Ever since Xiao Yunying unwittingly discovered Luo Sheng's feelings that day, she has been hiding in the house for two days.
She had never felt so fortunate to be injured, so that she wouldn't have to find any other excuse to hide from that person, and that no one else in her family would notice anything amiss.
To this day, she still can't understand how Luo Sheng could possibly like her.
In the evening, after Xiao Yunying finished her dinner, she took a small mirror from the supermarket, looked at her chin, and applied the medicine that Luo Sheng had given her.
The wound was quite large this time, and if she didn't apply the ointment, it might really leave a scar. She dared not leave it untreated any longer and decided to try using this ointment.
There was a knock on the door, and Xiao Yunying hurriedly put the mirror back in the supermarket: "Come in."
When she saw who it was, her expression froze for a moment.
Seeing her expression, Luo Sheng felt a pang of disappointment.
Xiao Yunying closed the porcelain jar: "Is there something you need?"
Seeing that she had used the medicine he had given her, Luo Sheng felt a little better: "I came to tell you that I will be leaving here soon to return to the capital."
"Now?"
Luo Sheng approached and said, "I was summoned urgently from above, so it was earlier than agreed."
"Would that be dangerous?"
Luo Sheng took two more steps closer: "Are you worried about me?"
Xiao Yunying: "...I'm not only worried about you, I'm even more worried about myself and my family."
Luo Yong stared at Xiao Yunying for a long time without saying a word. Just as Xiao Yunying was thinking about whether saying this was a bit too hurtful, he spoke up: "With me here, I won't let anyone hurt you."
Xiao Yunying lowered her head, unsure how to answer. After a moment, she managed to stammer, "Then be careful."
Luo Sheng took out a brocade box from his pocket, opened it, and handed it over: "This is for you."
Xiao Yunying glanced at it and saw that it was a gold bracelet with intricate floral patterns and various small gemstones.
The craftsmanship is exquisite and elaborate, yet it lacks the dignified or gaudy heaviness of gold. The tiny gemstones instead exude a delicate and lively charm that makes it impossible to look away.
She looked up: "For me?"
Luo Sheng said, "I didn't have time to give you a birthday gift before your birthday, so this is to make up for it. Happy birthday, Xiao Yunying."
The bracelet was indeed beautiful, and Xiao Yunying liked it, but she hadn't forgotten what Luo Sheng had said before.
Xiao Yunying didn't take it, and said in a low voice, "Didn't you say that no matter when, where, or for what reason, when a man gives a woman jewelry, it means he is interested in her?"
Luo Sheng directly answered her question: "So, can you know how I feel?"
Xiao Yunying didn't think for long: "I'm sorry, I can't accept this bracelet."
Luo Sheng's previously uneasy heart sank completely, and it took him a long time to close the brocade box.
Xiao Yunying thought that after she made such a clear rejection, he would give up on the idea.
Unexpectedly, Luo Sheng suddenly said, "I know you have some concerns..."
A powerful voice called from outside the door: "Master, the horses are ready."
Luo Sheng continued, "Yun Ying, what you know is not necessarily the truth. When I return, I will tell you everything."
Xiao Yunying was confused: "What happened? What's the truth?"
What else is this person hiding from her?
Wan Jun called out again from outside, "Master, we should go."
Luo Sheng put the brocade box back into his arms: "When I come back, I will explain everything to you."
After saying that, he left in a hurry.
Xiao Yunying was left completely bewildered: "What's going on? If there's something I don't know the truth about, can't you finish talking before you leave?"
Isn't this deliberately setting yourself up for trouble?
She angrily punched the blanket: "Fine, don't tell me then, I'm not curious."
She sulked for a while, then glared at the doorway and said angrily, "Honestly, what's wrong with finishing your sentence before you leave?"
As expected, Xiao Yunying suffered from insomnia that night.
One moment she was pondering why Luo Sheng liked her, and the next she was wondering what he wanted to say to her.
I finally managed to fall asleep just before dawn.
This time, Xiao Yunying mainly sprained her ankle and spent more than ten days lying in the house before she fully recovered.
During this time, Chen Yuancheng and his sister, as well as Cheng Yue, all came to visit her. Xiao Yunying was unable to entertain them personally, so they only talked for a while before leaving gifts and departing.
Mu Lianrong felt that ever since her daughter married Luo Sheng, she hadn't had a single happy day.
He kept repeating to Xiao Yunying that even though their birth charts were compatible, he suspected that Xiao Yunying might have offended something, which was why she kept getting sick and injured. He thought about taking her to pray to Buddha for protection.
Xiao Yunying herself was wondering if she really was after something. If so, going to the ancient temple to pray for peace wouldn't be a bad idea.
Unfortunately, it was too hot, and she was too lazy to move, so she gave up the idea.
On her first day of being allowed to leave the house, she went to inspect the cowshed.
Wan Jun brought her back fourteen cows, six bulls, and six calves.
Wan Jun also brought back two skilled cattle farmers for her, relieving her of her worries.
Mid-July to early August is the hottest time of the year.
Xiao Yunying is not heat-tolerant; she started thinking about ice as soon as the weather began to get hot.
When Chen Yuancheng came to visit her, she directly asked if he could get a large amount of saltpeter.
Upon hearing this, Chen Yuancheng knew she wanted to make ice, and simply said that ordinary people couldn't get their hands on such a thing, so he could handle the matter.
A few days later, he had two carts of saltpeter brought over. He kept one cart at Xiao Yunying's house and sent the other to Shijinfang. He also wrote down some dessert recipes that needed to be chilled and sent them to the shop.
Saltpeter can be reused, and the two truckloads are enough for her family and shop to use for a long time.
Saltpeter cannot be eaten directly, but as long as you use a large container inside a smaller container to separate them, you can make edible ice.
In the summer, it's really nice to put a few bowls of ice in the house and eat chilled fruit.
Even in such comfortable circumstances, Xiao Yunying couldn't shake off the jumbled thoughts in her mind.
She often thought of Luo Sheng and the gold bracelet he had prepared for her without realizing it.
And the way he defended himself, including that absurd night...
At this point, she would tap her head, quickly forcing herself to think about something else.
(Non-text: Around the end of the Tang Dynasty, people mined a large amount of saltpeter while producing gunpowder. They accidentally discovered that when saltpeter dissolves in water, it absorbs a lot of heat, which can cool the water to the point of freezing. From then on, people could make ice in the summer.)
Therefore, it's true that ancient people knew how to make ice using saltpeter; this wasn't a rare method, nor was it something only time-traveling heroines knew.
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