Chapter 14: What do you remember?

After his coughing fit, through gritted teeth, Yuan Hui forced out, “I don’t have a daughter as old as you.”

Without waiting for Zhen Ting Yun’s reply, Yuan Hui made his decision and picked out a piece of gold from inside the pouch beside his pillow. He tossed it to her, fearing nothing more than Zhen Ting Yun really being shameless and directly addressing him as ‘father’. 

Zhen Ting Yun might be shameless, but he still wanted to keep his honor!

Seeing that Yuan Hui tossed her the gold ingot, Zhen Ting Yun forgot what she was going to say and quickly reached out to catch it. She quietly weighed it in her hand, trying to discern if this was the same piece of gold she handed over to Yuan Hui.

Feeling more at ease, her brows and eyes curved into crescent moons. With a mouth as sweet as honey, she said, “I know that Teacher wouldn’t treat me poorly!”

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Yuan Hui did not put much importance on the piece of gold, but he was peeved with her appearance of obedience after gaining an advantage. Pursing his thin lips, his countenance became frigid and he snorted coldly.

Zhen Ting Yun just pretended that she did not see or hear anything.

With a look of generosity, she patted her chest and reassured, “Teacher can rest assured. As the saying goes, ‘a teacher a day, is a parent for life’. Even without the gold, I’ll still carry out my filial duties towards you. For the rest of your journey, I’ll cover all your expenses. I’ll definitely not ask you to fish out silver to pay for anything else.”  

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Fkxwzvydlswpzu, pbl plnalvzu yeele kd bla blyav, ‘Jwv sq nswapl, lhld vbswtb R oswzed’v ypj usw qsa pkzhla, R xktbv ypj usw qsa tsze.’

Hbld Mkdt Zwd prsjl okvb vbl nswaytl sq bla nsdhknvksdp Mbkp nywple Zwyd Twk vs oydv vs alqwvl.

Tl oydvle vs alcwv cu pyukdt vbkdtp zkjl, ‘R esd’v byhl y eywtbvla yp sze yp usw’, sa ‘R’x dsv yp sze yp usw xyel xl swv vs cl’, yde lhld, ‘R esd’v dlle usw vs qkdydnkyzzu pwrrsav xl’. Jwv bl ldewale yde okvb xwnb ekqqknwzvu vbyv lhld nywple bkp hlkdp vs cwztl ewl vs vbl lqqsav, bl poyzzsole yzz vbl osaep bl oydvle vs wvvla. Mbydjqwzzu, bl eke dsv srld bkp xswvb.

Gqvla Hbld Mkdt Zwd qkdkpble prlyjkdt, pbl aykple bla lulp vs zssj yv Zwyd Twk. Fllkdt vbyv bl bye ds qwavbla kdpvawnvksdp, pbl rasnllele vs pvlr swv yde caklq Nkw Fbwd. Fbl kdpvawnvle Nkw Fbwd vs vyjl vbl tsze kdtsv vs rwanbypl y vly plv, yp olzz yp vly zlyhlp, yde y vly-xyjkdt blyvkdt pvshl…

Mbkp oyp Nkw Fbwd’p qkapv vkxl pllkdt yd ynvwyz tsze kdtsv nywpkdt bla lulp vs okeld kd yol. Tla bydep vbyv olal bszekdt sdvs vbl tsze kdtsv valxczle. 

Hbld Mkdt Zwd pvyale alzwnvydvzu yv vbl rklnl sq tsze. Gqvla xwnb elcyvl, pbl elnkele vs nywvksd Nkw Fbwd qwavbla. “Psd’v zlv Qaydexy jdso sq vbkp. Gqvla usw cwu vbl vbkdtp, jllr vblx kd vbl assx usw pbyal okvb Jy Hbld. Xb ulp, yp vblal yal xydu vbkdtp vs cwu vbkp vkxl yaswde, vblal’p ds dlle vs awpb, vyjl lmvay dsvl sq uswa pwaaswdekdtp. Myjl uswa vkxl yde cl nyalqwz.”

Rv oyp yzps clnywpl Nkw Fbwd’p nbyaynvla oyp bsdlpv yde twkzlzlpp vbyv Hbld Mkdt Zwd qlzv xsal yv lypl zlyhkdt vbl vypj sq rwanbypkdt vbl vly plv vs bla.

Nkw Fbwd kxxlekyvlzu alvwadle vs bla pldplp yde kd y nakpr hsknl, pbl iwknjzu alrzkle okvb yd yqqkaxyvksd. Fbl bypvkzu xyel bla oyu swv vs cwu vbl kvlxp yp pbl qlyale vbyv pbl oswze zspl vbl tsze kdtsv vbl zsdtla pbl bye kv sd bla.

Zhen Ting Yun released a sigh before she returned to the room. She took out her brush and ink before she began to practice her calligraphy in front of Yuan Hui.

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It was a habit most likely nurtured since childhood. As long as Zhen Ting Yun calmed her mental state and concentrated on her task at hand, she would be very focused and void of distractions.

In the past, there were times when Old Madame Zhen would call for her but receive no reply. Old Madame Zhen would then rush over in worry only to spot Zhen Ting Yun deeply engrossed in practicing her calligraphy or reading a book. As Old Madame Zhen’s emotions were running high, she would immediately approach and hoist Zhen Ting Yun up by her collar. As a result, it also angered Zhen Ting Yun and she would directly rebuke Old Madame Zhen by saying things like, Old Madame Zhen valued males over females. Clearly back when Father Zhen was studying, Old Madame Zhen would tread cautiously around, afraid to disrupt her son’s studies. Yet, when it was her granddaughter’s turn, Old Madame Zhen was not the slightest bit considerate and even blatantly disrupt her studies…

Such matters had caused both, grandparent and grandchild, to quibble numerous times and even gave each other the silent treatment. In the end, because Old Madame Zhen was getting up in years, she was more soft-hearted. In addition, she only had this one little granddaughter that accompanied her in the village. Thoroughly understanding her granddaughter’s temperament, this old folk decided to take a step back and no longer disturb Zhen Ting Yun whenever she was studying.

Currently, Zhen Ting Yun was seated in front of the table with the brush lifted in her hands. Stroke by stroke, she was fully concentrated and focused on what she was doing. 

On the other hand, Yuan Hui was currently leaning against the bedpost pondering about something. Unknowingly, he became lost in his thoughts when fragments of vague episodes flashed through his mind. However, when he tried to concentrate on the particular memory, an acute pain would pierce his brain. It was as if a sharp blade slashed at his head and the blade would rain down relentlessly onto his brain causing his flesh to sting to the point of dizziness.

He barely spared a moment on the thought but Yuan Hui’s face had already turned ghastly pale as dense droplets of cold sweat dotted his forehead. Yet, nothing substantial was recalled.

Thus, he had no choice but to temporarily give up on forcefully trying to recall anything else. He had hoped that his memories would slowly come back to him as time passed.

Since he decided not to force himself to recall his lost memories, Yuan Hui, who was lounging on the bed because he could not get up, found that he had ample time at hand but nowhere to spend it. This caused him to feel extremely bored. His gaze swept across the room but nothing caught his interest before it finally and inevitably fell onto Zhen Ting Yun.

Zhen Ting Yun was seated in front of the desk practicing her script in the posture that he corrected previously. She was silent and still, with her eye squinted and her lashes lowered as her hand raised the brush as it stroked across the paper.

Her bearing was upright and tranquil. As her hand was raised with the brush, her sleeve rolled back to reveal her wrist which was pale as snow. 

From Yuan Hui’s angle, he caught a glimpse of her side profile which was as beautiful as fresh snow. Her thick hair which was as black as crow’s feather was combed into a regular hair bun. Her bun was secured with a worn-out beaded flower hairpin and the color was simple and neat. It was likened to the rain-battered flower growing on the side of the wall.   

As Yuan Hui continued to study her profile, he suddenly feel that his hands were a little itchy. With his throat feeling a little dry, he verbally cleared his throat. 

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Zhen Ting Yun was deeply engrossed in practicing her calligraphy. Completely focused on what she was doing, she did not hear Yuan Hui’s cough, hence she showed no signs of moving. 

Yuan Hui, who was rarely ignored by others, felt slightly dissatisfied as he cleared his throat loudly once more, trying to emphasize his presence.

Zhen Ting Yun wrinkled her brows before she took a deep breath. She solemnly brushed the last stroke of the character before she lowered her brush and looked up at him, “What’s the matter?” 

Because she was disrupted, her tone was not very pleasant. She looked at Yuan Hui with sharp bright eyes that contained a hint of irritation.

Yuan Hui was somewhat embarrassed by her blunt question. However, he responded quickly with only a short pause in between, “I seemed to have remembered something.”

This was a matter of importance.

Zhen Ting Yun immediately straightened when she heard his words. Looking directly at Yuan Hui, she asked, “What did you recall?”

Yuan Hui thought for a while before he slowly said, “I think I might’ve raised some furry animals. Whenever I had free time, I would caress them.” 

Zhen Ting Yun, “…” That’s truly ridiculous!

Zhen Ting Yun had always been one to respect her mentors. Given that he was also currently her teacher, she could not rebuke nor ignore him completely. She forced her temper down before responding perfunctorily, “Then, you must’ve lived quite leisurely…”

After a slight falter, she added as an afterthought, “I still need to practice my calligraphy. If you recall something else, you can keep it to yourself and ponder on it first. There’s no rush to tell me immediately.” 

Yuan Hui had more to say, but Zhen Ting Yun had already lowered her head and picked up the brush once more as she engrossed herself in practicing her calligraphy again.

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Seeing this, Yuan Hui could not help but feel stifled again.

It was like he picked up a cat from the streets, fed and bath it. It finally became more pleasing to the eye and when he wanted to caress it, he was given a rude awakening. It turned out that not only did the cat not become closer to him, but it also had the personality of a white-eyed wolf1. 

When she wanted food, she would go ‘meow, meow, meow’ while affectionately rubbing against people. But once she had gotten her fill, she would ignore said person. 

What was even more frustrating was when it came down to who picked who up, Zhen Ting Yun was the one who picked him up.

The author has something to say: 

Whispers in grievance: The chapter may be short, but its super sweet~