Chapter 179: The Winner Is Predetermined
Di Feijing thought Xie Huailing would be angry, or at least she would have some objections. Although he didn't say what the nickname "Cat Master" was related to, his silence was a form of acknowledgment. If he didn't speak up in front of her, who else could he be in contact with? In that case, the meaning behind the nickname was self-evident.
But Xie Huailing didn't speak after suddenly opening her eyes. She turned slightly to the side, staring at him with a gaze like a fish. She didn't need his attention when she looked at him, so he let her swim around. He waited and waited, but she didn't lash out.
She pondered for a moment, going through a process of "should I care?" and "maybe I should just ignore it?" before quickly skipping over many things she should have cared about and automatically jumping to the point of interest, asking him, "So what's it called, Huailing, Xiao Huai, Xiao Ling? It can't be Feiling, right? Wait, this seems more like the one Bai Feifei and I raised..."
Seeing that she truly didn't mind and showed no temper whatsoever, Di Feijing remained silent for a moment, then dipped his fingertip in the tea and wrote two words on the edge of the vase.
"Xi Yun".
At first glance, the two characters seem completely unrelated to her given name, and are even too formal to be a nickname. If Xie Huailing had searched her mind extensively for poems and texts related to both "Xi Yun" and her name, she would not have been able to recall "Nine Songs: Lady Xiang," let alone the line "Ling Zhi Lai Xi Ru Yun."
Xie Huailing didn't understand, but she tentatively showed respect. Considering that Di Feijing still had to do chores for her and there was no one more capable than him, his comparison of her to Lady Xiang was a compliment, so she didn't say anything. She offered a cooperative compliment and let him be, neither suggesting changes nor objections: "It sounds quite nice, very elegant, but if it were more like me, achieving remarkable results in weight loss, I would think it would be even more suitable."
It has to be said that the nickname was quite subtle, giving her a feeling of "What, that's all? How boring." If she didn't know Di Feijing's feelings, even if she heard it and made the connection, she would only think that her narcissism had reached a new level. It makes sense, after all, the cat was raised in the Six and a Half Hall, and out of consideration for Lei Sun's cardiopulmonary function and blood pressure, it must have been as subtle as possible. Otherwise, I can't even imagine how Lei Sun would feel if he heard his confidant calling her name to the cat one day.
Hmm, wait a minute, thinking about it this way makes me even more interested, but also more disappointed.
Watching for entertainment was still the priority. Xie Huailing glanced at Di Feijing a few times before lying back down. Di Feijing inexplicably sensed her regret, but he didn't understand what she was disappointed in.
He continued massaging her shoulders. She would occasionally gasp in pain, but as the massage gradually eased her pain, she slowly relaxed completely, melting away like ice cream on the soft couch. Hearing her breathing become steady, he had a thought of picking her up. But she wasn't asleep. All he could do was brush her skin with his fingertips and remove any stray hairs that came with her movements.
After pressing the buttons for about fifteen minutes, Xie Huailing called for a stop before Xie Huailing actually fell asleep.
"I'm going back now if there's nothing else." Just thinking about how there might be a small mountain of points piled up in Su Mengzhen's room, and that he might not even be awake when she got back, and that she would have to take all the points she had worked so hard to earn back and spend them all on him, Xie Huailing felt miserable. "I still have a lot of official business to attend to, I can't wait."
Di Feijing gave a soft "hmm" and, after she sat up, re-combed her hair. He was already quite skilled at this, expertly gathering her hair and avoiding her collar; his skill was almost on par with that of her maid.
After Xie Huailing finished combing his hair, she was about to get up when she yawned and shook her head. She noticed something different and leaned over to look at the teacup next to the vase.
She used the tea as a mirror to reflect her face. The simple, slender wooden hairpin disappeared, replaced by an exquisite kingfisher hairpin, adorned with three thin beaded curtains, inlaid with jade and gold. Xie Huailing turned her head, looking left and right, and the beaded curtains moved with her, revealing a human silhouette through the hairpin.
"You even prepared this? Are you giving it to me, or trading it with me?" Xie Huailing turned around and looked at Di Feijing.
Her voice trailed off abruptly, stopping right in Di Feijing's eyes. She understood Di Feijing's expression. The young man, with his head bowed, should have had such an expression as he watched her calmly look back while wearing his gift. Perhaps he had thought about it when he chose the gift, and he was satisfied when he gave it to her. But even if he was satisfied, it was like a bunch of lilacs.
Okay, let's consider the time. It's okay to be a little soft-hearted. Xie Huailing said, "Why do you look like I've bullied you?"
.
Pavilions and terraces.
The bustling crowd, the lingering air of the martial world—this was the territory of the Golden Wind and Fine Rain Pavilion. Wuqing wouldn't mistake it; he had been here before. Since Xie Huailing had made the arrangements, Wuqing didn't beat around the bush and directly revealed his identity. The person who hurriedly came out to greet him was startled, not understanding why the leader of the Four Great Constables would be here. He had been peaceful lately and hadn't committed any crimes, but still quickly led him inside.
As he led the way, the man rubbed his hands together and smiled, not ingratiatingly, but genuinely somewhat reserved: "The manager went out early this morning and hasn't returned yet. You may have to wait. Let me make you a pot of tea first, or is there something else you need?" He then chuckled twice.
Wuqing could see the panic of the person who received him, and thought to himself, "It seems Xie Huailing didn't send many people down in his arrangement. If that's the case, it's best to wait for the person in charge here." He wasn't impatient, so he asked, "How long will it take?"
The person leading the way didn't actually know either. He counted on his fingers the usual time it took for the manager to return: "It should be about a quarter of an hour, but you never know. Our manager is responsible for more than just this area; he's always on the go."
Hearing this, Wuqing had some questions. Normally, a manager of a branch would only be in charge of his own branch. Only the direct managers of the Golden Wind and Fine Rain Pavilion and the senior managers above them could be in charge of multiple branches. How could a branch manager wield such power despite his low rank? There was only one possibility: this manager was destined to be promoted, and all that was happening now was just training.
He roughly understood that this might be the person he was looking for.
Even though he was mentally prepared, Wuqing was still taken aback by the arrival of the person. He looked up and stared blankly. Contrary to his initial impression of her, although he couldn't say he knew her well, he had met her a few times and had some understanding of her temperament. Of all the women Wuqing had met, she was the most averse to and furthest removed from the martial world. He had heard about her conflict with Li Xunhuan, and she often harbored resentment when the martial world was mentioned.
Now that Li Xunhuan has been staying at the Li residence for several months and hasn't been involved in matters of the martial world outside the manor, she has appeared here. Lin Shiyin maintained the demeanor of a young lady from a noble family, bowing slightly to him. She hadn't changed in any way, yet everything about her had changed.
A change occurred in her eyes; her sorrow lessened, and a shrewd glint appeared behind it. The things she cared about were no longer just Li Xunhuan, and her grudges were no longer a concern: "Chief Constable, it's been a long time."
Lin Shiyin's voice was still very soft, like a bird's chirp. Her tone was quiet and gentle. After greeting everyone, she stopped talking, leaving no room for doubt that even if no one heard her, she would not repeat herself.
Upon meeting her, Wuqing understood everything.
The person leading the way called Lin Shiyin "Manager Lin" respectfully and told her what had happened before carefully closing the door. Lin Shiyin lifted her skirt and sat down properly on the wooden chair. Her demeanor remained unchanged, but her excessive fragility had been mercilessly worn away by Jin Feng Xi Yu Lou—or rather, Xie Huailing. At this moment, she exuded a sense of composure, as if her silence indicated that she was deep in thought.
“Miss Lin.” Wuqing never thought that there would be a day when she would have to reminisce with Lin Shiyin. “When I visited Grand Tutor Li a few days ago, I heard Young Master Li say that you have been busy lately and rarely come home. He has been looking for you but can never find you.”
"I'm very busy with official duties and really can't get away." Lin Shiyin smiled slightly, only smiling as she spoke, and chose to take the initiative to throw out the question, "The Chief Constable must be quite surprised to see me, right?"
Wuqing spoke frankly, saying, "I once thought that Miss Lin didn't want Young Master Li to return to the martial world, and that she was the person furthest away from it. But I never expected that I would see Miss Lin here half a year later."
Lin Shiyin laughed again and said lightly, "Actually, you shouldn't call me Miss Lin anymore. It seems that the Chief Constable, like my cousin, thinks I've changed and that it's a bit strange. But in my opinion, it's not strange at all, and I don't think I've changed either."
She pursed her lips, merely as a polite gesture, not as a sign of friendliness: "I used to hold my cousin back, not wanting him to go back to the martial world, because I wanted him to. I didn't want him to get hurt, I wanted him to be safe and sound, to stay with me, and for us to live a good life together, relying on him to smoothly pass the rest of my life. To resent the martial world, in the end, is to resent him, to resent him for knowing my fear, yet still going into the storms of life."
"And now I am in the martial world because I want to. Since my cousin and I cannot be together forever, I should have another way of living, at least in the martial world, I don't have to wait for someone in fear."
Then Lin Shiyin seemed to feel that since she and Wuqing didn't see eye to eye anyway, and Wuqing couldn't understand her, there was no need to say more. She had learned to be appropriately arrogant and not to make things difficult for herself with topics. She didn't want to explain to Wuqing any further about what she really wanted or what kind of life she wanted to live.
Wuqing listened with a hint of regret. The day he saw Lin Shiyin and Li Xunhuan at the Divine Marquis's Mansion, upon hearing of their engagement, he thought they were a match made in heaven. But seeing them argue, he had a vague premonition of something bad. Now, his premonition had come true, and the people waiting for each other had switched places. It was now Li Xunhuan's turn to be unable to wander the martial world, remembering her day and night, waiting for her to return home. It was truly a cruel twist of fate.
From his perspective, besides feeling regret, he couldn't help but wonder what role Xie Huailing played in this story. She wasn't cultivating Lin Shiyin for charity; what benefits did she vie for? And were Jin Feng Xi Yu Lou and Grand Tutor Li still aligned? The Divine Marquis's Mansion had already considered this matter after Xie Huailing admitted that Fu Zongshu's death was her doing.
Thinking about this, Wuqing understood her words, "It doesn't matter if it's not there now, it will come later. The chief constable should have a lot to say to me."
Before he could think further, Lin Shiyin took a box from a nearby cabinet. She pushed the box in front of Wuqing, flicked a mechanism with her finger, and the lid slowly rose, revealing a chessboard inside.
"This is a little game, which Miss Xie modified herself using Go," Lin Shiyin explained. "What the Chief Constable has to do is play a game with me, and in this little game..."
"Win?" Wuqing asked.
Lin Shiyin shook her head. Only then did she show some genuine emotion, the confidence that came from losing so much that she had become numb: "Losing gracefully."
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