Chapter 137 Quickly help me dry my hair
This was Achan's second visit to Bai Xiuming's residence, but he wasn't there last time, and she only saw the steward, Eunuch Ning.
This time, Achan thought she would see the eunuch again, but she didn't see a single person from the moment she entered the door.
Achan looked around and asked, "Where have all the people in your household gone?"
"You want to see them?" Bai Xiuming asked instead of answering.
Achan immediately shook her head, realizing that she didn't want to see him; she was just simply curious.
The topic was easily steered off course. Bai Xiuming took A Chan's hand and walked towards the back garden.
Many lanterns were hung along the road for illumination, but as they approached the garden, the number of lanterns decreased until they passed through the archway and entered the garden, where they could only rely on moonlight for light.
At first, Achan was a little confused as to why the garden was arranged this way, until Bai Xiuming led her closer to the pond in the garden.
She saw carp shimmering with golden and silver light swimming happily in the pond; at first glance, there seemed to be dozens of them.
Achan immediately spotted the largest golden dragon carp among them. It was the fattest and had the most beautiful tail fin, which looked like a layer of golden cloud, floating in the water like a dream.
Such a beautiful fish, I really wanted to pat it! It's a pity it doesn't have claws now, so I can't handle it; that's a bit of a shame.
Bai Xiuming noticed her eager look and couldn't help but chuckle. She did have a good eye; she immediately spotted the best-looking one in the entire pool.
His father had been eyeing this dragon carp for a long time.
After selecting her target, Achan seemed to have thought of something and looked up at Bai Xiuming, asking, "Are any of the fish in this pond intelligent?"
"No."
This put her at ease. Without gaining sentience, the evolution of her bloodline would be limited after leaping over the dragon gate, and her fish wouldn't grow wings and fly away.
"Don't they taste good?"
Bai Xiuming thought for a moment and said, "It is indeed good."
He doesn't eat much, but his father occasionally comes to steal fish, so it must be delicious.
That would be wonderful!
So Achan humbly asked, "Then how do you make it taste good?"
Should it be braised or steamed? It seems like it could also be stewed in soy sauce.
"This..." This question touched on a blind spot in Bai Xiuming's knowledge, and he began to consider whether to call the cook from the Ming Prince's Mansion to ask him.
As the two were talking, a pale golden beam of light suddenly descended from mid-air, enveloping the entire pool.
The pool water looked like it had suddenly boiled, but in reality, it was the dragon carp that had floated to the surface and were splashing water with their tail fins.
After a brief preparation, the fattest dragon carp leaped out of the water first. It swam upstream against the pillar of light, and the higher it went, the more golden light gathered on its body. Unfortunately, when it was still halfway to the pillar of light, it was too weak to go any further and could only fall back into the pool.
With this dragon carp taking the lead, the other dragon carp followed suit, one after another, but none of them swam farther than the first one.
The beam of light lasted for an hour, and Achan watched it with great interest for the entire hour.
She also counted the number of gold and silver dragon carp in the pond: thirty-two gold ones and twenty-seven silver ones.
As time went by, the scales on the dragon carp that repeatedly leaped towards the Dragon Gate became increasingly shiny, and their bodies even grew larger.
Achan gestured, indicating that the dragon carp she had her eye on was now as long as her arm, about the length of a hand shorter than before.
Seeing that the time was almost up and the pillar of light in the sky was starting to dissipate, Achan tugged at Bai Xiuming's sleeve: "Quickly get the net, I want to catch fish."
She had to hurry, lest the fish all sink to the bottom.
Bai Xiuming produced a fishing net from somewhere and considerately asked, "Do you need any help?"
"No need." A-Chan refused decisively; she would catch her own fish.
She gripped the handle, spotted the fat fish that was no longer leaping over the dragon gate, but instead swallowing and spitting out clouds of mist in the water, and covered its head with the fishing net.
The fish reacted extremely quickly, flicking its tail to dodge.
After dodging it, it swam a distance and then turned back to wag its tail in Achan's direction, as if to provoke her.
She actually got provoked by a fish, how could she tolerate that?
So Achan started circling the pond trying to catch it, but in the end she didn't catch any fish and her legs were so tired they went weak.
Bai Xiuming watched as A Chan was led around the pond twice by the dragon carp, suppressed a laugh, and spoke up at the right moment.
This time, he didn't ask any questions, but simply said, "I'll do it."
Achan walked back to his side, handed him the net, and pointed to the fat fish in the pool, saying, "I want that one!"
"good."
Bai Xiuming made his move, and the arrogant dragon carp was quickly caught in the fishing net. It seemed to be able to tell who was not to be trifled with. After struggling in the net for a few moments, it began to play dead.
As soon as Achan took the net from Bai Xiuming, the fish started jumping wildly. Once you've got the fish in your hands, how could you let it escape? Of course not.
Achan gripped the net tightly with one hand and tried to subdue the fish with the other, but ended up getting splashed with water, and the fish even sprayed water mist at her.
Ah Chan threatened fiercely, "Let's see how arrogant you are now. This year, you'll be the main course for the New Year."
The dragon carp continued to spew.
Seeing this, Bai Xiuming took the net back to prevent the man and the fish from fighting on the spot. He looked at A Chan's disheveled appearance, feeling both amused and annoyed, and reminded her, "Your clothes are wet."
Achan looked down and saw that the front of her short jacket was soaked, and the sleeves were also wet.
She had only worn a thin jacket and skirt when she arrived, and he had held her hand the whole way, so she didn't feel cold because she relied on his inner energy to keep warm. But now, with the wind blowing, she couldn't help but shiver.
She took Bai Xiuming's hand, and Bai Xiuming immediately understood, continuing to warm her with his inner energy.
He then said gently to her, "Go take a bath first, and I'll have someone prepare clean clothes for you."
"Where's my fish?" Achan was still thinking about the fat fish, which was the trophy she had won after a whole night of work.
Bai Xiuming immediately assured him, "It will definitely appear on your dining table this Chinese New Year."
"Alright." Only then did Achan leave with Bai Xiuming, satisfied.
Bai Xiuming led her to a guest room, which was clean and tidy. She waited for a while, and then Bai Xiuming came out from behind the screen and told her that she could take a bath. Only then did Achan go over.
The water in the bathtub was steaming, and she tested the temperature; it was just right.
After taking a shower, Achan changed into new clothes, dried her hair, and then pushed open the door, calling out to the outer room, "Bai Xiuming."
"What's wrong?"
Seeing Bai Xiuming sitting at the table drinking tea, Achan pulled over a stool, sat down in front of him, then turned halfway around so her back was to him, and said, "Quickly help me dry my hair."
This matter-of-fact attitude made Bai Xiuming smile. He obediently picked up a strand of her hair, and then heard Achan say, "Slow down, or my hair won't be smooth tomorrow."
"Where did you get your experience from?" Bai Xiuming slowed down his movements and asked her.
Achan said casually, "Lin Sui did the same thing when she dried my hair last time. My hair was all tangled the next day."
"Okay," he replied patiently, then slowly began to dry her hair.
Ah Chan's hair is very well-maintained, jet black and smooth. Such beautiful hair should be paired with the most beautiful hair accessories, Bai Xiuming thought.
His hands moved gently, his fingers running through her hair, the only sound in the room being the rustling of him playing with her hair.
After a long night of exhaustion, Ah Chan heard such a hypnotic voice, and unconsciously leaned back, her eyelids drooping.
"Tired?"
"Um……"
"Then go to sleep." Bai Xiuming's voice grew softer and softer.
"No, you have to go home." Hui Niang had repeatedly told her that even if she went out to play at night, she had to go home to sleep at night, and A Chan was very obedient.
Bai Xiuming whispered in her ear, "I'll take you back once your hair is dry."
"fish……"
"I'll have someone send it to you tomorrow."
Before he could finish speaking, Achan couldn't hold on any longer and fell asleep against him.
As promised, Bai Xiuming dried her hair and then used his hands as a comb to braid it for her.
Then he picked up Achan and walked outside.
Ah Chan slept soundly until dawn before finally waking up in her spacious bed.
After rolling around on the tiger-skin rug, Achan stretched on the bed and prepared to get up.
As soon as her feet touched the ground, she felt her legs go weak. Recalling the experience of last night, she gritted her teeth and blamed the fish.
After getting dressed and opening the door, Achan called out to the courtyard, "Huiniang, has my fish been delivered?"
Hearing the sound, Chen Hui came out of the kitchen and asked, "What kind of fish?"
"Oh, someone will be delivering fish in a little while, we'll eat it for the New Year." Ah Chan still remembered Bai Xiuming's promise before she fell asleep; he would never cheat her out of a fish.
"Then I'll be more careful in a bit."
"By the way, how is Boss Lü? Is he alright today?" Ah Chan asked, remembering that Boss Lü seemed to have drunk the stone syrup again last night.
"She's doing well. She fell asleep as soon as she was able to move again, and just now she brought over some almond cookies she made herself."
Chen Hui returned home later than A Chan last night, so she didn't notice that A Chan had gone out in the middle of the night until her gaze fell on A Chan's clothes.
Chen Hui asked in a puzzled tone, "I've never seen these clothes of yours before?"
"I went out with Bai Xiuming last night."
"And then?" Chen Hui was clearly not going to be fooled by her so easily.
"Then, when she was catching fish, her clothes got wet, so she took a bath at his house and changed into new clothes." Achan turned around and asked her, "Does it look good?"
A vein bulged on Chen Hui's forehead, but she calmly suppressed it.
"nice."
She first complimented me, and then said, "Next time, just change your clothes. You should still go home to take a shower; it's not convenient at someone else's house."
She only told Achan that she was going home that night, but forgot to tell her not to go to other people's houses to take a bath!
This is certainly not Achan's fault, it's all Bai Xiuming's fault!
Achan nodded and readily agreed, "I understand."
However, she felt a little regretful. She touched her hair, thinking how good Bai Xiuming was at drying hair, and she was reluctant to let it go.
Not long after the two finished speaking, the fish deliveryman arrived; it was Eunuch Ning again.
He stepped down from the carriage and greeted Ah Chan and Chen Hui with a broad smile.
He stepped forward and said respectfully to Achan, "Miss Ji, this is a dragon carp that our young master sent."
As he spoke, he turned slightly to the side, and two eunuchs carried a blue-and-white porcelain jar off the carriage. The jar still had a lid on.
Ah Chan opened the lid, and the dragon carp she had her eye on last night was submerged at the bottom of the water, occasionally spitting out a bubble.
Achan said to Eunuch Ning with satisfaction, "Thank you."
"You don't deserve my thanks, young lady," Eunuch Ning said with a smile. "This dragon carp doesn't need to be fed; it can be slaughtered during the New Year. Its meat is delicious, and steaming is the best way to cook it. The prince likes to eat it this way, so you can try it too, young lady. If you like it, the young master will send you some more another day."
"Okay, I understand."
The two eunuchs helped Ah Chan move the porcelain jar to the corner of the courtyard, and then Eunuch Ning took his leave.
After seeing the person off, Chen Hui curiously walked over to look at the dragon carp.
"Is it glowing?" Chen Hui was unsure whether it was due to the sunlight or if she was seeing things.
"It does emit a faint light, and the meat of the dragon carp should be good for you. We'll steam it and eat it during the New Year."
Achan felt she should trust Mingwang's tastes.
After presenting the dragon carp, Eunuch Ning took a carriage back to the Bai residence. On the way back, he happily thought that if the prince knew that his son would give gifts to women, he would be very happy.
However, he immediately thought of something. The dragon carp looked somewhat familiar, as if it were the one that the prince had taken a liking to a few days ago.
The prince took a liking to it that day but didn't take it, saying it would only become plump in a few days. Although the reason was unknown, the dragon carp did indeed grow much fatter.
But the young master gave it away to someone else...
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