Li Diudiu walked along, chattering excitedly. “Master, you should’ve seen it—that big guy came at me with a whole combo, and dodging it really wasn’t easy, heh heh… he cried.”

Changmei Daoren stopped walking. He turned and looked at Li Diudiu seriously. “You should understand why your master did this, and yet you’ve thrown away the path your master was trying to pave for you, just because of your own stubbornness.”

Li Diudiu instinctively took a step back, a little panicked. He really had provoked Gao Shaowei on purpose—he didn’t want to go to any Siye Academy. He just wanted to stay with his master, the two of them relying on each other.

“Master…”

Changmei Daoren wasn’t fierce with him, but Li Diudiu felt afraid all the same, because he saw disappointment in his master’s eyes. He would rather be scolded or hit—that disappointed look made his heart ache and frightened him far more.

“Forget it.”

Changmei Daoren sighed, reached into his robe, and fished out a handful of copper coins. “Let’s go have a good meal. It’s still enough for a bowl of stewed offal each. After we eat, we’ll have to figure out how to make some money… Silly child. There was a broad, easy road for you to walk, and you had to insist on following me down the narrow sheep-track instead.”

“What’s stewed offal?”

Li Diudiu asked.

Changmei Daoren laughed and rubbed Li Diudiu’s head. “The finest delicacy on earth.”

The next morning, the master and disciple—too poor to afford an inn—crawled out from a woodpile against the outer wall of someone’s house. Standing there, the two of them shook the dry grass off themselves at the exact same time.

“Diu’er, come with me to Mr. Zhou’s place in a bit. Even though you didn’t get into the academy, we still ought to thank him properly—that’s just manners. We’re poor, but we can’t let people say we have no manners.”

“Understood, Master.”

The two of them turned at the same moment and, with great disregard for the place that had sheltered them the night before, each relieved themselves against it, then shook themselves off again in unison.

“Hungry?” Master asked.

Li Diudiu shook his head, smacking his lips. “That stewed offal was so damn good. The finest delicacy on earth, and it fills you up too.”

“Of course it does, idiot. It’s all meat—how could it not fill you up?”

Once they’d finished relieving themselves, the two of them turned to face each other and tidied up, picking the dry grass off their clothes, then combing their hair with their fingers. Their clothes were filthy, but both of them straightened themselves up carefully all the same.

“Too bad we’re out of money. If we had some, we really should bring a gift—even just a bag of pastries would do.”

Changmei Daoren raised a hand and rapped Li Diudiu on the head. “Spendthrift.”

Li Diudiu laughed and suddenly threw his arms around his master’s leg, hugging tight. Changmei Daoren had meant to scold him further, but with the boy clinging to him like that, his heart went warm, and he couldn’t bring himself to say another word.

Before long the two of them reached the gate of Zhou Huaili’s residence. Seeing it was still early, they sat down across the street—one large, one small, sitting in exactly the same posture.

Just then the old steward opened the side door and glanced out. The moment he spotted the two of them, he broke into a smile. “What a coincidence.”

Changmei Daoren pulled Li Diudiu up. “No coincidence at all—we came specially to thank Master Zhou, and to say our goodbyes.”

“Goodbyes?” the old steward asked. “Where are you two headed?”

“Nowhere in particular,” Changmei Daoren said. “The whole world’s our home.”

“You can’t leave. My master just told me to go find you. I was worrying over where to look, and here I step outside and find you right away—that’s my good fortune, and yours too.”

He came forward and pulled at Changmei Daoren’s sleeve. “Quick, quick, my master’s waiting for you.”

The two of them followed the old steward into the Zhou residence. When Zhou Huaili heard they’d been found, he came hurrying out of the house, beaming.

“What luck. I’d only just gotten home yesterday when someone came from Siye Academy saying they wanted Li Chi to start today. I was terrified I wouldn’t be able to find you two—you didn’t even leave an address when you left.”

“Huh?”

Li Diudiu and his master exchanged a look, both certain they’d misheard.

“Master Gao has decided to take Li Chi as a student,” Zhou Huaili said. “Why the long faces? This is wonderful news—shouldn’t you be happy?”

“Happy!”

Changmei Daoren burst into laughter at once, the wrinkles on his face doubling over, but little Li Diudiu couldn’t muster a smile at all. His expression only grew darker.

Seeing his disciple’s face, Changmei Daoren knew right away the boy was afraid of losing him. He crouched down and gripped Li Diudiu’s shoulders. “Don’t worry, Master isn’t going anywhere. I’ve already asked around—the academy gives two days off every ten days. When that time comes, you come find me at the temple. I’ll be waiting there.”

“Are you really not going to leave Jizhou?”

“Really. If Master’s lying, may I be struck by lightning.”

“All right…”

Li Diudiu took a deep breath. “Master, will you really be at that temple the whole time?”

“Of course. The abbot and I go way back. I only need to say the word and he’ll keep me on as an honored guest.”

Changmei Daoren suddenly scooped Li Diudiu up. Straightening with him in his arms clearly took some effort. He held him and rubbed his beard against the boy’s face. “You’ve grown. I won’t be able to carry you like this much longer. Work hard, and don’t shame your master.”

Li Diudiu threw his arms around Changmei Daoren’s neck and held on as hard as he could, again and again.

At Siye Academy, Gao Shaowei looked at his granddaughter helplessly—there was truly nothing he could do about her, and whose fault was that but his own for spoiling her?

He looked at his granddaughter Gao Xining and said seriously, “We’ve agreed—even though I’ve said I’ll let that boy come study here, you are not to go looking for him too openly to learn martial arts from him. You’re my granddaughter. People mustn’t see it.”

“I know, I know.”

The girl laughed. “That boy’s skill is really something. He’s the one throwing the punches, but every single strike looks like the other person just walked their own face into his fist. How old is he, anyway? How could he have trained something like that already?”

“He’s eleven. Two years younger than you.”

Gao Shaowei said, “Remember this well—men and women should keep their distance. You are not to get too close to him. If you want to learn his skills, I’ll arrange for you to observe. And remember too, he is not your master, and you are absolutely not to become his disciple.”

“I know, I know.”

The girl laughed. “It’s not really a big deal, though—look, you’re my grandfather, and he’s basically your disciple. I’m his disciple, and you’re still my grandfather.”

Gao Shaowei: “…”

He let out a long sigh. “You… when are you ever going to grow out of this restless streak? Your mother wasn’t like this at all at your age. She came from a family of scholars, gentle and filial. But you, you inherited every one of your father’s bad habits and none of your mother’s.”

The girl flipped her hair and turned to go. “I’m going to see if that silly boy has shown up yet. Oh, right…”

She suddenly remembered something and looked back at Gao Shaowei. “Does that silly boy not have money for the academy uniform?”

“Is that something you need to worry about?”

The girl frowned. “He’s filthy. I don’t like it.”

Gao Shaowei shook his head. “I’ll have a set sent to him, then.”

The girl hummed in agreement. “Don’t make it too obvious.”

“What more do you want?”

The girl said, “First, don’t let him think it’s something he’s owed. The uniforms are three sets, for spring, winter, and summer—two full taels of silver, which is a lot of money for an ordinary family, I’d think. Second, don’t let him think everything can just be handed to him by others—don’t let him get in the habit of holding out his hand. Third, don’t let him think it’s charity.”

Gao Shaowei felt his head swimming. His granddaughter really was a clever little thing—her mind worked through all of that in an instant.

“He comes from a poor, hard background. Have him work part-time cleaning the classroom.”

“Then won’t people look down on him for that?”

“That depends on how he sees it himself.”

The girl swished her hair and skipped off.

Li Diudiu followed Zhou Huaili to the academy for the second time. Besides him, the other three children had already arrived long ago—after all, the academy could notify their families, but there was no way to notify Li Diudiu. If he and his master hadn’t gone to thank the Zhou household, he would have lost his chance at the academy entirely. How he wished he hadn’t gone to Zhou Huaili’s house—how much better that would have been.

Zhou Huaili said as they walked, “I don’t know how you won Master Gao over, but I hope you’ll cherish this chance. Getting into the academy doesn’t mean you’ll graduate from it—if you’re not good enough, the academy can still expel you. Do you have any idea how hard it was for your master to get you in?”

“I know.”

Li Diudiu nodded, his heart heavy, feeling as though he’d been cast aside. In this world he had only one family member—his master. For years the two of them had relied on each other, and now, not being able to see him every day, he already felt terrible, unbearably terrible.

Watching the boy’s crestfallen look, Zhou Huaili couldn’t help a small ache in his chest. There was so much hardship in this world, but in this academy, Li Diudiu was the only one who carried it. Every other student here came from a great and wealthy household—Li Diudiu was the anomaly. Zhou Huaili could well imagine how many difficulties, how many cold looks, how much contempt awaited him.

“This is what your master gave me last time—the money left over after tuition.”

Zhou Huaili took out a money pouch and handed it to Li Diudiu. “There’s three taels inside in total. Two taels for the uniform, one tael for books. The academy provides meals and lodging.”

“Oh…”

Li Diudiu took the pouch, and his footsteps slowed to a stop.

Zhou Huaili had walked several steps before noticing Li Diudiu wasn’t following. He looked back. “What’s wrong?”

Li Diudiu took a deep breath, then bowed deeply and solemnly. “Thank you, Mr. Zhou. Consider this silver borrowed from you—once I’ve earned money, I’ll pay it back. My master couldn’t possibly have any silver left over…”

Zhou Huaili walked back to Li Diudiu’s side, instinctively reaching up to pat the boy’s head, but he held himself back.

“Take care of yourself. I can see you’re actually a sensible child. Since you’re sensible, you should understand your master’s efforts on your behalf.”

“I understand.”

Li Diudiu bowed again and said, “Let’s go.”

The two of them walked to the door of Gao Shaowei’s study, but Gao Shaowei wasn’t there. Instead there was a young instructor who looked to be around thirty, tall and thin, holding a stack of documents. He had almost none of the air of a scholar about him—his features were cold and sharp, more like some kind of swordsman from the martial world.

“My name is Yan Qingzhi. I’ll be your remedial instructor. You four came in later than the others, so I’m responsible for helping you catch up with the regular curriculum. If you pass my evaluation within a month, you’ll go back to the regular class to study with the other students. If you can’t pass, you’ll leave the academy.”

He paused, sweeping his gaze over the four children, and added, “I’m a first-rank instructor here. If I fail to bring you up to speed within a month, that’s naturally not my problem—it means you’re worthless. This academy has no use for worthless students.”

He asked, “Which of you is Li Chi?”

Li Diudiu bowed. “That’s me, sir.”

Yan Qingzhi said, “You’re in charge of cleaning the classroom.”

Li Diudiu frowned. “By myself? Every day? Forever?”

Yan Qingzhi nodded. “By yourself. Every day. Forever.”

Li Diudiu asked, “Why?”

Yan Qingzhi looked at him, his eyes cold. “Because you’re poor.”

…

…