My Wife Is A Sword Immortal
Chapter 284 - 225: You Are Students of Shuaixing Hall (Thanks to the alliance leader reward from "Zhu Zhizhizhi," dear brother!)

He turned his head and looked up at Yu Huaijin.

Yu Huaijin pursed her lips lightly and looked at Zhao Rong earnestly, holding his gaze as if waiting for him to finish asking all his questions, so that after her reply, he could bury his head in learning the zither earnestly.

Their eyes held in the air in front of the stone table for a while.

Zhao Rong suddenly lowered his gaze and patted his sleeve before placing both hands on his knees, his upper body as straight as a pen. He leaned slightly forward, directly opposite Yu Huaijin’s face. His sword-like eyebrows drew together in the middle, and his eyes, steadfast and unwavering, reflected the image of the old-fashioned woman before him. Below those eyes was a proud nose and lips compressed into a thin line.

"Doing this is not good," Zhao Rong said word by word, pausing, "and it is not right."

Yu Huaijin kept her hands inside her sleeves, feeling the oppressive gaze of the man before her. She stared straight into Zhao Rong’s eyes, unflinching, and said in a clear voice, "I am a senior of Shuaixing Hall."

Zhao Rong nodded and replied with a light laugh, "You are just seeking personal revenge."

Yu Huaijin’s tone was serious. "I am not. Matters of student attire are one thing, and academic affairs are another. The former can be discussed later. Today’s extra lesson is for the latter. The midterm exam in half a month relates to the interests of all students in Shuaixing Hall. We are a collective, and not a single one should be left behind."

Zhao Rong’s eyebrows raised slightly. He had heard some bits about this midterm exam from Jia Tengying and had a rough idea of the scoring rules. In addition to individual student scores, the overall performance of one’s hall was also very important.

In half a month, the third midterm exam would take place, marking the last one of the autumn season. So far, Shuaixing Hall and Cultivation Hall each held one victory. The third contest would determine who would be number one among the Six Halls for this quarter of the academic year.

Zhao Rong glanced at Fan Yushu, who was buried in a pile of books to the side.

During the days he attended classes at Shuaixing Hall, Zhao Rong clearly understood the status and situation of Brother Yushu in Shuaixing Hall. After all, just by being seen with Fan Yushu, he had received many furrowed brows and sidelong glances.

Moreover, considering his own status as a student with a special skill and his "disruption" during the first zither skill class, he guessed that many of his classmates had probably already categorized him as a "useless sort."

Zhao Rong nodded slightly and withdrew his gaze from Fan Yushu.

He looked into Yu Huaijin’s calm eyes and asked curiously, "Let’s not talk about the collective for a moment. Should an individual be forced to contribute... Senior Yu, are you saying all students of Shuaixing Hall? That’s odd; that doesn’t include me and Brother Yushu."

Zhao Rong’s voice carried a hint of confusion.

No sooner had he finished speaking than Yu Huaijin’s gaze suddenly sharpened.

She scrutinized Zhao Rong’s face, which seemed genuinely puzzled, and looked deeply into his eyes, her voice ringing with conviction:

"You, Zhao Ziyu."

Yu Huaijin paused, then turned her head towards Fan Yushu hidden behind the stack of books. "You, Fan Yushu."

She nodded and said clearly, "You are students of Shuaixing Hall, and you have been since the moment you stepped through the door, and nobody can change that!"

Zhao Rong’s forward-leaning body suddenly reclined backward, the puzzled expression on his face swiftly disappearing. He turned his head, looking now at Yu Huaijin, now at Fan Yushu, his voice filled with astonishment.

"That’s really strange. I’ve spent the last few days in your hall, well, let’s not talk about me for now. Let’s talk about Brother Yushu. Why do I feel like he’s treated like an outsider within Shuaixing Hall? Senior Yu, are you sure Brother Yushu is a Shuaixing Hall student?"

Yu Huaijin fell silent.

Zhao Rong pondered with a furrowed brow, staring at Yu Huaijin. "Are you sure the others also consider Brother Yushu a student of Shuaixing Hall?"

The woman, a senior of Shuaixing Hall and known for being old-fashioned, remained silent, not raising her eyes to look at Zhao Rong again after his words.

Fan Yushu on the other side of the stone table was chewing on the end of his pen, his head down as he flipped through a tome much larger than his face. His eyes were lost among the dense small print on the pages, from which he could not extricate himself.

At that moment, hearing Zhao Rong’s rhetorical question, Fan Yushu rolled his eyes upwards, briefly escaping his plight. He gazed upward at the now quiet pair, the man’s gaze direct, the woman silent and wordless.

Under the table, Fan Yushu stretched out a hand and tugged on Zhao Rong’s sleeve, but the next second, his hand was slapped away by Zhao Rong.

Zhao Rong continued to stare unblinkingly at Yu Huaijin, and in his field of vision at that moment,

Yu Huaijin stood under the early sun, with the pale yellow morning light casting a soft glow over half of her body clad in a wide student’s robe. The hair tied up in a male style crown on her head glinted with a tinge of yellow in the sunlight. At the same time, her clean profile and thinly pursed lips appeared to be dry and pale.

The hands that Zhao Rong had long been curious about remained hidden in the sleeves, out of sight.

Yu Huaijin, standing in the sunlight with her hands poised, suddenly looked up at Fan Yushu, who was pretending to be invisible by burying his head, and said, "Brother Fan, I was negligent and careless before, I apologize. I will take care of these things. Please bear with this for now."

The female senior of Shuaixing Hall stepped back three steps and bowed meticulously, her tone sincere and apologetic.

Fan Yushu, who was hunched over his book chewing on the end of his pen, nearly snapped the pen in his mouth and swallowed it in surprise.

What? Yu Huaijin apologized!

Fan Yushu spit the pen out with a couple of ’ptui’ noises, then immediately raised his hand and dug in his ear. He stared unwaveringly at the somewhat unfamiliar Yu Huaijin before him.