His Adam's apple bobbed, and his voice was slightly hoarse: "It's nothing."
Zhu Jiayu quickly snatched the wine pot from his hand and sat down beside him: "I've seen you drinking a lot lately, has something happened?"
She didn't mention Shujian or Shen Zhao, acting as if nothing had happened and she knew nothing.
Wei Qinglou chuckled lightly: "You care about me?"
He looked frivolous and carefree, as if he had returned to the time when the two first met, when he was still an innocent, carefree, and aloof young master. But Zhu Jiayu still remembered the desolate look she had seen him in front of the Xiao mansion and by the river a few days ago.
She lowered her eyes slightly, ultimately unable to harden her expression: "If you don't want to talk about it, then forget it—"
Wei Qinglou interrupted her: "If you want to hear it, why wouldn't I tell you?"
“After you left, a new magistrate came to Songjiang City, named Shen Zhao. I couldn’t stand his old-fashioned, scholarly way of doing things, and he couldn’t stand my arrogant manner because of my noble family background.”
People like them generally live and act based on their sense of honor and loyalty. Later, because of their shared sense of honor, they finally put aside their prejudices and became close friends despite their age difference.
Shen Zhao is a really stingy person. If you pick a flower from him, he will chase you down half a street with a broom. But if he likes you, he will share half a jar of wine that he has stored for twenty years with you.
He doesn't understand jokes, takes everything seriously, and gets angry easily. But once you've explained things to him, he can act like nothing happened, putting his arm around you and chatting away.
But this vibrant little old man has now fallen into eternal rest at the bottom of the cold waters of the Yuxi River.
He said that before taking office in Songjiang, he had consulted a fortune teller, who said that he would never return. He had no wife or children in his life and did not know what his death would be like. So one moonlit night, under the influence of alcohol, he told Wei Qinglou that if he died, his body should be cremated and a handful of ashes should be scattered into the Yuxi River.
"I have never visited famous mountains and rivers in my life, nor have I been to prosperous places. Wherever this water flows in the future, it will carry my soul there. If the things that were not fulfilled in life can be fulfilled after death, then I will not have wasted my life."
He took office in Songjiang from Yuxi. There was a fisherman's daughter in Yuxi who looked very much like the girl he had liked in his youth. Later, he never had time to go to Yuxi again, but he always thought of that place.
Judging by the timing, it's possible that the girl was indeed the granddaughter of his old friend.
Wei Qinglou didn't expose him at the time, but he always felt that he was just looking for an excuse to stay by that person's side. He also wanted to ask him why he didn't go and find out, just in case it really was him.
There were some things I didn't ask at first, and I never had the chance to ask them again.
Zhu Jiayu remained silent for a while, then picked up the wine pot, poured himself a cup, and drank it all in one gulp.
Wei Qinglou looked at her and laughed again.
"Didn't you come to tell me not to drink? Why are you drinking yourself?"
Zhu Jiayu remained silent and poured a second cup.
Wei Qinglou's smile faded, and when she poured the third cup, he snatched the glass from her hand.
“He didn’t die in vain.” Wei Qinglou looked at her. “Don’t drink anymore.”
Zhu Jiayu blinked her watery eyes: "So, are you still going to drink it?"
Wei Qinglou then realized that she was waiting for him here.
But he couldn't help it. When it came to her, he could always easily soften his heart, easily abandon his principles, and surrender completely.
"I'm not drinking anymore," he said in a hoarse voice.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com