Chapter 68 A Brief Encounter with Li Yang's Business - Product Optimization (...)

Upon hearing the sound, Chen Junbo put down his pen. As the pen rest caught the ink stain, he got up and went to the door to greet him.

The candle wick crackled and burst open, casting a shimmering light that made the smile lines at the corners of his eyes appear like ripples on spring water.

"Have all the official business in Gao County been completed?" Li Yang had just stepped across the threshold when she spun around and sat down at the round table in the room. "Do we need to go again for follow-up?" A barrage of questions followed.

Chen Junbo smiled and calmly stepped forward to close the door. He saw Xiao Lu carrying a tea tray and glanced at her.

Having received the young master's signal, Xiaolu happily and quietly disappeared into the night. The young master was back, and Brother Bifang must be back too. She turned and ran towards the front yard.

"The general situation is all settled. The remaining matters are being overseen by the River Conservancy Commissioner, so there's no need to worry." He then walked to the window, where the wooden support rod blocked out the heavy twilight. "Besides, Li Yuhan and Lord Zhang are still handling the aftermath in Gao County."

"So there's no need for further travel?" She leaned forward. "Have all the disaster victims been properly settled?"

Under the young lady's persistent questioning, he walked to the corner of the room and lit a lamp. The warm light bathed his face. "Li Yuhan is keeping an eye on things over there, so everything is in order. It's just that I'll need you to continue managing the soup kitchens these next few days."

"Manager Zhong has already made arrangements; it's just a matter of distributing rice and grain." She waved her hand dismissively, her voice lightening upon learning that he was no longer traveling far. The embroidered stool made a soft rustling sound as she turned: "Did you stay well over there? Were the clothes I sent enough?"

Hearing her question, Chen Junbo suddenly remembered the envious look in Li Yuhan's eyes when she received the dried food sent from home and stared at his food box. Liu Yitong, who had taken nearly twenty concubines, had not sent a single needle or thread from home until his last day. These days, when he saw the almond milk specially made in Liyang, he even tasted the sourness in the stir-fried cabbage.

“I’ve taken care of everything.” He chuckled softly. “But I’m afraid Mr. Liu’s residence will be quite unsettled tonight.”

After understanding the legal troubles their colleague was involved in, the two couldn't help but smile at each other.

The lamplight swept across the paper window, and Li Yang was surprised to find that Lanxin Pavilion hadn't been so vibrant and lively in a long time. As her smile faded, a strange warmth lingered in the aftertaste. Chen Junbo was the first to composed himself, lowering his eyes and sitting back down on the round stool.

He had just picked up the teapot when she reached out to take it. They both withdrew their hands at the same time, and silence washed over their touching fingertips like a tide, like the morning dew on the tips of orchids in early spring.

"I'm thirsty." She suddenly reached for the cup, a blush spreading from her earlobes to her neck.

He hurriedly took the teacup and filled it to seven-tenths full. As he tidied his desk, he caught a glimpse of her sipping the tea, the rim shimmering with tiny golden light. He raised his cup as well, but couldn't taste anything.

"And you?" He finally put down his teacup. "How have you been these days?"

These words were like a key that unlocked a floodgate of conversation. Her eyes instantly filled with stars, and she talked about everything from the flower arrangement and tea ceremony to her tea tasting experiences. She even shared her sleepless nights with him. The candlelight flickered as she spoke, bathing those days filled with the aroma of tea in a warm glow.

Chen Junbo, having finally escaped the affairs of Gao County, was in high spirits. He leaned on the table, listening intently to her stories of tea frothing and chrysanthemums. When he heard something particularly interesting, his eyes crinkled with laughter, and the candlelight danced like stars in the black jade mirror.

"That's all there is to it." She paused abruptly as she spoke, a sly glint in her eyes. "Oh, and I also met a Persian merchant today."

"Persian merchant?" He tapped his knuckles unconsciously on the table.

“That’s right!” She suddenly stood up, her skirt swirling in a pomegranate-red arc. “That person was this tall…” She stood on tiptoe and stretched out her hand, but it still wasn’t enough, so she jumped up and down to reach the shadow cast by the roof beam. “You have to bend over to enter the pavilion.” She pouted and gestured. “He was probably over eight feet tall.”

The teacup and saucer opposite each other made a slight clinking sound.

“So foreigners really do have blue eyes,” she leaned closer, the steam from the tea hitting her face, “like a clear sky. And their hair is golden and curly, softer than the tabby cat on the roof of the backyard.”

"The bridge of her nose is so high..." She was so engrossed in what she was seeing that she didn't notice the silence opposite her had turned into a thin layer of frost.

“He’s bringing tea from the ship for me to taste tomorrow.” She suddenly slammed her hand on the table, her bright eyes meeting his directly.

Chen Junbo's Adam's apple bobbed slightly. His words of dissatisfaction swirled between his teeth three times before finally settling deep within him. His gaze swept over the pale blue under her eyes, then shifted to a different avenue, "You didn't sleep a wink last night; shouldn't you get some rest tomorrow?"

Unexpectedly, the young woman fluttered her wings like a sparrow and flew to the window. "I've already made an appointment with someone, how can I break my promise? Besides, I'm going to invite Sister Ziyan to taste the new tea in a few days."

He gazed at the graceful figure by the window, a sense of helplessness welling up inside him. Upon hearing the name 'Ziyan,' he suddenly rubbed his fingertips together: "She's probably not free these days."

"Oh." Li Yang was taken aback.

The room fell silent. All the topics they had saved up for the past few days had been discussed, leaving only their eyes meeting. "I'll go order the food," she said hastily as she left.

In no time, dinner was served. After the servants left, the room became so quiet that one could hear a silver needle falling to the ground.

Li Yang held the porcelain bowl, almost burying her face in it, her chopsticks merely swirling among the white rice. This deathly silence made her extremely uncomfortable, and she couldn't find a single word to say, no matter how hard she tried.

If I had known, I wouldn't have spoken so hastily. I could have held my words until after dinner.

Suddenly, a pair of chopsticks reached out and gently placed a golden lotus root slice on the rim of her bowl. "Eat more vegetables," he said, his voice softer than usual.

Li Yang lifted her eyelashes from the rim of the bowl, a glint of light in her eyes, and obediently took the bowl. Seeing him finally put down his chopsticks and begin to eat, she took a small bite into the pastry, the meat juice instantly staining her cherry lips. Holding the bowl containing the lotus root box, she stared blankly, looking just like a kitten stealing food.

As Chen Junbo gazed at the oily sheen on her lips, a part of his heart suddenly sank.

After more than half a month apart, the days and nights spent braving wind and rain on the dike now seemed to transform into a warm glow on her cheeks. Her lips, glistening with honey, were slightly pouting, moving gently with each chew, like a newly blossoming crabapple bearing the morning dew.

His knuckles unconsciously clenched, and a strange impulse, like a spring flood, washed over the riverbank, made him want to bend down and taste the sweet and sour sauce on her lips.

“Zhaozhao,”

He suddenly stood up, oblivious to the fact that his brocade robe had knocked over his chopsticks.

The young woman looked up at the sound, the lotus root box still between her chopsticks. Before she could ask a question, a shadow fell over her. Chen Junbai leaned over and braced himself against the edge of the table, his jade thumb ring tapping softly on the surface. He stopped half an inch from her lips, his warm breath mingling with the sweet scent of sweet and sour sauce.

Li Yang stood frozen in place, watching his thick eyelashes tremble in the candlelight. When his cool lips finally touched hers, she heard a tinkling sound; her hand had slipped.

The touch lasted only three breaths. When Chen Junbo withdrew, his Adam's apple bobbed violently, and his ears were as red as the rouge she wore that day. He stared blankly at the smudged oil on her lips, then suddenly reached out and gently wiped it away with his thumb, the movement unusually gentle.

"It's stained." His voice was hoarse. When he turned to pick up the chopsticks from the ground, he almost knocked over the table.

Li Yang remained in the position of holding the bowl, only his violently heaving chest revealed his horror.

The faint sound of a night watchman's clapper came from outside the window, and the moonlight spilled through the window frame, illuminating the mess on the ground in a dreamlike way.

As he sat down, his Adam's apple bobbed, and he hurriedly picked up the teacup, pretending to drink. The lukewarm tea flowed down his throat, but it couldn't extinguish the heat rising behind his ears.

He was clearly the most prudent person in the Lianghuai salt industry, but at this moment he was like a naive boy who had secretly hidden rouge, his courage to even look him in the eye had vanished into thin air.

These were clearly efficient and decisive imperial merchants on the embankment, yet they would frequently gaze at the official road around noon.

Despite clearly hating noise, I found her chattering today more beautiful than the pipa music.

This was not a momentary impulse, but a deliberate act that had been lingering in my mind for days.

Before Li Yang could even process these inexplicable feelings, another chopstick of sweet and sour pork was placed in her bowl. She abruptly stood up, taking two steps back, "You, how could you sneak up on me!"

After saying that, she opened her mouth again, but no sound came out. In the end, she could only frantically cover the corner of her lips that had just been kissed with the back of her hand, and then turned around and fled to the canopy bed.

The crimson curtains rustled as she pulled them, the brocade quilt wrapped around her like a silkworm cocoon, yet her heart pounded like a war drum. Li Yang pressed her burning cheek against the back of her hand, the touch lingering on her lips. She clearly tasted the sweet and sour sauce, but now all she could savor was the crisp, clean scent of pine and ink from that person's sleeve.

She peeked out from under the covers and saw the silhouette cut out on the paper door of the cubicle, then quickly closed her eyes again. She cursed herself for being so cowardly, but her fingertips unconsciously traced the skin his thumb had brushed against, and a dimple flashed across her lips.

As the candle wick flickered, Chen Junbo stood there, the warmth of her cheek still lingering on his fingertips. Hearing the rustling sounds of clothes being undressed coming from the cubicle, he suddenly raised his sleeve and lightly touched his lips; the sweet fragrance still lingered.

The night was deep and dark. The bamboo couch in the cubicle creaked, and Chen Junbai stared up at the ceiling. The rigid rules of propriety roared in his mind, yet his lips honestly remembered that fleeting moment of tenderness. He irritably loosened the collar of his undergarment, when he suddenly heard a sound of someone turning over in the inner room. He immediately held his breath. Only when the rustling sound subsided did he realize that he had been dangling in mid-air, supporting himself on the edge of the couch the whole time.

As the second watchman's clapper struck, Li Yang was counting the five hundredth sheep. Suddenly, she heard a slight clatter from the next room, like a teacup being overturned. She instinctively pricked up her ears, only to hear a deliberately suppressed cough.

It turns out he was awake too.

Moonlight streamed over the antique display shelf, illuminating a pair of celadon vases that looked like mandarin ducks with their necks intertwined.

As dawn broke and the window paper turned white, this salt merchant, who always rose at the crack of dawn, surprisingly missed the morning bell for the first time ever.

Li Yang quietly got up. Her gaze swept over the few remaining garments in the trunk, some red with peony blossoms, others green with kingfishers among flowers. In the end, she could only pick up the short red begonia-patterned blouse. The continuous drizzle had left her with almost nothing to wear.

As she was tying her belt, she heard a soft creaking sound from the bamboo couch in the next room, and hurriedly tiptoed out of the room.

Chen Junbo vaguely heard the door hinges turning. He forced his eyelids open and just caught a glimpse of a sunset-colored garment flitting through the crack in the door. He wanted to call out to the person, but he had been working hard on the embankment for days, and his eyelids slumped shut again, and he drifted back into a deep sleep.

"Little deer, hurry up."

Little Deer, her eyes still heavy with sleep, urged Li Yang to jog a few steps to catch up. Normally, the young mistress would get up late, and Little Deer would sleep until dawn. But today, for some reason, she had gone to the early market.

Li Yang walked briskly through the morning dew, and as soon as he turned the corner of the winding corridor, he saw a golden-haired figure standing in the pavilion.

"Greetings, young lady." Lu Jie bowed, his azure eyes reflecting the lingering rain in the garden.

He arrived so early?!

Li Yang considered himself an early bird, but upon arriving at the flower market, he was surprised to find himself being waited for for quite some time.