Chapter 192 If the relationship lasts (28)
The fragrance of her body lingered around him, accompanied by a faint scent of mugwort. Mingzhao lowered his eyes and raised his hand to brush the trembling crabapple in her hair. His eyes brushed across her eyebrows and fell on her rosy lips. "Well, I'll bring it to you tomorrow."
"Okay." She nodded happily.
As for the gift, of course she likes it.
When she looked up and met his eyes, she paused and asked in a questioning tone: "Hmm?"
The fierce sound of gongs and drums rang out outside. Ming Zhao finally turned his gaze away from her and patted her head. "The dragon boat race has begun."
Shi Jianli blinked, stared at the dragon boats chasing each other for a while, then shrank back, moved closer to him, and whispered, "Cousin, did you want to kiss me just now?"
Mingzhao glanced sideways, lowered his head, and pinched her face, neither denying nor admitting: "I think I underestimated my fiancée's attraction to me. Don't get so close, okay?"
She was bolder than he had imagined.
Her eyes met his, and seeing the darkness in his eyes, Shi Jianli curved her eyes and said, "I can see that you like me very much."
Being liked by him seemed to make her very, very happy, because she happened to be like that too.
Mingzhao also casually closed the window, leaving only a crack, and leaned closer to her, "I have never denied that I like Yaoyao, but although a certain arrogant ghost agreed to the engagement, he never directly responded to whether he likes me or not."
"Do you like me, Yaoyao? I want a positive answer."
Shi Jianli felt her face getting hot, but she refused to give in and met his gaze, saying, "I like it."
"I like Yaoyao, too." Feeling satisfied, Mingzhao placed the back of his finger against her slightly hot cheek and chuckled softly, "It's only right to return the favor. Yaoyao, call me Sheng Jingyao."
She is shy and bold.
Shi Jianli stepped back and turned her head away, "Don't scream."
Mingzhao laughed again, took the fan she brought, and fanned her, "Well, Yaoyao looks a little hot, her face is red."
"You're so annoying."
He stopped teasing her and waited until the redness on the tips of her ears faded. Then he opened the window and faced the lake with an expression of boundless joy on his face.
On the lake, Team 16 maintained its leading advantage. After reaching the lakeshore, it turned its head and returned to the starting point first, winning the championship.
Shi Jianli turned to look at him and said, "You bet right. Remember the gift you will give me tomorrow."
"I won't forget." Mingzhao stood up and extended his hand to her, "Get up and prepare for lunch."
Shi Jianli gave him her hand without much hesitation and was pulled up by him.
The waiters came to serve the dishes and reminded us, "This steamed fish has delicious meat, but it has a lot of bones, so please be careful, my dear guest."
Mingzhao nodded: "Well, go out."
Mingzhao returned a bowl of fish maw soup to Shi Jianli and took the chopsticks to pick out the fish bones for her.
Shi Jianli accepted his service without any burden.
After lunch, the two of them strolled around Taiyuan Lake for a while and then went back.
The carriage stopped in front of Shi's house. Before he stood up, Shi Jianli leaned over and sank into his arms, hugging his waist: "Don't ask me for the reward for your correct bet again, Jingyao."
Mingzhao was still stunned and looked down at her. Coincidentally, she was also observing his expression, with her eyebrows and eyes curved.
With just a gentle hug, she left, bent down, got out of the carriage, and trotted into the mansion.
Her fragrance and body temperature seemed to still linger in his arms. Mingzhao came back to his senses and the corners of his lips curled up.
"Go back." He raised his voice to Tianfeng who was driving outside.
…
The next day, Shi Jianli accepted the gift Ming Zhao had brought her and sat with him in the pavilion in the garden for a while. She reached out and grabbed the hem of the person next to her and shook it, "I'm going to your house."
Ever since Aunt Yuan came and said she wanted to propose marriage, she hasn't been to the Duke of Anguo's Mansion.
"Okay." Mingzhao glanced at the hand that was clutching the corner of his clothes, smiled and nodded.
Shi Jianli let go and stood up. "I'm going to have dinner with my aunt, uncle, and cousin this afternoon. Do you want to join us?"
"want."
After having a carriage harnessed, Shi Jianli happily went to the Anguo Mansion with Mingzhao. She first went to Fushou Hall to say hello to the old lady, then went to say hello to Yuan Yuhe, and then went to find Qiao Ruoying to be intimate.
"Aunt, do you miss me?"
"I thought about it." Qiao Ruoying touched her head and said angrily, "Li'er finally came to see her aunt again."
"I'm embarrassed to come to your house." Shi Jianli glanced at Ming Zhaohuan who was talking to Ming Zhouhe beside her, and whispered in her ear.
"I'm staying here tonight. Please don't chase me away, auntie."
"What are you talking about? Lanfang Pavilion is being cleaned up every now and then. We're just waiting for you to come and live here."
After talking with Qiao Ruoying for a while, Mingyuelin came over after hearing the news. He took Shi Jianli's hand and said to Qiao Ruoying, "Second Aunt, I have a private conversation with Sister Li. I'll return Sister Li to you later."
"Okay, go ahead." Seeing her impatient look, Qiao Ruoying waved her hand with amusement.
"What's the whisper?" Shi Jianli asked after being taken to Lanfang Pavilion by Mingyuelin.
"Didn't you go out to watch the dragon boat race with my eldest brother yesterday? I went out too, and my cousin went out too, but I didn't go with my cousin."
"Then who did Sister Yuan go out with? My second cousin?"
"No, it's Yu Erlang." Ming Yuelin leaned next to her. "After my cousin came back, she went to see my mother and asked her to be the middleman and send a letter to Runan, saying that the Yu family was interested in marrying her. At that time, they would ask Yu Erlang to accompany my cousin back to Runan."
"Does this mean Sister Yuan agrees?"
"Yeah, I don't know how they fell in love with me after so many visits."
"You two hid here without calling me. Are you secretly saying bad things about me behind my back?" The sound of the pearl and jade curtain being lifted was accompanied by Yuan Wan's voice.
Ming Yuelin turned his head and chuckled at Yuan Wan. "I thought you might be shy, so I told Sister Li quietly."
Yuan Wan raised her eyebrows: "So this is talking about my marriage?"
"That's right."
Yuan Wan poked Ming Yuelin's forehead and said, "You can't keep anything to yourself, you gossipmonger."
"Sister Li is not a stranger." Mingyue blinked at her and said cutely.
"She's definitely not a stranger." Yuan Wan placed the cakes she received from the maid on the table and glanced at Shi Jianli with a smile. "Sister Shi is my future cousin-in-law. I'll have to change my tune in the future."
"You started gossiping about me to change the subject, right?" Shi Jianli picked up the pastry and took a bite.
Yuan Wan coughed lightly and sat down beside them. "There's nothing much to gossip about. He just came to our house a few times, and I chatted with him and thought he was quite nice. We became familiar with each other, so I agreed to go watch the dragon boat race with him yesterday. He said he wanted to marry me, and I agreed."
"Uncle Yu was my grandfather's student. It's no exaggeration to say that the Yu family knows him well. He's a good choice."
"That's all I have to say."
Shi Jianli leaned over and asked, "Sister Yuan, are you planning to go back to Runan at the end of May?"
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