Chapter 11: A Good Teacher is Hard to Come By

"I'll listen to whatever the old man says." Wen Hao could tell that if they tried to negotiate any further, the old man’s posture suggested he was ready to kick them out.

"I’m not asking for her to learn everything the old man knows; as long as she can protect herself, that’s enough." The concept was quite vague.

Wen Hao also became a bit more cautious.

"You kid." The old man rolled his eyes at him. "Your girl is already in her teens; she can certainly handle this kind of hardship." It was rare for a young girl to be able to endure the bitterness of martial arts training.

"She can handle it, she can handle it," Wen Hao quickly replied.

With things settled here, Wen Hao planned to go back and give Nan Shuang a surprise.

The old man had said that from now on, she should come to him for training after school; the distance was not his concern.

If he wanted someone to come, he wouldn't be the one going out.

Nan Shuang had no idea her father had a surprise waiting for her. She went straight home after school, wanting to spend more time condensing spiritual liquid. After her father used it last time, she checked and found that his body had improved significantly.

Once he took it a few more times, his body could recover to the peak state of his youth. Then, she would let him train in martial arts with her.

Even if he didn't reach a high level, at the very least, the next time they encountered highwaymen, he wouldn't be handing over their belongings voluntarily.

Now, Nan Shuang didn't even sleep at night; she went straight into her space to condense the spiritual liquid.

The speed was indeed faster, but to condense the liquid, her mental cultivation method had to keep pace; otherwise, she would have to use her own internal energy to liquefy it.

That wouldn't do. Her internal energy was her foundation, and it couldn't be compromised.

As soon as she returned, she saw her father and Uncle Liangzi at home. "Dad, Uncle Liangzi, why are you back so early today?" These past few days, her father had been out helping her find a master, and he always returned after dark.

It was strange to see them back so early today.

Looking at the food already prepared, they must have been back for at least an hour or two.

"Nan Shuang, you see—" Liangzi was about to tell her the good news, but Wen Hao stepped on his foot.

"Ouch!" he cried out, nearly blowing the roof off.

"Can't you be lighter with your feet? Do you have any idea how much strength you have?" It hurt so much he wanted to curse.

But with Nan Shuang there, he couldn't.

"You kid, why can't you ever keep your mouth shut? Hmph." That was his surprise for Nan Shuang; how could he let Liangzi steal the spotlight?

"Don't you know how much trouble your mouth has caused you?" After glaring at him, Wen Hao smiled at Nan Shuang. "Don't mind your Uncle Liangzi; he’s acting up again."

Nan Shuang was speechless.

Is this what they call "there is no silver buried here"?

The two of them clearly had something to hide from her.

For her father's sake, she would play along.

"Come over and eat; today's dishes are all your favorites." Nan Shuang was at an age where she was growing, and lately, the food at home had been good.

"Mm, I'll come over after I put my bag away." In this weather, they ate in the courtyard; as long as it wasn't raining, they were basically outdoors.

If it rained, they would eat in the kitchen.

The three sat at the table, and Wen Hao immediately started piling food into Nan Shuang's bowl—all the things she loved. Lately, Nan Shuang had a good appetite and was eating more, and she had put on some weight.

She even seemed to have grown a bit taller.

Halfway through the meal, Wen Hao couldn't hold back anymore. "Nan Shuang, didn't you want to learn martial arts? Dad found a master for you today. How about I take you to meet him tomorrow?"

He had the air of someone who would drop it if she didn't want to go.

Nan Shuang had only mentioned finding a master as an excuse for her own training; she hadn't expected her father to take it to heart. "Mm, thank you, Dad."

Seeing the smile on his daughter's face, Wen Hao felt it was all worth it.

"No need to thank me, I'm your dad." After saying this, Wen Hao laughed heartily, showing just how happy he was.

"Dad, you eat too." Nan Shuang placed a piece of food in her father's bowl.

Finally having waited for Wen Hao to finish his surprise, Liangzi couldn't hold back anymore.

"Nan Shuang, that master has a bit of a foul temper. If you're truly serious about learning, try to be a bit more tolerant." He was afraid Nan Shuang wouldn't be able to handle the old man's temper.

If he hadn't held him back today, Brother Hao would have almost gotten into a fight with the man.

"Mm, I will. I'm very polite." If people don't offend me, I won't offend them; if they do, I will never let it go—it will be a fight to the death.

In her past life, she was a waste, unable to compete with those people. Now, hmph.

Of course, she wouldn't attack people at will; that was her bottom line.

That night, Nan Shuang thought about it. She didn't think the master her father found could be as powerful as she was.

However, she didn't want to waste her father's good intentions.

With a pleasant mood, she spent another night in cultivation.

It had to be said, when in a good mood, even martial arts training didn't feel like a hardship.

The next day, Nan Shuang went to school early, and Wen Hao left home, planning to go out with Liangzi to move some goods.

From now on, he had a fixed amount of money to pay every month, so he couldn't afford to delay Nan Shuang's training.

At school, the students were facing the tense midterm exams.

"Nan Shuang, why aren't you nervous?" Xiang Liling had been fidgeting since she arrived at school this morning.

Don't let her good grades fool you; she was the type to get nervous whenever an exam came around.

"What's there to be nervous about? The grades are already set; will being nervous make the score go up?" She had reached the second level of a martial artist and had mastered the knowledge in the books. Unfortunately, she couldn't just jump to the top of the class all at once.

Not only would the teachers not believe it, but her father would likely suspect she was cheating. Everything had to be done slowly.

Her grades had been steadily rising in the small quizzes, and she had already set a goal for the midterms: to get into the top ten of the class.

That way, it wouldn't arouse suspicion, and she wouldn't have to explain herself to others.

"Exactly, you're nervous for every exam, yet the grades you get make people grind their teeth in envy," said Wang Lingling, who was sitting behind Xiang Liling, with a look of resentment.

Yu Qian remained silent the whole time, still reading her book. It was clear there was a reason she could maintain her position as first in the class and the grade.

"I... I don't know either." Xiang Liling felt a bit embarrassed.

"You don't know, my foot. 'Nervous,' my eye. I think you're just putting on a show for us." Wang Lingling's jealousy flared up.

"I'm not."

Nan Shuang felt a headache from their bickering.

"Wang Lingling, say less. It's not like you don't know what Xiang Liling's situation is." This person was just a thorn in everyone's side.

"And another thing, your grades should be coming up too. Look at who you're sitting next to. If you keep ranking at the bottom, are you worthy of having a class monitor like Xiang Liling?"

After saying this, Nan Shuang laughed.

It was truly ridiculous.

She was sitting next to the top student in the entire grade, with the second-best in the class sitting in front of her. In a situation like this, you could get those grades just by glancing at their papers.

But she, on the other hand...

Not only was she always at the bottom, but she was at the bottom of the entire grade.

Even the teachers couldn't be bothered to scold her anymore.

The teachers had scolded her during class before, saying that even if she just lifted her head, she wouldn't get such grades.

If it weren't for the fact that the word "cheating" was hard to say, they would have been lecturing her constantly.

"Plagiarism is not in this young lady's character. Even if I don't do well, I do so honestly. I would never do something so shameless."

There she was, quite proud of her good character for not cheating.

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(End of chapter)