Sword drawn from the constellations, poison as its edge.

Chapter 14 Guan Guan Jujiu
Showing courtesy for nothing is either cheating or stealing!

Jiang Mingzhe was secretly on guard, but wore a harmless smile on his face and said humbly, "It's so late, how could I dare to trouble you, Senior Brother? If you have any dry food here, Senior Sister, I'll just have a bite."

Just as Azi was about to speak, Zhuifengzi interrupted, "Junior brother, you're being too polite. Little Azi is your senior sister, and I'm your senior brother too, aren't I? Taking care of your own junior brother is no big deal. Besides, we're already working hard in martial arts training, how can we neglect our stomachs? Come on, let's go to your senior brother's place and have a good drink together."

Zhui Fengzi insisted, and if Jiang Mingzhe refused again, he would probably offend him.

He quickly calculated in his mind: The most powerful people in the Xingxiu Sect, besides Ding Chunqiu, are Zhaixingzi. Zhaixingzi is narrow-minded. He had offended him just because he was handsome. The eighth brother, Chuchenzi, was born with superhuman strength and was also hated by him. So, could the second and third brothers, who are closest to him, be spared?
Thinking about it this way, he began to guess the reason why Zhuifengzi was trying to befriend him.

That's right. When Ding Chunqiu was teaching me martial arts, he laughed several times, which probably made me a target of a lot of hatred, especially Zhaixingzi. I pretended to be dull and clumsy to lull him into a false sense of security, but I'm afraid that Ding Chunqiu laughed it off. After all, in Zhaixingzi's eyes, I am a competitor who has entered his race. Two tigers cannot share one mountain. On the other hand, these three fat guys are destined not to be on the looks track, so there shouldn't be any conflict in the short term. They probably want to use me as a pawn to deal with Zhaixingzi.

Since entering the workplace, Jiang Mingzhe has become accustomed to all sorts of tricks, such as currying favor with the powerful, forming cliques, taking advantage of chaos, and using others to do his dirty work. If he were to list them all, he would not be able to write down all thirty-six stratagems. He quickly saw through Zhui Fengzi's scheming.

So, it seems that Zhuifengzi wouldn't harm him, and as for trying to use him as a pawn, that's not worth mentioning.

—Who became whose gun is still uncertain.

However, nothing is absolute. As the saying goes, "Round face and full beard, Chengdu Ruby Lin, what if these three fat guys have other ideas?"

So he pretended to hesitate and looked at Azi: "Senior sister is so old, I'm afraid she can't drink alcohol?"

Zhui Fengzi was taken aback, thinking to himself, "When did I say I was inviting A Zi?"

Ah Zi was overjoyed, feeling that her junior brother was indeed worthy of being her chosen Xiao Qing, always thinking of her when there was good news.

The disciples of the Xingxiu Sect dared not go to the dining hall and cooked for themselves. What kind of cooking skills could a little girl like Azi have? She was only good enough to cook the food until it was just warm enough to avoid getting an upset stomach.

But these three fat guys are known for their excellent cooking skills. We usually can't find an excuse, so why not have a meal with them today?
She quickly waved her hand and said very sensibly, "You don't need to worry about me. You men drink, I'll just eat the food."

Zhui Fengzi originally only wanted to invite Jiang Mingzhe alone for a drink, hoping to give him a good talking-to while he was slightly tipsy and see if he could be recruited. However, he did not expect that A Zi would also join in the fun.

After a moment's hesitation, Ah Zi, with her sharp eyes, immediately said sarcastically, "Third Senior Brother, you wouldn't be so stingy, would you? Junior Brother is Junior Brother, but Junior Sister isn't Junior Sister? Humph, I can just bring my own ingredients!"

As he spoke, he reached into his sleeve and pulled out a large, multicolored snake with a green back and black rings, orange on top and green on the bottom. This snake was none other than the belt that Jiang Mingzhe had worn before!
Jiang Mingzhe received his uniform and immediately put it on, so he naturally abandoned this belt and didn't notice when Azi put it away.

Knowing he couldn't get rid of Azi, Zhuifengzi laughed and said, "What a fine pheasant neck! I happen to have two big chickens with me. Let's make a dragon and two phoenixes and let my junior sister and junior brother have a good meal."

He added, "Little Azi, it's not that I'm unwilling to give you food, I'm just worried that you, as a girl, will get fat if you eat so late. If you grow up to look like me, how will you get married in the future?"

Azi's joyful expression froze instantly. She slowly looked at Zhuifengzi, imagining herself with so much flesh on her body, and thought she simply couldn't live like that.

Jiang Mingzhe was afraid she would back down, so he quickly encouraged her: "Absolutely not! My senior sister is naturally beautiful, radiant, fair-skinned, and slender. She's also at the age where she's growing, so how could she gain weight? Even if she eats late-night snacks every day, she'll only get prettier and prettier."

Ah Zi was beaming with joy, nodding repeatedly, "Yes, yes, you definitely won't gain weight. Let's go, we have to practice tomorrow." Zhui Fengzi had no choice but to pretend to be happy and led the two to his residence.

The core logic behind the arrangement of these small buildings of the Xingxiu Sect is that there is no logic at all.

For example, to the left of Building B1 is Building A36, where Azi lives, and to the right is Building A27. Behind it is Building B9, and to the left and behind Building B9 is Building A3, where Zhuifengzi lives.

Jiang Mingzhe guessed that Ding Laoguai's original intention was to have the disciples of the Tiangang and Disha factions live together, with enemies as neighbors, to keep them in a state of crisis. Later, when it was changed to only thirty-six disciples could be enrolled, these disciples were happy to be separated from each other by empty courtyards, thus creating the current situation.

After passing two narrow paths made of blue bricks, we arrived at Building A, No. 3. Zhui Fengzi went in first and lit many candles and lanterns, illuminating both the inside and outside.

Jiang Mingzhe followed Azi into the house and saw that all the original blue bricks that had been used to pave the courtyard had been removed and replaced with a thick layer of soil, neatly arranged in rows.

They weren't growing any poisonous flowers or exotic plants, but rather ordinary vegetables such as cabbage, chives, green beans, and even seasonings like scallions, ginger, and garlic.

In one corner of the courtyard, a fishpond about half an acre in size was dug out, with round leaves and tiny yellow flowers scattered on the surface.

Jiang Mingzhe exclaimed in surprise, "Is this water lily? Third Senior Brother has such refined tastes!"

Azi asked curiously, "What's so special about water lilies? How can you say he has a refined taste?"

Jiang Mingzhe shook his head and recited: "The ospreys cry 'guan guan' on the river's islet; a fair maiden, a gentleman's desire; the watercress grows thick and thin, flowing left and right; a fair maiden, he seeks her waking and sleeping. Isn't that elegant?"

Azi stared at Jiang Mingzhe in surprise, her eyes gradually brightening. Suddenly, she jumped up and pointed to her own nose, saying, "Junior brother, is this a poem you wrote for me? Wow, you truly deserve to be a disciple of the land of sages! No one has ever written a poem for me before!"

"This girl has never read the Book of Songs!" Jiang Mingzhe was stunned. He had always thought that Ding Chunqiu would value his disciples' cultural studies, since he was always talking about classical allusions and poems. He never expected that Azi had never even heard of "Guanju" and thought that he had written the poem for her.

Zhui Fengzi said with a half-smile, "Little A Zi, didn't you say that all poets are useless pedants? Why don't you say that Junior Brother Jiang is too pedantic?"

Azi rolled her eyes at him and said, "Those pedantic poems weren't written for me, so of course I don't like them. Junior Brother's poem was written for me, so it's naturally very different."

Zhui Fengzi chuckled and said, "The poem doesn't even mention the name 'A Zi,' so how do you know it was written for you?"

Azi retorted confidently, "Is your memory that bad? Have you forgotten that you said I would get as fat as you? What did my junior brother say? He said I was naturally beautiful, radiant, fair-skinned, and graceful! Graceful! Graceful! Graceful lady! He even wrote it in a poem. If it wasn't for me, was it for you?"

Having said that, he ignored Zhui Fengzi, turned around cheerfully, tugged at Jiang Mingzhe's sleeve and laughed, "Junior brother, your poem is so profound! I can only understand two lines. One is 'a graceful lady,' which is me. The other is 'a gentleman loves football,' which describes yourself, right? You are a native of the land of sages, so naturally you are a gentleman. You like football, don't you? Then next time we go to the market, I'll definitely buy you a ball and let those disciples who haven't been officially registered play with you."

Azi giggled and laughed, her cheeks flushed with happiness, and she shook Jiang Mingzhe's sleeve: "Besides these two sentences, what do the other sentences mean? Can you tell me?"

　I'm aiming to climb the new book charts during the new book season!

　　After all, I don't even dare to dream of the monthly ticket chart or the bestseller list; the only hope is the new book chart. Big shots, please lend me a hand so I can make a splash! Please send your follow-up replies, recommendation tickets, and monthly tickets like projectiles to my little brother!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)