picture book

She was silent for a moment, then sighed softly.

"General, you're so foolish."

"Stop talking nonsense. Go wash my clothes and tidy up this room." He suddenly stood up, causing Li Xingxiao, who was massaging her shoulders, to stumble back a little.

She was getting a little tired from massaging him, so she rubbed his shoulders to loosen up and asked, "General, where are you going?"

"This is none of your business." The boy's voice was indifferent. He picked up his coat from the bed and walked out.

After she witnessed everyone leaving, she was forced to do work she didn't want to do.

She picked up Peng Feizhe's clothes with her fingertips and put them into a wooden basin, looking quite disgusted. Then she carried the clothes out of the village. There was a river near the village, where most of the villagers would go to wash clothes and play.

The village's location was quite peculiar; it wasn't on a mountaintop or on rugged terrain, and it was surrounded by trees. It was a place with excellent feng shui, with a river flowing at its foot, which would arrive in no time.

The weather was just right, and some people from the village came out.

"Oh my, isn't this Accountant Xiao? What brings you here to do laundry?" A woman who was doing laundry greeted her warmly when she saw her.

She responded politely, "Hello, Aunt Li. The weather is quite nice, so I came to do some laundry."

Li Sao was surrounded by other women washing clothes; they must have gathered together to chat, finding more enjoyment in doing so.

Another woman waved to her, "Come, come, Xiao Xiao, come wash with us. We have some questions for you."

"Oh, here I come." She didn't refuse, quickly picked a spot, squatted down and started washing.

The river wasn't deep; they were washing in a shallow part of it, the water only reaching their ankles. All around were pebbles of various sizes, the water sometimes engulfing them, sometimes gently lapping at the banks.

"Xiao Xiao, have you heard? This morning, we found that three or four men were missing from our village. The village chief is frantic and has been sending people to search for them."

"Huh?" she feigned surprise.

Another woman chimed in, “That’s right, I have a feeling someone is bringing bad luck to our village. Ever since I saw that pretty boy, I’ve felt uneasy.”

"Sister Mo, who is that pretty boy?" she asked curiously.

"How would I know? Anyway, he completely bewitched Momo, tsk tsk tsk..."

"Oh~, that's definitely not a good thing." She laughed, knowing who that person was, and cursing along made her feel better.

Aunt Li noticed the black clothes she was washing and said, "When did you start wearing black? Look at this fabric, it must be expensive."

"Huh?...Ah...this..." She looked down at the clothes she was washing. "Oh dear, Aunt Li. Doesn't black bring out my charm even more? Isn't there a saying that pink makes women look delicate and black makes men look handsome, each highlighting its own beauty?"

This sentence was made up on the spot, and it made all the women laugh. Sister Mo nudged her and looked at her with great gossip.

"Oh dear~, could it be that our Xiaoxiao has someone she likes?"

For some reason, she thought of her sweetheart, and her ears turned red with embarrassment: "Oh dear! Sister Mo, please stop teasing me."

Aunt He chimed in, "Tell me, whose daughter is she? I'll go and play matchmaker for you!"

"Haha, Old He, if she can get married, the smoke from her ancestors' graves will probably rise as high as our village."

The woman in purple retorted, "Go away, go away! He just has longer teeth and a darker face, that's all. Don't make him look like a demon! Look at our Xiao Zi, how sweet his words are and how talented he is..."

The women chattered on and on, leaving her speechless and only wanting to leave this awkward situation as quickly as possible. She sped up her laundry, while everyone else continued their lively conversation. Only she stood up, looking at them with a wry smile.

"Oh dear, happy times are always short-lived. Ladies and gentlemen, I'll take my leave now." With that, he dashed off.

All she could hear were bursts of laughter behind her. What had she done to deserve this?

The road to Shangzhai was somewhat sloping, and there were also some large rocks on the way down. She hid behind the large rocks, keeping a distance from the women by the river.

"Li Xingxiao! You stop right there!" A familiar voice called out to her as she was about to leave.

She turned around and saw Wei Mo. "I wonder... what brings you here, Miss?"

"Tell me honestly, what did Brother Yilin tell you?" She approached step by step, but perhaps because of her height, she felt that the pressure she released was not enough to intimidate the person in front of her.

"What's so interesting about a conversation between men?" she said helplessly, looking at the little guy.

"Men's conversation? Can't I listen?" She raised an eyebrow at her curiously.

"I'm afraid if I tell you, you'll tell your father that I...harassed an innocent girl..."

She seemed even more curious, crossing her arms over her chest and saying in a childlike manner, "I'm not that kind of person! If you don't tell me, I'll sue you for harassing me!"

"..." She sighed helplessly, "Are you sure you want to hear this?"

"Mmm!" She abandoned her haughty demeanor and looked at her intently, as if she couldn't bear to miss a single word she said.

"I asked him if he would be willing to be the male lead in my sketchbook. If he was willing, he said he would take off his clothes so I could take a look and the picture would be more aesthetically pleasing."

She finished speaking without blushing or being embarrassed, even though it was she who said it; it was the girl in front of her who blushed.

"You!" Her face turned as red as a teapot. She wanted to curse the person in front of her but couldn't bring herself to say it. She stammered, "Is it... the erotic picture in your drawer?... You... you wanted to... draw... Brother Yilin in it?"

Her face was burning hot! Her mind was in complete turmoil.

Good heavens! This guy has no shame! He's only been here a short time and he's already asking such a... such a shameless question!

She looked at Wei Mo in surprise, "Oh dear! Miss, how could you just look at someone else's work like that?"

"Get lost! You shameless bastard!"

She found it amusing to tease the girl in front of her, especially when she talked about matters between men and women and said sweet nothings. Wei Mo's little face always showed various expressions—shy, angry, sad—and she found it inexplicably funny.

"Miss, didn't you say you wanted to hear it? I didn't tell you, and you complained to me. I told you, and you said I was shameless. You hurt my heart so much." She looked at Wei Mo with feigned sadness, one hand covering her heart, the other hand and waist gripping the edge of the basin to prevent it from falling.

Suddenly she heard whispers. She looked in the direction of the sound and heard voices even though there was no one there.

She leaned out a little and saw only some clothes on the riverbank; the women were gone!

...

"Do you think Xiao Xiao likes our chieftain's daughter?"

"Now that you put it that way..."

Listening closely to the conversation was like being struck by lightning; she immediately became obedient.

She knew exactly what kind of people they were and what their personalities were like.

She's not afraid of being talked about, she's afraid of...

Rumors spread like wildfire through the village. Wei Mo drew her knife and struck. The head of the household frowned and looked on, ruining her lifelong reputation.

Wei Mo didn't hear the whispers and felt that she had been teased again. She said angrily, "I'm not playing with you anymore." She ran back to the village and disappeared in the blink of an eye.

"Look, he's made her blush. Now things are getting interesting..."

She quietly walked behind the large rock and saw the women gathered there, laughing and talking as they watched her.

"You guys are really going too far!" She looked at them with a mixture of anger and helplessness.