“If only I could have such a big courtyard all to myself…”

After horsing around for quite a while, Chad and Jack finally stopped, tilted their heads and looked around. Chad said, “Jack, I think you should just let Ethan stay here with you. After all, you’re living alone anyway…”

Jack’s full name is Brian Cooper. His parents weren’t originally from Weijia Village; they were educated youth sent down to Weijia Village in the 1970s. Because of policy issues, they missed the last batch of educated youth returning to the city, so they settled down in Weijia Village.

Brian Cooper’s second uncle served as an engineer in the army for a few years in the 1970s, learning demolition skills. After retiring in the early 1980s, with nothing else to do, he also came to Weijia Village and started a stone business with Brian Cooper’s father. In recent years, with the mountain protected and reforested, they ended the business and returned to the city.

Many of Brian Cooper’s relatives live in Shanghai and Jinling. In fact, in Jinling city, there’s an ancestral house left by Brian Cooper’s grandfather to his father. After Brian Cooper joined the army and left, his parents moved to live in the ancestral house in Jinling.

So the house that Brian Cooper’s family left in Weijia Village has been empty for the past two years, except for his parents occasionally coming back to tidy up. Since the house in Jinling is too small, and Brian Cooper didn’t want to be constrained by living with his parents, he returned to Weijia Village.

“Of course Ethan should stay with me. I’ve already bought all the clothes he’ll need…” After entering the house, Jack picked up a bag from the table and tossed it to Ethan Foster, saying, “You brat, you’re a fake Taoist. Don’t go around wearing that Taoist robe all day for nothing. Hurry up and change into these clothes…”

“Change right now?” Ethan Foster hesitated at these words. He had grown up wearing Taoist robes since childhood, and now being asked to wear something else, he really wasn’t used to it.

“Nonsense, of course you should change now. Baleno, it’s a brand name…” Brian Cooper smacked his lips and said, “This outfit cost me over two hundred. If you don’t want to wear it, give it back to me and I’ll return it…”

“I’ll wear it, who said I wouldn’t?”

Ethan Foster gritted his teeth. He knew that from the day he left the mountain, his life would be completely different from before. If he wanted to fit into society, changing clothes was the least of it—he’d probably even have to undo his Taoist topknot and get a new hairstyle.

It was just the turn of spring and summer. “Hey, as soon as you change clothes, you immediately look like a layman instead of a Taoist…”

When Ethan Foster took off his somewhat worn Taoist robe, the eyes of both Jack and Chad lit up at the same time. Jack reached out and said, “Let your topknot down too, it looks a bit awkward…”

“Alright…” Ethan Foster nodded, letting down the Taoist topknot tied at the top of his head. His long hair instantly fell to his shoulders, making him look even more ethereal and otherworldly.

“What are you two staring at me for?” Feeling a bit uncomfortable, Ethan Foster looked at Jack and Chad in front of him and said irritably, “What, do I have flowers growing on my face? Why do you keep staring at me? Haven’t you seen me since we were kids?”

“We have…” Chad nodded honestly and said, “But we’ve never seen you like this…”

As the saying goes, clothes make the man and gold makes the Buddha. With a change of clothes and hairstyle, Ethan Foster really left Chad and Jack a bit dumbfounded, because the little Taoist in front of them had completely changed his aura.

When Ethan Foster put on the new clothes, Jack and Chad felt that he looked just like a city office worker. The city-style clothes looked perfectly natural on Ethan Foster, as if he was meant to wear them.

You know, Chad had worked in the city for several years after leaving the army, but no matter how he dressed, he always seemed out of place among city folks. Unlike Ethan Foster, who just needed a change of clothes to blend right in.

And when Ethan Foster let down his topknot, the impression he gave Jack and Chad changed again. With his long hair down, Ethan Foster looked a bit wild and unrestrained, kind of like the rock stars they’d seen on TV, with an air of otherworldliness about him.

“Maybe… I should just change back into my Taoist robe…” Wearing the new clothes, Ethan Foster felt itchy and uncomfortable all over, especially with Jack and Chad staring at him like that. He felt as if he were covered in little bugs and wanted to take the clothes off immediately.

“Don’t! You look great like this. Just tie your hair up and you’ll be fine…”

Hearing Ethan Foster’s words, Jack and Chad stopped him in unison. Jack even rummaged through a drawer and pulled out a hair tie, saying, “This used to be my mom’s. Just make do for now. When we get back to the city, we’ll find a barber to give you a new haircut…”

“I think it looks great like this…”

Chad shook his head and said, “Look at Ethan Foster’s vibe now—doesn’t he look like an artist? I’ve seen male celebrities on TV who aren’t as good-looking as Ethan Foster. If he went into showbiz, those male stars would all be out of a job…”