Chapter 9
Ning Qingxi held a bowl of bean rice, looking at the two children, enjoying a rare moment of relaxation.
I casually reached into my wallet; it wasn't very full, but it was enough for the three of us to eat our fill at the morning market.
That's enough, Ning Qingxi thought contentedly.
Keep in mind, this was the pinnacle of her life since she traveled back in time!
When she first transmigrated, she was starving. As soon as she opened her eyes, she rummaged through drawers and cupboards looking for rice and flour, but as you can imagine, she found nothing.
Ning Qingxi: "..."
She even thought at the time that she might become the first time traveler in history to starve to death shortly after arriving in the world.
Fortunately, there was one last bowl of cornmeal left at home. I cooked it with wild vegetables into a pot of porridge, which barely filled my stomach, and my desire to eat meat reached its peak.
So Ning Qingxi went out to work. Because of her decent appearance, she offered to work as a trial first, without pay, and that she could get paid later if she did well. That's how she managed to make a living.
This is the path she came from!
Ning Qingxi narrowed her eyes, took another bite of bean rice. Right now, she had money and free time, and her future was bright—it would be even better if she could be selected.
When she was selected, her mind started to race again, and she couldn't help but think about how to draw the blueprints.
The final round of competition is based on the renderings.
A rendering is a sketch of what you would see in a park, drawn onto a drawing based on what you see in the design. This sketch will show how that area will look after completion.
Ning Qingxi needs to think about where to draw it.
The renderings have a limited field of view, so extra attention needs to be paid to perspective when drawing them. Different perspective methods are applicable to different scenes, so she can't draw all the effects. Therefore, she can only draw some particularly important designs and landscape features.
So what constitutes an important landscape feature?
Ning Qingxi needs to mentally rank the elements in the garden first, then prioritize them according to their importance.
Then, the iconic features in the garden also need to be highlighted.
Ning Qingxi closed her eyes, constantly picturing the actual scene of the garden.
Rocks, trees, buildings, water features...
Those who think too much become drowsy.
What are you doing?
Ning Qingxi opened her eyes upon hearing this, only to see someone blocking her view like a wall in front of her, also keeping the snowflakes out.
Ning Qingxi laughed and said, "Oh, who is this?"
Huo Yanci sat down in an empty seat: "Stop teasing me, I've been running marathons every day these past few days, I'm freezing."
As soon as he sat down, he ordered a steamer of buns and kept urging the shopkeeper to bring them to him quickly.
"Why are you running horses in the dead of winter?" Ning Qingxi poured tea while looking at him with an expression that said she was looking at an idiot. "Has your brain been frozen? You don't want a live horse, you want a live horse."
"Training horses," Huo Yanci took the tea, took a sip, and then spat it out with a "pfft."
Ning Qingxi: "...If you don't want to drink, then don't! You're wasting food."
Huo Yanci, unusually, didn't retort, but simply savored the taste of the tea in her mouth.
He always drank expensive tea, at the very least Snow Top Silver Shuttle. Suddenly drinking broken tea leaves, probably with sugar added, was really rough. The astringent taste was quite lingering and he was not used to it.
Huo Yanci took out a handkerchief and wiped her mouth: "It's a waste that this tea leaf was made like this."
Ning Qingxi took a sip, and a faint sweetness spread in her mouth. The only thing she didn't like was that drinking green tea in the middle of winter was really inappropriate. Apart from that, she thought the tea was quite good.
So she concluded, "You spoiled me."
Huo Yanci: "..."
It feels a bit absurd to have your own lines spoken by someone else.
Ning Qingxi sipped her tea and casually remarked, "It would be even better if it were black tea."
Huo Yanci was quite surprised: "You like to drink black tea?"
To be honest, Ning Qingxi doesn't like drinking any kind of tea right now.
Tea is not a good thing for people with impaired digestive systems, and coincidentally, the original owner of this body probably didn't have a very good digestive system either.
Ning Qingxi made up a story: "I love drinking fruit tea."
Huo Yanci: "What is fruit tea?"
Ning Qingxi: "Put the tea leaves and fruit into a pot and boil them together, then strain out the dregs and add some rock sugar."
The two chatted for a long time about all sorts of things, until Ning Qingxi felt icy cold all over. She stood up and jumped around a couple of times to warm up: "Let's go, aren't you cold?"
Huo Yanci pulled her clothes tighter: "I didn't feel anything."
"Then you can sit here for a while longer, I have to go back now."
"Alas, it's rare to have some time alone, and now Miss Ning is leaving. It's truly heartbreaking," Huo Yanci sighed deeply.
Ning Qingxi looked at him with an expression that seemed to ask, "Are you alright?"
She has been eating and sleeping well for the past month and has been keeping herself busy. Although she is extremely busy, her face has regained some color. The previously sallow and thin little girl has begun to grow into a graceful young woman. Her eyes are no longer as calm as when we first met, but have become more lively and charming, without being fierce.
Coincidentally, she was also wearing a green dress today, and her messy hair was neatly braided, with strips of fabric of the same color as her dress running through it... However, the fabric was naturally incomparable to Huo Yanci's.
Huo Yanci's heart stirred, and she suddenly thought of the two lines of poetry she had recited today, feeling that these two lines were more fitting to describe herself.
Noticing Ning Qingxi's increasingly impatient gaze, Huo Yanci reached out and took off his cloak, placing it over Ning Qingxi's head.
Ning Qingxi, whose vision suddenly went black, was speechless.
Before she could even secure her money, someone already had their eyes on it?
Before she could even take off the cloak, she heard Huo Yanci say arrogantly, "Here, take it. Wear it next time you come out. Don't make it look like I'm abusing you when we sit together."
Ning Qingxi asked, puzzled, "Who said that?"
Huo Yanci: "Just treat me to a meal when you have money."
Ning Qingxi: "Who said they wanted it?"
She stuffed the cloak back in: "Don't try to harm me, you're just here to ruin my reputation."
Huo Yanci suddenly felt like making a flirtatious remark: "Isn't it good that I've got your back?"
Ning Qingxi looked at him and teased, "Isn't your reputation more important than mine? Besides, eating together is a big taboo."
Huo Yanci: "..."
With another "pfft," he sprayed his tea even further, drawing several disapproving glances from the shopkeeper. He couldn't help but wonder if he had forgotten to check the almanac before leaving home. If he had, it probably said that drinking tea was not advisable.
Ning Qingxi calmly took a sip of tea, appearing serene and content. In reality, she couldn't even tell whether the tea was hot or cold. If you looked closely, you could probably see that her hand was trembling slightly.
Ning Qingxi, who was lucky enough to have tea splashed all over her face: "..."
Huo Yanci's gaze was very strange.
I don't know what got into him, but when he looked at her just now, his eyes were glazed over, which was really unsettling, prompting Ning Qingxi to say something surprising.
However, it was indeed effective. Huo Yanci's budding romantic thoughts suddenly died, and she said weakly, "Forget it, it's just giving away a piece of clothing, it's not like I did anything."
Ning Qingxi nodded: "Yes, yes, although I took the clothes you wore back with me and wore them everywhere, everyone knows that we are innocent."
Huo Yanci: "..."
In the end, she didn't take Huo Yanci's clothes with her. She sensed that Huo Yanci seemed to be acting strangely.
Regardless of who she was, as soon as she returned to the Zhang family, Zhang Fuhu couldn't help but come over to gossip, his eyebrows dancing with excitement.
However, Ning Qingxi was not used to it, and she said righteously, "Master Zhang, we should still keep a certain distance."
"Hey, what are you thinking!" Zhang Fuhu waved his hand and got straight to the point, "What's going on between you and Prince Jing?"
"..." Ning Qingxi's mind raced: "Do you want to know what happened between us a few days ago?"
Zhang Fuhu nodded repeatedly.
Ning Qingxi continued, "Want to know what he said to me when we went out?"
Zhang Fuhu nodded and tapped the rattle drum.
"That's a different price." Ning Qingxi straightened up, instantly shutting everyone out, and coldly extended her hand, her intentions obvious.
Zhang Fuhu: "..."
But gossiping is human nature.
Ning Qingxi held the silver in her hand, quite satisfied. She put the silver into her sleeve pocket and said, "Nothing happened. He said he wanted me to design a courtyard for him."
Zhang Fuhu: "...I don't believe it."
Ning Qingxi shrugged: "If you don't believe me, go ask them yourself."
After saying that, Ning Qingxi hurriedly left.
Once Zhang Fuhu realized what was going on, he turned to look at her leisurely back and angrily said, "Ning Qingxi! You cheated me out of my money again!"
Ning Qingxi vanished around the corner of the covered walkway in a flash.
Zhang Fuhu was a shrewd businessman, but that was all he was good at. Ning Qingxi managed to extract a considerable amount of money from him through a combination of coaxing and deception.
However, she didn't take it for nothing.
It is likely that Zhang Fuhu is used to being fawned over, either being fawned over or fawning over others, and rarely has the opportunity to say witty things to others.
Ning Qingxi was capable, so Zhang Fuhu was happy to chat with her, even though he was always ripped off, he never tired of it.
Ning Qingxi happily tossed the loose silver in her hand, then suddenly remembered what Huo Yanci had said.
She raised her hand and examined it carefully for a long time.
The chilblains I got years ago took a long time to heal. I just went out for a while and my hands were so red from the cold that they looked like five little red radishes.
Ning Qingxi: "..."
She also wanted to buy a cloak.
The Zhang family had people who specialized in procuring items. Ning Qingxi found them and explained her needs and budget.
This man was clearly used to Zhang Fuhu's extravagant style. When he suddenly heard that one tael of silver would buy three cloaks, one large and one small, he was momentarily stunned and hesitated before asking, "One tael of silver, three cloaks, with rabbit fur?"
Ning Qingxi countered, "Is there a problem?"
"..."
What's the problem?
This is a huge problem, okay?
Seeing the hint of distress on his face, Ning Qingxi asked in confusion, "Isn't the money enough?"
"...I'll give it a try."
Ning Qingxi said with satisfaction, "Thank you."
Spring was still far away, and a warm coat was indeed needed. With one worry settled, Ning Qingxi was in a great mood and went back to sleep soundly until the sun was high in the sky the next day.
The sky was overcast, with no sunlight filtering through. Snowflakes fluttered down between heaven and earth. Ning Qingxi, carrying a warm hot water bottle, strolled into the reception room.
The large reception room was now empty, with only three people remaining.
Ning Qingxi paused for a moment, then sat back in her original spot, took a new sheet of Xuan paper, and spread out the old one.
Unlike the previous two times, Ning Qingxi was confident this time.
The only flaw is that there was no pencil or sketch, and the line drawing was done directly. Many parts were just sloppy, and the lines were of inconsistent thickness, which was really unbearable to look at.
But there was nothing she could do; she couldn't control the pen, especially a soft one.
As darkness fell, Ning Qingxi's first drawing began to take shape. She carefully sculpted it and held it up to her face to examine it.
Ning Qingxi: "..."
ugly.
It's really ugly.
You can only tell what it looks like, but it's not aesthetically pleasing at all.
Fortunately, Ning Qingxi wasn't the type to judge by appearances, and she calmly put the blueprints away.
As soon as she stepped out the door and entered the front yard through the side gate, she heard a group of people talking amongst themselves. They were so engrossed in their conversation that they didn't even notice her approaching.
A cleaning servant was the center of attention, telling a story with great interest: "Do you know why that young lady Ning was able to overcome all obstacles?"
People around him said, "We don't know."
Why?
The servant teased them, speaking like a storyteller: "This is because that young lady Ning has a very close relationship with Prince Jing!"
Ning Qingxi: "..."
She's still here.
The servant continued, "Otherwise, guess what? Among the contestants, there are so many renowned garden designers in the capital, so why was it that Miss Ning was able to advance? Isn't it because His Highness Prince Jing gave her one vote and the rest of them abstained? It's because if they hadn't abstained, Miss Ning's advancement would have been in jeopardy!"
Ning Qingxi: "..."
This person told a great story, it was incredibly captivating, and they made black seem white. How to put it... if she hadn't been one of the people involved, she would have been tempted to believe it herself.
The maid who had taken Ning Qingxi to find a room suddenly spoke up: "Speaking of which, why doesn't His Highness Prince Jing take care of Miss Ning's daily life? Miss Ning's room is so empty, it's freezing cold inside."
"Hey, don't you think about it!" the servant said jokingly, as if he were telling the truth. "Where else can Miss Ning stay in this mansion? She's going to stay for two months. If she stays in a guest room, what if some important guest comes? Where will they stay then? Even if His Highness Prince Jing has a long reach, he can't interfere here!"
Upon hearing this, everyone seemed to have a profound realization.
At this moment, someone else asked, "So, what exactly is the relationship between this Miss Ning and His Highness Prince Jing?"
The servant's voice came from behind: "Who can say for sure? How could I presume to speak on matters concerning important people?"
However, this sentence was full of meaning, and everyone had an "I know what I mean" look on their faces.
Ning Qingxi: "..."
What kind of nonsense is this? Do you guys have so much free time that you're discussing this kind of thing behind people's backs...? Wait a minute!
What do these people call Huo Yanci?
Ning Qingxi belatedly realized that she had overlooked a very important piece of information.
Ning Qingxi: "..."
Well done! My heart, which had been pounding wildly all night, suddenly settled back into my chest, becoming calm and composed without a trace of panic.
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