Chapter 42 Magpie on Branch (Part Two) Heartbeat.
The next morning, Ye Mu stood at the entrance of Fuyou Pavilion with the invitation in hand.
She specially changed into a more dignified indigo dress, which was starched and a bit stiff, and the color had faded a bit, but it made her look even neater and more efficient. Her black hair was tied into a simple bun at the back of her head with an ordinary peach wood hairpin, not a single strand out of place.
Because the mourning period was not over, she could not stay by her grandmother's grave, but she could show her feelings in a nearby place. She asked Zijing to tie a small white flower made of velvet with fine white cotton thread. This was neither against the rules nor against her wishes. It added a touch of solemnity to her overly simple attire, but it did not attract attention or make her too ostentatious.
Ye Mu took a deep breath of the slightly cool air, raised his hand, and knocked on the door.
A dull sound echoed in the silence. After a while, a small door on the side creaked open a crack.
An old woman dressed in coarse cloth, holding a long-handled broom, poked her head out. Her eyes were dark and she was yawning constantly. Seeing that she was alone, and that her simple clothes could not hide her beautiful appearance, she knowingly curled her lips. "Miss, you've come too early. We haven't even opened for business yet. The young masters rested late and have probably just gone to bed. You should come back later to have some fun."
Well, they're treating her like a patron who came early in the morning looking for a male prostitute.
Ye Mu chuckled inwardly, but showed no sign of it on her face. She calmly stepped forward and handed over the exquisite gold-flecked invitation card, saying, "Please inform Madam that I am the new accountant."
The old woman, holding a broom, blankly accepted the invitation, as if she couldn't understand how the words "accountant" could be associated with the girl in front of her. Her tired, swollen eyes widened instantly, and she looked Ye Mu up and down again.
"Please wait a moment, young lady." The old woman's drowsiness vanished instantly, and the side door slammed shut with a bang.
Standing alone outside the door, Ye Mu heard an excited exclamation coming from inside, "Miss Yun! Miss Yun! The new accountant is an extremely beautiful young lady! As pretty as a spring onion!"
Ye Mu's lips curved into a smile.
Contrary to popular belief, Fuyou Pavilion is not a place of debauchery and extravagance. Instead, it is elegant and unique, with winding corridors, artificial hills, and flowing streams.
Occasionally, a young man dressed in a simple long robe would return from a recently concluded banquet, carrying a zither or a scroll. His eyes and brows could not hide the weariness of not having slept all night, his steps were slightly unsteady, and there were faint dark circles under his eyes, but his handsome appearance remained undiminished.
Upon seeing Ye Mu's unfamiliar face, they showed no disrespect whatsoever. They merely stood under the eaves and nodded slightly in a lazy manner, displaying no frivolous behavior and behaving in a very proper manner.
The stewardess, Madam Yun, was about thirty years old. She wore a light purple brocade dress, her makeup was simple, and her eyes were sharp but not mean. She had no air of vulgarity. When she saw Ye Mu, she was slightly surprised. She would remember the guests who had come before. After a brief look, she remembered that Ye Mu was the fourth young lady of the Marquis's mansion. However, she did not say much and led her to the accounting room.
The accounting office was located in a secluded attic in the backyard. Opening the window, one could see a clump of green bamboo. Inside, bookshelves stood in rows, piled high with account books. On a large pear wood desk, the Four Treasures of the Study were complete, and next to it was an exquisite jade abacus.
This environment is exactly what Ye Mu wanted.
“Madam Ye, you will handle matters here from now on. Manager Sun highly recommends you, saying you have real talent and ability, so let’s not beat around the bush.”
Lady Yun didn't stand on ceremony and went straight in. "Our pavilion's accounts seem simple, but they're actually quite complicated. The young masters' cosmetics, clothes, jewelry, writing brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones are daily expenses. The wine, tea, snacks, and seasonal fruits for banquets are the biggest costs. There are also repairs in various places, servants' wages, and gifts exchanged with other households... all in all, the monthly turnover is no less than ten thousand taels. The previous accountants are either fickle or incompetent. I hope you can put my mind at ease."
Ye Mu listened attentively, already having made up his mind. He bowed and said, "Don't worry, Lady Yun. Now that I've accepted this task, I will do my best."
Lady Yun nodded and gestured to the maid beside her to bring over a stack of account books. "This is the general account for last year and the first half of this year, as well as the detailed account statements for the past three months. Within three days, you need to clarify these accounts and prepare a concise summary of income and expenditure for me. The accounting office is fully equipped with writing brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones. If there is anything you don't understand, you can come and ask me."
The facts are clear, and the timeframe is well-defined.
Ye Mu looked at the account book, which was almost half her height, and knew that Yun Niangzi was testing her abilities. She nodded and took it without saying anything more, and replied with a "okay".
For the next three days, Ye Mu devoted himself to working with the ledger.
By day, he would use an abacus; by night, he would count under the lamp, his fingertips reddened from the paper, and dark circles under his eyes.
As Lady Yun had said, the accounts of Fuyou Pavilion were indeed numerous and complex, with many items she had never encountered before, such as "tie hair", "red silk", and "refined appreciation". She needed to ask carefully to understand the intricacies of them.
Although Lady Yun was strict, she was also fair. When Ye Mu asked her for advice, she could always answer her questions in a way that touched on the essentials. However, Lady Yun was in charge of the operation of the huge Fuyou Pavilion and was so busy that she barely had time to breathe.
Ye Mu had some doubts and would try to ask her for advice whenever she had a spare moment. However, before he could finish speaking, he would be interrupted by a servant carrying a visiting card, a pimp asking about the banquet arrangements, or a maid from the front hall announcing the arrival of a distinguished guest.
There was another gentleman in the accounting office, an old man with white hair and beard and a thin build, who was in charge of some old accounts that were regularly settled.
He sat in the warm sun in another corner of the accounting room all day, holding a small purple clay teapot, dozing off with his eyes half-closed, or slowly checking the few old books in his hands that were almost unchanged. He never even raised his eyelids to look at the problems and new accounts piling up on Ye Mu's side. He really didn't care about any of these things.
Ye Mu had tried asking him twice, but he only lifted his eyelids, glanced at her with his cloudy eyes, and vaguely laughed it off, "You're the new head accountant, I'll listen to you."
Two days passed, and the accounts remained a complete mess.
Just as Ye Mu was worrying about the table full of account books, a soft laugh suddenly came from the doorway.
"Everyone says she's the most beautiful girl ever. I was thinking, could there be anyone more beautiful than the fourth young lady of the Marquis's mansion? But looking at her now, it turns out she really is the fourth young lady herself."
Ye Mu looked up at the sound and saw Jiu Jun leaning against the door frame, wearing a moon-white long robe, holding a jade fan in his hand, with a gentle smile on his lips.
She was surprised. "Wine Master, what brings you here?"
"Let's see what that accountant lady who's been the talk of the town looks like." The Wine Lord strolled closer, his gaze sweeping over her. "What, tired of staying in the Marquis's mansion, here to experience the life of ordinary people?"
His fingers twirled a loose thread on the shoulder of her indigo dress, and he raised an eyebrow, saying, "This outfit is quite realistic; the clothes are well chosen."
Ye Mu shook his head with a wry smile, "Don't make fun of me. I have no connection with the Marquis's mansion anymore, I'm just a commoner."
She pushed the ledger spread out in front of her forward, pointing to a few still-wet ink entries with her fingertip. "You've come at the perfect time. Quickly help me see what these 'red silks' and 'refined appreciations' are all about. They're all so vague and cryptic..."
The wine connoisseur showed little interest in the accounts, simply sitting down casually beside Ye Mu and picking up the abacus on the table to play with.
His eyes were smiling as he looked at her slightly furrowed brows. "Why rush these trivial matters? I'm more curious about how you got out of the Marquis's residence."
"How can I not be anxious?" Ye Mu simply shoved the account book into his hands and said anxiously, "If I can't sort out these details today, I'm afraid I'll lose my job when Lady Yun asks about it tomorrow. Then I'll really be left to wander the streets."
She pointed to the stacks of old accounts awaiting review on the desk, her voice growing increasingly dejected, "And there are those past income and expenditure details waiting to be re-reviewed; I'm already overwhelmed..."
"Isn't that easy?"
Upon hearing this, the Wine Master chuckled, casually tossed the ledger onto the table, and rose to leave. He leaned against the doorframe, calling out loudly towards the front building, "Dance Master, work's here!"
In a short while, a handsome young man dressed in a pine-green long robe arrived gracefully.
Without giving a word, Jiu Jun pressed Ye Mu down onto the armchair by the window, and then casually picked up a glistening grape from the fruit plate.
"You didn't know, did you?" He slowly peeled grapes while pressing down Ye Mu, who was trying to get up, and said, "Wu Jun used to work in the Ministry of Revenue."
Startled, Ye Mu was obediently pressed down.
"He loved dancing since he was a child, but his family thought it was improper for a man to practice dancing, so he could only practice secretly at night. Later, he passed the exam and entered the Ministry of Revenue. When he was reviewing the tax revenue from various places before the New Year, he stayed up for seven or eight nights in a row. That night, after reviewing the last account, he was so dizzy from the review that he forgot he was in the government office and started dancing in his duty room..."
As Jiu Jun spoke, he laughed, "But when I looked up, all my colleagues were standing at the door. Wu Jun was dismissed from his post the next day. The Minister said that his behavior was frivolous and lacked official decorum."
Ye Mu wanted to laugh, but with grapes stuffed in his mouth, he had to puff out his cheeks to suppress his laughter. After swallowing the grapes, he chuckled and said, panting, "Wu Jun's experience of being dismissed from office is truly bizarre."
"Isn't it funny?" the wine connoisseur chimed in, holding a peeled grape to her lips. "But that Minister is a regular here now. Whenever he gets drunk, he's the one who jumps around the most."
As they spoke, Wu Jun sat upright at her desk, picked up her brush, dipped it in ink, and wrote elegant lines of characters that flowed through the account books.
Ye Mu couldn't sit still any longer and leaned closer to the table to ask in a low voice, "What exactly does 'turban' mean?"
“The headscarves are the gold, silver, and jade ornaments that guests openly bestow upon the courtesans,” Wu Jun said without looking up, lightly tapping the paper with her pen, “and they are calculated according to their value and entered into the public account. The red silk is the payment for privately delivering letters, and its source needs to be verified before it can be recorded. And then there’s this elegant appreciation…”
He counted on the account book, “It’s similar to a gift of money, except it’s a private gift. Antiques, calligraphy and paintings, jade and other precious objects, it all depends on personal relationships. Although it’s not in the public account, it still has to be registered.”
He was afraid Ye Mu hadn't understood, so he gave an example: "For instance, last month, Minister Li presented Chess Master with a set of ancient chess pieces from the previous dynasty, which was an elegant appreciation; while last night, Duke Chen was generous and threw out a hundred taels of gold ingots to everyone who was performing dances, which was a great honor, and everyone received a share."
Ye Mu was writing furiously at his desk, taking notes of Wu Jun's explanations, when a series of light footsteps came from the doorway.
"No wonder I couldn't find anyone anywhere. Turns out they were all hiding here watching their new colleagues!" Qin Jun walked in with a smile, waving a round fan painted with ink lotus flowers.
He was also surprised to see Ye Mu, but considerately didn't ask any questions, only saying, "So it's an old friend."
His gaze shifted to Wu Jun, who sat upright at the table, her lips half-hidden behind a fan. "Oh my, our Lady Wu Jun is actually deigning to deal with these mundane matters? It's as if the sun has risen in the west."
Wu Jun's pen didn't stop; he simply uttered a sentence: "It's better than some people who only know about romance and nature all day long, but are ignorant of mathematics and the stench of money."
Qin Jun was not annoyed. Instead, she chuckled and fanned herself as she walked to Ye Mu's desk. "Naturally, he can't compare to our former capable official of the Ministry of Revenue. The night before last, he got drunk at the banquet and, halfway through the journey, insisted on covering the driver's eyes and asking, 'Guess who I am?' This caused Qi Jun, who was traveling with him, to fall off the carriage and is now resting in bed with his legs propped up."
"That's still better than someone who acts like a know-it-all when they're drunk."
Wu Jun raised her head and glanced at him indifferently. "Last time, the heir of the Duke of Zhenguo's mansion rarely came. Who doesn't know that he is tone-deaf? But you, drunk and insisting on teaching people to sing, said that you can't leave tonight until you teach him. The heir sang beautifully, but our Fuyou Pavilion's income hit a record low. Many guests were scared away halfway through their drinks, thinking that a wild boar had rushed into the pavilion."
"Alright, alright, why do you two start bickering the moment you meet? Aren't you afraid of making a fool of yourselves in front of Lady Ye?" Jiu Jun chuckled, trying to smooth things over. "Why can't you just sit down calmly and slap each other a few times?"
"If anyone's going to be hit, it should be you." Qin Jun stepped forward and punched him on the shoulder. "Isn't it you who makes these embarrassing stories the guests use as appetizers?"
Ye Mu couldn't help but laugh out loud.
She looked at this one, then at that one, and found it quite amusing that these gentlemen, who appeared so refined and elegant in front of outsiders, were actually bickering like immature teenagers in private.
After a short while, Wu Jun put down her pen and pushed a neatly arranged ledger in front of Ye Mu, her tone still calm, "This one is clear, and the rules and key points have been noted on the side."
Looking at the neat and clear accounts, Ye Mu was filled with gratitude. He quickly put down his pen and thanked her solemnly, "Thank you so much, Wu Jun! You've really helped me a lot!"
Wu Jun nodded slightly, her gaze sweeping over the other piles of account books on the table, seemingly intending to continue.
Ye Mu quickly stopped him, "No! No! Wu Jun has already helped me sort out the most difficult book. If I'm lazy about the rest, it really won't do. I have to do it myself to truly learn it."
She dared not treat him as a free accountant; she was already incredibly lucky that he had helped her to this extent.
Looking at the three benefactors with their distinct personalities, Ye Mu realized that his empty wallet meant he could never afford to treat them to drinks, and a sense of guilt and embarrassment welled up inside him.
She rubbed her fingers together, her face slightly flushed. "I am truly grateful for the help of the three of you today. However, I am currently short of money and cannot even afford a proper thank-you feast..."
Such empty words of thanks are truly pale and ineffective.
The Wine Master smiled and lightly tapped Ye Mu's forehead with his jade-bone fan. "Who asked you to offer me a thank-you drink? Does Fuyou Pavilion need your drink?"
Wu Jun closed the ledger and stood up. "Alright, with the meager earnings you've made, don't even think about treating us."
Having worked before, he knew best the hardships of being a police officer. He dragged the other two away, saying, "You're busy. If you don't understand anything, feel free to ask."
Ye Mu stared blankly as they pushed and shoved each other away. As soon as he reached the corridor and met other people, he immediately regained his elegant demeanor and couldn't help but smile.
She raised her hand as if to say that she hadn't just earned a pittance, but a whopping thirty.
However, compared to their daily reward, it really is nothing.
After all the accounts were settled, Ye Mu carried the organized booklet to Lady Yun's place. She waited outside the door for a moment, and after the purchasing manager left, she gently knocked on the door.
"Come in."
Ye Mu respectfully presented the booklet. "Madam Yun, this is the detailed account I prepared. It has been reclassified and recalculated according to categories such as headwear, red silk, and elegant appreciation. I found a few suspicious points: First, five of the red silk income last month did not specify the source; second, the pine soot inkstone from the previous dynasty in the elegant appreciation section was priced at eighty taels, but as far as I know, the market price is around fifty taels."
"However, the gifts were originally private gifts from guests to courtesans, and should not have been recorded in the public accounts. But since this has been recorded, should we handle it separately?"
She paused briefly, and seeing that Lady Yun nodded slightly to indicate that she should continue, she continued, "As for the fact that the purchase price of fresh fruits is 20% higher than the market price, if we can renegotiate the price with the supplier, we can save about a hundred taels of silver per month."
She turned to the last page of the ledger, lightly touched the ink with her fingertips to draw vertical and horizontal lines, and listed items such as "Projects", "Old Management", "New Receipts", "Dismissals", and "Real" in columns, presenting them clearly to Yun Niangzi.
Ye Mu said, "This is a summary of income and expenditure. If we can standardize the purchasing and repair aspects a little, we expect to save more than three hundred taels per month."
Lady Yun carefully examined this unprecedented form of accounting. The crisscrossing lines neatly organized the complex data, making all the expenses clear at a glance.
What surprised her even more was Ye Mu's familiarity with market prices. He knew more about rice, vegetables, writing brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones than the steward who had been purchasing them for years. This was indeed because he was used to doing the accounts at home.
Lady Yun originally thought that the daughter of the Marquis's family had only learned the superficial skills of reading account books, but she never expected that she would have such real skills.
Although she knew that Wu Jun would lend a helping hand today, it was also this girl's own ability to get that aloof "former capable official of the Ministry of Revenue" to come.
Outside the window came the sounds of the cook calling out to the waiters to serve the dishes. It was already quite dark outside, and the candlelight flickered inside the accounting room.
Lady Yun gently placed the booklet on the table, looked up at Ye Mu, and said, "Well done."
She took out five taels of silver from the drawer. "Buy some clothes. Starting tomorrow, you will officially take over the accounting department."
On the way back to Yuqian Lane, the streetlights were just coming on, and the hustle and bustle of the city was overwhelming.
Ye Mu looked down at her indigo dress; the coarse cloth was rough and indeed looked rather shabby.
In the past, let alone wearing the same winter clothes for three days in a row, even the clothes worn in the morning and afternoon needed to be changed, and different incense was burned on them, with absolutely no possibility of repeating the same clothes.
When they left the mansion in haste, they brought only fine silk dresses and skirts, which were flashy but impractical and could not ward off the chill of late autumn in the capital. This blue cloth dress was originally made for her mother. Ye Mu herself had a light yellow one, but thinking that she was going to work and needed to appear more dignified, she swapped it with her mother. Fortunately, the mother and daughter had similar figures, so it fit them well.
However, it was really not presentable. Ye Mu had originally intended to wait until he received his monthly salary before buying new clothes. Now that his employer had given him a bonus in advance, it solved his immediate problem.
Pedestrians hurry home late at night, and enticing aromas waft from the food stalls.
As Ye Mu passed by the braised food stall, the rich aroma and steaming heat wafted up. She stopped and looked at the glistening braised duck, the dark brown braised tofu, and the eggs soaked in the braising sauce.
"Young lady, would you like some braised food? It's fresh out of the pot!" the stall owner greeted her warmly.
Ye Mu took out his purse and said, "I want half a pound of braised tofu, three braised eggs, and some braised duck wings."
She knew that whenever she was out working, no matter how late, her mother and Zijing would always be hungry and waiting for her to come home so they could eat together. She had told them this several times, but they just wouldn't listen.
Ye Mu paused for a moment, then added five more copper coins. "Stadium owner, please put it in a bowl, and add two more spoonfuls of gravy. My sister loves to mix it with rice."
The dark brown braised meat trembled slightly in the rough earthenware bowl, the aroma of garlic mixed with star anise and cinnamon filling the air. The bowl was to be returned tomorrow, at which time the five-cent deposit would be refunded.
As Ye Mu paid, he noticed some cooked duck meat that hadn't been braised yet in a corner of the stall, and a thought struck him.
The kitten we picked up has recovered a lot from its leg injury, but it still walks with a limp and always lies listlessly in its bed, showing little interest in food.
It wasn't until a few days ago, when a student of Zheng, the teacher next door, passed the imperial examination and brought over a fat duck, that she realized the little creature had come to crawl to the base of the wall, drawn by the aroma.
Ye Mu then bought some boiled cooked duck meat from the stall owner and carefully wrapped it in oil paper.
Pushing open the creaking courtyard gate, Ye Mu's eyes crinkled into a smile, her voice light and cheerful as she called out, "A-Jing, Mother, Tuan Tuan!"
Tuantuan was the name she gave her kitten because it never seemed to gain weight and was so thin it was heartbreaking. They say you should supplement what you lack, so she hoped the name would bring good fortune and help it grow plump and round soon.
Zijing came out of the kitchen upon hearing the sound, wearing an apron and with flour still on her hands. Her eyes lit up when she saw Ye Mu. "Miss, judging from your tone, you've secured the job?"
"It's settled." Ye Mu handed over the bowl in his hand. "The boss even rewarded me with wages today and told me to buy some new clothes tomorrow."
At this moment, Liu also came out of the house. "Your employer is indeed very thoughtful, but you have been leaving early and returning late these past few days. Before, when I asked you which company you worked for, you gave vague answers. Now that you have a stable job, shouldn't you tell your mother?"
My mother is a proud and aloof person. If she knew that I was working as an accountant in a brothel like "Fuyao Pavilion," even if it was just doing accounting, she would probably feel resentful and have more trouble.
Ye Mu lowered her eyelashes and softly uttered the words she had already prepared, "I work as an accountant in a rouge shop in the south of the city."
Madam Liu did indeed smell a faint scent of perfume on her daughter these past few days, but the fragrance was elegant and refined, not overpowering, so she believed it to be true and stopped asking questions.
"I didn't know you bought braised food," Zijing said with a smile as she deftly set out the bowls and chopsticks. "I just made soup noodles today, and they taste even better with this braised food!"
She set out the chopsticks, then couldn't resist asking, "Miss, how much is the monthly salary at that rouge shop?"
The highest monthly wage for an ordinary rouge shop's accountant is only seven or eight taels of silver, while ten taels is the salary of a master craftsman in a top-tier shop.
Once you tell one lie, you have to tell more lies to cover it up. Ye Mu blinked and said, "Six taels."
Saying it was thirty taels might frighten them and attract more questions.
She had made up her mind that once she received her monthly salary, she would secretly deposit it in a money safekeeping shop, which was a privately run institution that should be safe.
"Six taels?!" Zijing exclaimed in surprise, her face full of admiration. "That's truly remarkable! You really do need to be learned. When I was working in the Marquis's mansion, my monthly salary was only two taels. Even after I was promoted to head maid, it only increased to three taels. You, young lady, are already earning six taels a month on your first job!"
Liu also praised it highly.
Mrs. Liu also looked pleased and gently patted her daughter's hand.
Feeling guilty from their praise, Ye Mu didn't dare look them in the eye. She quickly ate a few bites of soup noodles, then excused herself that she was full and got up to go to the locust tree in the corner of the yard to play with the kitten. Her gaze inadvertently swept over the corner of the wall and she noticed that the firewood that was originally scattered had now been chopped into uniform sizes and neatly stacked into a tall pile.
She was slightly taken aback. There were three people in the family. Her mother never lifted a finger, Zijing was weak and would be out of breath after swinging the axe a few times, and she herself was even more rusty. In the past, she could only manage to chop firewood, and would stop after chopping enough to burn for two or three days.
The neatly cut stack of firewood piled up like a small hill before them was something none of them could have accomplished.
Ye Mu turned around and asked, "Did Instructor Zheng help chop this firewood?"
“Zheng Jiaoyu’s thin frame doesn’t look like someone who can chop firewood,” Zijing said with a laugh as she gnawed on a duck wing. “Oh, I almost forgot to mention. Master Wenkong came by this afternoon. He not only filled the water vat, but also quietly chopped all the firewood. He waited for you until it was almost evening, and then left in a hurry, fearing the mountain gate would be locked.”
"Master came by?" Ye Mu suddenly stood up, bumping her head on a pomegranate tree branch. She touched it. "Did he say why he came?"
"No, he just said he was passing by."
Zijing ate a pancake and said, "But before I left, my master insisted on leaving me two taels of silver."
"How can we accept his money?" Ye Mu said anxiously. "He's a monk, living a life of quiet meditation in the temple. The money he earns from offerings for his rituals either goes to beggars or is confiscated by the government. He lives a life even more frugal than we do. I don't know how long he's been saving up these two taels of silver, bit by bit..."
Besides, who would pass by and deliver silver?
"Fourth Sister, you can't blame A-Jing for this." Liu Shi gently defended Zi-Jing. "We declined repeatedly, but Master Wen Kong insisted on staying, saying he would help us with our household expenses. He left the money and left, and we couldn't catch up with him."
“That foolish master…” Ye Mu sighed. She paused, her eyelashes lowered, and she couldn’t help but ask, “Didn’t you leave anything else behind?”
Both Liu and Zijing shook their heads.
Ye Mu felt a little disappointed. When they parted last time, he said he would carve a small jade flower for her, and she thought he had come today to keep his promise.
She absentmindedly played with Tuantuan in the courtyard, watching it lazily yawn, and felt as if she herself was infected by its drowsiness. Ye Mu put the kitten in its little bed, watched it fall asleep, and then turned and walked towards her own room, the coolness of the night creeping over her.
Ye Mu paused slightly as his gaze swept over the open window beside the desk. A hint of doubt crossed his mind. The weather was already so cold. Ah Jing always closed the windows tightly before sunset. Why would she have forgotten to close this one tonight?
As Ye Mu approached, he noticed, with the help of the moonlight streaming in from the window, that a plain-colored long brocade box lay quietly in the center of the desk.
Ye Mu's heart skipped a beat without warning, as if trying to break free from the restraints in his chest, making a surprisingly loud sound in the quiet night.
She can remain calm throughout.
However, sometimes, the situation can be considered differently.
For example, right now.
Her heart pounded and pounded.
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