At noon, up on Sikun Mountain, Jiuxiao was gathering herbs and just getting ready to head back down when his dog, Pumpkin, who trailed along behind him, suddenly started barking furiously at a thicket.
Jiuxiao meant to call Pumpkin back. He guessed some animal was hiding in there, its stirrings making Pumpkin uneasy.
Instead, to his surprise, a young girl came bursting out of the thicket.
Her outer smock had already been torn in several places, though fortunately she wore clothes underneath.
Leaves sat on top of her head and dirt was smudged across her face. The instant she saw how Jiuxiao was dressed, her eyes lit up.
Then she came bounding toward him at astonishing speed, waving her hand and calling out, “Master! Master! I, Chen Jia’er, have finally found you!”
The joy in it was impossible to hide.
Her tone and gestures nearly made Jiuxiao believe he really was her master.
A pity that in this life he had only one disciple, who was also his granddaughter—Zengyue.
Jiuxiao wanted to ignore her, but at some point the girl had grabbed hold of his cuff, so he had to speak. “Little miss, I’m not your master. This is deep wilderness, I’ll take you down the mountain, and then you go home on your own.”
Chen Jia’er shook her head and said with puffed cheeks, “Hmph. I searched these mountains for three days and two nights before I found you, and you just want to send me off?”
Jiuxiao was at a loss. “But I don’t know you. I really am not your master.”
Oh, so she’d forgotten to introduce herself. Chen Jia’er scratched her head, a bit embarrassed, and told him, “Hello, Master. I’m Chen Jia’er. I’m Sister Zengyue’s little sidekick.”
Jiuxiao heard the name Zengyue.
But this girl looked a bit younger than Zengyue, and if she really were Zengyue’s sidekick, she ought to have come back together with her.
How could she be roaming the mountains alone?
Besides, Zengyue would be home before sundown. This girl was lying without even thinking it through.
Jiuxiao didn’t believe her.
Chen Jia’er panicked and hurriedly said, “I really do know Sister Zengyue.”
She then described Zengyue’s appearance in detail, and Jiuxiao could now be certain she truly did know her.
But Jiuxiao still hadn’t shaken his suspicion, so he asked, “Where did you meet Zengyue? Where does Zengyue go to university, what does she major in, and what’s her phone number?”
If she really was a sidekick, she’d surely know these things about Zengyue inside out.
Inwardly, Chen Jia’er cried disaster.
In the apocalypse they no longer used phones.
And they no longer went to school.
All she knew was that Zengyue studied at Nanyuan University, as for the major?
Sister Zengyue had never said!
Chen Jia’er felt like ants on a hot pan, [1]frantic and anxious jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_2943103_1_1').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_2943103_1_1', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], }); unable to answer.
Sob~~~
Seeing her rendered speechless, Jiuxiao called Pumpkin back and made to head down the mountain.
But Pumpkin ran over to Chen Jia’er, gave her a sniff, and pressed affectionately against her.
Jiuxiao was taken aback.
Pumpkin was a shrewd one.
Even the villagers of Sikun Mountain who saw it every day had a hard time getting close to it, yet this strange girl had won its trust so easily.
Jiuxiao decided to take her down the mountain.
Along the way the girl seemed a little unhappy.
She kept stealing glances at him.
Terrified she’d made a bad impression.
Trailing behind with an enormous backpack, Chen Jia’er had already muttered to herself ten thousand times.
The big shot’s master was a wily old fox too.
She couldn’t pull the wool over his eyes.
How was she supposed to explain her relationship with Zengyue? Confess the whole thing?
But by the looks of it, Zengyue clearly hadn’t told her master yet, so it wouldn’t be right for her to say it.
Master was the person Sister Zengyue respected most, the person she cared about most, most, most, these things should be said by Zengyue herself.
The whole way down, whatever Jiuxiao asked, Chen Jia’er answered. Except for how she’d met Zengyue, on which she stayed tight-lipped, she even told him her own father’s name.
Jiuxiao grew more puzzled.
This girl’s guardedness, did she simply have none, or was she just unguarded around him?
After probing many times without an answer, Jiuxiao changed the subject. “You spent the nights in the mountains?”
There were still some wild beasts up there. This girl looked no older than twenty, with such soft, delicate skin, how could she protect herself sleeping out in the open?
At this, Chen Jia’er perked up again. “Yes, Master, I stayed in these mountains two nights, both up in the trees. I can fall asleep in any old fork of a branch.”
As for snakes and venomous bugs, they were the ones who feared her.
Jiuxiao was surprised.
From the way she walked, she didn’t seem formally trained. Had he misjudged?
Chen Jia’er knew what Jiuxiao was wondering, but she didn’t answer, she just grinned and gave him a brilliant smile.
How to put it?
Say she had a supernatural power?
Or say Zengyue had put her through special training and she knew how to fight, the kind where every fist landed on flesh?
None of it was easy to say.
Because none of it could be explained clearly.
Chen Jia’er felt quite stifled.
Once she saw Zengyue, she’d get her sister to explain it to Master, she didn’t want to be interrogated to the roots anymore.
Old ginger really is the hottest! [2]experience makes the elder shrewd jQuery('#footnote_plugin_tooltip_2943103_1_2').tooltip({ tip: '#footnote_plugin_tooltip_text_2943103_1_2', tipClass: 'footnote_tooltip', effect: 'fade', predelay: 0, fadeInSpeed: 200, delay: 400, fadeOutSpeed: 200, position: 'top center', relative: true, offset: [-7, 0], });
They came down the mountain quickly.
Jiuxiao brought Chen Jia’er home.
Chen Jia’er kept her eyes forward, yet still took in some of the plants in the courtyard.
Ever since she’d started following Zengyue, she’d picked up the same temperament.
On the surface you couldn’t read the ripples in her heart at all, even now when her joy had reached its peak.
This had to be Zengyue’s home.
She’d seen a photo Zengyue treasured, and it was of this very courtyard.
The well and the grape trellis in the photo were exactly like what she saw before her.
The joy on Chen Jia’er’s face grew and grew, until she could no longer hide it.
Under her breath she said, “I’ve finally found you, Sister Zengyue.”
Having set his medicinal herbs down, Jiuxiao saw Chen Jia’er still standing dazed in the courtyard. The sun was high overhead, and he couldn’t bear to let her keep baking in it, so he beckoned her inside to sit.
Chen Jia’er set her big backpack under the eaves of the corridor, patted the dust off herself, and only then went in.
Jiuxiao poured a cup of tea. “Drink.”
Chen Jia’er accepted it respectfully. “Thank you, Master.” And she downed it in one gulp.
Jiuxiao pushed the wild fruit he’d just picked on the mountain in front of her. “Eat. A rare wild treat.”
“Okay! Thank you, Master.” Chen Jia’er’s eyes crinkled into a smile.
After that came a long silence.
Jiuxiao knew this girl was surely not going to leave, there’d be no chasing her off.
And he worried she might have some other purpose, so he decided to keep her here and observe.
Jiuxiao grew sleepy and went to rest. Chen Jia’er was so quiet it was as if she didn’t exist.
When Jiuxiao woke from his nap, he found a fragrant smell drifting from the kitchen.
Chen Jia’er had actually made lunch on her own initiative, and for two, at that.
“Master, I saw there was some food in the kitchen, so I took the liberty of cooking. You can eat once you’ve washed your hands,” came Chen Jia’er’s sweet voice.
Jiuxiao felt a warmth in his heart. This girl seemed very sincere, she shouldn’t mean Zengyue any harm.
After lunch, Chen Jia’er cleaned the whole first floor from top to bottom.
It never occurred to her to wonder what she’d do if the Zengyue she knew hadn’t come back.
What the earnest girl thought was: if she herself could return, how could her Sister Zengyue not get the same chance?
And if Zengyue really hadn’t come back yet, then she’d just get to know her all over again.
She would use every means she could to make Sister Zengyue believe the apocalypse was coming, and she would brave it alongside her once more!
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