Chapter 7 My cousin doesn't like to smile. "Three bells in a string is just right."...

Before long, the little old man carrying a toolbox was rushed over in a hurry. He was still holding a calligraphy brush in his hand. When he saw the appearance of the periwinkle, he was no longer angry. He widened his eyes and went closer to examine it.

Ying Zheng squatted down to meet the old man's gaze. "Sir, do you know what's wrong with this flower?"

The gardener stroked his long beard, puzzled. "I do know."

“This is black spot disease,” he asked after a moment of contemplation. “This periwinkle, I remember my mother mentioning that it was dug up by the river?”

Banban nodded repeatedly and squatted down together.

Ying Zheng frowned slightly. "Is there something wrong?"

The gardener sighed and said, "If I remember correctly, there were several workshops and forges along that street. Some lazy people dumped their wastewater there, and the periwinkles in that area were already diseased before winter, but the heavy snow covered them up so it wasn't noticeable."

Banban was shocked and immediately grabbed her cousin's wrist. "Huh? Is that wastewater harmful to the human body? My cousin dug it up with his bare hands. Could germs be transmitted to him?"

The gardener chuckled and reassured her, "You won't get past her, don't worry, young lady."

“The periwinkle has been infected for a long time. The pathogens have been overwintering on the plant and are lying dormant,” he explained. “They tend to spread and proliferate during the rainy and hot season. There was a heavy rain last night, and it has been really hot lately.”

That sounds serious, but it's not that it's incurable.

The gardener quickly pruned away the diseased leaves and stems, then mixed some milky white liquid to water the plants.

Banban stayed by the periwinkle for several days in a row, and even her meals lost their flavor.

"I was originally planning to plant periwinkles in the yard after they bloomed and bore fruit. I even learned how to make seeds that are easy to preserve, so I could fill the yard with them." She squatted listlessly in front of the bare flowers, looking like a wilted eggplant.

Ji Changyue stroked her soft hair, "Aren't you happy that you can be cured?"

"But it will take a long time to recover." She couldn't be happy at all. Seeing Yueji reminded her of the conversation she had overheard several months ago. After hesitating for a long time, she finally couldn't resist her curiosity and asked, "Sister-in-law, have you finished embroidering the love knot?"

Ji Changyue said with a stern face, "How do you know everything? Didn't I say I wasn't eavesdropping?"

"..." Oh dear, I've been exposed.

"I..." she stammered, snuggling against her arm and acting coquettishly, "Banban was also worried about her aunt."

Ji Changyue tapped the tip of her nose and said, "Your great-grandmother is very powerful. She has already sent the love knot to my husband. He still has me in his heart. He just wants me to wait a few more days. He will send someone to pick me up and your cousin in the future."

Aren't you angry?

Why are you angry?

“My father said that my aunt’s husband has another wife.”

That's not his wife.

Ji Changyue's smile faded, and she pinched her little face. "You'll understand when you grow up that there's no such thing as a man who only stays with one woman. We don't ask for devotion, we only ask for affection."

Banban instinctively retorted, "Didn't my father only have my mother?"

Since Lady Zhu cannot bear a son, how could Lady Pang do nothing? Currently, the Ji family only has Lady Zhu as the matriarch, but the future is uncertain.

However, Ji Changyue couldn't say these things directly. Firstly, Banban was just a child and wouldn't understand, and secondly, she was Zhu's own daughter, so why should she say these things?

"Alright, alright, your father and mother are a match made in heaven, no one else can interfere." She coaxed them like that.

Ying Zheng noticed that his cousin had been particularly interested in observing Zhu Shi and Ji Xiu lately. Today, while they were having dinner together, Ji Xiu had to go to the shop to check the accounts. It was a set time and he couldn't go back on his word. Outside, a light drizzle was falling. Zhu Shi straightened his collar and told him to tell the coachman to go slowly.

Ji Xiu asked her if there was anything she wanted, and said he would buy it together. "Last night I heard you mention the golden antelope hairpin, and I think it suits you very well."

Zhu scolded him and whispered something.

After saying something, Ji Xiu leaned over, and Zhu Shi quickly pushed him away, saying that the children were all there.

Ying Zheng withdrew his gaze, propped himself up on his arm and touched his forehead, looking at the dishes on the table with a slightly embarrassed expression, his wide sleeves obscuring the couple.

He didn't look, but Banban stared intently, her eyes filled with curiosity and bewilderment.

"..." He lowered his voice, "Banban, are you full?"

She didn't say whether she was full or not, but grabbed two warm milk buns, jumped off the table, and went out with him.

Ying Zheng walked quickly, wanting to get to the other courtyard as soon as possible.

Banban slowly became unable to walk anymore. She ate her milk buns as she walked, but she couldn't hold two at once, so she wanted to share one with him.

"I'm not eating." Ying Zheng touched her round belly, somewhat puzzled as to how she could still keep stuffing food into her mouth.

"I haven't finished eating yet. Is there something important that's urging you to come up with, cousin?"

“It’s nothing important,” he asked her. “Didn’t you see your father and mother are busy?”

Banban blinked, "Huh?"

"If we bump into each other again, come out quickly." Ying Zheng slowed his pace, took her hand, and patted her palm clean, which was covered in crumbs from the milk buns.

“I am my father and mother’s daughter. What is there that I cannot see? They are kissing, not doing anything else.”

"...?"

I don't know whether to be shocked by what she said or by her bluntness.

"Do you know... what kissing means?"

"I know." Banban didn't consider herself a six or seven-year-old child; in her previous life, she was ten, three years older than her cousin. "It's something that people in love can do together!"

She said smugly, "My cousin probably doesn't understand, does he? I know much more than my cousin."

"Love?" Ying Zheng asked in a strange, rising tone, his gaze sweeping over her smiling face. He deliberately said, "I really don't understand. Teach me."

Actually, she didn't know much about it either, but how could she badmouth herself at a time like this?

"Oh, I just want to be together forever, to eat together every day, play together, sleep together, and even be buried together when we die."

"What do you mean by 'dead'? Don't say that word again."

His dark eyes could be quite intimidating when he got serious. Banban squeezed his hand. "It was just a random example."

"You know so much," someone said, seemingly from nowhere, "but have you found someone you love?"

Banban shook her head. "No," she belatedly realized, "I saw it in a sketchbook. Do you believe me?"

"Letter." It's impossible to tell whether there's a letter or not.

"Am I not the one you love?" Ying Zheng pressed on with the first question. "We eat together every day, play together, and are always together. You even rest in my room in the afternoon, which is like sleeping together."

Banban froze, unsure. "Does it count?" she asked, scratching her head in confusion.

"Yes." Ying Zheng nodded firmly.

"Okay. What about my cousin?"

"The people I love most are you and my mother."

That makes sense...

Banban then opened her arms and begged him, "I can't walk anymore, cousin, carry me."

Ying Zheng lowered himself, and she immediately pounced on him, hooking her little arms around his neck and nestling obediently on his shoulder, saying, "My cousin is so good to me."

When they arrived at the villa, he taught her the Primer, a book she had already begun studying a few days prior.

Now Banban can write, and Jiangjiang is trying hard to control the force of the brush when she writes. The characters are not very good. Zhu said that she wrote like a caterpillar crawling, and Jixiu said that it was blurred into a black coal and could not be identified as a character.

Banban muttered, "Can you blame me? I write on bamboo slips or cloth, no wonder the writing smudges. If only I had paper."

If only I had a pencil!

"What is paper?" Ying Zheng asked curiously, frowning.

This really stumped her. She didn't know how to describe it, her expression full of hope. "It's... something thin, foldable and secure, very easy to color, unlike soft, flimsy cloth that can be torn."

Ji Xiu laughed at her wild ideas, saying that there was no such thing in the world, and that it must be an excuse for her to avoid practicing calligraphy.

She was miserable and had things to say but couldn't. She was quite clever and knew that things like rebirth and time travel shouldn't be said lightly. Ancient people were superstitious, and they might roast her over a fire.

Fortunately, she was just a child, and no one believed her casual remarks. They just took it as innocent childish talk, since many children make up words and can't express themselves clearly.

After enduring more than a month of suffering, the periwinkle was completely cured, and Banban breathed a huge sigh of relief.

She had someone carve a large, rectangular flowerpot, modeled after a horse manger, and placed it under the eaves, scattering some new flower seeds inside.

As autumn approached, the leaves turned yellow, and a swing was set up in the yard. She wanted to pick flowers to decorate it, but Ying Zheng stopped her.

"The sap of the periwinkle is poisonous; do not touch it."

"And didn't you say you were going to dry flowers and embroider a flower sachet for me?"

Banban felt guilty. "I've embroidered it, cousin, don't be impatient." Her needlework was terrible; she only did it sporadically, taking it apart and then embroidering it again. Several months had passed and she still hadn't finished a small piece of cloth.

"Is this juice really poisonous?" she quickly changed the subject.

Ying Zheng glanced at her, paused for a few seconds, and said, "You don't believe me?"

She was deflated and simply waved her hand, "Never mind then."

Ying Zheng shook his head. "Take off your bell."

She asked what he wanted to do, and he led her to sit down. "I've just forged a bell, and a string of three will fit perfectly."

Banban froze, letting him untie the red rope from her ankle. "Cousin, where did you get the money?"

He strung the brand-new gold bells on the strings without even raising his head, his long eyelashes casting a small shadow beneath his eyelids. "The hostages of Zhao are of varying talents, but they are all rich." After tying them on, he straightened up, raised his eyebrows, and said with utter contempt, "It's quite easy to make money off them."

When Banban heard him say that, he clapped his hands and exclaimed, "Cousin, you're really amazing! I want one to hang around my neck too!"

Ying Zheng readily agreed without hesitation, "What's so difficult about that? Your birthday is coming soon, and your cousin will give you the most beautiful bead on that day."

Banban was overjoyed and rushed over to hug his neck, acting coquettishly, "Cousin, you have to keep your word! I love you the most, cousin!"

“It counts!” He patted his cousin’s shoulder and hugged her.

There were steps beside her, and he was afraid she would lose her balance and fall down.

Banban was curious about the hostage her cousins ​​had been talking about, but lately her cousins ​​wouldn't let her go with them whenever they went out. A few years ago, when he didn't go out much, she really wanted to go with him, but since he wouldn't take her, there was nothing she could do.

She also wanted to see Prince Dan; she wondered if he had become even more handsome.

My cousin is also very handsome, but he doesn't smile much.

Oh, my cousin is so handsome.

Overjoyed, she coveted his fair face and leaned in to give him a quick kiss on the cheek.

He stiffened slightly, his eyes reflecting his cousin's innocent and lively face. After a moment's hesitation, he followed her example and gently touched her cheek.