Chapter 17

Twin Sister and Roasted Chicken

Tao and Meiyin has been sparring with each other for over two hours. Master Wong was observing and instructing them for half an hour before he gave up and let his two disciples go at it. The two of them were always overly excited to spar with each other after they learned new moves. Ever since they received tai yang and yue liang from Master Wong, they have not touched the wooden weapons at the training ground anymore. Not that there were many left since they have broken most during many of their intense sparring with each other.

Tao enjoys sparring with Meiyin more than when he spars with Master Wong. At first, he likes it when he can easily win against her, but he’s having a greater time sparring with her now that they’re at similar levels. When sparring with Master Wong, Tao would always get defeated and since he can already predict his demise from the beginning, there was no joy in it. Having a junior brother is definitely great.

Because the two of them both learned from the same master, so their martial arts foundation is the same. What makes them different is the form that was customized to them based on their abilities. While Tao is strong and precise, Meiyin is agile and fast. Master Wong had been very satisfied with the rate of their growth.

When it felt like their bodies couldn’t take it anymore, the two stops for a break. Tao handed Meiyin some water then chugs down his own. Meiyin was so tired that she just wants to spread out on the floor and sleep. She chugs down some more water before handing the bottle back to Tao. When she saw how sweaty Tao was, without thinking, Meiyin pulled out her handkerchief and help him wipe the sweat on his face.

Tao was startled and froze in place. A blush crept up his face as she continues to wipe his sweat. He quickly backs away once he broke out of his frozen stage. “Wh..What are you doing?”

“Tao dage, what’s wrong?” she asked, confused.

“W…Why does a boy like you carry a handkerchief around? And why does it smell like a girl’s”

Meiyin finally understood why he was blushing. She forgot that she was in her male clothing. She wasn’t sure how long she planned to hide her true gender from him. Meiyin dressed up as a boy so that it’s easier to travel to and from the city and the forest. She can tell that Master Wong had already seen through her lies, but since Tao haven’t, she wasn’t going to let the chance to go.

“It belongs to my sister. She lent it to me this morning telling me to use it when I sweat out from practice” Meiyin said, promising to herself internally that she’ll tell him the truth one day. But for now, she will have her fun.

“I thought your sister’s name is Yueyin, why does the handkerchief say Meiyin? Xiaoyin, how many sisters do you have?” Tao asked as he pointed at the name embroidered on the handkerchief.

Meiyin is trying so hard not to laugh out loud, “I have two sisters, Yueyin is the eldest and Meiyin is my younger twin sister.”

“You have a twin sister?”

“I do. Would you like to meet her someday?” she asked teasingly. “How about lunch today? We can go meet up with my sisters for lunch.”

Tao blushed even more, “Th..That’s a..alright, maybe n..not” he stuttered. He doesn’t even know why he was blushing.

Meiyin is just cracking up internally. She had found that Tao is very fun to tease, especially when girls are involved. She discovered how nervous he gets whenever Yueyin comes to visit Master Wong or watch their training. He stutters a lot whenever Yueyin gave him her full attention. Meiyin had thought that maybe Tao likes her sister, but she later found out from Madam Huang that he’s just nervous in front of girls because he doesn’t know what to do with them.

“Alright, how about lunch with just your wonderful junior brother?”

“Sorry Xiaoyin, I uh…have an appointment with someone today so I can’t accompany you for lunch.”

“With Sifu?”

Tao shook his head.

“Madame Huang?”

Tao shook his head again, nervously.

Seeing his nervousness, Meiyin’s eyes widen at Tao, faking her anger “Huang Zitao! You refused to meet up with my sisters but have an appointment to meet up with some other girl?!”

“No! No, they’re definitely not girls!” Tao quickly defended.

She gave him the suspicious glare, “Your mother said you only have Master Wong and me as friends, who are you going to lunch with?”

Tao finally understood that Meiyin was teasing him. He rolls his eyes, “Can the three of you stop thinking that I am incapable of making friends?”

Meiyin raised an eyebrow “This is coming from the same guy that enjoys walking alone.”

Tao drew his sword. Meiyin ran.

They ended up sparring for another hour.

---

Luhan and Yixing was waiting by a restaurant for Tao. The two of them had met up with Tao again after the time they had lunch together with the ambassadors. After exchanging some moves and discussing about martial arts, they managed to convince Tao to meet up once more. The two of them were very eager to befriend Tao who is not only their benefactor but is also someone with great martial arts skills. Tao wouldn’t be their first commoner friend who doesn’t know their true identity. But when Tao seem a bit hesitant, to the two princes who never had to even lift a finger to get someone to be their friends, Luhan and Yixing didn’t understand why.

 “Am I late?” Tao asked as he walks up to them.

 Yixing smile and shook his head, “No, we also just got here.”

 “Shall we go in?” Luhan asked as he turned to make his way into the restaurant.

 “Wait. We’re eating at this restaurant again?” Tao asked, stopping Luhan in his track.

 Yixing, who was also getting ready to make his way in, turns to Tao “Do you not like the food here?”

 “It’s not that,” Tao scratch his head and lowering his gaze to the ground. He’s not sure what he should say. Just from the material of their clothing, Tao can tell that they’re from some rich family or sons of nobles. Why they would want to be friends with a person of the lower class like him, Tao doesn’t know. He had very bad experiences with making friends as he was growing up. The friendships with those from the same lower classes didn’t last long since he was always on the move with his mother. The friendships with those of higher classes shouldn’t have even been considered friendship. They had used Tao’s desired to make friends and tricked him to do all kinds of humiliating and bad deeds for them. That’s why he had decided to just keep to himself, because no one was worth his friendship or the tears that his mother shed for him.

 However, for some reason, these two were different. He can feel a pull towards them that he had never felt before with anyone in his life. He was hesitant to befriend them because he still can’t figure out what their intentions are yet. He was going to reject meeting up again completely if it wasn’t for this strange pull he felt towards them.

 Tao had written this off as Xiaoyin’s fault. He knows he had changed ever since his junior brother enter his life. This feeling of wanting to have friends again that he’s experiencing is definitely Xiaoyin’s fault. He thought about it, then decided that the little money that he’s planning on spending for this lunch will also be Xiaoyin’s fault. He smiles to himself as he imagines his junior brother’s angry face.

 “Zitao?” Yixing ask, pulling Tao out of his thoughts.

“Sorry, I was uh…planning on treating this time since you guys covered it last time.” To be fair and just was something his mother had taught him. Also, he wasn’t going to let them think that their monetary value is the only reason he befriends them. “Have you two tried Huang’s special roasted chicken?”

 Luhan and Yixing looks at each other then back at Tao. Luhan was about to speak up to tell Tao to not worry about paying for the meal, but Yixing quickly spoke up, “We have not, why don’t you take us there?”   

Tao turned and walked away from the restaurant, expecting the other two to follow him. Luhan had looked questioningly at Yixing, but his younger brother only smiled and patted his shoulder.

Tao lead the other two to the grocery side of the street and bought a chicken with some vegetables. After eyeing the live chicken in Tao’s hand for a minute, Luhan decided to pick up some wine on the way. Tao lead them out of the city and into the forest. The three of them chatted away as they make their way towards a small river that runs through the forest.

Once they set their things down, Luhan volunteered to go gather wood for the fire. Yixing takes the vegetables over to the river and washes them while Tao take care of the chicken. After washing the vegetables, Yixing takes them back to where Tao was and watches as he cleans out the feather of the now dead chicken. “Not your first time cooking?” Yixing asked.

“I did say the Huang’s special, didn’t I?” Tao said and the two of them laughed lightly at each other.

“You seem quite familiar with this forest” Yixing said as he looks around the place they are sitting at.

“I hunt here often.”

“Alone?”

“Only nobles like you and Han will have to worry about the dangers of being alone” Tao said as he stood up to go wash the chicken.

“We’re not exactly nobles…” Yixing said in a low voice and didn’t intend for Tao to hear.

He was surprised when Tao jokingly said, “If not nobles, are you guys royals then?” as he continues to wash the chicken. Yixing wasn’t sure how to reply to that and he didn’t feel like his fake nervous laughing was going to trick Tao. Lucky for him, as Tao turn around to check Yixing’s reaction, Luhan came back with the woods.

“Xing, come help me with this” Luhan call out as he set the woods down. Yixing quickly got up and made his way over to help Luhan create the open fire.

After he finished washing the chicken, Tao stuffed it with the herbs and vegetables that Yixing washed. He then walks over to a large tree and reaches into its hollow to pull out a small bag.

“Don’t tell me you live near here in the forest” Luhan commented jokingly after seeing where Tao got the bag.

Tao laugh a little, thinking about Master Wong’s cottage not too close but definitely not too far from here. “Not exactly. This is my favorite spot to come after hunting, so I store some spices here.” Tao makes his way over to them after rubbing the spices on the chicken, “People don’t frequent this place and that way I don’t have to carry it around.”

Luhan took the chicken from Tao and truss the chicken. “You two are unexpectedly good at this” Tao commented as Yixing and Luhan position the chicken over the open fire.

“We hunted with our grandfather and our father when we were younger. Learned this from grandfather” Yixing said.

Luhan took out the wine and gave Tao and Yixing a bottle each as the three of them settle around the open fire. “It’s been a long time since Xing and I got to enjoy an outdoor meal by an open fire,” Luhan raised his bottle in Tao’s direction, “Thank you Tao.”

Tao smile and took a big gulp of wine. He was glad these two brothers weren’t the type of higher-class nobles that he hated. The three of them chatted, ate, drank and spar with each other for hours.

This was nice…Tao thought to himself. 

Author's Notes:

XD couldn't think of a good name for this chapter....