Chapter 6
After Huo Yan left, Ning Qingshan looked up at Ning Qingxi and said, "Sister."
Ning Qingxi snapped out of her daze and found a stool to sit down.
Before long, the shopkeeper served several bowls of steaming wontons and a basket of fried dumplings, which smelled delicious and made people's mouths water.
Ning Qingyuan and Ning Qingshan stared longingly, but neither of them touched their chopsticks. Ning Qingxi sighed, thinking to herself that if Huo Yanci hadn't returned by the time it takes for half an incense stick to burn, they would have to eat first.
As if sensing something, Huo Yanci really did return after half an incense stick's time. He put his things aside. He was tall and big, and when he sat on the stool, he had nowhere to put his legs. Ning Qingxi felt sorry for him.
"What have you been doing for so long?" Ning Qingxi frowned and patted the snowflakes off him.
“Of course it is…” Huo Yanci pulled a small gadget from his pocket and waved it in front of Ning Qingxi, “This!”
The emerald green lilies shimmered under the light, so lifelike that they looked as if they would break at the slightest touch.
It's that hairpin.
Huo Yanci stuffed the things into her arms: "You've been looking sullen the whole way. If I hadn't bought them for you, you probably wouldn't have been able to sleep tonight."
Ning Qingxi suppressed her emotions and snapped, "You're the one who can't sleep!"
Huo Yanci scoffed, "Are you a child? You can't even argue properly."
Ning Qingxi: "..."
Well done, this person actually mocked her for being a primary school student.
but……
Ning Qingxi glanced at the hairpin in her hand.
He who eats another's food is bound to him; he who takes another's money is bound to him.
She finally understood what that sentence meant.
“But I can’t just take your things for free,” Ning Qingxi said, looking at the hairpin. “Do you need me to design your house?”
"No, it's too much trouble to start construction on the house."
Huo Yanci looked extremely hungry as she took a big bite of a wonton.
“Then I can’t accept your things,” Ning Qingxi pushed the hairpin back, pondering in her mind whether the money she had earned helping Zhang Fuhu with his flowers and plants these past few days was enough to compensate Huo Yanci for the little trinkets he had bought.
Huo Yanci said, "I've already bought it, I'm a grown man, I can't just keep it for myself, can I? When you become successful in the future, just don't forget me."
"What you wear every day would suit you perfectly, let alone a single hairpin, or even a head full of jewels." Ning Qingxi tapped the table with her chopsticks. "When we're out having fun, can we not talk about work?"
Huo Yanci glanced at the chopsticks with a hint of disdain and handed her a new pair: "Are you going to eat or not?"
He had been gone for quite a while, so the wontons were a bit soggy, but the soup was excellent, with vinegar and sesame oil, and topped with scallions and cilantro, making it very appetizing.
Ning Qingxi was a picky eater; she took two bites and then threw the rest away, intending to give it to Ning Qingyuan while she herself just drank some soup.
"What's wrong? Not to your liking?" Huo Yanci asked.
Ning Qingxi hesitated for a moment, then nodded.
Over the past few days, she has figured out the tricks of the trade. Huo Yanci is very rich, but he doesn't waste money and can't stand seeing others waste money.
So Ning Qingxi immediately said, "Wait a moment, A Yuan..."
Before she finished speaking, Huo Yanci had already shoveled the remaining wontons into her own bowl and finished them off in a few bites.
Ning Qingyuan, who was holding an empty bowl, picked up a dumpling and ate it.
Ning Qingxi felt that saying the rest now would be too hurtful to Huo Yanci's self-esteem, so she silently shut her mouth.
After dinner, they strolled around for a while. Ning Qingshan seemed a bit dizzy from the heat and was already sleepy. Ning Qingxi looked at him yawning repeatedly and hesitated, "How about we go home?"
Ning Qingshan glanced at Huo Yanci.
Huo Yanci: "..."
For some reason, he always felt like the wronged one, but he just waved his hand and said, "Next time, I'll take you guys to have a good time."
Ning Qingxi didn't understand Ning Qingshan's unspoken words, so she waved to Huo Yanci and said, "Thank you for your hospitality tonight. I'll treat you to dinner another day."
Huo Yanci took the pancake and said, "Then I'll wait for Miss Ning to treat me."
Despite being practically penniless, Ning Qingxi remained calm and composed, saying goodbye before heading home with her two children.
Huo Yanci was left standing there, her hand hidden in her sleeve, holding the hairpin that she hadn't given away.
—
The Lantern Festival was like a flower in a mirror or the moon's reflection in water. If it weren't for the food and toys that Huo Yanci had given to the two children, Ning Qingxi would have doubted whether she had actually experienced the Lantern Festival.
The reason was simple: everyone competing with her was a master of drawing. Firecrackers went off outside every night, but the room was quiet, with everyone engrossed in drawing.
The workload of refining the sketch in 20 days is huge. If we don't hurry, we might not make it in time. Even experienced masters are not entirely confident. So, seeing these people anxious every day, Ning Qingxi was so anxious that she developed two blisters on her lips and couldn't even swallow her food.
Despite working from dawn till dusk every day, spending all her time in the reception room without rest, Ning Qingxi's progress has fallen far behind.
Her ideas couldn't be reflected in the drawings and required explanation, which raised another issue—what about the construction later?
The blueprints are only so big, so it's impossible to annotate everything. Many details are destined to be unprocessable. Unlike other people's drawings, which are neat and rigorous, even each door has another door symmetrical to it along the central axis, and the styles are identical.
In her haste, she developed two more blisters and couldn't even open her mouth.
When Huo Yanci came to have dinner with her, she was covered up with a veil, as if she wanted to wrap her whole head up.
Ning Qingxi was extremely annoyed: "I'm telling you, you'd better really come to me if you need something."
Huo Yanci said, "You still owe me a meal, can't you be a little more polite?"
Ning Qingxi looked at him listlessly, and couldn't help but sigh, how could this person be so flamboyant?
We've only met five times, and this is already the fifth different outfit he's worn in a different color—a vibrant green.
"I'm so busy lately. In less than half a month, I'll be screening applications again."
Ning Qingxi felt like a high school senior who was about to take the college entrance examination, but even if she pushed herself, she wouldn't become a genius; she would only drive herself to the brink of death.
She sat in the noodle shop and told Huo Yanci what she had said. Huo Yanci only said, "Don't say such things. You have to know how to avoid prophecy... But seriously, is it really that difficult?"
Ning Qingxi took the tea that Huo Yanci poured for her and watched him continue to scald the bowl: "Look at my lips, they're so hot they've blistered. I haven't been eating or sleeping well these past few days. You make it sound so easy, why don't you go and try it?"
Huo Yanci looked up and saw a ring of blisters around the girl's mouth, one of which had already scabbed over, indicating that it was quite serious: "I see those old-timers painting quite leisurely."
“I’d paint like them, and I’d be just as carefree!” Ning Qingxi exclaimed excitedly, then slumped back in her chair. “I finally understand why those who take unorthodox approaches in novels always end up going crazy.”
Huo Yanci asked, "So what are you going to do now?"
“What should we do…” Ning Qingxi murmured, “I want to know what to do too.”
Finally, when all else failed, she had no choice but to draw some renderings as well, such as the construction effects of various windows and door frames.
Ning Qingxi's "what's the use of trying" mentality arose from the ground and grew stronger and stronger, to the point that she almost couldn't help but think about it several times.
Fortunately, the burden of caring for her elderly parents and young children brought her back to her senses. Ning Qingxi resignedly lay down on the table and started eating noodles, planning to go back to continue drawing as soon as she finished.
Ning Qingxi had only eaten half of her meal when she suddenly noticed something. She stopped eating, stared intently at Huo Yanci's bowl, and asked, "Why is there meat in your bowl?"
Huo Yanci slowly wiped the chopsticks: "I asked you if you wanted meat earlier, but you were lost in thought and didn't answer me. I thought you didn't want it."
Ning Qingxi said with great distress, "Next time, please don't question things like this, okay? Just give me lots and lots of meat, no noodles required!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the waiter brought over a plate of meat: "This is the beef you ordered, please enjoy."
Ning Qingxi asked in confusion, "I didn't order any meat."
This confused the waiter. Huo Yanci waved her hand and said, "I ordered it. You can go back to your work."
"Hey, what are you saying?" The waiter was momentarily speechless, choked for a moment, "Next time, please remember to check yourselves."
Ning Qingxi felt he wanted to hit her, but there was something she wanted to ask first: "Why did you order meat?"
Huo Yanci pushed the meat in front of her: "Didn't you say yourself that you wanted lots of meat, or you didn't need noodles?"
Ning Qingxi immediately beamed with joy, scooping up half a plate of meat with her chopsticks: "You really understand me."
She was so hungry that she ate without any manners, making slurping noises as she slurped her noodles. Huo Yanci frowned at the sound, and finally couldn't take it anymore. She tapped the table and said, "Can't you eat a little more politely?"
Ning Qingxi finished the remaining half bowl of noodles and felt a little better. She immediately retorted, "No, I'm starving. You want me to be elegant? I can't do that."
"You seem perfectly healthy and energetic."
Ning Qingxi was too lazy to argue with him and pretended not to hear him. She had just eaten and was still a little dazed.
While Huo Yanci was eating, she suddenly heard this person ask, "By the way, where did you learn garden design?"
Ning Qingxi's heart skipped a beat; for the first time, she felt that chatting with people was an uncomfortable thing.
Perhaps her expression was too unnatural, and Huo Yanci noticed something.
Huo Yanci chuckled and said, "I was just asking casually. It's fine if Miss Ning doesn't want to reply."
"It's out of interest, and I have a natural talent," Ning Qingxi said casually, taking a sip of tea. "There's nothing I'm unwilling to answer. It's just some skills to make a living. I learned some of them when I helped build a courtyard a few years ago."
Huo Yanci was about to ask again when Ning Qingxi glared at her fiercely: "You shouldn't talk while eating or sleeping. Who told you to talk while eating? Shut up and eat properly!"
"Oh," Huo Yanci said innocently, "Actually, I just wanted to ask if you still want some beef. If not, I'll eat it."
Ning Qingxi: "..."
She rubbed her bloated stomach, picked up her chopsticks again, took a big bite of beef, and mumbled, "Eat! Who said I'm not eating?"
She's treating everyone to dinner, so she should eat more, right?
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