Chapter 67 Remembering Jiangnan (Part 7) No changes.
His palms were warm, enveloping her slender ankles, his thumbs gently stroking them.
"If I tell you, will you change?" Ye Mu struggled twice but couldn't break free, so she decided to give up and kicked her other leg weakly as well. Xie Yicheng caught it firmly in his other hand and held it in his palm. She looked up at him and said, "You promise you'll change if you hear me?"
She was half-leaning against the pile of brocade quilts, her black hair disheveled and loose. The collar of her nightgown was slightly open from their earlier playfulness, revealing faint red marks. Xie Yicheng glanced over and his smile deepened.
Thankfully, she wasn't allowed to go to the yamen to report for duty in this state today.
“Hmm, I’d like to hear the details,” he nodded seriously, “Let’s first hear what Fourth Sister has to say.”
"Alright, listen carefully." Ye Mu cleared his throat. "For our long-term... well, for our health, we must establish some rules. First of all, we must maintain an appropriate distance from each other..."
"Who pounced on me first last night?" he interrupted.
"That's different." Ye Mu had almost forgotten about that, and his momentum faltered. Then, remembering something, he straightened his back again. "Besides, didn't you spend over ten years as a monk? Didn't Buddha teach you to be pure of heart and have few desires? Where is your self-control?"
She said matter-of-factly, "You should not let your mind be disturbed."
"So this is how you like to play? You like watching monks panic." Xie Yicheng concluded with a smile, "So, you only like monks, not me."
"Hey? Hey! You can't say that, you're just being unreasonable..."
Ye Mu was speechless for a moment. How could she forget that the person in front of her was the best at witty debate and had a keen insight into the subtleties of people's hearts? She was no match for him.
"And what if you wanted it?" Xie Yicheng pressed her advantage. "What would happen then? Would the rules still be in place?"
“If I want to, then of course I can, but only once,” Ye Mu said. “But I absolutely cannot be as unrestrained as I was in the car, or as I was last night.”
"Oh." Xie Yicheng deliberately dragged out his words, "So it turns out that only officials are allowed to set fires, while ordinary people are not allowed to light lamps."
"Because I understand the importance of slow and steady progress. When I want something, it means the time is right." Ye Mu said matter-of-factly, "It's about going with the flow of time, place, and people."
"Fourth Sister is so domineering. When I want something, it depletes my vital energy, and indulging in pleasure is harmful. But if you want it, it becomes a matter of course, in accordance with the way of health preservation, and beneficial to our bodies?"
Xie Yicheng's smile deepened. "This standard of judgment rests entirely on your whim? What kind of logic is that? Hmm?"
Ye Mu remained unfazed and pulled out a medical book, saying, "The affairs of the bedroom can bring life or take it away. Those who know how to use them can maintain their health; those who do not know how to use them will die instantly. This is what is said in the 'Prescriptions Worth a Thousand Pieces of Gold.' You have read so many medical books, so you must know the advantages and disadvantages, right?"
“I do know that, but I haven’t overreacted.” Xie Yicheng also spoke to her in a serious tone, “Heaven and earth have yin and yang, and human affairs have their limits. My actions are all within the limits, and I have already been very restrained.”
"You mean, you originally wanted to do more..."
He nodded with clear eyes.
Ye Mu's face flushed. Unable to argue with him, she could only forcefully ask, "Just tell me, will you change or not?"
"Let me think about it carefully."
Xie Yicheng looked thoughtful and considered things carefully. Just when Ye Mu thought he was about to give in, he suddenly loosened his grip on her ankle, sat down, and lifted her already loose inner garment.
"Hey! Hey! Xie Yicheng, why are you going even further?" Ye Mu hurriedly tried to adjust his clothes.
Xie Yicheng didn't act recklessly, but simply pressed his ear against her heart. After a moment, he solemnly said, "It says not to change."
So it was with her heart.
"Xie Yicheng," Ye Mu's heart burned, both amused and embarrassed, "How can you be so good at cheating?"
But no matter how much she playfully punched and kicked his shoulder, he had no time to respond and seized every opportunity to retaliate.
A doctor cannot heal himself. He can calmly examine others, admonish them to restrain themselves, yet he allows himself to act recklessly.
Detour, circle, go around.
At first, Ye Muchu could still push him away, her nose brimming with incoherent protests, but gradually, she too succumbed to his endless wetness.
He said he didn't dare to think about it, but he doesn't seem like he doesn't dare to think about it at all. He clearly dares to think and act on it.
The two joked around on the couch for a while. Not long after, Xie Yicheng went to check the inner pocket of his outer robe and was a little surprised. "It's gone."
Ye Mu was taken aback at first, but then he realized that the fish bladder was gone.
She had told him before that she didn't want children, and he had simply stroked her hair and quietly replied, "Okay." Before coming back this time, he had prepared some things.
Yesterday, she saw that he had a lot of stuff folded up in his inner pocket, and she laughed at him for being too thoughtful, saying that he could never use it all.
Who would have thought that it would sell out overnight?
Ye Mu blushed furiously.
Xie Yicheng leaned forward, his nose gently brushing against her still-sweaty temple, and asked curiously, "So it was just a kiss..."
He whispered in her ear, the words barely audible. Ye Mu was incredibly embarrassed and reached out to pinch his arm. Xie Yicheng chuckled, "...You sweat too?"
Ye Mu hummed softly.
Are you hungry?
Xie Yicheng's eyes had regained their clarity. "The porridge on the stove is probably cold by now, so let's not eat it. I'll take you out to eat something good as compensation for your perfect attendance bonus."
"Excellent!" Ye Mu hurriedly got up to wash and dress, then went to the closet to find clothes. "I'm going to Wangjiangxian Restaurant. Secretary Yu said it's the best restaurant in Wujiang County!"
"Okay, whatever you say."
While she was getting dressed, Xie Yicheng calmed down a bit by the bedside, his gaze naturally sweeping over the small house.
The furnishings were extremely simple, with a bed, a table, and a cabinet, much like the style of his room. Even the incense sticks were from the same place, which explained why the smell was familiar to him when he entered the room.
The desk under the window is piled with thick volumes of river engineering ledgers and county annals, the ink still fresh.
His gaze swept over the official documents and was drawn to several medical books next to him. He got up and looked at them: "Qianjin Fang", "Annotations on Jin Gui Yao Lue", and a book with its corners curled up, "Study on the Eight Extraordinary Meridians".
Xie Yicheng's eyebrows twitched. She must have been looking at these things in her spare time for his sake.
Ever since he mentioned that many men in his family died young, and that he might not escape the same fate, she comforted him on the surface, telling him "don't think nonsense," and even joked about it, but deep down she was probably terribly worried.
He walked over and flipped through a few pages, which contained her annotations; she must have been reading them very carefully.
No wonder she was able to casually utter a few words about meridians and blood circulation just now.
"Yi Cheng," Ye Mu emerged from behind the screen, now dressed in men's clothing, and was combing her long hair with a boxwood comb, "I haven't asked you yet, did it go smoothly when you asked for leave this morning? Did no one give you any trouble at the yamen?"
"Smoothly." Xie Yicheng walked over, took the comb from her hand very naturally, and ran her fingertips through her hair to tie it up. "However, I ran into your Magistrate Zhou."
"Zhou Chongli?" Ye Mu paused slightly, looking at him in the bronze mirror. "What did he say?"
"I didn't say much, just told you to take care of yourself." Xie Yicheng skillfully secured her hair with a wooden hairpin. "It's quite a coincidence, we knew each other before. I just didn't know his name back then, and I only found out today that he is Zhou Chongli."
He briefly recounted the old story from Yunnan, and Ye Mu was astonished. She never expected that such a coincidence would occur, and that Xie Yicheng had actually saved Zhou Chongli's life.
"Huh?" Ye Mu looked up. "Then you didn't recognize him at the Wanping Lantern Festival?"
Xie Yicheng met her probing gaze in the bronze mirror. "How could I possibly be distracted by him?"
Oh, he only saw her at the time. Ye Mu smiled and said, "Did he ever suspect my identity?"
Ye Mu always travels alone, so the sudden appearance of a master inevitably arouses curiosity.
“No, I told him that I taught you to read years ago.”
“That makes sense. Master Wen Kong has always been kind and compassionate. It’s perfectly normal for him to teach a poor boy to read and write.”
Xie Yicheng suddenly heard her call his Buddhist chant, and he twitched the corner of his lips, "You naughty little disciple."
Her hair was neatly styled in a bun, but Ye Mu stared blankly at the disguise cream on the dressing table, her fingertips unconsciously tracing circles on the lid.
"how?"
"It feels like I've been applying this for almost two months," Ye Mu sighed. "My face feels stuffy, like there's a layer of paste on it, and I can't breathe."
Xie Yicheng gazed at her clear, fair face in the mirror, her heart softening.
“Then I won’t apply makeup today.” He reached out and picked up a veiled hat hanging to the side. “They are all on duty in the government office. Even if they go out on the street, they may not recognize you. Wear this to cover yourself up a bit.”
Upon hearing this, Ye Mu's eyes lit up, and he suddenly felt even more excited. "Then I might as well be Ye Mu again today, dressed beautifully and eating deliciously!"
She was, after all, a young woman in the prime of her life; how could she not love fine clothes and vibrant colors, and not crave the mundane pleasures of the world?
“Okay,” Xie Yicheng replied. “We’ll take a carriage, book a private room by the river, and close the door so no one will see us.”
Ye Mu opened the beechwood wardrobe against the wall again. Among a sea of gray men's clothes, she finally managed to find a lotus-colored cross-collar ruqun (a type of traditional Chinese dress) and a moon-white vest, made of warm silk satin. Luckily, Zijing had prepared it for her.
She changed into a dress, tidied herself up, and the two went out.
Wangjiangxian is a three-story building overlooking a tributary of the Wusong River that flows through the city. From the window, one can see the clear water flowing gently and the sails dotting the horizon.
The restaurant was packed with guests, with cups and plates clinking and the shouts of the waiters rising and falling.
Xie Yicheng requested a private room on the second floor by the window, which was very quiet and had an excellent view.
"What would you like to eat?" Xie Yicheng pushed the menu in front of her.
Ye Mu didn't stand on ceremony and ordered only the famous, expensive, and rare dishes: "One steamed shad, two crab meat lion's head meatballs, cherry pork, lotus leaf steamed chicken..."
She recalled that although she was trembling with fear at Zhou Chongli's residence yesterday, the soup was indeed delicious. "I'd like another bowl of ham and bamboo shoot soup. Yicheng, you should try it too. The bamboo shoots here are sweet and delicious, and they make excellent soup."
Xie Yicheng smiled and agreed.
Ye Mu closed the menu, her eyes curving into crescents. "That's all for now. It's settled, you pay."
Xie Yicheng instructed the waiter to prepare according to the order, adding two kinds of seasonal vegetables and a pot of local light wine, full of indulgence, "I didn't expect your perfect attendance bonus to be so much."
"The perfect attendance bonus isn't much, just a few dozen copper coins," Ye Mu said. "The important thing is that little red flower."
"Little red flower?"
Ye Mu then vividly described to him the notice board at the second gate of the county government office, where a special attendance board was set up. If there was no error, the clerk on duty would use a vermilion pen to carefully draw a small five-petaled red flower next to his name.
At the end of the month, if a string of red flowers appears under a person's name, in addition to receiving a larger bonus, the bright red color itself is a visible sign of respectability, silently proclaiming the person's diligence and reliability.
Zhou Chongli is a man of swift and decisive methods in handling cases and managing affairs, and he is extremely strict in managing his subordinates. However, when it comes to such trivial matters as attendance, he has come up with such a childish "little red flower" mechanism.
I heard that the person with the highest cumulative total at the end of the year will receive an additional reward.
At first, many of the clerks privately scoffed, thinking that the county magistrate was making a mountain out of a molehill.
But somehow, as time went on, the blank or slightly red mark next to the row of names on the bulletin board actually became a spur to action.
Especially their household registration system, it was very effective, because the household with the most people with perfect attendance would also receive an extra bonus. Manager Zheng valued this the most, and he would stare wide-eyed every time he was called in. If anyone was late or left early and missed out on bonuses, he would nag about it for days.
“Secretary Yu had a high fever last month but still insisted on coming to work.” Ye Mu said, glaring at Xie Yicheng, and took a big bite of the crab meat lion’s head that had just been served, as if taking her anger out on him. “It’s all your fault!”
Xie Yicheng's heart softened at her glare, but he remained nonchalant, saying, "So that's how important it is. It seems I won't detour through Wujiang after returning from Jiangxi Prefecture, lest I cause Fourth Sister to suffer another loss."
"That won't do!" Ye Mu blurted out, but then saw the faint smile on his lips and realized she had been tricked. She still insisted, "Since we've already lost one flower, what's one less? Just come on."
Xie Yicheng couldn't help but chuckle softly.
He didn't eat much; most of the time he just watched her eat, occasionally serving her food and placing the deboned shad belly meat into the small dish in front of her.
The warm afternoon sun shone on her lowered eyes. At that moment, she was no longer the cautious and reserved secretary Ye Mu, but his fourth wife, lively and charming.
"Later..." Ye Mu, having eaten about 70-80% of her fill, glanced out the window at the dock where several small boats for tourists to rent were gently rocking on the blue water. "How about we rent a small boat and cruise the river? Do you still have enough time?"
The sun was shining brightly, making the shimmering water of the river appear soft and supple.
Xie Yicheng followed her gaze and saw that there seemed to be quite a few tourists waiting. He estimated that if he hurried and set off before dusk, traveling day and night, he could catch up with the hostel in the berth.
"There's still time," Xie Yicheng said gently, putting down her chopsticks. "I'll go downstairs first to inform the boatman."
Ye Mu nodded with pleasure and watched him get up and leave the private room.
She leaned against the window alone, the river breeze caressing her face, bringing with it moist air and the faint sound of fishermen's songs.
Ye Mu's gaze involuntarily followed the tall, blue-clad figure as he walked steadily toward the small counter on the riverside that handled boat rentals.
Xie Yicheng spoke in hushed tones with the boatman wearing a straw hat.
Even in the sunlight, his profile remained cold and handsome, like the cold moon hanging on a cold branch in winter. But when Ye Mu thought about how he had used that frosty face to bury himself in softness that morning, his heart pounded like a drum.
Suddenly, as if he had made a deal with the boatman, he nodded slightly and paid the deposit.
As if by telepathy, Xie Yicheng raised her head and her gaze fell precisely on the open window on the second floor.
Ye Mu immediately raised her arm, waved it gently at him, and smiled brightly.
Xie Yicheng returned a slight smile, indicating that she should wait a moment, and then turned and walked into the restaurant.
Ye Mu withdrew his gaze, calming his overly agitated emotions, lest he discover something and make a big fuss about it later.
Like teacher, like student; she is now a disciple of him in this way, and seeing this reminds me of it.
But then she thought of his old ailments and the obscure records in those medical books, and the tender feelings in her heart turned into determination. No matter what, the rules could not be broken, and his body had to be carefully taken care of.
Ye Mu sipped the remaining wine in her glass, the sweet liquid sliding down her throat. She strained her ears to listen to his footsteps.
But the sounds of other diners going up and down the stairs could be heard, yet his steady footsteps were nowhere to be heard.
Ye Mu waited a while longer before hearing Xie Yicheng's footsteps. A smile involuntarily appeared on her lips. She immediately got up and walked briskly toward the door, her hand already on the latch.
A warm, cheerful voice drifted down the corridor—
"It is only right that we meet again, and meet again here by chance, so I should invite Mr. Xie to have a drink together to reminisce about our old friendship."
It's Zhou Chongli!
It turns out that Yi Cheng hadn't come up for so long because she ran into him, and the two of them probably exchanged pleasantries for a while.
Ye Mu stopped abruptly and silently closed the door, which had been slightly ajar.
She held her breath and pressed her eyes close to the thin crack in the door, her field of vision compressed into a narrow line.
Ye Mu saw Xie Yicheng stop at the corner of the stairs.
Before him stood Zhou Chongli, dressed in a lake-blue robe, his hair tied up with a jade hairpin, accompanied by two middle-aged men in rich silk robes, their demeanor shrewd and intelligent, clearly merchants.
Xie Yicheng's expression remained unchanged as he calmly returned the greeting with a cupped hand. "Lord Zhou, I am not drinking alone. It would be inconvenient if I had an appointment with someone here."
"Oh?" Zhou Chongli raised an eyebrow slightly, probing a little. "Is that person perhaps Secretary Ye? Now that she's fully recovered and able to come out for a meal, why don't we all come over and sit down together? Perfect timing. These two are silk merchants from Suzhou Prefecture, specializing in the canal transport business. Secretary Ye can check the accounts in the household registration office and listen to the market conditions. Wouldn't that be beneficial to her official duties?"
The gaze swept over him almost imperceptibly, and Ye Mu, behind the door, felt a jolt in his heart. He instinctively closed his eyes, held his breath, and tensed all his muscles.
She then forced herself to calm down, knowing that he shouldn't be able to see anything through the thick door.
Ye Mu opened his eyes again.
Xie Yicheng remained completely calm. “Lord Zhou, please forgive me. I came south with my younger sister. She has always been a sheltered young lady and rarely goes out. She is shy and doesn’t like meeting strangers. Today, I’m just bringing her to try some local flavors. It would be inconvenient to disturb your gathering, sir.”
"So you are Mr. Xie's younger sister." Zhou Chongli suddenly realized, cupped his hands and said, "It was Chongli's oversight and rudeness. Since that's the case, I won't disturb you and your sister any longer. If there is an opportunity in the future, I will ask you for your guidance again. Farewell."
Having said that, he said no more, nodded politely to Xie Yicheng, and led the two merchants who had been watching with smiles on their faces to a quieter corridor on the other side of the restaurant. As their clothes fluttered, their laughter gradually faded away.
Xie Yicheng stood still, his gaze fixed, until the three figures completely disappeared around the corner of the carved corridor. Only then did he slowly turn around, walk at his usual pace, push open the door of the private room and slip inside, then gently lower the door latch behind him.
Almost the instant the door closed, Ye Mu rushed over, still shaken. "That was close, Yi Cheng! Luckily you were quick-witted. You bumped into him at the door?"
“Hmm,” Xie Yicheng put his arm around her waist and led her to a chair by the window, letting her sit on his lap. “I had just gone upstairs when he came from the other side and called out to me.”
He paused, his eyes darkening. "I always felt that he paid special attention to you, and even had some suspicions about you."
When Zhou Chongli mentioned Ye Mu just now, the fleeting look of inquiry and amusement in his eyes was definitely not the attitude of an ordinary superior towards a subordinate.
"He is a very deep and unpredictable person."
Ye Mu leaned on his shoulder and recounted all the exchanges between Zhou Chongli and her over the past two days. She briefly described the words that seemed to be both hints and warnings, saying, "I still can't tell whether he felt pity for me because of the memory of the boy who came to stay with his relatives, or whether he had already seen through something and was observing and testing me without making a sound."
Xie Yicheng listened quietly, her jawline slightly tense.
When she spoke again, her tone was somewhat somber, "So I wasn't the first person to celebrate your birthday with you."
Even though she knew it was out of necessity, Xie Yicheng still felt a pang of bitterness in her heart when she thought about how another man had accompanied her to eat noodles and watch a play on her birthday.
Ye Mu chuckled, looked up and lightly pecked his chin, "You're jealous of this? When I eat with someone like Zhou Chongli, I'm on tenterhooks with every bite. It's just a formality."
She poked his chest with her fingertip, "From now on, I will spend every birthday with you, without fail, until we are both old and gray, and live to be a hundred years old."
He looked at Qingran, but Ye Mu knew how solid and even the fabric was, so it felt quite good to the touch. Ye Mu simply used both hands at the same time, moving them haphazardly to the left and right.
Xie Yicheng's neck turned red from her teasing, and she grabbed her wrist, saying, "You naughty girl."
With his frustration gone, he turned to discussing serious matters with her, saying, "Perhaps we can look at it from a different perspective."
"for example?"
"If he is indeed the corrupt official His Highness suspects, embezzling 50,000 taels of river construction funds, that is no small sum. What characteristics would such a greedy person have in his actions?"
Following his train of thought, Ye Mu pondered deeply and analyzed the situation meticulously: "First, one must be extravagant and wasteful to flaunt their wealth; second, one must painstakingly scheme and cultivate relationships with superiors and subordinates to build a protective network and secure their position; third, one must be extremely cautious, concealing or transferring their wealth and never revealing it."
Xie Yicheng nodded appreciatively, lightly tapping Ye Mu's palm with her fingertip. "As for Zhou Chongli, according to what you just said, he lives a simple life, without any extravagance, and I have never heard of him bribing his superiors or making connections with powerful figures. So, where did the money he embezzled go? It couldn't have just disappeared into thin air."
Ye Mu had vaguely considered this question, but never delved into it.
"That's one thing; the whereabouts of the money remains a mystery."
Xie Yicheng continued, "Secondly, observe his actions. He is extremely strict with his subordinates and quite shrewd. If he had known you were there to investigate him, the simplest and most effective method would have been to find a fault and send you far away, making you give up. But he did the opposite, having you organize receipts and enter the signing room, taking you to banquets where you might come into contact with government officials, and privately discussing accounting details with you. This doesn't seem like precaution, it's more like..."
Xie Yicheng considered it carefully, "It's more like a form of guidance."
"Guide?" Ye Mu asked, puzzled.
"Hmm." Xie Yicheng nodded. "Perhaps he wasn't entirely unaware of your background or intentions. And his choice to respond in this way might have more complex reasons behind it. For example, the situation he finds himself in is more complicated than we imagine. Perhaps he wasn't the mastermind behind the embezzlement, but rather someone caught up in a larger power or deeper, more deeply entrenched problem, unable to act against his will?"
This gave Ye Mu a jolt.
She always placed Zhou Chongli in the position of opposing corrupt officials and investigators, but never thought that he himself might be in a predicament.
His seemingly insightful words might have been a way for him to secure his own future.
Within these high walls, there may not only be ferocious prey, but also prisoners trapped against their own will.
"Xie Yicheng, how come you always think of things I never thought of?" Ye Mu kissed him, his analysis clearing away a layer of fog for her. "I never thought he could be involved. So, his previous probing might have been his way of asking for my help, to see what I could offer?"
"Perhaps," Xie Yicheng pondered for a moment, "but it's difficult to discern this person's true nature. Even if they truly have hidden motives, the danger of their situation and the difficulty of their choices may far exceed our imagination. You still need to be extremely careful, not to trust them easily, and even more so, not to rashly reveal your hand."
Ye Mu nodded, gaining a better understanding of Zhou Chongli. His mind calmed down a bit, and recalling Xie Yicheng's quick wit earlier, he smiled and teased, "But speaking of which, Master, you really know how to lie with ease. You said 'my younger sister' so naturally and confidently. I really admire you."
Xie Yicheng lowered his eyes, his gaze falling on her luscious lips, and said softly, "It's not exactly a lie."
Ye Mu was startled, and then, the image of him holding her in his arms and coaxing her to blackmail her in the bathroom last night, calling her "brother" over and over again, suddenly crashed back into her mind.
The heat instantly made her ears burn.
"Xie Yicheng!" She was both embarrassed and angry, and punched his shoulder with her fist.
She called this name when she was angry, when she begged for mercy, when she was happy, and when she was moved, she called it countless times. When she lingered her lips on it, it was especially tender.
A smile flickered in Xie Yicheng's eyes, and just as she was about to say something more, the faint sound of Zhou Chongli saying goodbye to his friends could be heard from outside the corridor.
He got up and listened intently until the footsteps had completely disappeared downstairs. He then went to the window and peered through the crack downstairs for a moment, confirming that the figure in lake blue had already left in a car.
"He's gone." Xie Yicheng carefully put the veil on Ye Mu. "It's getting late, the boat is waiting, let's go."
As Xie Yicheng was leaving the private room, a young waiter happened to pass by. Xie Yicheng beckoned him over, handed him a few copper coins, and asked in a gentle voice, "Young man, did you see Master Zhou's table of guests just now? Have they already left? I wanted to go and offer them another toast, but I'm afraid I missed them."
The waiter took the money and smiled ingratiatingly, "Sir, Master Zhou and his party just left not long ago, and the bill has already been settled. It's probably too late for you to catch up now."
Xie Yicheng nodded, finally feeling relieved. He took Ye Mu's hand and walked down the stairs with ease, passing through the now quieter restaurant lobby, and heading towards the riverside dock.
The boatman was a man of few words. When he saw them, he simply nodded silently and used a long pole to steadily moor the awning boat to the gangplank.
Xie Yicheng boarded the boat first, then turned around and reached out to firmly support Ye Mu. The small boat swayed gently as she stepped in, and was then skillfully propelled away from the shore by the boatman, gliding into the shimmering waves.
The sounds of the city gradually gave way to the sound of water, and the surroundings suddenly became quiet, with only the gentle creaking of oars remaining.
As the boat reached the middle of the river, the surrounding area opened up, with only distant mountains like dark eyebrows, silently grasping the horizon.
Xie Yicheng took the oar from the old boatman and said gently, "Old man, please go to the stern to rest for a while and have some tea. I'll take care of things here."
The old man didn't refuse. He hunched over and moved over, took out a brass pipe, and silently puffed out his pipe at the river view.
Ye Mu and Xie Yicheng stood side by side at the bow of the slightly swaying boat.
The river breeze grew stronger, bringing a refreshing coolness that caused the light veil on her hat to flutter behind her. She raised her hand, intending to remove the veil that was in her way.
"Don't pick them yet," Xie Yicheng said in a low voice, steadily rowing the boat. "We're not far from the shore, so be careful."
Ye Mu obediently lowered her hand, just as another gust of river wind swept by, fluttering the light veil in front of her. Half of her profile was as beautiful as jade, revealing a pure and exquisite beauty that shattered the coldness of the river.
Xie Yicheng's mind swayed gently with the river water. "Fourth Sister, come closer. The wind is strong in the middle of the river."
Ye Mu did as he was told and took half a step closer to him. Their sleeves overlapped in the river breeze.
"Would you like to row the boat?"
"Won't I capsize the boat?"
"You can give it a try." Xie Yicheng handed over the oar.
Ye Mu carefully took it, and another slightly stronger gust of river wind rushed towards her, not only making her skirt flutter, but also completely lifting the light veil in front of her, slightly lifting it backward.
She was a little unsteady on her feet, so Xie Yicheng supported her waist and leaned down to kiss her.
"Hmm..." Ye Mu was caught off guard, and his hand holding the oar handle lost its grip, causing the small boat to sway slightly.
A sudden panic gripped her, and a muffled gasp escaped between their pressed lips: "The boat is going to capsize."
Xie Yicheng chuckled softly, and instead of pulling away, he held her hand firmly.
The small boat swayed gently in the middle of the river until the wind subsided and the fluttering gauze curtains fell again, partially obscuring their close faces. Only then did he step back slightly.
He looked at her with a smile.
A lone boat in the middle of the river, its bow and side reflected in the water.
The man bowed his head and spoke softly, while the woman's veil and light gauze fell down. She tilted her head slightly, and a faint blush spread across her fair neck.
The distant mountain colors merge into the twilight sky, and suddenly only this gentle water hue remains in the world.
Inside the riverside private room on the third floor of Wangjiangxian, the window was half-open.
Zhou Chongli looked at the river with great interest and casually asked his friend who had just sat down, "Brother Xingjian, in your opinion, would an ordinary brother personally take his younger sister home?"
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Author's note: Ye Xingjian: ...He really knows how to ask the right person.
I've changed the cover, so you guys won't be unable to find me!
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