Chen Ping’an, though appearing slender, effortlessly carried the locust branches on his shoulders as he walked along Mud Bottle Alley. The red-cotton-padded little girl behind him watched in astonishment. If not for her insistence, Chen Ping’an would have even taken the locust branch from her delicate shoulders.

At the entrance of Mud Bottle Alley stood a little girl with pigtails. Her cheeks were probably frostbitten from the winter, making her rosy cheeks quite noticeable. Seeing the red-cotton-padded girl swaggering along with the locust branches, she muttered, “Li Bao Ping, didn’t we agree to drop the locust branches and go to the academy together? You don’t know, Grandpa Ma is acting strange today, dressed like Mister Qi. He said he’ll take us on a study tour to Cliff Academy. If Grandpa Ma gets angry with us, it’s your fault.”

The red-cotton-padded girl didn’t seem to hear a word. She plucked a verdant locust leaf, given to her by Chen Ping’an, from the embroidered pouch at her waist. She twirled it in her fingers, a smug look on her face.

Her expression screamed, “You don’t have one, but I have many!”

The little girl with pigtails felt inexplicably annoyed. She couldn’t understand what was so special about a broken leaf to warrant such flaunting. However, she just couldn’t stand Li Bao Ping’s attitude, it was infuriating. The problem was, even the troublemakers in the academy couldn’t beat Li Bao Ping. Li Huai had once pretended to be dead on the ground after a beating from her. Li Bao Ping wouldn’t let it go, she pulled down Li Huai’s pants and tossed them onto a tree, leaving him to run home, bottom bare, howling all the way. His mother was no pushover. Without a word, she dragged Li Huai towards Fortune Street. But before they even reached the Li family, seeing the imposing stone lions, colorful door gods, and tall courtyard walls on both sides of the street, the woman became even angrier. She gave Li Huai another beating, not even bothering to knock on the Li family’s door. She dragged her son back to their dilapidated house on the western edge of town, tail between her legs. However, that night, the woman slaughtered a chicken and stewed it. Li Huai stood naked on a stool, swinging his legs and eating more happily than anyone else. He had completely forgotten the humiliation of having his head patted by Li Bao Ping.

The little girl with pigtails held up her hands, indicating length, and said with a disgusted expression, “It’s just a locust leaf, what’s so great about it? My dad gave me a golden abacus last night, a golden abacus this big!”

Unfortunately, the red-cotton-padded girl was completely immersed in her own world, not caring about any golden abacus. She continued to gently wave the locust leaf in front of her companion, raising her pointy little chin and pointing towards Chen Ping’an in front, “He gave it to me. I have more in my pouch.”

The little girl with pigtails sighed. From the first day she met Li Bao Ping, she had been this annoying. She only said what she wanted to say, only listened to what she wanted to hear, and only did what she wanted to do.

If there weren’t so few children her age in Riding Dragon Lane, the little girl with pigtails wouldn’t want to play with her. Many times, even Mister Qi was helpless with Li Bao Ping, because she would always ask strange questions. Mister Qi would always answer earnestly, but he often couldn’t provide a convincing answer for Li Bao Ping. Sometimes, Mister Qi would excitedly figure out a problem and plan to explain it thoroughly to Li Bao Ping the next day. However, Li Bao Ping would have already forgotten what she asked the day before. When the thought of catching loach, catching crickets, or flying kites came to mind, she would run off, leaving Mister Qi standing there alone.

Chen Ping’an, carrying the locust branches on his shoulders, couldn’t turn his head easily. He could only ask a little louder, “How many people are there in the academy now?”

Li Bao Ping was struggling to switch the locust branches from one shoulder to the other. She had already switched them back and forth many times, and it was burning hot.

The pigtail girl held up a hand and replied, “Now there are only five of us left. Me, Li Bao Ping, Li Huai, Lin Shouyi, and Dong Shuijing.”

She had nothing better to do, so she rattled off the situation in the academy, “Mister Qi promised to take us on a study tour, and eventually go to Cliff Academy to study. At that time, there were fourteen or fifteen people in our academy. Their families all agreed. Later, these rich kids who mostly lived on Fortune Street and Peach Leaf Alley first claimed to be sick and stopped coming to the academy. Then, after listening to Li Bao Ping, they left town directly, saying they were going to stay with distant relatives. These people were the happiest when they heard about going to Cliff Academy. I don’t know what they were so happy about. It’s so tiring to follow Mister Qi for such a long journey.”

The little girl spoke in a childish voice, but her reasoning was clear. She was precocious and gentle, like a little adult. For some reason, Chen Ping’an was reminded of Gu Can, but she wasn’t quite the same as that snot-nosed porcupine.

Chen Ping’an asked with a smile, “What’s your name?”

The little girl with pigtails said calmly, “I’m Shi Chunjia, so you can call me Miss Shi.”

Chen Ping’an was speechless.

Li Bao Ping chimed in, “Just call her Little Stone.”

Shi Chunjia puffed up like a ruffled cat, glaring at Li Bao Ping, “Don’t call me Little Stone! Li Bao Ping, you can’t either!”

Li Bao Ping, who liked to daydream all the time, had already shifted her thoughts from her companion’s nickname to somewhere else, so she didn’t even bother to argue with Shi Chunjia’s retort.

Shi Chunjia, however, liked to be serious. She patiently tried to reason with Li Bao Ping, trying to get rid of the unpopular nickname “Little Stone.” Because Shi Chunjia knew that when they arrived at Mister Qi’s Cliff Academy, as long as Li Bao Ping called her Little Stone once, the nickname would probably stick forever.

Listening to the two little girls’ back-and-forth conversation behind him, Chen Ping’an asked, “There are many Li family residences on Fortune Street. Which one is yours?”

Chen Ping’an hoped it wasn’t one of the four major Li family residences.

After all, he had used the offspring locust tree on Fortune Street to climb over the wall of a Li family residence in order to lure the old ape of Zheng Yang Mountain out of hiding. Thinking about it, Chen Ping’an had also broken two of the Li family’s bird feeders with his slingshot.

Shi Chunjia said unkindly, “Her house is the one with the locust tree outside the wall. Whenever her family wouldn’t let her go out, afraid she’d go crazy playing, she’d secretly set up a ladder to climb over the wall and then drop down onto Fortune Street along the locust tree. Once, her parents were so angry that they took the ladder away, insisting that she enter through the main gate. She didn’t expect her to just jump down. She didn’t come to the academy for a month after that, and for the next two months, she came with crutches.”

Li Bao Ping didn’t feel ashamed at all, but said seriously, “I reflected on it afterward. I landed in the wrong posture that time. I shouldn’t have stuck my feet straight down. So, after my leg healed, I tried again and…”

Shi Chunjia said angrily, “Didn’t you just take another half-month off from school?”

Li Bao Ping pouted, “It was fine the third time.”

Shi Chunjia retorted angrily, “That’s because a year later, you grew up, you sprouted up quickly, so you could withstand the tossing and turning. It has nothing to do with your correct landing posture!”

Chen Ping’an didn’t interfere with the two little girls’ bickering. One reason was that he was worried about being recognized by the Li family and having them release the dogs on him. Another reason was that, deep down, Chen Ping’an envied them. He envied their happiness and stability, being able to be disciplined by their elders at home and to study at the academy.

Although he was worried, Chen Ping’an still decided to help Li Bao Ping deliver the locust branches to her doorstep.

Perhaps this was karma. He had just told the red-cotton-padded little girl that he would keep his promise, so he had no choice but to bite the bullet and go to the Li family residence to turn himself in.

Perhaps the heavens had finally woken up from their nap and felt that it was time for Chen Ping’an’s luck to change. The gatekeeper didn’t recognize him, and Li Bao Ping didn’t ask him to help carry the locust branches into the residence. Chen Ping’an, relieved, was about to turn and leave when Li Bao Ping handed him the locust branch she was carrying on her shoulder, saying it was her repayment.

Chen Ping’an didn’t refuse the little girl’s kindness. He casually carried it on his shoulder, waved goodbye, and left.

The gatekeeper was used to his young mistress’s eccentricities. He wasn’t surprised that she brought home a pile of locust branches that even beggars would disdain. He just felt sorry for his young mistress’s big red cotton-padded coat, which was worth more than those locust branches. His young mistress, before the age of five, was able to catch a big crab from the stream by herself. When she got home, she cried and raised her little hand high. On her little hand was a crab that refused to let go of its pincers. Her parents and ancestors were heartbroken. To this day, that crab with the bluish-black shell and scarlet red pincers was still kept in her large fish tank. His young mistress didn’t really like to study. She would chat and talk to it whenever she had the chance.

Looking at Chen Ping’an’s departing figure.

Shi Chunjia glanced at Li Bao Ping beside her and chuckled, “Is that the one who made you knock out a front tooth?”

Li Bao Ping suddenly walked behind Shi Chunjia, grabbed her two pigtails with both hands, and prepared to lift them upwards, “Trust me, it will definitely work this time.”

Shi Chunjia was so frightened that she quickly squatted down, closed her eyes, and waved her hands wildly above her head to prevent Li Bao Ping from grabbing her pigtails again to “pull weeds.”

Li Bao Ping squatted down next to her, who was a head shorter than her, and said confidently, “Little Stone, it won’t hurt. You haven’t tried it a second time. How do you know it won’t work? Right?”

Shi Chunjia cried loudly in fear.

The gatekeeper couldn’t bear to watch. He came to the rescue of the little shopkeeper from Riding Dragon Lane, saying, “Just now, Academy Master Ma asked Li Huai to bring a message, asking the residence to prepare a carriage. Miss, please pack your luggage and go to the academy first, then leave town and travel to Cliff Academy with Miss Shi. Of course, before going to the academy, Miss can go to Riding Dragon Lane and put Miss Shi’s things in the carriage.”

Li Bao Ping had no choice but to let Shi Chunjia go for now. She looked disappointed. As they walked into the gate together, she didn’t forget to feel sorry for Shi Chunjia.

The pigtail girl, who had just survived the ordeal, silently resolved to take her braids apart today.

“Huh?”

Li Bao Ping suddenly exclaimed in surprise, looking up.

Shi Chunjia followed her gaze and wondered, “Is it going to rain?”

A large black cloud floated over the town.

From north to south.

The grass-sandal-wearing youth, who had just walked out of Fortune Street, was also looking up.

At that moment, the youth was shocked speechless.

It wasn’t a black cloud at all. It was a dense mass of flying swords, countless immortals soaring through the sky on their swords.

The youth slowly turned his head, his gaze following the southward movement of the sword cloud.

Suddenly.

A black dot flew from south to north, going against the flow of those flying sword immortals.

The black dot grew larger and larger.

Finally, the grass-sandal-wearing youth, with his excellent eyesight, widened his eyes, as if he had seen a ghost in broad daylight. In the southern sky above the town, a person was descending diagonally on a flying sword. When they were about a hundred feet above the town’s ground, they paused briefly. The sword-riding person looked down at the town, their eyes scanning all directions, and then dove straight towards Fortune Street.

In an instant, the sword flight, capable of traveling thousands of miles in a day, was accompanied by a howling, whistling, thunderous sound, and finally landed in front of Chen Ping’an.

The sword hovered half a zhang above the ground. On the sword, a spirited young woman in a dark green robe, her feet also hovering above the sword’s surface.

The travel-weary young woman grinned, crossed her arms, and exuded vigor, saying, “I thought I should say goodbye to you, so I came.”

However, before the locust-branch-carrying youth could say anything, the sword-riding girl with a saber at her waist moved her mind. The sword tip immediately reversed direction, slanted upwards, and vanished in a flash.

The youth subconsciously reached out his hand, but the girl and the flying sword had already disappeared without a trace.

Embarrassed, the youth sheepishly withdrew his hand, scratched his head, and walked towards Mud Bottle Alley, occasionally looking up.

The grass-sandal-wearing youth was a little disappointed at first, but soon became happy. So, Miss Ning was a goddess.

So much so that Chen Ping’an spent money for the first time to buy a candied haws stick when he passed a Riding Dragon Lane shop, eating as he walked.

As he ate, the youth felt empty for some reason.

The youth thought hard. Was it because he felt bad about spending the money?