Chapter 44
It's time to go to the bridal chamber, madam.
"He's not a ghost, he's your husband."
Seeing the bowl overturned on the ground, Hao Jingshi muttered helplessly and had no choice but to ask Ling'er to cook another bowl and instruct her to send it to the dormitory.
Lu Qin looked at him carefully: "My husband?"
He squinted and shook his head, "No, you're not as handsome as him."
Hao Jingshi couldn't help but chuckle at her drunken state, but then some random thoughts popped into his head, and he decided he didn't want to give her the hangover soup anymore.
He said, "Yes, I am not as handsome as your husband, but my feelings for you are no less than your husband's."
"No, that won't do." Lu Qin shrank her neck. "My feelings for my husband are genuine. Although he's proud, sometimes stubborn, and a bit pretentious... well, he's not good at saying nice things..."
Hao Jingshi: "...And then?"
"And then, and then it was just awful!" Lu Qin muttered, suddenly raising her voice as she gestured with one hand beside her. "You know what? Our marriage was an arranged marriage, an arranged marriage! This guy didn't like me, he didn't even give me any face, he just ran away! Ran away!"
Hao Jingshi: "..."
Although he didn't understand what arranged marriage meant, he understood that she would hold a grudge for life.
He added, still unwilling to give up, "You've already said bad things, can't you say something nice?"
"Sweet words? No way. Getting married, do you even understand? At such a romantic moment, he ran away! It's only because I'm magnanimous, don't hold it against him, and still live with him."
Lu Qin muttered a bunch of things to herself, spouting a lot of nonsensical words. Hao Jingshi listened and smiled helplessly, letting out a soft snort.
"Yes, Madam is very generous. Thank you, Madam."
Hearing that familiar, disdainful chuckle, Lu Qin paused, raised her head, squinted, and carefully examined Hao Jingshi's face. She finally recognized him.
It wasn't a crimson pillar, but her husband dressed in crimson robes.
"Husband?" Lu Qin sweetly rubbed her face against his chest, as if she hadn't been the one shouting just now. "It's you... Hehe, husband, I'm cold, hold me tighter."
After she finished speaking, she clung to him like an octopus, and Hao Jingshi gave in, opening his cloak and wrapping her inside.
"Why aren't you cursing me anymore?"
Lu Qin: "I can't beat my husband... A beating is a sign of affection, a scolding is a sign of love... Hehehe..."
After laughing in a daze, she drew circles on his chest with her finger and said in a daze, "Husband, actually, when Lu Pan'an and I bowed to each other just now, it looked quite like a wedding ceremony, hehehe..."
Hao Jingshi felt a lump in his throat as he listened, wishing he could immediately give her a hangover soup and teach her a good lesson.
But then Lu Qin raised her head again, pouted, and continued, "But when we got married, we didn't even have a wedding ceremony! You ran faster than a rabbit!"
Hao Jingshi felt the acid in his chest flow eastward like spring water again. Looking at Lu Qin's rosy face, his heart softened.
"Then, let's make up for it now."
"good!"
Lu Qin immediately raised her hand in agreement. She broke free from Hao Jingshi's embrace and happily pulled him to the stone.
"Stand still, stand still, listen to my command!" She stood side by side with Hao Jingshi and shouted at the stone, "Bowing to Heaven and Earth!"
The two bowed to the stone together, and suddenly a cold wind blew by, carrying a fleeting chill, as if the heavens and earth were responding.
As he stood up, Hao Jingshi noticed a silent dampness on the back of his hand. He didn't pay much attention to it and reached out to support the swaying Lu Qin.
Lu Qin continued enthusiastically, "Second bow to the parents!"
She bowed to the stone again, and Hao Jingshi, seeing this, turned her around to face his parents' bedroom, and bowed to it as well.
After the second bow, Lu Qin continued to shout the third bow: "Husband and wife bow to each other!"
She bowed to the stone again. Helpless, Hao Jingshi raised his hands and pressed her shoulders, making her face him. He helped her, bowed deeply to her, and then slowly stood up.
Lu Qin was a little dizzy. Before she could get up, she swayed and fell into his arms, giggling and pouting as she exhaled white breath.
"Look, it's snowing."
Hao Jingshi hugged her, and upon hearing this, he looked up and saw that it was true. He hadn't noticed it before, but now he saw that the tiny, unmarked snowflakes had grown larger and turned into a pale white mass, swaying in the night, carried by the breeze.
He hummed in agreement, waiting for Lu Qin to continue, but Lu Qin suddenly lost her mind, broke free from his embrace, and skipped off to catch snowflakes with her open palms.
"Hey." Hao Jingshi chased after her, grabbing the distracted Lu Qin. "The ceremony isn't over yet, where are you going?"
Lu Qin's eyebrows were already stained white. She held the tiny water droplets melting in her palms and asked blankly, "Where did I not finish bowing?"
"We're just one step away." Hao Jingshi brushed the snow off her head.
Lu Qin didn't believe it and began counting the sparse snowflakes: "First bow to heaven and earth, second bow to parents, husband and wife bow to each other..."
She repeated these few sentences over and over, while the wind swirled a few snowflakes back and forth. Hao Jingshi couldn't help but smile, and said with his arms crossed, "It's just not good enough. Think about it again."
"Hmm?" Lu Qin started counting again from the beginning, "First bow to heaven and earth, no, bow to husband and wife, no..."
The more she counted, the more confused she became, muttering as if she were talking in her sleep. As Hao Jingshi listened, his breathing also became erratic, so he simply went over and picked her up.
"Stop counting, I'll tell you."
"It's time to go to the bridal chamber, my lady."
...
The door closed, the curtains fell, and the person was eaten clean.
Later that night, Lu Qin felt unbearably thirsty, so she got up in the dark and gulped down a bowl of hangover soup that was on the table.
After a good night's sleep, she woke up the next day feeling completely limp and her mind was blank; she couldn't remember anything that had happened the night before.
Oh no… Lu Qin’s heart skipped a beat.
My former roommate once said that she wasn't a good drinker, and after drinking so much yesterday, there was no guarantee she wouldn't do something crazy...
Did I scare Hao Jingshi?
Lu Qin touched her head and sat up. At that moment, Hao Jingshi walked in from outside, his steps swift and his figure elegant.
"woke up."
Hao Jingshi sat on the edge of the bed, one leg crossed over the other. Before she could ask, he deliberately said loudly, "You were drunk yesterday and cursed me all night long, without repeating yourself."
"..."
Thank goodness, they only scolded me, they didn't grab any weapons, so it's not serious.
Lu Qin covered her face in embarrassment and tried to make amends: "Impossible, my husband, you must have misheard. How could I scold you? I love you the most."
"Oh." Hao Jingshi didn't answer, but smiled mischievously and changed the subject, saying they should go have breakfast together.
Seeing his demeanor, Lu Qin felt that he had some kind of leverage over her, so she behaved herself for the next few days.
She worked in the clothing shop for a few days to finish up her work. Lu Pan'an and Lu Hua came to take over. The two of them were obviously too ashamed to recall what happened that day. The three of them tacitly agreed not to mention it.
After handing over the affairs of the clinic to Hao Jinglan, Hao Jingshi went to help out at the clothing shop. Lu Hua and Lu Pan'an couldn't stop laughing awkwardly when they saw him.
Soon, everything settled down, and Lu Qin and Hao Jingshi set off for the capital. Lu Pan'an and Lu Hua came to see them off again.
After exchanging a few words of farewell, Lu Pan'an suddenly wanted to speak privately. He led Lu Qin a few steps away and, as if making a firm decision, said seriously, "Boss Lu, that day... that day when I said I wanted to recognize Master Lu as my godfather, it wasn't just drunken nonsense."
"After you leave, I will bring generous gifts to visit Master Lu at the Lu family and sincerely kowtow to him."
Lu Qin was stunned for a moment. Naturally, she couldn't remember what they had talked about that night.
However, she was overjoyed when Lu Pan'an suddenly said this, because she knew his character well; once he made a decision, he would definitely do his best.
“Even if it’s nonsense, it counts,” Lu Qin said. “Brother Lu, from now on, you are my sworn brother. You must take good care of Father.”
Lu Pan'an nodded solemnly: "Take care, sister."
...
The carriage arrived in the capital before dark. Ling'er hurriedly instructed the servants to cook, but Lu Qin waved her hand, wanting to go out with Hao Jingshi to take a stroll, see the newly renovated clothing store, and also enjoy some time alone together.
The two first went to the clothing shop and tidied up a pile of clothes. Hao Jingshi looked at the spacious shop and asked, "How do you plan to attract customers this time?"
Lu Qin clapped her hands: "Hand out flyers."
"Flyer?"
As Hao Jingshi repeated the question in confusion, Lu Qin had already dragged him out of the clothing shop and locked the door.
She took his hand and said, "No rush, let's play for a few days first, and then you can paint when we get back."
It was rare that she cared about more than just the clothing shop; she also cared about him personally, so Hao Jingshi naturally agreed.
He took her all over Xuande Street, where they ate snacks, bought jewelry, and furnished their home. As the night wore on, the lanterns of the restaurants and shops lit up one by one, as if adding new clothes to the city gate.
As they walked, both of them grew tired and slowed their pace. Lu Qin noticed a very simple stall at the street corner and, assuming it was run by desperate people struggling to make a living, led Hao Jingshi over to take a look.
The two stopped in front of the stall and realized that it was a fortune-telling stall. The old man running the stall sat cross-legged, quietly closing his eyes and not moving.
Lu Qin became curious and squatted down to ask about the price, but the old man suddenly said, "Fortune telling costs ten strings of cash, and marriage prediction is free."
"Free?" Lu Qin was a little puzzled. "Old man, why is matchmaking free?"
The old man stroked his white beard and said slowly, "The young lady has brought her husband here, most likely because she wants to know about her marriage. If the divination is good, that's fine. But if I divination is bad, and the young lady doesn't believe me, she will definitely say that I am a charlatan and ruin my reputation. Therefore, I would rather not accept the divination."
"What good or bad? I don't believe in that stuff." Hao Jingshi stood to the side, arms crossed, and said, "I bet you're not good at calculating, so you don't dare to accept it, do you?"
The old man glanced at him but didn't reply. Instead, he covered his lips with his hand and whispered to Lu Qin, "Girl, your husband is a Tiger, isn't he?"
Lu Qin chuckled, and Hao Jingshi, not understanding why, glanced at them.
“Even if I were a conman, I could tell that you have an extraordinary air about you, young master. You must come from a noble family.” The old man then looked at Hao Jingshi properly, shaking his head and sighing as he spoke. “It’s just that you are impatient and arrogant. Without a wife to match you… tsk, you will hardly achieve anything great.”
Upon hearing this, Lu Qin nearly lunged forward to cover the old man's mouth. How dare he provoke Hao Jingshi like that? He really had a death wish.
The old woman, unaware of her thoughts, continued to shake her head in regret. Hao Jingshi, looking down at the old woman, was not angry but rather found it interesting. He picked up a pen and wrote down her birth date and time.
"Then you can decide. Whether my marriage with my wife is good or bad, I will give you money and I will never go back on my word."
"Oh?" The old man was flattered by his generosity. "Then I will calculate the marriage between the two of them."
After he finished speaking, he asked for Lu Qin's birth date and time, and began to ponder over the two pieces of paper, fiddling with them between his fingers.
Lu Qin's legs went numb from squatting, so she stood up, grabbed Hao Jingshi's arm, feeling both nervous and expectant.
After a long while, the old man suddenly frowned and looked at the two pieces of paper again.
"That's not right."
Lu Qin and Hao Jingshi exchanged a glance, thinking something was wrong, and both became anxious, asking at the same time, "What's wrong?"
The old man glanced at the two of them, then looked down carefully at their birth dates and times, and picked up a pen to draw circles on them.
After a long pause, he put down his pen and asked Lu Qin with a slightly apprehensive look, "Is the young lady's birth date and time... confirmed to be correct?"
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