Chapter 971 Reunion with Chen Jiaxin
Ouyang Rong responded and went straight back to the servants' island.
Back on the familiar island, the servants' huts along the way were already closed. The women on the island, both old and young, were resting early because there was little entertainment in Jianze. Most of the servants had work to do the next day and needed to go to bed early and get up early.
People like Ouyang Rong and Wu Cui rarely work the night shift. The Qingliang Valley Dining Hall, which has a night shift, is a special miscellaneous department within Jianze, and it is also to adapt to the special circumstances of Qingliang Valley.
Before even getting close, Ouyang could see lights on in his yard from afar, and the lights seemed to be coming from the kitchen.
Ouyang Rong walked silently and pushed open the door to enter.
I looked around but didn't see Aqing, and there was no sign of clothes hanging out to dry in the yard.
There was movement of people in the kitchen.
As if hearing Ouyang Rong push open the door, a graceful woman slowly walked out of the kitchen.
She looked at Ouyang Rong, who was returning home late at night with his bundle on his back, with a look of surprise on her face:
"Brother Liang, you're back? Why are you so late?"
Ouyang Rong remained calm and did not answer, silently watching Li Wan, who had appeared in his kitchen in the middle of the night. She was wearing an apron, but there was no smell of cooking oil in the kitchen.
Seemingly sensing the silent scrutiny in the taciturn man's gaze, Li Wan smiled, took out a teapot, and warmly greeted him:
"Come, come, Brother Liang, have some tea... Haha, it's like this, these past few days, the stove in my kitchen has been broken, so I can't light a fire. But Jinghong is coming home for dinner tonight, so I thought I'd borrow your kitchen for a bit."
Ouyang Rong turned his head and glanced inside the kitchen. There was no one there except Li Wan.
Li Wan immediately explained:
"Dinner has already been eaten, and Jinghong is resting in her room. I've come to return the dishes, as I borrowed some from your cupboard during dinner..."
Ouyang Rong listened calmly to Li Wan's explanation, reached out and took the teacup she offered with some enthusiasm, took a sip, and finally spoke:
"Next time, Madam Li can use the main entrance, which will make it easier for Aqing to come back. I usually put the key behind the third stone brick on the right outside the door, just like Aqing does. Madam Li can go and get it later."
Li Wan was slightly taken aback. She first breathed a sigh of relief, feeling a little guilty, and then smiled awkwardly.
She turned her head and glanced at the wall between the two families' yards. Some bricks were placed against the wall, clearly for "indecent" climbing over. The dull-witted man who had suddenly returned late had obviously seen it and gave her a reminder.
"Okay, okay."
Li Wan readily agreed.
Ouyang Rong glanced at the kitchen behind Li Wan and asked, "Is Madam Li finished? Does she need any help?"
"No, no need. I'll go close the window and leave right away. It's so late, I'm really sorry to bother you."
"It's nothing."
Li Wan looked apologetic and returned to the kitchen. Ouyang Rong did not follow her in, but instead went back to the main house to put down his luggage.
When he came out of the main house, Li Wan came out of the kitchen. One hand was behind her back, and the angle was somewhat concealed. Ouyang Rong caught a glimpse of it out of the corner of his eye and it seemed that the hand behind her back was holding a small bundle.
Ouyang Rong ignored him and walked towards the courtyard gate:
"I'll see you off."
"Brother Liang, you're too kind."
Li Wan followed Ouyang Rong out of the house and returned to her own courtyard. As she walked, she looked at the kind-hearted young man's dull face.
It seemed as if they were confirming something.
Ouyang Rong stopped in front of Li Wan's courtyard gate, glanced at the flickering light in a room inside, and said without turning his head:
"We've arrived. Madam Li, please rest early. It's too late, so I won't see Young Master Lu. Please give him my regards. Also, I'll be working the night shift at the dining hall for the next few days. I'll be leaving in the evening and returning in the morning, so I probably won't see you then. If you need anything from the kitchen, Madam Li, please feel free to take it, but please remember to return the key to its original location..."
Somewhat dazed, Li Wan snapped out of her reverie, glanced at the commotion near Jinghong's room in the courtyard, and quickly explained:
“Jinghong has been under a lot of pressure in his cultivation lately, and he often suffers from insomnia at night, getting up every now and then to fetch his sword and fuss over it… Alright, I won’t call him out. You can meet up another day.”
After patching up the mistake, she forced a smile, nodded repeatedly, and responded to his earlier words:
"Okay, don't worry, Brother Liang. I'm always at home. When your sister comes back, I'll take care of her for you."
"Um."
As Li Wan passed by Ouyang Rong, before entering the room, she glanced back at the kind young man's face, but found nothing amiss.
Liu Aliang must have believed her and didn't notice anything unusual in the kitchen... Li Wan's anxiety eased a little.
The elegant lady smiled sweetly at the young man:
"Brother Liang, you should go back quickly, it's getting late."
"good."
The two said goodbye at the door. Ouyang Rong never asked what the bundle in her hand was, and turned back to the courtyard.
He paused in the courtyard, looked around, and then turned and walked toward the dark kitchen.
He did not turn on the lights after entering the room.
Ouyang Rong came to the stove and reached out to touch it.
There was no oily smell, and the stove was cold. The charred firewood inside was somewhat new, but it was from a few days ago, definitely not from tonight.
Ouyang Rong knew this would happen. Li Wan and Lu Jinghong must have made thorough preparations in the past few days, but they were careless in the end... If it were Ouyang Rong, he would have handled it perfectly, making his own explanation without leaving any loopholes.
He simply didn't come in to check, and even avoided asking too many questions, just pretending to be clueless.
Silently shaking his head, Ouyang Rong turned and walked towards the back window of the kitchen.
The back window was tightly closed.
In fact, he had already heard the noises from the red leaf forest outside the window when he was talking to Li Wan in front of the kitchen door.
There's no need to guess who it is.
Ouyang Rong saw through it but didn't say anything.
"Ha ha."
Just then, a familiar mocking voice came from behind.
"Xiao Rongzi, this mother and son don't seem very bright."
In the darkness, a bronze scroll floated silently from the luggage area in the main house, spinning around Ouyang Rong's body. Miao Si rode on it, arms crossed, and giggled.
Ouyang Rong glanced at the precious child that Li Wan and her son Lu Jinghong had been longing for for days, and without underestimating him, he answered calmly:
"Is there any sign that our main house has been searched?"
Miao Si shook his head:
"I checked for you, and there shouldn't be any. The ink I left in the wardrobe and on your bed didn't show any signs of being disturbed. Also, I sniffed around, and the room smells just the same as before. No strangers have come in."
Ouyang Rong nodded slightly:
"OK."
Miao Si tilted her head and asked, "Xiao Rongzi, they haven't searched our room. Does that mean this foolish mother and son haven't suspected that we set this up?"
"More or less."
Ouyang Rong answered calmly, turned around, and left the kitchen first.
"Go back inside. Don't wander around outside, or they might see you."
Miao Si crossed her arms somewhat smugly:
"Hmph, no need for your nagging. This fairy is very clever. Do you think I've lived these past few hundred years in vain?"
She had just finished speaking arrogantly when she suddenly noticed out of the corner of her eye that the dull-looking young man in front of her had paused slightly, turned his head seriously, and seemed to have pondered her words for a moment before uttering two words:
"It's hard to say."
Ingenious idea: ...??
...
Many people in the Qingliang Valley dining hall were unaware of Ouyang Rong's return.
After resting for a day, Ouyang Rong arrived at the dining hall in the evening. Many elderly women who were preparing to finish their shifts at dusk were drawn to his figure and greeted him.
Madam Zhu asked curiously, "Why haven't I seen you these past few days? Where have you been? You haven't been causing trouble for some young lady, have you? Be careful, the fairy might find out and castrate you."
She made a joke, and Ouyang Rong simply replied, "I haven't been feeling well lately," and then brushed it off.
Because he was in charge of cooking during the night shift, many of his colleagues in the dining hall, including Madam Zhu, thought he was still in charge of the dining hall at night and were unaware that he had returned.
Ouyang Rong didn't explain much. The reason he temporarily put aside his night shift at the canteen and went down the mountain was because he had used Chen Jiaxin's influence and pulled strings. The more low-key he was, the fewer people would know.
As the sun sets and all the daytime kitchen staff leave, the Qingliang Valley Kitchen returns to its empty state.
Ouyang Rong was used to the quiet during the shift change. Arriving early, he quietly processed the ingredients and prepared a late-night snack.
There weren't many people on the night shift, only about ten odd jobs. Among them, only Ouyang Rong was the head chef. He arrived the earliest today. The others arrived one after another, including Wu Cui. When they saw him, they all looked a little surprised. However, for some reason, some of them breathed a sigh of relief and showed some joy.
They knew that Ouyang Rong had been on leave for several days in a row, and that another older woman arranged by Chen Jiaxin had taken her place.
Soon, before midnight, Ouyang Rong finished cooking his specialty vegetarian meal and wiped his forehead with the back of his hand.
At this moment, Wu Cui led several elderly women over with empty food boxes, and began to scoop out porridge and arrange it on plates, filling each food box to the brim.
Wu Cui glanced at Ouyang Rong, who was wiping his sweat and resting, and suddenly spoke:
"You don't look like you've been sick."
Ouyang Rong was taken aback, stared at her for a moment, and then belatedly realized something.
"I……"
Just then, footsteps sounded at the door, and a group of Yue women appeared.
She was a Yue maiden from Qingliang Valley, fetching her evening meal, and she wore a special badge around her waist.
And there she was, Senior Sister Li, who had disliked Ouyang Rong since day one.
This time, however, it seemed that Senior Sister Li did not see Ouyang Rong returning to his post. She stopped at the kitchen door and did not go in. She waited quietly for the silver medal Yue woman accompanying the team to come in and fetch the food box.
Wu Cui and the other maids immediately delivered the food boxes, which the Yue women of Yutang accepted one by one, as usual.
Just then, one of the silver-medal Yue women suddenly looked at Ouyang Rong and asked:
"Liu Aliang, right? You're better now?"
Ouyang Rong glanced at her round face, which seemed somewhat unfamiliar, as if they had never had any prior grudges.
He nodded. "Mm."
Ouyang Rong was definitely not sick, but from Wu Cui and the silver medalist Yue Opera performer's words, it can be inferred that Chen Jiaxin helped him ask for leave and change shifts, using the excuse that he was feeling unwell and needed to go back to recuperate.
Ouyang Rong does have this much tacit understanding and quick wit.
This sudden question broke the silence inside and outside the dining hall. The silver-medal Yue women carrying food boxes all looked at their companion who had spoken, including Senior Sister Li who was waiting at the door, who also seemed to be looking in this direction.
The silver-medal Yue woman who had spoken first smiled slightly and nodded:
"Take care of yourself. You've had a tough time working in the dining hall. I can tell you put your heart into the vegetarian porridge you cooked. By the way, why isn't there that...that..." in today's vegetarian meal?
Ouyang Rong asked, "Is the fairy referring to pickled radishes?"
"Yes, that's right." Under the gaze of everyone around, the round-faced Yue woman blushed slightly and nodded.
Ouyang Rong smiled and said, "Your Highness, I've been recuperating these past two days and haven't had time to pickle anything. I'll do it later once things have stabilized."
"Okay." The round-faced Yue Nu seemed a little embarrassed to ask about this in front of everyone, and took the initiative to explain, "It's not me, it's some of the senior and junior sisters who like to eat it. You haven't been making vegetarian meals lately, and some of them specifically mentioned it."
Ouyang Rong was somewhat surprised to hear this.
However, the round-faced Yue woman didn't say anything more. She had already followed her companions out with the food box and left under the guidance of Senior Sister Li, returning to Qingliang Valley.
Ouyang Rong watched their snow-white figures disappear into the distance. When he turned around, he suddenly realized that Wu Cui and the others were all looking at him.
The looks they gave me were somewhat...envious.
...
As dusk falls, the islands near Qingliang Valley are filled with people returning to their lodgings to rest.
Ouyang Rong, however, was somewhat different.
Having received advance notice, he carried a steaming hot food box and went to the agreed meeting place to meet Madam Chen.
Avoiding crowded areas, the two followed a path and entered the Cool Valley.
Ouyang Rong had forgotten how many times he had entered Qingliang Valley, and he found himself in front of that familiar spring pavilion once again.
The curtains hanging in the pavilion swayed in the evening breeze, like the slender waists of Yue women picking lotus flowers by the river.
There was no one in the pavilion.
"Miss is still on her way."
After giving a few words of advice, Madam Chen took her leave, leaving the dull-witted young man behind.
Ouyang Rong walked into the pavilion with ease, placed the food box on the table, and lightly pressed his palm on it.
He turned his head to look at the spring water and stood in front of the table waiting.
Chen Jiaxin wants to see him.
Ouyang Rong had just returned a day ago and had just finished his night shift at the canteen when Madam Chen approached him before he finished his shift at dawn, telling him to meet her at their usual spot...
Ouyang Rong hesitated to take out the food from the food box until he saw a graceful figure with a sword on her back walking slowly in the distance. Only then did he open the lid, take out the hot rice and dishes, and place them on the table.
Chen Jiaxin was dressed in a lotus-white sword uniform, with a neat and lively long ponytail. A small white jade gourd hung from her waist. She seemed to have just returned from sword practice, as seven or eight strands of her black hair had already fallen loose and stuck to her rosy cheeks...
—————
(PS: Because I failed to meet the deadline for the previous update, this update is considered yesterday's. So last night, I thought there was no rush, so I could polish the outline properly. But I got writer's block as a result, and I spent the whole day pacing in front of the keyboard. The update has been delayed from midnight until now... I'm such a useless person!)
(End of this chapter)
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