Chapter 36

"I didn't think too much about it. I just did what I wanted to do." Zhang Yunniang stuck out her tongue, looking quite mischievous.

Jun Qingmo listened to the chirping sounds outside and knocked on the window frame. "Aren't you not good at communicating with people? You've been talking a lot these past few days."

He could always hear conversations outside while in the study.

Often, only Zhang Yunniang's voice could be heard, but she was very tactless. No one wanted to pay attention to her, but she kept muttering to herself.

"Did I disturb you? Then I'll keep my voice down."

These are the parents who provide her with food and clothing, and the people who earn money. Whoever can give her money is her father, mother, and ancestor. Zhang Yunniang doesn't mind serving them well.

"Look, that useless scroll you said you were going to throw away last time, but now it's come in handy."

Lanzhi looked at Jun Qingmo with an inexplicable expression on her face, then looked at the sky and went to the kitchen silently. She had learned some simple cooking skills and could make simple home-cooked meals.

Zhang Yunniang came to the window and whispered, "Lanzhi is in a bad mood. I feel sorry for her. I just wanted to talk to her to distract her."

The yard wasn't very big, and if they talked, it would indeed disturb Jun Qingmo, so she continued, "You can be away from others now, so I'll take her out for a walk when I'm free."

When Jun Qingmo heard this, the anger that had been suppressed for several days suddenly came out.

With a bang, the window was closed.

Zhang Yunniang stood there puzzled, wondering what had happened to the "young lady".

It was her fault for getting on his nerves, but she'd already apologized, so why was she still angry?

She went to push the study door and found that it was locked.

Well, let him be alone.

She went to the kitchen, worried that this person might have been upset. Fortunately, Lanzhi didn't think anything was wrong. She scooped a spoonful of sugar and was about to sprinkle it on the vegetables in the pot.

She scooped it back with a spoon.

"Don't worry about it. It's my fault for not thinking it through. The young master was pointing at me."

Lanzhi shook her head and returned to the stove to light the fire. The blazing flames reflected in her eyes, as if they were about to devour her.

"If you have a secret in your heart that you really want others to know, but telling it will only cause them more trouble, will you tell it?"

Lanzhi was alone and had few friends. For some reason, she wanted to hear what Zhang Yunniang thought.

"have no idea."

"have no idea?"

"It depends on what the matter is and what the motivation is."

Lanzhi thought about it and felt that such a general question would be embarrassing. She closed her eyes and thought about how to explain this matter.

The aroma of the leek and egg soup boiling in the pot lingered around her nose.

She opened her calm eyes. "I once had someone in my heart. I was seriously ill at the time, and I sent him a message saying I had changed my mind. I even found someone else to pretend to be my new love. He was very sad, but he chose to respect my decision and never entangled with me again. I thought I would die, but then my illness was cured by some strange combination of circumstances. When I went back to find him, I found that he had someone new by his side."

Lanzhi paused, sighed, and lowered her head. After a long moment, she continued, "I wanted to tell him that I haven't changed my mind, but he already has a wife."

Zhang Yunniang didn't even think about it. She skillfully flipped the spatula and said naturally, "I won't tell him again."

"Why? I didn't betray him. I had my reasons. If I really died, he would be very sad. I didn't want him to suffer, so I had to lie to him."

“That’s your choice, isn’t it?”

"What?"

"You didn't give him a chance to choose. If it were my choice, I would accept it no matter what the outcome. Even if I can't let it go, I won't bother him anymore. Let the truth be buried. If I didn't tell him in the first place for his own good, then now that he has a new life, keeping it to myself is the only way to continue doing him good. Let him continue to misunderstand and enter his new life with a clear conscience."

"Wouldn't that be unpleasant?"

"When I made that choice on my own, I no longer had the right to be unwilling. Either I didn't choose to do it, or if I did it, I would accept the consequences no matter what they were. That was the cause I sowed, and this is the result I must bear. It's not his fault that he doesn't know the truth. Since I didn't give him the opportunity to choose, I can't bother him anymore."

"Is that so?"

Lanzhi didn't look sad, just a little confused. "If the truth is buried, it would be unfair to those who know the truth."

"There's no such thing as fairness or unfairness in this world. A spider, starving for a long time, finally caught a butterfly in its web. A man, passing by, saw the butterfly's vibrant colors and beauty and couldn't bear to see it eaten. He swung his sword and cut the silk thread, saving the butterfly while the spider starved to death. Is this man a good person or a bad person?"

“If we say this person is a good person, is that fair to the spider? If we say this person is a bad person, is that fair to the butterfly?”

A faint smell of burnt rice brushed against Zhang Yunniang's nose, and she instantly screamed, "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh, my rice, it's over, it's over, burnt, burnt!"

I opened the lid of the pot and quickly used a spatula to scoop out the rice. Fortunately, I discovered it not too late. The rice crust layer at the bottom was not completely burnt, but just a little sticky and still edible.

Jun Qingmo locked himself in the study. He couldn't understand why he felt uncomfortable.

He can now basically take care of himself. In order to reduce the burden on Zhang Yunniang, he usually does everything he can by himself.

But Zhang Yunniang would always pay attention to him. When she was free, she would talk to him and ask him to do work, either this or that.

Now, she doesn't pay any attention to him at all.

Why is she so gentle and attentive to Lanzhi, but why is it like a devil's torture to him?

This is not fair.

Thinking back to when he was sad, what people said was that if he could live, he would live, if he couldn’t, he would die.

And now? Lanzhi had only sat with her head down for a moment, so why did she suddenly run over and tell jokes?

Haha, just kidding. Even as the breadwinner of the family, he doesn’t get this kind of treatment.

I think back to when he was hugged and cried, it just took a while, and people said, "Are you okay? Just cry for a while, the sky hasn't fallen yet."

And now? She could stay by my side without a word, even if I cried all night, and she wouldn’t complain even if I stayed awake all night.

Why? The more I thought about it, the angrier I got.

It was obvious that he was angry, but no one came in to comfort him. Yes, he was the one who closed the window. Yes, he was the one who closed the door.

What? You don't know how to knock on the door?

Wouldn't you ask him to open the door?

She said it, how could he dare not open it?

He just walked away, leaving everything behind? He walked away? He just walked away?

Lanzhi ignored her, so why did she still have the audacity to stick with him? Why? When she got to him, he didn't even ask her to open the door?

He sat there angrily, his arms crossed over his chest, not daring to throw things or scribble.

He thought for a long time and came to a conclusion.

She, Zhang Yunniang, favors girls over boys and treats them differently.

Oh, no, why is he angry? What is he angry about? Yes, why is he angry here?

He slapped his forehead, feeling really confused.

The sunlight filtered through the cracks in the tiles and streamed into the room, illuminating the desk. In a corner of the desk lay a newly made flower arrangement by Zhang Yunniang.

The aroma of food came in from outside, it was very fragrant, including his favorite leek and egg custard.

He didn't like eating fried leeks and eggs, but preferred eating them cooked in soup, but he didn't like drinking the soup. Zhang Yunniang would always put a lot of eggs and leeks and cook them into a soft and tender soup.

He suddenly laughed. Perhaps he was used to Zhang Yunniang's care and was not used to people not paying attention to him.

The person who used to take care of him suddenly started to care about others, just like a child whose candy was taken away.

Tsk, why are you still like a child?

He felt relieved, but suddenly Zhang Yunniang's loud scream came from the kitchen, which scared him so much that he pushed the door open in a hurry.

Panting and rushing to the kitchen, he saw Zhang Yunniang handing a piece of something that looked like rice crust to Lanzhi, muttering to herself.

"The cook, eat first. This rice crust is delicious. Come, you eat this piece, I'll eat this piece. The mushy part below, we can eat it together later. If the young master asks, just say it's all mushy."

Jun Qingmo's face was filled with black lines. Tsk, his self-comfort just now seemed to be collapsing.

Lanzhi caught a glimpse of the person in the wheelchair outside the door. She curled her lips and took a bite. "It smells so good. It's really delicious."

"That's right, smile more, you look so beautiful when you smile. This rice crust is delicious, right? I like rice cooked on a wood stove the most." The words were mixed with the "crunch crunch" sound of chewing rice crust.

"Really?" Jun Qingmo gritted his teeth and snorted, showing that he was very unhappy.

Zhang Yunniang had a rice crust in her mouth. She turned around when she heard the sound and was caught eating alone.

"Um, that's right, eating too much rice crust is bad for your stomach. I'll bear the bitterness, sir. Your stomach isn't in good condition, so eat something soft, something soft."

Jun Qingmo was very ungraceful. He snatched the remaining half piece of rice crust from Zhang Yunniang's hand and chewed it with a crunch.

Ignoring the two people who were stunned, "What are you doing? Let's eat."

"Oh, eat. I'll serve the food." Zhang Yunniang felt a little uncomfortable, wondering why this man was so stingy. It was as if she abused him every day and had to snatch food from him.

Lanzhi looked calm and sat down to eat in silence.

"Don't just eat, eat more vegetables." Zhang Yunniang felt sorry for her. Seeing her so skinny, she knew that although being slim looked good, it was not good for the body. They would be living together in the future, so she wanted to make her body stronger, which would be good for everyone.

She scooped a full spoonful of eggs for the person and urged him to eat more.

In return, Lanzhi picked up a piece of fried meat for her with chopsticks.

She likes egg soup with rice and enthusiastically shares with Lanzhi how to eat it.

In return for the gift, Lanzhi gave her a piece of stewed tofu.

Jun Qingmo looked at the scene in front of him, and a row of black lines slid down his forehead. As the head of a family, he was being excluded.

He shoveled rice into his mouth very ungracefully, and then he was scolded.

"Eat slowly, there's still plenty left. Eating too fast is bad for your stomach."

Jun Qingmo closed his eyes. Was he the kind of person who would eat too much because he was afraid of not having enough to eat? Ah, was Jun Qingmo that kind of person?

It's so frustrating.

Lanzhi looked at the two of them in confusion, as if some things were not what she thought.

Her heart knot had been untied, and she looked at the two of them calmly. It seemed that there would be a good show to watch in the future.

Even the stagnant heart of Tan Shui began to waver.