Chapter 121

After those two left, Mei Ruochu’s cold expression faded away, and he returned to his usual self, smiling as he gestured for the cramped Cui Fei to sit down quickly.

The seats in the canteen were just benches, so there was no worry about Cui Fei not fitting. However, he preferred to sit alone, leaving no room for others beside him.

Once he sat down, Wei Shu brought over two plates of stir-fry. Sensing the tense atmosphere, he silently asked Wei Xi with his eyes.

Wei Xi shook his head slightly, indicating it wasn’t convenient to talk about it now.

Eventually, Cui Fei forced a smile and told Wei Xi about what had happened.

Then, he bowed to Mei Ruochu and said, “Thank you just now, Brother Mei! But there’s no need to strain our relationship for my sake in the future. I’m really fine; I’m used to it!”

Mei Ruochu glanced at him disapprovingly, “How could anyone get used to bearing malice? Didn’t it hurt when they called you names?”

Cui Fei’s forced smile couldn’t be sustained any longer.

He certainly didn’t have such a strong psychological endurance; otherwise, he wouldn’t rarely visit the perfectual school— which every scholar longed to be there.

Being appointed by the court as a professor or mentor was a dream opportunity for many scholars.

Each time they excelled in exams, big or small, their outstanding papers had a better chance of being presented to the school officials.

If it weren’t for not being able to withstand the peculiar looks from others, Cui Fei wouldn’t have let things go as he did earlier.

“Don’t worry,” Mei Ruochu comforted him gently. “You’re not alone. Next time if such a thing happens again…”

“I won’t be there next time, but if I were, I’d dunk the mouthy person’s face right into their food!” Wei Shu interjected.

In his early years, Wei Shu practiced archery at home and continued after joining Qingzhu.

But since coming to Cuiwei, he and Mu Er Pang both enjoyed archery and started practicing together again.

As he practiced, Wei Shu’s arm strength became stronger. His bow was almost as powerful as those used by soldiers. Although he didn’t look much bulkier than others, his arm muscles were far from weak, more like those of a soldier than a weak scholar.

Wei Xi raised an eyebrow, smiling. Really?

“I just forgot to tell you, one of them is called Zhang Shuo. You should remember his older brother.”

“Oh, him? Never mind then!” Wei Shu quickly backed down. Zhang Shuo was aptly named, with a robust stature and towering height.

It was said that his family ran a bodyguard agency and had been martial artists for generations.

Unlike his family’s tradition, he didn’t want to wield weapons but preferred literary pursuits.

Most scholars were slender, so a burly man like him naturally left a strong impression.

Wei Shu had some martial arts training himself. When he first entered the perfectual school, he considered befriending Zhang Shuo to discuss archery techniques.

But after a few conversations, he realized they didn’t click and didn’t become friends.

If other scholars were bootlickers in front of Wei Shu, then in front of Zhang Shuo, everyone was a bootlicker.

Even if he called Mei Ruochu and Wei Xi for help, it might still be three against one and they might not be able to handle him since he had been practicing martial arts since childhood.

With this digression, Cui Fei couldn’t help but laugh.

Wei Shu’s ears turned red. “What’s so funny? We scholars, gentlemen settle disputes with words, not fists!”

“You’re right, Brother Wei!” Cui Fei stifled his laughter and even supported Wei Shu. After the laughter died down, he couldn’t help but sigh and explain, “Actually, Zhang Shuo wasn’t like this earlier.”

It turned out that Zhang Shuo had been in the perfectual school long before Cui Fei, and because of his unusual physique, he was the one teased by his classmates before Cui Fei arrived.

Seeing him being ostracized and ignored, Cui Fei became his companion for a while.

But one day, Zhang Shuo and others turned the tables and started mocking Cui Fei together.

It was also because of this that he became part of the group, no longer subjected to exclusion.

Unexpectedly, there was such a reason behind it.

After listening, Wei Shu and Wei Xi exchanged glances, feeling a bit nostalgic.

People were indeed different. Mei Ruochu had been with them for a long time and had mentioned some things from their time in Hongle.

Although he spoke lightly, showing no concern, the previous situation was indeed somewhat similar to Cui Fei’s current one.

He had been rained on and wanted to be the one holding the umbrella for others.

Meanwhile, someone like Zhang Shuo, having already been rained on, didn’t mind splashing dirty water on others—as long as others were dirtier than him, he wouldn’t be the one being laughed at.

But fortunately, they wouldn’t let Cui Fei face it alone in the future.

Cui Fei picked up where he left off, saying, “Next time if such a thing happens again, Mei Brother and Wei Brother don’t need to help me out. I should stand up for myself.”

He thought those like Zhang Shuo weren’t anything to fear! Wasn’t it just Mei Ruochu’s glance and a few words that scared them away?

Wei Shu and the others liked hearing this. They could help Cui Fei for a moment, but he had to stand on his own eventually.

Being able to stand up and fight for yourself was the long-term solution!

After lunch, Cui Fei didn’t leave the school and went to class as usual.

Although mentors didn’t monitor students’ studies like teachers in regular schools, they still cared about the students, especially someone like Cui Fei, who was special.

Despite often being absent, he managed to pass the exams and maintain a good standing in the school for several years, so he had earned their respect.

During self-study time, the mentor stood next to Cui Fei, not making him get up, and asked, “Why didn’t you come a few days ago?”

If Cui Fei didn’t come, it was definitely because he had taken leave, just like before when he took “sick leave.”

His physique indeed made him prone to discomfort.

The mentor’s special inquiry naturally implied disbelief in the so-called sick leave.

Cui Fei blushed with shame.

Wei Shu, Wei Xi, and Mei Ruochu couldn’t help him out in front of the mentor.

After a while, he admitted honestly, “I won’t casually take leave in the future.”

The mentor nodded and then moved on.

After school, Cui Fei went back to Cuiwei with them.

Shen Cui and Mu Er Pang weren’t surprised to see him; they had known he was coming for a while, even though he arrived several days later than they expected.

Recently, Shen Cui had been in charge of the meals at the academy—

Since Mrs. Zhou left, Shen Cui had started looking for help.

She trying to find a people who can help her and offered to pay market rates for their work, not requiring them to live in the school but only to work during the day, cooking, cleaning, and washing everyone’s clothes.

These household chores were something women were used to doing daily and weren’t considered too heavy.

Those who were quick and efficient could finish before the children returned from school, usually before 5 p.m., and then they could leave for home.

Shen Cui initially thought it would take a day or two to find suitable help, so she started looking for assistance after Mrs. Zhou left.

However, it had been several days since then, and there had been no progress.

Later, she realized belatedly that their house was known throughout the capital as an ” hunter house ,” and many people avoided it.

Women who could do these chores almost always had families to take care of. Who would risk their family’s safety for a bit of extra money?

Unless the pay was significantly higher than the market rate.

Shen Cui was reluctant to do so.

The income from the academy was still the twenty taels of living expenses given by the Wei brothers each month.

Although the three of them were no longer at the academy during the day, there was still an additional fifty taels of rent each year!

Shen Cui symbolically offered a twenty percent higher wage than the market rate, hoping to attract someone brave enough.

During this time, the system volunteered to help her with the chores.

However, his “appearance fee” was at least one hundred points per day, and last time Shen Cui noticed he was hopeless at household tasks.

So, she didn’t give the system the chance to be loyal.

She took on the tasks herself, preparing simple meals and occasionally going to a nearby restaurant in the evening to cook a few dishes to improve everyone’s diet.

Moreover, cooking dinner was originally Shen Cui’s responsibility—since the three young men were at the Perfectual school during the day, many tasks weren’t assigned as usual in the morning but were instead released just before their return.

“I don’t need dinner prepared for me,” Mei Ruochu said when she came back. “I ate a lot for lunch.”

Since he didn’t know how big Cui Fei’s appetite was at noon, Wei Shu bought extra vegetables.

Later, it turned out that Cui Fei did eat a bit more than others, but not significantly so, and there were leftovers from the vegetables.

They couldn’t bring food containers to the school, so any leftovers would have to be discarded if not finished.

Mei Ruochu also came from a humble background and couldn’t bear to see wastage, especially since it was he who brought up the subject.

So, he ate a bit more than usual and didn’t feel hungry by this time.

Shen Cui said, “I’ll save some for you. If you get hungry later, you can eat.”

Mei Ruochu nodded and went straight to the classroom to start working on his homework.

Shen Cui took the opportunity to temporarily let Cui Fei take Mei Ruochu’s student slot while cooking and checking his stats.

Before, when looking at others, Shen Cui usually focused on their aptitude first, but when it came to Cui Fei, she looked at his physical condition first.

Cui Fei, at 176cm tall, weighed a whopping 160kg!

His physical condition was worse than Shen Cui had thought.

He didn’t even meet the minimum passing threshold and was worse off than Wei Xi when he first arrived.

Moreover, the status column behind the physical condition value explicitly stated joint disease, abnormal blood lipids, and fatty liver, in addition to heart disease.

The only good news was that he didn’t seem to have any hidden endocrine diseases.

All of his illnesses, except for heart disease, were caused by obesity.

So, her initial guess was correct—Cui Fei’s weight gain was due to the so-called “settings,” and his obesity led to a series of health problems.

As Shen Cui worked, she asked the system, “Can your medication treat his heart disease?”

After all, in Shen Cui’s understanding, even in the medically advanced modern era, heart disease required surgery for treatment, and conservative treatment was unlikely to cure it.

Before, the system couldn’t be certain because the term “heart disease” covered too many different conditions.

Now that Cui Fei had become a subject of the system’s cultivation, it could thoroughly collect data. It quickly responded, “Yes, the subject’s heart disease is due to insufficient myocardial blood supply, which isn’t particularly severe. Like the medication used to treat coughs before, taking it for a month while maintaining the subject’s status as a cultivation object and staying in the academy can eradicate the disease.”

Shen Cui let out a long sigh of relief. The food from the system could disrupt the settings affecting Cui Fei, and its medication could cure his heart disease.

It was imperative to make Cui Fei a student of the Cuiwei Academy. After all, his failing physical condition was like a time bomb, and they didn’t know when it would go off.

However, even though Cui Fei was eighteen, he was still immature, and with his illness, it required approval from Cui Wuniang to keep him at Cuiwei.

So, during dinner, Shen Cui didn’t bring up this matter. She planned to find an opportunity to talk to Cui Wuniang herself.

…

Later that day, Madam Cui was in the study room, going over the account books.

Cui Fei peeked in and out of the doorway several times.

He thought he was being discreet, but his large figure had already given him away; it’s just that Madam Cui couldn’t be bothered to say anything.

Until he raised his hand to knock on the door again but hesitated to do so, Madam Cui couldn’t bear it anymore.

She closed the account book and let him in.

Cui Fei entered the room and said, “I know Sister doesn’t like to be disturbed when she’s looking at the account book.”

Cui Wuniang chuckled, “If you know I don’t like to be disturbed, why did you come?”

Cui Fei smiled awkwardly, and Cui Wuniang didn’t want him to stand for long, so she called him over to sit down and pushed the untouched small stew pot in front of him. “It’s a milk stew with snow swallow and red dates that Grandpa sent over, specifically without sugar. It’s light and nutritious. Have a taste.”

Although, Cui Wuniang was in charge of the household, there were still elders around, and Cui Fei couldn’t snack between meals at home except for the main meals.

He shook his head and said, “I already ate at Cuiwei Academy! I don’t feel hungry at all now!”

It was indeed strange. Cui Fei didn’t eat particularly much at each meal, but he got hungry very quickly.

When he was younger, he often cried because his stomach was empty.

They had verified this before; even if he ate less, he wouldn’t necessarily lose much weight.

Madam Cui didn’t want to see him suffer, so she would secretly give him some snacks between meals that wouldn’t make him gain weight.

It had been almost an hour since dinner, but he didn’t feel hungry at all.

Seeing his constant smile since he entered the room, Madam Cui’s dignified face softened with a hint of tenderness. “The food at Cuiwei is delicious?”

Instead of answering directly, Cui Fei smiled and asked her, “What counts as ‘delicious’?”

“Are you being cheeky with me?” Madam Cui laughed and patted him, ” ‘Delicious’ naturally means that it’s appetizing in appearance, aroma, and taste, and it leaves you feeling pleased after eating.”

Thinking of the scene at Cuiwei today—there were five dishes in total: roasted spring chicken, steamed grass carp, stir-fried cabbage with eggs, home-style tofu, and stir-fried seasonal vegetables.

Shen Cui also apologized to him, saying she didn’t know he was coming today, and by that time, most of the street vendors had closed, so there was no way to buy anything better, hence the simple meal.

Cui Fei quickly reassured her, saying it was fine. To show that he really didn’t mind, he even went as far as to praise the roasted chicken and grass carp, which could only be considered average in appearance, aroma, and taste.

He kept praising them until Mu Er Pang couldn’t help but burst into laughter.

Confused, he asked for an explanation and learned that the roasted chicken and grass carp were bought ready-made from a restaurant, while the bland cabbage stir-fry, the tofu turned into mush, and the overcooked vegetables that turned dark green and were tough to chew were made by Shen Cui.

He had praised the wrong person so much that Cui Fei felt embarrassed and wished he could hide under the table.

But fortunately, Shen Cui didn’t mind. She grabbed a steamed bun and stuffed it into Mu Er Pang’s mouth to stop his laughter, telling Cui Fei not to mind him.

So Cui Fei still smiled and said, “Perhaps the food at Cuiwei doesn’t quite match up in terms of appearance, aroma, and taste, but if we’re talking about leaving you feeling pleased after eating, then this meal at Cuiwei today is the most delicious meal I’ve ever had!”