Chapter 25 Dizziness Hey, why is he like this!

Calm down! Tang Qingduo, calm down!

If I pretend to have just woken up, will Qingqing believe me? Will he suspect that I was faking sleep? If I accidentally let it slip, how will I explain why I was pretending to be asleep?

You can't exactly say it's because you don't want to get up and serve him, can you?

Wouldn't that greatly diminish her dignified and virtuous image?

No, no, no, I can't wake up! Then there's only one choice—

Focus your energy in your lower abdomen and breathe slowly. Qingduo, you are sleeping soundly.

She repeatedly chanted incantations to hypnotize herself, and her breathing calmed down, but the blood in her body was surging, like boiling water in a pot, bubbling up eagerly.

She felt Zeng Zhengqing's breath swirling on her face, like a kestrel trying to catch a spotted dove. Her incantation turned into a plea: Please, please, don't come near me, I can't hold back anymore...

Waaaaah, I promise I'll never pretend to be asleep again!

Just as Qingduo was crying and repenting, her lips suddenly touched something soft, that warm feeling...

It is Qingqing's lips.

"call out--"

Something flew away; it was Qingduo's soul.

It took quite a bit of effort to recall her soul. When Qingduo regained consciousness, she had no idea how long Zeng Zhengqing had been gone. She trembled as she touched her lips, and that brief sensation returned to her memory. She pulled the blanket up to cover her face, her hands gripping the blanket tightly beside her cheek. Even without physical contact, she could feel the warmth emanating from her face.

"How could he do this to me!" she thought to herself, feigning annoyance.

She had never, ever been so intimate with anyone else...

Ahhh! Stop thinking about it! She kicked her legs frantically, rolling around in the blanket as if that would shake off her shame.

Fangqing heard the bed shaking inside and guessed that her young mistress should be waking up soon, so she went into the room and said, "Young mistress, you're awake."

The activity inside stopped abruptly. Qingduo's voice was muffled as she said, "Not yet."

Fang Qing couldn't help but chuckle. She said considerately, "It was this servant who disturbed you, young mistress. Please close your eyes and rest a bit."

As soon as the door closed, Qingduo abruptly threw off the covers, letting out a long breath. It was stuffy and hot. She kicked the covers aside, but her body was still burning up.

"Oh, what's there to be so conflicted about! If you don't like it, next time that brat Zeng Zhengqing gets close, just punch him in the face and tell him you don't like it!" The little Qingduo in her mind split into two, with the left Qingduo crossing her legs impatiently.

But... You Qingduo poked her index finger, lowered her head shyly, and realized that she didn't seem to dislike it... in fact...

I'd like to do it again.

Qingduo covered her face and cried out in sorrow, "Heavens, I am a shameless woman!"

"No!" Zuo Qingduo said in unison, "He's sick and can't do anything else but kiss. Just let him have his fun!"

Qingduo sat up abruptly. So, she was actually doing a good deed, not having any ulterior motives towards him.

She rested her chin on her hand and chuckled to herself. Since that was the case, she didn't mind continuing to pretend to be asleep.

But it's all for Qingqing! It's not that she wants more kisses!

*

Kind-hearted Qingduo has been doing good deeds lately.

She excitedly took her drawing of an apricot tree to find Lu Nong, only to find Zhu Yi there, climbing a ladder and picking apricots. It turned out that Lu Nong wanted to make apricot preserves to sell at the market for some money.

"Is the money you paid off last time not enough to cover your expenses?" Qingduo asked curiously.

"No, not really, but it will run out sooner or later. I can't just sit around and do nothing! I should at least earn something!"

That's true, who would complain about having too much money!

So, Qingduo became one of them. She was in charge of washing the apricots, while Lu Nong used a knife to cut the apricots open and remove the pits.

Qingduo's hand brushed over the plump apricot, and as she rubbed it, a layer of light fuzz rose to the surface of the water. Suddenly, an apricot fell from the tree with a "plop," splashing water onto her face.

"Oh dear!" she complained, looking up with displeasure. "Brother Zhu, be careful."

"Sorry," Zhu Yi said, but kept giving Qing Duo meaningful glances.

What does that mean? Qingduo frowned, puzzled, and then she heard Zhu Yiqing clear his throat and recite: "The flowers have faded, the red petals are gone~ the green apricots are small~"

Qingduo lowered her head and bit her lip to stop herself from laughing out loud, but her smiling face was honestly reflected on the water.

“When the swallows came…when they came…” Zhu Yi scratched his head in deep thought, but couldn’t figure it out. He continued vaguely, “‘That thing’ is winding.”

The words "that thing" were spoken with unusual softness, while the words of confirmation were pronounced with unusual emphasis. Zhu Yi's sudden act of reciting poetry was closely related to Qing Duo.

When Lu Nong was looking for a place to stay last time, Qing Duo noticed that Zhu Yi's gaze was fixed on Lu Nong, and he was very attentive and considerate, seeking her advice at every turn. He even wanted to help Lu Nong pay for the rent, but Lu Nong politely declined.

While the two were standing alone to one side, Qingduo secretly asked, "Brother Zhu, do you like Sister Lu Nong?"

Zhu Yi was startled. He quickly glanced in Lu Nong's direction, and seeing that she hadn't noticed, he turned back and asked in a low voice, "Little Qingduo, how did you know?"

"It's obvious! I'm not blind," Qingduo said dismissively.

"Then tell me... does Miss Lu Nong know?" He asked Qing Duo in a low voice while glancing at Lu Nong.

Qingduo pouted and said, "Sister Lu Nong isn't blind either."

"So, do you think she has feelings for me?" Zhu Yi asked anxiously.

Qingduo shook her head: "Brother Zhu, you're not blind!"

Zhu Yi immediately deflated: "As expected... sigh, what kind of man does she even like!"

Qingduo glanced at Lu Nong, then at him, and suddenly blinked, her eyes filled with cunning: "Since Sister Lu Nong is well-versed in poetry and literature, she must be looking for a man who can accompany her in composing poems. Brother Zhu is skilled in martial arts, I wonder how he is in that regard."

Having dealt with Zhu Yi a few times, she knew he was a martial arts fanatic with no real knowledge of martial arts.

As expected, Zhu Yi sighed, "That's going to be difficult."

"It's not difficult at all," Qingduo said, feigning to comfort him. "It's just a matter of memorizing some poems and texts. With Brother Zhu's intelligence, it's not a difficult task."

"Besides, if you're not willing to put in this much effort, how can you be worthy of Sister Lu Nong?" she said meaningfully.

Upon hearing this, Zhu Yi became even more eager and determined, which led to the scene described above. Qing Duo looked up, her face showing approval, and clapped her hands, exclaiming, "What a wonderful poem!"

Zhu Yi was full of energy, reciting witty lines one after another, such as "A fair maiden is the object of a gentleman's affections," and "In heaven, we wish to be birds flying wing to wing; on earth, we wish to be trees with intertwined branches." As he recited the poems, his eyes kept glancing at Lu Nong, who only lowered her head to pick pits, not even glancing at him. He felt slightly disappointed, but thankfully there was Qing Duo's applause and praise, so he mustered his courage and continued reciting:

"I grow thinner and thinner, yet I have no regrets, for I am wasting away for her sake."

Qingduo smiled broadly, her palms red from clapping. This silly older brother had recited so many heartfelt sentences in one go, but judging from Lu Nong's silent, bowed head, she clearly wasn't buying it. Even she knew Lu Nong was easily embarrassed; if he kept reciting, he would only push her further away.

Upon seeing Qingduo's appearance, Lu Nong immediately sensed Zhu Yi's unusual behavior and wondered who had come up with the idea. After all, Zhu Yi had been kind to her, and she couldn't bear to see him make a fool of himself, so she said, "Alright, Brother Zhu, you've come to help so early in the morning, come down and rest."

She cares about me! It seems that memorizing those difficult verses wasn't for nothing. Zhu Yi was overjoyed and quickly replied, "I'm not tired. I practice martial arts for several hours every day. Picking apricots is nothing to me."

With just a few words, it was as if someone had bestowed upon him decades of skill. He gathered the hem of his clothes with one hand, and with the other hand, he swept across the branches like a whirlwind, soon gathering a heavy pile of yellow apricots. He stepped down the ladder and shook all the apricots into the basin of water in front of Qingduo, not forgetting to softly say, "Thank you."

Qingduo stared dumbfounded at the towering mountain of apricots in the basin, unable to believe that retribution had come so quickly. She had just finished washing one batch with a frown when a new batch of apricots came crashing down on her. She even began to suspect that the apricots were multiplying in the basin, their offspring endless.

Bitter and bitter!

She had long since digested the large bowl of pork chop noodles she had eaten that morning. Exhausted and hungry, she slumped her head and listlessly stirred the water, not even having the energy to listen to Zhu Yi and Lu Nong's conversation.

When Lu Nong politely asked Zhu Yi to rest again, Zhu Yi proudly said, "Miss Lu Nong, don't worry about me. I'm not like those 'fat-bellied' people. I'm very strong!" After saying that, he flexed his arms to show off his well-developed muscles.

Lu Nong was taken aback by what she heard. Before she could reply, Qing Duo jumped up, her eyes scanning the surroundings. She asked urgently:

"Where's the pork intestine?"

Lu Nong sighed. She got up first, helped Qing Duo to the cool couch, gestured for her to lie down, and said to her, "Qing Duo, there is no fatty intestine."

"Ah—" Qingduo sighed.

Lu Nong looked up at Zhu Yi and said, "Brother Zhu, what you probably meant by 'full of brains and fat intestines' is that you are 'fat and bloated'. Brother Zhu is naturally strong and will be fine, but Qing Duo is exhausted and needs to rest. It's also my fault for not thinking things through; we didn't prepare enough ingredients to entertain you. I'll go out and buy some now."

Upon hearing her say that, Zhu Yi immediately jumped down: "I'll go with you, and I can even help you carry your things!"

Qingduo said pitifully, "Hurry back, I'm so hungry I'm practically dried up, drier than a dried apricot."

After they left, Qingduo collapsed completely onto the cool couch, exposed to the sunlight like a dried apricot. She weakly opened her eyes halfway, and the more she looked, the more the sun overhead seemed like a half-cooked fried egg. She couldn't resist reaching out to poke it; "plop," the yolk-like sunlight poured down, and she instinctively opened her mouth wide, wanting to swallow it whole…

Suddenly, her little nose twitched. What smelled so good? Was she starving and experiencing a final burst of energy? No, she sniffed carefully again—it smelled of meat!

She scrambled to her feet, her head spinning from the sudden movement. Ignoring everything else, she staggered to her feet and followed the scent, like a puppy that had caught a bone.

*

Zhu Yi was responsible for the vast majority of the ingredients, while Lu Nong only had a sugar painting of a dragon with outstretched claws in her hand. When the two arrived at the door, they found it locked.

"Huh? Where did Qingduo go?" Lu Nong asked in surprise.

"Did she faint from hunger inside the house?" Zhu Yi wondered.

Lu Nong sighed, "Brother Zhu, she fainted inside, so why is the door locked from the outside?"

Zhu Yi said embarrassedly, "You're right." He added, "She can't have gone far, I'll call out a couple of times and see!" Just as he was about to shout, a familiar voice came from next door.

The voice was full of energy, a stark contrast to the weakness she had shown when she left; just by listening to it, one could imagine the speaker's spirited demeanor. She called out:

"Another bowl, please!"

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Author's Note: Qingduo chews: It's so delicious! I'm so happy that I have new friends who like me. It's worth having another bowl!