Chapter 60 Birthday "Pianpian, put on magnolia-scented lipstick today. ...
I wish you good amnesia.
The doctor explained that Zhu Hao had suffered a temporary amnesia due to blood clots on the back of his head caused by a bump, and at the same time comforted him that the disease was just scabies and that he would recover in a month or two, and that it was only a matter of time before he would remember again.
The sun was shining brightly, and Zhu Hao was sitting on the windowsill, eating sweet-scented osmanthus cake. Suddenly, she felt a pair of eyes fixed on her. Zhu Hao glanced to the side and saw that it was indeed the handsome man who claimed to be her husband who was looking at her intently.
Zhu Hao stuffed the flower cake she had bitten into into his mouth, "Husband, is it delicious?"
The osmanthus cake was bought according to her sweet taste. Song Xieqing frowned slightly, swallowed a small mouthful, and said two words: "Delicious."
In the blink of an eye, he picked up the tea beside him and drank it, thinking that Song Xieqing was choking.
"...Wish you." Song Xieqing paused and said softly, "Pianpian, it's a nice day today. Shall I take you out for a stroll?"
Zhu Hao thought, "Shall I draw my eyebrows?"
Although she had completely forgotten the past, the love of beauty was engraved in her bones. However, her technique was a little unfamiliar. Zhu Hao re-drew the picture at least three times, but was still not satisfied. She stared at the uneven eyebrows in the bronze mirror and almost broke her black ink brush.
Song Xieqing took in the whole scene and couldn't help but smile.
Zhu Hao glanced at him coldly, and he immediately fell silent.
Song Xieqing took the black brush from her hand and said, "I'll do it."
"How can a man draw eyebrows..."
Having said that, Zhu Hao had already closed his eyes and looked up at him.
Song Xieqing held the black brush in his hand and copied the right eyebrow. From time to time, he lifted her chin, turned her face, and gently stroked her eyebrow with his fingertips.
Zhu Hao's long eyelashes trembled slightly. There was no lipstick on her lips. Song Xieqing recalled the times when he kissed her. Her lips were more or less lipstick, and the scent of the lipstick was different each time. One of them was the scent of magnolia. Her lips looked smooth and shiny under the dim sunlight, and there were some cake crumbs on the corners of her lips.
Song Xieqing moved closer, touching his forehead with hers, then the tip of his nose.
Zhu Hao forbad him to kiss her, and Song Xieqing never dared to forget it, unless she took the initiative or cast a curse.
He wiped the cake crumbs from the corner of his lips to wish him well, and then said, "Pianpian, it's done."
Song Xieqing stepped back swiftly. Zhu Hao opened his eyes and looked at himself in the bronze mirror. Although it was not beautiful, at least it was symmetrical.
She was just about to praise Song Xieqing, but he couldn't wait to take credit for it and said, "If Pianpian thinks it's okay, should I give him a reward?"
Zhu Hao said generously: "What reward do you want?"
She had heard that she owned a shop and was a small wealthy man, while her husband seemed to have no business and was not a scholar who had passed the imperial examinations. However... he was handsome and treated her very considerately. She was willing to support Song Xieqing, and she didn't know how much he would ask for this time.
Song Xieqing chuckled and touched his lower lip with his fingertips: "Just kiss me."
Zhu Hao was stunned for a moment, then she held Song Xieqing's face and pecked him lightly on the lips. When she was about to leave, the man put his arms around her neck, obviously not satisfied with just a light kiss.
"Pianpian, put on magnolia-scented lipstick today."
…
It was still early and the streets were not very busy. Zhu Hao didn't understand why Song Xieqing had to go out so early.
His left hand was already filled with brocade boxes of various sizes, leaving only his right hand free to interlock his fingers with Zhu Hao's. "If you come across someone you like again, just tell me."
Zhu Hao raised her chin, and the crabapple hairpin on her bun swayed slightly, "My husband is as rich as Yidun?"
Song Xieqing rubbed her little finger and said nonchalantly: "What's this? Someone owes me ten thousand taels of silver."
Zhu Hao was shocked. "Who is it? Ten thousand taels of silver... can I pay it back in this lifetime?"
Song Xieqing sighed, "I guess she can never pay it back, so she'll have to pay it back for the rest of her life."
He wasted no time, taking Zhu Hao to visit Shuyulou, a leading jewelry shop in Huaicheng, and packed more than ten brocade boxes of various sizes. "Pianpian, think about it carefully. Is there anything else you want?"
Zhu Hao thought deeply and spread her hands, saying, "We really don't have any left. You don't have to buy so much..." She fixed her eyes on the restaurant across the street, "Husband, are we having lunch outside too?"
"I'll take you home to eat." Song Xieqing wrote down the restaurant's plaque. "If Pianpian wants to eat outside, I'll bring you here next time. You have to go home to eat today."
Zhu Hao instinctively felt that there was something fishy about this, but she didn't ask any more questions. When she returned home, she wanted to see what delicious food Song Xieqing would prepare for her.
The two of them rode in a carriage and arrived in just an incense stick's time. Song Xieqing carried Zhu Hao out of the carriage and walked straight to the gate of the house, "Pianpian, push the door."
Zhu Hao raised his hand, but before he touched the door knocker, the door of the house opened wide from the inside, followed by a rain of falling flowers.
"Pianpian, auspicious day—"
There were many friends gathered inside the door whom she should have been familiar with, but now they seemed unfamiliar to her because of her headache. However, tears were already welling up in Zhu Hao's eyes.
The person beside him also whispered: "Pianpian, happy birthday."
Zhu Hao tried hard to hold back the tears in her eyes. She took in everyone in the depths of her eyes, and finally her gaze fell on Song Xieqing. She glared at him with a reproachful look. No wonder Song Xieqing took her out for a walk early this morning and insisted on going home for dinner.
The table had already been set up in the main courtyard, and everyone sat down one by one around Zhu Hao.
Liu Rutang and Fang Xuyin have been incredibly busy lately, but since today is Zhu Hao's birthday, they both feel compelled to join in the fun. However, Fang Xuyin didn't anticipate that Chen Ci would also be there...
These invitations were sent out by Miaoli based on the principle that Song Xieqing casually said, "The more people celebrating Pianpian's birthday, the better." After all, Inspector Chen rescued her and her sister from Xigao, so having a meal with them wouldn't be excessive.
Hiss, as for Mr. Shi, although she was still confused about love affairs, it was not difficult for her to see that there was something unclear in Mr. Shi's eyes when he looked at her sister. For this reason, Miaoli had been struggling for a long time about whether to invite Mr. Shi to a banquet. In the end... it was her brother-in-law who invited Mr. Shi himself, which was strange.
She also sent an invitation to Miss Yusha. Although she didn't come, she did send a female messenger with many gifts...
As for Miss Xie, Miaoli did not send an invitation, but Xie Shangqing got the news from nowhere and knocked on the door of Zhu's house in a hurry with gifts... Since she was already there, she couldn't just kick her out, right?
Liu Rutang, always a straightforward person, nudged Xie Shangqing with her elbow. "Well, 'Mrs. Zhu,' who became a widow before her engagement to Zhu Qi, how much wealth does your husband have? You have quite a bit in your pocket, right?"
Xie Shangqing nearly spat out the food he had just taken a bite of. "Why are you bringing up such a topic... I originally thought so too. But in the end, everything was confiscated, and in the end, all that was left was a shabby house in a remote suburb. If I had known this would happen, why would I have gambled with my marriage? Pah! Such bad luck!"
"That house..." She smacked her lips and glanced at Li Yuan who was sitting next to her. "Is it about the same size as Miss Li's house? I guess it's even smaller..." The corner of her mouth twitched, and she continued, "Hey, Yuan! Don't get me wrong! I just talk too much. What I mean is..."
Li Yuan pursed her lips and smiled, "Thank you, Miss, for your peace of mind. A-Yuan didn't think anything wrong."
Fang Xu's intuition was causing her heartburn. Now it was time for her to make amends. "Well, I guess everyone has brought all sorts of birthday gifts for Pian Pian. Let's hurry up and eat. Later, we'll put the gifts on the table and ask Pian Pian to guess who they're for."
Zhu Hao's eyes turned red as he said shyly, "Since I've already forgotten... I probably can't guess anything. I'm so grateful that everyone still took the time to accept my invitation and play with me. At least I won't forget today's birthday party."
Shi Chunsheng continued, "If Miss Zhu guessed it right away, wouldn't it be a waste of fun?"
No one took Shi Chunsheng's words to heart at all. They only thought that his way of addressing Zhu Hao had changed.
From Pianpian she turned back into Miss Zhu.
Everyone turned their attention to Song Xieqing in tacit understanding. Song Xieqing ignored them and just focused on picking up vegetables and peeling shrimps for Zhu Hao, looking like he was at peace with the world and lived a peaceful life.
He did nothing and didn't bother to do anything.
Under Fang Xuyin's organization, everyone introduced their names to Zhu Hao one by one, and briefly mentioned some interesting things that happened with her in the past. Although Zhu Hao still couldn't remember it, it made her feel very close to her. At the same time, she got to know everyone again and memorized everyone's name.
After three rounds of drinking, everyone was drunk. They walked into Zhu's house with straight backs and walked out with bent backs. Even the usually calm Fang Xuyin couldn't help but say a few nonsense at the end. Inspector Chen, who seemed mature and steady on the surface, was actually not good at drinking. He vomited and had diarrhea after drinking half a cup, and dispersed in all directions. Everyone crawled home to rest and only cared about stuffing the gifts into Zhu Hao's arms. How could they remember to teach her to guess the recipient?
Only Zhu Hao, Song Xieqing and Shi Chunsheng were left at the table.
Zhu Hao's headache had not yet healed, so he was not suitable to drink alcohol, and mostly drank fruit drinks instead. Shi Chunsheng avoided drinking a lot due to a cold. Song Xieqing drank quite a lot, but he had always been a good alcoholic. He was the only one of the three who was still sober at the table. Song Xieqing swirled the wine cup, leaned over and whispered in Zhu Hao's ear, and then left the table.
Shi Chunsheng's eyebrows moved slightly, and he suddenly smiled as he watched Song Xieqing's figure gradually moving away.
He turned around and saw Zhu Hao still staring at the direction the man left. Shi Chunsheng sighed softly and pushed a wooden box towards Zhu Hao.
Inside the box was a Luban lock. It looked quite old, yet every inch of the wood had been polished to a very smooth finish. Shi Chunsheng explained, "It's not a lavish gift... I'm not sure if Miss Zhu would still be interested in it now."
Zhu Hao said “Huh”, “I used to like it?”
"When I was a child, Miss Zhu would always ask me to unlock your Luban lock. One time, I accidentally lost Miss Zhu's Luban lock, which made her sad for half a month. I had originally planned to give it to you, but because of some trivial matters in my childhood, I missed the opportunity to meet Miss Zhu, and the Luban lock was never given to her."
He also often wondered, if he had ignored his grandfather's advice and other people's opinions, would he be the one accompanying Pianpian now?
But he had to admit that no matter whether Song Xieqing was a human or a ghost, Song Xieqing's love for Zhu Hao was no less than his own. The most important thing was that Pianpian liked Young Master Song, not to mention... he was a sick person who could have a hidden illness break out at any time?
Zhu Hao played with it for a while and then asked, "The Luban lock you gave me today is the one you were unable to give me as a child, right?"
Shi Chunsheng nodded, "Yes."
She praised sincerely, "Mr. Shi has really skillful hands."
Suddenly, there was silence all around until the two of them met eyes. Shi Chunsheng then forced a smile and said, "Miss Zhu, you and I can be considered childhood sweethearts."
"So, I also want to tell you that I will be going to the capital to take the exam."
It doesn’t matter even if you forget it now. Sooner or later, you will remember it along with everything from the past.
She smiled with eyes that curved in color, clearly having completely forgotten the past. However, she wished him the same thing he had wished her last year when he stood on the bank of the Seven-Curve Bridge: "I wish Mr. Shi a successful journey." Zhu Hao lowered his head and pondered for a moment before saying, "Since we've been childhood sweethearts, have we only been calling each other Miss and Mr. for so many years? Chunsheng... I'll still call you Chunsheng, right? You can also call me Pianpian."
"Okay, Pianpian." Shi Chunsheng smiled back. At this moment, he was surprised to find that Zhu Hao's face had inexplicably turned red. Shi Chunsheng was about to ask, but Zhu Hao was already lying on the mat, motionless.
Song Xieqing, who had been hiding in the side room, walked forward briskly. He first checked Zhu Hao's forehead temperature, and when he found nothing unusual, he moved closer to the fruit in front of Zhu Hao's table and sniffed it. Song Xieqing took a sip and finally set his eyes on the seat to Zhu Hao's left, which was exactly where Liu Rutang had been sitting.
Shi Chunsheng understood.
"...Shopkeeper Liu is a decent person, but she secretly mixed alcohol into Pianpian's fruit drink. That's too..." Shi Chunsheng opened his mouth, sighed, and held his forehead. "Song Xieqing, give her half a bowl of sobering soup later."
After he finished speaking, he suddenly met Song Xieqing's dark eyes. The man smiled and said, "It's true that he controls married women very strictly."
Shi Chunsheng: “…”
Song Xieqing draped his coat over Zhu Hao and said casually, "Why don't you leave before my wife remembers and has a good chat?"
Seeing that he wanted to write "my wife" on his face, Shi Chunsheng couldn't help but smile, "No need, this is fine. Otherwise, it would be a waste of your hard work."
"You wasted years in your early years without taking the exam. Why have you changed your mind now?" Song Xieqing hugged Zhu Hao around the waist and said, "Is it because the bookshop is no longer viable?"
"I'm afraid that if Mr. Song stays in this city, he won't be able to rest in peace."
He saw a hint of displeasure cross Song Xieqing's face, and his arm around Zhu Hao silently tightened. Shi Chunsheng said with a smile, "I was just joking with Young Master Song. There's something I've been puzzled about, and going to the capital to take the exam is a good idea. Besides... how can I be a threat to Young Master Song? Pianpian is so beautiful, and there are many men who like her. I'm just one of them."
Song Xieqing briefly pondered Shi Chunsheng's words before continuing, "No matter how much others like her, how could they possibly like a married young lady? You must be a special case."
Shi Chunsheng didn't know whether to laugh or not, "Is Mr. Song praising me or insulting me?"
"When do we leave?"
"Tomorrow."
"Bon Voyage."
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