Chapter 42 "Young Master Su likes these new..."
"Young Master Su likes these fresh foods..."
Although Liang Jiaojiao's voice reached Su Mingyue's ears, it was as if he hadn't heard it at all.
He personally received his portion of fried pancake from Qian Wulang. The freshly baked pancake was so hot it burned his palms, but he seemed not to feel much as he held the pancake, his gaze subtly falling on Xiao Yan Hui's face across the street through the crowd.
In that instant, almost as if by some strange twist of fate, his gaze drifted across the street and landed directly on that smile—that incredibly bright and radiant smile.
This made him subconsciously avoid eye contact, because for a moment, he had the illusion that he was being stung by the sunlight.
But his gaze quickly returned to Xiao Yan Hui's face, looking at the pure enthusiasm and affection that shone in her eyes.
Was it because of the post by Qin Ji that she had?
Thinking back to the impatience and wariness in her eyes that she had just received, such obvious differential treatment made Su Mingyue feel a pang of jealousy.
“Now that autumn is deepening, Fuhu Mountain outside the city is in full bloom. Zheng Xu intends to hold a banquet at his villa at the foot of the mountain. I imagine Su Liangjun has received the invitation. Will you be attending, my lord?” Liang Jiaojiao did not notice Su Mingyue’s brief moment of distraction and continued to speak to him gently.
“I had other important matters to attend to that day, and I may have to decline Brother Zheng’s invitation.” After saying this, Su Mingyue cupped her hands and said, “I have an appointment, so I will take my leave first. Please make yourself at home, Miss Liang.”
After saying that, he turned and left, clutching the slightly deformed sesame seed cake in his hand.
“Miss, I don’t think this man is a good person either…” Liang Jiaojiao’s maid immediately shut her mouth under her gaze.
"Was he looking at Xiao San just now?" Liang Jiaojiao stood in the spot where Su Mingyue had been standing and realized that from the angle he had turned to the side, he could clearly see the teahouse across the street, where Xiao Yanhui had been standing earlier.
"A merchant's daughter, and already engaged, why bother giving such a person a second glance?" The maid skillfully evaded Liang Jiaojiao's question.
"Ha, these merchant women are quite something. You saw it yourself, my brother even dared to talk back to Mother for his sister." Liang Jiaojiao recalled the argument at home a few days ago, and her disdain for the women of the Xiao family grew even stronger.
These lowly women are all vixens. One of them is willing to exchange marriages just to climb up to her brother, and the other might just break off the engagement to scheme against Su Mingyue.
If Xiao Yanhui, who was enjoying her cakes and tea at the teahouse, knew about Liang Jiaojiao's idea, she would probably call it outrageous.
She was caught in the crossfire even though she was lying down. At this moment, she had no thoughts of men at all; her mind and eyes were completely filled with the sight of Gun Gun that she was about to see.
"Oh, why do we have to wait another five days!" Biting into the slightly damp but still delicious sesame seed cake, Xiao Yan felt both happy and expectant, but her expectation also contained a bit of unease.
As soon as she said this, Xiao Yan Hui suddenly realized that she was in trouble. This sounded very misleading, as if she was looking forward to meeting Qin Ji so much that she couldn't even wait five days.
Upon closer inspection of the two maids, it was clear that both of them had the same teasing smile in their eyes.
"Qin Langjun said that he bought an extremely cute beast by chance. The beast was called the Iron-Eating Beast in ancient times, and now it is called the Panda. I have seen it in books. It is black and white all over, chubby and very cute. I am very much looking forward to seeing and touching it in person."
Xiao Yan's words were sincere, but the maids only thought she was making excuses.
"Yes, yes, of course the young lady is eager to see the panda." The cat covered its mouth, blinked mischievously, and asked, "Which is cuter, the cat or the bear?"
“Well… bears are cuter,” Xiao Yan said with a hint of amusement.
"That panda is so cute, it's only natural that the young lady can't wait even five days. It certainly isn't because she wants to see Qin Langjun."
Upon hearing Green Moth's words, Xiao Yan realized that she had thought she was teasing the cat, but it turned out that she had been teased by the two of them.
She had originally made a very serious appointment to see the pandas, but the two men's teasing made her blush a little.
......
Five days is indeed not a very long time. This time, Xiao Yan returned with Green Moth and Cat. The Qin family sent a carriage to pick them up. Although they were already engaged, the First Madam still sent Zhang Mama from her own courtyard to accompany them.
"Qin Ji!" Xiao Yan, carrying the anticipation that had been building up for five days, immediately lifted the curtain and jumped onto Qin Ji's carriage as soon as she saw it.
Watching her young mistress address Qin Langjun by his given name so readily as she boarded his carriage, Zhang Mama's eyes twitched violently. She opened her mouth as if to say something, but the man was already inside. In the end, she chose to remain silent and was helped by Green Moth and Cat, who were on either side of the Third Miss, to the carriage behind.
"You..." As the carriage curtain was lifted, a sudden bright light appeared before Qin Ji's eyes, and then he saw Xiao Yan Hui, dressed in emerald green, burst into the slightly dim carriage from the sunlight outside.
He had barely uttered the word "you" when Xiao Yan, who had already boarded the bus, launched into a barrage of questions with great interest.
"It's been a while since we last met. How have you been? Qin Ji, what made you think of inviting me to see the pandas? By the way, where did you meet the pandas? There aren't any here in Jiangzuo, right? Qin Ji, you're incredibly lucky!"
After their engagement, Xiao Yan and Qin Ji met several times. Now she felt that Qin Ji was a very good friend, and she was much more relaxed in her conversations, naturally bringing out a lot of modern flair.
"Sit down." Qin Ji handed Xiao Yan a cushion before saying, "You know my family; if they're not in Jiangzuo City, they're always traveling around trading!"
His gaze lingered on her bright smile for a moment, and he subtly took a deep breath before deliberately adjusting his tone of voice.
"It was quite a coincidence. I happened to see them on the street when I was in Sichuan last time. They were being sold by hunters on their stalls alongside rabbits and wild boars. They were probably too small for their fur and meat to fetch a good price, so the hunters decided to sell them as rare pets to outsiders, probably hoping to scam someone who was naive."
Qin Ji laughed as he spoke.
"And then you, with your 'lack of knowledge,' bought it back." Xiao Yan understood the teasing in his words that only modern people could comprehend, and she laughed as well.
"But, from what you're saying, you actually own more than one panda?" Xiao Yan asked in surprise.
“There are two. I brought them back and kept them in that villa at the foot of Fuhu Mountain. At the time, I didn’t know if they would survive, but now they seem to be adapting very well, so I thought… you might be interested in taking a look.” He paused, his gaze falling on Xiao Yan Hui’s ever-smiling face, and added, “It seems you are indeed interested.”
"Come on, that's a national treasure, a panda! Who could resist getting up close to a panda!" Of course she was interested!
"Ahem." Qin Ji cleared his throat and said in a nonchalant tone, "When I bought the panda, I found some interesting little trinkets on that street, so I picked some up as well."
With slightly stiff movements, he took two brocade boxes from the small cabinet nailed to the carriage, placed them on the small tea table, and pushed them directly in front of Xiao Yan Hui, his tone carrying a slightly deliberate nonchalance: "Take a look and see if you like them, take them and play with them."
"Oh, how thoughtful!" Xiao Yan didn't intend to refuse. Given their relationship as fellow townsmen, fiancés, business partners, and friends, there was no need to refuse such a small gift.
However, receiving the gift made her already cheerful mood even more uplifted.
Xiao Yan asked, "What gift is it?" Without stopping, she picked up the box and deftly unfastened the clasp.
Then she felt as if she was suddenly blinded.
One of the boxes contained exquisitely beautiful embroidered items in vibrant colors, including handkerchiefs, purses, and fans. The other box was filled with jewelry, each piece unique. In particular, a peacock bracelet inlaid with colorful gemstones and a pair of panda-embracing bamboo hairpins were very distinctive and were her favorites.
"Qin Ji, no wonder your business is so successful, your aesthetic sense is really amazing." Xiao Yan gave him a thumbs up.
"Thank you, I like it very much." She looked at Qin Ji and raised her chin: "I've decided, for the sake of Gun Gun and the gift, I will make you a very nice sachet by hand as a return gift."
"Oh, so you've been practicing needlework lately," Qin Ji bluntly exposed the truth.
"Just tell me if you want it or not." The First Madam has indeed been busy with her needlework lately, but she genuinely cares about making things for Qin Ji, so her intentions are certainly sincere.
"Of course I will, thank you very much. I have no reason not to accept the needlework done by Miss Xiao herself," Qin Ji replied immediately.
"Qin Ji, I've found that you're much easier to get along with than I imagined after we got to know each other!" Xiao Yan exclaimed.
"Yeah?"
......
The two chatted animatedly all the way. The carriage drove through the bustling streets and gradually arrived at the foot of Fuhu Mountain. As the wheels rolled onto the gravel road, it meant that Qin Ji's villa was already in sight.
When the carriage stopped, Xiao Yan stepped out and saw that the villa was nestled in a large, lush bamboo forest. The environment of the villa was exceptionally quiet and secluded.
Looking at the vast bamboo grove in front of him, it's no wonder that Qin Ji would use this estate to raise pandas.
Since they came to see the pandas, the two didn't waste any time and went straight into the manor to the panda enclosure. It was a specially designated garden surrounded by a wall, containing bamboo groves, rocky hills, small ponds, flat grasslands, and tall trees.
Through the tall, thick wooden fence, they could see a round, furry, black-and-white creature leaning against the stone platform with its back to them, slowly and leisurely munching on a tender bamboo shoot as thick as an arm.
Judging by its size, it was clearly still a cub, but its distinctive black eye circles, its short but powerful limbs, its sturdy back so round that its neck was almost invisible, and its obviously soft white belly...
That's right, the giant, adorable creature that can mesmerize humans with just a few munchings of bamboo—the panda.
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