A young girl walked forward and put her hand on the desk, trying to get their attention.
Instead, she was met with silence.
She frowned a bit but soon returned to a kind smile, saying in a higher pitched voice "My name is Xu Ningli, how should I call you?"
Yugong opened his eyes and looked at he little girl – he inspected her face even though his eyes were still, then connected the face and the surname and was sure this girl was related to the uncle master.
He spoke in a low voice "Ling Yugong", it's been a long time since he said his whole name including surname.
In this life, he didn't really have a surname, but considering there was no one who knew his father in the village, he just took the surname of his last life.
When you only have a nickname, you have no identity. When you only have a name, you have no origin. When you have a name and surname, you have a past and a future.
Following this idea, Yugong just took the past life's surname.
He was sure this worlds' father wouldn't mind having a surname since he didn't have one before.
Yiye on the side seemed to have known it, so he wasn't surprised.
He kept his hand on his sword but finally turned his head to the group of four, replying "Shu Yiye", then he looked away again.
This was the age when boys weren't interesting in girls just yet, so he didn't care that the little girl was a pretty princess.
As for Yugong, he just thought the so-called prettiness was just a small, spoiled brat.
If he had to call someone beautiful based on the girl's facial features, it would be her mother.
"Is that so…" she trailed off, having lost the line to talk.
"I heard you don't want to learn the sword!" a boy said from the side, trying to save the situation, or maybe he was just a loudmouth.
"Yeah, so?" Yugong didn't want to play into their games, but considering his current identity and that he was living under the uncle master's care, he didn't want to seem too wilful.
The boy was a bit flustered at the direct answer, but he regained composure and asked "Why not? The sword is the supreme weapon!"
"How is it the supreme weapon? What can it do that makes it better than other weapons?"
"Well-" the boy was lost, so another from the back, one who looked three times more bratty, answered "It can cut your bow in two!"
He said, having the image that bows were only made of wood.
Yugong looked at him with a teasing smile "We hunters only kill prey, we don't attack our fellows."
"That's- That's not what I meant!" he stammered.
The girl came back to her senses and said "Well, why do you like to use the bow?"
"Why do you like to use the sword?" he replied nonchalantly.
It was the second girl behind Ningli who asked this time "Can you only defend your wish to use the bow by comparing it with the sword?"
She looked colder and more mature, but Yugong just saw a little girl trying to act like an adult.
He looked at her and asked simply "Don't you only ask me about my bow so you can convince me to learn the sword? Do tell me, what is so great about the sword that I should give up my bow for it?"
At this point, he finally silenced all four of them.
They were confused, some times raising their hands, other times opening their mouth, but they didn't say anything.
Yugong knew this was because their natural instinct was to say "Swords are better" – any child argument would end up with two children repeatedly saying "No my toy is better" – as children grown in a noble house, they didn't want to follow such an example.
They had no other explanation either, so in the end, they could only try to say something but fail in the end.
Finally, the opening of the front door stopped the silence.
Servants came in carrying trays of food.
Every child would get a bowl of rice, a bowl of meat and a bowl of vegetables.
Soon, all tables were set except for Yugong's.
The four children seemed to have lost the moment to leave, so they awkwardly sat down.
Yugong didn't have the time to bother with them, so he simply told the servant "Take my portion to that table."
There were enough tables for everyone to sit alone, so he just chose one.
Yiye followed, helping the servant carry the tray.
The four that remained were even more awkward now – sitting down was their last chance at keeping the discussion, but now their target left, and the servant left too.
Too embarrassed to take their food to the other parties' table, they just quietly ate.
On the other hand, Yiye laughed in a low voice "Elder brother, you are so mean!"
Although he seemed to pay no attention, he still saw everything and knew that his elder brother was bullying the four children.
In all the time he talked to his elder brother, there was never a scenario where this happened.
Usually, if he said something wrong, he'd just get a slap.
At first he thought he really did something wrong.
Gradually, he realised the slap was the normal reaction of his brother when he said something stupid, like a way to "reset" his thought process so he wouldn't be so jumbled.
Reset was another word he learned.
Calling it a slap was too much, rather, it was a slightly stronger pat on the head.
Over time, he really stopped quibbling and started expressing himself better.
"How am I mean? I held back and talked nicely."
Yiye looked at him sideways, not believe at all "I never heard you talking like this."
"Do you want to convince me to change my bow to a sword?" Yugong asked teasingly.
"No no no!" he quickly shook his head "Elder brother once said that everyone has their own path to walk, forcing others is the way to failure!"
"See, you know the word and how to behave."
"But brother… the uncle master-"
"Shush" Yugong gently patted Yiye's head.
"After all, I think we should compete in who's stronger, I feel like you grew better all this while."
"Brother…" Yiye wanted to reject – at first it might have been a spar between friends, but now it was just him being beat up, without the ability to fight back at all.
Even if he did, in the end… he would just hit himself.
The eight trigrams palm's redirection can also be used this way, or course it wasn't the most efficient in a battle, but when teaching someone, it was very efficient.
"I know you have been waiting to fight me since you got that shiny sword of yours. Just come back to me after eating!
A weapon is tested best in battle! Well, a sword.
Other weapons-"
"Other weapons have their own specialisations! Brother, you are kind to me by competing in what I am strong in!" Yiye completed, hoping to gain a gentler beating.
"And yet you fail to win against me, why do you look so proud about this!"
Yiye lowered his head, sighing that he would be beaten a lot this time.