Chapter 56 A piece in Xie Baoqiong's hand...

A worn-out wooden plaque, almost identical to the one in Xie Baoqiong's hand, was slammed onto the table between the two of them.

A muffled thud was heard.

The surrounding crowd cast glances at them subtly.

Li Yi glanced hastily into the crowd in a panic, picked up the bowl of sweet soup and drank it all in one gulp. He hurriedly put the bowl back on the table, grabbed the banner, pushed through the crowd, and fled in the opposite direction of the sound source.

Xie Baoqiong clutched the wooden plaque, staring blankly as Li Yi's clothes disappeared into the crowd.

A burly man with a rugged appearance emerged from the crowd and walked steadily toward the table where Xie Baoqiong was sitting.

Where are they?!

He picked up the wooden plaque from the table, looked around, and his eyes met Xie Baoqiong's. He noticed that the latter had the same wooden plaque as him and kindly reminded her, "Little kid, did you see where the person who gave you the wooden plaque ran off to?"

That man is a fraud. I had a fortune teller examine it; this plank is just ordinary wood. He charged me five coins for such a worthless piece of wood.

Xie Baoqiong pointed in a direction.

The burly man thanked him, then said, "Little girl, if I catch him, I'll get back the money he swindled from you." Turning to leave, he suddenly looked back at Xie Baoqiong and asked, "Do you want to come with me?"

Xie Baoqiong shook his head. He still had to wait for Xie Zhuo here, so he said, "That person hasn't had time to collect the money yet."

The burly man did not insist and hurried off in the direction Xie Baoqiong had indicated.

"wait……"

Xie Baoqiong withdrew the wooden plaque she had handed over.

He intended to give the wooden plaque to the burly man so that he could return it to Li Yi, but the burly man walked hurriedly and soon disappeared into the crowd, just like Li Yi.

The empty bowl of sweet soup was placed opposite Xie Baoqiong, and was taken away by the stall owner after a while.

Xie Baoqiong raised her eyes, her gaze sweeping across the street where the crowd was gradually dispersing. She caught a glimpse of light on the river out of the corner of her eye and stood up.

After he left, the stall owner quickly tidied up the table.

Xie Baoqiong didn't wander around; she simply moved her position from the table and chairs in front of the stall to the riverbank opposite the dessert stall.

The flickering river lanterns floated on the water below the riverbank, drifting downstream from the direction of the bridge.

Xie Baoqiong had never seen a lamp floating on water before, and she was completely absorbed in watching it.

A familiar voice suddenly rang out from the crowd behind him, piercing through the noise and reaching his ears accurately:

"Have you seen a boy? He's about this tall..."

Xie Baoqiong turned her head to look.

In front of the lanterns hanging at the sugar water stall, a tall figure appeared, like a jade tree in a fairy pavilion, cultivated by absorbing the moonlight.

The warm yellow candlelight bathed his cold-colored figure, giving him a touch of mortal appearance.

Xie Zhuo was holding an oil paper package in one of his hands, and asked the diners near the dessert stall with an anxious expression.

Xie Baoqiong nimbly slipped through the crowd, threw herself into Xie Zhuo's arms, and tilted her head back to reach for the oil paper package in Xie Zhuo's hand:

"father?"

Xie Zhuo tightened his grip on the oil paper package. He couldn't pull it out immediately, and Xie Zhuo grabbed his wrist and pulled it aside.

With the oil paper package removed from her sight, Xie Baoqiong's gaze finally turned to Xie Zhuo's face.

Away from the lantern's light, Xie Zhuo's face was buried in shadow, unlike his usual gentle demeanor. His lips were taut, and his brows looked like they were wrapped in oiled paper with wrinkles.

Xie Baoqiong belatedly tried to pull her wrist back from Xie Zhuo's grasp.

"Qiong'er, did I tell you not to run around before I left?" Xie Zhuo asked.

“I didn’t wander off; I was waiting for you right across from the stall.” Xie Baoqiong pointed to the riverbank where he had just been.

Xie Zhuo looked in the direction Xie Baoqiong was pointing. When he returned earlier, he didn't see the person at the table. He felt a moment of unease, worried that what happened in the capital would repeat itself. In addition, with the crowd surging, he didn't notice the corner Xie Baoqiong was pointing to.

“The one running around is Dad.” Xie Baoqiong’s next words reached Xie Zhuo’s ears, who was distracted.

Before Xie Zhuo's emotions could change, Xie Baoqiong's calm tone stirred up ripples in his recently restored heart.

“After my father passed away, some people asked me if I wanted to go with him, but I didn’t go with him.”

As Xie Baoqiong spoke, her gaze shifted to the oil paper package in Xie Zhuo's hand, from which a faint, sweet aroma wafted out.

Xie Zhuo moved the oil paper package further away, placed his free hand on Xie Zhuo's shoulder, leaned down to meet his gaze, and saw a hint of regret in Xie Zhuo's eyes, which reflected his figure.

"I should have brought yours with me."

"Dad, the sweet soup is also very delicious." Xie Baoqiong didn't think too much when he said this, only that if Xie Zhuo had brought him earlier, he wouldn't have been able to drink the sweet soup.

Xie Zhuo paused for a moment, then understood the meaning behind Xie Baoqiong's words. Seeing that the latter was staring intently at the oil paper package in her hand, he tapped her head:

"You..."

Xie Baoqiong's head was poked and she fell to the side, but she got the golden candied hawthorn in her hand as she wished.

He noticed with his sharp eyes that there was another string inside the oil paper package, but Xie Zhuo wrapped it up again.

Xie Baoqiong licked the golden outer skin of the red fruit; it was sweet and had a slightly cool taste.

He bit into it, mimicking the sound he had heard before. The sound of the sugar shell cracking overlapped with the sound of Amei biting into a sugar shell in his memory.

He ate the shattered sugar shell, the sound he made muffled.

"Dad, why aren't you eating?"

"Both skewers were bought for you; I'm saving them for you to eat tomorrow."

Xie Zhuo put away the oil paper package, which had shrunk in size, as he spoke:

"You mustn't sneak any food when you get back tonight."

Xie Baoqiong nodded and vaguely agreed. Anyway, both skewers were his; it was just a matter of eating them earlier or later.

He took another bite. He had already eaten the sugar coating of the first fruit, and this time all that was left in his mouth was the bright red fruit covered with spots.

The lingering sweetness spread in his mouth first. Xie Baoqiong took a bite without warning, and the strong sourness quickly dissipated the little remaining sweetness, filling his mouth.

His steps, which were following Xie Zhuo forward, suddenly froze on the spot.

Xie Zhuo's sleeve was tugged by him, and he stopped in his tracks.

Looking back, I saw Xie Baoqiong with a blank, vacant expression:

"What happened?"

Xie Baoqiong had a half-chewed fruit stuffed in his mouth. As soon as he opened his mouth, an even stronger sourness rushed up, making him unable to speak clearly.

A fair, jade-like hand was brought to his lips:

"Qiong'er, spit it out."

Xie Baoqiong had already closed her eyes tightly and swallowed the fruit with difficulty, her voice soft and sour from the sourness as she complained to Xie Zhuo:

"Father, the fruit inside isn't ripe yet."

Xie Zhuo withdrew his hand, his eyes flickering as he realized what Xie Baoqiong had said:

"Qiong'er has never tried hawthorn?"

Xie Baoqiong opened her eyes and looked at the candied hawthorn with a chip in her hand.

"hawthorn?"

Xie Zhuo's eyes were unreadable: "Hmm, hawthorn, it tastes sour, Qiong'er doesn't like it?"

Xie Baoqiong neither said it was bad nor good; she simply handed the gourd skewer back to Xie Zhuo.

"Dad, you eat."

The candied hawthorn skewer that returned to Xie Zhuo's hand was missing the top hawthorn, revealing a section of bamboo skewer and the next hawthorn, with irregular sugar shells remaining on the top.

Xie Zhuo wouldn't mind, but when he looked down at Xie Baoqiong, her eyes were still fixed on the candied hawthorn.

"You really don't want it anymore?"

Xie Baoqiong hesitated for a moment, then nodded hesitantly: "If Father likes it, give him the other string."

On the street, passersby saw a strange sight.

A young man was holding the hand of a small child, who kept glancing hesitantly at the candied hawthorn in the young man's hand.

But the young man kept his eyes straight ahead and ate the entire candied hawthorn in his hand.

Xie Zhuoneng could vaguely sense the reproachful or strange gazes directed at him. After a moment's thought, he guessed the reason. He lowered his eyes to meet the innocent gaze of the "culprit".

The "culprit" silently withdrew their gaze and even offered a comment:

"Dad eats so fast." His tone was slightly disappointed.

Xie Zhuo rubbed the fluffy head:

"How about we buy some sugar figurines for Qiong'er?"

He remembered passing by and recalling a sugar figurine stall nearby.

"Sweet? Not bitter?"

After receiving Xie Zhuo's affirmative answer, Xie Baoqiong nodded with bright eyes: "Okay."

She soon arrived at the sugar figurine stall, where several strings of sugar figurines of different shapes were placed in front of Xie Baoqiong.

Before he could even choose, the stall owner offered to mold various shapes.

Xie Baoqiong said without thinking:

"Make it in the shape of a red fox, a red fox with two tails."

The vendor worked quickly, first taking a piece of milky white sugar as the core, then coating it with a layer of reddish sugar icing...

Xie Zhuo looked thoughtfully at the two-tailed fox that was gradually taking shape in the stall owner's hand.

Xie Baoqiong, who was holding his hand, was focused on the sugar figurine, but her attention was drawn to a figure not far away.

Just a few steps away, Li Yi turned around at that moment, and their eyes met through the gaps in the crowd.

Li Yi looked around, not seeing the burly man chasing after him, and stepped closer to Xie Baoqiong, whispering:

"Young friend, what do you think of that amulet?"

"What kind of amulet?"

A familiar yet unfamiliar voice rang out from above.

Li Yi slowly raised his gaze, landing on Xie Zhuo's face as he turned around beside Xie Baoqiong, and his smile gradually froze:

"Uh... Lord Xie, it's nothing, you misunderstood..."

"Father, this." A hand held up the wooden plaque, bringing it to the center of their gazes.

Li Yi swallowed hard.

Xie Zhuo took the wooden plaque from Xie Baoqiong and examined it.

Li Yi didn't show it on his face, but he was extremely panicked inside.

The longer Xie Zhuo looked, the more frightened he became.

He tried to run away, but the banner in his hand was firmly nailed to the spot. Looking down, he saw that Xie Baoqiong, who had just taken out the wooden sign, was holding the bottom of the flagpole. He was just thinking to himself, "Where does a little kid like me get such strength?" when he heard Xie Baoqiong's voice:

"You're sweating a lot."

Li Yi wiped his face casually, a stiff smile on his face:

"Lord Xie, I was blind and didn't know this young master was from your family."

This wooden plaque can be given to the young master as a toy.

The more nervous he became, the clearer Li Yi's mind became. He hadn't taken any money from the child.

He glanced quickly at Xie Zhuo. Tsk, he hadn't noticed when they were separate, but when they were together, their faces were so alike. He must have been starving today, and he'd really offended such a jerk...

Li Yi's thoughts were still racing when a soft sound suddenly came from above his head:

"How much?"

"Huh?" Li Yi looked up, his face full of surprise, but then he breathed a sigh of relief.

"No...no need, it was originally a gift for the young master."

Xie Zhuo ignored Li Yi's refusal and took out a silver ingot, stuffing it into Li Yi's palm.

The icy touch felt like a dream, then was interrupted by a "cooing" sound.

Li Yi was still a teenager after all, and when he realized that the sound was coming from his abdomen, a blush of embarrassment and annoyance rose on his face.

"Give."

A package wrapped in oil paper was handed to him, and a faint sweet smell wafted out from it.

Li Yi kept his head down, his expression unreadable, but he quietly clenched the silver ingot and the oil paper package in his hand.

Xie Zhuo recalled the case files he had reviewed, his gaze falling on the young man who was only a few years older than Xie Baoqiong. He didn't say much else, only offering a word of advice to Li Yi before he left:

"Your skills are good. You can find a carpentry job in the future and make a good living."