Chapter 531 - At First Sight
Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
Tang Thirty-Six was covered all over in snow, his face pale, the black bags around his eyes extremely heavy, and he looked haggard to the extreme. In these past two days, in order to find out Chen Changsheng's secret, he had racked his brains for ideas and skipped eating and sleeping. Indeed, after painstaking effort, even using two magical artifacts of the Wenshui Tangs, he was finally able to conceal the Qi from his body and catch Chen Changsheng in the act.
"Hahahaha!" The forest echoed with his laughter. Then, he walked up to Chen Changsheng, his laughter instantly vanishing as he furiously criticized, "Isn't this going a bit too far, forgetting your friends when you're in love? For what reason do you need to badmouth me, to contrast it with your lofty purity? Just a moment ago in the snow, I heard you mention my name quite a few times, but not a single word of it was good!
"Eh, this umbrella is rather strange." Tang Thirty-Six's gaze moved down from the umbrella and fell upon the couple. Feeling proud of himself again, he heartily laughed then said, "The matter of the engagement hasn't even been cleared up yet, and you're actually in the mood to walk under an umbrella through the snow! I'll have you know, that Phoenix is quite proud. If she were to know that you found a girl, then…"
He was just preparing to threaten Chen Changsheng into signing a series of unfair agreements when his gaze fell on the girl under the umbrella, causing him to subconsciously pause. For some inexplicable reason, he found this girl quite familiar, even though he had clearly never seen her before.
The snowy forest became abnormally quiet. The more Tang Thirty-Six stared at this girl, the graver his expression became.
This girl was about fifteen, precisely in the period where her beauty was budding. Her face was delicate and pretty, but nothing out of the ordinary. The jacket she was wrapped in seemed very ordinary, but it was actually made of the most expensive thirteen-thread cotton. Her two eyebrows were as slender as willow leaves, and it was obvious that the most extravagant orange jasmine had been used to draw her eyebrows. And if he wasn't wrong, even that hairpin casually stuck in her hair was more expensive than all the clothes and shoes Chen Changsheng had worn throughout his entire life added together. Of course, what drew his attention the most was still that girl's eyes. Even after being teased, they were still so calm, definitely not the eyes of some ordinary person.
He had planned to joke about Chen Changsheng's taste, but now he realized that there was actually nothing to complain about with regards to this girl's taste or temperament.
Of course, this girl's taste and temperament, as well as that wealth beyond words hidden within the fine details, could only have been picked out by a young heir to a noble family like him who also possessed wealth beyond words.
No matter what, a young Daoist from the countryside like Chen Changsheng would never be able to see these details. This is what was meant to cast pearls before swine, to aim a fluid glance at a blind man.
Just who was this girl? Tang Thirty-Six thought through all his distantly-related older cousins as well as the young ladies of all the noble houses of the continent, but he failed to find an answer. He was suddenly overtaken by a fierce sense of unease and wariness. He didn't know where Chen Changsheng had gotten to know such a noblewoman, but he was worried that Chen Changsheng was being deceived.
Tang Thirty-Six looked at her cold expression and asked, "Might I dare ask for the young lady's…hic!"
But before he could finish, he was interrupted by a sudden hiccup.
He looked at the girl, his face a picture of absolute shock. His hand held his stomach like he was choking. He thought about how, in the pile of snow, he had heard the cry of a crane, and he had also heard Chen Changsheng explain what had happened that night. Thus, he thought of a possibility, a possibility that he had rejected last night with a mocking tone and an attitude of absolute certainty.
"You…" He looked at her, his mouth agape, for a long time unable to say the rest of the sentence. He was forced to turn to Chen Changsheng and ask, "Her?"
Chen Changsheng nodded.
Tang Thirty-Six's body went stiff. He turned once more to Xu Yourong, his eyes filled with shock.
At this time, Chen Changsheng was also truly astounded. It was completely beyond his imagination that this fellow, in order to find out his secrets, would exert such massive efforts.
He was somewhat concerned about Xu Yourong's mood, so he looked at her and explained, "This guy…"
"Tang Tang, you can also…hic…call me Tang Thirty-Six."
Outside of expectations, Tang Thirty-Six was very quickly able to calm back down. He very naturally introduced himself to Xu Yourong, it was just that he paused in the middle.
This was because he was still choking somewhat, and the sound in the middle was a hiccup.
Xu Yourong knew that this young master of the Wenshui Tang clan was Chen Changsheng's best friend, the current superintendent of the Orthodox Academy, and also…the new owner of Clear Lake Restaurant.
Tang Thirty-Six solemnly said, "I have seen the Holy Maiden."
Xu Yourong softly replied, "No need for such courtesy."
Tang Thirty-Six answered, "It is said that when the Holy Maiden lived in the capital, she enjoyed eating the blue lobster of Clear Lake Restaurant?"
Xu Yourong calmly gazed at him, a smile in her eyes as if she had guessed at what was about to happen.
Just as expected, Tang Thirty-Six next said, "In a little while, I'll send someone…hic…to send blue lobster to the Divine General's estate. Once Your Eminence returns to Holy Maiden Peak, I'll have…hic…Clear Lake…hic…Restaurant directly ship it to you by sea. All four seasons of the year, I'll…hic…guarantee it."
Xu Yourong replied, "This will trouble Young Master Tang."
Tang Thirty-Six waved his hand. "We're all part of…hic…the same family, no need for such…hic…courtesy."
His appearance was very natural, free and at ease, his heroism soaring to the clouds, yet his hiccups never ceased throughout his talk.
In truth, this was also a feat worthy of admiration. He was constantly hiccupping yet still managed to so calmly conclude this conversation.
On the side, Chen Changsheng watched and thought, I guess this is the benefit of having a thick skin?
Xu Yourong said, "Let's chat again in the future."
Tang Thirty-Six withdrew his smile and said, "Whenever the Holy Maiden pleases."
Chen Changsheng raised up the umbrella to cover Xu Yourong's head, then the two began walking to some other place in the forest.
As he passed Tang Thirty-Six, the two exchanged glances containing countless questions and wariness.
"Don't speak of this matter to anyone else."
"Relax, who am I?"
As Chen Changsheng and Xu Yourong walked several dozen zhang through the falling snow, Tang Thirty-Six still stood where he was, smiling and waving his hands. He maintained the posture of saying goodbye: the curve of his smile and the range in which he waved his hand were all perfect, perfectly displaying the courtesy and accumulated experience of a young master of a noble clan.
Xu Yourong whispered, "This friend of yours is a truly wondrous (妙) person."
Chen Changsheng thought, where did this word come from? Is it the ‘wondrous’ (妙) from ‘unfathomably mysterious’ (莫名其妙)?
Only when Tang Thirty-Six watched their two figures disappear into the forest and could no longer see them did he finally relax.
With some difficulty, he walked over to a tree, stuck out his hands to support himself on it, then began to hiccup without end with a much higher frequency than when he was talking.
After this period, he finally truly calmed down and his shocked emotions finally truly began to settle.
He let out a strange shout and hugged the tree, then began to complain about Chen Changsheng and himself.
It was just at this moment that Xuanyuan Po finished his morning practice and walked out from the depths of the forest. He just so happened to see the crazy scene of Tang Thirty-Six hugging the tree and couldn't help but be surprised.
"Don't you normally tell me that hitting trees is particularly childish? Why are you also working with trees today?"
Tang Thirty-Six continued to hug the tree, unwilling to let go. He sobbed, "I've already acted so shamelessly today; what's another shameless act on top of it?"
In truth, Chen Changsheng had never understood what the name 'Xu Yourong' meant to the young men of the world. Although Tang Thirty-Six, because of the engagement and his friendship with Chen Changsheng, did not adore Xu Yourong like the vast majority of the young men in the world, such as the Demon Lord's son, she was still Xu Yourong!
And then what had he done? Like a little urchin, he had buried himself under the snow to eavesdrop on their conversation and then said bad things about her behind her back. This morning, he didn't have time to wash his face or even brush his teeth, and the bags under his eyes were so heavy…he had never felt so ashamed in his life and he wished he could nothing more than hug this tree for the rest of his life.
Suddenly, Tang Thirty-Six turned around and looked at Xuanyuan Po, saying, "They just met for the first time yesterday, so how can they be walking around today with each other? Moreover, looking at their appearance, although they deliberately kept a hand's width of distance between them, this sort of deliberation is a problem in itself!"
As he spoke, he stuck out his right hand in a fist and compared it with Xuanyuan Po. Afterwards, he sneered, "What a fine couple, purposely acting calm so that they could conceal it from my insight? Who am I? How could I not see that passionate and illicit appearance of theirs!"
Xuanyuan Po had simply no idea what was going on and found him quite strange. "You've gone crazy!"
Ordinarily, upon hearing such an honest assessment, Tang Thirty-Six would absolutely not have taken it lying down, but now, his mind was completely occupied with that just-departed couple. Looking at Xuanyuan Po, he very seriously asked, "Do you believe in love at first sight?"
Xuanyuan Po replied, "In the tribe, after the first meeting, we usually get married. Does that count?"
Tang Thirty-Six was almost at a loss for words. He asked back, "Do you think it counts?"
Xuanyuan Po contemplated the question very seriously, finally saying without much confidence, "I think…it should count?"
Tang Thirty-Six thought, it's really impossible to chat with this person. After leaving the forest, he returned to the house, pushed open the door, and immediately asked, "Do you believe in love at first sight?"