Power Up, Artist Yang!

The moment Yujia stepped foot into her courtyard, after exchanging farewells with Zixu, she was attacked by a giant mass of brown fur. The giant leapt in her direction in such speed that she saw no more than a flash of brown before being tackled to the ground, her face getting slobbered with dog kisses.

She immediately knew who this was.

"Roubao, skies—" she managed to call out, trying to force herself up but getting pinned to the ground by the weight of the dog's body.

Out of all the people she looked forward to seeing again, back at Lingxin, the pet dog that Zixu gifted her, who she named Roubao, was definitely one of them. Before she left, he was still a puppy. He did grow a bit while she fed him, but not this much. In the past, she could pick him up with no problem at all, but now…

Yujia, amidst all the excited barking from Roubao, managed to push him off of her and sit up. She finally had a good look at the puppy she hadn't seen for a few months, eyes widening.

Roubao was significantly bigger now. If he stood on all fours, he would go past her knees. If he stood on only his two back paws, like how he tackled her before, he would be tall enough to reach her stomach. As Yujia reached into his thick fur, vigorously petting him while he panted happily, Yujia realized that not only had Roubao grown taller, but wider as well.

Yujia grabbed a chunk of fluffiness, she blinked a couple of times. When did this puppy grow to have so much flab? Even though she would love him no matter what, this transformation was truly shocking.

She glanced with a hint of confusion towards a servant that was carrying a lantern, likely going around to light the candles. She recognized him; he worked around her courtyard frequently and enjoyed the company of Roubao as well. While continuing to pet Roubao, she asked the servant, "How did he grow so fast?"

He grinned and shrugged a shoulder, "You know, Master took care of him all this time while Miss was gone. And if I must say… he fed Roubao quite a bit."

"Oh dear." Yujia could already imagine it: Roubao and her master sitting on a porch, sharing a greasy roasted duck. Judging by her master's unhealthy eating habits, he probably passed the same habits onto her dog.

She had to admit Roubao, in all his fluffiness, looked way too adorable. Except, was this healthy for him, when he was barely more than a puppy?

Yujia sighed, scratching Roubao behind his ears. "I should've known Master would do something like that…" she muttered.

"What did this old man do, eh?" 

All of a sudden, Yujia heard her master's voice echo out from behind her. She spun around, seeing her master walk in through the front arch of her courtyard.

"Master!" she exclaimed. "I was just talking about how you were overfeeding Roubao."

The old man crossed his arms, a displeased frown crossing his expression. "Overfeeding? You should thank me for how much I took care of him while you were gone!" he spat out. "Besides, you name your dog a literal meat bun and you expect me to not feed him well? He's a growing child! What's wrong with putting a little extra meat on those bones?" 

When Roubao saw her master, he bounded towards the old man with as much speed as he used to tackle Yujia with. Yujia was worried that Roubao would knock her master over— despite all his fiery attitude, her master still looked rather frail for being at such an old age— but Roubao skidded to a stop at her master's feet. He plopped himself down on the ground and wagged his tail, begging for pats.

It seemed like Roubao had grown rather close to her master in the time where she was gone. It also seemed like despite all his added weight, he was no less his usual hyper, lovable self.

"Anyways," her master continued, rubbing Roubao's head, "kid, you ran off without explaining a single word. That rushed to go see your husband?" 

Yujia's drew in a sharp breath, almost laughing. "We're not married—" 

"— yet," he added on, pointing at her. Dramatically sighing, he lamented, "To think that you would abandon me and your senior brother to go see him. I should've seen this day coming…"

Yujia looked down. "I was worried, Master. But— you're right. That was wrong for me to run off like that. I should've properly explained to you beforehand. I'm sorry."

"Kid, kid!" the old man exclaimed, waving his hands. "I was just joking with you. No need to get so serious." 

"Ah." Glancing back up with a brightened expression, Yujia replied, "I'm glad to hear that it's all fine, then!" 

His eyebrows jumped up as he declared, "By how quickly you changed faces— so you weren't truly remorseful!" 

Yujia leaned back indignantly. "What are you talking about, Master? I was remorseful. You have forgiven me. And now I am back to my usual wonderful self." She cupped the two sides of her face and grinned.

He shook his finger at her. "Kid, sometimes I wonder why I call Yunhe 'brat' instead of giving you that name." 

"Because I'm your favorite disciple?" Yujia suggested.

"I have no favorite disciple," he responded with a huff.

Yujia skipped over to the side, peeking over the side of her courtyard walls to take a look at the walkway outside. There was no one there. "It's alright, Master," she whispered, "Senior Brother is not lurking outside. You can admit to the truth." 

"Psh, alright, then here's the truth— I like the brat better than you."

"What? That's a lie!"

"You wanted me to admit to the truth, and now you're not happy hearing it?"

"There's no way that's the truth." Yujia crossed her arms, pretending to be offended. However, she couldn't hold that face for long, and ended up letting out a wave of laughter. She really, truly missed this bantering with her master. Waving her hand between her laughter, she admitted, "Alright, I'll stop troubling Master now. In all seriousness, I'm happy to be back. I missed Master. And Lingxin."

Grudgingly, he replied, "I'm happy you're back too. No more trips like that in the future. My old heart can't take it." 

"En, en. I don't plan on going anywhere anytime soon. The trip was not worth everything bad that happened." 

Her master stroked his beard. "Did you not learn anything from the trip?"

Yujia shook her head quickly. "Oh no, I did learn a lot. In particular, we had a brief competition with Guozijian students. I'll tell you more about it later. What's actually important is that I discovered a sudden idea from the experience— it's a favor I'll have to ask Master."

"A favor?" He seemed intrigued by that idea. "Do say."

Yujia leaned forward, whispering what she had in mind. It was an idea that appeared in her head after the conflict with Han Shiche at Huangshan. She had been keeping the idea for a while now, ever since it first appeared. It wasn't really a big deal on her master's end, but if he agreed, a huge dilemma in her life could be solved.

When her master heard this favor from her, he took a step back and nodded. "Kid, of course I can do that for you. It would be my p.l.e.a.s.u.r.e." He agreed without waiting a single beat.

Yujia was elated to hear his instant agreement. "Thank you, Master." 

"En, anything for my fav— I mean, my disciple." His eyes widened when he realized his mistake. But it wasn't something he could take back now. The word, or some portion of the word, had been said.

Yujia didn't fail to catch the slip of his tongue, a broad smile spreading across her face. "So I am your favorite disciple!" she exclaimed.

"Ah, kid, haven't you had enough of that?" 

…

Yujia gave Roubao a few more pats and back scratches, then decided too that she was ready to get some good sleep. Before that, however, she went over to the bath that the servants had prepared, sinking herself into the steaming water with great bliss.

The hot water bath was like a long-waited relief for her muscles, sore from all the endless traveling. She finally had a good chance to clean herself too, which was not an option when she was traveling back home with the soldiers. It was chilly outside, but the bath was just such a cozy, warm place. Yujia wanted to stay in there forever, if she could. 

As her thoughts were given a time to finally collect, a crucial reminder popped into her head.

Zixu's birthday was coming up soon, wasn't it?