Chapter 40: Muddle Along 1
Uh—
Shao Xuanbang stared blankly at the chessboard, unable to figure out how he had lost for quite some time.
Hua Gengtian was long accustomed to his friend's expression. Although Shao Xuanbang was well over sixty and had been playing Chinese chess for at least twenty years, he remained an utterly terrible player. If not for Shao Xuanbang's relentless pestering, Hua Gengtian wouldn't have wasted his precious time keeping him company.
Worried that his friend might sit there until he developed senile dementia, Hua Gengtian tried to change the subject: "By the way, are you certain you want to handle that item this way?"
"What item?"
Perhaps because his mind jumped too quickly, Shao Xuanbang truly failed to react for a second. Hua Gengtian rolled his eyes at him and clarified further: "The very one that nearly cost you your life."
"Oh, you mean that!" Shao Xuanbang smacked his forehead in sudden realization, then offered a nonchalant smile. "It doesn't matter. As long as 'it' remains at Sheng Tian, it's absolutely foolproof!"
Although he couldn't fathom where his friend got such confidence, Hua Gengtian had no intention of stopping him. After all, since no better alternative existed at present, they could only take things one step at a time...
On the other end, after teaching two consecutive P.E. classes, Wu Lang once again gained a profound appreciation for how useless these young masters and misses were! It was merely a slow jog of a dozen laps inside the gymnasium, yet more than half the students called a halt halfway through, claiming they couldn't finish.
Give her a break!
One lap around the gymnasium was two hundred meters at most. They hadn't even broken a sweat, yet they were already crying about exhaustion.
Although Wu Lang personally favored a Spartan style of education, why should a mere wage-earning employee go out of her way to do such thankless work?
Thus, adhering to the principle of "muddling along," once she led the students through their warm-up routines, she instructed them to engage in free activities around the gym.
When all the day's classes concluded, Wu Lang returned to the changing room to shed the tracksuit borrowed from Li Hao and put back on the grease-scented "white smock." When Li Hao saw his prized tracksuit—which he had been reluctant to wear himself—ravaged beyond recognition by the woman, two silent streams of waterfall tears rolled down his face once again...
"Xiao Wu, I've washed all your clothes for you!" Arriving at the cafeteria, Auntie Lin's signature booming voice could be heard from far away.
"Thank you so much for the trouble." Taking the neatly folded clothes, Wu Lang offered her polite thanks.
However, Auntie Lin unusually straightened her expression and said with earnest sincerity: "Xiao Wu, not to lecture you, but there are proper rules when it comes to wearing talismans." With that, Auntie Lin pulled a blue cloth pouch fitted with a red lanyard from her pocket and slipped it over Wu Lang's neck without giving her a chance to refuse.
"Auntie Lin, what is this...?"
"When I was washing your clothes earlier, I found a protective talisman in your pocket. You must know, the biggest taboo with talismans is tossing them around carelessly like you did. So, I took what was on hand and stitched a little pouch for you so you can wear it conveniently." Auntie Lin's hometown housed a temple where incense burned abundantly, making her exceptionally attentive to such matters.
Due to limited materials, Auntie Lin couldn't find suitable fabric and simply snipped off a piece of the waterproof tarpaulin used outside to cover cabbages, then twisted together some red string meant for wrapping rice dumplings to thread through the stitched pouch.
To tell the truth, Wu Lang had long thrown the talisman gifted by Principal Shao to the back of her mind. It seemed her photographic memory automatically skipped over things she didn't care to remember. However, Wu Lang had always accepted the goodwill of others with an open heart. Not only did she not mind the pouch's rough material, but she tucked it inside her clothes to wear it close against her skin.
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