foreigner's journey

Chapter 302 Master and Disciple
Qifanjie Xiacheng District, this is a more decent name.

Those in the upper echelons prefer to call these lower towns covered by steel discs from the sky "rat's nest".

During the time she lived in Midgar Central Hospital, Tifa often heard people in the hospital mention the slums in the lower city.Whenever these "rat nests" are mentioned, those well-dressed people will always subconsciously bring up expressions of disgust.

But after stepping here, Tifa found that the slums were very different from what she had imagined.

Although there are simple bungalows built with wooden boards or discarded metal plates everywhere, the layout plan is not as messy as imagined.The surface of the road between the houses is not like the concrete road or the magnificent street paved with expensive stone bricks like the upper urban area, but the extremely hard land that has been trampled by countless people.

Going further, you can see a small courtyard similar to a kindergarten. There is a sandpit for children to play in. A group of children wearing uniform hand-sewn school uniforms are playing happily.

In addition, there are simple basketball courts that are obviously put together by hand, two-story or even three-story single-family buildings, prop shops, weapon shops... Tifa even saw a small market of considerable size. The noise of people is quite lively.

"How about it, is it very different from the slums you imagined?"

Zangan's voice brought Tifa back to her senses, and the girl nodded shyly: "Well...there is a lot of vigor here, and everyone seems to be working hard to survive."

Although the people living here are dressed plainly, and most of them have tired faces caused by overwork, there seems to be something in the eyes of these people.Tifa didn't know how to describe the eyes of these people, she only knew that she liked the atmosphere very much.

It's really different from those people in the upper block, the girl thought so.

Zangan stroked the beard on his chin and said as he walked: "I am here not only to let you see the other side of Midgar, but also to show you hello to your old friend. You are such a beautiful girl If you want to live in Midgar without someone to take care of you, it will not only be very hard work, but you may also encounter a lot of harassment."

"Master, I am not afraid of hard work. And am I not your proud disciple?"

Tifa bent her arms, trying to put on a strong look: "Ordinary men are no match for me."

"Hahahaha!"

Zangan laughed loudly: "People's hearts are sometimes more terrifying than fists and swords. In short, keep an eye on everything, don't trust others foolishly, but don't do evil on purpose, then you can live in this slum very well." survive."

"Yeah!" The girl nodded heavily.

Master will say these words, is it really time to say goodbye?Girls who have suffered major trauma both physically and mentally are always extra sensitive. Looking at the tall and strong figure in front of them, they feel as if they have lost something.

The two walked along the streets of the slums, and passersby along the way would occasionally be puzzled by these two unfamiliar faces.But there is a very important rule in the survival code of the slums-don't ask nonsense, don't talk nonsense.

When the two were walking on the street, Zangan who was walking in front suddenly asked without looking back: "Uh...Tifa, have I mentioned my other disciples to you?"

"I will mention it occasionally. After all, you are a world-renowned martial arts instructor with disciples all over the world."

Tifa tilted her head: "Master, why are you asking this all of a sudden?"

Zangan slowed down and walked side by side with Tifa, with a strange tone: "Then did I say that you are the most talented student I have ever accepted?"

"Hey hey, maybe you said that?"

In fact, Master often praises himself in this way. Although Tifa is not the kind of character who is easy to be arrogant, she is also quite confident in her talent for practicing martial arts.

"Actually... I lied to you, Tifa."

Zangan scratched the back of his head: "Your talent in practicing Zanganliu martial arts is indeed top-notch, but you are not the one with the highest talent among the students I have accepted."

The girl tilted her head again, and the master suddenly said what does this mean?
At this time, the two walked to the end of the street, and what they saw was a slightly empty intersection where three streets intersected.At the center of the intersection is a dilapidated bar. The bar has no signboard. It looks very old from the outside, and even the glass is broken several times.

Looking south beyond the bar, a two-story shabby apartment can be seen in the distance.

Zangan followed the girl's gaze to the bar, then shook his head: "This bar has been abandoned for a long time, and it is said that something happened to the boss, and no one took over... It's a pity, I still wanted to be here when I came last time Just having a drink. What did you say just now? Oh yes, I have many disciples, and your talent ranks second among these disciples. You are indeed a good seed for practicing martial arts. It's the one with the highest talent."

"What you want to tell me is this number one...senior brother?" Tifa asked tentatively.

"Correct."

Zangan walked slowly towards the two-story apartment with Tifa, and said as he walked:
"Your brother is a...weird, weird in every sense. But there is no doubt about it, that is his [talent]."

"Talent?"

"That's right, an unparalleled [talent]. Let me ask you, how long did it take you to get started with the [Battle Qi Mirage Ball]?"

"Hmm... about four months?" Tifa still remembers this move, because she is only a beginner, far from being proficient.

"Do you know how long it took your senior brother?" Zangan asked mysteriously.

The girl shook her head, expressing curiosity.

Zangan pointed a finger at her, and Tifa asked curiously, "A month? It can't be a week, right?"

"One hour."

Zangan's tone was serious: "This is not the time for me to demonstrate this trick to him."

Tifa didn't know what to say for a moment.It is precisely because she has practiced Zanganliu martial arts systematically that she clearly knows how difficult it is to practice [Duqi Mirage Ball].An hour...is this true genius?

She managed to get rid of the inexplicable frustration, and asked Zangan: "Master, you suddenly mentioned this brother, does he also live in Midgar?"

"In fact, he lives in that second-floor apartment. Oh, by the way, this apartment is called [Tianwangzhuang]. The landlady is an old acquaintance with me. Although she has a bad mouth, she is definitely a good person. If you can live here I'll be a little more at ease."

With that said, the two walked to the apartment.

The apartment as a whole has a two-story structure. The metal stairs are outside the apartment. There are three rooms on the second floor. The first floor seems to be the landlord's own residence.

With the sound of a dog barking, an old lady with long gray hair tightly tied behind her head slowly walked out of the door, followed by an old gray dog ​​wagging its tail vigorously.

"Marle! Hahaha! How are you doing recently?"

Zangan opened his arms and laughed and walked over, wanting to hug the old lady named Marle, but the latter put his hand in front of him with a look of disgust, sighed and said: "Zangan, You are definitely not here to pay back the money... Tell me, how much do you need to borrow?"

Zangan touched his head in embarrassment, and stammered: "No, I just want to come...uh, to say hello. Then what, come, Tifa, this beauty is Marle, the landlady of Tianwangzhuang .”

Tifa moved over somewhat awkwardly, and bowed deeply to Marle: "Hi, hello, my name is Tifa, very nice to meet you... I used up the money Master borrowed from you. I will definitely work hard to make money and return the money to you as soon as possible!"

She still wanted to say something, but Marle hugged her, patted her back lightly and comforted her: "Don't worry, don't worry, you are serious. I know your master very well. The way we get along That's it, sorry to scare you."

Marle comforted Tifa while looking at Zangam: "Is the borrowing money for the child's medical treatment?"

She was well-informed, and she could tell at a glance that Tifa's expression was not right. It was obvious that she had just recovered from a serious illness and needed to continue to recuperate.

Zangan rubbed the back of his head: "She is my disciple, and all her family members have... plus she was seriously injured, so I can only bring her to Midgar. The hospital charges a lot, you know, Marle."

Marle snorted: "If you said earlier that the borrowing money was to treat such a good child, then what I said would help you pay for the medical expenses. However, the fees charged by Midgar Central Hospital are not low, at least There are tens of thousands of GIL, where did you get the money?"

Zangan pointed in the direction of the second floor with a strange expression.

Marle immediately understood: "You want him to help take care of this child? Don't dream, you know how weird that kid is much better than me."

"That's why I want to pay a visit. After all, the money I borrowed from him is not a small amount, and it is impossible for me to pay it back in a short time."

Zangan spread his hands and smiled wryly: "Although I have the name of master and apprentice, I didn't teach him much, but he helped me a lot. That kid is actually kind-hearted, but he is more... ..."

"【indifferent】."

Marle said angrily:

"That's all I have to say about him. Well, well, he probably didn't go out, room 202."

Compared with being rude to Zangan, Marle was much gentler to Tifa, and comforted her softly: "If you want to survive in Midgar, sometimes you need to be a little thick-skinned. That kid upstairs has real skills , It’s just that his mouth is too smelly and he is very weird, if he says something weird...don’t take it to heart, he is relatively reliable with acquaintances he knows, um, probably.”

Marle's reassurance had the opposite effect, and Tifa became even more frightened.If it was normal, she would probably run away directly, but the master has sacrificed face for himself, how can he hold back?

In her heart, she encouraged herself again and again, and the girl followed Zangan up the metal steps outside the apartment. The thin and slightly rusty metal steps would make teeth-acid creaking sounds every time they were stepped on.

"201...202, this is it."

Zangan stood in front of the door and took several deep breaths.As a master, he was obviously also a little nervous. I don't know if it was because of the psychological pressure from facing the big creditor.

Boom!Boom!Boom!
He knocked on the door three times rhythmically, Zangan stood in front of the door with a serious expression, and Tifa stood beside him with a worried expression.

creak-

The door was slowly opened a crack, and the light in the room was extremely dim, and Tifa could only see half of his head through the crack of the door—the messy black hair with short curls and ears, old-fashioned glasses, plain With an unremarkable face and half drooping dead fish eyes, the overall look is very young.

Is this the genius brother that Master said?Uh, it's so different from what I imagined!

The head behind the door just looked at Zangan through the crack of the door without saying a word.

"Heather! Hahaha! How are you doing recently?" Zangan spread his arms as if trying to resolve the embarrassing silence.

"Zangan."

The black-haired young man named Heather seemed to pronounce Zangan's name in self-confirmation, nodded slightly, and then slammed the door shut with a bang.

"..."

Tifa looked worriedly at Zangan, who was frozen all over. She had never encountered such an embarrassing scene in her life.

Zangan had long been familiar with Heather's temper, so he continued to knock on the door without getting discouraged, still following the rhythmic three-knock rule.

After a moment of silence behind the door, a gap was opened again.

Heather's voice did not fluctuate: "I lent you a total of 26460 GIL. You don't have to pay it back, just treat it as my filial piety to you."

"Really? That's great...ah no, I'm not here to talk about that this time."

Zangan showed joy at first, and then suddenly woke up when he saw Tifa next to him, and hurriedly held the door to prevent Heather from closing it: "Don't close it, Heather, you don't want to know why I borrowed so much money. why?"

"No, let go."

"Hazel, just chat for a few minutes, okay? Anyway, let's be a master and apprentice... Well, I admit that I cheated you in Wutai, but that was not an accident!"

Feeling that the force behind the door was getting stronger, Zangan decisively admitted his mistake.

"...We will settle the account of Wutai later."

Heather no longer tried to close the door, but cast her eyes on Tifa who was standing outside the door anxiously: "Zan Gan Liu martial arts practice is good, but he was seriously injured...Midgar Central Hospital?"

Zangan nodded quickly: "Yes, yes, only Midgar Central Hospital can treat Tifa's injury. I made a special trip this time to bring Tifa to thank you. Without your funding, I'm afraid this child will really die. "

Tifa hurriedly bowed and said, "Thank you very much, Senior Brother Heather!"

The black pupils behind the glasses moved from Zangan to Tifa, and after looking back and forth a few times, Heather finally opened the door completely: "Come in and talk."

After finishing speaking, he walked towards the back room, and the door was just wide open.

Tifa straightened up and looked at Zangan with puzzled eyes.The latter breathed a sigh of relief, and nodded towards Tifa: "It's okay, it's okay, if we didn't drive us away directly, it means there is something going on, let's go in."

No matter how hard-hearted Heather is, she wouldn't put a bad face on such a cute junior sister, would she?Zangan felt a little bit down this time, and hurriedly took Tifa into room 202.

　Thanks to book friends 101023140631918 for the reward!
PS: 4K words, there were originally two chapters, but after thinking about it, it was combined into one chapter.

　
(End of this chapter)