Growth

"Miss, you're back!"

"Mm, hello." Faced with the greetings of two girls with regular features dressed as maids, Zhou Xiaoxian first answered blankly, then realized something was wrong and backed several steps out over the threshold.

She looked left and right, puzzled. She hadn't come to the wrong place. This was her teacher's home.

"You're back, miss?" Just then, a man in his thirties also came forward warmly, smiling ingratiatingly. "What flowers do you like? Tree peonies, herbaceous peonies, azaleas, or jasmine?"

"Flowers?" Even more confused, Zhou Xiaoxian called, "Teacher, Teacher, are you here?"

"I am." Xia Yi came out and said with a smile, "Girl, let me introduce you. These are the new maids, responsible for sweeping and cleaning the house. The taller one is Lan'er, seventeen, and the shorter one is Ling'er, sixteen."

The two maids dipped in a bow.

"And him-he's the gardener, Wu Jing. Besides these three, there's a cook and a purchasing servant. They've gone out to buy pots, bowls, and other utensils. You'll meet them later."

"Maids, a gardener, a cook, and a purchasing servant?" Zhou Xiaoxian was astonished. Her first reaction was to wince at the expense. How much would this cost? Then she hurriedly cast that thought aside. "Teacher, do you need so many people here?"

"I didn't, originally, but that servant broker was so enthusiastic, she insisted on giving them to me. After a great deal of refusal, I finally managed to turn down two guards and keep five people. It's just as well. They'll liven up the house. Besides, that broker is covering all their food, lodging, and expenses."

What did you do to that servant broker...? Zhou Xiaoxian only just managed to swallow the question, knowing that something must have happened that she knew nothing about.

But she knew Xia Yi wasn't someone who bullied the weak with his strength. The broker must have done something wrong first, so she didn't press him and simply greeted the three again. "Hello."

"Hello, miss."

"Miss, what flowers do you like? I suggest planting the eastern side of the courtyard with..."

"Wait, wait." Zhou Xiaoxian looked around the courtyard and asked Xia Yi, "Teacher, are you going to plant flowers in the courtyard?"

"They'd get in the way of your sword practice, wouldn't they? I had that concern too." Xia Yi thought for a moment, then told Wu Jing, "Let's do this. Plant two rows of scallions beside that Rain Corridor. Even if the girl accidentally slices them, we can pick them up and eat them."

Plant... scallions? Wu Jing was dumbfounded. I'm a gardener, old master. Couldn't you at least plant a tree?

But Xia Yi was the master, after all, and he was the servant. After freezing for two seconds, he could only bow slightly and agree, then leave with a miserable expression to find the purchasing servant and buy scallion seedlings.

"You two, go attend to your work as well," Xia Yi instructed the two maids before turning around. "Girl, come inside."

"You look a little listless. Are you having trouble adjusting after being away from the Holy Academy for so long? Or did something upsetting happen there?" he asked as he walked. "Or did Shi Lai clash with your second senior brother, leaving you caught in the middle?"

"No, Teacher..." Zhou Xiaoxian's expression fell. "Second Senior Brother hasn't troubled Shi Lai again. It's something else."

Xia Yi sat down in the main room. "What is it? Sit down and tell me."

"It's... there's an older girl who used to be especially kind to me, and I suddenly realized she might have had an ulterior motive... What should I do?"

"Oh?" Xia Yi said. "Tell me in detail."

More than half a day earlier, in a classroom for the Holy Academy's beginner class.

A cute girl wearing a red floral dress and golden bell earrings darted behind Xiao Xian and covered her eyes. "Xiao Xian, guess who?"

"Senior Sister, I heard your bells," Zhou Xiaoxian said with a smile.

"Heehee." Amid the jingling, the girl with the bells nudged Xiao Xian over a little and sat on the same chair with her. "Xiao Xian, I've missed you so much. I heard about you and your teacher a few days ago, but I was right at the critical point of Condensing the Tianxuan Star, so I couldn't come see you."

"Oh." Zhou Xiaoxian turned to look into the eyes of the girl beside her. Catching a shadow of a star within them, she immediately smiled. "Congratulations on Condensing the Tianxuan Star and advancing to Two-Star, Senior Sister."

"What's there to congratulate me for? I'm a few days behind you. I might even lose to you in the upcoming Four Little Talented Ladies Competition. Luckily, I'm about to apply to move up to the Intermediate Class, or I'd soon have to call you Senior Sister." The girl teased her, reaching out to pinch Xiao Xian's cheek. "You actually became the disciple of a Six-Star Kaiyang elder. There are only a few dozen Six-Stars in all of Great Zheng. You're so lucky."

The two girls laughed and played for a while before the girl with the bells changed the subject. "Oh, right, Xiao Xian. I heard your teacher doesn't seem short of money and often takes you to Wangjiang Tower for meals. Do you still need me to contact those Child Students so you can earn money teaching them?"

"Of course. Teacher's money is his. I can't keep spending it," Zhou Xiaoxian said at once.

"Sorry for the trouble again, Senior Sister."

"What trouble? It's hardly any effort. Oh, right, you're a Two-Star Celestial Pivot now, Xiao Xian. A Two-Star cultivator teaching Child Students can definitely charge much, much more!"

"Really?" Zhou Xiaoxian was briefly delighted, then said with some misgivings, "Never mind, Senior Sister. I'd probably still be teaching the children from those same families. It wouldn't be right to charge more. Forget it."

"Huh? Xiao Xian, that doesn't sound like you. Don't worry. None of those families are short of money. Even if you tripled your price, it'd be fine."

Triple? Zhou Xiaoxian's eyes lit up again, but the light soon faded. "I'd still... rather not, Senior Sister." Seeing that the girl was about to speak again, Zhou Xiaoxian lowered her voice. "Senior Sister, do you know about... the Inferior Rat Saint Soul?"

"Ah-" The girl cried out. Unsteady on her half of the chair, she nearly fell to the floor. It took her a while to sit back down properly. "The Inferior Rat Saint Soul? What's the Inferior Rat Saint Soul?" she asked unnaturally.

"I didn't think much of it at first," Zhou Xiaoxian told Xia Yi. "But afterward, the more I thought about it, the stranger Senior Sister's reaction seemed. And she's the daughter of Lord Sun Sheng, Governor of Zhi Prefecture. She most likely knows about the Inferior Rat Saint Soul... Teacher, do you think Senior Sister did it on purpose?"

Xia Yi shook his head. "You'll have to think back yourself. When did you start caring more and more about money?"

Zhou Xiaoxian paused, blushing a little.

"I've been like that... since I was little."

Xia Yi blinked, then couldn't help laughing. "Then I judged that wrong. Think back over this past year since you entered the Holy Academy. Did your senior sister's actions seem deliberate? Was she steering you in that direction?"

Zhou Xiaoxian fell silent. Only after a long while did she say dejectedly, "Teacher, am I... very stupid?"

Xia Yi laughed heartily. "You certainly are. You handled Zhou Lizhu's matter badly, indecisive and without a sense of proportion. You handled Feng Mo's matter badly too-or rather, you showed very poor judgment. If I hadn't pointed it out to you, if the person whose leg was broken hadn't been Shi Lai, the way you made excuses for Feng Mo would have been downright awful! And then there's how your senior sister has been running circles around you..."

"To tell the truth, you really are very stupid."

"Teacher..."

"If you were thirty, I'd call you a hopeless fool. If you were twenty, I'd call you dull and keep pushing you harder. But you're only fifteen."

Xia Yi shook his head and continued, "And you spent fourteen whole years living somewhere like Zhou Family Village. You've only been in Lieyang City for a year!"

"So I didn't say anything. You have to suffer a few setbacks before you can see this world clearly."

"That's called growing up!" Xia Yi rubbed Zhou Xiaoxian's head as she hovered on the verge of tears.

"Every setback teaches you something. When you're my age and look back, I hope you can say to those setbacks you suffered, 'Thanks!'"

For that last line, Xia Yi imitated Fan Wei's odd intonation, making Zhou Xiaoxian snort and cry out a snot bubble...