0061 Five Spicy Dishes (Part 5)
When the eight young men saw the girl by the table, they were all struck by her beauty and felt a slight restlessness in their hearts. They felt as if a touch of spring had appeared in their otherwise dull and lifeless work, which gave them a sense of anticipation.
"Greetings, young lady. My name is Liu Rumin, and I am at your service." The leading young man said loudly.
Shu Fu looked up and saw that the other person was wearing a snow-white brocade robe with cloud patterns, the hem of which was trimmed with gold thread. His skin was as white as jade, his eyebrows and eyes were clear and delicate, and he stood tall like a jade mountain, looking at her with a smile.
He was indeed a rare handsome young man, but unfortunately, the gentle and refined type of man always reminded her of Liang Zhiyan, which made her even less interested.
Shu Fu smiled slightly and asked gently, "What is your lord usually good at?"
Without hesitation, Liu Rumin replied, "I am skilled in all arts, including music, chess, poetry, and calligraphy, and I am willing to help you, young lady, relieve your fatigue."
Shu Fu shook her head: "But do you know why I came to this Kuai Zai Pavilion?"
Liu Rumian was taken aback.
Before he could ask any more questions, Shu Fu said directly, "My fiancé did some bad things, and I'm feeling down, which is why I came to Kuai Zai Pavilion today. But you look too much like him, and you know the same things he does, so I really can't muster any interest."
The other young men had long harbored resentment at Liu Rumin for having taken the initiative, and upon hearing Shu Fu's words, one of them immediately stepped forward and pushed him away.
“Since you don’t like him, young lady, why not take a look at me? My name is Wei Rufeng. Before entering Kuai Zai Pavilion, I used to help others run merchants and protect their goods. If I hadn’t been bewitched and incurred a huge gambling debt, I would never have entered this place.”
Shu Fu looked at him again. Wei Rufeng was dressed in red, with handsome features, and was a completely different man from Liu Rumin.
She thought for a moment, then called out to him, "Come here."
The others froze, inwardly regretting that they had been a step behind again.
Wei Rufeng rushed forward excitedly and reached out to pull her into his arms.
Shu Fu was startled and quickly stepped aside: "Speak properly! Don't touch me!"
Wei Rufeng was forced to stand still.
"Roll up your sleeves a little."
Shu Fu's soft, bright voice rang in his ears, Wei Rufeng's heart pounded, and the faint fragrance lingered in his nostrils. In a daze, he did as she said.
He was lost in his own thoughts when he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his arm. Looking down, he saw that Shu Fu had gently pinched the flesh on his arm.
"My lord, have you been in the Kuai Zai Pavilion for too long? You've slacked off on your training; the flesh on your arms has become soft and flabby."
The other young men burst into laughter, and even Liu Rumin, who had been rejected earlier, cast a disdainful glance at him.
Wei Rufeng suddenly stood up, angrily flung his sleeves aside, and stepped away.
Following the same approach, Shu Fu found fault with each of the remaining people until only one boy remained standing in front of her.
The boy was seventeen or eighteen years old, wearing a light autumn-colored robe. His hair was tied in a high ponytail like Zhan Yaoguang's, with the ends slightly curled up. However, he was missing a small silver crescent moon in the middle, so he didn't make her eyes light up as much as when she first saw Zhan Yaoguang.
"Greetings, young lady," before Shu Fu could speak, he had already knelt down beside her. "My name is Su Ruoxing, and I earnestly hope for your favor."
Su Ruoxing was actually not similar to Zhan Yaoguang, but whenever he stood in front of her, he would inexplicably remind her of Zhan Yaoguang.
Shu Fu felt a certain pity for this man, so she lowered her voice and said to him earnestly, "I'm not actually going to pick anyone today. Just find a reason that makes you look presentable and stand with them."
After speaking, Shu Fu took a small sip of the osmanthus wine, found it a bit spicy, and quietly pushed it aside. She thought she had made things clear and waited for Su Ruoxing to leave on his own.
Unexpectedly, Su Ruoxing seemed not to hear her and remained seated. Seeing a few drops of wine on her lips, he even reached out to wipe them off for her.
"What are you doing!" Shu Fu scolded softly, turning her head away from him. "You're being incredibly rude!"
Su Ruoxing ignored him, only looking at her with a seemingly saddened expression: "Young lady, you don't fancy me?"
Shufu thought to herself, "Isn't this obvious?"
Su Ruoxing added, "But I liked you from the first moment I saw you, young lady."
"So many brothers had been trying to win the young lady's favor before. I was too young to compete with them, but I was afraid that she might really have taken a liking to someone. My heart was pounding. But now that I'm the only one left by her side, I'm overjoyed."
"If young lady truly has no one she fancy, why not consider me? I admire you and will surely..."
Before he could finish speaking, Shu Fu interrupted, "But I've already said I don't like you. Your constant pestering makes me very uncomfortable."
Shu Fu didn't know why Su Ruoxing acted as if he couldn't live without her, but she could clearly sense that his words of confession were half true and half false.
Su Ruoxing was still somewhat incredulous, and lowered his head to peek at her expression: "Does my lady think I'm not pretty?"
Shu Fu finally looked up at him: "Young man, you are handsome, but not the kind of person I like. If your eyelashes were longer, your skin whiter, and your lips redder, maybe I would like you."
They spoke with such conviction, as if such a person truly existed in the world.
Seeing Su Ruoxing's ever-changing expression, she felt a little relieved, thinking that she had finally managed to coax him.
The styrax in the gilded incense burner burned stronger and stronger, making her feel suffocated and irritable. So she got up, asked Li Miao for leave, and turned to leave the inner room.
Su Ruoxing, of course, had no idea about the unspoken joy that Miss Shu was experiencing in the spring. He only knew that if he missed this opportunity, he would probably never see such a beautiful and charming young lady again.
He gritted his teeth, got up and followed her out: "Young lady, wait a moment, I... I'm willing to change for you."
Su Ruoxing walked very fast, and in just a few steps he reached her halfway. He subconsciously grabbed a ribbon that was fluttering at the edge of her clothes as she walked.
At the same time, a commotion arose on the spiral staircase a few steps away. A group of glamorous mature women, who were still tipsy from drinking sweet wine, were inexplicably chasing after a young man as they climbed the steps.
The boy ran incredibly fast, his hair curling wildly, but there were just too many people chasing him. They were about to grab his arm when the boy suddenly yelled, "Don't touch me, or I'll really throw you all off the building!"
Su Ruoxing had never seen such a scene before. She felt that the young man had probably attracted all the patrons of the establishment. She wondered where the pimp had found such a charming newcomer.
Shu Fu was also drawn by the commotion. She turned her head and met the gaze of the boy who was being harassed. Both of them froze at the same time, their hearts sinking in unison.
———
Actually, my writing outline is quite rough and simple. This part only has one thread: "Arrange for a few people to please Afu, and then Afu will refuse."
Therefore, the initial images of Liu Rumin, Wei Rufeng, and Su Ruoxing were very vague.
However, as the plot unfolded, I needed to shift my perspective, and I began to feel that these characters had developed their own personalities to varying degrees.
The most obvious one should be Su Ruoxing.
Because I always felt that his feelings for Afu were a little different from the previous two. The previous two might have felt a little regretful after being rejected by Afu, but he might have really felt a little sad.
I feel like he has a bit of a crush on Afu.
Just like how Feifei fell in love with Afu, I always felt that Su Ruoxing would also unconsciously fall in love with her.
It seems that Afu is more popular with seventeen or eighteen-year-old boys.
This feeling is really subtle, like a sudden flash of inspiration, like being touched on a tangible point, and feeling as if the characters in the story have actually moved. I couldn't help but say a little more to share with everyone (flipping fingers).
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