Chapter 95: Relieving Himself by the Wall, the Writer’s Little Hand

As evening fell, Sea Blue Whale carried two jars of peach blossom wine and a platter of smoked and sauced delicacies toward Lin Shenlu's small courtyard.

Before she even reached the gate, she could already hear voices speaking inside.

When she finally arrived, Sea Blue Whale could only sigh.

The little courtyard that had once seemed so peacefully detached from the world was now utterly ruined.

She still remembered her first day here: crossing the arched stone bridge at the entrance, climbing the smooth stone steps overgrown with weeds, walking along the mossy path by the river, passing the dense crooked old tree, threading through the bamboo shadows, and then the row after row of small earthen houses before entering Lin Shenlu's courtyard.

Ordinary villagers would pass by wearing straw sandals and carrying shoulder poles; old men in straw hats would lead yellow oxen, leaving two long, thin shadows behind them in the sunset.

And now... the scenery around it was still the same, but the house inside the courtyard was blackened to an unbearable degree.

The writer next door, who had been messing around with fire, had lit the rotten wood by the corner of the wall. Though the blaze had not caused any real loss, it had left the entire wall smoke-blackened.

It was terribly unsightly.

At that moment, the writer, Two-Handed Liu, and his assistant, Wu Heng, were standing outside the soot-darkened house, discussing something.

"You don't need to worry about this anymore, Xiao Wu. I've already prepared compensation for the landlord. The money is ready," Two-Handed Liu said.

"Of course, Brother Hand," Wu Heng said with a smile. "But yesterday I already told our fan group about it... and by coincidence, one of the fans who lives near Lishui was just planning to come take a look."

"What are they coming to see?" Teacher Little Hand frowned.

"This is Lishui, Brother Hand. There are painters everywhere here. Yesterday, one of the artist fans in the group said he could help paint a pattern over the scorched wall..." Wu Heng said, smiling.

"They can do that?" Teacher Little Hand blinked.

"Of course. I've already sent him your location. He should be able to come over after dinner. Supposedly he's one of your die-hard supporters, even an alliance leader-level fan!"

Little Hand stroked his chin, thinking that he did have quite a few such fans, though he had no idea which one it might be.

"Xiao Wu, turn around for a moment. I'm going to the wall to pee... to take care of business," Teacher Little Hand said, scratching at his thigh.

...

Sea Blue Whale rolled her eyes, roughly estimated the timing, and then entered the courtyard.

As she stepped inside, she happened to meet the girl named Wu Heng face-to-face.

The two of them gave each other a slight nod.

Just then, Teacher Little Hand was walking back from the wall.

He wiped his hands on his trousers, then looked up and saw Sea Blue Whale. Instantly, his eyes lit up.

"You are..." Little Hand said, pointing at Sea Blue Whale.

"Let me think... you're Sea Blue Whale from Dali?" Little Hand remembered, and immediately came forward to shake her hand.

Sea Blue Whale froze. How did he know her?

She stepped back two paces, avoiding Teacher Little Hand's hand, not knowing whether it was dry or not.

"I'm carrying things, so it's a bit inconvenient... may I ask who you are?" Sea Blue Whale asked quickly with a smile.

"Me? I'm a fan from your livestream!" Teacher Little Hand said at once, grinning. "Didn't you used to stream every night? I'm family... Pure Little Hand!"

This time Sea Blue Whale was truly stunned.

So he really was one of her fans. After all these years of streaming, the handle Pure Little Hand had appeared in her chat more than once.

Every time, he was the sort of person who could stir up quite a wave.

Though he had hardly ever gifted her anything, he really had accompanied her through many years.

"Oh... I know you. I remember now. Why are you here?" Sea Blue Whale laughed. What a small world.

Her die-hard fan was actually a writer...

"Heh, writing has been stressful lately. My publisher's been pressuring me hard for manuscripts, so I came out to clear my head and look for some inspiration," Little Hand said awkwardly.

"What about you? Why are you here? I haven't seen you in the livestream for several days. Aren't you in Dali anymore, but up in Lishui?" Teacher Little Hand asked curiously.

Sea Blue Whale smiled. "I'm here to relax too... I'm looking for a site to open a new inn."

"Really? That's great! When it opens, I'll definitely stay there. At the very least, I'll book a room for a month first!" Little Hand said excitedly, rubbing his hands together.

"Then I'm truly grateful. Oh, by the way, my friend said you're a writer. What works have you written? If I get the chance, I'd love to read them!" Sea Blue Whale said, searching for a topic.

"Nothing much, really..." Teacher Little Hand said shyly, lowering his slightly reddened face while tracing little circles behind his back with two fingers.

"Our Teacher Little Hand has quite a few works. The one currently being serialized is My Wife, Try Harder. Before that, he already published My Wife, Be More Reserved and My Wife, Wear Less... Teacher Little Hand's famous trilogy," Wu Heng said just in time.

Sea Blue Whale's face went dark as she heard the titles of those three books.

While they were talking, Lin Shenlu pushed the door open and came out.

He had also heard the conversation in the courtyard.

The scene before him was rather surprising.

So this male writer who played with fire and peed on the bed also knew Sea Blue Whale?

When he heard Sea Blue Whale say that this fellow was the Pure Little Hand from her livestream, Lin Shenlu blinked. This world was really too small...

Still, thinking about it, it made sense. Sea Blue Whale now had more than five million followers, so meeting a few people who recognized her outside was hardly surprising.

If a social media star with five million fans went out and nobody recognized them, that would actually be the scary part.

As the few of them exchanged greetings, they heard someone else outside preparing to come into the courtyard.

Today really was lively enough.

Lin Shenlu stretched his neck and looked toward the gate. Walking in from outside was a young woman.

She looked energetic, her eyes full of excitement.

Her long hair had been tied into a bun at the back of her head with a paintbrush, and an easel and drawing board were slung on her back.

She was standing at the gate, scanning the people in the courtyard.

In the end, her gaze settled on Lin Shenlu.

This fellow looked vaguely familiar.

Of course, Lin Shenlu recognized the girl as well.

The wild female painter by the Ou River from a few days ago.

Back then, she had painted a picture and included Su Baoer in it.

The lonely painter, Qi Nai.

Why had she come here?

At last, the female painter Qi Nai spotted Liu Ershou, who had been blocked from view by Sea Blue Whale.

"Aahhhhhhhhhhh... Little Hand!" Qi Nai shrieked, startling everyone in the courtyard.

Even the old crow in the tree cawed loudly and flew off into the distance...

Teacher Little Hand was startled too.

Who was this?

"You're the fan with the anonymous alias of the alliance leader's old acquaintance?" Wu Heng asked tentatively.

After all, she was a painter, and Qi Nai was carrying an easel on her back.

"That's me!" Qi Nai nodded.

Then she stormed up to Little Hand, reached out, and pinched his ear.

"I chased you for miles, came in person to urge you to update... and I keep my word!" Qi Nai said fiercely, tightening her grip as Little Hand grimaced in pain.