Not a Bad Deal

[Naturally, the Elder didn't even bat an eyelid at the recruits' pleading gazes. What would the test be if he helped them? Thus he just continued to stand there and observed while the situation inside the array grew more and more chaotic.

Well, the admission test of the Jin Shan Sect might not be too hard but that didn't mean that all the recruits would pass it. In fact, it was seldom more than half of the children that made it.

The foremost reason for that was actually the third test that consisted of observing the behavior of the children while they attempted the tests. This might not be inherently difficult but all the children that came to take the test were about five to six years old, some even only four. They were old enough to understand that this test was something important and that their families had high hopes for them. But most weren't old enough to find a solution to a problem or control their emotions when they felt like they would fail the test and thus their family's expectations.

The other two tests also prevented some of them to be taken in but often this would coincide with the results from the third test. It almost never happened that a disciple didn't show even the minimal physical or spiritual strength the sect expected of them if their mentality was alright. If there was one or two of them every ten times the Jin Shan Sect held the admission tests, it would already be a lot.

Dou Fang Hai watched the other children for a while but finally decided that he didn't really care about them. He turned to Ziju An again and tugged at his sleeve. "Pretty sister, the test is boring. How about we go back home?"

Ziju An nodded. If his disciple didn't want to watch anymore, then naturally, they wouldn't do so any longer. He stood up, waited for Dou Fang Hai to get up too and took his hand. Then they walked down the stand hand in hand and left the venue for Grandmaster Ziju's house.]

Su Yan leaned back and sighed. Ah, he could only repeat himself. Great! So great! Now he had already finished writing about the admission test and could start with the training of Dou Fang Hai. Considering that Ziju An would be the one in charge of this training there should be a lot of romantic things happening. Mn, it was best if he started imme—

Su Yan's eyes widened. Wait. Hadn't he forgotten something?

He lifted the notebook and considered putting it aside but when he remembered that he would also have to lift the blanket if he wanted to go and look if Nie Chang had already finished showering he reconsidered. Nah, he shouldn't get up. He would just call!

"Ah Chang!" Su Yan called out to his boyfriend pitifully. "Ah Chang!"

In the kitchen, Nie Chang grinned. So his little darling had finally remembered him? "What is it, darling?"

Su Yan blinked and pondered if this had sounded as if it came from the bathroom. Maybe Nie Chang had opened the door and taken a look out to see if he wanted something? Or maybe not?

Su Yan frowned a little. "Have you finished already?"

"I'm making your breakfast. You could still go and shower before eating if you want."

Su Yan tilted his head but finally shook it. No! He didn't want to have to hurry. Something like this shouldn't be rushed. You had to take your time for that!

When Nie Chang didn't get an answer he already knew what was up. His little darling was probably still sitting in bed and was afraid of crawling out there because he felt it would be too cold. Mn, when he had finished cooking should he go and get his little darling something from his wardrobe he could wear for now? That didn't sound like such a bad idea. Maybe …

He thought of the pullover with the fat cat they had brought on Monday but shook his head in the end. Hadn't Su Yan decided to wear that one on their 'last date'? Although … they hadn't really kept up with dating. Considering their so-called date on Monday and maybe eating with Su Yan's family they had only had two dates. And, well, both of those couldn't really be counted as dates.

Nie Chang stirred the porridge pensively. Su Yan had originally wanted to have several dates before they sealed the deal. Now it had turned out like this. Maybe they should have at least one real date before doing it? Although they couldn't follow Su Yan's original plan anymore that would still be an option. Maybe even two dates would be possible if they went tomorrow in the morning or afternoon.

Mn … Nie Chang took out his phone and navigated to his contacts while he continued to cook.

It didn't take long for the other person to take the call. "Big Boss, what happened? Is something with the shop?"

"Something's with your Boss. Can you manage the shop without us today?"

There was a slight pause before his words were repeated in a dubious tone. "Without us?"

Nie Chang rolled his eyes. "Gong Gong! Don't pretend you don't understand why I want to take the day off." Nie Chang grimaced. Wait. What was he saying? Taking the day off? He was the employer, for god's sake! He didn't have to ask for his employee's approval. Well, he felt a little bad about it though. Before he got together with Su Yan he had always worked together with them in the store. He actually didn't really feel as if they were in some kind of work-relationship. He rather felt that they were friends.

Nie Chang sighed. "You won't have to do it for free. I'll pay you extra!"

"Extra …" Gong Gong drawled. Just listen to how desperate his boss sounded! If he didn't use this to his advantage, he wouldn't be worthy of his name!

"I'll raise your year-end bonus?"

Gong Gong raised his brows. It seemed this was extremely important to his boss. But asking for even more would really be shameless … He hesitated but Nie Chang who wanted to organize everything before Su Yan came to eat gritted his teeth.

"Alright. I'll let you go to that convention you wanted to attend. Expenses are on me. But if I'm doing that, you'll have to cover for us tomorrow too!"

Gong Gong's eyes bulged but he didn't take any time to consider and yelled his response at the phone. "Deal!"

Nie Chang grimaced. Could you not sound so eager after letting me beg like this? "Well, then tell Lao Lao."

Gong Gong coughed when he finally remembered that he actually had a co-worker. "Uh … Lao Lao's coming with me to the convention, isn't he?"

Nie Chang frowned. "Go and do your work!" Then he ended the call and slipped the phone back into his pocket. "Shameless guy! Well, as long as I have time for two dates with my little darling it's not such a bad deal."