"This is Han-dage's grandson." After sitting down, Old Master Yang saw the look of confusion on Yu Lanchuan's face and introduced the man. "Han-dage—Han Zhen—was the Fuliang Yue back in those years. He was proficient in the Qi sect's art of the eight trigrams, and his fist techniques were supreme. Unfortunately, you were born too late, Xiao-Chuan, and didn't have a chance to see it."

Han Dongsheng said, "I'm ashamed of my failings."

The first time Yu Lanchuan heard someone mention Fuliang Yue, he felt that the name had a kind of immortal-like aura and thought that this person must be a slender man who wore long robes with wide, floaty sleeves, standing on a mountain top shrouded in mist, ready to depart with the wind at any time. Yet, this Mr. Han in front of him seemed to be the very antonym of "immortal aura."

His face was round with flat features, like a dried persimmon, and his smile was stretched so wide that it seemed like he couldn't be at ease. After every word, he nodded his head. Even when a child like Liu Zhongqi brought him a drink, he hastily stood up to take it. From his demeanour to his physical body, he seemed to have been fastened with many springs and was ready to rush forward at any time to offer up his overeager politeness.

Yu Lanchuan let out a polite oh. "I heard from Grandpa Yang that you are staying here too?"

"I stayed here in the past." As Han Dongsheng spoke, his smile had a touch of a grimace. "A few years ago, the house price increased so much it was scary. I asked an agent and the answer was enough to make me dizzy. We had never seen so much money. The government kept saying that they wanted to regulate the market and we all felt that the price of this place had reached its peak. At that time, the share market was heating up, the index rushing all the way up to over 6,000 points. Everyone was flipping stocks in increasing multiples and it made me envious to see them, so I… sold my apartment. Who would have guessed… Ai, I was unlucky and didn't act at the right time. I had just poured the money from selling the house into the stock market when the stocks fell. As for the apartment, the price went up even higher! Little Master Yu must think that I'm an embarrassment. Perhaps I'm not fated to make money."

Old Master Yang asked, "After you sold the apartment, where did you go?"

"Oh, after my mother-in-law passed away a few years ago, we moved back to stay with my father-in-law so that it's easier to take care of the old man. It's just that there isn't a decent school there. After our son attended school there for a couple of years, we found that the school was really inferior and it seemed like it was going to hinder our son's progress. So we asked someone for help, thought of ways and spent a lot of effort to get a temporary student spot at a school here. It's okay if we adults suffer a little, isn't it all for the sake of our children?" Han Dongsheng said. "Luckily, I grew up in this courtyard and have some relations with the old residents here. Our rental is cheaper than market price."

Understood, Yu Lanchuan thought. This is the story of someone who fantasises about becoming rich overnight but was harvested by others like a plump chive.

Yu Lanchuan wasn't fond of this kind of small talk, especially when it was an awkward chat with someone he didn't know. To him, rather than communicating ineffectively, everyone might as well busy themselves with their phones.

"Little Master Yu works in finance, so you probably look at a lot of candlestick charts at work, don't you?" Han Dongsheng smiled widely and said, "When you have the time, do recommend us some stocks. Right now, which ones do you have in hand?"

Yu Lanchuan answered patiently, "I'm not a trader. I don't have much spare cash recently and I'm also busy with work and don't have time to look at the market. I pulled out long ago."

"Ai, that's a shame." Han Dongsheng drew closer. "You're an insider so you get the information quickly. You should know which ones to buy to earn a steady income without losing money!"

Yu Lanchuan, "..."

A load of nonsense.

Han Dongsheng said that he was there just to "say hi," but his "hi" lasted for over an hour. This person's butt was as heavy as Mount Tai. Yu Lanchuan's lower back was already starting to ache but Mr. Han was talking non-stop and didn't seem like he wanted to leave.

The only happy person was likely to be their little friend Liu Zhongqi. He used this time to furtively turn on the Chinese subtitles and finished watching The Lion King.

Fortunately, someone knocked on their door right at that moment. Yu Lanchuan finally had a chance to breathe and rushed out to see who it was.

The person who knocked pointed at the next door Madam Zhang Meizhen's apartment and asked, "I'm sorry for disturbing but may I know if there's anyone staying next door?"

Yu Lanchuan glanced at it. "She has gone to work. What's the matter?"

The person who knocked said, "Do you have any way to contact her? I live downstairs. I think the pipes might have burst in that unit, the water is dripping down."

At the moment, Madam Zhang Meizhen was still sunbathing in Sanya. When Gan Qing got the call, she didn't even bother to remove her costume. In the cold of the twelfth month, she gathered her long skirt and ran headlong into the wind, like she was putting on a performance art.

She had just ran into the elevator lobby when she bumped into an unfamiliar little boy. He looked like he was in Year 2 or 3 of primary school and was carrying a school bag. When he looked at other people, he lifted his eyes but not his chin, and looked like he was rolling his eyes. His mouth was chewing on gum. Gan Qing didn't pay him any attention. This building was in a school district; unfamiliar kids frequently moved in, then left after finishing primary school.

Seeing as the child was staring at her, she lowered her eyelids, trying her best to conceal her coloured lenses, and reached up to straighten out the messy long hair so that her shocking witchy appearance would not scare this bloom of the motherland.

Unexpectedly, the primary school student struck up a conversation with her out of his own volition. "Hello, Jiejie."

Gan Qing was still panting for breath so she only smiled at him.

"I'm Han Zhou, I just moved into 804. I'm eight years old this year and I'm in Year 3. Jiejie, do you like the Evil Goddess Gunala^[1]?"

Gan Qing was completely lost. Hearing the name, she intuitively felt that this idol was probably nothing good. "Sure?"

The elevator arrived. Little Friend Han Zhou stuck one hand in his pocket, his other hand holding the elevator door open. Standing at a forty-five degree angle, he raised one eyebrow and stretched out his neck to strike a pose. "Jiejie, I think you're beautiful. Will you be in a relationship with me, with marriage as the endgame?"

It had been a while since Gan Qing last met such a peculiar gremlin child and she nearly couldn't answer back. "...No thanks. After all, the prison term starts from three years."

"Understood." Han Zhao snapped his fingers—the first try was soundless, so he hastily tried again.

Gan Qing, "..."

What did you understand?

The little boy said, "Girls have to be wooed!"

The elevator dropped Little Friend Han Zhou off at the eighth floor. The apartment that was being moved into was in a state of pandemonium. Han Zhou had just walked out of the elevator when Gan Qing heard a woman shriek, "Who let you come here? We haven't finished packing yet! Where's your grandpa?"

"My grandpa has gone to listen to the master's lecture," Little Friend Han Zhou replied calmly. "It's that same master who previously sold nine boiled eggs for 250 yuan."

Gan Qing heard the woman in the corridor roar like a tank and rumble towards the elevator, and quickly pressed the button to open the closing elevator doors and let her in.

When they reached the tenth floor, the "tank's" might was unleashed. Hands on her waist, she faced the corridor and fired her cannon. "Han Dongsheng! You can just die outside for all I care! The stupid old man has gone to deliver his brains to someone else, your son has nowhere to go and has come all the way here to get food! You're just like a lord and master, you don't take care about anything at all and only spend the whole day talking! You're a shameful thing! Why do I even have you for?"

Gan Qing felt that the whole building was shaking under the force of her roar. A spherical man was shook out, rolling out from Little Master Yu's apartment.

"Don't be so loud!" The man wiped his sweat as he spoke to Yu Lanchuan who was inside the door. "You don't have to see me off. I learned a lot from chatting with Little Master Yu, I'll visit again in the future."

Yu Lanchuan felt that this Mr. Han was no better than the bumbling and reclusive sparrow. He forced a smile. Please don't come again, he thought in his heart.

The "tank" charged over murderously and seized Han Dongsheng by the back of his collar. Hitting and kicking, she dragged him to the elevator. When she punched the man's sturdy back, she used too much force and broke her own nail, and lost her temper. "How dare you fight back!"

Han Dongsheng tried to explain weakly, "...I didn't. I wasn't moving at all."

"You fought back! You took advantage of your family's weird and demonic skills, you did it on purpose! How am I supposed to live anymore!"

"I really didn't…"

Gan Qing stuck close to the wall and avoided the couple fearfully. She locked eyes with Yu Lanchuan who was standing at the front door for a few seconds, and only then saw the downstairs neighbour who had been waiting for her for a long time. She quickly said "I'm sorry" and ran over to open the door.

The pipes had really burst and the next door apartment was in chaos. Yu Lanchuan paced awhile at Gan Qing's door, and saw that she had bundled up her long skirt at her waist and rolled up the legs of her pants. She cut off the water and electricity, then used a towel to block off the ruptured pipe. Her movements were very proficient; if given a toolbox, she could probably squeeze into the space and fix it herself. This was the result of having been trained by who knew how many rundown rented rooms. Seeing that, Yu Lanchuan didn't go in to add to the chaos.

He turned his head to say to Old Master Yang, "Could I trouble you to give Grandma Zhang a call and inform her?"

"I called just now." Old Master Yang spoke in the direction of 1003 whose door was open, "Young lady, Meizhen gave you the authority to handle it. She'll pay you back for the amount spent when she's back."

Old Master Yang stood at the corridor with his hands behind his back, shaking his head. "Xiao-Han is someone who values how people perceive him and likes doing things like this. He insisted that I bring him here to get to know you. Since you've met, that's done."

Yu Lanchuan suddenly understood a little why Old Sect Leader Yang was so weary.

The moon in Fuliang Yue had become a mooncake.

Tang Qian Yan's dream was to become deaf and mute, and to marry a figurine in the future.

Chuan Lin Feng had threatened to burn the Dog Beating Staff.

"Grandpa Yang," Yu Lanchuan asked, "do you have any contact with Wan Mu Chun's descendant?"

Based on the current situation, that person was highly likely… to be a weirdo.

Gan Qing, who was busy trying to save the soaked floor, suddenly paused.

"Wan Mu Chun's lineage consisted of people inclined towards evil. They live in isolation away from the crowd and don't enter society… There's no other way, that's the type of skills they practice. But the current era does not allow them to work their old trade anymore so I don't know if they can even pass on their skills." Old Master Yang shook his head. "If their teachings were cut off and no longer passed on, that would still be fine. What I'm afraid of is that there might be those who walk the wrong path. Jianghu now is no longer the jianghu of the past!"

Her back to Old Master Yang, Gan Qing's eyes shifted slightly. Without a sound, she smiled.

She picked up a soaked wooden chair, shook off the water droplets on it, and heard Old Master Yang continue to say, "Speaking of that, the last time I heard news of them had a little to do with you."

Gan Qing in the water and Yu Lanchuan in the corridor both stared blankly.

Old Master Yang said, "Ai, you don't remember? You were young at that time. That year, Travellers' Sect had internal conflict and their sect leader looked for your granduncle to get his help to suppress the rebels. Those people were driven to desperation and kidnapped you… Ai, those unworthy disciples have no morals. Debts and grudges shouldn't involve family members, especially not young children."

Her ears perked up to eavesdrop, Gan Qing frowned. Mudpool Backlane, Travellers' Sect?

She had a vague recollection. Back when she didn't know how high the sky nor how thick the earth was, she seemed to indeed have clashed with Travellers' Sect once but it was with a few small fries.

Yu Lanchuan's eyes contracted a little.

Old Master Yang continued speaking, "The next morning, we finally found you at a landfill in the outskirts. Later on, those people who kidnapped you were arrested. They had done quite a number of unlawful things and were involved in human trafficking. But their martial arts skills were sloppy. When they were caught, they were all confused. They said that they were clearly chasing after you but someone mounted a sneak attack on them midway. Before they could see clearly what that person looked like, they were already subdued. They had brought dogs with them when chasing you. The police found the body of a dog with its throat slit, the cut was barely the length of a finger and was very clean. Other than that, there were no other wounds. Such neat knife work had to be Paoding Jieniu. Both Old Yu-dage and I felt that someone from that side had taken action but they didn't seem to have any intentions of demanding repayment. In the end, they never revealed themselves."

Wan Mu Chun…

Was that why, back then with the gang who professed to know Paoding Jieniu, she had followed them herself, confronted them herself, and broke the memorial tablet they worshipped that had the word "Chun" on it?

Suddenly, Yu Lanchuan realised something…

He saw Gan Qing put down the wooden chair, angled her body slightly and glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. Her veiled gaze swept across Yu Lanchuan's refined and high quality exterior and fell below his waist.

Not realising what was going on, Old Master Yang said, "Back then, we were so worried. When we found you, all your clothes were gone. Luckily it wasn't winter, otherwise spending a night out in the cold isn't something to joke about…"

A booming sound went off in Yu Lanchuan's head. No, that's enough, please stop talking!

Oh, now I remember. So, that kid is from the Yu family. Gan Qing's ill-intentioned gaze seemed to want to pierce through Yu Lanchuan's fitted western style pants. The doggy on the underwear was really childish.

Old Master Yang had awakened his own memories with his own words. After dropping the bomb, he took the elevator and slowly made his way down.

Yu Lanchuan twisted his head around and saw that Gan Qing was holding a mop and looking at him. Immediately, his embarrassment turned to anger. "Mop your floor, what are you looking at!"

Gan Qing said meaningfully. "Nothing. I just suddenly had a thought… that the outstanding people like Little Master Yu, who are experienced and wise, might have a very lively side to them hidden deep in their hearts. I just think that's very cute."

Yu Lanchuan, "..."

And so, the "lively" Little Master Yu "cutely" took out his phone and snapped a photo of what 1003 really looked like after a burst pipe and posted it in his WeChat Moments. He was exposing the swindler's tricks: Take a good look, this is the person who sold the anti-Mercury retrograde cards to all of you. She can't even stop the backflow in her own home. What else do you have to say to that!

After a while, someone left a comment. Yu Lanchuan saw his assistant write emotionally: I heard that when astrologers make divinations and pray for luck, the price they pay is their own destiny. So it's really true!

No matter how great a trick was, there was always a method to it.

But it could not stop people from deceiving themselves and others.

Little Master Yu returned home without saying a word. He wanted to change his assistant, change his neighbours to normal people, change to a quieter place and live a quiet life of a handsome man.

Han Dongsheng moving in with his family of four—he brought his father-in-law along—gave the retired and idle people of No. 110 much new excitement and gossip, especially concerning his father-in-law.

804 had two bedrooms. Having four people in the house was a little cramped. There were not enough bedrooms to go around so they had no choice but to separate out a small space in the main bedroom and extend it to the balcony, and made it a child's room for Little Friend Han Zhou.

Han Dongsheng's old father-in-law was around seventy years old. His body was still very robust and he could ride a bicycle to buy groceries. He was capable of living independently and had his own home. Logically, there was no need for him to squeeze in and stay with his daughter and son-in-law.

But that was not possible. The reason was because this old sir needed to have someone watching him at all times. He was obsessed with various types of health supplements. A moment of carelessness and the old man would slip out and buy a 100,000 yuan magnetic therapy bed. His ability to wreck destruction was immense.

T/N:

[1] Evil Goddess Gunala is the antagonist of the Chinese magical girl animation series Balala the Fairies.