Chapter 90 Men are all petty
Arriving at this late hour clearly means something important is going on.
There were other people in the main hall, but Sheng An didn't ask directly. Instead, she took Zhang Zhaodi's hand and led her to the dining table, saying, "I've been thinking about you these past few days. I didn't expect you to come."
Zhang Zhaodi playfully retorted, "Are you thinking about me, or about my bamboo weaving?"
Sheng An handed her chopsticks: "I was thinking of you. Even if you hadn't come today, I was planning to come see you when I had some free time."
Zhang Zhaodi smiled and said, "Then we're on the same wavelength."
As he spoke, he pointed to the basket in the corner: "I brought you a few newly woven trinkets. After you finish eating, take a look and see if they're any good."
Sheng An nodded and put some food into Zhang Zhaodi's bowl: "Okay, you can sleep here tonight, and we'll take our time."
Zhang Zhaodi had no objection, but subconsciously glanced at Xu Jinnian.
Xu Jinnian seemed oblivious, serving Sheng An the dishes she liked.
Zhang Zhaodi secretly breathed a sigh of relief and quietly buried her head in her food.
After the meal, Sheng An led Zhang Zhaodi to the hall on the second floor.
She didn't look at the bamboo basket in her back, but took Zhang Zhaodi's hand and asked, "You came to see me so late, is it about me?"
Zhang Zhaodi nodded, glanced towards the stairwell, and then lowered her voice to say, "At noon, your scholar came to the village to find me and asked what you did at my house that day."
Sheng An was stunned.
Worry appeared on Zhang Zhaodi's face as she grasped Sheng An's hand: "Are you two alright?"
After Xu Jinnian left, she spent the whole afternoon at home thinking about it. She was still worried, so she hurriedly went to Shengyuan under the pretext of showing Sheng An the bamboo weaving.
Sheng An snapped out of her daze, smiled, and shook her head: "He and I are doing fine, don't worry."
Zhang Zhaodi carefully observed her complexion and only breathed a sigh of relief after confirming that she did not seem to be in any danger.
"It's good that you're alright. I was just worried that the scholar might be paranoid and suspect that you had another man outside, which is why he came to the village to ask me about it."
Sheng An was both amused and exasperated: "No, that's not true. We didn't argue. He's not that petty."
Zhang Zhaodi shook her head and said earnestly, "You're wrong about that. What man with a wife isn't afraid of being cuckolded?"
Her parents often argued when they were young. Every time her mother got angry and ran back to her parents' home, her father would rush to her maternal grandmother's house to bring her back. But they would start arguing again after only a few words.
The gist of it is that her mother had a childhood sweetheart, but her maternal grandfather thought the childhood sweetheart was unreliable and forced her mother to marry her father.
So even after they got married, her mother gave birth to a whole bunch of children, but her father couldn't shake his suspicious nature. It wasn't until they were both older that they gradually stopped making a fuss.
Ultimately, men are all petty.
Sheng An, however, had no time to verify this conclusion. She listened intently to make sure there were no other sounds coming from the stairwell before whispering to Zhang Zhaodi, "What did he ask? What did you say?"
Without much thought, Zhang Zhaodi recounted in detail every question Xu Jinnian had asked her at home at noon.
Sheng An listened attentively but did not find anything amiss.
At this moment, Zhang Zhaodi asked hesitantly, "An'an, when you left my house that day, did you run into Liu Huazhi and beat her up?"
Sheng An's heart tightened: "Zhao Di, you didn't tell Jin Nian about this, did you?"
Zhang Zhaodi quickly shook her head: "I certainly won't tell him anything I'm not sure about."
Sheng An breathed a sigh of relief, then said in a serious tone, "Zhao Di, just pretend you don't know anything about this, and don't mention it to anyone who asks."
Zhang Zhaodi was puzzled, but she still firmly agreed: "Don't worry, I keep my mouth shut."
Sheng An felt uneasy, recalling Xu Jinnian's unusual behavior at noon, especially his admission that he was hiding something from her and his attempt to exchange information with her about what she was keeping from him.
Now it seems he was clearly bluffing her!
I promised to wait for her to think it through, but she couldn't wait any longer.
What about trust between people?
Sheng An gritted his teeth inwardly, speechless at Xu Jinnian's underhanded tactics.
Seeing her best friend's displeasure, Zhang Zhaodi quickly comforted her: "The scholar is only like this because he cares about you too much. Don't take it to heart and worry about such a small thing, lest it affect your relationship."
Sheng An rubbed her temples, her voice tinged with helplessness: "I know, I won't argue with him."
Zhang Zhaodi breathed a sigh of relief, picked up the basket beside her, and took out a series of newly woven, exquisite trinkets: "Take a look, will these work?"
Sheng An picked them up one by one and looked at them, a look of surprise on his face: "Not bad, you've improved a lot!"
Her good friend is truly talented in bamboo weaving.
Zhang Zhaodi breathed a sigh of relief: "I think there is still room for improvement. Give me some more time, and I will come back to show you when I make the most satisfactory bamboo weaving."
The two began discussing ways to improve the bamboo weaving, unaware that a lithe figure had flashed past in the stairwell.
Xu Jinnian looked at the pitch-black night and thought to himself: It seems the problem lies with the woman surnamed Liu.
Sheng An and Zhang Zhaodi discussed for a long time, until it was very late before they finished.
There were no extra rooms on the second floor, but fortunately, Shengyuan had other vacant rooms that were just a few steps away from the small building, accessible through a door.
Sheng An made up Zhang Zhaodi's bed, brought her some water to soak her feet, and told her to lock the door before going to sleep before leaving.
Back on the second floor, as she passed the study, she saw that the door was half open and the light was on inside. Sheng An gently pushed the door open and went in.
Xu Jinnian was writing something at his desk when he heard footsteps, so he put down his pen and looked at Sheng An.
Sheng An walked over and saw an envelope with the words "To be opened by Chen Peisheng" written on it.
"So you've already finished writing it."
Sheng An took out the letter from the envelope and read it quickly. Then she cupped the man's face and kissed him hard: "Your handwriting is so beautiful. Mr. Chen is lucky to have such a good eye."
As she spoke, she pointed to the end of the letter: "You have a habit when you write, you always add a slight 'twisting' to the last stroke of the last character."
Sheng An pointed to the small checkmark at the end of the last character, finding this habit quite peculiar: "If someone imitates your letters in the future, I'll definitely be able to tell at a glance."
Xu Jinnian's eyes flickered as he stared intently at Sheng An: "Even Zhenlin and his two classmates of many years had never noticed this habit of mine, but An'an noticed it at a glance."
Sheng An said smugly, "That's right, I usually practice calligraphy by imitating your handwriting, how could I not recognize it?"
At this point, she glanced at Xu Jinnian's handwriting, then at her own right hand, and slapped it twice in exasperation: "This hand is completely useless!"
She practiced her handwriting for months, but it still turned out like a dog's scribbles. As a result, when she wanted to write invitations or letters, she had to ask Xu Jin to write them for her, otherwise she would definitely be laughed at.
Xu Jinnian kissed her while comforting her, saying, "An'an is already very good. In just a few months, she has learned all the common characters, and her calligraphy is improving day by day. I'm sure she will surpass me soon."
Sheng An was kissed and felt weak in the limbs, so she could only lean against his chest, her eyes misty: "Don't always say nice things, you have to laugh at me hard before I'll be determined to practice calligraphy well."
She's always being coaxed, and she's almost gotten so arrogant that she thinks she's some kind of modern-day Wang Xizhi.
“Every word I said came from the bottom of my heart.”
Xu Jinnian looked intently at his wife in his arms, his eyes filled with deep pride: "If An'an were a man, he would surely have left his mark on the path of the imperial examinations."
Sheng An toyed with his long, beautiful fingers, then glanced at him sideways with her eyes slightly raised: "If I were a man, would you still marry me?"
Xu Jinnian paused, thought seriously for a moment, and then shook his head: "I don't know."
Sheng An was quite surprised, sat up straight and glared at him: "How could you not know? Marriage between men is not allowed under the laws of the Great Wei Dynasty. You should have firmly said no!"
Don't be fooled by the fact that Nanfeng Pavilion is everywhere. If someone actually marries a man there, not only will the family be thrown into chaos, but the government will also lock them up in jail for violating etiquette and sobering them up.
Xu Jinnian pulled Sheng An into his arms, looking at her with deep eyes, a beautiful smile appearing on his lips: "But this person is An An."
Sheng An stared blankly at him, trying to find a reason to persuade him to give up, but no reason could shake his words.
Because it's An'an, it can only be An'an.
Sheng An suddenly felt a tickle in her head, as if she was about to develop a love-struck mind.
She shook her head vigorously, as if to cover up or to escape, and quickly pulled out the confession written by the man with the mustache from her sleeve, stuffing it into the envelope along with the letter: "Have Shuqi make a trip tomorrow and make sure to deliver it to Chen Peisheng."
Xu Jinnian received no response and silently sighed in his heart: "Okay."
The next morning, Sheng An handed the envelope to Shu Qi.
Shuqi immediately rushed to Zuixianlou, but did not see Manager Cao. She was led by the waiter to Chen Peisheng and immediately took out the envelope.
Chen Peisheng knew nothing about what Manager Cao had done and thought that Sheng An was as passionate about cooking as he was, and that this letter was for culinary exchange.
Seeing the powerful, dragon-like handwriting on the envelope, he thought to himself, "What beautiful handwriting!" He couldn't wait to open the envelope and read the contents of the letter.
The more Chen Peisheng looked, the darker his expression became. After reading the confession of the man with the mustache, his face was clouded with gloom, as if water was about to drip from it.
Seeing the change in Chen Peisheng's expression, Shuqi didn't linger any longer, said goodbye, and left.
Chen Peisheng put away the letters and confession, and in a somber voice instructed his attendant, "Go and call Manager Cao."
When the entourage arrived at the Cao family's residence, Manager Cao was still having sex with his newly acquired concubine.
Upon hearing that it was Chen Peisheng who was looking for him, Manager Cao, whose good time had been interrupted, looked displeased and muttered as he dressed: "What urgent matter could there be so early in the morning? Could it be that Zuixianlou has been vandalized?"
The concubine coaxed, "It's because the master has taken a liking to you; otherwise, why wouldn't he go looking for someone else?"
Manager Cao was indeed appeased. He pinched his concubine's delicate face with his greasy hand and said, "Rest well. I'll come to find you again tonight and make you cry and beg for mercy."
The concubine blushed and said shyly, "Master, you're so naughty!"
In his mind, he was ranting: "The chili peppers hanging under the big tree are so big and I can't even touch them. Every time they wriggle around like fat maggots, I want them to cry and beg for mercy. I should really piss on them and let them see what they're really like."
Bah!
She might still be a virgin.
Shopkeeper Cao, completely unaware of his concubine's disdain, happily climbed onto the oxcart and hurried towards Zuixianlou.
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