Chapter 108: Gaining Another Fierce General
Chapter 108: Gaining Another Fierce General
Camels are animals in the camel family, with some having one hump and some having two. Also, alpacas are camels too, they just love spitting.
Li Zian never dreamed that one day he would apply Golden Wound Ointment to a camel. After applying it, he didn’t dare stay long. He went home and took a cold shower, which made him feel a bit better.
He wanted to stay close to Mu Chuntao. Even if they did nothing, just squeezing together to watch a soap opera would be happy. But on one side, Yu Meilin was getting off work and would come home soon. On the other side, Mu Long might come home at any time too. He didn’t dare stay.
He had no idea when this hiding and sneaking around life would end.
He also didn’t know what would happen if his secret relationship with Mu Chuntao was discovered.
Why think so much?
When the car reaches the mountain, there will be a road. When the boat reaches the bridge, it will go straight naturally.
After showering, Li Zian went into the kitchen to prepare some new Golden Wound Ointment. If Mu Chuntao’s instep still wasn’t better tomorrow, he planned to apply some more to her foot. After preparing a large piece of Golden Wound Ointment, he started preparing ingredients for dinner.
Around five o’clock, Tang Qing came downstairs and stood at the kitchen door to greet Li Zian. “Brother Zian, today’s lessons are finished. I’m going back now.”
Li Zian said, “Stay for dinner before you go.”
Tang Qing quickly said, “No, I booked a Ride-Hailing Car. It should be arriving soon. I need to go down.”
Li Zian didn’t see her holding a mobile phone, but didn’t point it out. Smiling, he said, “You can cancel even if you booked it. Help me peel some garlic. I’m going to make garlic prawns later.”
Tang Qing looked hesitant.
Li Zian added, “Look, I can’t manage alone. If you don’t help me, dinner will definitely be late today.”
“Then I’ll help you peel the garlic and then go back,” Tang Qing said.
Li Zian replied, “Okay, if you don’t want to stay for dinner, I won’t force you.”
Tang Qing fetched an apron and tied it on, then helped Li Zian peel garlic.
Li Zian said, “Getting married is a good thing. Why do you seem so unhappy?”
“I…” Tang Qing knew Li Zian asked her to peel garlic because he wanted to talk with her, but she couldn’t bring herself to speak.
While cleaning the prawns, Li Zian talked to her. “If you don’t like that person, you don’t have to marry him. It’s good for children to be filial, but you shouldn’t be foolishly filial. If a woman marries the wrong man, she’ll be miserable for life. You can’t just marry because your mother tells you to, just because of her reasons.”
Tang Qing glanced at Li Zian but said nothing.
Li Zian said, “I really think of you as my little sister. It’s not right if you don’t tell me about such things. Besides, even if you really go back to your hometown to marry, as your big brother, I should at least attend your wedding and give you a big red envelope, right?”
Somehow, Tang Qing’s emotions suddenly went out of control. Her mouth trembled, and tears suddenly poured from her eyes.
Li Zian panicked a bit. He reached out to wipe her tears, but his hands were covered in starch powder, so he pulled back. If he wiped her tears with such hands, she would look like a female ghost.
“Cry, let it out. You’ll feel better.”
Tang Qing wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes with the back of her hand, then finally spoke the words she had kept inside. “The man I’m supposed to marry has the same surname as you. He’s called Li Qiang. He was my classmate. Even back in school, he was very bad. He smoked, drank, and had several girlfriends.”
Li Zian heard this and felt righteous anger. “Wow, there’s actually such scum among people with the surname Li?”
For some reason, he thought of Yu Meilin’s classmate again. Damn, are there any pure classmate relationships left in this world?
“In high school, he pursued me. I just wanted to get into college and hated people like him, so I refused him. He pestered me a few times. I told our homeroom teacher. Our teacher knew his dad and talked to him. Then he toned it down a bit. After I got into college, he even came to Shanghai specifically to find me. I hid in the school and didn’t see him.”
Li Zian couldn’t help cursing again. “Real scumbag indeed. He must be born in the year of the shameless dog.”
“I studied here and didn’t dare go back. I worked during winter and summer vacations. Later, I heard from a classmate that he got married. I only went back home once in my sophomore year winter break. I found out that after high school, he just hung around in our local society. He ran a mahjong parlor, ran a foot massage place. In our small county town, he had over a dozen storefronts. So he was considered rich. I also heard his father-in-law was very capable and gave him a boost. But his wife couldn’t have children. They’d been married two years and she never got pregnant…” Maybe the word “pregnant” made her feel awkward, so she stopped talking.
“Go on.”
“Last year, I don’t know how he got my phone number. He called me and said he was very unhappy, that he had never forgotten me all these years, and wanted to be with me.”
“Scumbag man himself!” Li Zian angrily cursed again. He was sure that guy was just lusting after Tang Qing’s body.
“Of course I couldn’t agree. I blocked his number. Later, he found my mom and used her mobile phone to call me. He said he divorced his wife and wanted to marry me. I argued with him. I said if he kept pestering me, I would call the police. After that, he didn’t call to harass me for a while. Last time my brother had trouble, you helped me solve it. But a few days ago, he called me again using my mom’s phone. He said he would come to Shanghai to take me back to marry.”
“Did he come?”
“Last night, my mom called me again. She said she’s coming with Li Qiang tomorrow. She even sent me a photo of their plane tickets.”
Li Zian frowned. “It might not be appropriate to say this, but is your mom confused? She knows he’s a scumbag, yet she’s pushing you into a pit of fire?”
A bitter smile appeared on Tang Qing’s lips. “My mom said Li Qiang gave 660,000 as bride price. That money can build a whole building. It’ll help my brother marry in the future and carry on the Tang family line.”
“Did your mom accept it?”
“She accepted it. She also said if I don’t agree, if I don’t go back with Li Qiang to marry, she will jump off a building and die right in front of me.” As she said this, two more tears rolled from the corners of Tang Qing’s eyes.
Poverty is a terrible sickness. It can erase human nature, and it can erase family bonds.
Li Zian comforted her. “Xiao Tang, don’t worry. Since you told me about this, I can’t just ignore it. Tomorrow, I’ll go with you to see your mom.”
Tang Qing cried and said, “It’s useless. My mom took his money. She also said my dad agreed. If I don’t go back, she will jump. I…”
Her emotions suddenly broke down. She turned and put her head on Li Zian’s shoulder, sobbing aloud.
Li Zian froze, unsure what to do.
A small head peeked in from the kitchen doorway.
Another secret observation from classmate Li Xiaomei.
Li Zian originally wanted to pat Tang Qing’s back to comfort her, but seeing Li Xiaomei’s head, he couldn’t lift his hand. However, he didn’t push Tang Qing away either, letting her cry on his shoulder.
“Daddy, why is Teacher Tang crying? Does her stomach hurt?” Li Xiaomei asked.
Hearing Li Xiaomei’s voice, Tang Qing hurriedly moved back and used the back of her hand to wipe her tears.
Li Zian said, “Xiaomei, go play in the living room. Dinner will be a bit later.”
“Okay.” Li Xiaomei pulled her head back, but a second later, she poked it in again and said in a childish voice, “Daddy, Teacher Tang must have a stomach ache. Give her three days off.”
Li Zian asked, surprised, “Why?”
Li Xiaomei said, “My beloved Teacher Tang has a stomach ache. You can’t make her teach your daughter while her stomach hurts, right? Do you even have any sympathy?”
Li Zian: “…”
Li Xiaomei’s intentions were clear to everyone.
Just say you don’t want to have class!
“One day is fine too,” Li Xiaomei lowered her standard.
Li Zian rolled his eyes at her. “Go play by yourself. I’m talking with Teacher Xiao Tang.”
Li Xiaomei pouted but still obediently left.
“I… I’d better go back. My emotions… If Grandma Lin and Sister Meilin see, it wouldn’t be good,” Tang Qing said and started to untie her apron.
Li Zian said, “You can go back if you want. But where do you live? Tell me. I’ll come to your place tomorrow.”
Tang Qing was slightly stunned. “Why are you coming to my place?”
“You brought Xiaomei up this big and taught her so well. You’re facing such trouble now. If I don’t help, what kind of person am I?”
“How… how can you help me?”
Li Zian said, “I still need to think of a way, but I definitely can help you. Don’t forget, I’m a Master. I run a Worry-Relieving Studio. What I’m best at is helping people solve their troubles.”
“Brother Zian, you’ve helped me enough. This matter… please don’t get involved.”
“I must get involved. Close your eyes and draw on my palm. I’ll tell you when to stop.” Li Zian stretched his right hand out in front of Tang Qing.
Tang Qing asked curiously, “What is this for?”
“I’ll perform a divination for you, then according to the divination symbol, I’ll solve your troubles.”
“Really, there’s no need. Last time, I haven’t even thanked you for that matter. Now you’re helping me again. How can I repay you?” Tang Qing’s heart was very tangled. The hardest debt to repay in this world is a debt of human favor.
“Don’t talk about repayment. I think of you as my little sister. Your matters are my matters. Unless you really want to marry that scumbag,” Li Zian said something harsh.
Tang Qing hesitated for a moment, then closed her eyes and drew on Li Zian’s right palm with one finger. But what she drew, she herself didn’t know.
One minute later, Li Zian said, “Okay.”
Tang Qing lifted her finger, opened her eyes, and looked at Li Zian a little nervously.
Li Zian closed his eyes, looking like he was in meditation.
The Great Sluggish Cauldron quietly awakened, with faint green smoke rising.
The divination symbol appeared first—a pink spirited horse.
Li Zian was very surprised in his heart.
The hexagram interpretation appeared:
A dilapidated shed caught in the rain, its walls collapsing, the Rouge Steed trapped by its four hooves.
Originally a horse that could run a thousand miles in a day, only a Fengxian can ride it.
“Brother Zian, what is the divination symbol?” Tang Qing asked.
Li Zian opened his eyes and smiled: “You tell me where you live, when your mom and that Li Qiang will arrive, and then I’ll tell you what the divination symbol is and explain it to you.”
Tang Qing pouted her lips slightly but still said, “Actually, I live nearby. To teach Xiaomei, I rented an old house in a nearby alley—No. 27, Taifu Lane. I live on the third floor. My mom will arrive at Hongkou Airport at 5 p.m. tomorrow and wants me to pick her up, but I know it’s that Li Qiang’s idea.”
Li Zian said, “I remember now. Then you’ll still come to teach Xiaomei tomorrow, and in the afternoon, I’ll go with you to pick up your mom and that scumbag.”
Tang Qing hesitated for a moment before nodding: “Brother Zian, what was the divination symbol in this divination?”
Li Zian said, “You drew a horse in my palm.”
Tang Qing was surprised: “Did I?”
“And it was a red Rouge Steed.”
Tang Qing had a completely bewildered expression.
“A dilapidated shed caught in the rain, its walls collapsing, the Rouge Steed trapped by its four hooves. Originally a horse that could run a thousand miles in a day, only a true judge of talent can guide it.” Li Zian said, “This is the hexagram interpretation. It refers to your situation and fate.”
He had changed the last line.
Indeed, the Rouge Steed was ridden by Lu Bu, but she was a girl—the word “ride” wasn’t appropriate.
Anyway, he was the master. He performed the divination and interpreted it—he was both the referee and the player.
“Does it mean I am trapped and haven’t met my talent judge yet?” Tang Qing was clever and understood some of it.
Li Zian said, “The first two lines of the hexagram interpretation mean your family has difficulties. Your situation is like a thousand-mile horse trapped in a collapsing shed. It’s indeed very dangerous. And you yourself are a capable thousand-mile horse—it’s just that no one has recognized your talent yet.”
“I always thought Sister Meilin was my talent judge. She pays me enough, and I was thinking that once Xiaomei goes to school, I could go work at her company and continue following her.” Tang Qing said.
Li Zian smiled: “She is not your talent judge.”
“Then who is?”
Li Zian pointed at his own nose.
“You?” Tang Qing looked very surprised.
Li Zian smiled without speaking.
Of course it had to be him—”only a Fengxian can ride it”—could Fengxian possibly be female?
But he really couldn’t tell her this line. Otherwise, if she asked, “How would you ride me?” how would he explain it?
The word “ride” in ancient times really meant riding a horse, but nowadays, the Chinese language left by our ancestors has been twisted in meaning.
Red Hare was the Rouge Steed in history, and its master was Lü Fengxian. “As Red Hare is among horses, so Lu Bu is among men”—that’s a story celebrated through the ages. But Red Hare and Lu Bu couldn’t be boyfriend and girlfriend, nor husband and wife—it was a master-servant relationship. Interpreting it in today’s context, it’s the relationship between boss and subordinate. So, this meant he should recruit her, be her boss, and he was the Fengxian in the hexagram interpretation.
“Brother Zian, what do you mean…” Tang Qing, though clever, couldn’t guess Li Zian’s meaning.
Li Zian said with a smile, “Xiaomei will go to school sooner or later. You don’t have to work at Meilin’s company either—your future there is limited. Come work at my studio instead, starting part-time from tomorrow.”
“But… I don’t know divination, and I don’t have connections like Miss Mu. What could I possibly do working part-time at your studio?”
“What was your major?”
“Precision Instruments and Mechanical Engineering.”
Li Zian paused slightly: “What kind of major is that? It sounds very complicated.”
Tang Qing said, “It’s an interdisciplinary, comprehensive major involving precision machinery, electronic technology, automatic control, computer technology, and more.”
“That much content?”
“Yes, but it’s also hard to find a job. Right after graduation, I went for an interview at a precision manufacturing company. They were willing to hire me, but the salary they offered was too low—even less than what Sister Meilin pays me. And I was thinking about my family’s hardships and my younger brother’s education, so I didn’t take it. I’ve been working here as Xiaomei’s tutor.” Tang Qing said.
Li Zian smiled: “Then from now on, you’ll be the engineer at the Worry-Relieving Studio. Starting tomorrow, I’ll pay you 50,000 a month.”
Tang Qing stood there, stunned like a carousel horse.
Does a divination and problem-solving studio even need an engineer?