Strange. Roland felt that this girl’s words seemed quite odd.
Indistinctly, this girl seemed to give him a familiar feeling. However, after Roland gave it some thought, he confirmed that he really had never seen her before. She looked quite pretty and sophisticated, and she definitely would’ve left an impression on him if he’d seen her before.
Seeming to feel that she had spoken a little too much, the girl turned back around and walked forward in silence.
The two of them arrived in front of the storehouse behind the large shed, and the girl opened the door with a key. There were many weapons inside, along with some protective gear.
“Choose one that you like.” The girl walked in first.
Roland walked into the storehouse. He discovered that there were miaodaos placed horizontally across a wooden weapons rack, and also sword sheaths.
He randomly picked one up. Although it was wooden, the length of the miadao was apparent; it was somewhat heavy in his hands. The sheathe was made of bamboo, the workmanship decent, and the shaft was quite glossy, seemingly having been immersed in tung oil.
Roland raised the miaodao. He wanted to draw it from the sheathe for a closer look. But in the end, the miaodao was too long and he couldn’t draw it out.
“It’s easier to unsheathe it if you hold it horizontally.”
The girl said this while she held a tape measure and approached him. She sized up Roland for a while and said, “Stand still.”
Soon afterward, she started measuring Roland’s height, and the circumference of his chest, waist, and arms.
After the girl got close, that sweet osmanthus fragrance was even stronger.
Roland was somewhat surprised. He let her take his measurements, but he still asked, “Before learning miaodao techniques, I still need to go through a physical examination?”
“This is for making your protective gear.” The girl measured the dimensions of the various parts of Roland’s body while saying in a quiet voice, “Even a wooden sword is quite dangerous.”
Roland was somewhat astonished. He said, “But I didn’t see those youngsters wear any protective gear.”
“It’s obviously unnecessary when practicing the routine movements.” The girl stood up and said matter-of-factly, “However, when sparring, you’ll have to wear them, otherwise even a slight hit from a wooden sword would be quite painful.”
“Do I have to pay separately for this protective gear?” Roland asked. He felt that this was a separate hidden fee!
The girl shook her head. “It’s free.”
“Free breakfast, free swords and protective gear, the benefits are pretty good,” Roland said with a smile.
At this moment, the girl had already finished measuring his physical dimensions, and upon hearing his words, she said in a light voice, “Although the tuition is a little expensive, the things we teach are actually worth the price.”
There was some justification in her voice, and the girl’s expression even looked a little vulnerable.
Roland keenly recognized this. He was somewhat surprised, and after a while, the strange feeling he had become more apparent. Somewhat baffled, he asked, “Have we... met before?”
The girl spared a glance at him, her expression serene. “What do you think?”
Roland felt that he had over-thought it, chuckling awkwardly.
Then, he picked a random wooden sword and left the storehouse quickly.
At the large shed, Qi Shaoqiu was already there waiting for him.
This man leaned against the load-bearing metal pillar of the large shed, smoking a cheap cigarette. His emotionless dead fish eyes had a kind of sorrowfully cool feel to them.
Of course, this was only an illusion, as Qi Shaoqiu’s air changed the moment he spoke. “If you spent a little more time alone with my sister, I would’ve gone to beat you.”
Roland couldn’t help but roll his eyes.
“All right, now that you’ve chosen your saber, you can bring it home later or leave it here with us for safekeeping.” Qi Shaoqiu pinched out the fire on the cigarette then placed the cigarette into his pocket, and said, “Since you’ve trained in boxing before, then we don’t need to do the basics like stretching the muscles and joints. Now I’ll briefly explain the basic footwork of miadao techniques. In sword techniques, the majority of movements can be completed with the exchange between goose-steps and horse stance, so for the stereotypical horse stance, you’ll have to practice it for half an hour each day. Then there’s the basic way to hold the saber, unlike the Wa people...”
Qi Shaoqiu instructed and demonstrated at the same time.
Soon, the morning went by.
When it was near the afternoon, Roland turned down Qi Shaoqiu’s invitation to each lunch together and rode off on a public bike.
Watching Roland leave, Qi Shaoqiu said to his sister, who was next to him, “Today, you seemed a little off. You had a lot of mood swings. Do you know that guy? Don’t tell me he’s your former classmate.”
Night Tide Sands stayed silent.
Qi Shaoqiu waited for a while and turned his head in surprise as the cigarette in his mouth fell to the ground. “Don’t tell me I hit the nail on the head.”
Night Tide Sands pursed her thin pink lips. “Not my classmate: he was my senior in high school. One grade higher than I was.”
“A senior in high school—you don’t need to have such a deep impression of him. How many years ago was it... wait!” Qi Shaoqiu was stunned for a moment before he asked, “The two exceptional students in the ninth middle school that you mentioned often in high school, they’re close friends who passed the University of Luo’s exam together, and he’s one of them?”
Night Tide Sands nodded in response.
Qi Shaoqiu leaned over to pick up the cigarette, blew lightly on the cigarette filter, and then placed it back into his mouth. “So that’s how it is, no wonder!”
After Roland’s figure became an indistinct black dot on the street, Night Tide Sands withdrew her gaze. “How talented is he? How long will it take for him to learn miaodao techniques?”
“He’s quite talented. He grasped the techniques of withdrawing and exerting power once I explained them and drew many inferences from that—as expected of a talented student. He’ll probably graduate from my teaching in half a year!” Qi Shaoqiu exclaimed in admiration, and then looked at Night Tide Sands and said with a crooked smile, “But don’t you worry, I’ll teach him slowly—at least have him learn for one year.”
Irritated, Night Tide Sands turned around and said, “No need, I don’t need you to meddle in my business.”
She returned to the storehouse, looked at the recorded measurements on the table, and said lightly, “He’s a lot taller than before!”
In a daze, she remembered the events from seven years ago. At the time, she was only a silly little girl, and the high school she attended was a boarding school. She dragged her heavy luggage over the cement ground of the campus, and there just happened to be a small slope that she couldn’t get over. After attempting several times, she didn’t have any strength left to try again. She wanted to sit down to rest.
At this moment, an average-looking senior, who had average vibes and wore average attire, extended a helping hand.
She remembered that at the time, the autumn sun was hanging high above, the sky was blue, and the senior was in plain white clothing. Even if he wasn’t outstandingly handsome, he gave her a gentle sensation like a warm jade in her bosom.
The senior helped her take her luggage to the girl’s dormitory.
She had thought that she wouldn’t have anymore interactions with this senior in the future.
However, she never expected that in the following two years, she would hear news of this senior every month.
This senior had an outrageously handsome childhood friend. The two of them occupied the top two of their class in grades and took turns to be number one.
They were in the oratorical contest and the International Mathematical Olympics, and they could even place in school sports. What was more ridiculous was that they also participated in fights and brawls—they were even the initiators.
If it weren’t for their good grades that convinced the principal to actively cover this up, they would definitely have stains on their school records.
In the end, the two of them went to University of Luo together.
Night Tide Sands’s first-choice university was also University of Luo, but she didn’t pass the entrance exam.
She felt that she had almost forgotten about this high school senior, but unexpectedly, he appeared in front of her again.
His appearance hadn’t changed much compared to before.
She recognized him.
He didn’t recognize her.
He wouldn’t recognize her to begin with—they were just strangers coming together by chance.
Thinking of it this way, Night Tide Sands felt her heart ache a little.