Chapter 89
◎Throwing oneself into one's arms◎
Duan Jingchuan smiled gently, and his words were even gentler, "I unconditionally trust Madam."
Feng Ran's heart was aching and numb from being squeezed, and she just wanted to do something to express her joy. However, in front of everyone, she was afraid that after pounced on her husband, she would get a boiled shrimp instead, so she changed her gaze.
He patted the little sparrow on the shoulder and said, "Little sparrow, I'm happy today. Come on, I'll make it up to you with a cloak!"
The sparrow, who had just been banished to the cold palace, was suddenly favored again and was overjoyed. She cautiously made a request, "Sister, can you buy the exact same one as before?"
He had received many gifts since he was a child, but none of them made him as happy as that cape; it was a meaningful cape.
Feng Ran stroked her chin, a mischievous smile on her face, and said mysteriously, "You'll know once you buy it."
Fifteen minutes later, Huang Que indeed received a new cloak, but there was no smile on his face. Instead, he held the cloak with a look of wanting to cry but having no tears. This was because the cloak was large and tall, about twice his height, and it didn't look like something a child would wear.
Feng Ran said in a serious tone, "Of course you should learn a lesson for making a mistake, but you are a child, so this lesson can be discounted. In ten years, you will still be able to wear this cloak. In these ten years, every time you see this cloak, you will remember today's lesson."
His arguments were so logical and well-founded that he couldn't refute them.
However, human joys and sorrows are always interconnected; that is, when one person is sad, another is happy.
Inspired by Feng Ran, Duan Jingchuan gave Huang Que a jade hairpin, claiming it was for him to use after he came of age.
Even Fang Yuan couldn't resist joining in the fun, and the gift he gave was the most outrageous: a longevity lock that babies wear when they are just born.
He's already five years old this year, so it's clearly not for him. Huang Que looked at the longevity lock in his hand with resentment.
Fang Yuan was overjoyed; the gift he gave was absolutely perfect!
Seeing that Huang Que was reluctant, Fang Yuan kindly explained, "Young master, this is my heartfelt gift to you. I hope you grow up safely, marry and have children, and have a house full of grandchildren. Consider this longevity lock as my congratulatory gift for the birth of your son."
Unexpectedly, Fang Yuan was the hidden sixth brother. Feng Ran gave Fang Yuan a thumbs up. Although Duan Jingchuan did not understand the meaning, he felt that the thumbs up could express his current state of mind. So he followed suit and gave a thumbs up as well.
The little sparrow was almost buried by the gift box, and its chubby face was so aggrieved that it almost shed tears—no, tears of emotion.
Looking at their smiling faces, Huang Que sighed deeply. He had finally borne burdens that he shouldn't have had to bear at his age.
Of course, the happiest person was the shop owner, as these three treasures of his shop had been stored there for many years.
As for whether these things are good or not? Of course they are excellent, but there are not many wealthy families in Ningcheng, and no one can afford to spend such a high price to acquire such extravagant items. He had acquired these three items with great difficulty and had been reluctant to sell them. He never expected to encounter such a sucker today, no, a discerning customer.
The shopkeeper, in his delight, added a few more words of advice: "You distinguished guests may be new to the city. Ningcheng has not been very peaceful these past few days, with arrests of wanted criminals being carried out everywhere. I hope that you and your son will be careful when you go out."
Every city has wanted criminals, and these men were all worldly-wise. They only heard about it but didn't take it to heart. After all, they had so many people protecting them, so they figured the wanted criminals wouldn't be so blind as to run right under their noses.
The shopkeeper was so enthusiastic that they even brought them a portrait of the wanted criminal.
Fang Yuan casually took the gift boxes and placed them directly on top of Huang Que's pile of gift boxes. He stroked his beard and chuckled slyly, "Just two pieces of paper, can the young master still carry them?"
Huang Que looked indignant, her little baby teeth almost grinding to powder, "I can carry her."
Fang Yuan seemed to have grasped the fun of teasing children, and said quietly, "In that case, young master will surely have the energy to write down his thoughts on what he saw and heard today."
Huang Que swore that he would remember this for the rest of his life, no, for ten lifetimes, and that even if he drank the Meng Po soup, he would never forget it.
He refused to believe it. Everyone could see from the beginning that the grandmother and grandson were liars, but he was the only one who stepped forward, a small child, weak and powerless. Suddenly, he felt a strong desire to grow up as soon as possible.
Although there were only three gifts, and the gifts weren't heavy, these people were joking and wouldn't actually let a five or six-year-old child carry so many things. In the end, Huang Que only received two pieces of paper.
Huang Que was precocious than most children, and reading and writing were naturally within her grasp. Upon seeing the portrait, she said sullenly, "Indeed, appearances can be deceiving. These two seemingly dignified young gentlemen are actually ruthless human traffickers."
The oriole had been abducted by human traffickers before, so it despises them.
I carefully memorized every detail of the human trafficker's appearance on this piece of paper, and made up my mind that if I were to run into him, I would definitely tell my sister so that she could raid his hideout again.
The others frowned when they heard that they were human traffickers. They had thought they were robbers, but they didn't expect them to be human traffickers, who were even worse than robbers.
Several people voluntarily passed the document around, hoping to find some information about the human trafficker.
After Xiuer took it, she said angrily, "The higher-ups said that if this human trafficker is found, there will be a reward of one hundred taels of gold. This shows how many heinous things this human trafficker has done that the government is willing to pay such a high price to catch him."
The only one who hadn't read the bounty notice was Feng Ran. She got a headache just looking at black and white words, and the same went for black and white drawings, unless it was a drawing of her handsome husband.
Although there were some minor hiccups on this trip, everyone was generally happy. The vastness of the northern frontier is completely different from the beauty of the capital. The sky is high and the land is wide, and even breathing feels light and easy.
The mantis, who had just gone out once and already achieved the "damage achievement," was not happy at all. He thought that receiving three outrageous gifts would be enough to make him remember it for a lifetime, but the little homework that Mr. Fangyuan had assigned at the last minute made him even more dizzy.
There's no other reason than that, although he recognized those people as a group of swindlers, it was only hindsight!
He hadn't noticed anything amiss before those swindlers left, and now he was very curious about how the others had managed to spot them as fraudsters.
He glanced at the others briefly, then mentally calculated that he would seek guidance from Feng Ran, whose knowledge was similar to his, or perhaps even less.
After hearing Huang Que's question, Feng Ran looked at him strangely. If someone else had asked her, she could have come up with ten or eight reasons on the spot, but the problem was that all those reasons were nonsense, not a single one of them was true.
When it was Huang Que's turn to ask, Feng Ran's already fragile conscience ached, so she could only say mysteriously, "You should ask your brother-in-law this question. You two are both men, so you should have the same perspective."
Huang Que glanced at Duan Jingchuan, who was explaining things to Xiong Qi not far away, and felt a chill run down her spine.
To be honest, he had some respect for his brother-in-law. He knew perfectly well that his brother-in-law's compassionate expression was all an act. Once out of his sister's sight, if he could get a kind smile, he could happily write his reflections ten, no, a hundred times.
Seeing Feng Ran's encouraging gaze, Huang Que mustered his courage and secretly cheered himself up: Don't be afraid, this was instructed by my sister, my brother-in-law will definitely answer patiently.
Walking confidently to Duan Jingchuan's side, Huang Que quickly asked all her questions, adding at the end, "My sister said you knew, that's why she sent me to find you." Then she shut her mouth, waiting for the final result.
Fang Yuan gave him a look, "You are my disciple, you should ask me if you want to ask, why are you going to ask me instead of asking me?"
Huang Que secretly rolled her eyes. "If you knew I could write it, that's obvious you didn't realize it either, which is why I humbly asked you."
In their first mini-battle, Huang Que defeated Fang Yuan in one game.
Duan Jingchuan raised an eyebrow, not directly answering Huang Que's question, but slowly walking towards Feng Ran and asking in a low voice, "How did you know that I could tell from the beginning, Madam?"
Feng Ran honestly replied, "I don't know."
"Then why did you have Huang Que ask me, Madam?"
Feng Ran grinned, "That's why I came to my husband. Isn't it right to come to my husband when I need something?"
Duan Jingchuan really loved her confident and unreasonable demeanor. He couldn't resist the urge to gently pat Feng Ran's head. "Madam is right. If you don't know what to do, you can come to me."
Then he turned to answer Huang Que's question, giving her a sneer with a look that said, "Think back to what kind of expressions the onlookers had just made?"
Huang Que's first reaction was indifference, but upon further reflection, that didn't seem quite right. After a moment of contemplation, he tentatively asked, "Sorrow?"
After thinking for a while, Huang Que decided that the word "sadness" best described the expressions of those people.
Under Duan Jingchuan's patient and persuasive guidance, Huang Que finally understood why those people had ignored her.
The grandfather and grandson clearly brought this upon themselves, and outsiders had no reason to lend a helping hand. The young master appeared precisely because the situation had reached a stalemate, so he stepped in to break the deadlock and successfully lured this pitiful little fish into the trap.
If that girl hadn't harbored ill intentions and tried to steal his sister's husband, he might not have realized his mistake so quickly.
Duan Jingchuan enlightened Huang Que with just a few words, and he returned to his room full of confidence to write down his thoughts and feelings.
Feng Ran looked at her with admiration, "You're amazing! You can observe so many things. I can tell they're bad people just by smelling them."
Duan Jingchuan smiled innocently, "I don't know either, Huang Que guessed it all himself."
Feng Ran...
She learned her lesson, but she failed to grasp it.
"You're deceiving a child," Feng Ran accused. She was too embarrassed to even lie, so how could Duan Jingchuan lie to her so seriously?
"I didn't say anything," Duan Jingchuan said emphatically.
As for why Huang Que convinced himself that he understood, Duan Jingchuan said he didn't know either.
Sometimes misunderstandings arise like this. In Huang Que's mind, his brother-in-law and sister are the smartest, he is second, and as for Mr. Fang Yuan, he is too old. It is enough that he can teach him well.
The only one who truly had foresight, Feng Ran, now acted like a big shot, draped her long legs over Duan Jingchuan's desk, and arrogantly waved to him, "Come on, beauty, give your grandpa a leg massage."
The sense of superiority that made Feng Ran feel superior to be the only one sober while everyone else was drunk inflated her ego. Suddenly, she realized that her husband's brain was just as sharp as hers, and he revealed his true colors as soon as they returned to their room.
Duan Jingchuan smiled and obediently began massaging Feng Ran's legs, his movements incredibly gentle.
Feng Ran has always been someone who responds better to gentleness than force. Duan Jingchuan's willingness to let her bully him made her uneasy, and she quickly tried to take her leg down, saying, "I was just joking."
Duan Jingchuan pressed down hard with his palm, "Don't move. I saw you standing on one leg the whole time. Your legs must be sore. A massage will help relieve the fatigue."
Feng Ran was deeply moved. How many good deeds must she have done to have such a wonderful husband? She couldn't help but bend her body into an incredible arc, burying her face right in Duan Jingchuan's lower abdomen.
Duan Jingchuan, who was focused on massaging, felt a tightness in his throat, gasped, and his expression became complicated and deep. "Are you trying to drain me dry?"
Feng Ran paused, her little head rubbing against the ground, and she lowered her eyes to stare. The familiar little thing, just inches from her nose, seemed to be eagerly greeting her.
"Hehe, my face suddenly stopped itching." Feng Ran gave a dry laugh and quickly moved away from Duan Jingchuan.
Embarrassingly, she really didn't intend to do anything today, and her back was still hurting. In her embarrassment, she did something stupid: she casually picked up a few pieces of paper from her desk and started looking at them as if they were real papers.
Duan Jingchuan just smiled and didn't say anything, carefully pressing the acupoints on his legs.
"What!" Feng Ran exclaimed in shock, immediately pulling her leg back from the table. Duan Jingchuan, propelled by the momentum, fell down.
His hand was still gripping his thigh when his face slammed into a soft mound. He stiffly raised his head and met Feng Ran's gaze.
Feng Ran casually rubbed the spot on her chest that had been bumped, and gave her handsome husband a kiss, "Oh ho, a hundred taels of gold actually threw itself into my arms!"
A note from the author:
Working overtime is tough. I only had time to update at 9 pm, and by the time I finished writing it it was 2:30 am. My eyes are practically closed. I probably won't have time to check for typos tomorrow, so please don't be offended, my little cutie. I'm so sleepy.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com