Chapter 201 World Eight (Twenty-four)
Ever since Baoshan moved into Shen Yunshan and Feng Wenjing's bedroom, the originally ordinary house has become more lively.
The few flowers Baoshan had planted in the garden in the small courtyard had already formed small buds, delicately clustered together, the size of a baby's fist. Baoshan found a few discarded clay jars, placed the flowers and soil in them, and brought them to Xiangjiang Academy, adding a light fragrance to the room filled with the scent of ink.
Feng Wenjing's cheeks moved as he chewed the dried fruit that Shen Liu had left behind. The moisture had evaporated from the sun, making it extremely chewy yet still sweet.
Feng Wenjing took a slight step towards Shen Yunshan's bed, and the fragrance at the tip of his nose became more and more distinct. Feng Wenjing lowered his head and looked at Shen Yunshan's simple wooden bed. He felt that the smell on it was almost the same as that on the treasure fan.
"Mr. Feng!"
A delicate cry came from behind him, and Feng Wenjing turned to look. He saw Baoshan, dressed as a pageboy, her eyes trembling slightly, as if avoiding Feng Wenjing's gaze. She held a packet of pastries in her hand, and as Feng Wenjing looked over, her slender fingers trembled slightly, gripping the packet even tighter.
Feng Wenjing casually asked, "Where have you been? Yunshan was just looking for you."
Baoshan raised her beautiful eyes slightly, her voice filled with anxiety: "Cousin Yunshan is looking for me?"
Feng Wenjing nodded and reminded Baoshan, "Although the academy is not as mixed as the outside world, there are still many people with complicated minds. Don't run around."
Bao Shan nodded timidly, stretched out her white hand, and untied the straw rope covering the pastry, revealing the white jujube flower pastry with red jujube paste inside, and handed it to Feng Wenjing. Feng Wenjing raised his eyebrows: "Did you make this?"
When Feng Wenjing put the jujube flower pastry into his mouth, the familiar taste made him frown.
It’s not that the snack tastes bad. On the contrary, the jujube flower pastry is cooked at just the right temperature and is sweet but not greasy. It must have been made by a master chef.
But this jujube flower pastry looks very much like the ones sold in the pastry shops in Luo County.
Baoshan lives a simple life with Shen Liushi all the time and rarely buys snacks from Luojun. Why would she suddenly buy some to try?
Feng Wenjing pretended not to notice that the jujube flower pastry was bought from a pastry shop. He praised it solemnly, "You made it very delicious."
Bao Shan's cheeks flushed, and she spoke softly, "I didn't do it. It was... someone else gave it to me."
When Feng Wenjing asked again, Baoshan hesitated and refused to say anything.
Shen Yunshan, holding a scroll in his arms, walked towards a group of three or five students. Shen Yunshan's face was calm, and he nodded gently. Unexpectedly, the group of students suddenly stopped and greeted Shen Yunshan with a friendly gesture.
Shen Yunshan then looked at them straight in the eye, and he searched through his memory to recall the images of these students.
On weekdays, they all followed Xu Langjun and had never dealt with him.
But on the surface, Shen Yunshan still looked elegant, with a gentle and polite face, and it was impossible to tell that he was wrong at all.
The students thought that Shen Yunshan would ignore them, but they never expected that Shen Yunshan would be so polite and respectful.
Seeing this, the students immediately surrounded Shen Yunshan, saying with a smile: "Mr. Shen is indeed extraordinary. He can be respectful to a group of us who are destined to fail."
Shen Yunshan did not respond.
The students found him boring. Their provocations could not arouse Shen Yunshan's anger, so they turned around and left.
But before leaving, the leader was quite indignant: "After knowing that incident, Mr. Shen can still remain so calm and composed, which is really admirable for you and me.
Shen Yunshan, be careful of your room. If you lose something, you won't be able to find it again."
Shen Yunshan frowned, a faint doubt rising in his heart. When he returned to his bedroom, he heard Feng Wenjing talk about how Baoshan had obtained a package of Zaohuasu from nowhere, and his vague worry gradually became clear.
He knew Bao Shan's temperament best. Only with Shen Liushi and him would Bao Shan show some dependence.
She always looked fearful when dealing with others, and would never take other people's things casually.
So where does this jujube flower pastry come from?
Shen Yunshan was just thinking about it when he saw Baoshan walking in from outside.
She lowered her eyelids and sat quietly on the bed, completely different from before, when she surrounded Shen Yunshan and kept calling him "Cousin Yunshan". Her beautiful watery eyes no longer constantly followed Shen Yunshan's figure.
Shen Yunshan's long eyelashes moved slightly, concealing the contemplation in his eyes.
Shen Yunshan didn't remain puzzled for long. Soon, he understood the source of the strange behavior of the treasure fan.
A man and a woman stood facing each other in the shade of green bamboo. From their backs, it looked like they were having a secret meeting. In such a scene, Shen Yunshan should have quickly averted his gaze and walked away calmly.
But he just stood there, looking at the two men with his eyes slightly open.
It was because that woman was the precious fan who accompanied him all day long.
Shen Yunshan had seen Baoshan in many ways, most of them looking shy and uneasy.
Perhaps because she grew up under the care of her aunt, Baoshan was always anxious.
Whenever Shen Yunshan spoke a few more words, a pink glow would appear on his porcelain-like cheeks.
Now, Baoshan shows this shy attitude in front of other men.
Shen Yunshan watched helplessly as Baoshan listened to Mr. Xu reciting some sad poems.
"As the poem says, 'If I don't see you for a day, I'll miss you like crazy.
I used to think these words were false, but after meeting you, I realized that there is someone in this world who can make me obsessed and lose my appetite."
Bao Shan's cheeks flushed, and she spoke weakly, "Lord Xu, please don't be like this."
The mottled bamboo leaves, shone by the sunlight on the precious fan's delicate face, like frost and snow, made Xu Langjun's eyes slightly dazed. His words were not false. He had seen many women, but only the precious fan made him so obsessed. He had no appetite for food and tea all day, only thinking about the day he could get her.
Xu Langjun stared at Baoshan's slightly upturned red lips, even breathing heavier, his voice carrying a hint of urgency: "I truly admire you, don't you have any feelings for me at all?"
Baoshan's voice was vague: "Mr. Xu, I..."
Xu Langjun stepped forward, approaching Baoshan. His ardent gaze surveyed her slender figure, as if he had already considered her his own. He raised his arm, intending to touch Baoshan's delicate shoulders, saying, "Baoshan, please have some pity on me. I'm suffering from lovesickness, and only by giving you to me can I find relief..."
Seeing Xu Langjun's appearance, which was completely different from his previous elegant demeanor, Bao Shan was frightened, his body trembled slightly, and he stepped back: "No, no."
But Mr. Xu had already had evil thoughts, and this place was secluded with no one else passing by, so how could he let go of the precious fan?
"Don't be afraid. Love between men and women is the natural order of nature."
Bao Shan's face turned pale, and in a panic he called out Shen Yunshan's name: "Cousin Yunshan!"
Xu Langjun sneered: "You don't want to give it to me, do you want to leave your clean body to Shen Yunshan. Baoshan, you are really simple-minded. Shen Yunshan looks gentle, but he has a big plan.
"You haven't been engaged yet, so you're probably hoping to find someone to marry you, a noble lady. How could you possibly be interested in you, an orphan with nothing? You'd better follow me. When I pass the imperial examination, I'll take you as my concubine and provide you with luxurious food and clothing."
The palm was almost about to fall on Baoshan's shoulder when it was hit hard by a scroll.
Xu Langjun's arm suddenly became red and swollen. He covered his red arm with his hands, grimacing, no longer looking like a gentleman.
Shen Yunshan picked up the scroll from the ground with a calm expression and walked over to Bao Shan. "Did he hurt you?"
Baoshan fluttered into Shen Yunshan's arms, sobbing, as if she had suffered a lot of injustice.
Behind him, Xu Langjun was still shouting fiercely, "Shen Yunshan, you assaulted your classmate! I'm going to tell the Confucian master and have him expel you from Xiangjiang Academy!"
Feng Wenjing, who was following closely behind, heard Xu Langjun's threat as he approached the bamboo forest. His voice was cold and stern: "If we are to expel you, we will first expel a hypocrite like you who appears to be so righteous!"
Xu Langjun hadn't expected that there were other people here, pointing at them: "You, you guys! Humph!"
Xu Langjun almost fled in panic, thinking that it is never too late for a gentleman to take revenge, so there is no need to fall out with Shen Yunshan and the others at this time.
But Shen Yunshan would not take it slow. As soon as he thought about the dirty hand that almost touched the precious fan, a surge of anger emerged in his heart.
He collected all the evil deeds of Xu Langjun and presented them to the Confucian master.
The Confucian master then realized that Xu Langjun not only bullied his classmates but also used the guise of a student at Xiangjiang Academy to seduce and then abandon many women. This move undoubtedly brought discredit upon Xiangjiang Academy. The Confucian master acted decisively and expelled Xu Langjun from the academy.
Overnight, Xu Langjun became a stray dog. Even the students who usually followed him took a detour and left in a hurry after seeing him.
But when Xu Langjun was preparing to go to Beijing alone to take the imperial examination instead of under the name of Xiangjiang Academy, he was summoned by the government office, saying that many women who had been bullied by him had sued him.
When Xu Langjun saw the detectives' sticks, he fainted immediately.
Baoshan's face was pale, and she had not yet recovered from the terrifying look on Xu Langjun's face.
She had never imagined that Mr. Xu, who always had a smiling face, would actually want to take her body by force.
If Shen Yunshan and Feng Wenjing had not arrived in time, she would have been bullied by that Mr. Xu.
Bao Shan's eyes were fixed on her, and her soft hands moved slightly, and she overturned a black lacquer box, revealing more than a dozen letters, all written by Xu Langjun. She thought that every word was sincere, but unexpectedly...
A hand picked up one of the letters and slowly read out: "A beautiful lady, a gentleman's ideal match."
Crystal tears slid across Baoshan's cheeks in an instant.
Shen Yunshan's hand holding the letter stiffened slightly, and he wondered uncertainly: Could it be that Baoshan is still thinking about Xu Langjun? Even after knowing that Xu Langjun is such a dirty man, she still can't forget him?
Baoshan raised her face, and her unpainted cheeks were full of fragility that made me feel sorry for her.
"Cousin Yunshan, am I really stupid? I thought he was sincere when he wrote me letters and sent me snacks, but he turned out to be such a despicable person."
Shen Yunshan stared at the treasure fan intently, his heart slightly moved.
The haggardness of these days did not make Baoshan look miserable, but made her even more pitiful.
Her long black hair was wrapped in a single piece of black cloth. Her eyes were rimmed with crimson, and tears hung from the tip of her straight nose. Baoshan spoke pitifully, "What Mr. Xu said is not entirely without truth. A woman like me, who would truly treat me with sincerity? I am not intelligent, and I have no family, so I deserve to be... bullied."
The room was silent except for Bao Shan's gentle crying, which was like a very thin and soft silver needle piercing into Shen Yunshan's chest, causing a tingling pain.
He didn't like to see women crying, and he didn't like to see Baoshan crying for another man.
Even if Xu Langjun was not a well-dressed hypocrite, and he was truly kind and gentle, it would not be worth it for Baoshan to have red eyes and shed a tear for him.
Shen Yunshan's voice was cold, denying Bao Shan's words: "No."
Bao Shan sobbed softly. Upon hearing this, she looked at Shen Yunshan with tearful eyes, her lips moving in and out: "Cousin Yunshan..."
The next moment, Shen Yunshan lifted Baoshan's chin with his slender fingers and leaned over to kiss her.
Shen Yunshan had never done anything like that before, so he was extremely naive at first.
But Shen Yunshan was good at learning, and soon the treasure fan almost melted in his gentle kiss.
His lips opened and closed as he asked, "Who is better, me or him?"
The treasured fan was like a flower swaying in the wind, unable to respond. Even her voice was entangled and extremely vague: "No one can compare to Cousin Yunshan's..."
Shen Yunshan chuckled and hugged the treasure fan even tighter.
"Mr. Xu's words are simply because he's desperate and unworthy of you. But in my cousin's heart, am I ever worthy of you?"
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