“Hasn’t he seen it? A time period of nearly two sticks of incense （the time duration of a stick of incense was about half an hour in ancient China） had pa.s.sed since Bai Languo fired off a signal flare. However, Mei Junzhi hadn’t appeared yet. The woods at night frequently rustled because of the animals pa.s.sing by. They thought it was Mei Junzhi whenever they heard the sound, but they didn’t see him when they looked back. Thus, b.u.t.terfly started having doubts about the signal flare.
Bai Languo shook her head. She firmly believed in the powerful signal flare. She said with pride, “The signal flare is a treasure made personally by my teacher. My cla.s.smate Mei can see the signal from anywhere within a distance of 108,000 li unless he is sleeping!”
Princess b.u.t.terfly didn’t entirely believe it. She looked at her stepfather and asked, “Is it true?”
Puyang Yue didn’t think so. He answered,“Perhaps, she is sleeping now.”
“Oh . . . she is talking in her sleep!”
“Yes, you are clever!”
“It is because you are a good teacher, Father!”
Hearing the dialog between the daughter and her stepfather, Bai Languo was about to die from anger!
Suddenly, Bai Languo felt a strong wind pa.s.s by her when she was angry with them. Then, she saw a black shadow rushing and pa.s.sing by her. Finally, the man ran into the tree in front of him.
With a dull banging thud, he couldn’t move any longer, as if he was stuck to the tree. It seemed that he’d hit it pretty hard. It seemed that he rushed here because he saw the legendary signal flare.
Bai Languo went close to him. She pulled Mei Junzhi away from the tree. She blamed him, saying, “Why did you run so fast? Why didn’t you watch where you were going? I won’t forgive you if you damaged your handsome face!”
Mei Junzhi turned around with a face full of tears and a running nose. He said,“I . . . I thought that you were dying!”
“It is you who are dying!”
Mei Junzhi wiped his face. He carefully looked at his cla.s.smate Bai Languo. She was fine, but she had fired off the signal flare to seek help. Instantly, he asked angrily, “You . . . you tricked me?”
Humph, Bai Languo said, “I had to fire off the signal flare to save you!”
“Save me? I’m fine. Why did you want to save me?”
“You stole many things from landlord Yang last night. Did you really want to rob the rich and a.s.sist the poor?”
“What?” Mei Junzhi was astonished. “I don’t understand what you are saying.”
Bai Languo looked at the sky. She had to explain the details to him.
Mei Junzhi cried, “Boo hoo hoo . . . I didn’t. You must believe me! I only stole a white jade vase from the prince’s palace. Moreover, the vase was only the decoration in my room. I traded a pot of wine for this vase. I drank all night long on a small hill outside the city, planning my future route. I didn’t have time to steal from the landlord at all.”
Bai Languo was stunned. She frowned and asked, “Is that true?”
“Of course, it’s true.”
“Ah, how could you only trade a pot of wine for the vase? Which p.a.w.nshop or hostel cheated you? Let me get justice for you!”
“However, I heard that it was the best pot of wine there!”
“Oh, well . . . but you shouldn’t drink wine before becoming an adult! You did so just because you wanted to be a cool man?”
“I’m already an adult now.”
“Next month! If I remember correctly, you won’t be eighteen years old until next month, right?”
“Elder sister, other men can have a wife after eighteen years old. Why can’t I do that, or even drink wine?”
……
Puyang Yue lightly coughed to interrupt the lively dialog between Bai Languo and Mei Junzhi before they got too carried away.