I Won't Be Your Master
Su Ye came back with two rice bowls in hand. “Let’s drink with bowls!” she said. “Brother Huai, fill them up! Fill them up now!”
“Ahem, ahem. Ye, you’re such a genius…” Guo Huai said before filling the two bowls up. He then put one of them in front of Su Ye, making her smile like an idiot.
“Teacher Lin, please have a taste of this wine. Is it the same one from the auction?” Su Ye asked. “He wouldn’t give us something that great, right? This bowl contains at least a hundred grams. According to the price of the auction, this bowl costs more than fifteen million yuan. I wouldn’t want to finish something like that at once.”
Lin Shuang nodded before taking a sip from the cup.
“This mustn’t be the same one as the auction,” Su Ye said after observing Lin Shuang’s expression. “Brother Huai, stop being so stingy. When are you going to let us try the wine on the auction? If you really want money, I’ll pay you.”
“Guo Huai, where did you get these wines from? After tasting the wine on the auction yesterday, I thought that nothing in the world could exceed its taste. However, this one tastes better than that. Since you gave me something this wonderful, how am I going to bear with the taste of other beverages? You’re such a jerk,” Lin Shuang said softly. Drops of tears started to drip from her eyes.
“Naturally, I leave the best for our own people. Let’s start eating. If Sister Lin still wants to drink, you may find me personally. Heheh,” Guo Huai said and smirked at Lin Shuang.
“Xi, look at your naughty boy! God knows what he’s thinking about!” Su Ye angrily said before taking a small sip. No matter what happens, my troubled mind will always be relaxed after drinking naughty boy’s wine, she thought.
The old man earlier rushed in like he had gone crazy and said loudly, “Kid! Kid! I know it now… I know it now!”
“I’m so thirsty, let me drink some water first,” the old man said after drinking the liquid in the bowl in front of Guo Huai.
“This… What is this? The words earlier… No, the drink earlier… No, little friend… Sorry for disturbing!” the old man said before wanting to leave. “No, no… Everyone, stop talking! Let me think.”
“Crazy Grandpa, have you really gone crazy? I can call an ambulance for you,” Su Ye said softly.
“Hey kid, no, little friend. I’m Xue Zhicheng, nicknamed Crazy Xue,” the old man said loudly. “How can I address you?”
“Guo Huai!”
“Talking like this is too tiring. I-I’ll get a stool from outside,” the old man said before rushing out. When he returned, he brought a stool and a bowl.
“Zhu! Serve a bowl of ‘Purple Prosperity’!” Crazy Xue shouted at outside. “Since I have finished your bowl of wine, I’ll treat you all for this meal.”
“Grandpa Xue, when people talk about ‘South Zheng North Xue’, ‘North Xue’ refers to you, right?” Murong Weiwei asked, smiling.
“What are you talking about? It’s just a stupid title people gave me. My writing skill hasn’t improved after all these years. It’s about time to stop writing. Otherwise, I’ll never get to Ceasewind Grandmaster’s level,” Crazy Xue said.
“Grandpa, please be straightforward. Is there anything you want to say?” Guo Huai asked before filling the bowl in front of Crazy Xue with his wine.
“Let’s drink first before we talk about words,” Crazy Xue said, staring at the liquid in his bowl. “Brother Huai, name your price for this wine. I wonder if you have some extra, please sell me some.”
Once Crazy Xue finished talking, the ladies beside him all looked at him.
“What are you looking at?! I will really pay for this. The kid from Lin Family, you should know who I am. Though I usually behave like a crazy man, my reputation is quite good,” Crazy Xue said, looking at Lin Shuang.
“Grandpa Xue, Guo Huai donated around one and a half kilograms of the wine to the auction today,” Lin Shuang said.
“I’ll just pay according to the price of the auction. How much is it? I’ll buy one and a half kilograms as well!” Crazy Xue exclaimed.
“Crazy Grandpa, it’s not that much actually. The wine this morning sold for 150 million Chinese yuan,” Su Ye said with a smile.
“Ahem, ahem. Kid, what did you just say?” Crazy Xue said, astonished.
Guo Huai stopped Su Ye from talking and said, “We’re just making friends through wine. Since grandpa is treating us our meals, it’s only natural that we bring our own wine. Let’s not talk about money.”
“Hahah, little brother. I like your attitude. Let’s talk about words, talk about your words,” Crazy Xue said, smiling. “You wrote four big words just now, ‘疯人菜馆’, I barely understood the depth of the word ‘人’. With only two simple strokes, the word brought the charm of the few well-respected individuals from Tang Dynasty. Furthermore, this word integrates their different writing styles perfectly. I’m afraid even Ceasewind Grandmaster can’t write something like this…” Crazy Xue said, shaking his head.
[TL note: 疯人菜馆 means Crazy Restaurant.]
“May I know who your master is? I just looked through my collection of authentic writings. Your standard can definitely match the few from Tang Dynasty, maybe even better…” Crazy Xue said.
Is this crazy guy really comparing me to the brats from Tang Dynasty? If it wasn’t for me teaching, they wouldn’t be able to write something like this. Hahah, Guo Huai thought.
“I’ve had some mysterious encounters these years. I’m not allowed to reveal my master’s name. However, you’re already very impressive to recognize one word, hahah,” Guo Huai said. “The four words hanging on the door are quite good. However, if you want to truly step into a whole new level, you can’t only stay in a small restaurant in this school. You should take a spin outside. If you can have another mysterious encounter like the one sixty years ago, you’ll undoubtedly succeed within twenty years.”
“Friend, judging solely on the four words at the entrance, you can see that I had an encounter when I was young?” Crazy Xue said. He was truly flabbergasted this time.
Sixty years ago, when Crazy Xue was only thirteen years old, almost the whole village was illiterate, let alone writing. In that year, an outsider wearing a daopao visited his village. He was a daoist, one who meditates on the Dao. Crazy Xue served him a cup of water. The daoist stayed in Crazy Xue’s house for three days and left him a handwritten notebook before leaving. The success Crazy Xue had on writing was all thanks to the notebook.
[TL note: Here’s a picture of the traditional Chinese attire: Daopao.]
“Little friend, I have a presumptuous request. I wonder if I should say it out,” Crazy Xue said softly.
“I won’t be your master, I only want to be a student of Wucheng Subhigh. Hahah, I’m living way too comfortably over here. If the old man Jade Emperor knows how much I’m enjoying my time here, I bet he’d visit the mortal world as well. Hahah,” Guo Huai said and laughed. “Grandpa, don’t think of the impossible. Let’s have some wonderful wine while you can. Maybe your understanding towards writing can improve after finishing my wine.”
[TL note: Keep in mind that when 'writing' is mentioned, it’s always about Chinese calligraphy.]