"Little Lu, come by often!"
Jiang Ziya and Ma saw Lu Chuan out the door. Lu Chuan waved and said with a smile, "I will!"
He headed toward the Woodcarving Shop. In truth, there were only a few steps between the two shops—roughly a few dozen meters.
But because Jiang Ziya and his wife were standing at the doorway, Lu Chuan had no choice but to walk a little farther into the distance.
After all, if Ma discovered that the two shops were not far apart, and came over all the time to chat, his head would ache. Ma was just like those seven aunts and eight aunties during New Year; he could not fend them off.
Only after the two of them went back inside did he turn around and circle back.
To his surprise, Shen Gongbao was actually standing at the entrance of the shop ahead, hands clasped behind his back.
"Ahem!"
When he saw Lu Chuan come in, Shen Gongbao gave a dry cough, leaned his head over, and said in a low voice, "Disciple, are you all right?"
"I'm fine. What could be wrong?" Lu Chuan asked in surprise.
Shen Gongbao said, "That Ma... you met her?"
"I did!" Lu Chuan said with a smile.
Shen Gongbao asked suspiciously, "She didn't do anything to you, did she?"
"What could she do to me?" Lu Chuan was utterly confused. He laughed and said, "No, Master, what's with you today? You're acting all twitchy."
"What do you feel... about that Ma?" Shen Gongbao asked.
"Auntie Ma is pretty nice. She was quite polite to me, and even said she wanted to arrange a marriage for me."
Lu Chuan pondered for a moment, then said with a smile. But when he saw Shen Gongbao's sharp gaze shoot over in