Chapter 13 Ah Que smells so good! Ah Que and I are the best of friends in the world...
Since Shen Que topped the list in the first written exam, his name has spread rapidly among his disciples.
This should have been a great opportunity to make a name for himself, but this guy didn't even show his face, which is a real pity, otherwise we could have made some friends.
Let's talk about what Shen Que is doing.
In the quiet courtyard, only the house was brightly lit. The master and apprentice were sitting at the desk, with Jiang Yuemian holding a book on essay writing.
Jiang Yuemian was teaching him how to write an essay.
At this moment, the two were very close, but Jiang Yuemian did not notice. Shen Que listened to his master's clear voice and could smell the faint scent of plum blossoms on his master's body. He was unconsciously distracted.
His distraction was only directed at his master, whom he had been focusing on with his book. He quietly watched her; she hadn't dressed up specially today, still dressed in simple clothes with her hair black, but her beauty remained unaffected, instead appearing even more ethereal. From his perspective, her exquisite eyebrows and straight nose were even more striking under the lamplight. At that moment, her lips parted slightly, and he could barely hear what she was saying.
He felt that the opening and closing of those red lips was particularly attractive to him, making him want to investigate them.
"Ah Que, did you understand?" Jiang Yuemian suddenly asked, and then, seeing that Shen Que did not respond, she turned to look at Shen Que.
"Ah Que?" The Immortal Venerable frowned, but noticed that Shen Que's face was a little red.
Strange, why is Ah Que's face a little red? It's not even hot in this room.
"Ah, Master, I..." Shen Que only heard it on the second try. He responded in a panic, wanting to explain, but secretly thought that he really shouldn't have done it.
What can be explained? It's a fact that he wasn't paying attention, and besides, what he was thinking just now was really...
He opened his mouth, but didn't know what to say, so he simply remained silent and let his master punish him.
Fortunately, Jiang Yuemian didn't intend to hold a grudge this time. She asked softly, "Did you understand what I just said?"
Shen Que couldn't answer.
Seeing his reaction, Jiang Yuemian said, "Then I'll explain it again."
This time, Shen Que focused on his book, with his master's words in his ears. Under the pale yellow light, the two sat side by side at the desk, their little world consisting only of each other.
The next day, Shen Que sat in the examination room, looking at the test paper in his hand.
[Please write a 500-word reflection based on the following material: Xiaoming's family in xx village grows millet, producing xx shi (a unit of dry measure) annually. Since xx, our palace, within its jurisdiction, has strived to improve the villagers' quality of life, shouldering a major responsibility, continuously strengthening the foundation of the granary, and welcoming year after year of bountiful harvests. Only those with high scores will be eligible for the written exam.]
He read the question carefully and got a clue. Following that clue, he wrote word by word carefully, and the writing became smoother and smoother.
He thought that perhaps it was because of the explanation his master had given him yesterday. The topics were clearly not the same, and everyone had this book, but the explanation given by his master was different.
...
The next day, the results came out, and Shen Que was in first place again.
Everyone thought they would finally get to know Brother Shen this time. They craned their necks to look, but he still didn't appear.
“…”
Meanwhile, the number one player, whom everyone wanted to get to know, was sweating profusely in his own courtyard.
Jiang Yuemian sat with her legs crossed at the table, waiting for her meal. Her good apprentice was busy in the kitchen, working hard with pots and pans. She could smell the delicious aroma from outside and couldn't help but drool.
001 is waiting too.
[However, Mianmian~, I need to remind you, you need to complete the apprentice-recruiting task as soon as possible, the next task is about to be issued!!]
Okay, okay.
Jiang Yuemian thought dismissively, what's wrong with her taking a break? She'd been busy collecting faith points for days, and even got struck by lightning while crafting a magic weapon.
She was haggling with 001 when Shen Que, who had already prepared the dishes, came over with them.
The steaming hot food was placed in front of Jiang Yuemian in the blink of an eye.
!!
She eagerly took a bite, and exclaimed, "Wow, it's so delicious!"
"Ah Que, you should try it." Her eyes sparkled as she shoveled rice into her mouth. She never cared about her image with Shen Que.
Seeing her enjoying her meal, Shen Que picked up his chopsticks and started eating too. A smile appeared in his eyes, and his expression softened instantly.
They ate and talked at the same time.
"Ah Que, including today's exam, you are undoubtedly the number one in the written test, but why don't you make some friends with them?" Jiang Yuemian asked while eating, pouring herself a cup of tea.
“Master, I don’t need friends,” Shen Que replied.
Seeing that Jiang Yuemian liked the dishes in front of him, he even reached out and moved the dishes in front of her.
"But people always need friends, right? Otherwise, wouldn't they be very lonely?" Jiang Yuemian asked again.
She ate happily, and when she heard Chen Que say that, she didn't quite understand. For example, she also had many friends and family, but Chen Que had never mentioned his family.
“You won’t be lonely, Master. I have Master.” He then replied to Jiang Yuemian, his eyes staring straight at her. Jiang Yuemian could see her own small reflection in his eyes.
“Ah Que, Master is Master. What I mean is, you need to have your own friends. You can eat together, cultivate together, and do meaningful things together.” Jiang Yuemian felt that Shen Que had misunderstood her. Friends and Master are two different concepts.
“But my master and I can do these things too.” Shen Que put down his chopsticks, his expression somewhat stubborn.
“I can eat with my master, my master can guide me in cultivation, and I will also do meaningful things with my master,” he continued, his expression serious and nervous.
"Could it be that Master won't always be with me?"
"Of course I will, I will always be with you." Jiang Yuemian hurriedly explained, but she felt strange inside. This was not good for A-Que. What was the point of him spending all his time with his master? At his age, he should have a few close friends.
"Then I will always stay with Master." Shen Que's eyes were very serious. His dark eyes looked at her as if he were making a promise.
Jiang Yuemian sighed inwardly. "Ah, I don't know if A-Que's personality is a good thing or a bad thing."
"Master, will you dislike A-Que in the future?" Seeing Jiang Yuemian's expression, Shen Que knew that he hadn't given up on letting him make friends, so he pretended to be injured.
"No, of course not." Jiang Yuemian quickly denied it. How could she dislike A-Que? A-Que was capable in both the living room and the kitchen, simply the most amazing disciple in the world.
"Ah Que and I are the best of friends in the world."
Shen Que suddenly laughed, a laugh that came out of nowhere, his eyes almost overflowing with joy. The young man was already of extraordinary appearance, and this laugh added to his charm.
Jiang Yuemian was somewhat stunned again; Ah Que was truly a great beauty. She stared directly at Shen Que until Shen Que began to look away, becoming shy.
Afterwards, Jiang Yuemian was in a great mood and ate several bowls of rice.
Shen Que didn't eat much. He wasn't particularly fond of food, and in his early years he often didn't know where his next meal would come from, so for him, filling his stomach was enough.
The little mushrooms on the table didn't even notice them; they were just stuffing them into their mouths.
...
The second competition was held the day after the first one, which took place the day before the Lantern Festival in Shanhai City.
Jiang Yuemian really wanted to go see it, so she took Shen Que and 001 with her.
It was already late, but the streets were brightly lit. The two walked side by side on the street, with 001 leaning on Jiang Yuemian's shoulder.
Jiang Yuemian was very interested in the Lantern Festival. She had often read novels where the Lantern Festival was featured in famous scenes between the male and female protagonists. Now she finally had the opportunity to see the Lantern Festival in the cultivation world.
She wanted to look at everything, examining each stall one by one, until she came across a mask vendor. She picked up two masks, one with a silver fox design and the other with a phoenix design, and she held the silver fox mask lightly over Shen Que's face.
"Ah Que, this looks good on you." As expected of Ah Que, this mask covers his face, leaving only his eyes. But Ah Que's eyes are the most beautiful feature on his face, and this mask adds to his mystery.
She put the phoenix-patterned mask on her face again, turned to ask, "Ah Que, how does this look on me?"
“Master looks good in anything.” Shen Que was not just being perfunctory; it was simply that the Immortal Venerable’s temperament was extraordinary. At this moment, the phoenix-patterned mask on her face matched her dress perfectly.
"Okay! Stall owner, I'll take these two." Jiang Yuemian was overjoyed by his flattery, thinking to herself that Ah was indeed very sweet-talking, but she admitted that she had been charmed. She turned to the stall owner and told him she wanted them, taking out a high-grade spirit stone from her storage bag and tossing it into the stall owner's arms.
"This, miss, this old man really doesn't have any change." The stall owner looked quite old, his clothes were faded with several patches on the cuffs, and his hands were cracked; he seemed rather flustered.
Beside him was a little girl, who appeared to be his granddaughter. The little girl had a round face, her cheeks red from the cold, and round eyes. She looked like she had been wearing the same clothes for a long time. She rubbed her cold hands together and smiled at them.
"Keep the change, consider it money for the little girl to buy candied hawthorns," Jiang Yuemian said.
"This, this won't do." The stall owner made a move to return it.
"Bang!" The circus performance in the distance had already started, and crowds of people were gathering in that direction.
The sound immediately made Jiang Yuemian want to go and see, but she could only continue to persuade the stall owner: "Alright, take it quickly. If you don't mind, can you come to your house for a meal after you close up shop? Consider it payment for this meal."
The stall owner still didn't want to accept the money; there were simply too many spirit stones, how could he afford to spend them on just one meal? The stall owner thought it was really inappropriate and was about to refuse. His family wasn't wealthy, but he couldn't take advantage of others for nothing.
"Uncle, please accept this. My master loves home-cooked meals. If she could eat your food, it would make her happy for days," Shen Que said quickly when he saw the old man was about to refuse.
Seeing that both of them said so, the stall owner could only say, "Well, alright then, this old man will certainly treat you two well." This was his agreement.
So, after persuading the stall owner, the two headed towards the crowd. However, there were too many people, and Jiang Yuemian was jostled by someone. She lost her balance and felt herself leaning forward. Just as she realized something was wrong, a warm arm wrapped around her waist and pulled her back.
Jiang Yuemian turned her head to look, and it was A-Que. Not bad, this disciple was truly worth taking in.
But the two were very close, their bodies touching. Jiang Yuemian seemed to smell A Que's scent. A Que smelled wonderful, like the perfume she used to love, a cool cedar scent.
She was a little overwhelmed by the fragrance. Why would a man smell so good? But... if it was Ah Que, it made sense, didn't it?
A note from the author:
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Waaaaaah [Clown][Clown][Laughing] I finally made it!
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