."
He turned to look at Gu Rong and Chen Xin.
"The morning she left the sect for Shrek, I sat in her room for an hour. I looked at her bed, her desk, her wardrobe. I wondered if she'd miss home. If she'd cry in the middle of the night. If she'd be able to stomach the food there. If anyone would bully her."
Ning Fengzhi's voice trembled.
"But I knew I had to let her go."
"Why?" Gu Rong asked.
"Because she's the future master of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect."
Ning Fengzhi's voice grew firm again. "Because she needs a team that will truly be willing to protect her. She can't win friends by relying on the sect's authority or a Titled Douluo's fists. She has to do it herself."
He returned to the seat of honor and sat down.
"You both know Rongrong's talent. Innate Full Soul Power, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda, a One-Ring Soul Master. In any sect, she'd be a prodigy among prodigies. But you both know what she's like, too."
Ning Fengzhi smiled bitterly. "She was spoiled growing up. She got whatever she wanted, and no one dared cross her. At the sect, everyone indulged her because she was the sect master's daughter. What about outside? Who would indulge her there?"
Gu Rong fell silent.
"Flender won't indulge her," Ning Fengzhi continued. "His academy is called Shrek, and it only accepts monsters. He doesn't care about his students' status or background; he only looks at their talent and potential. When Rongrong goes there, he won't give her special treatment just because she's the little princess of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect. If anything, he may be even stricter with her."
"Even stricter?" Gu Rong frowned.
"In my letter, I asked him to be stricter with Rongrong than with his other students."
Ning Fengzhi looked at Gu Rong. "Gu Rong, do you think I'm being cruel?"
Gu Rong said nothing.
"I think I'm being cruel, too."
Ning Fengzhi gave a self-deprecating smile. "A doting mother spoils her child, and a doting father does the same. If Rongrong stays at the sect, protected by us, she'll never grow up. She'll never know hardship, exhaustion, or what it means to have true companions."
"But..."
"No buts." Ning Fengzhi cut Gu Rong off. "Rongrong has to take this step. Better sooner than later."
Silence filled the hall for a long time.
Chen Xin stood and walked over to Ning Fengzhi, then dropped to one knee.
"Sect Master, I understand." His voice was low. "I won't interfere in Rongrong's affairs anymore. But I have one request."
"Go ahead."
"If Rongrong ever suffers a grievance or gets bullied out there, please let me step in."
Ning Fengzhi looked at Chen Xin. After a moment's silence, he nodded.
"Fine."
Chen Xin rose and turned toward the door. When he reached it, he stopped and spoke without looking back. "Sect Master, tell Flender to be strict with Rongrong. But not too strict. That girl puts on a brave face, but she suffers inside."
With that, he pushed open the door and left.
Gu Rong stood where he was, looking at Ning Fengzhi. At last, he sighed.
"Sect Master, I feel the same way Uncle Jian does."
"I know." Ning Fengzhi nodded. "I know how much you care for Rongrong. And you know how much I care for her."
"Then that's all that matters." Gu Rong turned and left as well.
Only Ning Fengzhi remained in the hall.
He sat in his chair with his eyes closed, fingers tapping lightly on the armrest.
"Rongrong, don't blame Dad."
He murmured to himself, "Dad's doing this for your own good."
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