Chapter 3 Eyes Like Stars
As spring goes and autumn comes, winter comes and summer goes, there are always some guests in the town, but not many.
Regular customers recognize the little girl who often sits at the tea table by the window, fiddling with the Nine-Link Rings and the Kongming Lock, and new guests always ask her about it.
Who is that young lady with willow eyebrows, bright eyes and a bad temper?
At this time, the inn's proprietress, Madam Yi, said proudly, "It's my daughter, her name is Jiaoran."
Jiaoran was sixteen years old and had never left the town.
People who knew her since childhood always feel sorry for her. According to them, when Jiaoran was a child, she looked like the cute and smart dolls in New Year pictures, and everyone who saw her wanted to kiss her hard.
People often say that girls change a lot when they grow up, and become more and more beautiful, but Jiaoran did not grow up to be a stunning beauty.
Her round face became stiff, and there was always a dull and absent-minded look between her eyebrows. She would only become lively when she saw something she liked. Compared with the softness of other women, her temperament was even more regrettable. The only ones who could make her submit were the couple who owned the Huiying Inn.
The only thing worth looking at more is her eyes, which are bright and almost exactly the same as when she was a child. On such a not-so-beautiful face, her only advantage is her eyes as bright as stars.
Xiu Tu Luo Xue arrives one month earlier than Chang'an.
On the evening of the first snowfall, something happened at Huiying Gate, and Jiaoran was the only one watching over the inn.
Before leaving, Aunt Yi said to Jiaoran, who was squatting at the door of the inn, "Once you've grilled this fish, your father and I will be back. Keep an eye on the people eating inside. If anyone tries to escape, go to the backyard and call your senior brother. Got it?"
Jiaoran turned her head away to prevent her from touching her head. She felt that she had grown up and it would be childish to let someone touch her head casually.
"Hmm." She pursed her lips and slowly applied oil to the fish.
The fish skin, which was not yet cooked, made a sizzling sound as oil and water mixed together. Jiaoran turned the fish over and continued to roast it, not paying any attention to what A Niang said.
She has always been very serious about her work, especially grilling fish.
The fellow disciples in Huiyingmen all like to eat the fish she grills.
My mother also said that when she becomes more serious about learning to read and practicing martial arts than about grilling fish and unlocking other trivial matters, that is when she learns to do serious work.
Aunt Yi taught her to write when she was ten years old. After so many years, she can only write a few simple words and her own name.
Aunt Yi herself had little patience. Jiaoran couldn't sit still to write. Once she sat down and started reading, she felt uncomfortable as if a needle was pricking her butt. She didn't want to follow her and force her. After all, she would marry a fellow apprentice in the sect in the future, so it didn't matter whether she could read or not.
The Yi couple rode away on their horses, leaving Jiaoran alone sitting under the locust tree at the door of the inn, grilling fish. The aroma was so fragrant that wild cats could smell it and call out from across the street, but they didn't dare to get close. There had been many wild cats in Huiying Inn before, and some had sneaked into the kitchen to steal food. They would peel off the cat's skin, revealing the red meat, and hang it in the bushes nearby to scare the wild cats, so the cats nearby didn't dare to get close.
The wild cat suddenly screamed miserably, "Meow——"
The cry attracted Jiaoran to look over to see what was going on.
A familiar person has walked up to her.
The fan in Jiaoran's hand paused for a moment.
He retracted his gaze and said calmly, "Long time no see, Senior Brother Bu Yue."
The dark-skinned boy was about eighteen or nineteen years old. He had a small gap in his front teeth and his eyes and eyebrows looked unruly. He looked very fierce when he was not smiling, and very creepy when he smiled.
Bu Yue's flying knife was faster than his own greeting. With two rustling sounds, it brushed against the corner of Jiaoran's clothes and landed on the tree trunk behind her.
Jiaoran frowned, "If it burns, my mother will be angry."
He was just trying to scare her, Jiaoran understood.
Bu Yue only dared to scare her, but he didn't have the courage to kill her.
In the entire Huiying Sect, the person who hates Jiaoran the most is probably Senior Brother Bu Yue.
His hatred was not without reason. When Mingguang was a child, he was expelled from Huiyingmen because he took her out for a while and came back to talk back to his master's wife. It was Bu Yue's turn to go on that mission, but he was seriously injured and had not recovered yet. As his senior sister, Mingguang went to replace him without telling her master and brothers.
After Mingguang left, Bu Yue often targeted her.
Normally, those who were disobedient would be sold out by their master and his mistress, either as guards or assassins, and they would never be allowed to come back. But Bu Yue was different.
When he was twelve years old, he pushed Jiaoran into the pond in the backyard and almost drowned her. His master was furious and beat him up. He then sold him to a theatre troupe in Qiantang. Within a year, he had killed all the members of the troupe and he came back.
When he was fourteen, he taught Jiaoran to practice with the spear, but he poked a bloody wound on her shoulder, almost breaking her left arm. His mistress beat him half to death and took him to the Nanzhao ship, never to be found again.
Look, after just a few years, it came back again.
Jiao Ran glanced at the flying knife behind him and joked, "I wonder if it will snow in Nanzhao?"
Bu Yue squatted in front of her, picked up one of the roasted ones and took a bite, "Not bad."
"Where are the Master and the others?"
Jiao Ran shook his head and said he was not very clear, "He said something happened in the sect and he had to go back."
"Day after day, what else do you know besides remembering to eat!" He said vaguely while gnawing on the grilled fish.
Jiaoran wanted to shove his face into the charcoal fire, but he was no match for him.
After not seeing each other for a few years, the two were still the same, as if Bu Yue had just gone on a long journey yesterday and came back today.
She doesn't hold grudges. Bu Yue tried to see hostility in her eyes, but couldn't see any. The dead kid hid it quite well and learned to hide her emotions.
Zhuxing came on horseback, and it had started snowing when she arrived.
After getting off the horse, Zhuxing did not delay for a moment. He kept talking to Jiaoran at the door without even looking at the distant guest.
Rush into the inn and call for help.
He called Suixing and Shunguang, and led the horses to go together.
"Don't delay, the master is waiting there." she said anxiously.
The next moment he stood still on the threshold.
"Senior Sister, what's wrong?"
Raising his head and following the gaze, Zhuxing's eyes stopped on one person.
Shunguang didn't recognize him, but Suixing did, "Brother, you're back!"
Suixing rushed forward and hugged Bu Yue, "I knew you would come back. No matter how many times Master and the others chased you away, you would always come back!"
Jiaoran looked at him crying like a loser, took out a handkerchief and asked him to wipe his tears.
Bu Yue pushed him away and said, "You're already a grown man, and you cry all day long."
Jiaoran nodded aside, agreeing deeply with what he said.
Zhuxing, holding the horse's hand trembling, handed the rope to someone else, stepped forward and held Bu Yue's face carefully, "Brother, you're back?"
Bu Yue didn't want to repeat what she had said, and said impatiently, "Alright, alright, if there's anything going on inside, just tell me now, and stop exchanging pleasantries."
Zhuxing was not discouraged by what he said, and said excitedly, "It's good that Senior Brother is back. It just so happens that Master asked me to come back to find someone to go back. Senior Brother Niyun and Senior Sister Chenhua are not here, and the disciples with better martial arts skills have all gone on missions, leaving behind some useless ones.
This afternoon, a man showed up to compete in single-handed boarding. The younger disciples were about to kick him out, but he claimed to be a disciple of the Zongxun sect. Isn't that the sect founded by Master's old friend? Kicking him out would be rude, so they called Master and his wife over to see what to do.
The master said it was nothing, and since he wanted to teach the Yingmen martial arts, he let the brothers try it. It didn't matter if they tried, they were no match for him. The master was so angry that he wanted to fight, but his wife stopped him, saying that it was not right for an elder to intervene in a fight against a younger generation. She asked me to go back to the inn and find a few brothers to help.
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