Chapter 74 I Like Him
Lin Anyuan looked up with a blank expression.
"Brother Li, what are you saying? The master just wants me to do some odd jobs."
"Don't play dumb with me, kid. We're like family. I just didn't expect that the magistrate would entrust such an important task to you after you've only been here a few days." Officer Li sighed and patted Lin Anyuan on the shoulder.
"It's a good thing you don't know. Just do a good job."
He's been in this job for so many years and he's still just a constable. When will he finally get a promotion?
If you earn an extra tael of silver every month, you can save up enough money to get married.
"No, please sit down, Brother Li." Lin Anyuan made way for the seat next to him.
Officer Li sat down as usual. "You little rascal, you're too tight-lipped. But people who don't talk much live longer. Aren't you going to eat this cabbage?"
"Brother Li, please eat. You've helped me a lot." Lin Anyuan pushed the cabbage he didn't like to Officer Li.
He thought to himself: Does this Officer Li know a little too much? People who know too much don't live long.
Hearing this, Officer Li felt a warmth in his heart. He had initially been kind-hearted, thinking the young man was good-looking, but he never expected him to be so grateful.
Aunt Cai felt that Ye Wan was also a grateful person.
Not only did they rent a courtyard for her and her husband, but they also treated them to good food and drink. Even a biological daughter wouldn't treat someone like that.
If it were an ungrateful wretch, he would have taken her things and run away.
"Mother, can you take us to the prefectural city with you?" Er Ya asked Ye Wan in a pretentious manner, holding an elementary book and wearing a hat.
The three girls, along with Ye Wan, followed the old man to learn to read and write.
Er Ya didn't want to learn, feeling that being pretty and rich was better than learning these things, but San Ya had already learned them, so she couldn't be completely illiterate.
The scars on her face had all fallen off, leaving only white marks where there were no scars, like she had vitiligo. Still obsessed with her appearance, she tried to secretly buy lead powder, but Ye Wan discovered and stopped her. Lead powder is toxic; if she actually used it, her skin wouldn't heal properly.
"Sure, godmother will come too, our whole family will go today."
Ye Wan had already asked the old man to hire a vehicle yesterday. He chartered an oxcart; the price was the same regardless of how many people it carried. It would be perfect to take the girls out to see the world.
"You all go ahead, I'm just an old woman, I'll stay here to look after the house and feed the chickens," Aunt Cai said with a smile.
“Godmother is still young, so you mustn’t say you’re old. Let’s eat first and then come back to see if we can do business together later.”
Aunt Cai smiled and said, "Alright, I'm pretty good at steaming buns, I'll go sell buns."
The group locked the courtyard gate and set off.
Ye Wan thought to herself that living in town was more convenient than living in the village, at least she didn't have to go so far to go out.
"I've paid for your room and board for the past two days. This is all the money I have left. If this doesn't work out, we'll become beggars together."
Lin Anyuan tossed two coins back and forth in his hand.
Tao Chuang looked at Lin Anyuan curiously, "I can tell you're a scholar too, and you can even answer some questions more accurately than I can. Why don't you try it yourself?"
He had a feeling that Lin Anyuan's talent was no less than his own.
"I've killed people before. How about I kill you, peel off your face, and take the exam for you?" Lin Anyuan stroked his chin.
It seems they are considering whether this method is feasible.
"Hehe, my benefactor is really joking." Tao Chuang chuckled twice, his previous tension completely gone.
Looking at the gate, Tao Chuang clenched his fists, determined to pass the imperial examination and repay his benefactor's kindness.
Meanwhile, Ye Wan, along with her three maids and the coughing old man Cai Da Niang, came to wait for people near the entrance of the provincial examination.
"We shouldn't be too late, right? I think I just saw someone go in?" Ye Wan craned her neck to look inside.
There were quite a few people outside the examination hall who came to see off their children and watch the commotion; there were simply too many people.
Lin Anyuan spotted Ye Wan in the crowd and was about to go over and ask her why she was there when he noticed two men behind him move. They were wearing straw hats and their eyes were clearly fixed on him.
Lin Anyuan smiled knowingly; these people really were persistent.
After waiting for a long time, everyone went inside, but they still didn't see the old man's old friend's son.
Ye Wan couldn't help but ask, "Godfather, what does your old friend's son look like?"
"Well... his appearance should be different from when he was a child after a long time. His name is Tao Chuang."
Ye Wan: "..."
She felt like she had been devastated.
"Godfather, what are we waiting for here? Even if the person comes out, you won't recognize him. We might as well wait for the results to be released. Your old friend's son might be on the list."
The old man suddenly realized, "You're right, we'll definitely find the person when the results are released."
Aunt Cai couldn't help but start scolding, "You old man, you're really something! You made us wait here for so long for nothing. You're getting more and more senile as you get older."
"However, Lao Tao's son is good at studying. He's just kind-hearted, but to put it bluntly, he's not very bright. If he really comes, he'll definitely pass the exam."
"We can find it if we look for it. Let's go check out the market!"
Ye Wan pulled San Ya along, and the group headed to the market together.
The market in this prefectural city is more lively than the town, and it's not as dilapidated.
"Big sister, look at that!"
Er Ya couldn't resist stopping when she saw someone selling headdresses.
Ye Wan went over and asked about the price; the pearl one cost two taels of silver.
Daya whispered, "Erya, it's not easy for your mother to earn money. You already have a lot of hair to spend, don't buy any more."
Ye Wan also thought it was a bit expensive. "It is indeed a bit expensive. It's a pity your father isn't here. If he were, we could have negotiated a lower price and bought it."
When she spoke of Lin Anyuan, it was as if she could see Lin Anyuan.
Ye Wan looked down and asked Sanya, "Sanya, did your father go over there just now?"
"ah?"
Sanya held food in her hand, her eyes blank.
"Wait here for me, I'll go take a look."
Ye Wan led Sanya to Aunt Cai's hand and followed in the direction Lin Anyuan had left.
In the alley.
The two men were lying on the ground, vomiting blood, but still barely clinging to life.
Lin Anyuan's eyes were filled with murderous intent. "This time I'll spare your lives. Go back and tell that despicable couple that I'll kill every single one of them who comes! Anyone who's not afraid of death, come on!"
The man on the ground, lying like a dead dog, stared at him in terror, then quickly got up and ran away.
"Lin Anyuan."
Upon hearing the sound, Lin Anyuan, who had his back to the alley entrance, froze.
"Lin Anyuan, where are you going?" Ye Wan chased after Lin Anyuan as he was about to leave.
"You've mistaken me for someone else," Lin Anyuan said, deliberately lowering his voice.
"Stop pretending, I know it's you. If anyone else saw this scene, they would have killed them to cover it up. What are you doing in the prefectural city?"
Ye Wan walked up to him, thinking to herself, "What a beauty."
Lin Anyuan felt uncomfortable looking at the sticky, foul-smelling blood on her hands. How did she end up here?
"I'm here to do something for Lord Wu."
Ye Wan took out a handkerchief and handed it to him, "Here's a handkerchief to wipe your hands. Who was that just now?"
“An enemy.” Lin Anyuan frowned.
Ye Wan looked at him as if he were an idiot, "Why aren't you eliminating your enemies completely? Let them get away!"
Lin Anyuan leaned closer to her, his eyes serious, "Ye Wan, are you really not afraid of me?"
"What are you afraid of? With your skills, if you wanted to kill me, you would have done so already. The fact that you haven't means that I'm beautiful and useful, and you can't bear to part with me."
After Ye Wan finished speaking, she felt that she had learned to be so sarcastic from Lin Anyuan.
Before Lin Anyuan could mock her, she chuckled dryly and took out the hairpin she had bought for Lin Anyuan earlier.
"Here you go. Don't let your hair down anymore, it's a bit... you know. I won't bother you if you have important business to attend to. Remember to come home when you're done. You haven't officially met my godparents yet."
Ye Wan left after speaking. She wasn't oblivious to the situation; Lin Anyuan clearly had important business to attend to.
Lin Anyuan stood there dumbfounded for a long time, holding the hairpin in his hand, and couldn't help but laugh.
So... even after seeing him kill someone, she still liked him.
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