Chapter 30
The scarlet blood pooled together, spread on the ground, and dripped down the slope onto Jian Xinyi's body.
She woke up suddenly, not knowing how many times she had been awakened by this nightmare.
Jian Xinyi put on a coat and quietly lit the kerosene lamp.
She did nothing but stare at the wick in a daze. The warm flames covered the entire room, preventing it from being too dark.
While I had nothing to do, I settled the bill that Liu Qin brought over yesterday, and it was exactly the same as what she had agreed on.
She gave Liuqin and Dule twenty books each, each costing one cent. She took fourteen and gave each of them three cents.
She collects the money for goods sold through channels herself, but a lot of things have happened recently and she hasn't been able to take care of this for a while.
The money is not much, so take your time.
Originally, Jian Xinyi didn’t earn money from books.
Once the book becomes somewhat famous, we can tailor its selling points based on the male protagonists.
Only when you have more fans can you get passers-by to spend money.
She casually flipped open a picture album, intending to quickly finish the side stories of the cold-hearted man and the scheming man.
After the scheming man proposed to her at the banquet, the heroine came to Concubine Li's palace and answered whether she wanted to be a concubine. If she answered yes, the story would enter the be ending. Under the coercion of Concubine Li, the heroine entered the prince's mansion of the scheming man. The scheming man was sent there to gain experience because of the Quzhou uprising, and he decided to marry the heroine after it was over. However, Concubine Li threatened the heroine and asked the scheming man to take the other two people into the mansion.
The heroine entered the palace with the two men. Due to her background, she was constantly bullied by them. Unable to bear it, the heroine asked Concubine Li for a divorce. Concubine Li naturally agreed. When the scheming man returned, she learned that the heroine had left on her own. Furious, he took advantage of the situation in the court to frame the heroine's father and imprison him. He then lured the heroine to the palace and threatened that she would never be able to escape him.
As the dark male protagonist of this work, some forced love portrayal is still necessary.
In the dimly lit bedroom, all the furnishings were unchanged from the original heroine's stay. The scheming man, his eyes gloomy, gently held the heroine's chin with his hand, gradually approached her, using his broad body to block all her escape routes.
He saw her tears of fear and laughed even more wildly, but there was endless loss in his eyes.
Looking down, I saw her lips trembling slightly.
He didn't hesitate and kissed her forcefully.
Jane Xinyi's hands were shaking while painting this scene. There were too many details in the picture that needed to be processed, and she had to do all the tracing and coloring by herself, so her hands were sore.
Before she knew it, the first ray of sunlight shone through the window, waking her up with its warm glow.
She put away yesterday's drawings, washed up, and went straight to Huichun Hall.
In the winter, the stove was crackling. Danggui put some raw chestnuts in and secretly roasted them in the stove. When he saw her coming, he also shared some with Jian Xinyi.
Jian Xinyi happily took it, but was startled by the heat from the freshly baked chestnuts. Her hand was busy touching her earlobe, and the chestnuts all fell down, making Danggui laugh. "It's fresh out of the oven, you should catch it with your clothes, why are you catching it with your hands?"
Both of them bent over and smiled, squatting on the ground to look for chestnuts. They only sat down again when they heard the medicine gurgling in the pot.
Danggui held her chin with one hand while pouring out the cooked medicine soup with the other. "You said, such a big incident happened in these alleys, and some people actually said it was a dog bite. I want the Jinwu Guard to deal with all the dogs in the city."
Jian Xinyi couldn't help but feel helpless, "Where did you hear this from?"
"When I was buying soup noodles, I heard people muttering that it was a mad dog that was causing trouble, and they were selling dog-repellent sachets."
When she heard about the dog repellent sachet, Jian Xinyi instantly understood that these unscrupulous vendors who try to capitalize on the popularity of the product have existed since ancient times. "You're just listening to the nonsense a salesman says."
Danggui quietly approached Jian Xinyi and whispered to her, "This morning, many patients asked Dr. Zhang for this dog-repellent prescription. Don't disbelieve it."
If she hadn't seen it with her own eyes, she might have believed it.
"Forget it, I won't talk to you anymore, it's boring."
Danggui was very angry and ran to the front hall with the boiled medicine.
Jian Xinyi shook her head and fanned herself a little harder.
It stands to reason that after someone died, it is inevitable that some rumors will appear in the alley.
But how does it have anything to do with dogs?
Someone must be confusing the public.
But is the purpose to make money or to cover up the truth?
It’s hard to explain.
Gurgle, gurgle, the medicine soup on the stove has already boiled.
Jian Xinyi brought out the last pot of medicine, but saw a group of people outside the door pestering Doctor Zhang.
"Doctor, there are vicious dogs in this alley. You can't help us."
"Yes, doctor, please be merciful."
Doctor Zhang was surrounded by the crowd, his face flushed and he looked extremely embarrassed.
"Everyone, I'll do some research and give you a reply."
Jian Xinyi was holding the boiling hot medicine soup in her hands, neither advancing nor retreating. At the critical moment, Aunt Ting came over and took the medicine soup from her hand, "Zhuiyu, the pharmacy has been a bit uneasy lately. You should rest at home for a few days and be careful when going out."
She glanced at the noisy crowd, understood what was going on, and hurried home.
The bookstore at home was completely different from Doctor Zhang's Huichuntang. It was empty, with only a skinny scholar reading by the window.
"This person doesn't even want to go out now. He's been scared like this by two dead people."
As soon as Jian Xinyi entered the door, she heard her father's complaining voice.
"Dad, this happened for a reason."
She took out the wages Aunt Ting paid and put them on the counter. "Aunt Ting also asked me to stay for a few days before going."
"Okay."
Dad gently picked up the copper coins on the counter, squatted down and took out a moldy pen holder, turned around and quietly put it in the pen holder.
"The tea is ready. Go and help Dad add some more. I'll go buy some food on the street."
Jian Xinyi nodded, turned and walked towards the hissing kettle, found a white cloth to pad it, and walked to the side of the scholar, "Sir, add some water."
"Thank you for your help, young lady."
The young man smiled shyly and leaned slightly towards the inside.
"Young Master is truly diligent and studious. Most people wouldn't dare to go out, but he still persists in studying."
Jian Xinyi glanced at the book that the man brought. It was densely packed with small handwriting, and it seemed that the man had put a lot of hard work into it.
"For a living, there is nothing I dare not do."
The young man took the hot tea and took a sip. "Miss, when you were out on the street today, did you hear of any vicious dogs injuring anyone?"
Jian Xinyi was stunned at first, then looked up at the young man.
The young man had an inquiring look in his eyes, and asked out of genuine curiosity.
"It's all over the streets, so be careful, young master."
She put the kettle back on the stove and the fire reignited, the embers raging.
"Girl, the same thing."
With a snap.
An icy draft blew in from the alley entrance and blew open the door of the bookstore. The coldness penetrated directly into Jian Xinyi's body, and her hair stood on end.
She hurried out, found a large stone nearby to close the door, and turned around to look.
The young man was already standing beside her, his face gloomy.
"Sir, there's no water?"
"Um."
Jian Xinyi laughed, her arms still clasped together, trembling slightly. "If you're out of water, just tell me. You don't have to come here in person."
This young man didn't talk much. He appeared unexpectedly and had a sullen face from time to time.
It's a bit like...
Yandere.
When this word appeared in Jian Xinyi's mind, her alarm bells immediately rang.
Yandere man.
The most popular male protagonist nowadays.
Oh my God, she finally met a real yandere.
A yandere character is really difficult to write. If written well, she is a yandere, but if written poorly, she is a super masculine man who goes crazy all day long.
Therefore, the conservative Jian Xinyi never dared to try to play this kind of male lead.
Add some dark attributes to the sky
However, according to the rules of the game, she should stay away from the yandere man.
For the sake of your physical and mental health.
Jian Xinyi respectfully poured a full cup of hot water for her sickly brother, even adding a lot of tea leaves that her father was reluctant to put in it, and quietly handed it over.
"Sir, please."
The yandere boy narrowed his eyes, looked at the cup of hot tea which had much more tea leaves than usual, and looked up at her again.
Jian Xinyi tried hard to act enthusiastic, cheerful and lively, trying to warm him up. "It seems like you're studying very hard. Drink more to refresh yourself."
The yandere man didn't move and nodded.
She continued to pretend to be enthusiastic, cheerful and lively, trying to warm him up. "How long have you been here? It must be very hard to prepare for the exam. What do you usually do?"
The yandere boy gently closed the book and smiled at her, "Why are you suddenly so concerned about me, girl?"
No, this plan doesn’t work.
"Well, we're going to..."
"Ms. Lin."
Suddenly, a strange man's voice was heard at the door. Jian Xinyi quickly left the yandere behind and ran out.
When the door was opened, the sunlight outside shone directly into the house, sweeping away the gloomy scene inside.
Sun Liqing stood outside the door with his hands behind his back, still wearing the same black robe as when we first met, with an upright posture and a butterfly-shaped sachet pinned to his waist.
"Master Sun, why are you here?"
Jian Xinyi quickly jumped to Sun Liqing's side and noticed the bruise under his eye. She sighed, "The Dali Temple has been so busy lately."
"Well, as long as the case is not solved, there will be no rest." Sun Liqing sighed helplessly, "So, the entire Dali Temple is waiting for your help."
"Really?"
Jian Xinyi happily circled around Sun Liqing, "Finally, I don't have to serve tea and water at home."
"Wait, I haven't finished yet." Sun Liqing was quick to pick up Jian Xinyi who was spinning in circles. "I start work at 1:00 AM every day and end at irregular times. I help the Dali Temple with paperwork. I earn 50 wen a month, which will be deducted from my and Mu Zhubu's monthly wages."
Jian Xinyi was shocked. "Why is it deducted from your two monthly wages?"
"Because Shaoqing disagreed with the stranger's entry, Mu Zhubu and him had a big argument, and the two of them chose a compromise."
Sun Liqing lowered his head, touched the butterfly sachet on his waist with his hand, and held the tassel tightly. "But you also helped us, it's okay."
As they were talking and laughing, the man in the bookstore raised his head and looked at the two of them.
The hot tea next to it had already gone cold, without a trace of heat left.
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