Clearest Mirror, Least Clear Mirror

At last, Ye Fu left the Cloth Robe Workshop with Qin Sanyue, who had looked bewildered the entire time.

In a cheerful mood and dreaming of the good life ahead, he noticed a pair of effeminate but fierce eyes watching him from afar. That made him even happier, for it meant something interesting was going to happen.

Chapter 18: Clearest Mirror, Least Clear Mirror

"Teacher Ye, why did you learn needlework? Isn't... isn't that something girls learn?" Qin Sanyue hugged a wooden box containing the three outfits, her face flushed red. She still couldn't understand why Ye Fu knew needlework.

"I had nothing better to do, so I learned it," Ye Fu answered casually. That was indeed the truth: he had learned handicrafts out of boredom after reaching the maximum level.

Qin Sanyue pursed her lips. She still couldn't make sense of it, but she didn't ask again, not wanting to be a nuisance.

Instead, she turned all her thoughts to the clothes in the wooden box in her arms. The thought of the outfit she would soon wear filled her with delight, and her eyes shone. She had been deeply captivated the moment she saw the finished clothes, and she was certain they were the most beautiful she had ever seen in her life.

At that thought, she thanked Ye Fu again in her heart for keeping her and even making clothes for her with his own hands. It was something she had never dared dream of before.

As they walked together, Ye Fu figured that since they were already out, they might as well buy everything they needed.

Pots, bowls, ladles and basins, firewood, rice, oil, salt, soy sauce and vinegar... They covered a lot of ground buying all sorts of daily necessities, visiting every street in the east, west, south and north. Ye Fu also became generally familiar with the area where he lived.

They kept busy until noon, then stopped for a simple meal: two bowls of plain noodle soup. To Ye Fu's surprise, the soup moved young Qin Sanyue to tears, and she kept saying, "It's so delicious"...

If you tasted my cooking, you'd probably be weeping your eyes out, Ye Fu thought.

Ye Fu didn't have many other great strengths, but he was very handy with a spatula, and everyone praised his cooking. He was quite confident in it.

With most of their errands done, the boss and his employee hurried home.

Knowing that the three stinking beggars weren't waiting for her, Qin Sanyue walked with her back much straighter, and she looked far more spirited.

Ye Fu figured they had bought just about everything they needed, so he began planning for the private school. It never hurt to plan early and work out how to deal with things.

Before he knew it, they were home.

A winding path led to a secluded spot. As soon as Ye Fu set foot on it, he sensed someone ahead. He remembered clearly that his was the only household down this path. Who could it be?

Ye Fu glanced back at Qin Sanyue, who was baffled. He walked calmly onward.

At the very end of the path, just after rounding a bend, Ye Fu sensed something ethereal. He looked up and saw a woman standing motionless on the steps before his wooden gate. Her back was to him, long black hair cascading down as her white robes fluttered.

Ye Fu frowned slightly. "Miss, what business do you have at my gate?"

The woman in white turned around.

She was exceedingly beautiful, the loveliest and purest-looking person Ye Fu had met since coming to this world. But her gaze was utterly cold.

"Admiring the flowers." She spoke only those words before moving aside to clear the way.

Admiring the flowers? What flowers could there be here, apart from the pear blossoms in my courtyard?

Ye Fu said nothing more. Since the woman offered no further explanation, he naturally asked no more questions. He strode up to the gate, took out his key and went in.

Qin Sanyue followed close behind. Once they were both inside, Ye Fu shut the gate without another word.

Outside, the woman in white, who had just started moving to follow them in, froze where she stood, looking slightly taken aback. Alone on the quiet, winding path, she looked utterly forlorn.

After a long while, she slowly breathed out and knocked on the gate.

Inside, Ye Fu had just put their things down when he heard the knock. He opened the gate and asked, "Is there something else?"

The woman in white parted her thin lips. "May I come in?"

"What do you want?" Ye Fu asked again, a touch of impatience in his frown. He disliked it when people failed to answer the question.

"To admire the flowers." The woman in white raised her chin slightly, her gaze drifting to the pear tree in bloom. She felt that the young man before her would not refuse her.

"Sorry, I'm about to tidy the house. It's temporarily closed to visitors." Ye Fu refused outright.

Before the woman in white even had time to be taken aback, she heard the gate creak shut. She thought this was a little too unaccommodating.

After some thought, she knocked again.

A moment later, Ye Fu opened the gate once more, the impatience in his frown even more apparent. "I told you, now isn't a good time. If you really want to see the pear blossoms, could you come back tomorrow?"

With that, Ye Fu shut it again. He still had the house to tidy and was far too busy to deal with someone who was plainly no ordinary person.

For some reason, the woman at the gate felt a little embarrassed. What did this make me? Had he come to dislike and grow tired of me? I hadn't even managed to get a word out before he shut me out.

Suddenly, she began to doubt herself a little. But the instant the thought arose, she immediately grew solemn and formed hand seals with both hands. A speck of light appeared, and she touched a finger to the spot between her brows. At once, her whole being became clear and serene.

"I nearly allowed a flaw to appear in my state of mind. This man almost made me lose my spirit with just a few words." She frowned and stared at the wooden gate. "Could he be someone with a deeply hidden heart demon? But his Qi shows no fluctuations at all. He's quite ordinary, a mortal. The girl beside him has a sense of clarity about her, but she's only a mortal too. What on earth is going on?"

Perhaps to test her suspicion, perhaps out of pique at being turned away twice before, and still wanting to stand beneath the tree and personally feel the pear blossoms' profound, wondrous Qi, she knocked on the wooden gate again.

No one answered.

After waiting a moment, she knocked again.

A good while later, the gate finally opened. This time, however, it was Qin Sanyue rather than Ye Fu who opened it.

Qin Sanyue held the edge of the gate and said evenly, "My teacher hopes you won't disturb him again, miss. Today really isn't convenient. Please come back tomorrow or the day after."