ACultivator'sCampusLife

Chapter 23 Birthday Celebration

When Lu Yao asked Wang Ping to eat fruits, Lu Yiqian came back.

"Lu Yao, who is he?" Lu Yiqian knew that Lu Yao had already returned home when he saw the door was open. As soon as he entered the room, he saw a stranger standing in the room. So he asked warily.

"Godfather, this is my friend, Brother Wang. He is the coach of Tianxin martial arts school." Seeing Lu Yiqian coming in, Lu Yao immediately introduced Wang Ping to his godfather.

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Lu. I'm Lu Yao's friend. My name is Wang Ping. You can call me Wang." Wang Ping said politely.

"Nice to meet you. I know Tianxin martial arts school. It's so great!" After Lu Yao introduced Wang Ping, Lu Yiqian warmly greeted Wang Ping and said, "Please take a seat!"

"Lu Yao, why didn't you tell me earlier? Now we can't give the guest a full treatment!" Lu Yiqian turned back and said, giving a reproachful look to Lu Yao.

"Godfather, I bought some fruits. You and Brother Wang can eat some fruits first. I'll prepare the dinner." Lu Yao said and gave each of them an apple.

Due to his family background, Lu Yao learned to cook long ago. And his cooking was always good. Because Lu Yiqian just had a long day at work and it was his birthday, Lu Yao took the initiative to cook dinner.

The house was very small. The kitchen and bedroom were separated. Lu Yao was busy cooking dinner alone.

...

"Mr. Lu, it's not easy for you to do odd jobs to support your family all the time," Wang Ping said, looking at Lu Yiqian's calluses on his hands.

"Alas, I don't have a choice. I work at hard physical jobs because I have no specialized skills. I earn little money and I can't provide a good environment for him. I have no choice but to make a living by doing odd jobs." Lu Yiqian also felt guilty when he talked about this.

"Mr. Lu, please don't get me wrong. Although I can't represent Lu Yao, I believe that he hadn't thought of it that way before. He is such an excellent student now. He came third in this provincial placement exam for high school seniors in Xinlu Province. All people in Shuangta City have known his name. Isn't this the best result?" Wang Ping tried to comfort Lu Yiqian.

Speaking of Lu Yao's exam results, Lu Yiqian immediately smiled. This was the second thing that made him happy after the operation.

"Mr. Lu, have you ever thought about moving to another place?" Wang Ping had been thinking of a way to persuade Lu Yao to join the martial arts school on the way to Lu Yao's home. But when he saw Lu Yiqian, he suddenly had an idea.

"Moving to another place?" Lu Yiqian paused and said sadly, "I've thought about this before. We have been moving all the time in the past years. We lived further and further away from the school and the conditions were getting worse and worse. Although Lu Yao has never complained about it, I still feel so guilty. Thanks to a kind person, he finally had an operation a few days ago. And we have saved some money. But Lu Yao will go to university soon. It won't be difficult for him to be admitted to a good university. It will take a lot of money to go to university. So I've got to give up the idea of moving."

"Moving? Who's going to move?" When they were talking about moving, Lu Yao walked to them with a few dishes. Hearing the word "moving", he asked curiously.

"Oh, well, I just remembered that our martial arts school had always been wanting to sponsor an excellent high school senior. But we haven't found a suitable person yet. I didn't remember that until I saw Mr. Lu just now." Wang Ping patted his forehead as if the idea finally clicked and said, "That's why I asked Mr. Lu if he wanted to move."

"What does sponsorship have to do with moving?" Lu Yao asked curiously.

"Well, we have some other requirements for candidates," Wang Ping explained.

"What are the requirements?"

"What are the requirements?"

Hearing Wang Ping's words, Lu Yao and Lu Yiqian asked simultaneously.

"We have three requirements for candidates." Wang Ping said, "First, the candidate must come from a poor family. Second, the candidate is excellent in both character and learning. Preference will be given to the top 10 students in our city. Third, the candidate must come from a single-parent family. Not a single one of the three conditions can be dispensed with."

When Lu Yao found that he could satisfy all the requirements perfectly, he knew that it was not that simple. The sponsorship would definitely have nothing to do with the martial arts school. It should be Wang Ping who offered an olive branch to him.

However, when he saw the expectant look on Lu Yiqian's face, he didn't want to disappoint him. Instead of laying bare the truth, he tried to change the subject, "Brother Wang, the meal is ready. Let's eat!"

"Mr. Wang, do you have any other requirements?" Lu Yiqian asked expectantly.

Wang Ping had been carefully observing their expressions after he mentioned the sponsorship. Lu Yao was calm. Perhaps Lu Yao had discerned his true intention. However, seeing the expectant look on Lu Yiqian's face, Wang Ping realized that he could let Lu Yiqian help him. He answered quickly, "Well, we do have some requirements. We need the candidate's immediate family to do odd jobs for our martial arts school. And the job pays 2000 yuan a month!"

Hearing this, Lu Yao didn't say a word. Lu Yiqian also had a thoughtful expression on his face.

"Though the job doesn't pay so well, we offer free accommodation!" Wang Ping quickly added.

"Free accommodation?" Lu Yiqian asked quickly.

"Yeah, we have a two-bedroom apartment in the Chaoyang Garden, which is not far from the martial arts school. It has been vacant all the time, so we decided to let the candidate and his family live in it. In this way, we can not only make full use of the apartment, but also make it more convenient for the candidate's family to work in our martial arts school!" Wang Ping said.

"Chaoyang Garden?" Lu Yiqian said excitedly, "Lu Yao, I know it. It is handy to your school."

"That's right. That's why I asked Mr. Lu if he planned to move," Wang Ping explained.

"Well, Brother Wang, although my godfather has done a lot of odd jobs in recent years, he has never worked in a martial arts school. So I'm afraid we..." Lu Yao didn't want to owe Wang Ping too much. What was more, he needed to refine some Spirit Liquids to purify his body these days. It wouldn't be convenient for him to live there. So he still wanted to refuse.

Lu Yiqian also calmed down. Hearing Lu Yao's words, he knew that Lu Yao had some misgivings. Although Wang Ping's offer was quite tempting, he decided to respect his son's wishes. So he didn't say anything.

"Don't worry. You don't have to give me an answer right away. Take as much time as you need. At the same time, I can send your profiles to my boss and let him make the final decision." Wang Ping also realized that he was too anxious. So when he saw their faces, he hurried to make up for his tactlessness, "Personally, I think this is a very good opportunity. So I hope you can think it over!"

"I see. Brother Wang, let's have dinner. The food is almost cold!" Lu Yao said.

"That's right. I was busy talking. I do apologize if you feel neglected, Mr. Wang. Let's have dinner!" Lu Yiqian immediately got up and said to Wang Ping.

Wang Ping also stopped talking. And then they sat around the dining table.

The so-called dining table was just a small self-made table Lu Yao used to study.

Four or five homey dishes made by Lu Yao looked delicious and smelt amazing. Wang Ping also felt a little hungry.

"Mr. Lu, it's all because of you that I can have such a rich dinner today. I'm afraid that I will visit you more often in the future!" Wang Ping said politely.

"All we can offer you is humble fare. As long as you like it, just feel free to drop in anytime!" Lu Yiqian was in a good mood because of what Wang Ping said before. When he heard that Wang Ping would come here more often, he became happier.

Lu Yiqian and Lu Yao didn't have relatives in Shuangta City, let alone respectable friends like Wang Ping. Lu Yiqian didn't care about making friends, but Lu Yao had to have a foothold in this society. So he believed that it was always a good choice to make more friends.

The three of them finished the dinner in a warm atmosphere.

"Lu Yao, you got the whole big thing planned, didn't you?" Wang Ping said to Lu Yao mysteriously.

"What big thing?" Lu Yiqian didn't understand what they were talking about. Was there anything else important they hadn't said? Lu Yiqian wondered.

Lu Yao turned around and walked to the inner room without saying a word.

After a while, Lu Yao came out of the inner room, carrying a two-layer cake with five candles in it. He squatted in front of Lu Yiqian, with tears in his eyes, and said, "Godfather, thank you for bringing me up. All these years, you have been working hard because of me. I just never had the chance to repay your many kindnesses to me. My school provided the prize money for me. So, today, I want to have a meaningful birthday party for you..."

Lu Yiqian had been busy chatting with Wang Ping since he returned home. So he didn't enter the inner room. When he saw Lu Yuan walking towards him with a cake and heard these words, his face was wet with tears.

As a bystander, Wang Ping was so moved that he didn't know what to say.

"Lu Yao, my good boy, you have suffered a lot these years..." Saying this, Lu Yiqian could no longer repress his emotion and held Lu Yao in his arms.

...

"Mr. Lu, you should be gratified by Lu Yao's success, right? Come on. It's time to blow off the candles!" Wang Ping was deeply touched by the motions of Lu Yao and Lu Yiqian and tried to comfort them.

"Yes, yes! Let's blow off the candles!" Hearing Wang Ping's words, Lu Yiqian quickly wiped his tears and asked them to sit down.

...

...

Although there were no delicacies, it was the most meaningful birthday party Wang Ping had ever attended.

Before leaving, Wang Ping handed the two gift boxes he had brought to Lu Yiqian.

"Mr. Lu, I didn't know today is your birthday until this afternoon. Time is limited. I didn't buy too many things. Here are some little gifts for you. I hope you'll like them!"

"Well, Mr. Wang, it's very nice of you to come here today. But I couldn't take them." Lu Yiqian refused quickly.

"Mr. Lu, please don't treat me as an outsider. From now on, you can treat me as your junior. And please don't call me Mr. Wang again, OK?" Wang Ping winked at Lu Yao as he spoke.

"Godfather, do take them. The gifts are tokens of Brother Wang's regard."

"Well, OK. Mr. Wang, oh, Wang, feel free to drop in anytime!" Lu Yiqian finally accepted the gifts from Wang Ping because Lu Yao also persuaded him. He turned back and said to Lu Yao, "Lu Yao, young people speak the same language. Accompany Wang to the door for me."

"OK, godfather, I see!"