Chapter 77: Please Have Some Tea, Master

“You are the one that Qiao recommended?” Putting down his cup slowly, Master Kameng turned to measure Yu Jinli from head to toe. Although his hair and beard were white, there weren’t many lines on his face, nor did he look like an old man. His eyes were so sharp that they cut when he looked at others. “Yes, master.” A bit uneasy under his gaze, Yu Jinli replied. “I heard that you had inner focus recently? Grade D?” asked Master Kameng again with a slight frown as if he wasn’t happy about it. He had never had a Grade D student. This one was too weak. “Yes.” Yu Jinli nodded. “Master Kameng, little chestnut wants to apply to Card Forger School of the First Military Academy. I hope you can give him some instructions,” said Qiao Mulan smilingly. “I see. Let him stay. You can go back now.” Master Kameng waved at her a bit impatiently that she could leave. Knowing what Master Kameng was like, she didn’t take it the wrong way and left after telling Yu Jinli that she would pick him up when the class was over. “Boy, come here and pour me a cup of tea.” Sitting on the sofa, Master Kameng wasn’t in the least shy to order Yu Jinli around. “Yes.” Yu Jinli didn’t mind. Instead, he found this man with white beard endearing. Before he turned into human, in the lake where he lived, he knew a grandpa turtle who looked like Master Kameng after he took the shape of human - the person he liked most besides his master shifu and sect-brother. That was why Yu Jinli found Master Kameng endearing and wasn’t intimidated by his gloomy expression. Walking to the table, it touched Yu Jinli’s heart to see the familiar tea set since he seldom got to see stuff similar to that of his previous world after he was here. He didn’t expect to see a tea set here, which made him excited. Skillfully, he warmed the cup with hot water, brewed the tea and poured it in the cup in one go. It was so smooth as well as pleasing to the eye that even Master Kameng couldn’t help but stare at him. “Master, please.” Yu Jinli brought Master Kameng the tea. That brought Kameng back to reality, getting rid of his surprised look, as if he wasn’t the one who was stunned. He took Yu Jinli’s tea. First, he smelled it, then took a small sip. The fragrance of the tea lingered around him. “Who did you learn that from?” asked Master Kameng. It didn’t occur to him that young people these days knew how to make proper tea since most people of his age almost forgot how to do it. “From my master shifu,” answered Yu Jinli honestly. His master shifu loved tea, so he learned how to make tea over time. “Right,” Savoring the tea, Master Kameng nodded happily with his gloomy expression softening. “You want to be a Card Forger?” asked Master Kameng with raised brow. “Yes, I do,” answered Yu Jinli, nodding. “You are not a Card Forger material. Not talented enough. You’d better give up on that idea,” said Kameng candidly. No matter how good a Card Forger with Grade D inner focus was, he couldn’t do better than making Grade D energy cards. It was decided by a Card Forger’s grade of inner focus rather than efforts. Below Grade D, there were Grade E and Grade F, whose inner focus was next to nothing, which wasn’t much better than that of a normal person. That spoke for what level Grade D was at. Even if a person with Grade D inner focus became a Card Forger, he would be a mediocrity. It was better to find another occupation than wasting time on a hopeless cause. “I like Card Forgers. I’ll work hard to improve myself and make powerful energy cards,” said Yu Jinli with all seriousness. His master shifu used to say he was gifted in Seal Script and that he was a quick learner, better than his sect-brother, so he had enjoyed learning Seal Script. Without Seal Script in this world but something similar - energy card, he didn’t want to give up. In addition, he believed that he would be good at it in the future. Kameng didn’t expect that reaction from Yu Jinli. Approval flashed across his eyes. People who wanted to learn from him usually gave up at this point, frustrated and lost. Nobody ever tried to argue with him which was a disappointment. Someone who couldn’t stick to something he wanted to do would never do it right. Kameng would never waste his time on an indecisive soul. Though Yu Jinli’s inner focus was just at Grade D, that his eyes lit up when he talked about making energy cards showed his love for it. No matter what Yu Jinli would achieve, he had taken the first step with determination. “Since you want to stay and learn from me, go and pull up all the grass in the yard first.” Pointing at the weeds outside, Master Kameng said, straightforward. “Yes.” Recalling that mom told him to be obedient, Yu Jinli nodded as he replied. Then he walked to the yard, squatted down and started to work on the weeds. That gave rise to a secret curve on Kameng’s lips. It seemed no one ever took care of the plants in the yard. The weeds grew like wild, which didn’t go well with the view outside the manor. Yu Jinli had never done something like this. However, since it was a task from the master, he did it with all seriousness. “Mr. Yu is so good that he doesn’t bat an eyelid in front of the master. I don’t even dare to look at the master in the eye.” A whisper reached Yu Jinli. Instinctively, he turned to the source of that voice and saw several young people in a circle talk quietly. It seemed they didn’t notice that he was watching. Nor did they realize he could hear them. “Right. He’s quite desperate. In order to ingratiate himself with the master, he even puts up with it when the master deliberately make things difficult for him.” Another voice was filled with sympathy. “I’m willing to put up with all the difficulties if I can learn from the master.” A third voice sounded jealous. “I think the master likes Mr. Yu. Can you believe that I actually saw the master smile just now?” “Seriously? The master smiles? I’ve been here for almost a year and have never seen him smile.” “Yes, I’m telling the truth. The master did smile. Though it was brief. I did see it.” Eager to show that he was telling the truth, he spoke a lot louder. “Have you finished your work yet?” A man who looked like the steward showed up and stopped the conversation coldly. As soon as those young people spotted the steward, they scattered like startled birds in face of hunters and went back to their work. Yu Jinli didn’t take what they said seriously but focused on pulling weeds, trying to finish the task as soon as possible so that he could learn from the master about making energy cards.