Chapter Fifty-Nine: Attending an Extracurricular Class

The man in white, seeing the expression on Lin Miaomiao's face, seemed to have guessed her thoughts, and addressed her with a hint of annoyance, “I am the Master of the Hundred Flowers Valley.”

Lin Miaomiao, hearing this, responded without much interest, “Oh.” Jiang Luohan, seeing her indifferent expression, felt a surge of irritation.

Jiang Luohan glanced at Li Yanhe, who was eating nearby. Li Yanhe met his eyes and said, “Why are you looking at me? I don’t know you either. You must be a man of the martial world, aren’t you?”

Jiang Luohan nodded at Lin Miaomiao’s words. When Lin Miaomiao heard Li Yanhe call Jiang Luohan a man of the martial world, she suddenly pictured a scene from the dramas she used to watch.

Her eyes sparkled as she asked Jiang Luohan, “So you’re a martial artist? Are you the kind who can use light-footed skills, carrying a flute and a sword, roaming the world?”

Jiang Luohan twitched his lips at her words and replied, “No, I don’t wander with such useless things.”

Hearing this, Lin Miaomiao couldn’t help but pull a face and mutter, “How dull.”

Jiang Luohan felt rejected. Then Li Yanhe said, “So, what are you here for? You’re not just here for a free meal, are you?”

After Lin Miaomiao finished, she turned to Jiang Luohan and asked, “Hey, that Hundred Flowers Valley you mentioned, what do you do there? Is it a place where you grow flowers?”

Jiang Luohan raised an eyebrow at her question and replied, “The Hundred Flowers Valley has never grown flowers.”

He seemed to recall something, sighed, and said to Lin Miaomiao, “Just think of me as a physician.”

Lin Miaomiao nodded at his words. While Lin Langluan and Lin Langze were eating, they barely dared to touch their food, their eyes constantly drifting to Li Yanhe, who sat beside Lin Miaomiao.

Lin Miaomiao was actually the same age as Lin Langluan and Lin Langze. By rights, the two children should not be afraid of her.

But whenever Li Yanhe’s face darkened, Lin Langluan and Lin Langze would become anxious and fearful.

After finishing his meal, Li Yanhe said to Lin Miaomiao, “After breaking through the city’s defenses, the barbarians reached a nearby village, burning, killing, and looting. However, that village fought back with tunnel warfare, so the barbarians gained little.”

“But some of the village militia were killed by the barbarians. I need to go over and have a look.”

Lin Miaomiao understood that Li Yanhe wanted to go there to observe and gain some experience.

After saying this, Li Yanhe glanced at Lin Langluan and Lin Langze and said to them, “You two, come with me to the study.”

The two children looked at Lin Miaomiao in fear. She shook her head and reassured them, “It’s alright, go on to the study.”

Lin Miaomiao continued eating, while the two troublemakers, who had long finished, trudged off to the study, glancing back every few steps.

Li Yanhe took out a military manual and placed it before them, saying, “If you’ve done something wrong, you should accept your punishment.”

His voice was cold as he continued, “I’ll be away for about six or seven days. You don’t need to go to school during the New Year, so how many times do you think you should copy this book?”

He looked at Lin Langluan, who eyed the thick manual and tentatively suggested, “Once?”

Li Yanhe was clearly unsatisfied and turned to the younger one, Lin Langze. “You’d better give me a number I’m pleased with. When I return, I expect the copied book on my desk. Otherwise…”

He left the threat unfinished, but both children shivered. Lin Langze, after a cautious glance at Li Yanhe, whispered, “Five times.”

Li Yanhe nodded in satisfaction, then said, “You’d best finish copying before I return. If not, I’ll add another hour to your mornings.”

The two children pulled long faces. Lin Miaomiao, knowing that Li Yanhe was frequently away, had already folded his clothes and packed them in small bundles.

Li Yanhe returned to his room, packed briefly, and left with his bundle just as Lin Miaomiao finished her meal.

Seeing him about to leave, Lin Miaomiao hurriedly packed some fried fish and meatballs in an oiled paper bag and handed it to him.

Li Yanhe smiled and patted her head. She said, “Be careful on your journey. Don’t take unsafe routes just to save time.”

He nodded and replied, “Alright.”

Lin Langluan and Lin Langze looked miserable. Though clever and well-educated from an early age, thanks to Lin Miaomiao’s teaching them the Three Character Classic and their own intelligence, they excelled at school and picked up lessons quickly.

After school, they never reviewed, yet still achieved good grades. Lin Miaomiao never worried about them, and Li Yanhe had Lin Qi teach them martial arts every morning, making them wake even earlier than Lin Miaomiao herself.

For children, getting up early was the hardest thing. Yet, whenever Li Yanhe stood coldly by their beds, they would immediately rise.

Lin Qi was a strict teacher, beginning martial training with the basics—starting with horse stance practice. Lin Langluan and Lin Langze found it tough; recently, Lin Miaomiao had pampered them, so they disliked such hardships, but the sight of Li Yanhe’s stern face left them no choice but to persist.

Fortunately, after morning training, Lin Miaomiao always rewarded them with a delicious breakfast, and she would pack treats for them to take to school.

Despite not wanting such a rigorous day of school and martial training, whenever Lin Langluan and Lin Langze pleaded with Lin Miaomiao, she would agree. But the next day, she would take them to the workshop and assign them the hardest tasks. After a day’s labor, the two troublemakers realized that school was preferable.

On the way back, Lin Miaomiao told them, “There’s no distinction between honorable and menial work, but if you don’t work hard at your studies now, you won’t have any choices in the future.”

“If you study and learn other knowledge and skills now, you’ll have a different life ahead of you.”

“And when faced with choices, you won’t feel so lost.”

Back in the twenty-first century, Lin Miaomiao’s mother had often used this reasoning to brainwash her. In high school, whenever she struggled to persevere, her mother would repeat these words.

It was because of her mother’s advice that Lin Miaomiao made it through. If being a student was exhausting, adulthood was even more so.

Now, in the body of a child, Lin Miaomiao was forced to shoulder adult responsibilities—so many concerns, so many thoughts.

Lin Qi and the others were very capable, but Lin Miaomiao still had to worry about many things; after all, only by taking charge herself could she ensure things were done right.

For the next few days, Lin Langluan and Lin Langze couldn’t go out to play, as they had to learn new skills.

Jiang Luohan ended up staying at Lin Miaomiao’s behest, his sole task being to serve as a teacher for the two mischievous boys. Jiang Luohan was a master of chess, and once Lin Miaomiao discovered this, she immediately decided to keep him.

Cuiliu prepared a room for Jiang Luohan, and once again, Lin Miaomiao enrolled the boys in extracurricular classes—she herself had been a child ruled by such classes.

When Lin Miaomiao was in elementary school, there was a craze for art classes, and without a second thought, her mother signed her up. Lin Miaomiao studied art for over ten years, and over time, developed excellent skills, especially in sketching and oil painting, though she couldn’t paint traditional Chinese art.

She had also learned dance as a child; her mother had enrolled her in folk dance classes when she was very young.

Folk dance was grueling. She could still remember her small self being dragged to the youth palace by her mother, forced to practice. She studied folk dance for about six years. Later, when she grew tired of it and her mother suggested continuing, Lin Miaomiao switched to jazz dance.

In elementary school, she also attended mental arithmetic and calligraphy classes. She had really attended more than her fair share of extracurricular courses, a poor child at the mercy of such schedules.

After entering university, her mother stopped managing her so closely. But thanks to her dance skills and good looks, Lin Miaomiao often took part in club activities and evening galas.

Whenever she performed, her roommates were always envious. Only then did Lin Miaomiao truly understand the saying, “It never hurts to have too many skills.”

Now Lin Langluan and Lin Langze not only had to copy books every day but also attended two hours of chess class every afternoon, followed by Lin Miaomiao’s art class.

They felt their lives were too tragic, but dared not defy Lin Miaomiao. If they refused to study, she would take them to work in the factory—in itself not terrible, but monotonous and repetitive.

Boys their age were naturally energetic, so they could only accept their fate. Although chess and art classes were boring, at least they learned something different, and Lin Miaomiao taught in a lively and humorous way, making it far from dull.