Li Le and Yu Chenghua argued all the way until mealtime. The two argued while eating, kept arguing after finishing, and only stopped when it got dark.
The next day, the two sat in the main hall, staring blankly at each other.
Seeing that the arguing had stopped, everyone began trying to reason with both of them.
Old Huang, Jingcheng, and Jingyang were responsible for Li Le, while Lin Yue, Jingrong, and Jingtong were responsible for Yu Chenghua. Meng Yanshuang wanted to join in the fun, but Lin Yue kicked her out.
Setting a cup of tea down in front of Yu Chenghua, Lin Yue smiled and asked, “Miss Yu went home three days ago. May I ask how everything is at your home?”
Yu Chenghua paused for a moment before saying, “It’s fine. There are enough hands at home to manage.”
“Miss Yu is from town, right? I heard people talking about you when I went to town.”
Yu Chenghua raised her eyes to look at this gentle woman with a faint smile on her lips, watching as she spoke slowly in a soft voice.
“Miss Yu’s whole family looks like people blessed with good fortune. Your father weaves bamboo baskets, your two younger brothers work as shop hands in an eatery, and your mother and two sisters-in-law do embroidery work. I heard Miss Yu has been extremely capable since childhood—skilled at both embroidery and hard manual labor, filial to your parents, caring toward your younger brothers, and earning a lot of money, doing even better than your two younger brothers.”
Yu Chenghua laughed heartily. “Miss Lin must be joking. It wasn’t easy for my parents to raise me, so I’m just doing the work I should be doing.”
“Miss Yu, you’ve been on Mount Guiwu for a month now, and you often go out for walks. You’ve met the pugilists staying on the mountain waiting to challenge Li Le, including both men and a few women. Most of them weren’t originally part of the jianghu, but for various reasons, they left peaceful places to wander the martial world. Miss Yu, do you think waiting here for three years was worth it for them?”
“Miss Lin, why ask this?”
Lin Yue pursed her lips and continued, “One cannot choose their origin, but one still has a choice in how to live. A man doesn’t necessarily have to marry and build a career, nor does a woman necessarily have to serve a husband and raise children. Every one of us has flaws—we can either correct them, or if we can’t, perhaps accept them, avoid them, and try another way of living.”
Yu Chenghua fell silent, then let out a sigh. “I understand what you mean. I don’t like beating around the bush, so I’ll just speak bluntly. I know this is impossible, but I’m twenty-two now. It wasn’t easy to catch this chance, so no matter how tough it is, I have to give it a try!”
Lin Yue knit her brows and asked, “But he isn’t willing—”
“If he isn’t willing, then he isn’t willing! What, am I gonna force him or something?”
“Then you acting like this...”
Yu Chenghua laughed heartily.
“My parents are being supported by my younger brothers, and everyone has a job to feed themselves, so I have no lingering worries. I know what I look like, and I’m fine living out my life like this. I’ve already thought of a place to go. It’s just that I happened to run into him, and thinking that I’m still relatively young, I wanted to experience the taste of love before leaving. If he yielded to me, that would be for the best!”
The three people beside her shivered, each breaking out into a cold sweat for a certain someone.
Lin Yue pondered for a moment before proposing an idea.
“Miss Yu, Li Le’s intentions were good, but striking someone without distinguishing right from wrong was his fault. However, some things cannot be forced, and after all, this matter hurts your reputation.”
Although Yu Chenghua was not good-looking, she was still a young woman, and her purity was still purity.
“How about this: we tie him up and let you beat him, have him apologize, and pay you fifty taels of silver to put an end to this matter.”
Yu Chenghua hesitated for a moment, waved her hand, and sighed. “There’s no need to beat him. I’m afraid I won’t be able to hold back from getting hands-on with him.”
Lin Yue: “...”
“Miss Yu is truly kindhearted. Li Le is the one in the wrong here.”
Seeing Lin Yue’s elder-like demeanor, she asked, “Is Miss Lin not someone who grew up together with Li Le?”
“No, I only met him a few years ago...”
After chatting a bit more, they arrived in the main hall, where Li Le and the others were already waiting.
Seeing Yu Chenghua walk over, Li Le snorted with an arrogant look. Yu Chenghua let out a lion’s roar, asking him what he meant by that and whether he would take responsibility. Li Le immediately roared right back, and the two started arguing all over again.
Meng Yanshuang asked what was said, so Lin Yue explained Yu Chenghua’s situation. Meng Yanshuang scoffed, “He deserves it. Just look at his attitude.”
Over the next few days, everyone began trying to reason with Li Le, pointing out that he was the one who had misunderstood, and asking how someone who was a sect master, the leader of the martial world, a future Master Realm martial artist, and the world’s number one could be so petty...
Li Le acted as if he had a rebellious streak built into his bones, refusing to listen the more they tried to persuade him.
Yu Chenghua was about to leave. A distant relative in the county town had recommended a job as a butcher for her. Thinking the pay and benefits were decent, she accepted. Before she left, Li Le didn’t come to see her off.
Lin Yue handed her fifty taels of silver. Yu Chenghua smiled, took thirty taels, and secretly told her that Li Le had come to apologize.
Although his tone was still arrogant, combined with his awkward demeanor, it was as funny as could be—it was a shame she hadn’t seen it.
With one gone, there was still one left.
Lin Yue also discussed what Li Le had said with Meng Yanshuang, but Meng Yanshuang looked full of disbelief. “Impossible! I saw him look over.”
Meng Yanshuang explained that on that afternoon, she was taking a bath at the inn when fighting broke out on the roof out of nowhere. Before she could react, the fight moved directly above her room.
At that moment, she suddenly had a bad feeling, so she immediately reached for the clothes on the rack nearby. Right then, someone crashed down from the roof—and that person was Li Le. As he fell, he tilted his head downward, facing right in her direction. She saw him glance over, back when she hadn’t covered up yet...
“Maybe... he didn’t notice you.”
Meng Yanshuang widened her eyes, looking as if she had taken a blow. “Why?”
“...”
Thus, Meng Yanshuang began arguing with Li Le again. After Li Le repeatedly insisted that he hadn’t looked at all, he didn’t want to continue the topic and tried to leave, but Lin Yue stopped him. She had chased him all the way to his home, so where was he going?
“What do you want?”
“I said I didn’t see anything, so I didn’t see anything! Why would I lie to you?”
“Just because you didn’t see anything means this is over?!”
Meng Yanshuang shouted, her chest heaving with rage. With a clang, she drew her sword and pointed it at him. “You must give me an explanation!”
“So what! Are you saying I have to take responsibility? I didn’t look!” Li Le threw up his hands in complete helplessness.
“I’ll kill you!”
“I really didn’t look!”
Seeing Meng Yanshuang raise her sword to strike Li Le, Lin Yue hurriedly pointed outside, telling them to take the fight outdoors.
The two fought fiercely in the courtyard, then ran outside to continue fighting, hacking away from noon until dinner before finally stopping.
This time, Lin Yue took Jingrong and Jingtong to reason with Li Le. Surrounding the stubborn-faced Li Le from left and right, the three of them got into a three-on-one argument with him.
“You were in the wrong first, so don’t speak so aggressively.”
“Was I the one who wanted to break in? I didn’t want to, either.”
“Sect Master, the lady was taking a bath! You didn’t want to, but you still did it!” Jingrong said indignantly.
“I was fighting at the time! How was I supposed to know she was taking a bath, or that she was even a woman?!”
“Sect Master, but you broke in! You can’t just act like it didn’t happen because you didn’t see anything.”
“So what do you want? Take responsibility? But I didn’t look.”
“She just wants an explanation and a gesture of sincerity.”
“What?”
“A sincere apology.”
“Fine, I’ll go tell her I’m sorry, alright?”
“...”
The three of them took turns advising him for half a day, but he talked back to every single sentence. In the end, they reached a conclusion: this kind of guy was just asking for a beating.
Afterward, the two stopped fighting physically, but whenever they saw each other, a war of words broke out.
Li Le wanted to leave to break through his realm, but Lin Yue refused to let him go, telling him he had to settle this matter first and restore peace to the sect. Li Le insisted on leaving, and the two sides ended up fighting.
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