15: Shu Chang's favorability

After dinner, Liu Yifei pulled Li Xiuwu to the loft in the front courtyard, watching the night view of the West Sea and listening to the tourists' chatter and laughter.

Liu Xiaoli brought a tea set and sipped tea by the window; the scenery and atmosphere here were indeed refreshing.

Li Xiuwu was in high spirits; he brought the scorched tail zither, and the notes drifted out, melodious and pleasant to the ear.

Liu Yifei quieted down, sitting opposite Li Xiuwu with her chin in her hands, listening quietly.

The zither music was melodious, and the tourists at the West Sea pricked up their ears, searching for the direction the sound was coming from.

They saw a silhouette in the lights of the nearby Courtyard House and curiously guessed which master it might be.

The pleasant zither notes drifted through the night sky, making people linger and forget to return.

At eight o'clock in the evening, Liu Yifei got into the car to go home with a reluctant expression.

"Can I come back to play tomorrow?" Liu Yifei asked Li Xiuwu from the passenger seat, while also asking her mother.

Liu Xiaoli looked at Li Xiuwu; she didn't refuse, as her daughter had no friends in Beijing and school was starting in a couple of days.

There was no harm in making friends with Li Xiuwu; besides, if all went well, the two would be working together in "demi-gods and semi-devils."

"You're welcome," Li Xiuwu nodded; school orientation was the day after tomorrow, so he had nothing to do tomorrow.

"Can I bring a friend?" Liu Yifei suddenly remembered a close friend she had met on set.

Li Xiuwu nodded and watched them leave.

As the car drove out of the Courtyard House gates, a wave of noise hit them, making both mother and daughter frown.

"So noisy," Liu Yifei said.

Liu Xiaoli nodded, wondering why there was such a huge difference just a wall apart; even the air wasn't as fresh as it was inside the Courtyard House.

It wasn't that she hadn't lived in a Courtyard House before, but she had never felt this way.

After spending a day at Li Xiuwu's home, her body felt much more comfortable; let alone her daughter, even she didn't want to leave.

In the early morning, Li Xiuwu woke up to the sound of birds chirping.

After washing up, he practiced his swordplay in the courtyard; the birds on the branches chirped and twittered, sounding very pleasant.

After eating breakfast with the Lion Cat, he grabbed a handful of millet and sat in the courtyard.

A few birds landed—some on his knees, some on his shoulders.

The Budgerigar landed on his palm.

Ever since it opened its mouth, Li Xiuwu knew why it had been a stray.

A parrot with a foul mouth was worthless.

"Forget everything you knew before and learn from me again," Li Xiuwu told it.

"Why?" The Budgerigar tilted its head, looking at him with ignorant eyes.

"If you say those things, you'll be beaten to death sooner or later."

"Will you beat me to death?"

"Yes."

... "Learn from me: Hello."

"Learn from me: Hello."

"Just say 'Hello'."

"Just say 'Hello'."

Li Xiuwu looked at it speechlessly.

"You're so pretty."

"You flirt, you certainly have a sweet tongue."

"Get lost," Li Xiuwu shooed it away.

"You flirt, kiss kiss," the Budgerigar didn't forget to say as it flew to a branch.

He gave the millet in his hand to the Oriole and the Sparrow.

After finishing its business, the Lion Cat jumped onto Li Xiuwu's lap, swatted the birds away one by one, and lay down to sleep.

"Bad cat, bad cat," the birds all complained about the Lion Cat.

At ten o'clock, his phone rang.

"Li Xiuwu, we're at your door, open up quickly," Liu Yifei's voice came through the phone, sounding very happy.

Li Xiuwu pressed the control switch for the automatic gate.

[Detected peerless dual cultivation cauldron Shu Chang. Current favorability: 12. Unable to bind. Please increase favorability as soon as possible.]

Li Xiuwu looked at the girl indicated by the system prompt; she was also sizing him up curiously.

"Chang Chang, this is Li Xiuwu, my future classmate." Liu Yifei pulled the girl over and introduced Li Xiuwu to her.

"Hello, I am Li Xiuwu."

"Hello, Student Li. I'm Shu Chang. I've seen the news about you; you're the top scholar of the college entrance examination with a perfect score. That's amazing." Shu Chang's voice was soft, and she had a gentle smile; her eyes were beautiful and full of curiosity.

Shu Chang came from a single-parent family and was raised alone by her mother. Her mother passed away when she was ten, and this year, her aunt and older cousin, who treated her best, had also gone abroad.

Her guardianship had now been transferred to her uncle.

Her uncle was also good to her, but he was a man, still working, and had remarried this year.

She didn't like this new aunt, but she couldn't show it.

A young girl living under someone else's roof is always sensitive; she deeply envied Liu Yifei for having a mother to shield her from the wind and rain.

"Chang Chang, come quickly! Look, aren't these flowers beautiful?" Liu Yifei pulled Shu Chang into the garden, looking at this flower and touching that one, her charming and crisp voice discussing the beauty of the flowers.

"Xiuwu, I have some things to do today. Please help me look after Xixi and Chang Chang; I'll come pick them up in the afternoon."

Big Beard Zhang's booked Korean actress suddenly broke the contract and signed with a Korean production instead. Consequently, the role of Wang Yuyan became vacant, and Liu Xiaoli was going to try and secure it for her daughter.

"Sure, Auntie, I'll take good care of them," Li Xiuwu nodded.

"Xixi, take good care of Chang Chang. Don't run around; I'll come pick you up in the afternoon," Liu Xiaoli instructed her daughter again.

"I know, I won't go anywhere today," Liu Yifei stood up and promised.

Liu Xiaoli drove away.

"How many flowers are there here?" Liu Yifei asked as she saw Li Xiuwu walking over.

"I don't know, I haven't counted."

"Let's count them." Liu Yifei pulled Shu Chang along to count the flowers blooming in the garden.

"You guys play here; call me if you need anything," Li Xiuwu said and went back to the Central Courtyard.

He placed a lounge chair in the shade of the Crabapple tree and lay on it; as the autumn wind blew, he felt a bit drowsy.

In his daze, he saw two Swallows carrying mud in their beaks and immediately woke up.

"Hey, can you please not build a nest?"

The two Swallows landed on a branch and looked down at Li Xiuwu.

"We have nowhere to live," one Swallow said, dropping the mud ball from its beak.

"I'll make a nest for you; just don't build one yourselves." Li Xiuwu stood up. He didn't really mind the Swallows building a nest, but he had to maintain the Courtyard House, and building on the wooden structure would affect its lifespan.

"We want to build a nest of love through our own efforts and raise our babies." The two Swallows looked at each other and started kissing with chirps.

"Stop showing off your affection. Either live in this or go build a nest at someone else's house." Li Xiuwu took a prepared wooden birdhouse from the utility room and hung it under the eaves.

"Chang Chang, let me tell you, Li Xiuwu has a little white lion that's very beautiful and well-behaved. You'll see it in a bit." She pulled Shu Chang's hand and came to the Central Courtyard.

"Shh." Shu Chang suddenly pulled Liu Yifei back, pointing at Li Xiuwu under the tree, her face filled with surprise.

"Wow!" Liu Yifei was also very surprised when she saw the scene.

Li Xiuwu had hung a wooden birdhouse under the eaves; the two Swallows flew inside, came out after a moment, chirped while standing on Li Xiuwu's shoulders, and finally flew away.

The two of them walked over quietly.

"Two people are coming, two people are coming," the Oriole preening its feathers on the tree chirped to notify Li Xiuwu as it saw the two approaching.

Li Xiuwu turned around and saw Liu Yifei and Shu Chang treading lightly.

"What are you doing?"

"How did you do that?" Liu Yifei looked at the birds under the eaves; she felt that these birds were so close to Li Xiuwu.

Shu Chang also looked at him curiously; she had never heard of birds voluntarily landing on someone.

"Maybe it's because I feed them often."

Hearing this, the two of them looked up at the birdhouse hanging under the eaves and were somewhat convinced.