Wang Zeyie arrived at Wende Xiaoyuan with Sun Moon Lake black tea and immediately sensed something was amiss. Seeing Wang Zeyie's awkwardness, Wang Ren explained that Teacher Wende had given the disciples an assessment, and Li Jiu had failed.
To Wang Zeyie's surprise, he couldn't understand why Li Jiu, who seemed to be the smartest, failed the seemingly simplest assessment. Wang Ren also found it puzzling.
Wang Zeyie presented the tea to Teacher Wende, who was pleased, having grown accustomed to jasmine tea and wanting a change of pace. The elder eagerly asked the senior disciple to prepare water for guests. However, Wang Zeyie found an opportunity to slip away to the east wing room to comfort Li Jiu.
...
Wang Ren paid it no mind. She hadn't spent much time with her junior disciples. By the time they arrived, Wang Ren already had her own home. Today, she had free time, the spring breeze was gentle, and the sun was bright. Wang Ren washed Teacher Wende's bedsheets and pillowcases, then strung a thin rope between the peach and plum trees in the courtyard, hanging the bedding to air.
Just then, Gao Xiaojuan pouted as she came over to help, clearly affected by Li Jiu's gloomy mood.
"Sister, why doesn't Li Jiu like me? Am I not pretty enough?"
Wang Ren didn't know how to answer. Gao Xiaojuan, having grown up abroad, believed that beautiful women were always liked by men. Normally, Gao Xiaojuan would buy delicate dresses and accessories according to her taste and pair them with her model-like figure. She was beautiful, graceful, and exuded femininity.
Therefore, Wang Ren also didn't quite understand why Li Jiu didn't like Gao Xiaojuan. Gao Xiaojuan's charm could even stir the heart of Cao Shi, who only cared about food. Why couldn't she move Li Jiu? When facing Gao Xiaojuan, Li Jiu's tone was mostly indifferent, his voice calm, like an elder brother acting his age.
After pondering Gao Xiaojuan's question, Wang Ren replied helplessly, "Perhaps it's because love has nothing to do with looks?"
"If a woman can't attract a man with her beauty, what else can she use? Sister, do you know? Li Jiu is such a blockhead. He wants to paint, and I stripped naked for him to paint. In his eyes, I'm no different from the snow falling on the eaves or the peach blossoms on the branches."
Wang Ren was stunned. "Strip naked to paint?"
"What's the big deal? It's all art. Sister, how did you seduce your brother-in-law?"
The question made Wang Ren extremely awkward. Gao Xiaojuan's Mandarin was quite good, but she lacked a deep understanding, and sometimes inappropriate words just slipped out.
"Seduce isn't used like that. Seduce refers to a woman using her looks to tempt a strange man."
"If not seduce, then what word should I use?"
"Attract."
Gao Xiaojuan seemed to understand. "Sister, how did you attract brother-in-law?"
Wang Ren smiled, hung the last bedsheet, and then said to Gao Xiaojuan, "Xiaojuan, do you have any friends in Beijing?"
"Does Cao Shi count?"
"No!"
"What about Wang Zeyie?"
Wang Ren sighed, "Do you have any female friends, around the same age, that you can talk to?"
"No."
"If you make a friend, perhaps you'll understand. My experiences are from over ten years ago. Times have developed so fast, and they might not be suitable for you. You can learn about dating from other girls."
Wang Ren thought Gao Xiaojuan understood. After all, Gao Xiaojuan's eyes, after a brief moment of confusion, sparkled with brilliance.
...
Gao Xiaojuan listened to Wang Ren and made a friend a few days later. This friend was a girl working in a clothing store, a typical clothes hanger, tall, graceful, and exquisite. Her arrival made the small courtyard buzz like a flock of sparrows.
Today, Wang Ren bought some live shrimp from Tianjin at the market. They were wet, exuding the scent of the sea. Upon entering the courtyard, Wang Ren saw Teacher Wende sitting in his armchair, leaning his head and listening to the sounds from the east wing room. She couldn't help but smile. She walked into the kitchen to give the shrimp to the senior disciple to handle, then came out to help Teacher Wende with a shoulder massage, asking with a smile, "You seem full of curiosity about the lives of young people?"
"They're all of age. It's time they started having children."
"Do you think there's hope?"
Teacher Wende shook his head, saying nothing. Wang Ren was perplexed by his dejected expression. However, knowing Teacher Wende, if he didn't want to talk, asking would be in vain.
Wang Ren knew a little about Gao Xiaojuan's friend from the clothing store. Shen Xue, twenty-seven years old, was an art student who worked part-time due to her family's poor financial situation.
Shen Xue was beautiful and intelligent, with a clear life goal. In Wang Ren's eyes, she was a good girl. Furthermore, Wang Ren believed that Li Jiu and Cao Shi were not young anymore. They were older bachelors in their thirties who hadn't married. Having such a beautiful girl, of suitable age and youthful vigor, it would be good to put marriage on the agenda.
Moreover, Wang Ren knew Teacher Wende was never short of money and could afford to help his disciples settle down.
At that moment, the chatter from the east wing room stopped, the door opened, and two girls in beautiful long dresses, holding Li Jiu by the arms, emerged from the room. Li Jiu's face was flushed. Cao Shi followed, carrying his painting supplies.
"Wait!"
Teacher Wende, sitting in his grand chair, finally spoke. Shen Xue, blushing shyly, quickly let go of Li Jiu and bowed respectfully to the elder. Gao Xiaojuan, however, was unconcerned, clinging tightly to Li Jiu as if he might escape if she let go.
"Young ladies, where are you planning to kidnap our good disciples to?"
"We're going to Tiananmen to paint portraits."
"Hmm, have fun. Don't come back this afternoon and disturb my nap."
Gao Xiaojuan was overjoyed. "Hurry up, Master has expelled you from the sect."
Li Jiu looked distressed. "Gao Xiaojuan, be careful with your words. Expelled from the sect isn't used like that."
"Senior Brother, it's not like this is new. Xiaojuan has always been like this, hasn't she? Ladies, how about Peking duck for lunch at Tiananmen?"
Gao Xiaojuan nodded. "I'll eat whatever Li Jiu eats?"
Shen Xue said, "I'll eat whatever Xiaojuan eats?"
Li Jiu's expression dimmed. "I'm not eating." Seeing this, Cao Shi pouted, acted spoiled, and swayed his body. "Senior Brother!"
"Alright, alright, stop being disgusting. You have your way, okay!"
Watching the group leave the house noisily, Wang Ren felt a sense of relief. Constantly plotting schemes and strategies, what kind of life was that? This was how young people should live, though these individuals were no longer considered young.
After they left, Wang Ren asked Teacher Wende, "Master, how should we eat the prawns?"
"Braised in oil."
"Alright. You really don't think highly of these young people?"
Wen De sighed, "Both are the type Old Jiu likes. It's difficult for him."
As Wang Ren was nearing the South Gatehouse, she heard Teacher Wende's words and turned back. "Then... what about Little Shi?"
Wang Ren had asked casually, but to her surprise, the usually wise Teacher Wende looked perplexed. "That's right, what about Little Shi in the future?"
Would Little Shi have problems? Wang Ren was confused. A few days later, she saw Cao Shi sitting alone in the courtyard. Wang Ren listened, heard no other sounds from the wing room, and then put down what she was holding and walked up to the dejected Cao Shi.
"What's wrong, Little Shi?"
"Did they go out to play?"
"They didn't take you?"
After asking, Wang Ren felt like laughing. He was over thirty, acting like a child sulking in the courtyard. Seeing Cao Shi didn't answer, Wang Ren suppressed a smile and asked seriously, "Are you feeling a bit sour inside?"
Cao Shi shook his head. "I didn't go."
"Stop pretending. What you're feeling is jealousy. Little Shi..."
"Senior Sister, it's not what you think. I checked..."
"Checked? Checked what?"
Shen Xue's shop wasn't just any clothing store. Her supply channels were imported from abroad, and she sold a European brand of clothing.
Hearing Cao Shi's words, Wang Ren fell into thought. Brands weren't widely known in the 1990s. Even in Beijing, the concept of brands wasn't widely accepted by many people.
No wonder Gao Xiaojuan went to that clothing store to buy things; it was a European brand.
"What's so special about that?"
"That clothing store isn't a single entity; it's a chain."
The concept of chain stores only entered the public consciousness after KFC and McDonald's entered China in the 1980s. A chain of clothing stores was also a very advanced business model abroad.
Wang Ren was indeed surprised by such a high-end business model, but she still asked curiously, "No matter how profitable that clothing store is, what does it have to do with Shen Xue? Shen Xue is just a student working there."
"No, Shen Xue isn't working there; she's the boss's wife."
"Boss's wife? Shen Xue is married?"
Upon hearing this news, Wang Ren was unhappy. She remembered Shen Xue affectionately holding Li Jiu's arm. She was twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old and likely hadn't been married for many years. To think she would pose as a young student and try to seduce another man after only a few years drastically lowered Wang Ren's opinion of Shen Xue.
"Does Little Jiu know about this?"
Cao Shi shook his head and then added, "I don't know if he knows."