The news of Ye Chu’s return to Yao City spread rapidly through the circles of the younger generation in Yao City. Naturally, the feat of defeating Qing Xiangming circulated with equal fervour and intensity!
The scum of Yao City from three years ago had reappeared as a formidable expert. This completely overturned everyone’s understanding. Those who first heard the news suspected someone was playing a prank on them! Only after young ladies and gentlemen who had personally witnessed it swore it was true did the disbelief gradually turn into complete acceptance.
This caused an uproar among the smaller circles of Yao City’s younger generation. Everyone was shaken by the news.
At the same time, the wicked deeds Ye Chu had committed back then were dug up one by one. Many people began cursing him anew. Overnight, Ye Chu’s notoriety in Yao City surged once more. Everyone was filled with righteous indignation, denouncing Ye Chu and vowing to drive him out of Yao City.
Of course, while some cursed him, others were thrilled! The group of playboys who had once followed behind Ye Chu were ecstatic! When they learned that Ye Chu now possessed the strength to defeat Qing Xiangming, they went completely wild!
After Ye Chu left three years ago, they had been forced to lie low. In Yao City, one could say they had been living with their tails between their legs. Even Liang Shan had been confined at home to study and cultivate! Yet now that Ye Chu had returned, did that not mean they could once again indulge in flowers, wine, snow, and moonlit pleasures, drowning in debauchery just like before?
Naturally, some of Ye Chu’s casual remarks also spread far and wide. People began proudly proclaiming themselves as skilled in both literature and martial arts, claiming they acted on the mandate of heaven!
This was something Ye Chu had never anticipated. At this moment, he had returned to Bai Xuan’s residence. When Ye Chu placed the three-hundred-year lingzhi in front of Bai Xuan, the alluring, mature, and irresistibly sensual woman’s beautiful eyes lit up with delight. “You really managed to bring back the lingzhi?”
Bai Xuan’s face was radiantly beautiful and enchantingly mature. Her figure curved gracefully in all the right places, deeply tempting. When she spoke, her full, plump lips exhaled an air of seductive fragrance and rosy allure. Bai Xuan was the kind of woman whose every frown or smile radiated irresistible charm from head to toe! Ye Chu had seen plenty of beauties over the past three years, yet he still could not help losing himself for a moment.
Being stared at so openly and unabashedly by Ye Chu caused a charming blush to spread across Bai Xuan’s delicate face. She subtly took a few steps to one side, avoiding his gaze, and gently tucked the blanket more securely around her father.
Ye Chu knew Bai Xuan remained deeply wary of him. He shrugged and said, “To get this lingzhi, I’m afraid I’m going to be cursed by millions of people behind my back. If you step outside right now, you’ll probably hear things like ‘That scum Ye Chu is back again!’ or ‘Why hasn’t that bastard died yet!’ I’m genuinely worried they’ll ruin their throats from all the shouting!”
“Pfft…” Bai Xuan could not help bursting into laughter. In that instant, a hundred charms bloomed across her face, carrying a mature beauty that stirred the heart. She simply found it amusing. Who in the world would worry that others cursing him would damage their own throats!
Looking at Ye Chu shrugging helplessly, Bai Xuan felt that this man whom Yao City cursed as a scum was perhaps not quite so terrifying after all. She could not resist asking, “Do you really not care about all those insults at all?”
“If they want to curse me, am I supposed to stand there arguing back with them? Just think about it. How many people are in Yao City? One mouthful of spit from each of them would be enough to drown and disgust me to death!” Ye Chu laughed. “Rather than waste time on them, I’d rather take a nap!”
Seeing that Ye Chu truly paid no mind to the millions of curses, Bai Xuan felt genuinely surprised. Ye Chu was only just over seventeen years old. At that age, most people loved to show off, acted immaturely, could not tolerate any slight, and could not bear to hear a single bad word. Yet here was someone who could face thousands upon thousands of insults with such calm composure and even crack jokes about it. He truly possessed a maturity far beyond his years!
Bai Xuan suddenly felt that the outside world’s evaluation of Ye Chu was seriously off the mark. With this kind of bearing, how could he possibly be the Ye Chu rumoured to “commit evil just to attract attention”?
“Why are you staring at me like that?” Ye Chu asked in confusion, noticing Bai Xuan gazing at him for a long time. He thought to himself, had he become even more handsome recently? Had he mesmerised such a beauty to the point of infatuation?
“Ah!” Bai Xuan snapped back to reality. “I was just thinking… if outsiders knew you could treat someone afflicted by the baleful qi from the great general’s tomb, perhaps they would not curse you so viciously anymore!”
“No way!” Ye Chu hurriedly waved his hand. “Don’t spread that around! It would bring a mountain of trouble. Between being cursed and being lazy, I’d still rather let them curse me!”
Watching the lazy Ye Chu, Bai Xuan laughed softly. She thought to herself that his way of thinking was truly strange. Looking at the lingzhi in her hand, she bit her lip and finally said gratefully, “Thank you so much for this.”
“No need for thanks! Just try to curse me a little less in your heart and tell Yao Yao a few fewer times not to get close to me. That’ll be enough.” Ye Chu smiled.
These words instantly made Bai Xuan’s face flush crimson. She felt so embarrassed she almost wanted to find a hole to crawl into. She had never imagined that the private words she had whispered to Yao Yao had been overheard by Ye Chu!
“I only…”
Bai Xuan wanted to explain, but Ye Chu cut her off with a laugh. “No need to explain! I know my own reputation. It’s perfectly normal for you to act that way! But rest assured, I’m not so beastly as to harm a little girl who’s only three or four years old!”
Bai Xuan stood there completely at a loss, feeling more humiliated than she ever had in her life.
“Hahaha! If I’m going to be a beast, it’ll be towards you. Only you can make my beastly nature run wild! You’d better keep your distance from me and stay on guard!” Ye Chu reminded Bai Xuan. “We’re living under the same roof. Who knows? One quiet night when everyone’s asleep, I might sneak into your room!”
“You wouldn’t dare!” Bai Xuan said sternly, but she quickly realised Ye Chu was only trying to scare her. She glared fiercely at him, thinking to herself that this fellow really was a rascal.
Yet as she watched Ye Chu laughing heartily and striding away, the corners of Bai Xuan’s mouth curved into a slight smile! After being teased and frightened like this, she suddenly found that her fear of Ye Chu had lessened considerably! Thinking back on how Ye Chu had been perfectly well-behaved these past two days since moving into the residence, Bai Xuan felt that this man with such a notorious reputation was perhaps not as bad as the rumours painted him to be!
At the very least, he treated Yao Yao with exceptional kindness. Whenever he had free time, he would play with her to keep her entertained. He even took care of her eating, drinking, toileting, and sleeping. None of this matched the rumour that “Ye Chu only knows how to commit evil and is useless at everything else.”
It was precisely because of this that, despite Bai Xuan repeatedly telling Yao Yao not to follow Ye Chu, the little girl still could not help but draw close to him.
“Perhaps… there really has been a misunderstanding about him!” Bai Xuan exhaled softly. She thought to herself that, setting aside his reputation, Ye Chu had helped her a great deal. The first time he had rescued them, and this time he had gone all out to save her father. Yet she had remained constantly on guard against him. That was truly a bit unfair.
Bai Xuan looked at the three-hundred-year lingzhi in her hand and suddenly remembered she had forgotten to ask Ye Chu how to administer it to her father. She hurriedly chased after him!
“Big Brother Ye Chu! Yesterday Auntie told me again not to play with you!” Yao Yao pouted, looking very conflicted. “Auntie is so mean! I don’t like her anymore!”
“Auntie was just teasing you. She doesn’t really mean she doesn’t want you to play with me. Auntie likes you very much. If you stop liking her, she will be very sad! Your auntie is just feeling lonely by herself, so she hopes you can spend more time with her.” Ye Chu gently pinched Yao Yao’s little nose, squatted down, and carefully brushed the dust off her clothes with light, tender movements, afraid that using too much force might hurt her.
“Really?” Yao Yao’s face brightened with joy. “I thought Auntie didn’t like you, so she didn’t want me to play with you either!”
“…”
Bai Xuan stood at the doorway, listening to the conversation between Ye Chu and Yao Yao. Watching Ye Chu gently pat the dust from Yao Yao’s clothes with such care, her expression became somewhat complicated!
“Can someone who has this much patience and gentleness towards a child really be that bad?”