Chapter 267 He's Learned to Flirt
"Senior Brother!"
Xie Lingjiang hurriedly pushed open the door and entered the house. She immediately saw Ouyang Rong's tall figure carrying a book as he walked out of the inner room, and her face lit up with surprise.
Ouyang Rong laughed and said, "What's the rush? Why are you being so impatient?"
"Senior Brother, you...you're alright?"
Ouyang Rong glanced at the fine water droplets on Xie Lingjiang's fair forehead, walked to the table, and poured a cup of cold tea.
Xie Lingjiang bit her lip and circled the calm young man pouring tea twice, looking him up and down.
The short-haired young man, who had been bedridden and deprived of sunlight for many days, had become much fairer and thinner, giving him a sickly-handsome look, but his eyes were still bright and piercing.
He is in excellent spirits and has fully recovered.
"Don't look at it anymore. Apart from a sore back, there's nothing serious."
"My back... my back hurts?" Xie Lingjiang couldn't help but scribble over the words.
Ouyang Rong nodded:
"It's normal to fall and hurt your back. But speaking of which, Master Shandao's medical skills are still superb, worthy of the name of a divine doctor."
He looked around and sighed.
Xie Lingjiang was taken aback. Looking at Ouyang Rong's composed expression, she realized what was going on.
"He truly is a miracle doctor," Xie Lingjiang murmured.
Ouyang Rong handed the herbal tea to Xie Lingjiang and asked curiously:
"Why are you looking at me like that, junior sister? I'm not injured. Besides, don't you know how I am? You've been right beside me these past few days."
"Also, where did you go this morning? I didn't see you when I woke up. You just got back, how did you know I was awake?"
Xie Lingjiang quickly took the teacup, lowered her head and sipped it silently, answering only one question in a low voice:
"It was the divine physician who said... that our senior brother will wake up today."
Ouyang Rong nodded and sighed, "Master Shandao is so amazing. I used to speak to him a little too loudly. It seems I should address him with more respect from now on."
Xie Lingjiang nervously held the teacup, and couldn't help but glance at the senior brother she had imagined.
In fact, these days, she had been kept out of the house by that eccentric old Taoist priest in his crane-cloak, who forbade her from visiting her senior brother at will.
And it wasn't just her; her father Xie Xun, Senior Chongxuzi, and the Li Xian family all received the same treatment.
The old Taoist priest in his crane-cloak refused all visitors, and only that pretty young lady was allowed to stay in this room at Sanhui Courtyard.
Xie Lingjiang was frantic outside, pacing back and forth, tossing and turning all night.
Some even regretted giving up their senior brother's sickbed so easily. What if this old Taoist in the crane cloak was just bragging out of spite? It would have been better to try the inferior strategy of Taoist Chongxuzi.
Until this morning, the second senior sister, who had been dragging her and her father along, suddenly left. Before leaving, she informed her that the person had woken up. Xie Lingjiang was relieved and rushed over without stopping.
Seeing the lively Ouyang Rong now, Xie Lingjiang suddenly felt that everything was worth it. All the anxiety and torment of these days were worth it, even if... she lost to that pretty girl again in the matter of "asking a miracle doctor to save people".
Xie Lingjiang felt both grateful and bitter; her feelings towards the pretty girl suddenly became complicated.
Oh, and there's also... her strange decision to leave on her own initiative.
Xie Lingjiang hesitated, then said, "Senior Brother..."
Ouyang Rong suddenly asked, "When you entered the courtyard just now, did you notice any noise inside the house?"
"A commotion?" Xie Lingjiang looked around curiously. "No, what commotion are you talking about, Senior Brother? Aren't you right inside the house?"
"fine."
Ouyang Rong shook his head without showing any emotion.
He had just been observing the sword inside the room, and in theory, there should have been a significant fluctuation in spiritual energy. When his junior sister suddenly barged in, Ouyang Rong was momentarily tense before hurriedly putting away his "craftsmanship".
Logically speaking, as a junior sister who is a seventh-grade Qi cultivator, she should be able to sense the corresponding movements, especially the surging spiritual energy fluctuations of the cauldron sword.
Before asking, Ouyang Rong thought that his junior sister had judged that he had awakened based on the fluctuations of the cauldron sword.
The fluctuations in spiritual energy were negligible... Could this also be one of the supernatural abilities of "craftsmanship"?
He looked down at his palms and the Buddhist scriptures, which he had "crafted," tucked into his pocket.
His eyes seemed to be lost in thought.
A moment later.
"Hey, can you hold this for me?"
Ouyang Rong casually stuffed the Buddhist scriptures into his junior sister's arms, left a sentence, and turned to walk out of the room.
The eldest brother's words and actions were often so unpredictable that Xie Lingjiang had long been used to it and could not fathom him.
He didn't ask any more questions at the moment, and seeing that the other person was leaving, he quickly followed after him.
"Senior Brother, where are we going?"
"Go down the mountain."
“Oh, but senior brother, your hair, your hair, isn’t tied up yet,” she reminded him.
The short-haired young man walking in front suddenly stopped and turned around. A pretty young woman carrying a book, who seemed to be following him closely, was caught off guard and couldn't stop in time.
With a cry of "Ouch!", the junior sister bumped into the senior brother's arms.
Her first reaction wasn't to blame someone for braking, but rather to panic and blame herself, her cheeks instantly flushing red.
Fortunately, the arm holding the book in front of her chest blocked it, otherwise she would have been too ashamed to show her face.
"Uh, sorry."
Ouyang Rong seemed not to think much of it, his expression calm. He took off the men's hat from his junior sister, who was dressed as a man, and put it on his short-haired head.
Ouyang Rong showed no mercy.
Xie Lingjiang's eyes widened in surprise.
At this moment, Ouyang Rong was taller and Xie Lingjiang was shorter, so one looked down and the other looked up, creating a scene of staring at each other.
Ouyang Rong suddenly raised his hand and used his forearm sleeve to wipe the sweat from Xie Lingjiang's forehead.
Xie Lingjiang's body tensed up instantly, and she didn't dare to utter a sound.
After carefully wiping the sweat from her forehead, Ouyang Rong stopped, turned around, and continued walking out, as if it were an obsessive-compulsive act.
"What are you standing there for? Come on, you're even more reckless than before. You don't even wipe your sweat. Oh, by the way, can I borrow your hat? You're wearing a hat anyway."
"Oh, okay, sure."
Xie Lingjiang followed with a stiff face, mechanically replying as they walked out of the Sanhui Courtyard. She secretly glanced at the profile of the senior brother in front of her.
He remained calm and strode forward.
"Let's go down the mountain now, Senior Brother, aren't you going to eat something?"
"I'm not eating anymore. I've been unconscious for so long, and there are a lot of things to take care of down the mountain."
"That's right. My father is also waiting for us down the mountain. He'll be happy that our eldest brother has woken up."
"The teacher is here too."
"Yes, Father cares a lot about Senior Brother."
"Then, let's go see the teacher first." Ouyang Rong hesitated for a moment, then sighed softly.
"However, during the days I was unconscious, tell me in detail what happened in Longcheng on the way."
"Yes, Senior Brother."
"And... thank you for your hard work these past few days."
Xie Lingjiang's nose suddenly stung with tears.
After descending the mountain, Xie Lingjiang, carrying Buddhist scriptures, recounted the recent events in Longcheng, while Ouyang Rong listened silently the entire way.
However, occasionally, his junior sister would ask him about his "backache," seemingly quite interested in it. Ouyang Rong was slightly taken aback, but he casually answered a few questions, telling the truth.
The young woman bit her lip and frowned, seemingly lost in thought.
Ouyang Rong didn't have much time to guess what the woman was thinking; he had some more important things to deal with right now.
When the two siblings arrived at Luming Street from Dagushan, it was already close to noon.
Ouyang Rong saw his mentor Xie Xun in the plum grove courtyard of the Meilu Garden.
The master and apprentice shook hands and exchanged pleasantries.
Ouyang Rong was deeply moved when he saw his teacher, whose hair was slightly gray, who had come all the way to Longcheng to visit him.
"Has the teacher eaten yet?"
"Not yet." Xie Xun smiled. "We've been dining at the Su residence next door these past few days. Shall we go over there now..."
“No need for now.” Ouyang Rong suddenly interrupted, “Let’s eat here. It would be too much of a bother to others. My cooking skills are pretty good. Teacher and junior sister, you can try some later.”
At present, there are almost no servants in the Meilu Garden, only a few old servants guarding the gate. Without saying a word, Ouyang Rong went to the kitchen, rolled up his sleeves, and cooked himself.
Xie Xun couldn't help but glance at the resolute figure of the young man who had recovered from his illness.
When the master and apprentice met, they were surprisingly in sync and did not immediately engage in a deep conversation.
There was probing, and there was also an attitude.
This isn't just being polite and wary; it's being far too informal and overly intimate.
Xie Lingjiang sweated a lot on her way back, her thin shirt soaked with fragrant sweat. She immediately went to Yilan Pavilion in the Su family mansion to bathe and perfume herself.
Ouyang Rong felt that his cooking skills were not bad; he had practiced them when he lived away from home in his previous life.
In particular, when I went to investigate the hydrological features of the upper and lower reaches of Butterfly Creek with Liu Ashan and others, we often cooked outdoors, which was also a learning experience.
Ah Shan's cooking skills are quite good, comparable to his sister's.
While cooking, Ouyang Rong's expression was slightly dazed.
At one point, he suddenly turned around and stared at the empty kitchen behind him.
The figure of that quiet, unassuming man who used to follow behind was no longer there.
Right now, Aqing and Liu's mother are not at the Deer Park either. According to my junior sister, they have moved back to their home in the suburbs to handle Ashan's funeral arrangements. His prolonged coma has also caused him to miss the main funeral events...
Ouyang Rong turned his head and threw the firewood into the stove. It crackled and popped as he silently stared at the flames dancing in the stove.
After a short while, he rubbed his face several times, temporarily calming himself down.
Just as I adjusted my expression, I heard my junior sister making noises in the courtyard.
In the courtyard, Xie Xun, who was deep in thought, also looked up.
“Wanwan, you…”
He was somewhat taken aback when he saw his daughter walking into the yard from the plum grove.
Xie Xun couldn't help but ask, "Why is your hair so loose and you're not wearing a hat? And why are you wearing a skirt for the first time ever..."
As he continued speaking, the middle-aged scholar seemed to remember something, paused, and glanced sideways at his daughter.
"My hair is wet, it's not dry yet," Xie Lingjiang replied softly, her long, black hair cascading over her shoulders.
Having just finished bathing and burning incense, Xie Lingjiang dismissed the maids, dressed herself, and immediately took a Buddhist scripture and returned to her senior brother's courtyard.
"Where's Senior Brother?" Xie Lingjiang looked around and asked curiously, "Is he cooking in the kitchen?"
Xie Xun stroked his beard and nodded.
Xie Lingjiang immediately went over: "Daughter, go help."
"Wanwan, you can cook?" Xie Xun asked curiously.
After being glared at by his beloved daughter, the father quickly shut up and nodded vigorously: "Alright, alright, you should be impressed after three days apart. You should also try Wanwan's cooking."
However, seeing his daughter with wet hair and a white dress walking confidently into the kitchen, he couldn't help but chuckle.
What are you going in there to help with? You'll only make things worse.
Xie Xun rubbed his forehead and shook his head, feeling a bit of a headache.
Inside the kitchen.
"Senior Brother, let me do the rice washing!"
As soon as Xie Lingjiang entered the kitchen, she said in a serious tone that she would step forward to help without hesitation.
Ouyang Rong wiped his hands and turned to ask, "You can do this too?"
"You underestimate me. I learned it a long time ago." She said with a stern face.
“Alright.” Ouyang Rong moved aside to move to the stove.
The young lady from the Xie family had just finished bathing; her face and neck were fair and white as snow, clean and beautiful, untouched by any dust.
She wore a moon-white long dress, with a pretty cinched waist, making her look like a fairy descending to earth.
Her long, glossy black hair was casually draped over her shoulders, giving her an ethereal air compared to her usual heroic look with her hair tied up and wearing a crown.
At that moment, Xie Lingjiang walked past Ouyang Rong, and a few wisps of floral fragrance wafted into his nose.
Ouyang Rong turned his head and saw Xie Lingjiang's serious expression, holding books in both arms, and couldn't help but chuckle:
Why are you still clinging to this Buddhist scripture?
Xie Lingjiang wrinkled her nose: "Didn't Senior Brother tell me to hold it?"
"Just put it on my desk in my study when you get back. Never mind, you're so silly. Besides, aren't you curious why I brought back a Buddhist scripture?"
"Hmm, why?" She tilted her head.
“There’s a flower inside, a gift from Buddha,” Ouyang Rong said solemnly. “He asked me to give it to you to wear on your head.”
He glanced at her wet, long hair.
"Huh~" Xie Lingjiang's expression was half-believing and half-doubting.
"Don't believe me? Then close your eyes." He sighed.
Xie Lingjiang rolled her eyes. "Only a child would believe that. No way, that's so old-fashioned."
Ouyang Rong nodded, took out a thin red rope from his sleeve, and threw it behind Xie Lingjiang in front of her.
"What are you doing?" Xie Lingjiang turned around warily, only to find that the red rope she had thrown out was nowhere to be seen.
She looked around at the ground, a puzzled expression on her face: "Where's the rope?"
Ouyang Rong laughed and said, "Isn't it on your head?"
Xie Lingjiang turned her head instantly, lifted her black hair over her shoulder, and saw a beautiful hair clip quietly attached to her hair.
This hair clip has a unique design, consisting of a light blue glass piece shaped like an iris petal and a red string, making it a beautiful piece of glass hair clip.
Her little face was filled with surprise, "This, this is..."
The legendary Ding Sword was casually tossed to her by her senior brother, who temporarily used it as a hairpin to bind her hair.
Ouyang Rong said seriously, "The Buddhist scriptures have been lost. Flowers are given to beautiful women, but the Buddha is no longer of any use."
Xie Lingjiang grabbed the glass-like red rope hairpin floating in her hair and used it to tie up all her black hair. Looking down at her reflection in the water vat, she felt her cheeks burn and her voice became soft and sweet.
"Senior Brother, you...you seem to have changed, you're not the same person anymore."
"It has indeed changed."
Ouyang Rong nodded. When he was controlling the cauldron sword, his junior sister couldn't even detect the fluctuations of spiritual energy emanating from him. She didn't even notice when the cauldron sword left the Buddhist scriptures in her bosom.
Xie Lingjiang's heart fluttered with sweetness as she asked in a trembling voice, "Is it true?"
Ouyang Rong was very certain: "Really? So you noticed too? I've become stronger; my junior sister can't even see my shadow when I make a move."
"..." Xie Lingjiang.
Ouyang Rong suppressed his smirk, pretending not to see his junior sister puffing out her cheeks and huffing angrily. He maintained a serious expression and turned back to continue cooking.
Shortly afterward, the meal was prepared.
Ouyang Rong and Xie Lingjiang, father and daughter, sat in the courtyard, having lunch together.
(End of this chapter)
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