Chapter 916 Li Wan Weeps at Night, Listening Under the Moon
With Sha Ergou seeing them off, Ouyang Rong and his group arrived at the raft.
As night fell, the short-haired young man reluctantly bid farewell.
Before leaving, Sha Ergou asked Ouyang Rong for his address, saying he would come to see him when he had time.
Ouyang Rong has no objection.
Song Zhian and Yu Mili also left their addresses.
The three of them were very curious about what had happened to Sha Ergou these days, but they didn't have time to ask any more questions at the moment.
Not long after Sha Ergou left, a lone woman slowly returned.
It is Li Wan.
Before long, everyone arrived, and the raft started moving.
On the way back, the atmosphere among the group was somewhat quiet.
The Yue woman piloting the raft was unaware of what had happened and remained indifferent.
No one asked Li Wan about Lu Gongzi's situation.
They didn't even mention the slaps they heard.
On the raft, Ouyang Rong had a blank expression.
Song Zhian and Yu Mili also pretended that nothing had happened.
Ever since Li Wan returned, the atmosphere between them has become strange.
Yu Mili was clearly not one to play dumb; she would occasionally glance at Li Wan secretly, and then look around again.
Song Zhian lowered her eyes, took out a handkerchief, turned around and handed it to Li Wan.
She didn't say anything.
Li Wan was quiet for a moment, then took the handkerchief, looked up, and forced a smile:
"I'm sorry to have kept you waiting. It must have been a lot of work for you to come all this way."
Song Zhian shook her head.
Yu Mili stopped looking around and couldn't help but say something:
"It's alright, it's alright. We can enjoy the scenery more, it's not tiring at all. But Madam Li is indeed very tired, running around doing everything, only to encounter this matter with Young Master Lu..."
"Um?"
Yu Mili was quick-witted and let something slip, but she immediately shut her mouth when Song Zhian turned her gaze towards her.
On the lake, the bright moonlight shone on the people on the raft, illuminating Li Wan's expression at that moment.
She could no longer maintain her smile; her face had turned bright red, and she stood there awkwardly.
The usually eloquent and persuasive lady was now so ashamed that she could hardly utter a single word to save face or warm up the atmosphere.
Ouyang Rong kept his eyes straight ahead the entire time, holding the food box, and stood at the very back of the three women on the raft.
He felt that Yu Mili would have been better off not saying anything. If Li Wan were more petty, everything Yu Mili said would be wrong, and it would be easy to reopen old wounds.
If I remember correctly, this should be the most embarrassing and awkward moment for the two of them since they met Li Wan and her son.
Fortunately, Yunmeng Sword Marsh is located in a secluded place. If this had happened in Luoyang, a member of one of the five noble families would have been ridiculed for a long time and his family would have been disgraced. It would have become a laughing stock among the powerful clans.
Compared to large ships, rafts are very slow.
They returned to the archipelago where Qingliang Valley was located just before midnight.
Song Zhian and Yu Mili arrived at their lodgings earlier and disembarked first.
Before midnight, Ouyang Rong and Li Wan were sent to their residence on a small island.
On the way back, the courtyards on the island were quiet, and most people were asleep.
Ouyang Rong remained silent the entire way, like a nobody, while Li Wan walked ahead, her steps hurried, as if she was in a hurry to get back to the courtyard.
Ouyang Rong kept pace with him, without quickening his steps, and the distance between them gradually increased.
Before long, Li Wan disappeared from sight.
Ouyang Rong was quite pleased with this.
However, as he carried the food box and walked a few steps along the bluestone path, passing through a dark and dense forest, he heard some sobbing sounds coming from the woods.
As Ouyang Rong passed by, he paused slightly.
Out of the corner of my eye, I caught a glimpse of a figure in crimson clothing hidden among the trees by the roadside.
It looks somewhat familiar.
Even more familiar was the woman's soft, sobbing voice.
It is Li Wan.
Ouyang Rong hesitated for a moment, then prepared to continue forward.
But as he passed by, the woman's sobbing suddenly stopped.
He seemed to be trying hard to hold back, pretending nothing was wrong.
A silence fell over both the woods and the surrounding area.
If she had continued crying, he could have just pretended nothing was wrong and walked by. But now that he had stopped, it seemed like he was doing it on purpose.
It's like trying to hide something obvious.
Ouyang Rong thought for a moment, put down the food box, took out a white handkerchief, hung it on a tree by the roadside, and then turned around to leave.
Just then, a night breeze swept by.
The handkerchief blew into the woods.
"No, I'm so sorry, I'm sorry you had to see this..."
Suddenly, Li Wan's choked voice came from the woods.
Ouyang Rong's figure slowly came to a stop.
Given the current atmosphere, he couldn't very well pretend to be confused and leave.
He turned around with a feigned puzzlement, and out of the corner of his eye, he saw Li Wan walking out of the woods with her head down, her handkerchief tightly clutched under her sleeve, her crimson dress wrinkled and covered in mud and dew... The noblewoman's weeping was rather pitiful.
Li Wan sniffed, wiped her eyes with a handkerchief, looked up, and glanced at the burly young man's dull and honest face by the roadside.
"It was my fault for losing my composure. What happened just now... could you please not tell anyone else..."
She looked haggard.
Ouyang Rong nodded.
"Waaah..." Li Wan couldn't help herself and wiped away her tears again, sobbing for a while.
All that could be heard, mixed with sobs, was her voice, broken and intermittent, asking:
“I have never encountered such a shameful thing in my life… Brother Liang, you, tell me, is it because I usually put too much pressure on him? How could he do such a shameful deception? It’s just… just… Waaah.”
Ouyang Rong thought for a moment and then offered words of comfort:
"Perhaps Young Master Lu isn't entirely lying. Didn't he say that his master is one of the top masters in the Bamboo Hall? Maybe the two Jade Tablet Seniors are the 'number one,' and he's second only to them as his disciple..."
Li Wan stubbornly shook her head:
“How can this be? One is one, and two is two. Besides, I remember that when he came back for dinner, he told me that he had become a disciple of the Jade Token Sword Cultivator… If he hadn’t made that boast, how could I have made such a mistake tonight and become a laughingstock in front of you all…”
Ouyang Rong was speechless.
He glanced at the woman sobbing and trembling under the moonlight in the woods and secretly curled his lip.
Sometimes, I'm really fed up with you two, mother and daughter. You both love to show off and are so concerned about saving face...
However, he couldn't actually say these words.
Ouyang Rong remained silent, feigning confusion.
After a while, he said vaguely:
"I don't know, but they're all better than me. I only know how to do manual labor."
"You... sigh..."
Li Wan sighed and carefully examined his face, seemingly realizing that the young man before her was an uncultured, carefree, and uncouth villager.
The face and substance that these wealthy and powerful people value are as insignificant as a feather to him... Saying this is like casting pearls before swine.
Li Wan sighed softly, gazing at him intently as she said:
“Fools have their own kind of luck, Ah Liang. You and that Sha Er Gou are both lucky to be here. On the contrary, Jing Hong and I are unlucky and have no luck at all…”
She didn't say the last sentence.
That is, if you were in the secular world down in the mountains, would you have any right to come into contact with the Lu family mother and son? From a secular perspective, the two sides are not even on the same level. They would not be able to come into contact with each other without distinction of social status, as they are now in this secluded place.
Ouyang Rong pretended not to understand these unspoken messages and pointed towards the courtyard:
"It's getting late, Madam, shouldn't you go back to rest?"
Li Wan didn't speak, her tear-reddened eyes seemingly staring blankly at him. After a while, she asked softly:
"Ah Liang, besides staying with your sister, do you have any other purpose in life here?"
Ouyang Rong hesitated for a moment, then said:
"Is Madam asking about now?"
"Um."
He nodded sincerely and said:
"I want a stove, to be a master chef, and to cook dishes."
Li Wan glanced at him:
"I see. That makes sense. Since we met in Peach Blossom Town, you've rarely asked for favors. The last time you asked me for help when Jinghong returned was quite unusual. It shows how much you value yourself."
Ouyang Rong shook his head blankly:
"It's not much of an ambition. Compared to Young Master Lu, Er Gou, and Miss Song, I'm not very promising."
Li Wan waved her hand:
"That's not true. You're much better than me."
Ouyang Rong noticed that as the woman spoke, she gazed ahead, seemingly lowering her eyes, and murmured to herself:
"Do you know my secret desires?"
Before Ouyang Rong could follow up with his question, Li Wan gave a self-deprecating smile and muttered to herself:
"Since I married into the Lu family of Fanyang, what I've heard most about Jinghong's little sister-in-law is how she is so highly respected... It's as if the entire Lu family of Fanyang has no real men."
"What's even more ridiculous is that, as a fellow woman, the elders of the clan used the so-called 'Three Obediences and Four Virtues' to suppress me every day, saying that I couldn't do this, I couldn't do that, that was immoral..."
"But she has a completely different attitude towards that sister-in-law... I'm utterly disgusted by her."
The moonlight shone on Li Wan's tear-stained face. She gritted her teeth and said bitterly:
"I came here with Jinghong to prove that my son can do better than my sister-in-law!"
As Li Wan spoke, she seemed to grow increasingly heartbroken, and tears streamed down her face again:
"That's why I was so heartbroken tonight when I stumbled upon Jinghong's affair. I don't know why, but those emotions surged up and I couldn't control them..."
Ouyang Rong raised an eyebrow slightly.
The younger sister-in-law that Li Wan mentioned should undoubtedly be the Third Lady of Yunmeng Sword Marsh.
Unexpectedly, this noblewoman, who looked so delicate and pampered, was actually so strong-willed, like a man, even competing with this kind of spirit.
After Li Wan finished speaking with tears in her eyes, she slightly loosened her grip on the handkerchief, turned her face away, seemingly somewhat embarrassed to be seen:
"Sorry, I've said so much rambling. Is Ah Liang finding it annoying, all this nagging and sentimental talk..."
Ouyang Rong shook his head.
"It's only human nature."
Li Wan lowered her head slightly, looked to one side, and let out a soft breath.
After a moment, she chuckled softly and whispered:
"I feel much better after saying these words. How about you, Liang?"
Ouyang Rong wanted to say that he hadn't said much; he had mostly listened to her.
However, I still went along with it, giving a wooden reply:
"Me too."
Li Wan became polite again, clutching her handkerchief, and said apologetically:
"Thank you for your patience in listening to my rambling thoughts... I'm sorry to have troubled you and taken up your time."
Ouyang Rong succinctly replied, "It's a small matter."
Li Wan couldn't help but look over.
Ouyang Rong's gaze remained fixed.
The two of them stared at each other silently under the moonlight for a while.
At a certain moment, Li Wan turned her gaze away.
She seemed to think for a moment, then turned her head and said sincerely:
"Ah Liang, you have ambition to climb the ranks in the dining hall. I'll see if I can help you with the Sun family..."
Ouyang Rong said tactfully:
"No need yet. I've had some ideas recently. Thank you for your kindness, Madam."
Li Wan paused for a moment, then nodded:
"Alright. If you need anything, you can tell me anytime. It's not a difficult thing for me, Ah Liang. Don't be shy. Consider it my way of thanking you for listening to me tonight."
"Uh-huh."
For some reason, Ouyang Rong was a little worried that the atmosphere would become awkward, so he took the initiative to suggest:
"It's getting late, madam, let's go back."
Li Wan glanced at him and nodded slightly:
"Alright."
Before long, the two returned to their respective courtyards, one after the other.
"Thank you so much, I'll return the handkerchief tomorrow."
Before entering, Li Wan gestured with her handkerchief and said sincerely.
"Um."
Ouyang Rong entered the house and closed the door tightly.
Li Wan seemed to stand at the door for a while, watching him go inside.
Inside the room, Ouyang Rong put down the food box, sat down, closed his eyes, and inspected the merit pagoda.
Today I met Sha Ergou, what a pleasant surprise! This silly boy has done me a lot of good deeds, especially since Sha Ergou praised and introduced him in front of Ma Yi Xiao Niang and the others.
This wave increased my merit points by almost two hundred.
[Merit: 601]
Ouyang Rong was somewhat surprised.
However, he followed Li Wan the whole time, so he didn't lose any merit. He was an outsider to the mother and son's predicament, which is one of the advantages of being invisible. Their anger couldn't be directed at him, which is called being untainted by karma.
However, Ouyang Rong also didn't quite understand Sha Ergou's strange encounter in the Bamboo Hall.
Could it be that the Bamboo Hall's selection process for promising talents is somewhat different from the previous Sword Swamp assessment, and that Er Gou is actually a hidden genius? Was he discovered by the discerning eyes of the two senior members of the Bamboo Hall?
Ouyang Rong thought about it for a moment and felt that the possibility was unlikely.
So how exactly did he manage to outshine Lu Jinghong, who was the most talented and competitive in the competition?
Previously, Ouyang Rong had never been particularly interested in the cultivation of his friends like Lu Jinghong and Song Zhian, but Sha Ergou's unusual behavior certainly made people wonder.
At one point, Ouyang Rong shook his head and muttered to himself:
"Oh no, could this silly boy be the protagonist of some play or novel? Is there some kind of foolish luck? Then Young Master Lu and Madam Li will become stepping stones for the villains..."
As he muttered this to himself, Ouyang Rong burst into laughter.
The next day.
As usual, Ouyang Rong got up early and went to the Qingliang Valley Dining Hall.
Li Wan, who was usually seen busy washing up in the courtyard early in the morning, was nowhere to be seen today.
Ouyang Rong didn't pay any attention and went to the dining hall.
In the morning, after finishing some chores, Ouyang Rong took over the stove from Aunt Zhu as usual.
He lit a fire and prepared today's meal, his eyes darting towards the doorway, waiting for the appearance of a short-legged little girl.
I wonder how well she's doing with what I told her yesterday.
If that still doesn't work, then let's have a few more "specialty dishes" today...
While I was thinking, a figure suddenly appeared at the door.
Ouyang Rong turned his head and was taken aback.
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
