Yank!

Hu Ye watched as his arrow was shot down and got stuck in the ground. The arrow that had hit his was the one that pierced the target and hit bullseye instead.

"What?!"

Hu Ye looked at the arrow in amazement. He no longer minded that his own arrow had been rudely disturbed.

That arrow curved?

"Ahaha... What a greenhorn," spoke a beautiful girl that came from Hu Ye's right, her tone carrying a mocking lilt.

Hu Ye instantly turned and was met with a pair of cold eyes. Walking up to him, she slightly bent her body to his height and looked him in the eye. "You need to pull your bow harder."

"Qing Guang..." Hu Ye did not know that she practiced archery.

Qing Guang was still ten, and she was able to make her arrow curve. Hu Ye thought that it was an amazing feat.

She was wearing a white training robe, her long, straight hair left loose. In her grip was a black bow with a majestic carving of gold on it.

After gathering his thoughts, Hu Ye tried to calm himself so that the admiration in his eyes wasn’t so obvious. He made a stoic countenance and said, “How did you manage to make that curving arrow?”

“Who knows?” Qing Guang coldly replied. She saw the place where Hu Ye was standing and frowned. Qing Guang liked that spot, it was in the corner and was a great place to practice one’s archery in peace.

“This is my spot, go away.” Qing Guang shoved Hu Ye but he did not move. "Move it!"

"I came here first, so this is my spot," said Hu Ye indifferently.

"Heh, what are you talking about, greenhorn? I am your senior. So, move!"

"..." Hu Ye glared at Qing Guang like an eagle eyeing its prey. He firmly said, "No!"

“Your pull is so weak, yet you want to practice here for an eighteen-meter target? Don’t push yourself, greenhorn. Go back there with your peers and practice pulling your bow first.”

“I am qualified for the eighteen-meter target. I can even hit the target. Look, I already did it twice before.” Hu Ye frowned. No one had ever belittled his skills before.

Qing Guang coldly cast a glance at the target Hu Ye was pointing at. There were two arrows embedded in it, but neither one had hit the bullseye.

"Hump!" Qing Guang took her arrow. "Fine! Since the loser doesn't know his place, I will show you what true archery is."

Qing Guang took position in a post next to Hu Ye's place.

In a perfectly practiced motion, she notched her arrow. Then in one flawless move, she shot three arrows simultaneously.

Shoo shoo shoo stab stab stab.

The arrows were so fast that Hu Ye didn’t even see them move to the center of their respective targets. "Impossible!"

Seeing Hu Ye's shocked expression, Qing Guang felt extreme satisfaction.

"Now, do you understand how low your level is? If you understand... move!"

"..." Hu Ye did not move. He just stared at the pierced targets.

"Can't you hear me? Move it!" Still, no response came from Hu Ye. When she was about to reprimand him again, Hu Ye finally spoke.

"Teach..."

"Huh?" Bewildered, Qing Guang took a step back.

"Teach me how to do that!" Hu Ye impulsively grabbed Qing Guang's shoulder. Staring into her eyes, his gaze was full of determination, amazement, and... respect?

Qing Guang was but a young maiden. Suddenly being grabbed like that startled her.

"You brat, let go!"

"No, you gotta agree to teach me first, then I will let go."

In her fury, Qing Guang tried to push him but failed once more.

In the end, they got into a fight. The fight disturbed other students, so as a result, the teacher punished them by making them clean the training ground after class.

"This is all your fault!" Qing Guang angrily said while cleaning the equipment. Hu Ye carried it back to the small storage.

"If you had just agreed then it wouldn't have ended up like this," Hu Ye said in a determined tone. He was set on not letting this matter go.

Qing Guang was so angry, her prideful heart refused to yield.

I will get back at him later!

Watching her curse him under her breath, Hu Ye noticed that her hair was plastered everywhere on her face! It was messier than the equipment that they needed to clean, some strands even falling into the cleaning water, making them sticky.

The corner of Hu Ye's eye twitched. Hu Ye had three sisters and all of them always tidied their hair, unlike Qing Guang. So he was a bit disturbed.

"Do you have a ribbon or something to tie your hair?"

"No."

"Why?"

"Never got my hands on one."

"..."

A girl of Qing Guang's age usually decorated her hair with many things, from hairpins to ribbons to clips, there were many variations that could be bought in shops. To think there was a girl in this continent who did not have a simple hairband…

It was not like Qing Guang didn't want to get ornaments for her hair or look outstanding like others. Her mother had long passed away when she was little and due to some circumstances at home, she had no personal maids, so she had no one to teach her about female things.

Qing Bo was very smart, but if you were the left prime minister's only son, being smart was not enough. You needed to be the best.

Because she was his twin and in the same grade as him, she needed to try harder to catch up with her brother's achievements so that people would not sneer at her or belittle her when comparing the two of them. She used most of her time to study and didn't think too much of her looks. 

The corner of Hu Ye's eye twitched again. He couldn't take it anymore. He had a piece of bandage left from bandaging Hu Zi earlier. He took it from his sleeve and quickly put Guang’s hair up in a simple but flattering ponytail. Her hair was softer than silk, even more so than Lady Hua's hair. Even though it dipped into the dirty liquid earlier, all the water seemed to be dripping down, leaving her hair clean and shiny.

Hu Ye had caught Qing Guang off guard, as she was still concentrating on cleaning.

"Why you!" She hated it when someone touched her hair.

"Better?"

Qing Guang’s head felt lighter and the strands were no longer blocking her view. He even made her look prettier with just the simple ponytail.

"How did you do that?" 

"You want to know?" Hu Ye tugged his lip a bit, revealing a crafty smile on that serious and stoic face. "Agree to teach me archery and I’ll tell you, deal?"

"You think this hair trick is worth anything in front of my godly archery?" Qing Guang showed a cold, disdainful look and irritation flashed in her eyes. "Dream on!"

"I also know how to do makeup and choosing the best clothes and ornaments along with their quality and variation, name it all!" Hu Ye said. Although it was a bit embarrassing for a boy to know about these female things, he had learned it all to help Hu Zi over the years. He was confident about his knowledge.

Qing Guang was startled. She was in the dark about this stuff. Being ten this year, she was beginning to lose out to her peers. 

"Think about it. You might not be interested, but your sister certainly is. A few more years and I think there will be a huge difference between you and her, no? Hear this, you are ten-years-old but you can't even tie your hair correctly. Your sister is nine, but I saw her yesterday looking like a princess attracting many people's praises, including..."