Chapter 55: Master, You’re Being Naughty
She waved her hand feebly. “Go on. Your Mister is in the courtyard. Master will arrive soon too. Go talk to them!”
“What about Older Sister?” His heart had clearly flown away, yet he still had to ask that. Lin Xin felt both annoyed and amused, and gave his butt a smack. “Older Sister is going to make food for you all!”
“Oh! Great!” Lin Nan cheered, wriggling out of Lin Xin’s arms. “Then Older Sister go make food. Nan Nan will entertain the guests for Older Sister.”
Lin Xin made a spanking motion through the air. Lin Nan grinned cheekily, covering his little butt as he ran out. Watching his cheerful back, Lin Xin touched her chin and smiled too.
Fine! These were all upright people. It was good to let Nan Nan interact with them a bit.
After Gao Yong and the others clumsily finished moving the things, Cui Shi came back carrying the medicine box. His expression was somewhat weary. He found a stool in the courtyard and sat down.
“Master!” Lin Nan bounced over like a little colt and threw himself into Cui Shi’s arms.
“Aiyo, my good disciple. Haven’t seen you for so many days—did you miss Master?” Cui Shi hugged the little body that had thrown itself into his arms and asked. His old face broke into a smile like a blooming old chrysanthemum.
“I did,” Lin Nan’s voice grew much smaller. He sneaked a glance toward the kitchen before whispering, “Master, you weren’t good. You made Older Sister angry, so I didn’t dare say I missed you.”
Cui Shi’s old face reddened. He glared fiercely at Gao Yong, who had finished moving things and was resting not far away. Then in a second, he turned back into a kindly old man, patting Lin Nan’s little body in his arms. “Master wasn’t bad. It was these bad uncles who dragged Master down.”
Gao Yong had just wanted to say he was one of the ones dragged down too when he accidentally turned his head. His gaze met the Big Tiger, who had poked its head out from the room. His body moved faster than his brain—he grabbed Cui Shi and Lin Nan and yanked them behind him, drew the dagger from his boot casually, got into position, and faced off against the tiger.
His movements were a bit big. The nearby Chu Yu and others were pulled along without knowing what he had seen, and stood in a row with him, blocking Cui Shi and Lin Nan behind them.
These were all men who had been on the battlefield and killed people. Facing the Big Tiger, they naturally released a full aura of killing intent.
The Big Tiger wasn’t a pushover either!
Being provoked right to its face, it definitely couldn’t tolerate that. So it leaped lightly from the room into the courtyard, less than a meter from Gao Yong and the other three. The king of the forest’s aura was fully unleashed—it was just short of a tiger roar.
“Big Cat!”
At the critical moment, Lin Nan cheered and slid down from Cui Shi’s arms to the ground, scurrying straight toward the Big Tiger.
“Danger! Come back quick!” Gao Yong’s loud voice rang out, startling Lin Xin out of the kitchen. But when she reached the kitchen door, she saw the four men and one tiger in a tense standoff.
Lin Nan had slipped right past Gao Yong. He was annoyed with himself for focusing on the standoff with the Big Tiger and forgetting to block Lin Nan. Then he saw the Big Tiger, which had been releasing killing intent at them, instantly turn into a little kitty in front of Lin Nan. Not only did it let Lin Nan rub all over its body, it didn’t even bite when he stuck his little hand into its mouth.
“Holy crap, this…” He turned to Lin Xin. “Miss Lin, is this tiger yours?”
Lin Xin shook her head. “No. We encountered it in the mountain before. That thing you wanted was taken from its hind leg.”
“Hiss~” The four men all drew in a sharp breath together, then asked in unison, “This is that tiger?”
“Isn’t that obvious!” Cui Shi walked out from behind them, proudly stroked the Big Tiger’s head, then said, “Didn’t I tell you my disciple’s home has a Big Tiger!”
The little old man’s tone was full of pride, as if the Big Tiger was the one he raised.
Knowing this tiger posed no threat to anyone present, Gao Yong and the others naturally dropped their guard and curiously crowded over, wanting to get the thrill of petting the big cat like Cui Shi and Lin Nan. But who knew this tiger held grudges—it wouldn’t let them get close at all. As soon as they approached, it bared its bloody mouth, pretending to bite them, leaving the four burly guys utterly frustrated.
Especially Gao Yong. Maybe because he was the first to spot the Big Tiger, not only did it not let him near, even when it turned its head and accidentally saw him, it would bare its teeth in warning.
This successfully pissed Gao Yong off. He ran to the kitchen door and asked Lin Xin, “Miss Lin, your tiger is too infuriating. Can I beat it?”
Without needing Lin Xin to answer, his three brothers behind him spoke up one after another.
“Gao Yong, what are you thinking? Killed a few enemies and now you think you’re invincible? Beat a tiger? You’re lucky it didn’t make you an extra dish—you ran fast!” Chu Yu said.
“Brother, don’t do anything stupid and fight the tiger. We’re going to battlefields to fight side by side in the future! I don’t want you turning into tiger food like this.” That was Ling Qing.
“Listen to some advice, Brother Yong!” Zhou Qi poured a bucket of cold water on him too.
His brothers’ words left Gao Yong extremely unconvinced. His head heated up and he ran to ask Lin Xin, “Miss Lin, do you think I can beat this tiger?”
Lin Xin was amused by them. After thinking, she answered seriously, “Three-seven split.”
Gao Yong was thrilled at that and turned back to his brothers. “Hear that? Miss Lin really has vision. She knows I’ve got a seventy percent chance of taking down this tiger.”
“Give it a rest,” Chu Yu said with a smirk. “Miss Lin didn’t say whether that seventy percent is you winning or the tiger winning.”
Ling Qing and Zhou Qi agreed with that.
“You guys…” Gao Yong knew he couldn’t outtalk them, so he simply pulled Lin Xin out and asked, “Miss Lin, say it—who’s three and who’s seven in this three-seven split!”
Meng Yichen, Cui Shi, and Lin Nan all chuckled on the side, watching the fun.
Lin Xin couldn’t hold back her laugh. After laughing, she answered, “You all! Three and a half moves in a fight, tiger seventy percent full.”
“Pfft~” Meng Yichen, who had been smiling and watching, was the first to get it, then burst out laughing. Next was Ling Qing, then Zhou Qi, and finally Chu Yu.
Seeing Gao Yong’s red-and-white face, Lin Xin felt her joke had gone a bit too far. They weren’t that familiar to begin with—counting this, it was only their second meeting. The first time, she had even chased them out. She really should have held back a bit.
She had just wanted to apologize to Gao Yong when he suddenly slapped his thigh and burst out laughing. While laughing, he pointed at Lin Xin with his finger, and finally laughed until tears came out.
Now Lin Xin was the embarrassed one.
“Miss Lin, no need to mind. They’re all good people. And that Young Lady is willing to joke with them means the previous misunderstanding is truly over. They’re happy about it!” Meng Yichen noticed Lin Xin’s discomfort and whispered an explanation after coming to her side at some point.
“Oh, like that! That’s great then. I was afraid I’d been too forward!”
“No, you’ll see once you interact more. These brothers all have straightforward personalities. You’ll get along great with them.” Meng Yichen said to Lin Xin with a smile.
Earlier, he had noticed that as long as he was a bit closer to this young lady, his body felt much more comfortable. At first he thought it was an illusion, but he had just tested it and it was real.
