Chapter 7, Chapter 7 Name
Merchants flocked to Cangzhou, and the city was filled with nine thoroughfares and three markets, with shops lining the streets.
The night market closes late, and now the streets are bustling with people and incredibly lively.
Jiang Xi had never seen such a sight when he was at the Jiang residence.
The past two weeks of living outdoors were all new and exciting for him, and he was even more curious about the thriving population.
"I've never seen such a handsome young man before. Would you like to buy a hairpin for the lady beside you?"
"Fragrant sesame cakes, hot and delicious! Ten coins a piece!"
"Candied hawthorn berries, delicious candied hawthorn berries—"
"..."
Where their robes met, Jiang Xi held Shang Yuji's hand tightly, following closely behind, while his head busily looked around.
He stared in astonishment at the various tricks employed by the merchants, shops, and vendors. His round, fox-like eyes lost their subtle allure and gained a touch of adorable naivety.
Having already left the capital, Shang Yuji didn't ask him to take Mi Li out. He simply couldn't keep up with the sights of everyday life.
As if drawn by something, he curled his fingertips and scratched his clasped hands, whispering, "Ah Ji, I want to buy that..."
Shang Yuji stopped in her tracks. The street was bustling, and she couldn't hear clearly, so she turned her head and put her ear closer: "What are you saying?"
Jiang Xi lowered her head, leaned close to her ear, and raised her other free hand to her face, whispering earnestly, "Aji, I want to buy that hairpin."
They were standing close together. She looked up at him, then pulled away again: "Okay, let's go take a look."
The vendor smiled and solicited customers: "Sir, please feel free to look around. My hairpins have novel designs and many varieties. Which one would you like?"
Jiangxi's destination clearly refers to the jade-white pear blossom hairpin.
"You have excellent taste! This is a new arrival from the Wanshang Alliance. Those ladies and young women love Wanshang Alliance's goods the most! You and I are destined to meet, so I'll sell this hairpin to you for ten taels of silver."
Ten taels...
As the person in charge of the family's finances, Shang Yuji naturally knew that he didn't have ten taels of silver and was about to take out his money.
Jiang Xi pursed his lips, released their clasped hands, took out a slightly old money pouch from his sleeve, opened it to reveal the loose silver inside.
These were the New Year's money Ah Ji gave him when he was still living in the Jiang family.
He knew that Aji was always worried about money, so he kept saving it, hoping that one day he could help her out of her urgent need.
Knowing that Ah Ji had helped the princess and was not short of money, he spent it without worry.
Is this enough?
The vendor initially accepted the money with a smile, but after counting it carefully, his expression turned strange, and he glanced at the two men with a shifty look: "Sir, are you joking with me? This is at most five taels, far less than ten taels."
Upon hearing that it was five taels, Shang Yuji roughly guessed that this money was the New Year's money she had given.
The vendor returned the money bag, and Shang Yuji checked that there was no short weight, then handed the money bag back to Jiang Xi.
Shang Yuji took out ten taels of silver, and the money and goods were settled. She took the pear blossom hairpin and then handed it to Wang Si.
Wang Si carried large and small bags behind them, and the three of them gradually left the hairpin stall.
Jiang Xi clutched her purse and apologized softly, "I'm sorry, Aji, I didn't expect I couldn't afford it..."
She patted his back, helping him straighten his hunched back in sadness: "What are you saying? We agreed that I would pay for everything today. Just tell me if you want anything else."
That's not how it works. He originally planned to buy the hairpin himself and give it to Aji as a gift.
He would be happy to receive the gift, and he hoped that Aji would be happy to receive his gift as well.
But if Aji bought it herself, then it wasn't a gift from him.
Shang Yuji was thinking about something else. Jiang Xi had always stayed in the mansion and had no need for money, so she had habitually overlooked the fact that he was now able to go out because he needed money.
In response, she reassured him, "I appreciate that you thought of using your own money to help me, young master."
“I forgot that the young master also needs money. How about I give the young master twenty taels of silver every month as wages?”
"Wages?"
“Young Master works for me just like Wang Si and Old Chen. They get paid, so Young Master should get paid too.”
Then he can save up money, and when he has enough, he can buy Ah Ji a better and prettier hairpin!
Having thought this through, he shook off his gloomy mood, his pursed lips parted to the sides, and his crescent-shaped fox eyes sparkled with a smile like stars: "Thank you, Aji, I will work hard!"
Shang Yuji looked at him with a complicated expression. Jiang Xi's words made her hallucinate some hardworking employees who were eager to do anything for their boss.
However, her status has now risen to that of a boss!
Fortunately, she still had a conscience and didn't really intend to exploit him. She would reward him more when she "paid him wages".
After walking around for a while, Shang Yuji was tired, but Jiang Xi was still full of energy.
As expected of a novel that limits the protagonist's stamina, it's practically an unreasonable, unlimited endurance.
Back at the inn, after dividing up the purchased items, Wang Si called over Lao Chen, and the four of them had a simple, slightly late dinner on the first floor of the inn.
Shang Yuji went upstairs, and as she was about to enter her room on the second floor, Old Chen quickly followed: "Miss, there's a letter for you over there."
After saying that, he took out an exquisite letter from his sleeve. The letter was nothing special on the surface, except that it was more refined and the paper was better. It was no different from an ordinary letter.
She took it, tucked it into her sleeve, and opened it again after entering the house.
Jiang Xi went into the house while the two were talking, and soon came out holding a pear blossom hairpin.
After delivering the letter, Old Chen left. Jiang Xi stepped forward and presented the hairpin in her hand to Shang Yuji.
“Ah Ji, this was originally something I wanted to buy for you, but here you go.”
He didn't say he'd wait until he'd saved enough money to buy her an even better one; he said he wanted to give her a big surprise then.
Shang Yuji was taken aback at first, but quickly recovered and softened her tone: "Thank you, young master."
Seeing that he was still standing in the corridor, tugging at his sleeve as if he wanted to say something but didn't, and showed no intention of leaving, she led the people into his room.
"What does the young master want to tell me?"
Jiang Xi nodded sharply and praised, "Ah Ji is amazing, you even know that!"
Then, he stammered, "Ah Ji... that..."
Perhaps influenced by his nervousness, she unconsciously straightened her attitude.
Finally, he closed his eyes, made up his mind, and said quickly, "Ah Ji, could you not call me Young Master, but just call me by my name?"
A form of address is just a substitute, and changing how you address someone isn't difficult.
Without hesitation, Shang Yuji replied decisively, "Of course, how would you like me to address you?"
Jiang Xi lowered her thick, long eyelashes, her well-defined fingers fidgeting: "Xi Qu, can you call me Xi Qu?"
He didn't want Aji to call him "Young Master" so formally; he wanted her to call him by his name as intimately as he did.
The thought of his name being called out by Aji made his legs go weak, as if he were floating on clouds.
"It's not good to just call someone by their name."
Shang Yuji considered that although it was a long way to Yangzhou, neither the Jiang family nor those scumbag protagonists would necessarily travel thousands of miles to find Jiang Xi.
However, to be on the safe side, it's best to use a name that no one else knows.
Jiang Xi was unaware of her considerations and mistakenly thought that A Ji had rejected him.
Seeing that she remained silent, a jumble of thoughts flooded his mind.
Does Ah Ji dislike him?
No, Ah Ji likes him the most.
Could it be that Ah Ji has grown tired of looking at herself?
But she had just said she would pay him his wages later...
Yes! The wages, and we'll still live together in the future!
But you can also pay wages without meeting in person.
...Waaah, Ah Ji wouldn't really abandon him, would she?
The more he thought about it, the more confused he became. In the end, tears streamed down his cheeks like pearls. He wept silently, and with that face, he looked even more like a lotus emerging from the water.
Fragile and pitiful, yet undeniably beautiful.
When Shang Yuji realized that she had been ignored for too long and looked up to answer, she saw him biting his lip tightly and sobbing silently.
How many episodes did she just miss?
How did the plot suddenly turn into something so unfamiliar?
When Jiang Xi finally acknowledged her presence, she tremblingly reached out her hand. When her fingertips touched her arm, a tingling, electric-like sensation shot through her fingertips.
He spoke, his voice trembling with tears: "Aji... if you... if you don't want to, you don't have to call me that... you absolutely can't... you can't abandon me..."
Shang Yuji skillfully raised her hand, her warm palm landing on his porcelain-white face, gently wiping away his tears.
She sighed, "Didn't I tell you not to overthink things? Why did I end up crying again?"
"I couldn't help it... I'm so sorry, Aji, I've caused you trouble again, sob..."
"Alright, my dear Xi, now listen to what I have to say, and then see if you still want to cry, okay?"
"Ugh, okay..."
Shang Yuji: "We finally escaped with great difficulty. What if one day our reputation spreads to the capital, and the Jiang family suspects that we never entered the Princess's residence and sends people to Yangzhou to look for us?"
Jiang Xi stared blankly at her, her tears ceasing: "Then... what do we do?"
"That's why I just thought of a way: we can give it a name."
"Naming?"
“Choose a name for me when we’re out and about. For example, I’ll call myself ‘Shang Yunxiao.’ In front of others, you can call me Yunxiao. When we’re at home, you can continue to call me ‘Aji,’ understand?”
"Cloud sales..."
"Yes, I'm here."
Jiang Xi blinked, his eyes, moistened by water, were clear and bright, like a piece of clear jade. He then recited, "Yun Xiao."
"Um."
"Cloud sales! Cloud sales! Cloud sales!"
"Yes, yes, I'm here."
He asked excitedly, "What about me? What should I be called?"
Shang Yuji paused, glanced at him twice, and then spoke: "Haitian, Jiang Haitian."
The clouds dispersed and the rain ceased.
The sea and sky blend into one color.
She admitted that she was lazy when choosing a name.
But to be fair, what's wrong with changing Jiang Xi's name to sound like Long Aotian, using Long Aotian's aura to counteract the restrictive fate of someone with tattoos and a delicate body?
Just in case it works!
If Jiang Xi is even more arrogant than the Second Prince Zhou Ao, would she still need to worry about being forced into romantic acts by him?
Who can defeat Long Aotian!
Besides that, Shang Yuji was worried that Jiang Xi would not accept it.
This concern is actually insignificant. The Jiang family doesn't value Jiang Xi, so naturally they won't arrange for a tutor to teach him.
His mother passed away when he was young, and his wet nurse was old and lacked energy; she could take care of people, but not much else.
He barely managed to learn to speak from his wet nurse, and after she left the mansion, he spoke even less.
It wasn't until Shang Yuji's arrival a year ago that he picked up his voice again, after several years of delay.
The fact that she can communicate with people now, even if she is a little slow to react, is the result of Shang Yuji's hard work in teaching and Jiang Xi's serious study.
Jiang Xi didn't consider whether the name Shang Yuji had chosen was good or not.
Any name that Ah Ji gives him is bound to be an excellent one!
He burst into laughter through his tears: "Ah Ji, my name is Jiang Haitian!"
A note from the author:
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