Meet the Gentleman

Chapter 18 High fives as an oath
In the attic.

The smoke from the stove is curling, filling the room with fragrance.

On the antique incense table in the room, there was a censer burning top-quality sandalwood. The smoke rising from the censer made people feel peaceful and calm.

Several students of extraordinary bearing knelt in front of the coffee table and sipped their tea carefully.

There was a zither on the table to one side. A pretty girl in white was sitting in front of the table. She plucked the strings with her delicate hands and sang softly and melodiously: "The deer is calling, eating apples in the wild. I have a guest, playing the harp and blowing the flute..."

The students in the room closed their eyes and shook their heads, listening quietly.

boom!
Everyone in the room frowned, and then they saw the arrogant young man push the door open.

"Oh, Zhu Yan, since you don't have the piano skills to reach the highest level, don't show off your skills." The arrogant young man glanced at him and said, then he looked at the young man sitting in the center and bowed slightly, saying, "Young Master, Zhou Chang actually offered ten pieces of snowflake paper, so should we also offer ten pieces?"

"Liu Ling you——"

The girl in white clothes playing the piano looked stern and cold.

At this time, the young man in white waved his right hand, and the girl in white sat down in silence.

"Ten dollars? Liu Ling, did you hear that correctly?" a student asked in surprise, not quite believing it, "Can they afford ten dollars?"

"Ten knives?" asked the young man in white.

Liu Ling nodded and said, "I have confirmed that he did say ten knives. As for whether he can pay ten knives, Ling just doesn't know."

"You came back to ask me just because of ten knives?" the young man in white said in a deep voice.

Liu Ling was stunned for a moment, then said hesitantly: "Young Master..."

"Liu Ling, you are a disciple of aristocratic family, but you are suppressed by a few disciples of noble family. Can't we, a disciple of aristocratic family, produce ten pieces of snowflake Xuan?" The girl in white clothes who came over from the piano table was Zhu Yan. At this time, she scolded: "If you can't handle a small matter, what's the use of you? You have lost the face of us disciples of aristocratic family."

"Zhu Yan, stop slandering me." Liu Ling was furious.

Zhu Yan ignored Liu Ling and turned to the young man in white and said, "Young Master, you shouldn't have let Liu Ling go."

"sit down."

The young man in white said with a sullen face, "If you two keep quarreling, get out!"

Upon hearing this, both of them knelt down.

"Liu Ling, Zhou Chang offers ten swords of snowflake paper, and you offer twenty swords directly. See if he dares to respond?"

An older student said to Liu Ling, "Hey, why did you run back? Just as Zhu Yan said, we, a dignified disciple of the aristocratic family, can't even take out the Ten-Blade Snow Flower Xuan? Or, we, the aristocratic disciples, dare not fight because of the Ten-Blade Snow Flower Xuan? If you run away, do you know what others will say? They will say that a dignified disciple of the aristocratic family can't even take out the Ten-Blade Snow Flower Xuan..."

Liu Ling's face changed when he heard this, and he said timidly: "Sir, Ling is wrong."

The young man in white waved his hand and said to the older student, "Qi Ming, go and return the appointment on behalf of Liu Ling."

The older student stood up and asked hesitantly, "Twenty dollars?"

"If we return twenty strikes now, it will be just a fight of youthful arrogance, which is inappropriate." The young man in white shook his head and said, "Our goal is to suppress the nobles without making a fuss. Ten strikes are enough to injure them."

"What if we let them win the bet?" Zhu Yan said at an inappropriate time.

Everyone frowned and looked at her.

One of the students scolded, "Zhu Yan, stop boosting others' morale and destroying your own prestige."

"Will we lose to the disciples from the aristocratic families?" a student said with contempt.

"This is not a competition of writing, talent, poetry, or even calligraphy. It's just a competition of luck." Zhu Yan said coldly, "Who says that the luck of aristocratic disciples is definitely better than that of the gentry? Luck is uncertain, who can control it?"

"Who said it was just luck?" a student sneered.

Zhu Yan was stunned for a moment and asked, "It's not luck?"

"Luck is just an excuse to make them feel that the aristocratic disciples' luck may not be as good as theirs..." Qi Ming smiled and said, "Our confidence comes from the fact that we understand the mountain god better than the aristocratic disciples. We just need to cater to his preferences. Besides, young master..."

The young man in white waved his hand, and Qi Ming stopped talking. Qi Ming, surnamed Bian, given name Xing, courtesy name Qi Ming.

"I see--"

Zhu Yan suddenly realized. No wonder the young master would use this to pressure the disciples from the aristocratic families. It turned out that he already had the confidence in his heart.

……

In the pavilion outside the attic.

Some students complained that Zhou Chang had made ten cuts of snowflake paper without permission, but when they heard that Zhou Chang had made ten cuts himself, they were all stunned.

At the same time, he was a little shocked that Zhou Chang could actually take out ten pieces of snowflake paper...

As expected, they are a noble family coming from the royal city!

"But Brother Zhou?"

Bian Xing came down from the attic and walked directly towards Zhou Chang. He walked into the pavilion, bowed to Zhou Chang and said, "I am Bian Xing."

"Meet Brother Bian."

Zhou Chang returned the greeting and asked, "Did Brother Bian accept the invitation?"

"Of course, it's just ten knives of snowflake paper." Bian Xing said with a smile, "Even if it's twenty knives, it's just a blink of an eye. If I give you another twenty knives, it will seem like bullying, which is inappropriate. So I'll only give you ten knives, just for fun with Brother Zhou and the others."

"The limit is three days. Whoever gets the favor of the mountain god first will win." Zhou Chang said and held out his hand. "A gentleman's word is as good as gold."

Bian Xing reached out his hand and high-fived Zhou Chang, saying, "Three days is the limit. Whoever first wins the favor of the mountain god will be the winner. A gentleman's word is as good as gold."

The two of them high-fived each other as an oath.

"What does it mean to be favored by the mountain god? This needs to be made clear first." Zhou Chang said, "I think it's like this, whoever first invites the mountain god to appear and meet the student will be favored, how do you think?"

"can."

Bian Xing nodded, then bowed to everyone and said, "Goodbye, everyone."

As soon as Bian Xing left, everyone asked Zhou Chang if he had any ideas. Moreover, they were very tempted by the twenty-knife snowflake Xuan.

Even several disciples from aristocratic families had burning gazes.

"That depends on you." Zhou Chang shook his head and said, "But I heard that as long as we cater to his preferences, we may be able to ask the mountain god to show up."

"Follow him?"

"What are the hobbies of the mountain god?"

The students were all thinking about it and trying to come up with a solution.

"Brother Feng, is there any solution?" Zhou Chang walked a few steps to Feng Qingyan's side and asked, then looked towards the attic and frowned and said, "They have intervened, so they may have already found a solution..."

"In that case, you still want to make ten swords?" Feng Qingyan asked.

"How can we let them look down on us?"

Zhou Chang said with a smile, not looking worried at all.

After a while, Feng Qingyan did not stay any longer and returned to the wooden house to study. As for asking the mountain god to appear, there was no rush and he would wait a day before doing so. However, he still had to make some instructions to prevent the mountain god from being deceived by the students and appearing without knowing what was going on.

Feng Qingyan was quite concerned about the twenty knives of snowflake paper and was a little curious.

At this time, he found many students running around in the mountains. Some students were singing and dancing, some were reading with their hands behind their backs, and some were sitting and discussing...

He wanted to use various methods to lure the mountain god to appear.

……

(End of this chapter)