Cui Shang's Past

As it turned out, Zhang Lu's name as the head of the Iceheart Hall carried a great deal of weight!

After Wen Xiancheng mentioned her name, Cui Shang was the first to cry out in surprise. "You're her disciple? Everyone says she never takes disciples. Who would have thought you were one!"

Cui Qianqian and Xue Ning exchanged smiles.

They had "known" all along.

Xue Ruigao, however, looked a little puzzled.

She had never heard Wen Xiancheng mention this.

Besides, Wen Xiancheng did not seem to have any way of getting to know the head of the Iceheart Hall.

The old woman's pupils contracted slightly.

Disbelief filled her face as she asked excitedly, "Y-you're Physician Zhang Lu's disciple?"

Wen Xiancheng bit the bullet. "Yes, I'm her disciple."

The old woman asked again, "How has she been lately? Is she busy? If you're her disciple, could you arrange an appointment with her?"

Chen Jingshu's expression shifted slightly.

She knew her mother's character inside out.

She was terrified of death!

She wished she could live another several decades, or even a hundred years.

At their home in Dai City, she had even hired a healer specifically to stay by her side and attend to her at all times.

But that healer was nowhere near as capable as Zhang Lu, the head of the Iceheart Hall.

Now that she knew the young man before her was Zhang Lu's disciple, how could she possibly let him slip away?

Chen Jingshu shot a vicious glare at her daughter, Chen Meiyan.

She's ten thousand times prettier than that little bitch, so why can't she manage to hook such a talented young man and bring him home?

All she ever does is hang around with her pack of no-good friends!

Meeting Chen Jingshu's furious glare, Chen Meiyan rolled her eyes and headed for the stairs.

Seeing that the old woman had spoken up, Cui Shang hurriedly chimed in, asking Wen Xiancheng, "Young man, could you speak to your master and arrange a time for my mother to have a checkup?"

Only then did the old woman's expression ease a little.

Wen Xiancheng swept his gaze over the old woman, Chen Jingshu, and Chen Meiyan.

Never mind that I'm not actually Zhang Lu's real disciple and can't arrange for her to examine you. Even if I could, I wouldn't!

Shrugging, Wen Xiancheng said with a regretful expression, "Sorry, I'm just a disreputable person. I can't do that."

Beckoning to Cui Qianqian, Xue Ruigao, and Xue Ning, Wen Xiancheng said to Cui Shang, "Uncle Cui, thank you for having us today. Since disreputable people like us aren't welcome here, we won't stay any longer. Better that than getting thrown out later and disgracing my master."

"My master is welcomed wherever she goes. Yet as her disciple, I've been called 'disreputable.' That's already brought enough shame on her. If I get thrown out too, I won't have the face to see her again."

Cui Qianqian, Xue Ruigao, and Xue Ning hurried after him.

Cui Shang gave an awkward smile. "It was all just a joke."

"Sorry, Uncle Cui, I'm a very rigid person. I don't understand jokes. As far as I'm concerned, people mean what they say. We won't disturb you any longer, Uncle Cui. Please carry on!" Wen Xiancheng turned and left.

Seeing this, the old woman hurried to her feet and moved to follow him. "Young man! Young man, don't go!"

Wen Xiancheng kept walking as though he had not heard her.

The old woman turned furiously on Chen Jingshu and Chen Meiyan. "This is all your fault! If you hadn't run your mouths, would Physician Zhang Lu's prized disciple have been angered into leaving? Go after him!"

Chen Jingshu stood up with a forced smile, calling as she walked, "Young man, wait!"

As she passed Cui Shang, she snapped, "Are you standing there waiting to die? Go after him! You're the one who invited him!"

Cui Shang sighed helplessly and hurried after him.

He chased them all the way beyond the garden before stopping Wen Xiancheng and pleading, "Young man, for my sake, please help arrange it."

Wen Xiancheng glanced at Chen Jingshu, who had caught up beside Cui Shang, and made no attempt to hide the mockery in his voice. "Uncle Cui, I'm sorry. If it were just you or Cui Qianqian who was ill, I would consider it my duty to help. As for anyone else, I have no such obligation. Do I know them that well? They call me disreputable, and I'm supposed to help them? Do I look like I've got a lump in my brain?"

With that, he waved at Cui Shang. "Don't follow us again. It's not happening!"

Chen Jingshu stopped beside Cui Shang and said, suppressing her anger, "Arrogant through and through! You're not your master yet, but you're already throwing your weight around! Someone like you will never reach your master's level!"

Cui Shang let out a breath. "Shushu, how can you say that? We were the ones who spoke out of turn first-"

"Say that to your fucking mother, why don't you? Someone this important, and your fucking brain short-circuited so badly you didn't even think to warn us? How did I end up marrying a useless piece of trash like you!" Chen Jingshu glared furiously at Cui Shang before turning to leave.

Watching Chen Jingshu walk away, Cui Shang clenched both fists.

In the end, he took a deep breath and swallowed his anger!

Outside the villa complex, Xue Ning gave Wen Xiancheng a thumbs-up. "You really are Master Zhang Lu's disciple! That felt so good today! That old hag still wants Master Zhang Lu to examine her? She can go eat shit!"

Xue Ruigao asked Wen Xiancheng in confusion, "Orange, since when were you Master Zhang Lu's disciple? How come I didn't know?"

Wen Xiancheng gave a slightly embarrassed smile and admitted honestly, "You've all misunderstood. Actually, I just couldn't stand them, so I was bluffing. I'm not Master Zhang Lu's disciple. It's just that when I went to see her for treatment last time, she gave me a notebook and told me to give it a try."

"Huh?" Xue Ning and Cui Qianqian looked at each other.

Xue Ruigao laughed. "I knew it! How could I not know about something that important?"

Cui Qianqian said worriedly, "Now that you've told her you're Master Zhang Lu's disciple, Grandma won't let it go. She's terrified of dying, so she'll definitely come looking for you again. If she finds out one day that you lied to her, she won't let you off."

Wen Xiancheng smiled unconcernedly. "Who's afraid of whom? At worst, I'll just leave the Imperial City. Though if it comes to that, I'll feel bad about letting your father down. Oh, right-"

Wen Xiancheng asked curiously, "Did your father marry into her family? He's the richest man in Dai City, after all. Why is he so downtrodden at home?"

"And why did Uncle Cui split up with your mother?" Xue Ning asked.

Cui Qianqian furrowed her brows.

"If you'd rather not talk about it, don't, Cui Qianqian," Wen Xiancheng said.

Cui Qianqian shook her head before saying, "There's really nothing I can't talk about. When my dad and mom were young, they were both students at an academy in Dai City. They were together throughout their seven years there. They were a famous couple at the academy, and so many people were green with envy."

"But when my dad was twenty-four, he and my mom graduated from the academy together. Two years later, they still hadn't earned enough money to get married. My mom's family kept prodding her and putting my dad down as utterly worthless."

"Living with that all the time, and with their lives genuinely being difficult, my mom started feeling dissatisfied with my dad too. In the end, she asked to break up, and that was how they parted."

"But what my mom didn't know was that she was already pregnant. It wasn't until the third month, when her period hadn't come, that she realized something was wrong. She wanted to go back to my dad and demand an explanation, hoping they could get back together."

"But by then, my dad had already married in a whirlwind."

"According to my dad, after breaking up with my mom, he was penniless and stood alone on a pedestrian bridge, wanting to kill himself. That was when his mentor from a game he used to play-Auntie-found him and said she wanted to be with him."

"Back then, Auntie really did love my dad, and she accommodated him in everything."

"My dad never said so, but I heard from my older sister that Auntie only became like that after my dad found me. Before that, only Grandma was harsh. Auntie wasn't."

(End of chapter)