She raised her eyes to look at Su Wanwan.
"Only those with good foundations are worth teaching."
At those words, Su Wanwan's throat suddenly tightened.
She had waited a long time to hear them.
Not for someone to praise her foundation, but for someone to say, "You have value."
As a Scatter Fox, what she heard most often outside was, "What are you worth?" "You can't do it," and "You don't deserve it." She never yielded verbally, but deep down, she knew those words had gotten through to her. Once they got in, they became thorns buried deep in her heart, pricking her from time to time.
And now, someone had said she was worth teaching.
She lowered her head and blinked several times, forcing back the inexplicable warmth surging up inside her.
"But I won't teach you for nothing." The Green-Shirt Woman's voice suddenly turned detached again.
Su Wanwan looked up. "What are your conditions?"
"No rush," the Green-Shirt Woman said. "You're already discussing conditions without even asking my name?"
Su Wanwan froze, then realized that she truly had not asked the other woman's name since arriving.
"...What's your name?" she asked.
Leaning against the old tree, the Green-Shirt Woman raised a hand and brushed the silver bead by her temple. "My surname is Bai. My given name is Xi. Bai Xi."
"Bai Xi." Su Wanwan repeated it. The name sounded like wind passing over water.
"And you?"
"Su Wanwan."
"Wanwan." Bai Xi repeated the name and gave a slight nod. "Not bad. It rolls off the tongue."
As soon as she finished speaking, she suddenly waved toward the entrance to the valley.
The dense fog receded like a tide.
Almost at the same time, Sun Wukong's voice exploded from outside. "I, Old Sun, said there was something strange