A Leisurely and Extravagant Life - Chapter 10

Chapter 10: The Old Witch

“Don’t worry about it, Grandpa’s fine.” Luo Baolin lovingly patted Luo Tianwang’s head.

Originally, Luo Tianwang’s drowsiness had improved a little, but after the mysterious space’s liquid drops were used up, he went back to his old state—slipping into sudden, uncontrollable sleep. The only difference was that now he dreamed far more than before, and more light specks gathered around his body. Of course, no one else could see them.

The math teacher, Cheng Yulian, came in with finger marks still visible on her face and bruises on her arm, likely from a quarrel at home. Her expression was as gloomy as storm clouds, and from the moment she stepped into the classroom, her face stayed stiff.

The third graders sat as quiet as mice. Only Luo Tianwang lay sprawled on his desk, snoring away, completely unaffected by Cheng’s December-cold presence.

“You there in the back, sleeping on the desk! Stand up immediately!” Cheng Yulian slammed the lectern, startling even the chalkboard brush, which bounced to the floor.

The whole class shrank back in fright. Luo Tianwang, however, didn’t move a muscle.

Coincidentally—or not—his head shifted slightly, as if he were sleeping soundly. That pushed Cheng Yulian over the edge.

“Don’t pretend! I know you’re faking!” she snapped, striding quickly to his desk.

“Teacher Cheng, Luo Tianwang is sick. He’s always like this, can’t wake up,” Luo Zejun said.

“He can fool others, but not me. I know he’s pretending. If his family won’t discipline him, I’ll do it for them. You—go get a ladle of water!” Cheng pointed at Luo Zejun.

Terrified, Luo Zejun bolted toward the canteen. He soon returned with a ladle of water, but half of it had already splashed out along the way.

“Give it here!” Cheng grabbed it and dumped the remaining half-ladle over Luo Tianwang’s head.

The water trickled down his cheeks, neck, and soaked his clothes completely. Yet, Luo Tianwang still didn’t wake.

At this, Cheng’s anger cooled a little. Seeing that he didn’t react at all, she realized he really was asleep—deeply, not pretending. After all her years of teaching, she could tell the difference.

What she didn’t know was that her half-ladle of water triggered a change. The moment it hit, the blue light specks around Luo Tianwang surged, many flooding into the mysterious space.

A large portion lingered inside and began clustering. The green specks there had already condensed into a mass, on the verge of forming another emerald drop. Now, the blue specks too began gathering, ready to form a drop of blue liquid. What effect this blue drop might have, or what kind of symbol it would create, no one knew.

By the time Luo Tianwang woke, Cheng’s math lesson was over, and she had already sashayed out of the classroom in her high heels.

As soon as she left, the room returned to life. Luo Zejun hopped onto the platform, smacked the chalk brush dramatically, and mimicked her: “You in the back, sleeping on the desk! Stand up immediately!”

To his shock, Luo Tianwang instantly stood up.

“Uh, ah—you’re awake? That water wasn’t me, it was the Old Witch!” Luo Zejun blurted, using Cheng’s nickname.

Bad luck struck—Cheng had hurried out earlier and left her lesson plan on the desk. When she came back to fetch it, she heard Luo Zejun call her “Old Witch.”

Luo Tianwang looked at him with pity, and the whole class gaped, knowing the volcano was about to erupt.

“Luo Zejun! Who are you calling an Old Witch!” Cheng was livid. She had always prided herself on her looks and normally tried to be gentle, with only the occasional outburst. But to learn the students had given her such a nickname, and with “Old” tacked on, was unbearable.

Luo Zejun felt the world collapse around him. His ears burned as she yanked him up and dragged him out.

“Let’s go see your homeroom teacher, Zhao Pingshui. In my twenty years of teaching, I’ve never had a student like you!”

Her furious voice faded down the corridor. The class exchanged awkward glances, their expressions a mix of fear and amusement.

Only then did Luo Tianwang realize his clothes were soaked. He remembered what Luo Zejun had said: it wasn’t him, it was the Old Witch who poured the water.

‘Why did the Old Witch dump water on me?’

From that moment on, Cheng Yulian’s wicked image was firmly etched in his heart.

***

At home, Granny Xiao Chunxiu spent every day slowly hauling in bundles of rice stalks with the help of their yellow ox. Luo Tianwang often helped after school, though lately his drowsiness made him nearly useless. Still, with the toughness of a rural woman, she steadily moved all the harvested rice home, then threshed it in the yard.

The family’s five acres of paddy were already half harvested. When Luo Tianwang got home one evening, he saw his grandmother so exhausted she couldn’t even straighten her back.

At last, that day, the mysterious space condensed another drop. Luo Tianwang ran home excitedly: “Grandpa, I can heal you now!”

Luo Baolin was doubtful. He still couldn’t believe what Xiao Chunxiu swore she’d seen—it was too bizarre. In truth, even she herself half doubted it.

“Tianwang, if you treat my leg, will you fall asleep for a long time again?” Luo Baolin asked.

“No, not long—just a few days,” Luo Tianwang shook his head.

“Then let’s wait until night,” his grandfather decided, still worried. In the village, anything superstitious was always done at night, to keep it hidden from prying eyes.