Chapter 94 Can finding a man prove your innocence?

Winter days are long, with darkness falling early.

Sheng An drank too much soup at dinner and woke up in the middle of the night feeling suffocated. He groggily got up to put on his shoes.

Suddenly, she realized something was wrong. Her eyes widened, and she fumbled around on the bed with both hands to make sure the man who lay next to her every night was not there.

Half of the bed was already cold, indicating that someone had been gone for a long time.

Sheng An was completely wide awake, wondering where Xu Jinnian would go in the middle of the night, something that had never happened before.

A chill crept in through the crack in the door, and she couldn't help but shiver. The soreness in her lower abdomen became even more pronounced. Forgetting everything else, she quickly put on her clothes and shoes and ran downstairs.

Grandma Sheng originally wanted to put a chamber pot in the young couple's room, but Sheng An felt the smell was too strong and rarely got up at night, so she didn't allow it to be put there.

When she returned to her room, shivering from the cold, she still couldn't find Xu Jinnian.

Feeling uneasy and unable to fall asleep, she lay in bed with her eyes open, waiting.

After waiting for about half an hour, faint footsteps finally came from the stairwell.

If it weren't for the quiet of the night, this sound would be completely inaudible.

For some reason, Sheng An felt a little nervous. Taking advantage of the fact that the room was dark, she slowly adjusted her breathing and pretended to be asleep, but her eyes were fixed on the doorway.

Soon, footsteps approached, and the door was silently pushed open. A tall, imposing figure walked to the bedside, bringing with him the chill of the winter night.

Xu Jinnian didn't realize the person beside the bed was awake. He quietly took off his coat and just as he reached out to lift the blanket, a woman's cold voice came from behind him: "Where did you go?"

Even someone as bold as Xu Jinnian was startled by the sudden turn of events.

He quickly realized what was happening, grabbed the petite body that lunged at him, and pulled the blanket over them both, asking, "Did I wake you?"

Sheng An snorted and asked again, "Where did you go?"

Upon hearing this, Xu Jinnian knew that his wife had discovered his absence long ago and could not cover it up by claiming he had gotten up in the middle of the night.

Faced with the choice between telling the truth and a white lie, he rationally chose to tell the truth: "I'm going to the old house to look for someone."

Sheng An was pleased with the man's honesty and immediately asked, "Who are you looking for?"

Fearing she might misunderstand, Xu Jinnian quickly explained, "They were two men."

Sheng An was speechless, then deliberately provoked him: "Does finding a man prove your innocence?"

Xu Jinnian: "..."

An'an's thought process is always different from that of ordinary people.

Xu Jinnian took a deep breath, cupped Sheng An's face in the darkness, and kissed her: "I'll tell you everything, but you can't get angry."

Upon hearing this, Sheng An guessed that it concerned him and replied ambiguously, "It depends on what it is."

Xu Jinnian kissed her again, his tone somewhat ingratiating: "Yesterday when you went to talk to Zhang Zhaodi, I overheard you passing by the stairwell."

careless?

Oh!

Sheng An was furious and, for the first time, grabbed the man's ear: "How could you hear us when we were speaking so softly? Are you a reincarnation of the Wind-Changing Hearing? Eavesdropping is eavesdropping, don't try to make excuses!"

Xu Jinnian didn't dare to struggle at all, and only used his good looks to attack: "An'an, your husband knows he was wrong. Please forgive your husband this once, okay? Hmm?"

Unfortunately, in the dark, the effect of using physical beauty to attack is greatly reduced, while the effect of using voice attacks is multiplied.

Sheng An unconsciously loosened her grip, her tone still fierce: "So you had someone follow Liu Huazhi in the middle of the night, trying to find out why I hit her that day?"

Xu Jinnian admitted, "Yes, after you fell asleep last night, I went to the old house and found two people."

Sheng'an Grinding Teeth.

Should she praise this guy for his strong execution ability?

They couldn't even wait one night.

Sheng An rubbed his temples and continued, "What did those two discover?"

Xu Jinnian answered quickly and without any reluctance: "They discovered that Liu Huazhi went to Yunxian Town School, the same school where Xu Huaining is. Liu Huazhi said that Xu Huaining is her fiancé."

Is Xu Huaining Liu Huazhi's fiancé?

Sheng An was so shocked that her jaw almost dropped; she never expected that these two people could be connected.

Thinking of Liu Huazhi's covetousness towards Xu Jinnian before their marriage, Sheng An found it hard not to suspect her motives: "Xu Huaining looks a lot like you. Could it be that she can't have you, so she wants to find a substitute who looks like you?"

After stating her guess, Sheng An immediately denied it: "It shouldn't be. She saw you twice after the marriage, and there was no affection in her eyes when she looked at you. It's impossible for her to find a substitute."

Willow branches are reborn, so they must know things that others don't.

For example, a talented young man who can help her rise to prominence.

Judging from this, Xu Huaining is destined for great things.

Thinking of this, Sheng An poked Xu Jinnian's chest: "If Liu Huazhi takes a liking to Xu Huaining, she will most likely try to marry him. Do you think she will get her wish?"

Xu Jinnian didn't care who Liu Huazhi had taken a liking to. He took Sheng An's hand and asked softly, "An'an, you still won't tell me?"

Sheng An scratched his head, feeling utterly helpless.

After hesitating for a moment between speaking and remaining silent, she ultimately chose to remain silent.

"When the time comes, I will tell you even if you don't ask. Right now, the most important thing is to study. Put your mind at ease and don't forget that you will be taking the provincial examination in three years."

Xu Jinnian was silent for a moment before finally agreeing: "Okay."

Sheng An sensed the man's disappointment and, to comfort him, leaned in and kissed him.

Xu Jinnian deepened the kiss until Sheng An was almost out of breath before releasing her, his voice slightly breathless: "An'an, we'll always be like this, right?"

Sheng An's breath hitched; in the darkness, she could clearly feel the man's gaze fixed on her.

Although she knew he couldn't see, she didn't dare hesitate for a moment, saying as if to him and to herself, "Yes, we will always be alright."

Grandpa and Grandma will be fine too.

Xu Jinnian relaxed his tense body, pulled Sheng An into his arms and lay down together, holding her tightly to his chest: "I believe An An won't lie to me."

Sheng An listened quietly to his heartbeat, and couldn't help but move closer to him: "I'm not lying to you."

Xu Jinnian smiled, a hint of relief in his expression.

Sheng An couldn't help but be curious about the man that the reborn Liu Huazhi had taken a liking to, wanting to know what kind of abilities Xu Huaining possessed. Therefore, he didn't let Xu Jinnian withdraw the people who were following Liu Huazhi.

For this, she gave Xu Jinnian an extra allowance as a reward for Atu and Ashui's hard work.

A-Tu and A-Shui are cousins ​​who grew up together without parents or elders.

When they were young, they were often bullied. Xu Jinnian, who was in his teenage years and full of chivalry, couldn't stand it and helped his two brothers teach those people a lesson.

With Xu Jinnian protecting them, the brothers' lives became much better, and they were naturally extremely grateful to Xu Jinnian, always wanting to find an opportunity to repay him.

This time, they finally found an opportunity, and naturally, they complied with Xu Jinnian's every request.

Having slept less than an hour during the night, Sheng An was still somewhat sleepy when he woke up.

Just thinking about the small amount of money made her yawn as she got up and dressed.

Xu Jinnian opened the window for ventilation, and a strong chill rushed in.

Sheng An also felt it and couldn't help but shiver: "It's getting colder again, you should quickly put on a thick cotton coat."

As she spoke, she opened the wardrobe, took out two cotton coats, one large and one small, and immediately changed into the smaller one.

Xu Jinnian did not refuse and promptly changed into the new one.

Sheng An's hands were a little cold, so she couldn't help but put them into his palm: "It seems colder this year than in previous years, maybe it will snow heavily."

It rarely snows heavily in Qingzhou City. In her sixteen years of memory, the heaviest snowfall was when she was eight or nine years old. The snow was just above her ankles, and it melted as soon as the sun came out.

Xu Jinnian saw his wife's anticipation for the snow, and wrapped her cold hands in his, smiling:

"I've heard that Kyoto gets heavy snow every year. If you come with me to Kyoto for the imperial examination, we'll definitely see a beautiful snow-covered landscape before the new year."

Upon hearing this, Sheng An's eyes shone even brighter with anticipation: "It's a deal!"

In her previous life, she lived in the south. In those twenty-five years, she rarely even saw snowflakes, let alone experienced the frozen world of ice and snow.

Xu Jin smiled and, with a gesture full of ceremony, hooked her little finger: "It's a deal."

After eating the shredded pork noodles that Grandma Sheng had cooked early in the morning, the family of five went about their own business.

Sheng An had just finished roasting two batches of chickens and hadn't even had time to prepare the ingredients for lunch when he heard that the customer who had made a reservation had arrived, and it turned out to be an acquaintance.

"Miss Li?"

Looking at the girl dressed in fine clothes and adorned with gold, silver and jade ornaments, Sheng An suspected that the dinner was just a pretense, and that he really wanted to slap her in the face.

Miss Li is none other than the woman who, along with several other wealthy young ladies, spread rumors about her at the Fang family's house last time.

Li Xinhui came with a group of friends. Seeing Sheng An's surprised expression, she arrogantly raised her chin:

"Madam Sheng, today is my sixteenth birthday, which is why I specially invited friends to your Sheng Garden to celebrate. Please don't disappoint me, Madam Sheng."

That day, she ate delicious roast chicken at Fang's house and assumed it was made by the head chef of Zuixianlou Restaurant.

The next day, I went to Zuixianlou to buy one to try, and found that the taste was completely different, realizing that I had made a mistake.

Later, she ate the exact same roast chicken at the Ye family's house. After making some inquiries, she finally learned that the delicious roast chicken came from Shengyuan, and the owner of Shengyuan was Madam Sheng, with whom she had a past conflict.

Li Xinhui felt uneasy ever since she lost face at the Fang family's house that day.

Having no excuse to regain face by confronting Sheng An, she decided, at the suggestion of her friend, to use her sixteenth birthday to invite a group of friends to Shengyuan for dinner.

If Sheng An's cooking doesn't satisfy them, she can use that as an excuse to make Sheng An apologize to her.

Being able to make a delicious roast chicken doesn't necessarily mean you can make a dish that pleases everyone!

The only thing that pained Li Xinhui was that the food at Shengyuan was too expensive. Even the ordinary dishes were more expensive than the signature dishes at Zuixianlou, and her people almost couldn't afford to pay the deposit.

Despite her mother's nagging, she took an advance of six months' worth of monthly allowance from the accounting office.

Thinking about not having any monthly allowance for the next six months, Li Xinhui was extremely annoyed. She glared at Sheng An and said irritably, "I hope Mr. Sheng's skills are worth the money I paid!"