Spectating the Angsty Romance of the Master and Disciple from the Sect Next Door Chapter 39

With her new status, Li Jin’an’s clinginess reached a new level.
She didn’t have much real sense of what ‘wife’ or ‘madam’ meant; her only tangible feeling was that her pocket money allowance had increased.
But most, most importantly, Li Jin’an could now openly and legitimately occupy Xie Huaixue and all of her time.
Just thinking about it made Li Jin’an’s heart bubble with joy.
Her way of expressing happiness was clinginess, intense clinginess.
When Xie Huaixue was home, she followed her every step, ensuring Xie Huaixue would see her as soon as she turned around. When Xie Huaixue went out to buy things, she followed to carry them. When Xie Huaixue went to the private school to teach the little sprouts, she couldn’t follow, so she swiftly climbed up a crooked neck tree outside the private school, sat on a branch, propped her chin in her hand, and watched Xie Huaixue. Occasionally, she would vividly mimic bird calls to attract Xie Huaixue’s attention, and then pick Xie Huaixue up from school at the first moment.
The little sprouts at the private school didn’t even need their parents to pick them up; they’d just dash home. Meanwhile, their teacher was already enjoying the privilege of being picked up and dropped off.
Moreover, Li Jin’an was a big sieve who got carried away when happy. When she went out to buy groceries, even if people didn’t ask her, she would “casually” mention that she was getting married, to the Teacher Xie beside her.
Since the words were already out, it would truly be impolite not to say “a match made in heaven” or “a hundred years of harmony” or something similar. However, Li Jin’an didn’t care if their blessings were sincere; as long as she was happy to hear them, that was enough. The angle of her smile almost reached the heavens.
Within half a day, the residents of Huai’an City all knew that Hero Li and Teacher Xie were getting married. They all offered kind smiles, saying they would definitely come for a celebratory drink then. Li Jin’an waved her hand, inviting them all, but of course, the gift money couldn’t be omitted.
At the same time, perhaps due to the change in status, Li Jin’an began to pay attention to her image.
It was still the same crimson attire, but Li Jin’an used all the money Xie Huaixue gave her to buy better fabric. After all, the Buddha relies on gold decoration, and people rely on clothes; dressing up was also very important.
Shedding her coarse linen clothes for new ones, her aura immediately intensified.
Li Jin’an, clad in crimson brocade, her ponytail tied with a hair ornament, a jade pendant matching Xie Huaixue’s hanging from her belt, emphasizing her lean and toned waist. With a four-foot-long sword in her arms, her phoenix eyes held a half-smile, her captivating features sharp as if they could split mountains and cut seas, clearly exuding an untamed arrogance.”
Truly a masterpiece of creation. Taking a stroll outside, countless gazes would fall upon her. She perfectly embodied the principle of attracting admirers without realizing it, yet Li Jin’an, oblivious to her own allure, still flaunted herself to Xie Huaixue.
“With a fiancée like me, you should be secretly delighted,” Li Jin’an winked at Xie Huaixue, saying smugly, “Search all of Huai’an City—no, the entire Great Shun—that’s not right, the entire Lancang—there’s no one as perfect as me. You’ve truly hit the jackpot!”
Xie Huaixue gave her a fleeting glance, ignoring her.
“I even envy your good fortune,” Li Jin’an said, too busy showering herself with praise, having no doubts about the word ‘Lancang’ that had slipped out. Then, looking at Xie Huaixue’s graceful figure and demeanor, she quietly added, “Well, not particularly envious. We’re on par with each other, equally matched.”
It wasn’t that she coveted beauty; she simply appreciated her fiancée from the bottom of her heart, possessing a pair of eyes that could truly discover beauty.
Listen, are these even compliments? Is ‘equally matched’ used like that? The moment she spoke, she exuded an air of passive-aggressiveness and illiteracy. No one knew she was trying to give compliments, yet they sounded like this. It wasn’t exactly a put-down, but it made no difference. Most people didn’t possess such an innate talent.
Xie Huaixue glanced around at the many young girls staring at Li Jin’an, then looked at Li Jin’an’s smug face. She said nothing, only beckoned to her.
Li Jin’an happily scampered over. “What’s up? Want to buy something?”
Xie Huaixue placed her hand on Li Jin’an’s shoulder, slowly stroking upwards. Her gaze remained clear and bright, her expression composed and self-possessed. “Nothing, I just hope Grandmaster Li can come to Master Xie’s lessons to properly learn word choice and sentence construction. There will be no tuition fee; consider it private tutoring just for Grandmaster Li.”
Li Jin’an wanted to escape but couldn’t. She racked her brains, trying to find a way to politely refuse her fiancée’s kind offer. Never mind, she couldn’t think of anything. She might as well just act spoiled.
“No, a fiancée and a student are not the same,” Li Jin’an still knew to save face, so she whimpered softly. When she looked up and saw many people staring at them, she immediately felt embarrassed and quickly pulled Xie Huaixue home.
Under her diligent tea-serving, water-pouring, and spoiled charm, Xie Huaixue finally relented and decided not to take her on, this grown-up child who hated studying.
Li Jin’an, having gotten her way, immediately became smug. “Though we may not have the destiny of master and disciple, I can reluctantly call you Master.”
“Master, Master, Master…”
She not only leaned in and whispered into Xie Huaixue’s ear but also called out in an overly affected, pinched voice. She even felt disgusted with herself after yelling.
Xie Huaixue gave her a cold glare. However, this glare held no deterrent power. It was light and soft, as if it carried an invisible hook, captivating one’s mind, yet she herself remained utterly indifferent…
Li Jin’an’s face flushed crimson instantly. She lowered her head, not daring to meet Xie Huaixue’s gaze, and pinched her equally hot earlobe, genuinely wondering if there was something wrong with her. She wasn’t a masochist; why, when someone glared at her, did her heart still pound? She wasn’t angry at all; instead, she felt a bit shy. If only Xie Huaixue would glare at her again, then she could figure out if it was true. If it was… could Xie Huaixue glare at her like this every day?
But she was Li Jin’an. Her shyness lasted less than two seconds before she righteously pulled Xie Huaixue’s sleeve, asking her to glare a few more times to see if anything changed.
…
They went to a Daoist temple to have a Daoist priest calculate an auspicious date for their wedding. This meant there wasn’t much time left for them as fiancées; they would soon be married wives.
Li Jin’an and Xie Huaixue had no parents or elders to help them, but fortunately, a kindhearted neighborhood elder assisted them, and they managed to stumble through the various wedding preparations.
Xie Huaixue still needed to teach at the private school, so Li Jin’an took on the heavy burden of purchasing. She strived for perfection in everything; even the banquet chef was hired from a restaurant. She was so busy her feet barely touched the ground, but she was also enjoying it, after all, she could accumulate experience for her next wedding with Xie Huaixue…
Li Jin’an slapped her forehead, which had started acting up again. She furtively glanced around and only let out a sigh of relief when she found no trace of Xie Huaixue. When she came to her senses, she was utterly speechless, yet she couldn’t explain it to anyone else. She wasn’t fickle; why would she need to marry Xie Huaixue again? Was she supposed to marry Xie Huaixue, then divorce, then marry again… to boost the yamen’s marriage and divorce statistics and make the year-end accounts look better? This rotten brain is truly sick, and not lightly so! At certain moments, Li Jin’an really wanted to report to the yamen and accuse her own brain of the crime of sabotaging the harmony of their fiancée-wife relationship. Or even stick up a wanted poster for her brain on the notice board at the city gate! It would be self-produced and self-marketed, contributing an extra bit to Huai’an City’s public order. Sometimes she really suspected another Li Jin’an lived inside her brain; otherwise, how could her erratic thoughts be so bizarre!
Li Jin’an vigorously shook her head, trying to shake out all the water inside, then continued working.
Cleaning, purchasing ingredients, decorating the courtyard and the bridal chamber, hiring seamstresses to make wedding robes, counting the number of guests for the banquet, writing invitations…
These days, Li Jin’an was busy toiling for the wedding. If Xie Huaixue offered to help her, she wouldn’t even be happy about it. When she was tired from working, she would go to Xie Huaixue and act spoiled. Xie Huaixue would gently comfort her, and Li Jin’an would become overbearing and push her luck, practically making it second nature.
Because Li Jin’an had understood: they completely belonged to each other, having already left the most vibrant and indelible mark on each other’s lives, unable to bear the cost of losing the other… In that sense, Xie Huaixue was no different from another version of herself, so why be so polite and distant with her? Naturally, she would be as informal as possible!
Presently, Li Jin’an was still naive about love, but she had already learned to reasonably use her fiancée status, making Xie Huaixue do this and that, legally enjoying all the rights and benefits belonging to Xie Huaixue’s fiancée, not depriving herself in the slightest. She no longer felt it was shameful to act spoiled around Xie Huaixue; she wished she could cling to Xie Huaixue and act spoiled, the kind that couldn’t be peeled off! Of course, this was only in private. In public, Grandmaster Li still had to save face, though it wasn’t much better. Even the neighborhood elder said she had never seen such a clingy pair of fiancées.
Moreover, Li Jin’an finally understood what the broker meant when they said two people could live very well in this small courtyard. It really wasn’t false advertising. Xie Huaixue’s room was much more spacious than hers, and the bed was very large and soft. Li Jin’an took a liking to it at first sight. Li Jin’an ambitiously wanted to enter the inner sanctum, take over the magpie’s nest, and seize Xie Huaixue’s bed!
In response, Xie Huaixue remained silent, genuinely wishing to compile a book specifically on the usage of idioms for Li Jin’an. Master Xie’s family members can’t be illiterate to this extent, can they?
When she felt it was time, that she had worked enough and was tired, Li Jin’an would reward herself by resting her head on Xie Huaixue’s lap, letting the sunlight stream through the window onto her face. She would then take Xie Huaixue’s hand, place it on her temple, and begin to urge her, “Rub here, and knead my shoulders too. My shoulders are so sore from a day of work.”
Xie Huaixue was silent for a moment, then asked, “Didn’t you kick the wood with your feet? How could your shoulders be sore?”
If Li Jin’an’s changes were striking, then Xie Huaixue’s changes were subtle. Like now, she would even tease Li Jin’an. Unfortunately, the Dao is one foot high, but the demon is ten feet high. Li Jin’an climbed up the pole, lightly rubbing her face against Xie Huaixue’s leg. “Alright, then you can trouble yourself to massage my legs too.”
Xie Huaixue shook her head, chuckling softly, and began to massage Li Jin’an’s temples.
As Xie Huaixue massaged, Li Jin’an began to grow drowsy. She always felt as if Xie Huaixue had slipped her some special sleeping powder, otherwise, why would her eyelids start drooping the moment Xie Huaixue touched her?
Cool fingertips slid down from her temples, then gently pinched Li Jin’an’s earlobe.
Li Jin’an’s drowsy eyes snapped open instantly. She impatiently shrugged her shoulders, then seized Xie Huaixue’s ‘misbehaving’ hand. She didn’t dare use force, merely held her still.
“Don’t touch my ears!”
Though it was common for her to blush and rub her earlobes, it didn’t mean others could touch her forbidden zone. With that unexpected pinch from Xie Huaixue just now, Li Jin’an almost let out a groan. Just a little more, and she would have lost all face!