After dinner, Xinyan saw that her master went to see his parrot again.
She then remembered the time when she went to the South to buy tea plants from the tea farmers, and she had collected a myna bird from the woods there.
Thinking about it, since the myna entered the space, it hadn’t caused much trouble. It’s been in the space for a few months now, drinking the Space Stream Water often, and it should be smarter than ordinary mynas.
She decided to train it well herself. The master’s birthday was in the twelfth lunar month, so she thought it might be a good idea to give it to him as a birthday gift.
After helping the master clean up the kitchen and being tested by him for half a day, she finally heard some movement in the courtyard.
Mr. Du, hearing the noise in the yard, couldn’t sit still anymore. It had been more than eight months since he last saw his third disciple: "Let’s call it a day. Keep working hard, put your medical books away, and come out to meet your third senior sister."
Xinyan put the medical books away and then followed her master out of the courtyard.
She heard her third senior sister, Shen Guqing, exclaiming: "Shiniang, I heard Shifu found me a pretty little junior sister?"
Mrs. Du saw Shen Guqing’s playful expression: "What, are you afraid of losing your favor?"
Shen Guqing laughed and acted coquettishly: "Of course, I’m afraid Shiniang won’t favor me exclusively anymore."
Mrs. Du laughed out loud: "You’re so grown up already, I’ve spoiled you for so many years, isn’t that enough?"
Shen Guqing clung to Mrs. Du’s arm: "How could it be? But rest assured, Shiniang, I definitely won’t compete for favor with the little junior sister. Later on, my senior brother and junior brother will also pamper her together with me."
Mr. Du laughed upon hearing this: "Our Guqing is worthy of being a senior sister."
Xinyan smiled too and replied: "Does this mean I’ll be doted on by everyone in the future?"
Seeing who it was, Shen Guqing let go of Shiniang’s arm and greeted the master, then looked at the little junior sister following behind: "My gosh, second senior brother was right, she’s indeed a pretty little junior sister."
Then she walked over to Xinyan: "Hello, little junior sister. I’m your third senior sister, Shen Guqing."
Xinyan reached out her hand: "Hello, senior sister."
Mrs. Du then said: "You all go inside and chat slowly. Guqing, I’ve left some food for you, I’ll heat it up for you."
Shen Guqing wasn’t shy: "I’ve been missing the dishes Shifu makes, thank you, Shiniang."
Mrs. Du laughed: "You’re such a sweet talker. You all go inside, I’ll be ready soon."
Once inside, Shen Guqing took a piece of jade stone out of her bag: "Junior sister, this is a gift from your senior sister. It can be made into a jade bracelet, and the leftover pieces can be made into a jade pendant and earrings."
Xinyan saw the jade stone and knew it was not cheap. She hesitated to accept it: "Third senior sister, this is too valuable, I can’t accept it."
Shen Guqing didn’t care about her reaction: "This is a meeting gift from me to you, there’s no reason not to accept it. Besides, it’s something I picked from rough stones while resting with locals and had opened by someone, just costing some time and stone-opening fees, so you don’t need to feel pressured.
Also, I’ve brought some for Shifu, Shiniang, and our senior brother and junior brother, of course, you have yours too. But yours is a bit bigger than theirs, so just take it."
Saying this, she indeed took out a few more from the bag, but none were as big as hers: "Shifu, senior brother, the purple one is for Shiniang, the rest you can choose one."
Mr. Du glared at Shen Guqing and quickly gave a look to the eldest disciple.
Ma Chengxi got up and walked out of the yard, only to hear the door being closed and locked.
When Ma Chengxi returned inside, Mr. Du finally spoke: "Even though the times have changed, we still have to be careful. You thoughtless child."
Shen Guqing realized she got too excited and careless: "Shifu, I was wrong."
Just as Mr. Du was reprimanding, Mrs. Du walked in, only catching the last sentence: "Guqing just got back, what has she done to provoke you?"
But just as she finished speaking, she saw the jade stones on the table and immediately became anxious: "Where did these come from?"
Shen Guqing knew she had startled her Shiniang, so she got up and pressed her to sit down: "Shiniang, don’t worry, senior brother has already locked the courtyard door, there won’t be any trouble."
Mrs. Du looked up at Shen Guqing: "Did you bring these back?"