A few days ago, they suddenly heard that Sanlang Brooks had joined the martial arts school, and also heard quite a few comments about Sanlang Brooks's recent strange behavior. They were surprised, but subconsciously concluded: this lousy scholar probably has his own agenda, just like us.

"Does this fool really think he can be our rival in love? Pah!"

So the two of them rushed to the martial arts school to see for themselves, and happened to see Sanlang Brooks practicing horse stance in the courtyard.

Sanlang Brooks had heard Nancy Foster mention Guitang Carter and Jintai Mason. Although he hadn't met them before, he guessed their identities at a glance.

The three of them all learned martial arts from Nancy Foster, but there was no real master-disciple relationship, so naturally there was no talk of senior or junior brothers.

Hearing their nasty words, Sanlang Brooks couldn't be bothered to respond.

He stayed silent, and Guitang Carter and his companion became even more brazen: "Hey, Sanlang, everyone outside is saying you’ve fallen ill. What kind of illness is it? Tell us about it."

Jintai Mason said with a fake smile, "Look at how sallow and skinny he is, and he has to drink ginseng tonic every day. Most likely, it’s impotence."

Guitang Carter feigned surprise: "Impotence? No way, wouldn’t that thing be like a noodle—soft and useless?"

"It’s still good for peeing, haha."

"Haha!"

The two of them burst out laughing.

Sanlang Brooks, however, paid them no mind, as if he hadn’t heard a thing, and calmly continued his horse stance.

They mocked him, but when they didn’t get the anger or retort they expected, Guitang Carter and his companion felt a bit bored, thinking maybe this lousy scholar didn’t even understand their teasing?

And if Sanlang Brooks ignored them, their next plan would be hard to carry out.

"What are you doing?"

The voice was crisp and pleasant to the ear; the newcomer was a young girl, with charming features, like someone from a painting—looking at her was an even greater pleasure.

But Guitang Carter couldn’t help but shiver all over, suddenly recalling the miserable time he was beaten until his face was swollen like a pig’s head—afterwards, Yvonne Foster had nonchalantly said it was "just a slip of the hand." Guitang Carter had no way to pursue the matter and could only swallow his grievances, but ever since then, he’d been left with a shadow in his heart and felt nervous whenever he saw her.

Jintai Mason hurried to ingratiate himself: "Yvonne Foster Miss, we heard there was a newcomer at the martial arts school, so we came to take a look..."

He actually wanted to call her "senior sister" to get closer, but Yvonne Foster wouldn’t allow it. In her eyes, these two rich boys her father had taken in were good for nothing and unworthy of being her junior brothers.

Guitang Carter chimed in, "Yes, just came to have a look."

Yvonne Foster frowned slightly and said coolly, "What’s there to see? Don’t you see Young Master Brooks practicing diligently? Don’t disturb him. Look at you two—how many days has it been since you last came to the school?"

Jintai Mason quickly stepped aside and struck a pose: "I’ll start practicing right now."

Seeing this, Guitang Carter also ran over and set up a horse stance beside him.

The two of them stood awkwardly, one like a horse with a lame leg, the other like a horse with a sagging back.

Yvonne Foster watched and shook her head. The corners of her mouth lifted in a faint smile, like a spring breeze rippling across a pond. Guitang Carter saw this and was so entranced he nearly drooled.

"Hmm?"

Yvonne Foster's eyes shifted, startling the dazed Guitang Carter into quickly lowering his head. In his haste, his movements went awry, and he stepped on something, lost his balance, and fell to the ground, eating a mouthful of dirt.

"Tsk tsk, what kind of move is that? Looks pretty impressive—could it be the legendary 'toad peeing' technique?"

Sanlang Brooks finished his horse stance, put his feet together, and said with a grin.

Guitang Carter was furious, jumped up, and pointed at him, shouting, "Lousy scholar, how dare you mock me?"

Yvonne Foster's face darkened and she scolded, "What’s all this noise? If you argue again, you’ll all be thrown out."

This was actually a bit biased, favoring Sanlang Brooks. If Sanlang Brooks and Guitang Carter and the others got into a fight, he would definitely suffer, so she spoke up to keep things under control.

As for the frail Sanlang Brooks, Yvonne Foster actually had a good impression of him. She felt that he joined the martial arts school because he genuinely wanted to learn, not for some ulterior motive.

She remembered the first time she saw Sanlang Brooks wasn’t at the martial arts school, but near the Wanqing Bridge. She saw Sanlang Brooks standing dazedly under a willow tree, gazing at the flowing waters of the Jing River. Just then, a flock of ducks with snowy white feathers swam by, quacking.

Yvonne Foster heard Sanlang Brooks reciting poetry, and caught a single line: "The ducks are the first to know when the river warms in spring."

She thought it was beautiful.

But why did Sanlang Brooks give up literature for martial arts? She’d heard he couldn’t pass the exams, couldn’t get into school, and was ill—truly pitiful.

Yvonne Foster, on the other hand, wanted to study.

Since childhood, she had wandered the world with her father, and couldn’t even remember what her mother looked like. Later, her father said he was tired, so they settled in Jing County, where he taught her martial arts.

Nancy Foster was not only a martial artist, but also knew some poetry and literature, and taught his daughter as well.

That’s why Yvonne Foster was literate.

However, Nancy Foster was clearly an unqualified "teacher," and not a very responsible father either. Yvonne Foster had been independent since childhood, practicing martial arts diligently, but had no opportunity to attend private school.

In the Xia Yu Dynasty, there was no such distorted saying as "a woman’s lack of talent is a virtue." Girls attending private school and hiring tutors from a young age was quite common—as long as the family could afford it.