Fu Chengyu nodded in agreement. The three of them slowly strolled back to their residence. Seeing how Ling Chuxi was so lively now, Ling Yichen felt thoroughly relieved.
Early the next morning when they arrived at the academy, Chu Jianyi came leaping over the moment Ling Chuxi stepped into the academy.
“Ling Chuxi, good morning! Let’s fight!” said Chu Jianyi with an absolutely serious look on his baby face.
“Sure!” replied Ling Chuxi as she drew her sword decisively. Her mood was good today, so she should just fight!
“Clang, clang, cling, cling!” The air resounded with the sounds of weapons clashing. The two of them fought directly at the academy gates until sand was sent flying and pebbles were moving all over the place. Everything was a mess. Those who were watching them were left with eyes popped open and mouths hanging agape. They stared tongue-tied, exclaiming in shock at what they were seeing. All the students present were extremely taken aback… So, naturally this all ended with Ling Chuxi and Chu Jianyi being called into the dean’s study.
The academy’s gate had been damaged by them in their fight. In the end, the both of them were fiercely scolded in a series of three rounds. Why were they not scolded only once? It was because when the dean had finished scolding them the first time, another teacher came in and reported that the two of them had not only damaged the main gate in their fight, they had also destroyed the grand stone lion which had stood erect for almost a hundred years by the main gate. All right. After giving them another lecture, the dean had just taken a breather when another teacher came in to report that the fight between the two of them had caused thirteen other students who were merely bystanders to be injured! This was when the dean thoroughly lost it.
“How old are the two of you? Huh?! Fighting at the academy gates! What do you think the martial arts training venue is for? Are the two of you blind or deaf? Didn’t the teachers tell you that if you wanted to spar you should go to the training venue?” The dean was a pudgy man with a double chin which turned into a triple chin whenever he howled at them. He was balding and it was apparent he had very little hair left. By now he was so angered by Ling Chuxi and Chu Jianyi’s antics that he was practically stomping his feet!
Ling Chuxi and Chu Jianyi lowered their heads, not daring to make a sound.
“Great, you guys destroyed the lion as well. Our academy’s treasure that has stood quietly by the courtyard for years and years has been wrecked by the both of you! Did you know that it was engraved by a master that my grandfather had managed to invite over here after much trouble! You two wasteful rascals!” roared the dean angrily at them as he lost control of his temper and grabbed the little bit of hair he had left on his head. When he had regained his senses, he looked down at the bits of his own hair in his hands and shrieked until the roof almost turned over. “My hair! Ahh! What did I just do to my own hair?! Oh, I’m so angry! You two little bastards! I already had so little hair left!”
Ling Chuxi and Chu Jianyi kept their heads lowered, but both of them surreptitiously tilted their head sideways to exchange glances with each other and ended up laughing secretly to themselves. This dean was really quite fun.
“Ahh! And what’s more, there were over ten students who were injured! How terrible!” The dean angrily slammed the table when he announced this news. “Bastards! Such bastards! Both of you need to compensate for this! Only then can you make up for all these losses!”
“Oh, aiya. But, dean, I don’t have money.” Chu Jianyi raised his head and said this very earnestly.
“I don’t have money either,” chimed in Ling Chuxi in a serious tone as she spread her empty hands to demonstrate her lack of finances. This was not true. Chu Jianyi not having money was likely to be true, but Ling Chuxi not having any money was absolutely false. It was just that Ling Chuxi was extremely stingy. She would only be generous towards certain people and certain things. In matters of this kind, she was an absolute scrooge.
The dean looked at the serious expressions on the faces of Ling Chuxi and Chu Jianyi and felt as though he was on the verge of vomiting blood. After taking a deep breath, he calmed his emotions, which were about to burst, and finally huffed out the words one by one through the gaps of his teeth. “Who said you are to pay with money?”
“Oh? If we’re not paying with money, then everything will be easier to discuss,” said Ling Chuxi with a grin.
“How are we to compensate then? With our lives? I don’t want to. I am very afraid of death.” Chu Jianyi blinked and replied in a serious manner once again.