Chapter 10: He didn't like seeing her fighting and vying for other men...

When we returned to the town, it was getting dark, not even four o'clock yet, so it was probably going to rain that night. The shops that had been bustling with activity that morning were now rather quiet.

Jin Yu and the others were packing their things.

Qin Lingchuan soon spotted Xia Youzhen next to the swing set in the yard.

"You're off work so early?"

Youzhen was startled when he suddenly appeared behind her.

"It's not time to leave work. I'm still working, so there's no such thing as leaving get off work, haha. Tonight, everyone's having a welcome dinner for our senior at a big restaurant in the city."

She was clearly dressed up, wearing light makeup and small pearl earrings. Her long, shiny black hair was still tied up with a yellow ribbon, which was wrapped around her braid.

A light purple sweater was tied around her waist, and under the same bright yellow long skirt, white high heels made her calves look even straighter.

Qin Lingchuan shifted his weight onto his heels, swaying back and forth slightly, before saying, "If I had known, I wouldn't have come back. You might have bumped into each other in the city instead of making this seem so deliberate."

Youzhen sensed the hidden meaning in his words: "Mr. Qin Lingchuan, is there something you need from me?"

"Yes. May I take a look at the ceramic and glass art pieces in the shop?"

There's still an hour until the agreed time, and traffic is bound to be congested during rush hour. But there's no reason to refuse a customer, is there?

Qin Lingchuan noticed her hesitation: "Are you worried about being late?"

"No, no, no, no, no." She couldn't let the other party sense her hesitation; she was a fool not to make money when she could.

Qin Lingchuan: "How about this, it'll take about an hour, then I'll drive you there."

Xia Youzhen waved her hands repeatedly: "This is too much trouble for you, how could you..."

"It's settled then. Let's start with exhibition room number 1."

Qin Lingchuan had already stepped inside.

The exhibits were also carefully arranged, and Youzhen introduced them to him one by one, her eyes shining as she talked about them.

She pointed to the exhibit in the center of the exhibition hall: "This one is blue and white porcelain."

Qin Lingchuan said, "Blue and white porcelain is fired at about 1300℃. It matured in the Yuan Dynasty and reached its peak in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Seeing it in person, it is indeed different from the effect shown in the pictures."

"You even know this?" Youzhen's eyes didn't hold that superior judgment; instead, they held a hint of admiration.

Qin Lingchuan smiled again and pointed behind him: "It's written on the information board at the entrance."

"Huh? When did you see that?" Youzhen puffed out her cheeks.

The two chatted and laughed, quickly finishing their tour of the three exhibition rooms. Youzhen said with a hint of pride, "This kind is unique to our Xia family; you can't find it anywhere else. It was developed by my grandfather, and it was put into a museum during his lifetime."

Qin Lingchuan picked up a vase that was close at hand and examined it carefully: "It is indeed well-deserved of its reputation. The glaze is even and mellow. Similar Ming and Qing dynasty official kiln chicken-fat yellow glazes are mostly made of glutinous rice clay. It is truly worthy of respect that we can rediscover lost techniques from so many ancient books."

Youzhen was genuinely shocked: "You know this? It's not mentioned in these introductions."

Qin Lingchuan smiled and said, "I've done similar work for other brands before, so I know a bit about it."

He put down the porcelain bottle and picked up another snuff bottle.

“This kind of inside painting technique is very difficult. After the weather gets warmer, there will be inside painting experience sessions on Saturday afternoons at 2 pm, but it hasn’t started yet this month.” Seeing his interest, Youzhen became more talkative. “The porcelain and snuff bottle I just saw were both made by my senior brother. He’s usually not very talkative; he just likes to stay in seclusion and tinker with these things.”

It was clear that she greatly admired Zhou Yuanli. It was a vivid admiration, completely different from the dry surprise she had shown earlier.

He asked knowingly, "Is your senior brother your cousin?"

“Hmm? No, he’s my grandfather’s adopted son, and also his most prized disciple. In order to pass on the craft…” Youzhen bit her lip, “As you know, our little place is very traditional, and this kind of craft is passed down to men, not women.”

"Passing down knowledge only to sons, that sounds ridiculous. Would they rather pass it on to a complete stranger than to their own granddaughter?"

Youzhen shrugged: "So, all I can do is run errands outside and increase my visibility."

Qin Lingchuan shook his head: "In my opinion, even the best wine needs advertising. No matter how good the craftsmanship is, it's all for nothing without promotion."

When these things are mentioned, she can't help but think of the shortage of funds. If there isn't another big order, even next month's dividends will be in trouble.

But she quickly turned back to herself, thinking, how could she complain about these things to the guests?

He was very familiar with the techniques and various schools of ceramics and glassmaking, even to the point of being a professional. He also mentioned that his hometown was famous for its ceramics. Youzhen was always very reserved; unless a guest specifically brought it up, she generally wouldn't delve into the details. Although she had always been curious whether this person was there for tourism or business, it now seemed unlikely that it was purely for tourism. If it were a long-term stay, it seemed unlikely that he would spend money so lavishly. It was more like he was there for some kind of business purpose.

Qin Lingchuan noticed her regret, pretended to check the time, and changed the subject.

After exploring the exhibition hall on the first floor, Qin Lingchuan looked towards the second floor. Youzhen introduced, "The second floor is where we live. My senior brother prefers quiet, so he lives at the far east end. The rooms for the workers and assistants like Jinyu are in that order, and the one at the far west end is mine."

Qin Lingchuan noticed several plush toys hanging on the west-facing window and casually asked, "Do you all live together?"

"Yes, it's like a big family. Originally, Grandpa planned to use this house as my wedding room, but now that I think about it, it's quite nice. It's lively with so many people living together."

Qin Lingchuan immediately asked her, "Were you previously engaged?"

Youzhen shook her head, a hint of melancholy in her eyes as she looked up: "There was a time when I really wanted to get married, but not anymore. My senior is right; wanting to get married back then was a form of escapism. I shouldn't treat marriage as a fallback option after experiencing setbacks in my career."

Qin Lingchuan seems to be able to piece things together: the grandfather passed on his skills to someone he liked, and then perhaps married his granddaughter to him. In some ways, this is similar to what Boss Li did.

He casually asked, "What are your thoughts on marriages that involve work relationships?"

Youzhen was completely taken aback by the sudden change of topic: "Huh?"

Qin Lingchuan didn't necessarily want an answer from her: "It's unnecessary to get married just for the sake of getting married, but if one person wants to get married while the other doesn't, it means that the two of you are no longer on the same page. Perhaps someone better is waiting for you."

Youzhen was a little unsure how to respond, so she smoothed her hair and began to introduce the dolls: "The ones by the window were all gifts from my senior brother, one for each birthday. He always says I'm childish, that most of my bed is taken up by these dolls, and I don't even know where to sleep, haha."

She covered her mouth and laughed, her eyes sparkling. It seemed that Zhou Yuanli still had a deep influence on her.

"It's just a habit. Did you send one this year too?" Qin Lingchuan asked.

Youzhen snapped out of her thoughts: "My birthday hasn't come this year yet, it's next month. But last year they didn't give me anything, they were probably too busy and forgot. A lot has happened in the past year."

In fact, she believes that after she clearly expressed her desire to get married but was rejected, the two of them gradually drifted apart.

Time flies. It's already half an hour later than scheduled. Sure enough, the roads are completely congested. Jin Yu and the others had already left. Xia Youzhen had no choice but to send a message to Zhou Yuanli saying that she might be a little late, but Zhou Yuanli didn't reply.

Qin Lingchuan hadn't said much since the traffic jam started. He gripped the steering wheel with his long, slender fingers and looked at her: "Looks like God is on my side this time."

Youzhen did indeed raise her head: "What?"

"With traffic jams and rain, it looks like I'm definitely going to be late."

Youzhen pouted and nodded.

"Since we're already late, it doesn't matter how late we are. Let's eat something first."

Youzhen hesitated and asked, "You mean, the two of us should go have dinner first?"

Qin Lingchuan slid one hand off the steering wheel and said weakly, "I only ate a pig's head meat roll and tofu pudding today, and I'm really hungry now."

Youzhen exclaimed in surprise, "What? You're so busy that you don't even have time to eat? How can that be? No matter what, you should eat properly. Let's go eat now, anything is fine."

It's not a good thing to let the driver go hungry. Besides, looking at the "parking lot" ahead, from a sunk cost perspective, eating something to tide him over is indeed a good choice.

So at the next fork in the road, Qin Lingchuan made a U-turn. He smiled again; his intuition was right, she must be a girl who eats three meals a day properly.

Qin Lingchuan insisted that Youzhen choose, so Youzhen randomly picked a noodle shop. He treated her to breakfast, but Youzhen insisted on treating him to dinner.

A steaming bowl of pork liver noodles was served. Youzhen picked up a chopstick in each hand, mixed the noodles well, and then began to eat heartily. To be honest, she was also extremely hungry. Just now on the train, she had been sucking in her breath and tightening her stomach, afraid that the rumbling of her stomach would be heard by the other person in the quiet carriage.

The pork liver noodles in front of me were a dark color, and I didn't know how much soy sauce they had put in them. On the other hand, the bowl in front of Youzhen looked very fragrant.

Watching her eat, I always felt that her bowl looked more delicious.

If it's a date, he usually avoids ordering dark-colored foods. Firstly, they're easy to get lipstick on their lips like she did, and secondly, girls need to reapply lipstick when it's finished.

He didn't like seeing her touching up her makeup for other men.

The wind and rain intensified, and Youzhen became even more worried, thinking that the cloud cluster would pass by in the time it takes to eat a meal.

Her thoughts were written all over her face. Qin Lingchuan looked at Youzhen across from him and suddenly said, "I have an umbrella in my car. Wait a moment, I'll go get it."

Before Youzhen could say anything, she saw him run back to the car in the rain, and then run back against the wind.

The umbrella was large enough to shelter the two of them. Youzhen walked to the shop entrance, glanced at the umbrella that Qin Lingchuan was tilting towards, and then hid inside.

Both of them were careful not to touch each other, nor did they deliberately leave a gap that would waste the space under the umbrella.

Large raindrops pounded on the steps and on Youzhen's white leather shoes.

For some reason, she suddenly twisted her ankle and almost lost her balance. In a panic, she instinctively grabbed onto something sturdy.

A note from the author:

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