Chapter 74: Childhood Sweethearts

Night fell.

When Luo Zijun finished dinner and bathed, his brother-in-law had still not returned.

His sister stood at the front gate, gazing out incessantly.

Luo Zijun walked over to comfort her: "It's fine, he must have been delayed by a task. With brother-in-law's skills, and since he didn't leave the city today, what could possibly happen?"

Luo Jiaorong was not reassured; she furrowed her brows and said: "You don't know, the things your brother-in-law does are all dangerous. Even within the city, it is not safe every day."

As the two were speaking, the figure of Li Zhengshan appeared at the mouth of the alley.

"Look, I told you it was fine."

"It's good that he's fine."

Luo Jiaorong's tense face finally relaxed.

Li Zhengshan strode back, but the expression on his face seemed not quite right.

"Zhengshan, what's wrong?"

Luo Jiaorong's heart tightened again immediately.

Li Zhengshan grabbed both of their hands at once and said in a low voice: "Don't stand outside, go into the house."

Once inside, he immediately closed the front gate and locked it.

"Zhengshan, what exactly is wrong? Don't scare me."

Luo Jiaorong's complexion turned unsightly.

Because she clearly remembered that before that incident happened back then, he had the same expression on his face as he did now.

Li Zhengshan hesitated for a moment; he originally did not want to say it, but felt it was better to speak of this matter so the two would have some vigilance.

"A murderer escaped today."

"That murderer was someone I personally led men to capture back then, and when I caught him, I even beat one of his own brothers to death..."

Luo Jiaorong's complexion turned pale in a flash.

"Then... then what should we do?"

Her voice began to tremble, her eyes filled with fear, as if she had recalled something.

Li Zhengshan glanced at Luo Zijun beside her, forced a smile onto his face, and comforted her: "Don't be nervous, the yamen has already sent men to search everywhere. That person's features are very distinct: a bald head with a scar on his face; he should be found soon. For these two days, you stay at home, keep the door locked, and don't go out. Nothing will happen."

Luo Jiaorong was clearly not put at ease; her face was deathly pale, and her body was trembling.

Luo Zijun felt strange in his heart.

Even if his sister were worried, she wouldn't suddenly be scared to this extent.

Moreover, that criminal hadn't even appeared yet.

Could it be that something like this had happened before, and then resulted in some terrible consequence?

He wanted to use Mind Reading to find the answer, but immediately stopped himself.

This skill of prying into people's thoughts could be used on some, but for others, it must never be used.

This was his bottom line.

He asked directly: "Sister, brother-in-law, has something like this happened before?"

Luo Jiaorong hurriedly said: "No, no..."

This lie was too obvious.

Li Zhengshan remained silent, looked at him again, and said: "I'm going to eat."

He went into the kitchen.

Xiaohuan hurried to heat up the food.

Luo Zijun grasped his sister's trembling hand and asked: "Sister, is there something else in this family that you can't tell me?"

Luo Jiaorong lowered her head, her body still trembling, and did not answer.

At this moment, Li Zhengshan said from inside the kitchen: "Wife, Zijun has also grown up; I think there are some things that should be told to him."

Luo Jiaorong shook her head, her eyes filled with tears.

"How did Father and Mother die?"

Luo Zijun asked suddenly.

Luo Jiaorong's body shuddered; she raised her head and looked at him.

Luo Zijun looked into her eyes without using Mind Reading: "If it were any other matter, Sister would not be this fearful and agitated."

The small courtyard was silent for a moment.

Li Zhengshan stood at the kitchen doorway, sighed, lowered his head, and said in a low voice: "Zijun, your father and mother... blame brother-in-law..."

"No, that's not it!"

Luo Jiaorong cried and shook her head: "Don't blame brother-in-law... it was a bad person, a bad person caused it."

"Which bad person?"

Luo Zijun asked.

Both of them were silent again and did not answer.

Luo Zijun looked at them: "A bad person brother-in-law once captured?"

Li Zhengshan nodded heavily.

Luo Zijun said: "Is that bad person dead?"

The two were silent again.

Luo Zijun looked at their expressions again and said: "That person isn't dead, and you still know him, or perhaps, that person is even still within Lin'an City?"

Luo Jiaorong suddenly raised her head and hurriedly shook it: "No, he is not in Lin'an City, he is already dead, your brother-in-law already killed him..."

Li Zhengshan remained silent.

Luo Zijun did not ask further: "I understand."

Luo Jiaorong gripped his hand tightly, her face full of tears as she said: "Zijun, Sister is not lying to you, that person is truly already dead. Don't overthink it, just study hard, okay?"

Luo Zijun raised his hand to wipe the tears from her cheeks and said: "Don't worry, Sister, I will definitely study hard."

Only then did Luo Jiaorong break into a smile through her tears.

Li Zhengshan said in a deep voice again: "The reason your sister is afraid is because of one more thing. Two years ago, you were ambushed by a criminal I had captured, and you almost... Ever since then, you lost your memory."

Luo Jiaorong immediately said angrily: "Li Zhengshan! What did Su Dafu tell you! How could you..."

"I feel that there is nothing to hide about this matter."

Li Zhengshan looked at the youth in the courtyard, his face full of apology: "These things were all caused by your brother-in-law. Zijun, you probably don't remember anything from the past, right?"

Luo Zijun stared blankly.

He truly did not remember anything from the past.

He had originally thought it was because he had come from that other world, so he hadn't dared to bring it up; he hadn't expected that it was actually because he had been beaten by someone.

"Sigh, that criminal should have escaped the city. Your brother-in-law searched for a long time but couldn't find him."

Li Zhengshan sighed: "It is your brother-in-law's incompetence."

"It's fine, Brother-in-law."

Luo Zijun calmed down, looked at him, and said: "If I don't remember the past, then I don't remember it; it doesn't matter. It's quite good not to remember some things, and there's no need to be like Sister, overthinking things all day long."

Li Zhengshan nodded: "That's true."

Luo Jiaorong wiped the tears from her face and said: "But you don't even remember Ling'er, who you played with since you were little. She is your childhood sweetheart friend; you two used to be very close."

"Ah???"

Luo Zijun was completely stunned.

Li Zhengshan explained: "Back then, the two of them, grandfather and granddaughter, lived right next door to us. You played with Ling'er since you were small. When Ling'er was nine, they suddenly moved away. This year, when your sister was buying groceries on the street, she suddenly saw Su Dafu. That's why we sent you to the Pharmacy."

"Also, Su Dafu examined you and said you only had memory loss and no other problems. However, he advised us not to tell you about this for the time being, fearing that you would overthink it, get stimulated, and trigger some old ailments." Luo Zijun's mind was in chaos.

He and his Senior Sister were actually childhood playmates?

No wonder he always felt so close to his Senior Sister, always unable to resist wanting to tease her a bit; and when he was with his Master, he wasn't afraid of him either, daring to make any kind of joke.

Even though he had only been at the Pharmacy for a short time.

So, they had known each other long ago.

Luo Jiaorong added: "When you were little, that girl Ling'er was especially fierce. She often bullied you and was very bossy. She wouldn't let you play with other little girls; she would hit you every time she saw you do it, and she liked to pinch you there... I caught her several times... You were often pinched to tears by her..."

Luo Zijun: "..."

No wonder, no wonder every time he saw that girl now, he couldn't help but want to give her a punch. He had sometimes felt it was inexplicable himself; so that was why...

So the two of them had "bad blood" long ago!

That hateful bad woman, she had actually been pinching him since he was a child, and she even pinched him there!

How hateful!

"Sigh..."

Luo Jiaorong sighed again, looking at him with a face full of worry.

!

"Zijun, don't you go overthinking things. It's good to have forgotten the past; even Sister wants to forget it. You must look forward."

Luo Zijun came back to his senses and said: "Sister, I'm not that fragile. It's fine, I won't overthink things. It's you who likes to overthink."

Luo Jiaorong frowned, still looking worried.

Li Zhengshan suddenly sighed: "Once this job is finished this year, I've decided to quit. I'll go find something else to do then."

Luo Jiaorong looked at him without speaking.

She had naturally tried to persuade him many times before, but she knew he liked this job.

"Master, the food is heated up."

Xiaohuan said in a low voice from the kitchen.

Li Zhengshan didn't say anything more and went into the kitchen to eat.

"Sister, don't worry, it's fine. Everything will get better."

Luo Zijun offered another word of comfort and went to the backyard.

"Swish!"

The first form of the Kaitian Fist, Fist Strikes the East!

With a "bang," a crack appeared on the wooden stake in the corner.

Pain arrived suddenly.

Luo Zijun withdrew his fist, looked at his reddened knuckles, and thought to himself: As expected, I need to perform Refining Skin and Tempering Body first.

Sigh...

Thinking of what his sister and brother-in-law had just told him, he felt his pressure was even greater.

The debt of gratitude must be repaid.

And he must protect his sister well.

Therefore, practicing martial arts was imperative; he must never give up.

However, it didn't seem very convenient at home.

Besides the Martial Arts Hall, he needed to find another place to train, and the Medicine Bath also required a private space.

He could do the Medicine Bath at the Martial Arts Hall.

But that required paying money there to buy the materials, the water, the tub, and the firewood to be able to have the Medicine Bath there.

The price was too outrageous.

Therefore, he decided to buy the medicinal herbs himself and find a place for a Medicine Bath.

This way, he could save quite a bit of money.

However, thinking that he only had ten taels of silver left to his name, he felt troubled again.

Money flows away like water.

If only he could find a rich woman... Pfft, pfft, pfft!

He went to wash his hands, returned to his room, and pondered his next story.

Now, he could only rely on selling books to earn money.

"Young Master, shall I grind the ink?"

"Go ahead."

A single lamp flickered like a bean, and red sleeves ground the ink.

The Young Maid's fair little hands grasped the black ink stick, her head lowered, grinding with a very serious expression, as if she were doing something very solemn.

Luo Zijun hesitated for a moment longer before picking up his brush, dipping it in ink, and writing several large characters on the rice paper: "The Rich Heiress Relies on Me".

Hmm, although the book title was vulgar, it was more eye-catching.

After all, the content...

As for the content, it was made up, with a little story and a little bit of naughtiness.

In any case, he planned to churn out a few volumes, sell them cheaply for some silver, and survive this difficult month first.

After all, that Liu had said so.

That copy of "West Chamber Romance" would take at least another month to show any results.

He could not wait until then to sell books and earn silver to buy medicinal herbs.

Time waits for no one!

He had to get silver quickly to buy medicinal herbs and start his Medicine Bath for body tempering!

"The Rich Heiress... Relies on Me..."

Xiaohuan, who was grinding ink to the side, froze, looking at her Young Master with a somewhat strange gaze.

She thought to herself: So the Young Master wants to live off a woman.

"Xiaohuan, you cannot tell the Madam! Otherwise, hmph hmph..."

"This servant... this servant won't tell..."

"If you lie, don't even think about letting this Young Master play with your feet ever again."

"Oh..."

The little girl pouted, muttering to herself: I don't even want the Young Master to play with my feet; I want the Young Master to...

Nighttime.

After the Young Maid fell asleep, Luo Zijun began to practice his Inner Cultivation Method.

To his surprise, the Inner Strength Seed, the size of a fava bean in his Dantian Sea, began to continuously emit specks of light, merging into that stream of Qi and flowing toward his limbs and bones.

It seemed to be helping to temper his body.

It appeared that the combination of external techniques and internal techniques was indeed more effective.

The next day.

He prepared to go to the Academy for class and, while he was at it, speak with Teacher Yuan, hoping he could attend classes every morning and return home to study in the afternoon.

This way, he would have time to go to the Martial Arts Hall to practice martial arts.

There were quite a few students like this in the Academy, so it should be no problem.

Of course, before going to the Academy, he had to make a trip to the Pharmacy.

A childhood sweetheart senior sister, was she?

Heh.

Today, he would go and properly ask whether the other party was his Ling'er sister or his Ling'er little sister!

And also, whether she often caused trouble for him when they were young!

(End of chapter)