At this moment, Pei Shijiu was dressed in a black fox fur coat with a bunch of fox fur around the collar. His face was exceptionally fair and handsome against the backdrop of falling snow.
As he grew older and more handsome, Pei Shijiu gradually earned the title of the most handsome man in the capital.
Qiao Lian'er walked out, and he held the oil-paper umbrella above her, raising his hand to brush away a few snowflakes from the ends of her hair.
"Be careful not to catch a cold."
Looking at that still-childish face, Qiao Lian'er felt a sense of childhood sweetheart.
Yes, she met him when she was twelve years old, and they have supported each other for almost three years now.
Despite his talent for scheming, his eyes remained perpetually clear and gentle in her presence, without a trace of impurity.
Walking down the street with an umbrella, snowflakes kept falling around me, and with each step I took, the snow made a soft crunching sound.
The young man and woman remained silent for a long time, sensing all of this.
After circling three streets, we turned into an alley.
Qiao Lian'er sensed that Pei Shijiu was leading her somewhere, and asked, "Where are we going?"
"The girl who met Brother Da Meng, she lives in this alley."
"They found out so quickly?"
"Hmph, you do have some skill."
When they arrived at the gate of a small courtyard house, Pei Shijiu stopped. The gate was ajar, and through a crack, he could see that the courtyard inside was covered with a thick layer of snow. In the main room, a stove was burning, and a woman wrapped in cotton clothes was sitting beside the stove, embroidering.
On a low stool to the side was a winnowing basket containing items such as cloth, scissors, needles and thread, and thimbles.
Although there was a stove burning, the woman was reluctant to put in too much charcoal, so the room wasn't very warm. In addition, with heavy snow falling outside, her face and hands were red from the cold, and her hands holding the needle were even trembling slightly.
In this way, her beautiful face and slender figure appear even more pitiful.
Even Qiao Lian'er almost felt a pang of pity for him in this situation.
To avoid attracting the attention of those inside, the two did not linger for long. Once they had seen who it was, Qiao Lian'er left.
"Her name is Du Qinglan. I asked her neighbors, and they said she has lived here for several years. She has no family and no one to rely on. She does needlework to make a living."
“But this is the capital city. Whether this courtyard is bought or rented, it’s not something that can be sustained by needlework,” Qiao Lian’er said.
The courtyard is small, but it costs two thousand taels to buy, and the rent is about ten taels a month.
"It is said that the house was bought for her by a kind person, but the identity of that kind person is very mysterious and has never shown his face."
Qiao Lian'er's face turned cool: "Since that's the case, their history is quite deep. Just based on that alone, Brother Da Meng shouldn't have provoked her."
Such a beautiful woman must have something to rely on to survive in this alley. It's uncertain whether they still have contact now.
And the most important thing right now isn't that; she's unsure if Du Qinglan is safe.
If the relationship between the man and woman is unclear, just get rid of her. But if she poses a greater danger, it will concern the entire Qiao family.
No matter what happens, Qiao Lian'er always makes the worst-case scenario plan, and many times it has proven that she was right to think that way.
Hopefully, she's just overthinking it.
Qiao Lian'er said, "Du Qinglan risked damage to her reputation by saying that she had a benefactor to help her. Firstly, it was to show people that she had a powerful backer. Secondly, it was to find a way to make it more believable that she could survive in the alley on her own."
"That's right, she got close to Brother Da Meng, but she didn't hide it at all. Doesn't she have any intention of spending the rest of her life with him?"
Qiao Lian'er wholeheartedly agreed with Pei Shijiu's analysis.
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