Chapter 38
Shen Ah Heng shuddered at the sinister aura coming from him, and said unhappily, "I didn't run away. I served you all night, and I can't come back to catch up on some sleep and eat? You've been an official for a few years, and you want to treat me like a beast of burden, right?"
As she spoke, she glanced at the Western Region guards who were surrounding her like demons, her brows furrowed even tighter. "Remove all of you and get the customers back. It's not easy to run a small shop, and we can't afford your trouble."
Ashina Yu was still sitting at the wooden table, his face pale and cold, with a few strands of hair hanging in front of his forehead, adding a bit of coldness.
The afterglow of sunlight filtered through the window outside and fell on his face, outlining a smooth and delicate jawline. His pupils were as black as if dipped in ink, and his lips were pale in color, yet they exuded a sense of gorgeousness. However, his face still had a hint of paleness, and it was obvious that he had suffered great damage from the poison attack last night, and his body was still very weak.
He didn't respond, his fingertips still digging at the edge of the table, the redness at the corners of his eyes still lingering, his voice still filled with stubbornness, still dwelling on what happened before: "You ran away again... You left secretly while I was asleep. I let my guard down, and you ran away again."
"You're not done with your mumbling, are you?"
Shen Ah Heng sat down opposite him, holding his chin with one hand, and asked: “Let me ask you something first, have you eaten?”
Ashina Yu was stunned for a moment, then subconsciously followed the conversation and answered, "Not yet."
"Now that things have come to this, let's eat first."
Shen Ah Heng was just reading a random reply. She had just woken up and was extremely hungry. She didn't have time to listen to his nagging accusations like a complaining husband. She turned around and shouted to Xiao Wu who was peeking behind the counter: "Xiao Wu, two bowls of beef noodle soup, a plate of pickled cucumbers, and a basket of steamed dumplings. Hurry up!"
Xiao Wu was stunned when he heard this, and his eyes quickly shifted between the two people in the lobby.
The young man, who had just been filled with hostility and looked like he was about to destroy the entire store, now had some of the gloom surrounding him dissipated. He no longer had any intention of overturning the table or destroying the store. He just stared straight at their Doctor Xiao Shen. He immediately breathed a sigh of relief and quickly responded, "Okay, Mr. Xiao Shen, wait a minute, I'll be right there!"
After saying that, he turned around and ran to the kitchen, his pace a little faster than usual.
Because there were only these two people in the restaurant at that time, the dishes were served faster. After a while, Xiaowu came out with a wooden tray and placed it steadily on the table.
Shen Ah Heng was already starving. Looking at the steaming, clear soup with beef noodle soup topped with bright red oil, his mouth watered immediately. He picked up a pair of chopsticks and handed them to Ashina Yu, then picked up another pair himself, picked up a big mouthful and stuffed it into his mouth. While slurping the noodles, he puffed and said vaguely, "Eat quickly, it won't taste good if it gets cold."
The scalding steam from the beef noodle soup made the tip of her nose slightly red. She didn't notice that the person opposite her was staring at her face, from the hand she handed over the chopsticks to the way she ate. Her Adam's apple rolled slightly, and the fingertips holding the chopsticks trembled slightly, then quietly relaxed a little.
Shen Ah Heng buried his head and slurped the noodles until half of the bowl was empty before he slowly raised his eyes.
The person opposite was still sitting stiffly, the chopsticks in his hand motionless, his knuckles bluish-white.
The noodles in his bowl had already clumped together, and the heat had dissipated, leaving only the warmth.
But he didn't move a word, staring at her straight. The redness at the corners of his eyes had not faded yet, and his pupils were covered with a layer of damp and cold mist. Even his breathing was very light, as if he was afraid of disturbing something.
“What are you staring at me for?” Shen Ah Heng couldn’t help but tremble, and pointed at his bowl, “The noodles have become porridge, if you don’t eat it, it will be thrown away.”
Ashina Yu then moved, her Adam's apple rolling slightly. She didn't touch the chopsticks, but her fingertips gently rubbed the chopsticks, as if there were still traces of the chopsticks she had just handed him. Her voice was very low, with a gloomy and sticky feeling: "When you were eating... you didn't think about me."
In the past, I always thought of you no matter what I did.
"What did you say?" Shen Ah Heng was putting a chopstick of noodles into his mouth. He didn't hear what he muttered clearly and raised his eyes vaguely.
Ashina Yu clenched the chopsticks with pale fingertips, and the tips of his ears quickly turned red. He quickly lowered his eyes to avoid her gaze, and lowered his voice even more: "No, nothing."
As he said this, he imitated her and picked up the clumped noodles in the bowl.
In fact, ever since she left three years ago, he has to experience the pain of not being able to see her every time he opens his eyes. Since then, he has lost his appetite. He couldn't see her when he woke up just now, and he couldn't eat when he was waiting in the store.
But no matter how bad the noodles tasted at this moment, he didn't care. He just chewed them in small bites, and kept his eyes glued to Shen Aheng's profile, even refusing to let go of her small movements of wiping the corners of her mouth.
More than a dozen guards stood stiffly around them, and the waiters huddled in the corners, stealing glances at them. Shen Ah Heng was in no mood to eat slowly. He finished the remaining noodles in a few bites, wiped his mouth with a handkerchief, and stared at the person opposite him.
When he ate, he was just like her, slow and leisurely, even the height of his chopsticks was about the same. He didn't seem to wolf down the food like she did.
Ashina Yu lowered his eyes, but the tips of his ears instantly turned red when she looked at him. His hands holding the chopsticks were shaking slightly, but he still pretended to be calm and ate the noodles slowly as if counting.
Although he was obviously panicking, he didn't dare to eat even a little faster, for fear that his eating habits would be ugly and make her unhappy.
He finally finished swallowing the noodles in his bowl, clenched his chopsticks, and gently placed them on the edge of the table. His Adam's apple moved, and his eyes were soft. Just as he was about to say "Let's make peace", he heard Shen Ah Heng across from him speak first: "Have you finished eating? Hurry up and take your people back. There are so many guards standing here that customers dare not come. It affects other people's business."
“…”
Ashina Yu's grip on the chopsticks suddenly tightened, his knuckles livid. He stared blankly, and it took him a long time to digest the words "Take your people back." His eyes, which had been covered with mist, instantly sank, and a blush flashed at the corners of his eyes again. His voice trembled, "You're driving me away?! Are you planning to abandon me for a few thousand taels of silver like you did three years ago, or just run away on your own when I wasn't paying attention, like last time?"
The damp aura around him surged up again, and even his breathing became rapid. With endless persistence, he said: "I'm telling you, it's impossible! Wherever you go, I will go. This time, I will never let you go!"
The moment the words fell, the hall was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop.
Shen Ahheng froze in his chair, lowered his head belatedly, and glanced at his men's clothing. He was wearing a coarse cloth shorts that had been washed white, with brown medicine residue on the cuffs. He had a plain square scarf wrapped around his head, and a pair of ordinary hemp shoes on his feet. Even the yellow belt tied around his waist was worn to a hair.
He was clearly dressed as a simple pharmacist, but as soon as Ashina Yu said this, the looks of the guards around him changed immediately.
There was surprise, inquiry, and several waiters huddled their heads together, their eyes filled with curiosity and ambiguity, their mouths moving non-stop. They looked as if they were watching a play on the stage about "the unfaithful young man and the young man's infatuated pursuit of him."
Shen Aheng's old face suddenly burned up, he opened his mouth, his fingers clenched the chopsticks, he couldn't help trembling, he collapsed and wanted to disappear on the spot.
What the hell is this?!
Can't he consider the occasion?
Now everyone looks at her as if they are looking at a heartless person who has seduced and then abandoned her!
If this gets out, even if she changes back into women's clothes, her reputation as a girl will be ruined! Shen Ah Heng is now regretting it in her heart. Back then, when they were on Qingxiu Mountain, why did she only think about teaching him how to collect herbs, identify herbs, and keep enslaving him, without spending more time to teach him the etiquette, righteousness, integrity and shame of the Central Plains?
If she had known that he would speak out his sticky thoughts without regard to the occasion or status, she would have forced him to recite the "Book of Rites" to make him understand what "avoiding suspicion" and "proper conduct" meant!
But now, he has no idea how to write the word "shame". He said such words in public, putting her, a "famous doctor", on the spot. The way people around her looked at her was enough to poke holes in her.
Shen Aheng was angry and anxious, and couldn't speak clearly: "You, what nonsense are you talking about! Who is going to abandon you? Can you speak more quietly! "
Ashina Yu was stunned by her yelling, and the hand holding the chopsticks loosened, but quickly clenched it again. The blush at the end of her eyes became more intense. She raised her head slightly and stared straight at Shen Aheng, her voice filled with a bit of grievance and confusion: “I’m not talking nonsense.”
He was obviously just afraid that she would run away again and just wanted to follow her, so why did he make her angry?
He didn't care about the looks of the people around him, and he didn't understand etiquette or morality. He only knew that if he gave in now, the person in front of him whom he had been thinking about day and night might disappear without a trace just like three years ago.
Shen Ahheng could clearly feel the gazes around him getting hotter and hotter, like countless fine needles pricking his back. Even the shop assistants' suppressed whispers drifted faintly into his ears, saying things like "the habit of the gay", "true love", "storybook", and "best-selling".
Looking at Ashina Yu again, her eyes were red, her lips were pursed, and her hand holding the chopsticks did not loosen at all. She looked stubborn, as if saying, "I will never back down until you give in." She refused to listen to any advice.
Shen Aheng stared at him for two seconds, then suddenly slumped his shoulders as if deflated. Forget it, let it be destroyed.
All the ethics, integrity and the clean image of "famous doctor of Duxi Town" are completely gone today.
Destroy it, let love spread as it pleases!
Shen Aheng simply gave up on himself and no longer lowered his voice. He reached out and grabbed Ashina Yu's wrist, squeezing it tightly, causing the chopsticks in his hand to drop to the table with a "clang". He said expressionlessly and numbly, "Come on, tell me outside. If you stand here any longer, I'll kill myself!"
Ashina Yu was stunned by her sudden action and harsh words. The chopsticks in his hand fell to the table with a clang. His stubborn and aggressive look instantly wilted. He didn't dare to be stubborn anymore. He let Shen Aheng pull his wrist obediently and followed her out with a staggering step, a faint blush on the tip of his ears.
He no longer looked at the people around him, but just lowered his head and stared at the two people's clasped wrists, his pale fingertips curled up quietly.
Shen Aheng walked forward, pulling Ashina Yu with one hand. He caught a glimpse of the guards in the hall following closely, and his steps suddenly stopped.
She turned around, her fair and delicate face cold, and said to the group of guards: "I want to say a few words to him, don't come over here."
The guards looked at each other, obviously not daring to make a decision on their own.
They always obeyed the orders of Master Lingchi, but when they looked at their master, they saw that he was being pulled by the wrist by the young girl in front of him. He walked forward without looking back, his eyes glued to the other's silhouette, not paying any attention to them.
The look on his face, with only the person in front of him in his mind, made the guards afraid to step forward and froze in place.
Shen Aheng dragged the man into a quiet alley, and after confirming that there was no one around, he suddenly let go of his wrist.
He took a half step back, his face showing a helpless expression of "I really have no other choice", and his tone was a little tired: "Tell me, what do you want me to do in order to leave?"
Ashina Yu's wrist still retained the warmth of her palm. He subconsciously curled his fingers, as if to hold on to that residual warmth. Although the tips of his ears were still red, his eyes turned cold again. He said stubbornly, "I won't leave."
After he finished speaking, he paused, his voice deeper than before, and a hint of grievance hidden in it: "In the past, you always took advantage of me to leave when I wasn't paying attention. This time, I won't let you leave me behind again. From now on, don't even think about getting rid of me again!"
Shen Aheng looked at his current unyielding appearance, feeling angry and confused.
How come he has become so shameless after not seeing him for a few years? He used to be a man whose ears would turn red when he said a word, but now he is pestering her so bluntly.
She suddenly missed the young man in Qingxiu Mountain three years ago, who always held a medicine grinder in his arms, had a faint herbal fragrance on his body, was soft and chubby, and even had to hold the corner of his clothes shyly for a long time when he handed her a bowl of sweet soup.
What on earth has he been through in the past few years to have transformed him from the sweet and soft boy he used to be to the paranoid and shameless guy he is now?
Seeing that Shen Aheng didn't speak for a long time, with his eyes downcast, not knowing what he was thinking, Ashina Yu's heart was instantly lifted.
She must be thinking about how to get rid of me again!
Ashina Yu clenched her fists, the grievance in her tone instantly replaced by anger: "I'm telling you, stop dreaming! I won't let you go, and you can't even think about it..."
Ashina Yu was still making a fuss in front of him, saying things like "Don't even think about running away" and "I will never let you go" over and over again, making Shen Ah Heng's anger surge.
Staring at his beautiful lips that were red at the corners of his eyes and kept opening and closing, he clearly looked a little aggrieved, but the words he said sounded like a monk chanting sutras, making people feel overwhelmed.
At this moment, Shen Ah Heng's mind was filled with only one thought: to make him quiet down for a while.
As Ashina Yu was continuing to speak, Shen Aheng couldn't help but reach out and grab his collar with such force that he staggered and rushed over. Before he could stand firm, he came forward and bit his pink lips hard. When his teeth touched the other's soft lips, he could feel his instant stiffness.
Seeing Ashina's pupils suddenly shrink and his face full of confusion, Shen Aheng was stunned for a moment, and suddenly let go of his hand quickly. He had bitten too hard just now, and his lips were a little numb.
Shen Ah Heng's ears turned red quietly, and he couldn't help but look away, pretending to be calm and impatient: "Shut up, if you keep talking nonsense, next time...next time I won't be so gentle."
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