Getting Acquainted

Having Wei Ying as a roommate was not really all that bad. He is talkative as I always remembered but I don't mind. I am just happy that he is back. There are times I wonder if I should tell him about our past lives but I am okay with not for now.

"Do you want to get to know each other a little?" He asked, "it will be easier if we get acquainted with each other."

"Of course we can," I answered and sat down at the table preparing tea, "what some tea?"

Wei Ying came over and sat down to left of me, "sure," he said.

"So what do you want to know?" I asked.

"Well, what are your hobbies?" He asked.

"Most people find my hobbies boring," I answered, "which is mostly reading scriptures and learning new music pieces for my guqin."

"Music is a good hobby," Wei Ying said, "if you like reading scriptures then good for you. It's something that I don't normally do myself, but that is because everyone is different."

"What are your hobbies?" I asked.

"I like to spend time with my Shijie and pick lotuses for her cooking also to gather seeds. I would spend time hunting pheasants and helping my uncle train disciples with archery."

"I heard you have great archery skills," I told him.

"It's just something I have loved to learn growing up," he said, "my brother would get annoyed with me because I don't meditate often or practice with my sword but can still out match him. But I actually stay up late at night practicing my own sword technique. I don't mind Jiang Clan's style I just want my own. Plus Suibian seems to like it better then the Jiang clan sword style."

"Suibian?" I pretended to be confused about the name of his sword, "it is disrespectful to call your sword whatever one pleases."

"No, no, no," he said and grabbed his sword to show me the inscription on it, "my sword it named Suibian."

I let out a chuckle, "why that name?" I asked even though I knew.

He giggled a little and then answered, "When Uncle Jiang first gave me the sword he asked to pick a name for it. I thought of at least twenty different names but none of them seemed to really stick out. So I told Suibian (whatever). Thinking back about it, it's not really all that bad, and I think it suits my character."

I nodded, "interesting," I said, "I bet you are a strong fighter."

"We should spar some time," he suggested, "I would love to see how if you are as strong as people say."

"I'm sure we will have a chance at some point," I told him taking a sip of tea. 

Not much longer, Xiongzhang had stopped by, "How are things here, Wangji? is Wei Gongzi settling alright?"

"I am," Wei Ying answered, "My Shijie and Jiang Cheng?"

"They are all set and you will be seeing them tomorrow for the greeting ceremony," Xiongzhang told him.

"I am doing fine," I finally answered my brother after the two finished their small conversation, "Want to stay and have some tea or are you needed somewhere?"

"I suppose I can join for a few minutes," Xiongzhang said and sat with us, "Are you both getting along alright?" 

"Yes, Lan Zhan has already made me feel very welcome," Wei Ying said, "It is quite nice feeling this way."

My brother and I knew what he meant but kept it to ourselves to not give it away that we know how his future may go if we don't get things right this time, "A guest should always feel welcome," I said, "But since we are also roommates, it would be nice to be friends, but we need time to get to know each other."

"Friends?" Wei Ying asked, "You want to be my friend? I mean I am beyond excited to be but I am just a son of a servant, why be friends with me?"

Wei Ying was now more open and a bit more insecure then how he was last time. Xiongzhang and I did not like him saying that, "From what I remember, your father was the head disciple and subordinate to Jiang Fengmian at one point. A subordinate is not a servant, neither is a head disciple. Why would you assume you do not deserve friends?" He told Wei Ying in a calm manner, "Who said you were a son of a servant? and even if you were, you should not be treated any differently than any other person. Everyone deserves to be treated equally, no matter the status. Some people just don't get that."

Wei Ying looked as if he was trying his hardest to hold tears back. As if no one has ever told him such reassuring words before. I can tell he was touched by what Xiongzhang had said. 

"Sect Leader Lan, thank you for making me feel welcome," Wei Ying said almost in a whisper but we could still hear, "I have had a number of people call me a son of a servant. I always ignore it and act like everything is fine and it doesn't bother me...but the truth is...It does. Although Lotus Pier has been my home for a long time, there are times where I wonder if I should even call it home."

"Well, you can think of Cloud Recesses as your home, if you like," Xiongzhang said, "We will always welcome you and treat you fair and equally....and if our uncle gives you a hard time, let one of us know and we will deal with it immediately," Wei Ying nodded and brother spoke again while standing, "speaking of Uncle, I will go speak with him now. We can keep this conversation private if you wish, Wei Gongzi."

"If you could, for the moment."

Xiongzhang nodded, said his goodbye and left us alone. He knows that I will need to speak with him privately a bit later.

"Are you feeling okay?" I asked Wei Ying after my brother had left.

"I will be," He said and took in a deep breath and let it out, "Thank you both for being so understanding. The only other person I have really been this open with is Shijie. I do not really talk with Jiang Cheng about any of my issues as he seems to get annoyed by small trivial things. Shijie though, she is like a real sister to me. I trust her more than anything."

"I'm glad you have her to go to," I told him, "But you now have me, I will never judge anything you have to say and keep an open mind, okay."

Wei Ying nodded. It is strange. This time, with me being so much more open, Wei Ying trusted me to open up to me about some things. It must be because I told him I trusted him, so he put his full trust into me, which is what I wanted. I want to have him trust me so he can come to me about anything. I just hoped my efforts will not go in vein this time.