Chapter 45: Hidden Anger

When Duan Rong woke up, the room was pitch black; it seemed to have become windy outside, blowing against the gauze on the carved windows and making a whooshing sound!

Duan Rong stretched and muttered to himself, "With such a strong wind, it looks like the weather is about to change!"

Duan Rong jumped off the bed, grabbed a wooden basin, and prepared to go to the well to wash up.

He was in a very good mood!

He hadn't had any erotic dreams last night!

Moreover, yesterday at the hour of Shen, when he was painting for those courtesans, no heat had surged in his lower abdomen!

This all seemed to indicate that the incident of drawing a map on the bedsheets that night was purely accidental!

Guan Yun's prescription was fine!

Furthermore, after two days of Standing Stake, he felt full of vigor, and the medicinal power within his meridians remained surging; although this Medicinal Agent was expensive, its potency was still beyond Duan Rong's expectations!

After Duan Rong finished washing up, he returned to the Martial Arts Arena and immediately began Standing Stake!

He was simply a crazy training machine!

The reason Duan Rong trained so crazily actually had a lot to do with his experience as a corporate slave in his previous life!

Only when you have struggled and crawled through society can you truly understand the importance of learning!

The essence of education is, in fact, not cultivation, but screening!

To screen out capable people, give them opportunities, give them resources, and let them develop the things that need to be developed!

As for the cannon fodder eliminated by this cruel screening, they can only drift on the periphery of this huge official-structured machine, left to live or die on their own!

You can, of course, rise from the bottom through other channels, but the chances are much smaller! Those who can succeed are truly few and far between!

In his previous life, Duan Rong regretted countless times that he hadn't studied crazily in high school and hadn't gotten into a prestigious university!

But now, he had been reborn!

A person should not make the same mistake twice!

He was determined to train crazily!

I will out-grind you all!

Duan Rong stood like this until nearly the hour of Shen again.

He exhaled to disperse his power, a trace of exhaustion appearing in his eyes.

His body once again felt a sense of depletion; the medicinal power of one packet of Medicinal Agent had actually lasted him nearly three full days of bitter training!

"Guan Yun's prescription is acceptable," Duan Rong finally gave his assessment after three days of experimentation.

"It seems that after I close the stall later, I'll have to make a trip to the Raw Medicine Shop!"

"The medicine cannot stop!"

Duan Rong returned to the dormitory courtyard, washed the foul sweat from his body, turned into a walking rack of goods, and headed toward the opposite side of Huaying Pavilion...

Red clouds already hung in the western sky; in the twilight, bats were fluttering up and down, catching small insects to eat.

Xiao Zongting smacked the jade mouthpiece of his tobacco pipe and walked down the steps in front of the residence with a limp.

After these few days of decoctions and acupuncture, Xiao Baijiao's condition had finally stabilized, and she had been able to get up to do needlework yesterday.

The heart that Xiao Zongting had been holding up finally settled.

He was now preparing to go to the Accounting Office in the Inner Courtyard to collect his monthly wages.

He had been so worried about Xiao Baijiao's condition before that he had even forgotten about the monthly wages.

After Xiao Zongting finished a pipe of tobacco, he tapped the ash against a willow tree nearby.

Once the ash was cleared, he put his hands behind his back and took a shortcut to the Inner Courtyard.

As Xiao Zongting passed through a covered walkway, there were two Escorts ahead whispering about something.

Xiao Zongting had always been indifferent to gossip and rumors, so he didn't listen closely.

But when he suddenly heard the two words "Duan Rong," he couldn't help but prick up his ears!

After all, he was the Apprentice he was currently teaching; if people were gossiping about him, it might even implicate him.

"... Apprentice... already started going to the medicine furnace room to boil Medicinal Agent..."

"Heard he even ran to the front of the brothel to sell paintings..."

"Isn't this losing face for our Yuanshun Escort Agency?"

Xiao Zongting wouldn't have minded if he hadn't heard it, but upon hearing this, his already gaunt face turned terrifyingly dark!

He didn't even go to collect his wages; he turned on his heel and walked out of the Yuanshun Escort Agency!

Twilight gathered!

In the dim light, tired crows flapped their wings and flew leisurely by...

Xiao Zongting stood at the entrance of an alley not far from Huaying Pavilion, looking with angry eyes at Duan Rong, who was setting up his easel under a large locust tree.

The dim yellow light of the lantern hit Duan Rong's face, and Xiao Zongting, standing there, could see it clearly.

At this moment, there was only one customer left at Duan Rong's painting stall.

It was a chubby young girl with her hair in two flat buns and bangs on her forehead; her round face was like a full moon!

After a few days, Duan Rong's skills had become perfect; before Huaying Pavilion had even opened its doors, he had already taken down the painting and handed it to the girl.

The chubby girl took the painting and looked at it; two small dimples immediately appeared on her face, and she turned and left in excitement and joy, unable to wait to share it with others.

As the chubby girl was walking impatiently, she was suddenly blocked by a gaunt, fierce-looking old man.

When the chubby girl saw the old man's appearance, she immediately covered her chest in fear, her face changing slightly as she said, "What are you doing?"

"Young lady, do not panic!" Xiao Zongting squeezed out a smile.

It would have been better if he hadn't smiled; smiling made him look even more terrifying, and the chubby girl was even more frightened.

"I just wanted to ask, how much is this painting in your hand?"

When the chubby girl heard it was about the painting, her expression softened slightly; although the old man looked like this, everyone has a love for beauty, and who said an old man couldn't paint? So she replied, "Ten taels."

"Ten taels?" Xiao Zongting's face twitched, and he was slightly stunned.

The chubby girl smiled, walked past Xiao Zongting, and left.

It seems that old man is not only ghastly to look at, but also a pauper! He must be an old bachelor!

Xiao Zongting stood at the alley entrance and suddenly let out a loud sneeze, and at this moment he saw Duan Rong had already turned into a walking shelf, turning into an alley.

Xiao Zongting's eyes were gloomy, and he limped as he followed!

Duan Rong first went to the Raw Medicine Shop, grabbed a dose of medicine, and then returned directly to the Yuanshun Escort Agency.

Duan Rong went from the front courtyard, passed through the moon gate, entered the Middle Courtyard, crossed the Martial Arts Arena, and arrived at his own dormitory courtyard.

He prepared to put his things in the dormitory, then go eat dinner, and then go to the medicine furnace room to decoct the medicine!

Duan Rong was already very familiar with his own doghole, so he didn't light a lamp, preparing to put his things down and go straight to the canteen.

He had just put the things down in the corner, and when he turned his head, he suddenly discovered a black shadow standing at the doorway.

The dim light scattered outside projected that figure into the room, looking like a ghost.

Duan Rong's heart tightened, and his hand pressed onto the hilt of the blade at his waist.

"Follow me!"

Once Duan Rong heard it was the voice of Xiao Lao, his heart eased.

"Bring that dose of medicine you grabbed!" After Xiao Zongting finished speaking, he turned and left in the darkness.

This time, Duan Rong heard the faint anger in Xiao Zongting's voice!

He picked up the dose of medicine, locked the door, and quickened his pace to catch up with Xiao Zongting.

Duan Rong followed Xiao Zongting, walking step by step behind him, his heart pounding!

"Could it be that something happened? Xiao Lao, why did you suddenly come to the dormitory to intercept me?"

At this time, the sky had already turned dark, and Duan Rong, trembling with fear, followed Xiao Zongting all the way to the two-section courtyard where he lived.

Entering the courtyard, Duan Rong saw that the kitchen chimney was emitting cooking smoke, firelight was flickering inside, and from time to time he could catch a glimpse of Zhu Xiaoqi, dressed in red, walking back and forth, busy...

Duan Rong licked the corner of his mouth; he had already smelled the fragrance of food!

I haven't eaten dinner yet!

(End of this chapter)