Jiro
"Because of me?" Zheng tilted her head, confused.
She looked up at the Imperial Academy, then at Xia Buyu, and suddenly said, "Did you have a fight with Erlang? Xia Laowu, did you bully him? Well, I said that Cui Erlang would leave without looking back when he saw me, so it was you who did it."
"Thanks to me for asking him to take care of you."
Upon hearing this, Xia Buyu casually smacked Zheng's forehead with his head, then said in dissatisfaction, "Zheng, what are you thinking? Why would I bully him? Don't wrongly accuse a good person. Cui Cui is my new friend. Since we're friends, how could I fight with him?"
"Besides, I can't beat your Cui Cui's boss."
Xia Buyu withdrew his hand behind his back and stood with Zheng in front of the Imperial Academy, watching the people coming and going. "Well, I can only give that short Jia Yan a beating. But Zheng, you're right not to agree to the Jia family's marriage. His family is really short. But forget about the shortness. I'm not being discriminatory. It's just that his family is really mean. You have no idea how shameful what he did was. Compared to our Cui Cui, it's like heaven and earth."
Cui Cui, what's this name?
It's only been a few days since we last met, yet these two are so close?
Zheng looked at Xia Buyu blankly, but Xia Buyu stretched out his hand and waved it in front of her eyes, "What are you looking at?"
Ke Zheng was so flustered that she felt dizzy. She grabbed his white "chicken claw" and asked in confusion, "Wait a minute, Lao Wu, Cui Cui? The Jia family? And who is Jia Yan? What's the point of all this?"
Xia Buyu stared at his fingertips that were being pulled by Zheng.
He moved, and seeing that Zheng had no intention of letting go, he could only repeat to Zheng what he had seen and heard today.
But after hearing Xia Buyu's description, Taishi Zheng instantly became furious and rushed to the Imperial College. "What! How can the Jia family be so shameless? They dared to say such things about my Erlang and even injured you. Is there any reason in this place? I have to settle the score with him--"
Fortunately, Xia Buyu was quick-witted and stopped Tai Shi Zheng.
"Alright, alright. My dear young lady from the Bo Mansion, calm down. Haven't we both helped you vent your anger today? It's not enough to get your hands dirty by going after that idiot. We're here to take care of everything. Besides, everything has been handled. Don't worry about that idiot."
Xia Buyu was trying to persuade him, but on the other side, Jia Yang, with a red head, walked out alone. When he looked up, he met Xia Buyu's eyes. He stepped forward angrily and said, "You, you dare to appear in front of me!"
Xia Buyu held the zither in one hand and pointed at Jia Yan with the other, saying in surprise, "Eh? Didn't Uncle Chen and the others send you home after you got knocked unconscious?"
After hearing this, Jia Yang was speechless and even wanted to find a hole in the ground to hide in.
Seeing his cowering look, Xia Buyu immediately started to mock him, "Ah~ I told you, you are despicable and shameless, just pretending to be unconscious. If you can't beat me, just tell me directly. If you beg for mercy, I - won't let you go."
Xia Buyu's verbal skills are more powerful than his kicking skills.
"Xia Buyu, just wait for me. You have provoked me today. I will make sure you can't survive in this Imperial College." Even at this point, Jia Yang was still bluffing.
Who knew that before Xia Buyu could speak.
Taishi Zheng ripped his palm away and kicked Jia Yang, "You can't stand it anymore, right? You're the one who said bad things about me behind my back, right? Let's see today, who will give up first——"
Zheng was holding her breath and had no place to vent.
Jia Yang was just in bad luck, but Tai Shi Zheng's kick made him confused and fall under the porch.
"No...you, you, who are you?" Jia Yang was shocked.
Taishi Zheng waved her sleeves and scolded Jia Yan in great dissatisfaction: "Who am I? I am your aunt. Jia Yan, right? Don't you like to complain? Aunt, I tell you today, you can complain about me at will, and you will see if I am afraid of you——"
Xia Buyu couldn't help laughing when he heard Zheng's tone, which was exactly the same as his own. But even though he was laughing, Xia Buyu didn't want Zheng to get too involved in this matter, so he quickly put his arm around Zheng's shoulders and led her away from Jia Yang.
Zheng walked away from the corridor cursing.
Only Jia Rong was left sitting on the ground in a daze. Faced with the scenes of being kicked one after another today, he began to wonder if he had offended the lucky star.
Who are these people?
How can you hit someone just because of a disagreement? ! !
It must be even worse than him.
-
The two of them walked all the way to Suzaku Gate, and Taishi Zheng finally calmed down.
She broke free from Xia Buyu's restraints and casually moved her wrist. "Alright, Lao Wu, you don't have to stop me. I've already come this far, how can I run back and beat him up? Besides, didn't you also fight today? Why are you trying to mediate now that it's my turn?"
"Well, it's my business if I take action. If you do, I will naturally stop you to avoid getting hurt again. That would make Cui Cui sad." Xia Buyu and Tai Shi Zheng made their way through the bustling crowd. The lights and shadows of Bianjing City were already shining brightly under the bright lamps.
Heartache? What is heartache?
Did he ignore his wife who came all the way to pick him up after work? Or did he keep a distance from her?
Taishi Zheng curled her lips. She glanced back at the people following behind her, not mentioning the unhappiness. "I say, Lao Wu, when did you become so familiar with my Erlang? Is it just because of what happened today?"
"Yes, it's because of what happened today. Today, Cui and I..."
Xia Buyu glanced at Zheng's expression.
"Your Erlang has been a part of our hardships. As for me, my friends stretch from here to the outskirts of Bianjing, but what I lack most is a gentleman like this, calm and reserved, full of righteousness. What? You don't want me to get to know him?"
"I'm willing to do that. It's a blessing for Erlang to be able to make friends with our Master Xia. But it sounds to me like you're saying we're petty, not calm and reserved enough, and lacking the spirit of righteousness."
Zheng pretended to be angry.
Xia Buyu quickly explained, "How dare I! I was just praising your Erlang, how could you not hear that? But Zheng, don't let Qi Shiyi learn what you said just now, otherwise I'll be finished."
Upon hearing this, Taishi Zheng let out a "hey" sound, which seemed to contain a hint of mockery.
"So it turns out that our Master Xia is most afraid of Prince Bei. As for whether I should learn from you or not... that depends on your performance."
There are too many temptations in the capital city at night.
The aroma wafting from the various restaurants makes my stomach growl and my heart intoxicated.
Xia Buyu knew what she meant. He took a few steps forward and began to massage Taishi Zheng's shoulders, saying cordially, "My dear sister, you must be hungry so late at night. How about I treat you to a meal? We haven't been together for a long time. The last time you three had a stew, it happened to be my first day of school. After I get out of school, you can all go your separate ways."
"Give me a chance today..."
When Xia Buyu ran into Taishi Zheng, she had completely forgotten what Old Man Xia had told her today. But then she saw Taishi Zheng was also having something delicious, so she couldn't even think of Cui Zhijun anymore. She just thought she'd settle the score with him when she got home.
"Since I can't refuse your kindness, I'll do it reluctantly..." Zheng pretended to hesitate and thought about it.
Xia Buyu pushed Taishi Zheng's shoulders and walked towards the depths of the crowd. "Come on, come on, I'll take care of tonight's dinner."
-
It wasn't until Xia Buyu led Taishi Zheng to a simple stall, ordered two baskets of steamed buns, and sat down. Zheng looked at the two baskets on the table in disbelief, looking at the buns that seemed to have no meat or fish in them, and said, "You said you were treating me to a meal, and this is what you're going to eat?"
Fallen leaves were dancing beside the wooden box at the end of the alley, and the cool evening breeze blew into the collars of the two men.
This makes the already bleak stall look even more desolate.
Xia Buyu smiled, wiped the chopsticks, and handed them to Zheng. Zheng didn't raise her hand to take them. She asked, "Xia Laowu, I'm not saying these buns are bad, but you used to enjoy all kinds of delicacies before, but when it comes to me, you only give me two baskets of vegetarian buns! Tell me, what's wrong with you? Did you pick up some bad habits and lose all the money Uncle Xia gave you? -"
Tai Shi Zheng's words became more and more serious, but Xia Buyu dared to swear to the sky while holding up two pairs of chopsticks.
Although he enjoyed indulging in pleasure, he would never fall into those bad habits. But this was strange. If he didn't have bad habits, how could Xia Buyu have ended up in such a state? Given his relationship with Zheng, he could have eaten at any decent restaurant, not just Baifanlou.
"Speak clearly to me." Zheng crossed her arms arrogantly, determined to denounce him.
Xia Buyu, however, lowered his head, poked a steamed bun with his chopsticks, and said aggrievedly, "Zheng, you don't know, my father has long withheld my monthly allowance. I'm a pauper now. He gives me one thousand coins a month, of which eight hundred and fifty coins have to be paid to the Imperial College. What do you think I can do with the remaining one hundred and fifty coins?"
"I don't even dare to drink wine or listen to music now. If I were to treat you to a good meal, it would cost at least five hundred coins, not including my own money. How can I afford it? I squeezed out all the money I could to treat you to a meal of buns."
"Hey, stop, stop. How can I still eat what you said?"
Zheng looked at Xia Buyu with a certain amount of sympathy, but also felt that he had brought this upon himself. However, after all, they were friends who had grown up together, so she couldn't just gloat over his misfortune and stand by and watch him perish.
She then said compassionately, "Old Fifth, you're in this state, why didn't you tell me earlier? Since you can't treat me to a good meal, I can treat you, right? Just consider it my gift to celebrate your complete transformation, your reformation, and the beginning of a new life. I only hope that you will pass the imperial examination soon, so that I can be proud of it later."
"Let's go, let's go." Zheng stood up.
Xia Buyu also stood up like a follower, "Great, Zheng Zheng is really generous. Then I'll ask the boss to pack it up~"
However, Xia Buyu had only taken two steps with the hot buns when he bumped into Taishi Zheng, who had stopped in front of him. He asked, mumbling, "What's wrong? Why aren't you moving?" while holding the buns in his mouth.
Zheng stared blankly at the figure turning away at the end of the alley, and subconsciously said, "Erlang?"
Hearing the sound, Xia Buyu followed Taishi Zheng's gaze and saw that at the end of the quiet alley, only the sounds of a few cow bells echoed back and forth.
Xia Buyu scratched his head. "Erlang? Where is the Erlang? Zheng, you must have seen it wrong? Do you miss your Erlang so much... But now that I think about it, you definitely didn't come to the Imperial College to pick me up today. You definitely came to pick up your Erlang. But why don't you see him? Zheng, what's going on between you two? I just praised him for listening to you this morning."
Xia Buyu asked a series of questions but received no response.
Zheng remained silent.
She saw it clearly, it was Cui Zhijun's back, but that was not the direction home.
Cui Zhiyun, where are you going?
-
A long time later, Tai Shi Zheng and Xia Bu Yu said goodbye in front of a bright restaurant.
The two people walked in opposite directions.
Gradually, she passed many people and lost the joy she had when she came. She felt very lonely on this road home. She also did not feel at ease eating this meal, so after returning to Yinzhu Yatang, she turned off the lights early.
As she expected, Cui Zhiyun did not come back.
Lying alone on the empty bed, Zheng couldn't fall asleep at all. She kept blinking with her big eyes open.
After all their marriage, this was the first time Choi Shik-jun had given her this feeling of unease, and this was the first time Zheng had ever felt this way about him. It was a strange feeling, filled with worry, reverie, and a desire to dig deep into the ground to bring him back.
Zheng was torn between these emotions and couldn't calm down at all.
She suddenly sat up from the bed, angrily punched the dark scene in front of her eyes twice, and muttered bitterly: "Cui Zhijun, you stupid fool, you're making me die!"
But when his voice faded in the room, no one answered.
Taishi Zheng sank back down on the bed, deflated, and jerked violently. Unexpectedly, this frightened Cuo Cuo inside the room and made her groan. Zheng quickly leaned over the bed and soothed her, "Cuo Cuo, dear, did I scare you? I'm sorry, go to sleep. Mother won't move around anymore. Don't blame me, blame your father if you have to!"
Cuo Cuo calmed down and lay down in the newly made nest, looking at Tai Shi Zheng on the bed, and soon fell asleep.
But Zheng still couldn't sleep.
At that time, footsteps were approaching outside the house. Zheng looked up at the figure reflected on the carved door and confirmed it at a glance.
It’s Cui Zhiyun who is back.
She lowered her eyes and tried to pretend to sleep, but the footsteps were heading somewhere else. Zheng's eyes changed again and again with the movement outside the door.
Could it be that this person is going to sleep in the west room tonight?
Thus, Taishi Zheng's thoughts, which had finally calmed down, were once again disturbed by Cui Zhijun's every move. She kept waiting, but when she could no longer bear it, she opened the quilt and prepared to go out to take a look.
Unexpectedly, just as Zheng stood up, Cui Zhijun returned from somewhere else and gently pushed open the door.
Fortunately, Zheng was quick and agile, and quickly got back in.
That's why no one noticed.
Cui Zhijun entered the room very quietly, so quietly that Cuo Cuo didn't even notice. Zheng lay on the bed with her eyes closed, and as the person in the room approached, she became more and more nervous.
Her eyelids were trembling.
Fortunately, there was no light in the room, otherwise her flaw would have been exposed to Cui Zhijun.
Cui Zhijun came to the bed and fumbled to get on it, but Zheng deliberately hummed and moved to the place where he wanted to lie down. Cui Zhijun saw the person on the bed move over, and did not dare to wake them up, so he raised his foot and prepared to step into the empty space inside the bed.
Unexpectedly, Taishi Zheng stretched out her legs again, occupying the entire bed. Seeing this, Cui Zhijun had no choice but to retract his outstretched foot.
He just leaned his arms on the edge of the bed, not knowing what to do.
Because he really didn't want to wake Tai Shi Zheng, Cui Zhijun thought about it and prepared to get up and go to the west room to spend the night. But who would have thought that just as he was about to get up, two slender arms tightly wrapped around his neck.
Cui Zhijun looked at the person in front of him in surprise. He couldn't see Zheng's face clearly because of the dim moonlight.
He only heard that voice filled with rebuke: "Cui Erlang, you are so brave. You left me and came home so late alone. Where do you want to go now——"
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