## AST 360 - Top Notch Women Relies On Wisdom And Disposition

After Yu Donghao left, Qing Shui came to the courtyard and saw that his mother and Shi Qingzhuang were seated at the stone table and chairs by the pond, chatting happily over tea. Qing Shui felt that this scene was very nice, and that it was very cordial.

What surprised Qing Shui was that when Shi Qingzhuang was with his mother, she did not appear as cold as she usually did. On the contrary, she had on a faint smile, and it was very attractive.

Qing Shui did not care if she was doing this on purpose or if this was her nature. It was no longer important. What that was important was that he was very pleased to see the scene of him being together with his mother.

It had been very long since Qing Shui last saw Qing Clan’s Medicinal Store's pond, and he discovered that it was still filled with black fishes and turtles, and the numbers were much more than there were in the first place.

"Mother, Qingzhuang, what are you talking about? The two of you look so happy!" Qing Shui asked casually, picking up the teapot and filling up their tea cups till they were 70% full! The faint fragrance of the tea leaves was elegant and refreshing.

"Talking about you when you were young!" Shi Qingzhuang smiled as she looked at Qing Shui, revealing a charm which turned Qing Shui into stone. She was not usually like this.

"When I was young? What's there to talk about?" Qing Shui chuckled and asked.

"Aunty said that you were very smart and headstrong since you were a kid. And you always kept to yourself, never saying anything, appearing to be exceptionally mature since young."

Qing Shui smiled and sat down, pouring himself a cup of tea as well!

"Qing Shui, you stay and chat with Qingzhuang while I go cook. Let's have lunch together!" Qing Yi said as she smiled and stood up.

"Aunty, let me help you!" Shi Qingzhuang blushed and said.

"No need, no need. There are plenty of people to help out with the cooking. Let Qing Shui chat with you. You'll get to know him better, too," Qing Yi quickly said before she left.

After Qing Yileft, Shi Qingzhuang slowly sat back on her seat. It was just right next to Qing Shui, on his left, and was a reachable distance if he were to reach out his hand.

"Your relationship with your mother is really one which makes one envious!" Shi Qingzhuang said as she stared at Qing Shui.

Qing Shui recalled Shi Qingzhuang's parents, and the scene when he was headed for Shi Clan. He felt that there seemed to be some gaps between Shi Qingzhuang and her parents.

"That's right. I was brought up by my mother. It's not easy for her to bring me up single handedly."

Shi Qingzhuang smiled as she listened to Qing Shui. She thought of how he had said that his mother was the most important person to him, and even if he were to have someone he loved in the future, the person would still not be comparable to his mother.

Shi Qingzhuang smiled, but her gaze did not leave Qing Shui. Even if Qing Shui was considerably thick-skinned now, he still felt a bit uncomfortable when faced with her gaze.

"Oh, right. You mentioned that you are worried about something earlier. What are you worrying about?" Qing Shui recalled the conversation earlier. Because his mother dropped by, Shi Qingzhuang had not replied to him.

Shi Qingzhuang hesitated for a moment before she said, "I'm afraid that one day, you won't like me anymore and will forget me!"

Qing Shui was made muddled by her words. He looked at Shi Qingzhuang and said, puzzled, "I don't really understand!"

"In the future, you'll have more and more women, and your level of cultivation has determined that you'll live a very long life. On the contrary, my life will be very short, my appearance will last even shorter. I'm afraid that you'll grow to detest this old and ugly woman very quickly. And by then, you won't be lacking in beautiful women around you."

This time around, Shi Qingzhuang did not frown, but remained smiling as she looked at Qing Shui.

Qing Shui smiled and shook his head, "Qingzhuang, do you think that the only way a woman can hold onto a man's heart is through her appearance?"

"Of course not, but appearance definitely has an important role. What do you think?" Shi Qingzhuang said very quickly. Seeing how Qing Shui was shaking his head, she knew that he had something to say.

"While beauty is very important, a lady who has nothing but beauty will only be able to get a man's love for a short term. Once time passes and the guy loses interest, once the guy gets used to her beauty, she will slowly become something of the past," Qing Shui smiled and said to Shi Qingzhuang.

"You seem to be very experienced. Come share more, I'm quite curious." Shi Qingzhuang appeared to be very interested.

"I don't have any experience, I had just heard from others, and am just saying whatever!" Qing Shui smiled bitterly. He had read many novels in his previous life, as well as many debates and things related to psychology. With so much things, it would be very easy to just randomly bring out some stuff to put up a front before a lady like her with no experience in love.

"Hmph! You better say quickly! If not, I'll get angry!" Shi Qingzhuang pretended to appear angry.

"Alright, alright... I'll talk. If I'm wrong, you better not rebut me. All these are just stuff that I've heard from others," Qing Shui grinned and said.

"Be quick! Stop pushing away responsibilities before you've even said anything!" Shi Qingzhuang filled up her teacup.

"Actually there's one more thing that's as important as appearance to women, or even more important. It is disposition. Disposition is like a glass of wine, the longer it is, the more mellow it is. A low quality lady relies on glamor, a mediocre one relies on beauty, and a top-notch lady relies on wisdom and disposition." Qing Shui gave it some thought before he smiled and continued with his crap. Well, they were not considered crap, but was just some theory Qing Shui had once read in a book.

Shi Qingzhuang furrowed her brows, looked at Qing Shui and smiled, "Can you explain in detail what disposition is?"

"Disposition refers to a person's usual character, style and attitude. People who are cheerful and unrestrained tend to have an intelligent disposition; those who are cheerful and elegant mostly reveal a noble and unsullied disposition; those who are straightforward and unconstrained tend to have a crude disposition; those with a gentle character, poised nature will appear to have a tranquil disposition... No matter if one is intelligent, noble and unsullied, crude, or tranquil, they will each have their own beauty. Those with the contrary qualities would have dispositions of cunning and crafty, prideful and aloof, or dispirited and despicable."

Qing Shui brought out all the terms he forcefully memorized from his previous life to praise people!

A person's real charm lies in their unique disposition, and such dispositions would be attractive to both members of the same sex and of the opposite sex. This was a kind of inner charm to a person's character.

"Then which category do I belong to?" Shi Qingzhuang seemed to have gotten interested as she asked.

"Disposition!" On this point, Qing Shui could not be hesitant. Once Shi Qingzhuang asked, he immediately replied.

"Oh!" Shi Qingzhuang smiled, the way she smiled caused Qing Shui to feel weak.

"Then what disposition do I belong to?"

"A beauty with smooth and fair skin, cold as ice and frost, transcends human world, graceful, poised, dignified..." Qing Shui threw in a whole lot of descriptions, not caring if they were terms to describe dispositions.

"Do you always compliment females like this?"

Shi Qingzhuang smiled widely. It was the first time Qing Shui saw her smiling so happily. Her emotions caught off to him very easily.

"No! What I said were all true!"

"Then are you saying that a beauty with disposition would be able to tie down a man's heart?" Shi Qingzhuang had put her pride down. She only spoke these words to this man whom she had special relationship with.

"That may not always be true. Actually, there may be some other reasons, just like how commoners would all have only one wife to each man, but were still able to be so loving despite their hair having turned all white. Is it because only the rice know that young and beautiful girls are good... and those who aren't don't?"

Shi Qingzhuang threw an annoyed glance at Qing Shui, probably finding Qing Shui's words to be crude. "Since they are poor, it's definitely because they don't have the ability. If not, why would some of them forcefully, with women..."

Qing Shui had not expected that Shi Qingzhuang had let herself loose completely. If it was in the past, there was no way that she would say such things!

"There's another thing you've forgotten. Children. It's said that the feelings between men and women, the closely knitted feeling, would only last 2-3 years. Three years later, they would get used to each other, and there would be conflicts as well. But after having children, with feelings which lasted ten over or twenty years, their feelings eventually get tied together with the existence of children. So much so that even after they've grown old, and when love no longer exists, their past feelings of love for so long, together with their children, would turn into kinship where blood is thicker than water."

Shi Qingzhuang went into deep ponder after hearing Qing Shui's words, then looked at him with her beautiful eyes, "You really know a lot. You haven't been through these before, so why are you saying as if it's true?"

"I heard them from someone else..."

Shi Qingzhuang was really speechless. But while she did not believe this explanation, she did not say anything, nor did she know what to reply. She could only throw an annoyed glance at Qing Shui.

"Why are you back? Will you still be going back to the Torrid Fragrance Valley?" Qing Shui noticed that he had missed out on the most important question.

"I'm not going back anymore. Master had said that I've no affinity with Torrid Fragrance Valley and would never be able to enter the door of Xiantian even if I were to stay there all my life. Thus, she got me to search for another path." Shi Qingzhuang smiled helplessly.

"Oh, so that's the case. That's good, that's good."

"What are you talking about? I'm already in this state and you're still saying it's good? Back then, I was happy for quite a while just because I was able to get in!" Shi Qingzhuang could not help but snap at Qing Shui.

"I'm saying that I'm your opportunity. We've really got a lot of affinity!" Qing Shui thought of how they had met all the way until he had gotten his hands on her.

Shi Qingzhuang also turned flushed red when Qing Shui mentioned "affinity". Her cold eyes now turned misty as she looked at Qing Shui!

Qing Shui subconsciously reached out to Shi Qingzhuang, and only when he felt her tremble did he realize that he was already holding onto her hand.

However, Qing Shui did not let go. He reached out his index finger and touched Shi Qingzhuang's palm, sending an itch all the way into her heart.

It was a little heartwarming, a little touching, and a little unclear.

"Go, let's go for lunch. If you like, you can stay here. I'll do my best to let you achieve Xiantian as soon as possible. Now that you're already at the pinnacle of Houtian, at max two years, I promise to let you reach Xiantian in two years' time," Qing Shui said very quickly, not daring to let her suspect that he had any ill intentions with his earlier statement.

"Really? Let me attain Xiantian in two years?"

This was the second time she heard this. Initially, she did not believe it. But after seeing the rate at which Qing Shui was progressing, she unknowingly believed his words.

"Of course! I'll swear with my character on the line!" Qing Shui said seriously.

"I don't trust your character!" Shi Qingzhuang clenched her teeth and said.

Looking at how Shi Qingzhuang seemed to want to speak but did not, Qing Shui asked, puzzled, "Have I done anything which made you doubt me?"