Su Yan pondered a bit and finally decided to use a simple pet name. After all, Ziju An would call his disciple by his name later on anyway and even if he used a pet name he would probably change it later on when Dou Fang Hai grew up a little.
["You're such a cute little dumpling. How could I not like you?"
Dou Fang Hai pursed his lips. He obviously didn't think of himself as a cute little dumpling at all. "I'm a man!"
"Uh, sure you are. Actually, I'm a man, too." Ziju An smiled. This was the first thing he had to teach his new disciple. He couldn't return to the Jin Shan Sect with him if he always called him 'pretty sister', could he?
Dou Fang Hai looked the person in front of him up and down. The person had snowy-white hair, almost translucent skin and a pair of sparkling golden eyes. Furthermore, he was way too slender for a real man!
Dou Fang Hai pouted. "You're obviously a sister. How can you say you're not? Don't think I wouldn't know the difference!"
Ziju An's lips twitched. He never would have thought that he'd have to prove his own gender some time. "So, what's the difference?"
"Sisters are pretty and men are strong. You're obviously not strong."
Ziju An rubbed his brow. How did this brat determine that he wasn't strong? "I ..."
"Don't try to lie to me! It's so obvious you're a sister. I won't marry you if you're always lying to me. Lying is bad! I don't want to marry a bad person!" Dou Fang Hai straightened up and lifted his slightly chubby chin.
Ziju An looked at him and sighed. He probably thought that his stance was very domineering and that his words would scare him but Ziju An just didn't know how to deal with him. Such a cute little brat ... Surprisingly, he couldn't really get angry.
Seeing him not answer Dou Fang Hai grinned triumphantly. "Just admit it."
"Alright, alright. Then let's go see your parents now." Ah, he'd just leave it to them to educate this brat.]
Su Yan grinned. Ah, this was so great! Now he had to think about Dou Fang Hai's parents, though. How would they react to their son bringing a cultivator in and telling them that he wanted to marry him when he grew up? And how would Ziju An convince them to let their son go with him?
Well, the latter would probably not be so difficult since, well, Ziju An was a cultivator, after all, and even one from the Jin Shan Sect. Dou Fang Hai's parents would probably be overjoyed when he said that he wanted to take their son in as his disciple.
Mn ... Su Yan pursed his lips. He really wanted to write the next part but he wanted to see what was happening on the website even more! Had his readers reacted to his message yet? Ah, he wanted to have a look!
He glanced at Nie Chang who was silently working beside him and then at his phone that hadn't rung again after his father's call. Then he blinked. Why was he behaving so secretly? There was nothing wrong with checking what was happening on the website!
Hmph, he'd just take a quick look and answer if anything had happened. After all, this was also a task the system had given him!
Su Yan opened the website again and ... froze.
Uh ... He really was wondering if there was a bug somehow. First, all these favorites and these comments and reviews on his first story and now he had actually gotten tens of answers to his message already?! Just what was going on here?! This had never happened back on his old account!
Su Yan opened the message to read the responses. There were some that were congratulating him on starting something new and some urging him to work faster so they could read and some telling him not to mind the former and just take his time ... There also were some questions.
Su Yan shook his head, took a deep breath and concentrated on the questions. The system had said that he had to definitely answer those. Let's see ...
Cultivating sword arts: [Will there be sword fights in the new story?]
Su Yan blinked. Ah, he seemed to remember that person! Hadn't he also commented on his first story? Mn, this had to be someone who had really liked his first story! He should write an especially nice response for him!
Lao Gong Says I'm The Best: [Don't worry, Senior Cultivating Sword Arts! There'll be lots and lots of sword fights in this story! (*^ω^*)]
With a happy feeling, Su Yan read further.
Let me kiss you, little junior: [What?! Not fellow disciples?! This senior feels betrayed! (︶︹︺) What are they then? Disciples of different sects?! Ah, little junior from another sect, come into this senior's arms! This one would never discriminate! o(≧∇≦o)]
Su Yan giggled. Ah, this guy was taking this pretty seriously, wasn't he? He wanted to answer but noticed that somebody else had already responded.
Fujo with glasses: [After reading a thousand BL novels for research purposes I'm able to say with a 99.9% certainty that they won't be disciples of different sects either *pushes up glasses* They'll be something else instead!]
Su Yan stared at the response. This couldn't be! How had she found out?! It had been so hard to come up with this! No reader should be able to guess this! He couldn't believe it but it came even worse. Looking more closely, quite a few other people had commented on the question, too, and they seemed to get closer and closer to the right answer.
Drawing a Chrysanthemum: [Right? I think so, too! Maybe only one of them is a cultivator?]
Rotten things smell sweet: [I doubt it. Considering how Lao Gong Says The Best announced this I'm sure it'll be something even sweeter!]
Where's my gong?: [A cultivator and a demon? But that's rather spicy than sweet ... ( °٢° )]
Fujo with glasses: [I suspect it's a pair of master and disciple instead.]
Su Yan grabbed his chest. How?! Just how had she found out?! This was his most closely guarded secret! Nobody should have been able to find out ...
Ah, this world was too mean!
------
A/N: Only 4 more days until the novel version of Su Yan's short story "Like a Ray in My Night" will go online! 😊