Yang also noticed the movement here and turned around.

Then, with a look of surprise, he said, "Isn't this Mr. Mu? Why are you in town today?" He looked behind him and asked, "Where's Song Bo? Didn't he come with Mr. Mu?"

Mr. Mu nodded and smiled: "Mrs. Su, long time no see."

Yang said embarrassedly, "Ah, I'm not a 'madam' at all. I'm just an ordinary peasant woman in the village."

"Mrs. Su has a straightforward and frank personality, but there's no need to be so modest."

"Oh, Mr. Mu, you are too kind to me..."

Yang smiled and waved her hands repeatedly, but she didn't realize that her question had been ignored by the other party without a trace.

But there were some things she didn't ignore.

Yang took Su Qingluan a step forward and said to Mr. Mu, "This is my eldest daughter whom I recognized some time ago."

Seeing Su Qingluan was stunned, he patted her on the back and said, "Why are you being silly? This is Mr. Mu, come and greet him!"

Skinny Monkey started to make a noise: "Although this guy's legs aren't very flexible, he has a handsome appearance and a good figure. He looks like a refined scholar. Could it be that the Su family girl has taken a fancy to him... Ouch!"

The skinny monkey was kicked secretly by Aunt Yang and grimaced in pain.

"What are you talking about? You're courting death!" Aunt Yang gritted her teeth as she whispered in Skinny Monkey's ear.

The Sheng Dynasty did not have the strict separation between men and women like the Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism. Although this level of discussion did not reach the level of "slandering the character" or "defaming the innocence" of ordinary people who did not have strict family education, it was inappropriate to casually fabricate that a little girl like Su Qingluan had feelings for a man.

Yang also shook her head quickly: "Oh, this naughty boy, such a light joke is not acceptable!" Then she explained to Mr. Mu with an apologetic look, "Don't be offended, he may be a bit careless with his words, but he doesn't have any bad intentions."

Mr. Mu didn't mind at all, and simply said, "This young man seems to be a kind-hearted person. I just saw from afar that he was the one who led the officials here."

Su Qingluan had also finished her brainstorming at this point, and forced herself to control her toes that wanted to dig three feet into the ground and bury herself. She walked forward and forced a stiff smile:

"My name is Su Qingluan. I have long heard of your name, sir. It is a great honor to meet you for the first time."

As she spoke, she recalled other people's actions in her mind and gave Mr. Mu a bow, which she was not sure if it was a standard one - the most common and simplest way of greeting for women in this era.

There is no need to kneel or make any complicated movements, but it is still more troublesome than the simplicity of modern social etiquette.

The so-called Wanfu salute requires you to stand straight and solemnly, take a small step back with your right foot, make fists with your right hand on top of your left hand, place them on your lower abdomen, lower your head, bend your knees, look at the ground, and stand up after the ceremony.

At this moment, Su Qingluan truly missed how simple and easy it was to perform "handshakes" and "nods"!

The young man opposite also nodded slightly and returned a relatively casual half-body bow: "My surname is Mu, and my given name is Xingzhi."

Su Qingluan slightly emphasized the word "first time" in her tone, hoping that the other party would not mention her embarrassing moments when they met last time.

Unexpectedly, the other party seemed not to hear her inner prayer. Instead, he asked, "Young lady, why do you emphasize the word 'first time'? Could it be that I have met you before?"

Su Qingluan was just gritting her teeth because of the first half of Mu Xingzhi's words: Why are you bringing up something that is not relevant?

However, after hearing the second half of his sentence, Su Qingluan was stunned, and then secretly happy: Doesn’t he remember what happened at the river last time?

That's right! The last time she went fishing, her hair was disheveled and she was soaked. At first glance, she looked like a drowned version of Sadako.

With her hair all over her face, who can recognize her?

At this moment, all the awkwardness of dipping one's toes into the ground and escaping on the spot disappeared completely.

Su Qingluan felt that the air was flowing better, her breathing became smoother, and even the hot midday sun seemed lovely!

She smiled her business smile again and asked, "Mr. Mu, how many would you like?"

Taking in the changes in Su Qingluan's expression, Mu Xingzhi's eyes flashed with a playful smile.

"Two." As he said that, he took out a purse from his sleeve, took out a few coins and handed them to Su Qingluan.

Su Qingluan did not take it directly with her hands, but picked up the straw box containing the copper coins and handed it over.

Since Su Qingluan was standing and Mu Xingzhi was sitting in a wheelchair, when he withdrew his hand, his fingertips slightly brushed Su Qingluan's wrist.

In this hot summer, Su Qingluan felt like she was about to be roasted into charcoal, and her wrists were no exception.

However, when the young man's pale fingertips brushed across her wrist, she felt as if a cold jade stone had suddenly brushed across her wrist, causing her to shudder involuntarily.

Su Qingluan looked over suddenly: My hands are so cold!

If it wasn't broad daylight, and the person in front of her was not smiling and speaking gently, she would have doubted whether this was human body temperature!

"Sorry for being rude." Mu Xingzhi apologized softly.

"It's okay," Su Qingluan shook her head, "I just feel like your blood circulation might not be very good."

"Blood...circulation?" Mu Xingzhi frowned slightly, obviously confused by this word he had never heard of before.

Oops! I accidentally used some modern medical term!

Su Qingluan quickly changed her words: "No... I mean, I feel that... your blood, blood qi, or qi and blood... In short, the circulation is not smooth, so the temperature of your hand is so low."

Su Qingluan tried to explain using words that could be understood in this era.

While explaining, Su Qingluan secretly sighed in her heart:

It's no wonder that this person has been sitting in a wheelchair all year round. There are no rehabilitation clinics or auxiliary medical equipment to help him exercise in modern times.

If you don’t exercise enough for a long time, your blood circulation will definitely be blocked, especially the fingertips and toes of the peripheral circulatory system. No wonder your hands are so cold.

Although she didn't feel pity for him—after all, there are many more pitiful people in the world than those with disabled legs—Su Qingluan couldn't help but suggest, "Why don't you try 'finger exercises'?"

Yang scolded in a low voice behind him, "What do you mean by 'you'? You are so rude to Mr. Mu!"

Although Su Qingluan knew rationally that Mu Xingzhi held an extraordinary position in his parents' hearts, and that scholars were particularly respected in this era, she herself had no real sense of empathy.

However, she didn't want to argue with her mother over such trivial matters, so she changed her tone and said, "Mr. Mu, please forgive me."

Mu Xingzhi smiled and said, "Madam Su, there's no need to be so polite. I'm just a commoner, a few years older than you, so just call me by my name."

Yang repeatedly said no, and Su Qingluan smiled and said, "I can't disobey my mother's orders, but Mr. Mu's kindness is hard to refuse. How about I call you 'Mr. Mu', but we can call each other 'you and me' as if we were equals?"

It just so happens that the title "Mr. So-and-so" is very convenient for a modern person like Su Qingluan, and it is not easy to make a mistake.

Mu Xingzhi smiled slightly and said, "Just as Miss Su said. I also want to ask Miss Su one more thing."

Su Qingluan was putting aside the shredded vegetables that had lost their moisture due to the delay caused by the two troublemakers and taking out fresh vegetables. When she heard Mu Xingzhi's question, she looked up and said, "What's the matter?"