TSFLIP Chapter 700

“At that time, I had just arrived at the academy as the new herbalism instructor. You and your classmates were my very first group of students,” Su Fa said slowly. “I still remember the very first lesson—you left quite an impression on me.”

“Because I was pretty?”

He chuckled. “That might have been part of it. But more importantly, right there in class, you asked me if I needed a wife. You said if I did, you could fill the role, and if I didn’t, then all the more reason you should be my wife. I still remember—I spent a long time wondering how I should respond to that.”

Feng Guang hadn’t expected that she had been the one to flirt first. Her temple twitched as she asked, “And how did you respond?”

“I said… if you could get a perfect score on the herbalism exam, then I’d give you an answer to that question.”

“You’re too sly.”

Su Fa patted her head. “Another way to look at it is that I was thinking of your grades.”

“So, did my herbalism scores improve after that?”

“Not at all.” Su Fa shook his head, eyes full of exasperation. “You still skipped whenever you felt like it. Out of ten questions, you couldn’t answer nine. You were far more interested in swordsmanship than my herbalism lessons.”

“That’s because… I was lively by nature.” The excuse she gave was so flimsy it barely deserved three points out of a hundred.

But Su Fa thought it over seriously. “You’re right. You had a lively personality, and herbalism was dull and tedious. Naturally, you wouldn’t like it. At the time, I figured the question you asked me in class was just you fooling around.”

“Well… uh…” She had no memory of that time, so she couldn’t explain.

Su Fa smiled faintly. “Even though you disliked herbalism, the school rules said that if you skipped too often, I had to punish you. So I made you stay after school for extra lessons in the herb garden. I still remember the miserable look on your face when I said that.”

“Of course… who would want to be kept behind for tutoring by their teacher?”

“Watching you sulk like that actually made me happy.”

Feng Guang: “…”

He raised his hand, curling a finger to flick her nose. “Why was it only my classes you skipped, and not anyone else’s?”

“Maybe because you were too good-looking. I was afraid that if I saw you too often, I wouldn’t be able to control myself.”

“That explanation… I’ll accept, reluctantly.” Su Fa’s lips curved. “Back then, whenever I called on you to answer, you always tried to brush me off with, ‘Teacher, how can you be this handsome?’ just to get out of it.”

That did sound exactly like something she would do. And she really had been a terrible student—never a top one. Feng Guang felt so embarrassed she couldn’t bring herself to look at him, her eyes darting anywhere else.

Su Fa laughed softly. “What’s this? Now you feel embarrassed?”

“Ahem… Not at all. That was just me being young and carefree. And besides, you really are very good-looking, so I wasn’t wrong.”

“Yes, yes, you’re right about everything.” He smiled with genuine amusement, then glanced ahead at a roadside inn. “We’re here.”

Feng Guang looked up at the sign that read The Inn. “So this is the place we used to stay at? Amazing, it’s still here after all this time.”

“They say keeping a business alive is harder than starting one. If this inn is still running, then the descendants of that old innkeeper must be anything but ordinary.”