Chapter 41 Preserved Fruit and Fan

Pei Luoshu got up early in the morning, smoothed out the wrinkles on his patched indigo robe, and combed his hair several times. His face, reflected in the water, was covered with scars and looked extremely ugly.

He touched it, then shuddered and put his hand down.

I feel a little depressed.

After leaving the yard, I came across a shop selling preserved fruits on the way.

He walked hurriedly and then turned back.

"Give me three cents."

When we arrived at Changning Street, we finally saw Chen Shiyi busying around, and I felt at ease for a moment.

She was busy at the side and didn't say hello to him. He put down the book, pen, ink, paper and inkstone in his hand and quietly began to copy the book.

Finally, when Chen Shiyi finished her work, Pei Luoshu walked slowly beside her.

"Eleven, my mother wants to eat preserved fruits. I bought some, but I don't know if they are sweet. Can you help me taste them?"

Chen Shiyi asked doubtfully.

"You don't want to eat?"

“I don’t like sweets.”

Chen Shiyi responded with understanding.

"My hands are all greasy. Wait for me to wash them."

Pei Luoshu said hurriedly.

"It's okay, I'll give you one."

After saying that, he took out a pill from the paper bag and fed it to Chen Shiyi.

Chen Shiyi opened his mouth and ate the candied fruit.

Pei Luoshu's fingertips touched the tip of her tongue, causing his body to tremble slightly. He was very nervous, and pretended to put his hand down casually, with the hot fingertips clenched in his palm, and his whole hand behind his back.

After a long while, he asked in a hoarse voice.

“Is it sweet?”

Chen Shiyi nodded.

"Mm, very sweet."

Pei Luoshu couldn't help but feel a little sweet in his heart, his lips curled up slightly, and he was about to say something when a voice from the side interrupted.

"Mr. Pei, what are you holding in your hand? Give some to your aunt."

Aunt Zhao approached them familiarly and raised her hand to take it, but Pei Luoshu immediately put away the candied fruit and walked towards his desk with an expressionless face.

Aunt Zhao and Chen Shiyi were left staring at each other.

"This scholar is really stingy."

At noon, Pei Luoshu took advantage of Aunt Zhao's absence and hurriedly spoke to Chen Shiyi.

"Eleven, take the candied fruit back and eat it."

Chen Shiyi was puzzled.

"Don't you like to eat, Auntie?"

"This preserve is too sweet. She doesn't like sweet things."

"oh…"

Chen Shiyi took the bag of preserved fruits, and then heard Pei Luoshu say something.

"Don't give it to Aunt Zhao. You can only eat it yourself."

Chen Shiyi was very confused after hearing this.

You say he is stingy, he gave all the candied fruits to himself and refused to give any to Aunt Zhao.

I don’t know what he is thinking.

When she went to Pei's yard, she asked Pei's mother about the preserved honey.

Mother Pei understood instantly.

This kid used his own excuse to give things to Eleven.

"I really don't like sweet preserves."

Chen Shiyi still couldn't understand.

"Where can you find unsweetened preserves?"

Mother Pei smiled bitterly.

"Yeah, where can you find unsweetened preserves?"

Pei Luoshu, who had just returned from fetching water, heard this and the tips of his ears turned red.

The days passed so quickly, and Pei Luoshu always felt that each day was not enough.

He wrote very well and quickly. After copying books for some time, he had saved up several taels of silver. Apart from the money for his mother's medicine, he could still save about one tael of silver at the end of a month.

One time, he passed by a jewelry store and saw a lotus-shaped silver hairpin. He immediately thought that it would look particularly good on Eleven.

Two taels and six cents. If I copy a few more books next month, I should be able to buy it.

I don’t know what Eleven looked like when he received the hairpin?

A smile appeared on his face.

The weather was really hot. Pei Luoshu was sweating profusely just sitting quietly, and Chen Shiyi was even hotter sitting around the stove.

Logically, it is autumn and the weather should be cooler, but unexpectedly, it is even hotter and more humid.

The older generation said that it was the eighteen days of autumn heat, and after that, the weather would slowly get cooler.

Pei Luoshu took a piece of white silk from his mother, tied it tightly in a bamboo ring, and made a fan. He didn't care that his hands were cut several times, and he painted a picture of water lilies on the silk that night.

Pei's mother shook her head when she saw this. This child...

When Chen Shiyi received the fan, his eyes were full of disbelief, and then he was very surprised.

"For me?"

Pei Luoshu's smile was warm and it was obvious that Chen Shiyi really liked him.

"Well, I see you're getting too hot every day. It would be more comfortable if you had a fan to cool off."

"Master, you are so kind."

Pei Luoshu didn't want to hear her call him "Master", and she also refused to call him by her own name, but she didn't want her to call her "Scholar" like others did.

"People who are familiar with me call me Ah Luo. Now that I am familiar with you, you can call me that too, okay?"

Chen Shiyi tried to shout.

"A Luo?"

Pei Luoshu felt very sweet when he heard this.

"What? I didn't hear you clearly. Please shout again."

"A Luo."

Pei Luoshu suppressed his smirking expression.

"You can only use the fan yourself. You are not allowed to give it to others. Do you understand?"

Pei Luoshu quietly watched Chen Shiyi fan herself with the fan she had made herself, blowing up her messy hair and dispelling her summer heat.

I also saw that she carefully placed the fan in a hidden and clean place, taking good care of it and keeping it in perfect condition.

His heart seemed to be soaked in a pot of honey; the sweetness was bubbling up from the fire in his heart and flowing straight into his mouth.

When he had saved enough money to buy the lotus hairpin, he wanted to confess his feelings to her and tell her that he wanted to marry her as his new bride.

Chen Shiyi likes to stay in Cheung Ning Street.

She likes making money here, and she also likes Pei Luoshu's teaching and getting along with her neighbors.

We are all struggling for life, and no one is more noble than anyone else.

Apart from arranging and tidying up household chores in the morning and cooking in the evening, she stayed in Changning Street the rest of the time.

But the wife at home was somewhat unwilling.

"Making money is important, but you have to take good care of Heng'er too. He's lost a lot of weight recently, haven't you noticed? You're her maid, you have to put him first in everything, and it's your responsibility to take good care of him."

Chen Shiyi was a little impatient, but didn't dare to say anything more.

She has already given thirty taels of silver, why is she still losing weight? Isn't that enough for her to eat and drink?

Time flies by so fast.

In the blink of an eye, another January has passed.

Pei Luoshu finally saved enough money to buy the lotus silver hairpin.

He thought about buying it when he went back in the afternoon. Chen Shiyi would be very surprised when he received it tomorrow!

He sat at the table, turning his head to look at the busy Chen Shiyi, with a slight smile on his face.

He liked her enthusiasm and liked the fact that she lived like the sun.

But today, she always had a sad look on her face and looked exhausted, as if she had not had a good rest.

"What's wrong with you?"

Chen Shiyi pulled a chair and sat down.

She looked very gloomy, as if she was thinking of something, with her brows furrowed.

"A Luo, do you know what a maidservant is?"