Yunling picked out ten wooden hairpins, and then bought a crystal hairpin for Yun Chu, Yun Ruoxia, Yun Ruochun, Zhang Shi, and Yun's mother. After that, she bought hairpins, hair ornaments, earrings, ear pendants, face powder, pollen, balm, flower oil, lip rouge, eyebrow-drawing pills, fragrant medicine for clothing and sachets, etc., filling three large bags with all sorts of things.

After settling the bill, Yunling happily carried the three large bags out the door, only to bump into Pei Lin leaning against her carriage. Her joy instantly turned to melancholy.

"What are you doing leaning against my carriage? Wait, how do you know this is my carriage?"

Pei Lin was also quite surprised. He had no idea that this was Yun Ling's carriage, but it was hot and he was a little tired, so he simply found a place to rest for a while.

To their surprise, they spotted a suspicious-looking person circling the carriage, occasionally lifting the felt curtain as if to steal something from inside.

He didn't know where his sense of justice came from, but he scared the people away and naturally stood by the carriage to catch his breath, only to find that it was Yunling's carriage.

However, Pei Lin was still very happy to see Yun Ling, and the playful banter he used to share with her suddenly returned.

"Who wants to be next to your carriage? Kindness is never rewarded. If it weren't for me, everything in your carriage would have been stolen."

Yunling immediately ran forward, peeked through the felt curtain, and her eyes fell on the cotton cloth. She only felt relieved after counting twenty bolts.

She was reminded of this today. In the past, she hadn't paid much attention to these things and would usually just get off the bus and leave without losing anything. But now that Pei Lin had mentioned it, she became a little more vigilant.

This carriage is nothing like the ones of later generations; it can't be locked or anything. And unlike those wealthy families, she doesn't have a coachman accompanying her. She'll have to be more careful in the future.

"Did you help me chase the thief away?"

"Otherwise what? I risked my life. That thief had both a knife and a sword. If I hadn't been clever, resourceful, brave, and kind, I would have been a dead man under your carriage."

Why did he end up praising himself while talking?

Yunling twitched her lips and asked reluctantly.

Are you injured?

"Why do you even need to ask? Of course I'm injured. It hurts my heart and lungs, and it even broke my arm."

"Let me see."

Yunling quickly put down what she was holding and reached out to grab Pei Lin's hand. Although Pei Lin instinctively tried to dodge, she still managed to catch him.

Pei Lin hurriedly explained, "I was in so much pain that I forced myself to refuse."

Yunling immediately understood the reason for the matter and, without mincing words, directly exposed him.

"You're lying. You weren't injured at all. You're just making this up to scam me, aren't you? And look at your skinny frame. You don't look like someone who can fight against thieves with knives and swords. You'd probably be knocked to the ground with one punch."

Pei Lin was very dissatisfied that his thoughts had been exposed. Although the scene of him wielding both a knife and a sword was fabricated, the thief was a real person, and he had genuinely been guarding the carriage. So the more he thought about it, the more aggrieved he felt, and his attitude became stubborn.

"What are you doing at this Rouge Shop? And buying so many things. If you ask me, even if all the lead powder in the Rouge Shop were smeared on your face, you still wouldn't be any whiter."

"none of your business."

Yunling originally intended to stop there, drive the carriage away, and let the blind Pei Lin eat the dust he kicked up and shut his foul mouth.

But then she thought about it again. After all, this person had helped her watch the carriage earlier. Otherwise, if all her cotton cloth had been stolen, she would have had to go back to the cloth shop to buy it back, and she would have had to deal with the shopkeeper again.

Thinking of this, Yunling's heart softened again.

"Have you...have you had lunch?"

"No, you're inviting me. Hurry up and get in, let's set off now."

Yunling was stunned by Pei Lin's sudden change of expression and lightning-fast movements. When did this guy get around to the deck? Shameless, utterly shameless.

What would you like to eat?

"Since the big boss is inviting us, we should naturally eat the best."

Yunling leaped onto the other deck, feeling quite pleased by his address of "Big Boss." She suddenly found Pei Lin much more agreeable and became more talkative.

"How is my older sister doing at Ren'an Hall? Has she been bullied?"

Pei Lin dusted off the horse's reins and replied, "How would I know about your sister? I'm not watching her all the time. But with my senior brother keeping an eye on her, nothing serious will happen."

Yunling immediately pictured Shen Changliu's face. He seemed aloof, but he was quite nice to her older sister. With him watching over her, her sister wouldn't be too bad off, so she felt relieved.

The carriage finally stopped in front of a small stall. Pei Lin jumped off the carriage and called out to the shopkeeper:

"Old man, give me a bowl of shrimp wontons."

Hearing an "Eh" from the other end, he looked at Yunling again and asked, "You little dummy, what do you want to eat?"

Yunling had never eaten at this place before and didn't know what kind of food they had, but when she heard Pei Lin order shrimp wontons, she thought that since he was such a picky eater, she wouldn't go wrong with him, so she also said:

"I'll also have a bowl of shrimp wontons and a basket of dumplings."

"Then I'll have another basket of dumplings."

"Alright, please have a seat."

Pei Lin was so happy he was practically jumping for joy. He had just ordered shrimp wontons, and Yun Ling was eating shrimp wontons with him. What else could it be but a sign of her affection for him, wanting to try what he liked? Did she have to be so obvious?

Yunling hadn't expected Pei Lin to choose such a place, so she asked:

"Hey, didn't you just say you wanted to eat the best? I thought we were going to a restaurant today."

"Who says good food can only be found in restaurants? These street corners and back alleys are often the best places to find delicious food."

Speak like a human.

"Doctors like us must be ready to make house calls at any time. We try to save every second we can, because that one second might be the key to pulling someone back from the brink of death. So we usually get our medical attention done at a small stall."

Seeing the dumplings being brought over, Pei Lin took a pair of chopsticks from the chopstick holder, first handing them to Yun Ling, then taking out another pair for himself, and continued:

"Who doesn't like a nice place? I'd like to go to a restaurant, relax, and enjoy tea, but that's only possible on days when I'm not working or not on duty."

Yunling had never seen Pei Lin so mature before. Listening to his reasonable words, she couldn't help but nod in agreement.

"The shrimp wontons are here! Please be careful, they're hot!"