Chapter 9 The Aftermath of the Escape
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"Xie Yan...?!" A thought flashed through Lin Xihe's mind—was it Xie Yan, the calligraphy master she was thinking of?! "I've seen his original works in the museum! His calligraphy can sell for nine figures!"
Her words were full of strange vocabulary, just like her—eccentric and unpredictable. Wen Zhixu ignored her and pointed at Lin Xihe: "You let go."
"ah?"
You're going to fall.
Whoosh—the girl on the artificial hill slid down the stone wall and slowly disappeared from sight.
The world is peaceful now.
Wen Zhixu walked back. But the courtyard across the street was unusually quiet. Could she have really hurt herself?
The bottle of Golden Wound Jade Powder in his sleeve had already been warmed up; throwing it now would only cause trouble if it broke.
Climb over the wall? The thought had barely crossed his mind when he immediately suppressed it. What kind of reputation would it set if word got out that he were sneaking into a woman's boudoir in the dead of night?
"Hi."
Looking back suddenly, I realize that the preface to this article is quite insightful.
The girl's head was half hanging over the wall, her two dark eyes fixed on him.
"You." Wen Zhixu was speechless for a moment.
"Come here quickly," Lin Xihe said, stepping on Qingwu's shoulder and gripping the wall tightly with her fingers. "I can't hold on much longer!"
The night wind scattered her voice like wisps of smoke. Wen Zhixu stepped closer, stopping just five steps away to maintain a safe distance.
Upon seeing this, Lin Xihe immediately threw a book at him, which Wen Zhixu caught steadily.
"Young Master Wen, let me help your young friend out! I've copied it several times, the rest is yours. When two people are of one mind, their strength can break metal."
"Why should I..." Who would be willing to share her heart?!
"Because—" Seeing that Wen Zhixu remained unmoved, Lin Xihe simply sang out, "Unity is strength!"
The ear-piercing sound was like a feather tickling the back of the ear, penetrating the neck, burrowing into the clothes, and sticking straight to the skin.
A strange impulse arose within me, urging him to agree.
"Um... could you help me write a few more words?"
"What are you here for?" Wen Zhixu was wary, but his words didn't match his thoughts, so he asked, "Which words?"
The words had barely left his mouth when he wanted to slap himself.
At the same time, Lin Xihe quickly calculated: Xie Yan's student's handwritten work might not sell for a small fortune, but it could fetch a seven-figure sum! She'd transmigrated to ancient times, so what was wrong with playing with calligraphy and paintings? Even if she couldn't go back, she could just hang them on the wall for pure appreciation!
This is how she rephrased it: "It's the one with the 'chicken, dog, woof, woof' sound."
Wen Zhixu's face was ashen—darker than the face of the Master of Li Su Academy. What scholar wouldn't be alarmed by such a sight? If Sima Qian had heard it, he would probably have risen from his coffin in shock.
Qingwu, who was squatting on the ground, was almost trampled to the ground by the young lady.
Lin Xihe slid down, her head sinking to the edge of the wall, with only a few peeled water chestnut-like fingers still clinging to the top.
By the candlelight, Wen Zhixu could see that her nail crevices were embedded with a lot of wall plaster.
"The sounds of chickens and dogs can be heard within earshot?"
"Okay! It's a promise, pinky swear, never to change for a hundred years!"
A little finger sticks out from the edge of the wall, flashes across the field of vision, and disappears with a gasp.
"..." Who's engaged to you!
servant: "Then I will prepare pen and ink for the second young master."
Wen Zhixu ignored the preface and went straight to the bathhouse. Forget about it, who would write for her?
The bath water had cooled down considerably, and several servants were busy pouring hot water.
Wen Zhixu leaned back against the edge of the bucket, trying to relax, but Lin Xihe's incessant voice kept echoing in his mind, like a flea jumping around incessantly.
“Wenba, you grew up outside the mansion when you were young, do you know what ‘pinky promise’ means?”
"Second Young Master, I don't know what 'pinky promise' means, but I do understand 'hanging oneself'—it means I don't want to live anymore, and I'm giving you my life."
Wen Ba presented the scented soap and then recalled something else: "Last month, a wandering Taoist priest shouted loudly on the Fubo Bridge and then threw himself into the river. Three days ago, his body floated to the surface. The world is hard; even Taoist priests can't survive."
*Thud*, the soap fell into the water.
Preface to the text: "Prepare pen and ink."
Wen Ba was puzzled. Why was the young master going to do as Miss Lin requested?
He was surprised, but he still did as he was told.
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Three clappers sounded in Shengjing City, signaling that midnight had arrived.
Inside the Lin residence, Madam Min was unable to sleep, alone.
Meanwhile, her daughter, Lin Zhirou, was counting her savings by the light of the candlelight—her father had said that all the money needed to cover the repairs at the Wen family mansion would come from the second branch of the family.
"Don't worry, Miss," Granny Wang advised from the side. "This money may seem to be spent on the Wen family, but it's actually for your own benefit. Once the Second Young Master's inner quarters are repaired, he will come to fetch you in a grand sedan chair on an auspicious day."
Lin Zhirou paused, feeling inexplicably annoyed: "It's not me who's going to marry into the family."
Granny Wang said in a sinister tone, "The marriage is not yet settled, and nothing is certain yet. This old servant heard from the old women in the Wen family that Master Wen does not want his second son to marry a mentally challenged child."
"But she's recovered now, and she's quick-witted and sharp-tongued; she's not stupid anymore!"
“Now that you’re better,” Granny Wang said in a chilling tone, “you can naturally 'fall back' sick again.”
"What?" Lin Zhirou looked up from the pile of silver, her eyes red and swollen.
"Has Second Miss forgotten why Eldest Miss became mentally impaired back then?"
The candle flame flickered and illuminated the old woman's mostly white pupils.
Lin Zhirou shuddered, just in time to catch a fleeting glint of ruthlessness in Wang Mama's eyes. Her fingers loosened, and the silver coins fell to the ground.
In the other room, Lin Pinyan was fast asleep. In his dream, his teacher praised him highly. He proudly pouted his chubby belly and said, "My older sister wrote it for me!"
In stark contrast to her younger brother, Lin Xihe sat cross-legged on the canopy bed in Tinghe Pavilion, wide awake.
This is probably a side effect of time travel.
The books are all lies. Why are other time travelers so happy when they arrive in ancient times? No cell phone, no internet, no TV—how can she be happy with this "three-no" life?
Lin Xihe looked up blankly, just as she was gazing at the sparrows in the birdcage.
The sparrow seemed to understand human nature; it stayed with its sleepless new owner, never finding rest.
"Bu Bu"
"Gah."
The voice that responded to her was listless, unlike its lively tone when she first arrived.
"You don't like the cage?" Lin Xihe opened the cage door a crack, but the sparrow didn't move. She simply opened it completely, inviting it to wander around the room.
It tentatively jumped out of the cage door, and just as she stretched out her palm, it suddenly flapped its wings.
"Miss? Aren't you asleep yet?" Qingwu, who was in the next room, thought that her mistress had gotten up to use the restroom and pushed open the door with sleepy eyes.
Seizing this perfect opportunity, the sparrow darted through the crack in the door and flew outside.
"Buzz—!"
Lin Xihe wrapped her nightgown tightly around herself, then with a nimble roll, she flew towards the backyard...
Qingwu stared in disbelief: Miss knows kung fu?
Unfortunately, Lin Xihe, who had attended a taekwondo training class at the Children's Palace, forgot one thing: birds can fly, but people cannot.
With a thud, she landed firmly; while Bu Bu hovered briefly above the backyard before resolutely flying towards the Wen residence.
It's not called Bu Bu, it's called Cui Huang.
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The study in Yinquanxuan was brightly lit by candlelight.
Wen Zhixu dismissed his attendants and personally ground the ink.
Beneath the rosewood lotus-patterned paperweight on the desk lay Lin Xihe's crooked and messy calligraphy—
The sounds of chickens and dogs could be heard from one another.
To be fair, it is quite remarkable that someone who has been mentally challenged for more than ten years and is illiterate could be able to trace these characters so accurately.
As Wen Zhixu was thinking, his pen paused; he had actually written the wrong character.
Another bird?
He unconsciously copied Lin Xihe's "scribbles" and wrote them on the paper several times.
It's a chicken.
The strokes are smooth and easy to use, and the character structure is concise, making it easier to remember and recognize.
Examining the composition of the character "鸡" (chicken), we find that "又" (again) combines with "鸟" (bird), making it plausible that a chicken is "also a type of bird."
Wen Zhixu tried to refute himself, but found that the word was perfectly natural.
He rubbed the thick calluses on his knuckles. If he had known such simple characters in his younger days, he could have saved at least ten years of hard work after studying under Xie Yan.
Wen Zhixu was greatly shocked: How could he have come up with such an absurd idea?
The candlelight flickered, casting its reflection on the window.
At that very moment, a hole suddenly appeared in the oiled paper window...
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