Meng Jingwei, on the defensive, fell to the side, holding a bottle of wine in one hand and bracing herself on the ground with the other. She used the momentum to fiercely kick Old Chen Tou's arm.
Old Chen Tou leaned back slightly, and with his other hand, grabbed Meng Jingwei's other foot. He pushed forward with both hands, sweeping her legs.
Losing her footing, Meng Jingwei fell heavily onto the ground, crushing a patch of grass.
"Useless! Less than half a year, and you've forgotten everything your master taught you?" Old Chen sternly rebuked.
"Ouch, you've made me fall to my death."
Sitting on the ground, Meng Jingwei glared at Old Chen Tou aggrievedly. "I was just trying to protect this bottle of wine. Otherwise, how could you have taken me down so quickly?"
"Stupid is stupid, don't make so many excuses."
"Sigh."
Meng Jingwei sighed, got up from the ground, brushed the grass off her clothes, and pouted. "Alright, my skills are lacking. I admit it, I admit it."
Before leaving Zhutang Town, she thought her skills were superb, and she had never seriously sparred with Old Chen Tou.
But after meeting Qing Muye, Meng Jingwei realized there was always someone better.
She couldn't even beat Qing Muye, so how could she possibly be a match for her master?
Seeing her dejected, Old Chen Tou snatched the wine from her hand. As he unscrewed the cap, he asked, "Tell me, who bullied my apprentice again? Tell your master, and master will beat him up for you and vent your anger."
"Master, is it too late for me to learn from you now?"
"Of course, it's not too late."
"Really?"
"Naturally. As long as you are willing to support your master in his old age, anything is possible."
"Hehehe, Master, don't worry, your apprentice will definitely take care of you in your old age and see you off." Meng Jingwei got up from the ground, hugged Old Chen Tou, and said with a smile.
Little did she know, Old Chen Tou had just unscrewed the cap of the wine bottle, sniffed the baijiu, and immediately grinned. "Haha, good wine, good wine. Apprentice, bring more of this wine for your master in the future, to show filial piety."
With that, he walked away carrying the wine bottle.
After a few steps, he paused and walked back.
Meng Jingwei thought: That's good, master finally remembers me.
Just as she thought this, the next moment she saw Old Chen Tou push her aside. "Get out of the way, don't block the path." He walked to the water's edge, bent down, picked up the fish basket, and laughed heartily, muttering to himself, "With meat and wine, this is heaven, hahahaha..."
Old Chen Tou, with wine in one hand and the fish basket in the other, walked towards his own yard, completely forgetting Meng Jingwei.
"Old man, have you forgotten you have an apprentice?"
She stood in place and shouted at him.
Old Chen Tou glanced back at her. "You have hands and feet, can't you walk yourself? Do you expect an old man like me to carry you?"
Meng Jingwei: That makes sense.
She trotted after him, picked up the vegetable basket she had brought along, and entered the yard together.
Although Meng Jingwei had known Old Chen Tou since she was a child, he was a mysterious person. Meng Jingwei only knew his name was Old Chen Tou, and that he was skilled in bamboo weaving, mortise and tenon joinery, and had exceptional martial arts skills. He was a mysterious old man proficient in all eighteen martial arts.
She knew nothing else.
She looked at the tea table and chairs set up in the yard and the mortise and tenon wooden house, and couldn't help but sigh, "Old man, you really know how to enjoy life."
"If you like it here, you can stay and live with me. This old man is feeling lonely."
"Okay, of course, no problem."
Meng Jingwei said as she hopped into the house. She wandered around the place where she had grown up. Although it had been half a year, everything was still as it was originally, unchanged.
She moved a rattan chair into the house, and the two of them sat in the yard, enjoying the cool breeze and a few drinks, chatting.
Old Chen Tou took a sip of the baijiu and couldn't help but nod. "Hmm, good wine. Smooth on the palate, rich and mellow flavor, with a sweet aftertaste. Good wine, good wine. Apprentice, when will you get a few more bottles of this wine for your master?"
Meng Jingwei's mouth twitched.
She thought: Old man, you really know how to drink. Do you know this wine costs over ten thousand per bottle?
This was a bottle of good wine she had specifically sought out and bought, knowing she would be back. It was so expensive it made her question her life choices.
He finished a bottle in three or two gulps, what a waste.
"Hahaha, good, good, good. As long as you want to drink it, you can have it." She smiled knowingly and agreed.
Even though the wine was expensive, Old Chen Tou was her master, and buying wine for him was only right.
Even if it pained her, she had to endure it.
"Old man, drink less. My mother has stewed some meat at home, and she's waiting for you. We'll have dinner together as a family."
"Oh, there's ready-made food, this is heaven. Let's go, master will go down the mountain with you."
"Tsk tsk... Old man, you have no principles at all. A bit of meat can buy you over."
"How can you talk to your master like that, you brat?"
"Ouch, Master, don't hit my head, it hurts."
...
The two then descended the mountain together. At Meng Jingwei's home, the four of them had a rare reunion in the evening.
Small wine with small dishes, they chatted until late at night, with laughter echoing in the living room, warm and harmonious.
After dinner, Meng Tianhua sent Old Chen Tou home. Meng Jingwei, having drunk her fill, fell into a deep sleep.
The next moment she opened her eyes, it was already early morning.
She tidied herself up briefly, put on sportswear, grabbed her phone, and went out for a morning run.
The country road was sparsely populated, and she jogged along.
Just then, a minivan slowly approached and suddenly stopped in front of her.
Meng Jingwei's brow furrowed, and she felt a sense of foreboding.
As she hesitated, the minivan door opened, and five or six men in suits and ties emerged.