Chapter 3 Little Deaf Boy, Why Don't You Come With Me...
Suddenly, short, energetic footsteps approached from afar, and it was clear from them that they were no ordinary people.
Bie Zhilin looked serious, his gaze seemingly glancing towards the backyard entrance.
"I knew you were here!" A sweet and cheerful voice broke the silence of the backyard. A tall and slender woman leaned in, her eyes sweeping meaningfully over Ji Ran before landing on her friend. "I heard you returned to the capital today, but I didn't see you all day. I knew you were here without even thinking."
"You've worked so hard traveling, you should definitely treat yourself well when you get back to the capital." Biezhi breathed a sigh of relief, her smiling eyes trembling as she reached out to catch Fang Tingzhi, who kept throwing herself into her arms. Unfortunately, Fang Tingzhi was a head taller than her, so the two of them hugged each other in this strange way, one standing on tiptoe and the other bending over.
Fang Tingzhi clicked her tongue and pushed her away: "What did you treat yourself to?"
Biezhi glanced sideways at the silent figure sweeping the path, "Of course, it's a treat to feast my eyes on this."
As far as she could remember, she had never met a man more handsome than Ji Ran. Although his physique was not as strong and powerful as his colleagues at Xianyun Tower, Bie Zhi liked his slender and well-proportioned figure; everything about him was just right.
Fang Tingzhi glanced at Ji Ran, shook her head with some confusion; she still preferred men with strong and muscular physiques.
However, she didn't come here today to discuss men with Biezhi. "I heard from Master that you're planning to take on another mission?"
"Hmm." Biezhi immediately understood her purpose, her gaze fixed on Jiran, who had put down her broom and was pruning the flower branches. "Since you're idle anyway, it would be foolish not to make money."
Fang Tingzhi frowned. Although she belonged to the mountain dwelling, she had known Biezhi for many years and understood how arduous her task was. Not only did she have to endure what ordinary people could endure, but she also had to do what ordinary people could not do.
"Didn't you have five hundred taels with you on this trip?"
The escort of the Vice Minister of the Court of Judicial Review will cost 800 taels of silver, and the other party will receive at least 500 taels.
“Before leaving Beijing, I went back to Lijia Village. I happened to be caught in a rainstorm, and the dirt road back to the village was so muddy that I found it difficult to walk, let alone the elderly people in the village.” Biezhi plans to pay for a stone-paved road to be built for Lijia Village. “I asked around, and a hundred-foot-long stone-paved road would cost six hundred taels of silver.”
Moreover, she cannot show her face herself; she needs to trouble other people in Xianyun Tower to do it for her or find someone outside to help. Naturally, she needs to pay the corresponding fee for troubling people. In addition, she also needs to find craftsmen, which will probably cost her over a hundred taels of silver in total.
"It is indeed a large expense." Fang Tingzhi knew her friend's situation and did not intend to stop her. However, she watched as Biezhi entered Qingyin Pavilion for nearly five years and received more than twenty tasks, if not a hundred. However, most of the money she received was used to repair Lijia Village, and she did not keep much for herself.
Fang Tingzhi remained silent for a few moments before advising, "You should also think about your own future."
“I know.” Bessa knew she was thinking of her, but— “I have to do something to repay everyone’s kindness to me.”
Biezhi was picked up by my grandmother by the river; I heard she was only two months old at the time.
My grandmother lost her husband and son at a young age and raised her alone for nearly half her life. After finding her, the two of them depended on each other for survival. My grandmother found the only seven-year-old boy in the village who knew a little about poetry and literature to name her.
The bright moon startles the magpies on the branches, a gentle breeze stirs the cicadas in the middle of the night.
That's how she became famous.
However, fate did not favor her. When she was two years old, her grandmother passed away, and she became an orphan with no one to rely on again. Fortunately, she met kind people at that time. Although the villagers of Lijia Village were illiterate, they were incredibly kind-hearted.
After her grandmother passed away, Biezhi grew up eating food from many different families. She would eat at one family's house today and another family's house tomorrow, and she was never short of food for even half a day.
However, this happy time did not last long. When Biezhi was six years old, he was helping a family with their work when he encountered a matchmaker who was pretending to beg for water and was on the verge of death. When the woman went to get water, the matchmaker knocked Biezhi unconscious.
When she woke up again, Biezhi had arrived in the capital.
The matchmaker had already reached an agreement with the restaurants in the brothels, but she wasn't satisfied with that and was planning to go out and ask if there were any restaurants that offered even more money.
However, the matchmaker was unaware that Biezhi had a particular characteristic since childhood.
She was born with extraordinary strength.
Although Biezhi is young, she is as strong as an adult man. She can lift stones that even the men in the village cannot lift.
After struggling for a while, she knocked the matchmaker unconscious and escaped from the courtyard.
The branches, their faces blackened, wandered aimlessly.
She had begged for food in the kitchen of restaurants, rummaged through piles of filth in street corners, and climbed over walls to steal fruit from other people's yards.
Biezhi only climbed over the wall once before being caught red-handed by the young master of the family. However, it was during this climb that she met her master, Lingfeng.
From then on, she entered Xianyun Tower.
Life at Xianyun Tower wasn't easy, but she was able to eat her fill and stay warm, and that was enough for her.
She returned to Lijia Village the year she came of age.
After choosing her future destination, the master and the master's servant Qingshan mentioned it briefly. Within half a day, Biezhi was given a ten-day holiday and was able to return to Lijia Village.
When they arrived at the outskirts of Lijia Village at breakneck speed, Biezhi hesitated.
Her identity was no longer what it used to be, and she was prepared to have more and more enemies. Naturally, she could no longer have any connection with Li Family Village, so as not to bring them unnecessary trouble.
All the repairs done for Lijia Village were funded by hiring people to help.
This time, the repair of the stone-paved road was no exception.
Hearing her light yet firm tone, Fang Tingzhi sighed helplessly and said, "Tell me when you're short of money. Although the bounty from the mountain retreat can't compare to that of Qingyin Pavilion, I've still saved quite a bit."
"I don't need that much." Biezhi is frugal in her food and clothing, and lives in the courtyard. Her only interest is coming to this shop to see the handsome young man and eat dumplings. She has no other expenses, and besides—
Her almond-shaped eyes sparkled, reflecting rays of light.
"This task right now can only be mine."
Upon hearing this, Fang Tingzhi's lips parted slightly, but she closed them again upon seeing her friend's confident expression.
She said, "Don't hesitate to ask if you need our help."
Bie Zhi smiled and patted her head: "I knew you were the best."
Fang Tingzhi hissed as half of her hair was ruffled by the slap, gave her a reproachful look, and slapped her hand away: "Don't touch my hair."
"Here, here, here." Biezhi leaned over: "Let me give you some of mine."
Fang Tingzhi didn't indulge her. She decisively ruffled her hair. When Biezhi heard the faint sound of the broom falling, she slightly raised her eyelids and met the man's clear and deep pupils, which were faintly filled with a smile.
Biezhi stared at him in confusion.
Silently, he raised his hand, his clean, well-defined fingertips lightly touching his own hair.
Biezhi paused for a moment, then looked at her reflection in the pond.
The girl's hair, reflected in the pool, was a mess, looking no different from a chicken coop.
Biezhi: "..."
Fang Tingzhi stuck out her tongue and quietly took half a step back: "You told me to move it yourself, don't believe me? Ask him."
“He can’t hear me anyway.” Bie Zhi’s lips curled into a smile as she stretched out her fingers, ready to pounce on her friend.
Fang Tingzhi: "..."
Biezhi laughed and pounced on her.
Fang Tingzhi turned and ran.
Biezhi chased after him, and as she turned around, she suddenly bumped into the man's arms. She heard a clear, muffled groan, which was indescribably pleasant.
She hurriedly looked up and saw Ji Ran's brows furrowed slightly. She quickly asked, "Are you alright?"
The next moment, she realized that Ji Ran couldn't hear her, so she directly grabbed his shirt and was about to pull it down when her hands were covered by the man's warm hands. He was prying her knuckles open one by one.
Biezhi looked up in confusion.
When she saw the man's eyes darting away, she blinked in confusion. As her eyes trembled, she suddenly noticed his earlobe, which looked as if it were stained with blood. She belatedly looked at her hands, which were clinging to his clothes, and unconsciously pulled them down a little.
Suddenly, the man's fair shoulders came into view, with a few beads of sweat hanging above his well-defined collarbone, shimmering faintly in the dappled light.
She gasped.
If you pull it down even a little bit more, you'll be able to see his chest!
Bie Zhi's fingertips twitched slightly, but reason told her that she couldn't dig any further, or things would get out of hand.
She blinked and let go.
Silently and quickly straightened his clothes.
For a moment, the two looked at each other in silence.
Biezhi raised her eyes almost imperceptibly, then subtly looked away when they met his gaze.
After going back and forth twice, she touched his chest with her fingertips through his clothes, and his seemingly slender body actually had a bit of elasticity!
Biezhi coughed, covering her mouth, and gestured back at the scene from before, "Does it hurt?"
Ji Ran stared intently at her fingertips, seemingly taking a moment to understand what she meant.
He shook his head.
Bie Zhi breathed a sigh of relief, only then remembering the forgotten Fang Tingzhi. She turned her head and immediately saw her friend standing under the shade of the tree.
Fang Tingzhi watched this scene with a joyful expression.
The man was handsome and the woman was beautiful.
They look like they stepped out of a storybook, and even their heights are perfectly matched.
Fang Tingzhi looked at Ji Ran seriously for the first time and clicked her tongue.
It's a pity he's deaf.
They had known each other for many years, and Biezhi immediately saw what she was thinking. She frowned and glared at her, her lips slightly parted, but before she could speak, a bamboo comb appeared in her line of sight.
Biezhi's gaze followed the man's fingers upwards, pointing to the bamboo comb and then to herself, "For me?"
He nodded silently.
He reached out and brushed a stray lock of hair from beside her ear, combing it down half an inch until the messy hair became smooth again. He then put the bamboo comb away and handed it to her.
Biezhi's eyelashes trembled slightly.
She reached out and took the bamboo comb.
The polished bamboo comb is very smooth and not prickly at all. A quick look reveals that he spent a lot of time and effort making it.
Biezhi slightly lifted her eyelids and looked at the man with a slight smile on his lips.
She gripped the bamboo comb tighter and said, "Thank you."
Ji Ran didn't reply, but just smiled at himself.
Biezhi asked the shopkeeper here and learned that he was born deaf. Because he couldn't hear, he naturally didn't know how to speak, let alone understand other people's words through his lips.
For example, right now, he doesn't even understand what a simple "thank you" means.
And it was precisely because he couldn't hear that he suffered countless scornful looks from people. Fortunately, his inability to hear also shielded him from their foul language.
The innkeeper's willingness to take him in and provide him with a place to live is already something no one else can match. How could he possibly have a conflict with the guests because of him?
Biezhi had only known him for two years, yet she had heard countless people mocking him. When she first met him, it was because of other people's foul language. Even as an outsider, she couldn't stand it, but the waiters at the Five Flavors Shop said it was nothing out of the ordinary.
Their eyes met for a moment, and she smiled.
"Little deaf boy, why don't you come with me?"
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