"Tang San, your vegetables are ready to harvest, right?" Ning Rongrong crouched beside him, her eyes sparkling.
"They are."
"Then shall we hold a Harvest Feast today?"
Tang San looked up at the sky. The sun was just right, and the wind was mild-a good day for a feast. "Sure. Let's do it."
The Harvest Feast took place on the training grounds. There were no tables or chairs, just a few straw mats spread out for everyone to sit on.
"Tang San, you can cook too?" Xiao Wu asked in surprise.
"Someone who grows vegetables naturally has to learn how to cook." Tang San spoke lightly, but his cooking really was quite good.
Yi Yun picked up some stir-fried cabbage with his chopsticks, chewed it, and nodded. "Not bad. You could open a restaurant."
The corners of Tang San's lips lifted slightly. This was the first time Yi Yun had praised him. Although it wasn't praise for his Hidden Weapons, his Pole Vault, or his Radio Calisthenics, but for his cooking, he was already quite satisfied.
Zhu Zhuqing sat beside Yi Yun and ladled him a bowl of Carrot Soup. "Brother Yun, have some soup."
Xiao Wu sat on Yi Yun's other side and picked up some Chive and Egg Stir-Fry for him. "Brother Yun, have some food."
Ning Rongrong sat across from them, holding up the Handsome Master Is the Most Handsome Sign, her smile blooming like a flower.
Tang San sat alone in a corner, with a plate of stir-fried cabbage and a bowl of white rice before him.
He was already used to it-eating alone, growing vegetables alone, practicing Pole Vault alone, doing Radio Calisthenics alone, watching the sunset alone, and counting the stars alone.
It was pretty good. No fighting over affection, no making breakfast, no blushing, no racing heartbeat, no sleepless nights. It really was pretty good.
After the Harvest Feast, Tang San went to wash the dishes. Ning Rongrong helped beside him, but she broke every dish she washed, so Tang San had no choice but to send her to wipe the tables.
"Tang San, what are your plans for the future?" Ning Rongrong asked as she wiped a table.
"What plans?"
"I mean... are you going to stay at Nuoding Academy forever?"
Tang San fell silent for a moment. He had never really thought about that question. Ever since transmigrating, he had stayed at Nuoding Academy, cultivating, growing vegetables, and getting screwed over by Yi Yun.
This place was like his home, although this home often made him want to run away.
"Maybe," Tang San said.
"You're not going to Heaven Dou City? I heard there are lots of powerful people there, and lots of pretty girls too."
"No."
"Why?"
Tang San stopped what he was doing and looked at Yi Yun, who was chatting and laughing with Xiao Wu in the distance. "Because he's here."
Ning Rongrong froze for a moment, then smiled. "You really are... you hate him, yet you can't leave him."
Tang San did not argue. Ning Rongrong was right. He hated Yi Yun-hated him for taking Xiao Wu away, hated him for screwing him over countless times, hated him for turning him into the laughingstock of the entire academy.
But he couldn't leave Yi Yun either, because Yi Yun was the only person who made him feel that he wasn't alone in this world.
On the third day after the Harvest Feast, Yi Yun made a decision: leave Nuoding Academy and go to Heaven Dou City.
"Heaven Dou City?" Xiao Wu's eyes lit up. "Are we going there for fun?"
"More or less."
"Then I'm going with you."
"I'm going too," Zhu Zhuqing said.
"Wherever Handsome Master goes, I go!" Ning Rongrong raised her hand.
Tang San stood beside the vegetable patch, holding a watering can. "You're all leaving?"
"Yes," Yi Yun said.
Tang San fell silent for a moment. "Then I'll go too."
"What are you going for?"
"To carry your luggage."
Yi Yun paused, then smiled. "All right."
Ning Rongrong provided the carriage, a luxurious carriage belonging to the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, drawn by four Thousand-Year Unicorns and accompanied by twenty Soul Saint guards. The procession was as grand as an emperor's tour.
Xiao Wu sat inside the carriage, touching things here and looking around there. "So luxurious."
"Of course. This is my family's carriage." Ning Rongrong proudly raised her chin.
Tang San sat in the farthest corner, holding a carrot, his face expressionless. He suddenly felt that he hadn't come to carry luggage, but to serve as a backdrop.
The carriage slowly drove out of Nuoding City. Yi Yun lifted the curtain and watched the dusty gray little city grow farther and smaller. He had lived in Nuoding City for nearly two months. Here, he had met Xiao Wu, taken in Zhu Zhuqing, accepted Ning Rongrong as his disciple, screwed Tang San over countless times, and even flirted with Hu Liena.
He had reaped a rich harvest and was in a very good mood.
"Brother Yun, what are you looking at?" Xiao Wu leaned over and asked.
"Nuoding City."
"Reluctant to leave?"
"It's not reluctance. I'm just reflecting."
"On what?"
Yi Yun lowered the curtain and leaned back in his seat, the corners of his lips lifting slightly. "On how this is what life should be."
Xiao Wu tilted her head, not quite understanding. Zhu Zhuqing had her eyes closed, but she understood. Having friends, having someone you liked, having places you wanted to go and things you wanted to do. Not having to live merely to stay alive-that was life.
Tang San sat in the corner, silently gnawing on his carrot. He understood too, but pretended he didn't, because he didn't want to admit that Yi Yun was right.
Heaven Dou City, one of the most prosperous cities on the continent.
The streets were broad, lined with shops and bustling with people. The carriage rolled slowly along the street. Ning Rongrong lifted the curtain to look outside, as excited as if this were her first visit to a city. "Handsome Master, look! That's a Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect business. That belongs to my family, and so does that!"
"Just how many businesses does your family have?" Xiao Wu asked.
"I don't know either. Anyway, there's one every few steps."
Xiao Wu fell silent. She suddenly felt that the gap between her and Ning Rongrong was even greater than the gap between her and Yi Yun. The gap between her and Yi Yun was merely one of strength, something she could narrow with some effort. But the gap between her and Ning Rongrong was one of wealth.
Tang San sat in the corner, gnawing on his second carrot, his face expressionless. He was already past the point of feeling sour with envy. Now his heart was as still as water; he had seen through the red dust of the mortal world.
The carriage stopped outside the largest inn in Heaven Dou City.
Ning Rongrong jumped down and looked up at the inn's sign. "Heaven Dou Inn. Let's stay here."
"This place is expensive," Xiao Wu said quietly.
"It's fine. My treat." Ning Rongrong waved generously.
Tang San carried the luggage down from the carriage. Bearing five bundles alone, he followed everyone else. Passersby kept turning to look at the boy in blue carrying five bundles like a moving little mountain.
Some pointed, some whispered, and some couldn't help laughing aloud. Tang San walked on expressionlessly. He was already used to being stared at.
Yi Yun walked at the front, with Xiao Wu and Zhu Zhuqing on either side. Ning Rongrong skipped along beside them, while Tang San carried the luggage at the back. One glance at this group was enough to tell who the main character was.
"Five rooms," Yi Yun told the innkeeper.
"Dear guest, we only have three vacant rooms left," the innkeeper said apologetically.
Yi Yun looked at the people behind him: Xiao Wu, Zhu Zhuqing, Ning Rongrong, and Tang San. Including himself, that made five people and three rooms.
"How are we splitting them?" Xiao Wu asked.
"Tang San and I will share," Yi Yun said.
Xiao Wu's face fell at once. "Why?"
"Because I need to guide his training tonight."
"What training?"
"Pole Vault."
Xiao Wu was speechless, and so was Tang San. He didn't want to share a room with Yi Yun, because he was afraid Yi Yun would make him get up in the middle of the night to practice Pole Vault. But Yi Yun had already decided, and objections were useless.
The final arrangement was for Yi Yun and Tang San to share one room, Xiao Wu and Zhu Zhuqing another, and Ning Rongrong to have her own. Ning Rongrong was very unhappy with this arrangement. She would rather have shared with Handsome Master, but Yi Yun refused on the grounds that men and women should keep their distance.
Ning Rongrong puffed out her cheeks. "Handsome Master, why don't you mention men and women keeping their distance when you're kissing and hugging Sister Xiao Wu?"
"That's different."
"How is it different?"
Yi Yun didn't answer, because Xiao Wu had covered Ning Rongrong's mouth.
Late that night, Yi Yun stood by the window, gazing at Heaven Dou City's nightscape.
Heaven Dou City was a hundred times more prosperous than Nuoding City. The streets blazed with lights, pedestrians streamed by without end, and the faint sound of strings and flutes drifted from the distance.
Tang San lay on the bed, staring at the ceiling. He was thinking. Now that he had arrived in Heaven Dou City, what would happen next? Who would he meet? How would Yi Yun screw him over?
"Little San."
"Hm?"
"Do you hate me?"
Tang San fell silent for a moment. "No."
"Really?"
"Really. I used to, but I don't anymore, and I won't in the future."
"Why?"
Tang San stared at the ceiling and thought for a long time, then said something that surprised Yi Yun. "Because you showed me that being alive can be fun."
Yi Yun turned to look at Tang San. Tang San lay there with a calm expression, not looking as though he was saying something he didn't mean.
"You've changed," Yi Yun said.
"People change."
"You've matured."
"All your screwing me over ripened me."
"This is what life should be," Yi Yun said, looking at the moon outside the window, the corners of his lips lifting slightly.
Screwing Tang San over, building a harem, roaming the mountains and waters, eating and drinking.
No going to work, no paying off loans, no watching the boss's expression.
Sleeping as late as he wanted, going wherever he wanted, screwing over whoever he wanted.
This was the life he had dreamed of.
Before you continue