Chapter 38 Xu Jia Back Then
Han Yueshan spread his hands and said, "Senior Sister, we are both equally matched, so let's not get angry with each other. This time, Junior Brother came to see you mainly because he wanted to talk."
Tao Zi smiled and said, "Okay, come in and talk."
He immediately shook his head: "No, if someone gets up at night and finds out, I'll definitely get beaten up."
She laughed silently, and the two of them found a quiet and empty place.
Han Yueshan spoke first: "Senior Sister, why do you have to know this?"
"I'm worried that the sect has enemies. Why didn't you tell me?"
He pondered for a moment and said, "Senior Sister, you're one year older than me, but that doesn't mean you know more than me. Even if you helped us with the Nanyi Gate incident last time, it only means that you're smarter than us. I bet if I were given more time, I'd be able to figure this out, too."
She believed this sentence. After all, the problem was not difficult to solve, but what did it matter?
"And what? What are you worried about?"
Han Yueshan looked at her and said seriously, "I'm worried that you can't control your emotions and Xi Jing will find out something's wrong. If that happens, Xi Jing will be embarrassed. Most importantly, I don't want to disrupt the harmony in the sect because of this old incident. Senior Sister, I think you don't want to conflict with Xi Jing and see her sad, right?"
Tao Zi asked back, "Why don't you trust me?"
"Senior Sister, I know you're not an ordinary eighteen-year-old girl, but no matter how extraordinary you are, you only have eighteen years of experience. You're not the kind of old fox who can completely hide her feelings, especially when Xu Jia is still eyeing your identity as the senior sister."
She raised an eyebrow and couldn't help laughing.
He looked at his senior sister in confusion and asked, "Senior sister, what's wrong?"
"No, you're quite right, but what about Zhao Xue? He seems easier to be discovered."
Han Yueshan disagreed: "That's just his attitude. Xi Jing is used to it, and Xu Jia won't deliberately target him. But Senior Sister is different. Besides, he's been stupid from studying, and he's still worried about the things Xu Jia did to help us, so he can naturally hold it in."
"Oh? You don't mind?"
He sneered and said, "I was already seven years old when she helped us. I had already established a good relationship with Sister Li and the others. No matter what, I still needed to make a living. If Xi Jing didn't like her, I would have found a way to kill her."
Tao Zi looked at him in astonishment. Han Yueshan was always gentle and occasionally a little funny, but it was rare to see him like this. She frowned and asked, "What happened back then?"
Han Yueshan gave a brief explanation.
Xu Jia's daughter died of starvation during the famine. She offered the child to trade for food, but one child wasn't enough. Since her master wasn't around at the time, she decided to capture Han Yueshan and the others. Han Yueshan wasn't around, and Zhao Xue heard the noise. Remembering his senior brother's repeated warnings, he took Xi Jing and hid, preventing them from succeeding.
He added: "Fortunately, she didn't come over at that time, otherwise Zhao Xue would definitely not hide if she saw someone she knew."
"How do you know it's her?"
"I guessed. Just because I was five doesn't mean I'm stupid. At that time, Grandma Huang and the others weren't widows or widowers yet. Everyone in the village who could escape had already fled. Besides Xu Jia, who would come from time to time to ask when Master would return, who else knew there was a child hiding here? If I hadn't been on guard, I would have eaten the few pieces of green leaves she later brought me."
Tao Zi asked, "Is the food poisonous?"
"I fed a dog in the building, and the dog died that same day. Later, she would give some of the food she sent to the dog to eat, making sure it was fine before eating. If Xi Jing didn't know, I would have fed it all to the dog." Han Yueshan laughed sarcastically. "Only those who could still feed food to dogs at that time were cultivators or wealthy people. This behavior can be considered as maintaining my own status."
No wonder…
"Why didn't you tell Xi Jing directly at that time?"
He was silent for a moment before answering, "Xi Jing liked her at first sight, and since Master was away at the time, the man she married had an uncle who happened to be a beast tamer at the Xujia Sect. It was impossible for me to directly confront her. What's more, Xi Jing really liked her and pestered her the moment she arrived."
Tao Zi looked at the boy before her. She couldn't remember what she looked like at five, but she was certain she hadn't thought as much as he did, nor had she faced as many hardships. The silence she'd felt towards him at noon gradually faded. After all, the impact of childhood trauma was unimaginable.
She said gently, "Don't worry, I understand. I won't let Xi Jing notice anything is wrong. But even so, those vegetables don't need to be kept for that long."
"It's not that they can't be eaten. Just leave it there. I feel at ease only when I see those little bites and the fish jumping around, even though I know clearly that they are fine."
Tao Zi sighed and said, "Is this why you'd rather the food go bad than do this?"
Han Yueshan blurted out: "If the food is smelly, can't we eat it?"
She put away her sigh and said expressionlessly, "So you really don't understand?"
He looked at her innocently again.
Tao Zi rubbed her forehead, turned around and left. She had to think of a way, otherwise she would be depressed if she had to eat stinky vegetables every day, even if nothing bad happened to her.
"Senior Sister."
She stopped and looked over: "What else?"
"Are you not angry anymore about me lying to you?"
"As you said, we are both equally matched."
She knows herself very well. If she believes him this time and finds out that he is lying in the end, she will probably get angry, no matter how good his reasons are.
The next morning, as soon as she opened the door, a chicken flew towards her, followed by the flustered Zhao Xue.
She grabbed the chicken by the wings and wondered, "What's going on?"
Xi Jing ran over and took the chicken, saying, "The villagers down the mountain wanted to thank us for sending them the peaches. We couldn't sell all the peaches, so we just gave them some, including some raised by Grandpa Zhou."
Before she could ask any more questions, Xi Jing pointed at another chicken and said, "Third Brother, hurry up! There's another one about to run away! Oh, and don't damage that chicken's beautiful tail feathers. You can sell them to make money!"
Zhao Xue rushed over hurriedly.
"Where's the Master?"
"No."
"What about Yueshan?"
"Not yet."
The corners of her mouth twitched, and she asked again, "The villagers brought it up directly, without tying it up?"
Xi Jing said helplessly, "They were tied up, but Third Senior Brother untied them. He said he felt they had no energy and was scared to death. But as soon as they were untied, each one ran and jumped faster than the other."
Tao Zi was so upset that she was speechless.
Han Yueshan happened to come out of the room at this time. Seeing the chicken feathers all over the floor and the chickens running around freely, his first words were: "Did you go robbing?"
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