A Flower Of Youth

Chapter 5

The next day during class, the Lan disciples are made to sit at one side of the room while the guest disciples are on the other side. The guest disciples stand to greet the teacher with respectful bows. The lecture begins with the teacher reciting the rules of Cloud Recesses. Lan Sizhui can see Jingyi making a face from his seat next to him, but after a while he sits up and straightens his face again. Jin Ling and Zizhen however are finding it difficult to not lean against their desk with their elbows, only sitting up quickly when the teacher walks by them with a scowl on his face. Sizhui sits patiently through the lecture, having long been used to them. Still, he feels a sense of relief when the lecture ends.

"How can you keep such a straight face, Sizhui?" Zizhen sighs. "I could barely concentrate."

"He grew up here. He's a natural Lan disciple," Jin Ling points out.

"I grew up here too," Jingyi grumbles.

"You follow the rules just fine, Jingyi," Sizhui tells his friend. "But you also consistently try to find loopholes in them and claim you're not actually breaking them."

"I'm not breaking them to an extent," Jingyi insists. "Have you never noticed how some rules contradict one another?"

"Tell us," Zizhen says eagerly. Jingyi grins.

"One of the rules is to not waste food. I do eat a lot, maybe more than I should, but whenever I sneak chicken into Cloud Recesses, I get scolded. But it's not like anyone can make me throw it out. That'd be wasteful! And there aren't any rules about eating meat even if we are all vegetarians."

"Jingyi," Sizhui sighs.

"No meat?" Zizhen stares in shock. "What do you mean 'no meat? How can anyone survive?"

"We eat vegetables," Sizhui points out, shaking his head.

"We don't have any lectures for the rest of the day. Should we go to Caiyi Town?" Jingyi asks, changing the subject.

"I'll ask my unc-, I mean Zewu-jun," Sizhui corrects himself hastily.

"Sizhui, you can be honest. If Hanguang-jun is your father, then Zewu-jun would definitely be your uncle."

"Your father is Hanguang-jun?" Jin Ling stares in shock.

"No...well sort of yes. He did raise me like I was his son. And Zewu-jun cares a lot about me as well. They both helped to bring me up."

"And your mother?" Zizhen asks rather hesitantly.

"I was told she died when I was very young....but Hanguang-jun always tells me stories about her," Sizhui says.

"We can talk about it more in town, right?" Jingyi cuts in. "We should ask Zewu-jun now so we can get back here before curfew."

Sizhui, Jingyi and Zizhen head to the Hanshi with Jin Ling following behind them, grumbling something under his breath but tagging along regardless.

"I'll give all four of you boys the Jade token just in case you get separated," Zewu-jun says with a smile. "Have a safe journey."

They thank him with bows and leave Cloud Recesses.

"Tell us more about your mother, Sizhui," Zizhen says as they head down the mountain.

"She wore a red ribbon in her hair...her smile was beautiful and was her laugh. She also played a flute." Sizhui speaks in a wistful voice. He could almost picture her in his head.

"Wait, is this your birth mother?" Jin Ling blinks. "I heard that Hanguang-jun never got married."

"No...my birth mother died when I was born. Who I'm talking about is Hanguang-jun's dear friend. His childhood friend. I do not remember her but she helped raise me as well and when she died, Hanguang-jun took me in. He considered her son as his own. He had to convince Master Lan to accept me into the sect as an inner family disciple. Zewu-jun helped too of course."