Chapter 6: Meeting Fu Bo Outside the Cuju Field

  "What!!! It was you guys all along! I knew you looked familiar, humph!" Suddenly, Zheng Yao's attitude made a one hundred and eighty degree turn.

  Ning An was not pleased to hear this. If it weren't for his own shock, he might still be in a daze until now. Not only did this person not show gratitude towards him, but instead wanted to blame him. What kind of logic is this?

  She rolled up her sleeves, put her left hand on her waist and pointed at him with her right hand, shouting: "You heartless fool! If it weren't for me, would you be here reciting poetry and competing in a witty repartee contest? What makes you so bold to me?"

  Ning An had always been someone who didn't fear trouble and never cared about how others looked at her. Because in the imperial palace, this overbearing princess was someone that no one dared to provoke, so no matter what she did, others didn't dare to say anything, nor did they dare to speak back to her.

  However, this is not a palace and no one here knows that she is the current Princess Ning'an.

  "You this savage woman, doing wrong things without knowing! Do you know that back then, because of your reckless driving, a pregnant woman's fetus was not in the right position, and as a result, she died in childbirth. You big family misses always do things without considering the consequences, relying on your family's wealth to act recklessly, do you know that it is often people like you who make ordinary people suffer?! Moreover, since you are a young lady from a wealthy family, you should be dignified and not scream loudly when seeing handsome young men, nor speak with others in an uneducated manner. If this leads to criticism, it's your own fault!"

  Zheng Yao said all this in one breath, perhaps the longest sentence he had spoken in eighteen years, as if to vent out all the anger that had been pent up inside him.

  "What's the big deal! I'll just compensate her family a bit more and that's it! I'm not someone who can't afford to pay!"

  Ning Anxin felt very displeased in her heart, wanting to take action to teach Zheng Yao a lesson, but was stopped by Xiao Xi. Looking around, everyone was staring at her with strange eyes. Helpless, she could only wave her hand and scold Zheng Yao, saying "You're looking for a fight, huh?"

  "You're always dressed in finery and live a life of luxury, how can you possibly understand the lives of ordinary people? Do you think that throwing some money around and giving away a few things will make others grateful to you? Do you think that with wealth, you can do anything? Wrong! I'm telling you, many things can't be measured by money. Forget it, talking to you is like playing music to a cow, goodbye, barbarian!"

  "Idiot! You detestable idiot!! Hmph!" Ning An's face turned red with rage, she flung her hand out and gritted her teeth as she spoke, her usual charming expression nowhere to be seen, replaced by a face full of anger.

  "Miss, let's not bother with him, he's just a fool. Why are you getting worked up over him?" Seeing Zheng Yao had already walked far away, Xiao Xi pulled Ning An's sleeve, signaling for her to sit down and watch the match calmly.

  "Hmph! Wasn't it just a pregnant woman dying in childbirth? It's not like I caused her to have a difficult birth, and besides, that carriage wasn't even driven by me. If anyone is to blame, it should be the coachman. Moreover, at the time, Liu Yan had already saved the pregnant woman, so she should be fine! Even if she did die, I can just compensate her family with some money, they shouldn't have any complaints!" Ning An seemed as though he hadn't heard Xiaoxi speaking to him, but was instead lost in thought, recalling the events of that day.

  "Miss, it's all in the past, don't think about it too much. The competition is about to start soon, if you don't sit down, the people behind will have opinions. You wouldn't want to leave a bad impression on Master Liu, would you?"

  Xiao Xi was very clever and had a good grasp of Ning An's psychology. As soon as Ning An heard the two words "Liu Yan", he immediately regained his composure, put on an air of nonchalance, and shifted his gaze to the cuju field.

  "Hmph! That fool has a sly and cunning look in his eyes, but he doesn't even know how to learn from Master Liu on how to be a refined and cultured person with substance. It's infuriating me to death!!" Although her eyes were fixed on the cuju field, her mouth was muttering non-stop, as if he was her arch-nemesis.

  "Ah-choo——" Just as he was about to leave the field, he suddenly let out a sneeze and thoughtfully said: "It must be that barbarian woman who held a grudge against me after I scolded her. I've never seen such an impolite young lady, making mistakes but not admitting them! Forget it, forget it, I'll just wander around elsewhere. Anyway, there's no place for me to participate in this, why bother staying here and feeling sad?"

  What Zhengyao said is not wrong either. Looking back on those years, before I was ten years old, Zhengyao was already playing for the Hedong Youth Cuju team, and together with Yuan Haiyun and Zhang Cheng, they were invincible in the youth cuju team. The three of them would always return with victory whenever they played together. However, everything has become a distant memory, and all that is left is a beautiful recollection.

  He smiled wryly to himself, knowing that he couldn't possibly join the cuju team now. After all, he had been bedridden for many years and his legs were no longer agile. He turned back to take one last look at the familiar yet strange cuju field, listened to another round of enthusiastic cheers and shouts, then resolutely turned around and left.

  On the kickball field, it can be said that there is no doubt that the originally strong Heshi team has now added a versatile player like Liu Yan, making it even more difficult to lose. Indeed, only Liu Yan's figure was seen on the field, 1-0, 2-0, 3-0... In the end, it wasn't until halftime that Yuan Haiyun and Zhang Cheng managed to score two goals with great effort, with a halftime score of 6-2.

  Another burst of applause, Liu Yan's style completely overshadowed everyone else. In the first half alone, six goals were scored, five of which were scored by Liu Yan, and the other one could be counted as an assist from Liu Yan.

  The women on the scene had already lost their composure, some even rushed down to the stage without regard for anything, and were finally stopped by the officials. Ning An no longer had any semblance of a princess at this moment, or perhaps she never did, only now she was even more unaware of what it meant to be reserved. She shouted, cheered, screamed, and wailed, using every extreme, just like a super fan.

  "Miss, are you...?" Xiaoxi suddenly focused her gaze on Ning An's body as soon as she saw the person behind her, and then whispered to Ning An while gently pulling her.

  Ning An suddenly felt someone tugging on his clothes, so he looked over and saw Xiao Xi with an embarrassed expression, her eyes darting back and forth. Ning An was also very clever, following Xiao Xi's gaze to see that everyone had their mouths agape, staring at him in shock.

  "Uh..." Ning An was suddenly at a loss for words, his face flushing with embarrassment as he sat down, not daring to look at the person beside him.

  "Halt, what are you doing? The match inside has already started. If you want to go in, get a ticket first; otherwise, no one is allowed in!" Two officials at the entrance of the polo field suddenly shouted, and an old man about fifty years old stopped in front of them.

  "Two officials, I am Ah Fu, the servant of young master Liu Yan. My young master is ill and needs to take his medicine on time. I know he's participating in the competition today, and his illness can easily relapse, so I've brought his medicine especially for him." The old man said pleadingly, seemingly a very loyal servant.

  "No, no! No admission ticket, nobody can go in! You leave!" The two officers didn't give any face at all, and the officer on the left even pushed Fu Bo away with a push, almost pushing him to the ground.

  "Stop!" Just as Yao had circled around the perimeter and returned to the front gate, he happened upon this scene. Unable to bear it, he stepped forward and grasped Fu Bo's arm, saying: "Fu Bo, I also know Liu Gongzi. If you trust me, give me your medicine and I'll help you take it in to him."

  Fu Bo looked up and down at Zheng Yao, seeing that he was about the same size as Liu Yan, and also had a refined and elegant demeanor full of scholarly air. He said, "Alright then, I'll have to trouble you." As he spoke, he immediately took out a small bottle from his bosom and handed it to Zheng Yao.

  The bottle is made of glass and is transparent throughout, with black medicinal pills inside that look quite special.

  Zheng Yao glanced at the medicine bottle, then said to Fu Bo: "Don't worry, Uncle Fu, I'll take it to Liu Gongzi right away. You go back first and don't get pushed to the ground again." After finishing speaking, Zheng Yao smiled slightly and looked down on the two officials before walking towards the polo field.