The little rascal from next door

Tang Feng was still young and physically strong. After being hit by dozens of blows, he was able to get out of bed after two or three days of rest. However, Master Tang confined Tang Feng to his home and made him copy the Tao Te Ching before he could leave again. This was a hardship for Tang Feng. Although the Tao Te Ching only had a few thousand characters, each character was handwritten in traditional Chinese characters. He could neither understand it nor write it well. Although Tang Feng's injuries had mostly healed, he still could not sit for long periods of time and could only kneel to copy it. After copying for a while, Tang Feng would start to feel sore all over. So, it took Tang Feng almost half a month to copy the Tao Te Ching, which only had a few tens of thousands of characters, ten times.

"Liu Yiwan, go get me the sweet buns I bought at Liufuji yesterday," Tang Feng said, holding a pen in one hand and a bunch of grapes in the other. "Hurry up, hurry up, did you hear me? I've almost finished all my grapes, can't you be a little more considerate?"

"My young master, it's not even mealtime yet, and you're already eating so much. How will you have room for food later?" Liu Yiwan put the empty plates in the lunchbox, wiped her hands, and picked up Tang Feng's copy of the Tao Te Ching. "You've written this rather carelessly. The handwriting is crooked, and there's even yesterday's soup dripping on the paper. If the master sees this, he'll definitely send it back for a rewrite."

"I don't care, go buy me some sweet buns, I need to go out and rest. I'm exhausted this morning, look at my hands, they're almost broken!" She said, symbolically shaking her wrist at Liu Yiwan before walking into the yard.

"You're taking another break! When are you planning to finish copying this Tao Te Ching?" Liu Yiwan sighed, put down the papers he had copied a few days ago, and began tidying up the table. When he got to the paper Tang Feng had copied today, he looked closely and exclaimed, "My goodness! You only wrote fifteen characters today!"

Hearing this from outside, Tang Feng picked at his ear and muttered, "She nags like an old woman all the time."

“Young Master, you absolutely must finish copying the Tao Te Ching today. We can’t delay any longer. You’ve been copying it on and off for half a month now,” Liu Yiwan said, bringing over a brush, ink, paper, and inkstone. He slammed the book in front of Tang Feng. “Can you please finish copying it quickly? I’ve been buying you snacks every day and my legs are about to give out.”

"Hey! You little bastard, I haven't even complained about your nagging and you're already complaining about me! Don't you know who I'm copying the Tao Te Ching for? I..."

"Hey, little brother! Your house is so lively so early in the morning!" Tang Feng and Liu Yiwan were bickering happily when they suddenly heard a voice coming from the wall. Looking up, they saw a boy about their age sitting on the wall of their house, smiling at them. The boy's hair was half down and half up, with strands flying in the wind. He was wearing a black blouse with a tie around his wrist.

Liu Yiwan looked up and immediately knelt down to pay her respects to the person. Seeing Liu Yiwan kneel, and remembering the lesson he'd learned from Master Tang a few days ago, Tang Feng also knelt down with a thud, not forgetting to move closer to Liu Yiwan and quietly ask, "Liu Yiwan! Which of my distant relatives is this?"

"Hahahaha, little brother, why are you bowing to me like that! You're killing me with laughter!" After saying that, the man jumped down from the wall and walked towards Tang Feng.

Hearing the man's laughter, Liu Yiwan turned and saw Tang Feng kneeling on the ground like herself, looking shocked. She quickly pulled him up, saying, "My goodness, what are you kneeling for? Get up! Where did all these relatives come from? This is the young master of the Zhang family. He invited you to ride horses a few days ago, don't you remember?" She then turned to the man and whispered, "Young Master Zhang, please don't laugh at my young master. He fell while riding with you a few days ago, and this isn't quite right." Liu Yiwan pointed to his head and shook it, then leaned closer and whispered, "He seems to be getting sillier and sillier. A few days ago he was even talking to himself in the mirror."

"I heard you lost your memory?" The man frowned, grabbed Tang Feng, and began to feel around. "Are you feeling better? Oh, don't be nervous. I wouldn't hurt you, no matter who it is. I'm Zhang Mobai, I live next door. It's my fault, I wasn't watching you properly that day while riding." He then sat down on the stone bench. "Liu Yiwan, go make me some tea. Don't just sit there, I'm not as easy to talk to as your young master."

Tang Feng stared at Zhang Mobai, observing Liu Yiwan's attitude towards him. It seemed that their relationship had actually been quite good before. "Little brother, what are you standing there for? Come, come, sit down." After saying that, Zhang Mobai patted the stone bench next to him. "Ever since you fell off your horse, I've only come to see you once. You weren't awake yet then, and there were doctors all around you. It really scared me."

"Oh? I'm fine, it's just that I can't remember a lot of things. You... don't mind?"

Zhang Mobai patted Tang Feng on the back and laughed, "Pfft, what could I possibly mind? But your amnesia is quite interesting. I heard you went to Qinghui Brothel last night and even booked their top courtesan, Han Jiuhua. That's impressive! You weren't like this before. You'd be scared half to death just going out, let alone going to a brothel."

"Who told you that?" Tang Feng asked helplessly. How did his trip to a brothel become such a trending topic?

"Hey, it's all over the street. I went to the theater a few days ago, and they even wrote the lyrics and sang it. Young Master Tang sneaks into Qinghui Lane at night and spends a wonderful night with Han Jiuhua. Wow~ it sounds really exciting!"

"What a load of excitement! I went there and didn't see a single person. You're talking to me about spending the night together!"

"Huh? You didn't see Han Jiuhua? Tsk tsk tsk, and you still got beaten up by Uncle Tang?"

"Did this also come from a street opera?" Tang Feng was even more speechless. Did he have security cameras in his house? How could everyone see everything?

"No, I heard it at home. It was quite a scene that day. They were hitting you with big sticks, and you were screaming so pitifully, crying for your parents. Tsk tsk tsk, it sounds painful."

Tang Feng was a little taken aback. Had he really shouted that loudly? The neighbors could hear him. "Really that loud?"

"That's right, you even told them to go easy on you, but Uncle Tang is too ruthless. He wasn't satisfied after hitting you, so he made you copy the Tao Te Ching. Tsk tsk tsk, I've never seen anyone so cruel."

"You heard this too?" Tang Feng rubbed his head weakly. He'd only had a few trivial matters to deal with since arriving here, and Zhang Mobai knew them all perfectly well.

"Hey, do you even need to know?" Zhang Mobai said, pointing to the scattered papers on the table. "You're copying these right now!" He picked up a sheet and examined it closely. "Little brother, how can your handwriting be so messed up! If you hand this in, your uncle will go crazy!"

Tang Feng also picked up the Tao Te Ching in front of him. "I've lost my memory! What can I do? I don't want to be grounded."

"Amnesia? You've forgotten how to read? You've forgotten way too completely!"

Tang Feng suddenly had a thought: why not have Zhang Mobai copy it for him? Whether Zhang Mobai's writing was good or bad, it would still be much better than his own. After thinking for a moment, Tang Feng suddenly stood up, startling Zhang Mobai beside him. "Little! Ancestor~ I really don't want to write anymore, there are too many words and my hand is almost useless, can you help me copy it?" Zhang Mobai, perhaps never having seen such a scene before, was stunned by Tang Feng's outburst.

"Little Ancestor? We can't mess up the seniority here, but I still really appreciate being called 'Little Ancestor.' You used to only call me 'Brother Mo Bai' so respectfully and formally. Oh, Little Ancestor~ Haha, alright, alright, it's just the Tao Te Ching! Grind the ink for me, I'll write it for you." With that, Zhang Mo Bai picked up the brush on the table.

Tang Feng sat on a stool grinding ink for Zhang Mobai, watching Zhang Mobai diligently writing. He sighed, "Wow, I actually have such a reliable friend! A few nice words and he'll help. Much more reliable than that little bastard Liu Yiwan." Seeing the ink was almost ground, Tang Feng put down the ink stick and leaned over the table to watch Zhang Mobai copy the Tao Te Ching.

Zhang Mobai glanced at Tang Feng, who was slumped over the table, and smiled. "Little brother, tell me what Wanchun Lane is like?"

"Wanchun Lane?" Tang Feng perked up at the mention of Wanchun Lane. "It was so lively! Let me tell you, I even caught Han Jiuhua's parade!"

"You've already made it to the parade, and you still haven't seen her!"

"Hiss~ Zhang Mobai, are you crazy! I already told you he wouldn't let me see it, it's the same if you went."

"Would it be the same if I went?" Zhang Mobai put down his pen, tilted his head, and propped his head up with his hand. "Big brother, I also want to see Han Jiuhua. Can you take me with you?"

"Brother, your statement is dangerous! I just got beaten up a couple of days ago, and now you want me to go again?" Tang Feng felt a pang of heartache thinking about the complete childhood his father had given him. He quickly picked up the pen Zhang Mobai had just put down and shoved it into Zhang Mobai's hand. "Hurry up and copy it, hurry up and copy it."

"Oh dear, you're so stingy, little brother. You can't share good things with others." Zhang Mobai didn't write anything after getting the pen; he just held it in his mouth and mumbled incoherently.

"Tsk, you really want to go?"

"Of course, I've never been to a place like that before, and don't worry, if Uncle Tang finds out about this again, I'll take the beating for you, okay?"

"Hiss~" Tang Feng was somewhat tempted. Thinking about how he'd been in such a rush last time and hadn't seen anything, he figured this time would be much better. So he readily agreed, "Alright! I can take you, but you have to promise," Tang Feng pointed at Zhang Mobai's nose, "you won't betray me."

"Alright, alright, I'll vouch for it with my character, neither of us will get beaten up." Zhang Mobai reached out and straightened the finger Tang Feng was pointing at him. "I have a plan, do you want to hear it?"