Chapter 70 I am a Pingcheng native

It was Liu Min.

He ran over while shouting, and when he arrived, he shook off the young master's hand that was gripping Shanlai's wrist, his brows furrowed in anger.

It looks really bad.

Li Xiang quickly chuckled twice and asked Liu Min, "What are you doing here?"

Liu Min glared at him, said nothing, and pulled Shan Lai away.

What a sight! Li Xiang was about to chase after him to argue, but Wei Ying reached out and stopped him.

What are you going to do?

One sentence was enough to bring Li Xiang to his senses.

Yes, they are in love and understand each other perfectly. What right does he have to go with them?

Suddenly I felt very discouraged.

Who is that?

No answer.

Wei Ying asked again, "You like her?"

Li Xiang did answer, but not with this sentence; he answered with the previous one.

"Do you remember when we first met Liu Liansi? I invited you two to Huayue Tower. Zhennu was so beautiful, and her calligraphy and painting were incredibly good, but Liu Liansi said he had seen even better ones. We both insisted on going to see them, but in the end only I went. You didn't go because you had to go to Huguo Temple... It was her. She really is better than Zhennu, a thousand times, ten thousand times better..."

He didn't answer the second question.

After his reminder, Wei Ying remembered that there was such a thing.

It was fate; after all the twists and turns, we still met.

"What's her name?"

"His surname is Yao, and his given name is Shanlai. It's a very unique name, isn't it?"

How big is it?

"It should be the fifteenth..."

Where are you from?

"...I don't know, I've only seen her a few times...Why are you asking so many questions?" He suddenly remembered to ask, "Why did you grab her hand just now?" I didn't even touch a hem of her clothes! Unable to contain his anger, he shouted, "How could you do such a thing? So rude to a beautiful woman! Absolutely disrespectful! I almost didn't recognize you!"

Wei Ying remained silent.

Why did she do something so rude? Because the way she walked resembled a crane fairy.

But looking at her face from the front, she doesn't look like her at all. He Xian looks like her aunt, but she doesn't resemble her aunt at all. Her eyes don't look like her, her nose doesn't look like her, her face doesn't look like her. In short, she doesn't look like her at all.

But she was also skilled in calligraphy and painting.

Are there really so many coincidences in the world?

Could it be?

Before his mind had even fully registered what was happening, he had already dashed out...

Shan Lai was pulled into a restaurant by Liu Min.

Huixianju, I think I've heard of that name before.

She had only heard of him, but Liu Min was very familiar with him. As soon as she entered, a waiter came over with a smile and called him Young Master Liu, asking, "Is it still the second-floor private room today?"

Liu Min nodded, and the waiter went ahead to lead the way.

As we went upstairs, I asked, "Is the food the same as always?"

"Same as always, add a fish. Do you have shad? If so, steam one. If not, then have a sea bass, and also a plate of blanched dried bean curd strips."

Steamed fish and dried bean curd strips are both dishes that Shanlai loves to eat.

The waiter hurriedly agreed, walked to a house, and pushed open the door.

"Please come in, both of you."

The waiter was very well-behaved; he kept his eyes fixed on the ground and didn't embarrass Shan Lai at all.

Shanlai has never eaten at a restaurant before.

"Please sit down."

As soon as they sat down, the waiter came to bring tea, put down the pot, and left, leaving only Shanlai and Liu Min in the room again.

"Why are you out here? I thought I was seeing things..."

She'd almost forgotten about it if I didn't ask!

There are some things that absolutely cannot be said to outsiders, but since Liu Min is sitting opposite me, there's nothing to hide.

The person leaned closer, trying to keep their voice down, and told all the secrets.

"...How terrifying. I'm afraid I won't be able to leave her house. The two of them don't look like sisters at all. They're clearly enemies! When they fight, they don't care about anything and dare to say anything...I've really learned something new."

Liu Min had no interest in how the two young ladies would fight or how their battle would end. What he cared about was that the Liu family had allowed the Duke of Jingguo's family to take Shanlai away.

Although she didn't say much, he knew she must have been angry at that moment.

Suddenly I lost the motivation to do anything.

He remained silent, only keeping his head down.

He was unhappy.

Realizing this, Shanlai stopped her enthusiastic storytelling and cautiously asked him, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing much."

"You can't lie to me... What happened?"

Liu Min looked up at her.

She was a delicate and frail person with a timid expression on her face.

He failed to protect her, and she suffered injustice.

“If something like this happens again, just say you’re not going. Make it clear to them that it was me who told you not to go.”

He knows all of this.

When it was Shanlai's turn to be silent, she didn't speak, but just looked at him.

It wasn't until the waiter came to serve the dishes that the food arrived.

"Eat up, it's all your favorites."

Feeling a bit flustered, I acted haphazardly, even losing my composure by serving food to the servants.

She was indeed stunned for a moment when she came to her senses, but then she thought, what's the big deal? Why can't he serve her food? Thinking this way, she felt at ease.

That's good. Shan Zi knew she couldn't remain indifferent. Her heart lake was bathed in the twilight of midsummer. The scorching sun had blazed all day, so the lake water was warm and soft, and the water plants swayed weakly...

Lian Si was exceptionally kind; he had always treated her very well, even better than his grandmother, Old Madam Qin…

She didn't know what else to say at this moment, so she just lowered her head and silently picked up her rice.

She's always been a cat-eater; with each bite, she picks up only five or six grains of rice, slowly puts them in her mouth, chews them thoroughly, and only swallows them when she's completely full. She's already full before she's even finished eating.

It's frustrating to watch.

“I’ve told you so many times, if you don’t eat more, you’ll never get better. I don’t know who you learned this from, it’s not something to be learned. Eating like this just to look good, what’s the point? It’s not useful at all.”

Upon hearing this, Shanlai was also helpless.

"...I've told you before, this is the only way. If you eat too fast or too much, you'll feel uncomfortable..."

He wronged her! She felt a little aggrieved, but didn't want to argue with him, so she changed the subject.

Why did you go out today?

He himself said that students were not allowed to leave the Imperial Academy. That year, she went to the Imperial Academy to see the camellias, and was initially very happy. However, when she arrived at the agreed-upon location, she couldn't find him. After waiting for a long time, someone finally came to ask. The flowers were beautiful, vibrant and colorful like smoke and rosy clouds, but she seemed listless. He said many things, but she didn't answer a single word. After a long while, he finally realized something was wrong and asked her what was wrong. At that time, she also felt very wronged. He dared to ask, so why couldn't she answer? So she questioned him about why he hadn't come to pick her up and made her wait so long. He hurriedly explained to her that students were not allowed to leave the Imperial Academy without a valid reason, and he had no choice but to ask his senior brother for help, but he hadn't expected to have asked the wrong person.

Of course, given his status, it would have been easy for him to go out, but back then he was extremely cautious in everything he did, not daring to make a single wrong move.

He only said one sentence, and that was enough. Shanlai understood everything, and she couldn't bear to make things difficult for him. "Okay, I understand."

I know all of that.

"...The cafeteria has a new cook; it's Dr. Song's nephew now."

It really wasn't tasty. He managed to eat it for half a month, but he couldn't take it anymore, so he would sneak out to eat every day. He was busy at noon and had little time, so he could only grab something quick and easy nearby. Therefore, he had to eat something better for dinner.

But no matter how good the food is, it's tasteless when you're eating alone.

But Shan Lai was standing next to him.

Liu Min liked Li Xiang very much. Li Xiang was his first friend in the capital. He was a good person who treated him very sincerely. However, when Li Xiang stood with Shan Lai, Liu Min disliked him. In fact, he hated him.

When Li Xiang was still at the Imperial Academy, he frequently asked Liu Min about Shan Lai, going on and on about this and that, often expressing his admiration for her, saying how beautiful, radiant, charming, and graceful Miss Yao was, with a kind and gentle nature... This annoyed Liu Min, who regretted bringing him along in the first place. But things got even worse. Li Xiang's admiration wasn't enough; he even begged Liu Min to take him to see Shan Lai again, saying he missed Miss Yao so much he couldn't sleep, her image constantly before his eyes, fulfilling the old saying, "longing for her day and night, tossing and turning in bed..."

Liu Min, of course, refused to agree and wouldn't budge. Li Xiang was at a loss, and in his anger, he made some threats, but they remained just words; he never followed through. Eventually, he left the Imperial Academy. Liu Min had been worried that he might harass Shan Lai at Huguo Temple, and indeed, he did go and saw him. But after the meeting, Shan Lai went to Liu Min, looking dejected, and said, "Miss Yao doesn't like me. She has someone else in her heart. Tell me, what kind of person does Miss Yao like?"

Anyway, it's not like you.

Liu Min forgave him.

But he was really persistent. Even though he knew that Shanlai had someone else in his heart, he still went to Huguo Temple often. He rarely saw Shanlai, and he rarely saw him. Even when he did see Shanlai, Shanlai didn't pay much attention to him.

Over time, even Liu Min began to feel sorry for him. But he still refused to explain to him that he had come from a good family.

I had stopped caring about it, but when I actually saw it, I was still angry, really angry.

"Don't talk to Li Xiang anymore. If you see him in the future, remember to avoid him if you can."

"Why? Isn't he your good friend? You two broke up? How come I've never heard you mention it?"

"...We haven't broken off relations, but you shouldn't talk to him." He spoke haltingly.

Shanlai knows everything.

She suddenly felt that the whole world was unusually quiet, and apart from her own breathing and the increasingly heavy pounding of her heart, there was no sound at all.

"...I didn't really have any dealings with him, except that I'd seen him a few times when he went to Huguo Temple to pray for his grandmother..."

She felt a pang of regret after speaking, realizing her voice had been too bright, fluent, and cheerful...

Fortunately, Liu Min's voice was cheerful, "Okay, I won't talk to him anymore. Hurry up and eat, it's getting cold."

"Um."

Just as I was about to swallow a mouthful of rice, there was a sudden loud bang, and the door was kicked open.

Shanlai was so frightened by the sudden turn of events that he choked and turned to the side, clutching his throat and coughing violently.

As soon as the door opened, Liu Min stood up and glared angrily at the uninvited guest at the door. However, the noise that Shan Lai was making was too loud to ignore, so Liu Min couldn't care less about the person who came and hurriedly ran over to pat Shan Lai on the back.

After catching my breath and drinking some water, I finally felt better, but I was already so weak from coughing that I felt dizzy and lightheaded.

They really suffered a lot.

It's all this person's fault.

Looking at it with a melancholy air, it seemed to be weeping and lamenting.

Wei Ying felt a sudden jolt in her heart.

Yes! That's exactly it! That's how Crane Fairy is! She's not well; she can't stand the sun or get wet in the rain. She gets sick after just one trip outside. Everyone else is fine, but she's like this, so she always has a very aggrieved expression, as if she's been bullied by someone...

He practically lunged at her, grabbing her arm as if grasping at a lifeline, but his voice was restrained.

"...Miss Yao, where are you from? Are you from Xingdu? Your Mandarin is very good..."

He stared intently at her, as if trying to see right through her, leaving her nowhere to escape...

This person knows me too.

That's what she thought.

but……

She suddenly looked at Liu Min.

Perhaps they did know each other, but what difference did it make? She didn't remember, but her father knew. He didn't want her to come to the capital. Times change, and the past is no longer important. Now she has a stable life and someone she loves…

She doesn't want to gamble.

“No.” She looked directly at him and answered firmly, “I’m from Pingcheng. I’ve always stayed at home with my parents. I only came to Xingdu for the first time when I was ten years old. I learned Mandarin from the people around me in the past few years, and I don’t speak it very well. It often has a local accent…”