Chapter 31 Crossing the stubborn sea of love is fraught with confusion; longing torments the heart. ...
When the Xie family began serving dinner, everyone moved to Tinglan Pavilion.
This pavilion is built by the water and can only be entered through a winding corridor. The white gauze curtains flutter lightly in the corridor and dance in the wind, creating a truly poetic and picturesque scene.
Although a large round table was set up in the pavilion, Jiang Liuyi led everyone into the inner room and up the stairs to the second floor. The upstairs room was elegant, with only a small table, where four people sat facing each other, making them feel even closer.
Jiang Liuyi had deliberately arranged for Su Jinxiu and Xie Hongying to sit facing each other.
Xie Hongying took her seat first, and her gaze inadvertently swept to the window, where she saw Su Jinxiu tending to the flowers and plants in the flower garden.
She bent her knees to the side, her slender fingers gently pruning the roses, the warm sunlight casting a soft, graceful silhouette upon her. Xie Hongying, recalling her praise in the pavilion, blushed and quickly looked away, feigning composure.
He picked up his chopsticks, about to eat, and casually asked, "Mother, why hasn't Father returned?"
"Smack!"
Jiang Liuyi slammed her hand on the table, startling Xie Hongying so much that her hand trembled. She pointed at her son and said sternly, "The guests haven't even arrived yet, how dare you start eating? You better behave yourself. When I praise Miss Su later, you must agree with me! Otherwise, you'll be punished according to the family rules!"
Xie Hongying immediately fell silent and hurriedly nodded in response, "Yes, yes, I remember."
After a short while, Su Jinxiu finished tending to the flowers and plants, and entered gracefully with the help of her maid, taking a seat on the chair opposite her.
A short while later, Wen Shiqin also arrived. He first bowed respectfully to Xie's mother with proper etiquette, displaying composure and extraordinary demeanor.
Mother Xie already liked him, thinking he was much more mature than her impetuous son, and also quite handsome. She quickly greeted him with a smile, "Oh, Shi Qin is here, please sit down, please sit down."
Su Jinxiu was delighted to see him. After he sat down beside her, she couldn't help but lean closer and whisper, "Aqin, what brings you here?"
Wen Shiqin, however, remained indifferent, offering only a brief reply before refusing to elaborate further.
At this moment, Jiang Liuyi had already taken Su Jinxiu's hand and said with a smile, "Jinxiu, try it quickly, these are all your favorite dishes. I know you prefer sweet and sour flavors, so I specially asked the kitchen to make lychee pork kidneys and honey-glazed fried dishes."
As she spoke, she pointed to the dishes on the table and introduced them one by one: "This fake fried meat is made of tofu, but it tastes just like meat. There are also amber honey lotus seeds and yam milk cake, which are all exquisite snacks to nourish your body." As she spoke, she scooped a spoonful of bird's nest into Su Jinxiu's bowl, "This bird's nest was also specially stewed for you. Eat it while it's hot."
Remembering her mother's instructions, Xie Hongying immediately chimed in, "Yes, yes, Qiaoniang, try it quickly. If it's not to your liking, I'll have it taken away immediately and have the cook make it for you again!"
Jiang Liu smiled with satisfaction at her son's quick thinking.
The meal ended in this back-and-forth of polite refusals and agreement.
After the maids cleaned the table, they brought out several steaming cups of tea, including Beiyuan tea brewed with Longtuan and Fengbing tea cakes, and Miyun Long tea with a clear broth, both of which are rare and precious teas on the market.
Su Jinxiu sipped her tea, savoring its mellow flavor. Jiang Liuyi's gaze shifted back and forth between Xie Hongying and Su Jinxiu. Wen Shiqin, standing to the side, observed all of this. He held his teacup, his expression remaining calm, as if it were none of his business.
Finally, Jiang Liuyi tentatively spoke up, taking Su Jinxiu's hand and smiling, "Jinxiu, you and Hongying are the same age, your families live close by, and you know each other well, so why don't you..."
Wen Shiqin then placed his teacup on the table. The movement was small, but it seemed particularly abrupt because of the silence that had just filled the room.
He tapped his knuckles lightly on the table, his gaze sharp as he looked directly at Su Jinxiu before speaking.
"How about we finalize this marriage?"
Su Jinxiu was sipping her fragrant tea when she heard this. She looked up, her almond-shaped eyes wide open, and stared at him blankly.
Although Wen Shiqin's face seemed to be smiling, his eyes were filled with a terrifying chill, like a storm about to break, clearly indicating that he was truly enraged.
Xie Hongying, sitting opposite, was also stunned. Her eyes darted between the three of them. She opened her mouth, but was speechless for a moment, unsure of how to respond.
Jiang Liuyi misunderstood, thinking that Wen Shiqin had accepted her son as her brother-in-law. Overjoyed, she quickly said with a smile, "Oh, Shiqin, you've really hit the nail on the head!"
At this moment, all notions of proper etiquette and composure had long been forgotten by Wen Shiqin.
All he could see was Su Jinxiu's bewildered and timid expression. If she dared to say "okay" at that moment, he would turn the Xie family mansion upside down.
Su Jinxiu felt her scalp tingle and was racking her brains for a way to politely refuse when the head maid of the Xie family hurriedly walked in and whispered a few words in Jiang Liuyi's ear.
Upon hearing this, Jiang Liuyi's expression instantly turned serious. She said to everyone, "You all stay here for now. I have to go out and take care of some urgent business."
Xie Hongying readily agreed, and Jiang Liuyi hurriedly left.
Su Jinxiu breathed a sigh of relief and turned to look at Wen Shiqin, only to see that he had already leisurely poured two cups of tea, both full, and pushed one cup in front of her and placed the other cup in front of Xie Hongying.
"You two are truly a match made in heaven. Why don't you drink the nuptial wine now?"
"Achin, what nonsense are you talking about!"
"Am I talking nonsense?"
Seeing that the atmosphere was not right, Xie Hongying quickly made an excuse: "Um... I remembered that there is a letter in the study that I haven't finished writing. I'll go and take care of it first!"
This excuse was better than the one about the hen laying an egg last time, but it was still clumsy. However, the two people obviously had no interest in paying attention to him and just stared at each other in a stalemate, as if there were invisible sparks crackling in the air.
Once Xie Hongying's footsteps disappeared at the top of the stairs, the two of them were completely left alone in this space.
Su Jinxiu frowned, feeling a surge of anger. His words and actions just now were too abrupt. First, he rashly proposed to get engaged, and now he jokingly suggested drinking the nuptial wine, which she found difficult to handle.
Wen Shiqin's situation wasn't much better. First, he heard Su Jinxiu praising Xie Hongying as a rare and fine young man in the pavilion. Then, Xie's mother tested him, and Xie didn't explicitly refuse. Caught between these two attacks, he was so angry that his breathing became heavy.
In the end, Su Jinxiu softened first. She picked up the cup of tea that Wen Shiqin had poured and drank it all in one gulp, as a silent reconciliation. Then she got up, wanting both of them to calm down for a moment before discussing the matter further.
She heard the sound of tea being poured behind her, but she assumed it was Wen Shiqin pouring tea for himself and didn't pay it any mind.
But just as she was about to step out the door, he suddenly lifted her up by the waist, made her look at the scenery spinning, and finally slammed her against the corner of the wall.
In the cramped corner, she was so startled that she braced herself against the wall with both hands, while his body pressed tightly against hers from behind.
A cold wall stood before her, while a burning chest pressed against her back. Su Jinxiu felt her heart pounding like a drum. She turned around angrily and asked, "What are you doing?"
"Take it."
Su Jinxiu was full of doubts. Following his gaze, she turned around and saw that he was holding two full teacups in his right hand. She took one without understanding why.
"Turn around."
Su Jinxiu held the teacup and took a deep breath, refusing to give in easily.
"Turn around."
His words were deliberate and carried an undeniable air of authority. She turned away helplessly, holding her teacup but avoiding his gaze.
He suddenly grabbed her chin and pinched her cheek with his fingertips, forcibly turning her face straight.
Immediately afterwards, he took her forearm that was holding the cup, brought the cup of tea to his lips, but then suddenly stopped.
Su Jinxiu looked up, her gaze falling on their intertwined arms and the teacup. A drop of tea slipped down her delicate skin, sliding into her bosom. Wen Shiqin's eyes darkened, his Adam's apple bobbed, and his voice became hoarse.
"drink."
Su Jinxiu then realized that he actually wanted to drink a toast with her.
She was stunned for a moment and forgot what to do.
Wen Shiqin raised an eyebrow: "You don't want to drink? Then I'll feed you, sister."
After saying that, he picked up his cup, drank it all in one gulp, and then threw the cup behind him with a backhand. With a "clang," the porcelain cup hit the wall and shattered.
Immediately afterwards, he snatched the teacup from Su Jinxiu's hand, pinched her chin, and forcibly fed her the tea.
Su Jinxiu trembled with rage, but he held her firmly, preventing her from moving. She swallowed the tea without incident, but the feeling of being manipulated at will fueled her anger.
Choking on her last sip, Su Jinxiu coughed until her eyes turned red: "Wen Shiqin, what's wrong with you?"
Wen Shiqin didn't smash anything anymore, but simply threw the teacup in her hand to the ground.
He released his grip on her chin and instead stroked her neck, his fingertips burning hot as he gently caressed it.
"I'm going crazy?" He lowered his head, his voice low and fragile. "That's all because of you. You don't want me anymore, do you?"
Su Jinxiu's chest heaved, her neck gripped tightly by him. Though she was the one being restrained, the one restraining her wore an expression of utter injustice. His brows were furrowed, his face showing a mixture of unease and tears, his eyes shimmering as if his heart was broken.
If he were still as crazy as before, I could argue with him, but he just had to put on this act.
She closed her eyes helplessly and explained slowly, "I didn't mean to agree to thank Mother, but she has taken care of my livelihood many times, and it's not convenient for me to directly offend her for the time being."
Wen Shiqin snorted coldly, clearly not taking the explanation to heart, and said sarcastically, "Fine, don't offend her, just marry Xie Hongying directly."
If you try to be forceful, he'll be even tougher. If you try to be gentle, he'll resort to sarcasm and ridicule.
Knowing that there was no point in trying to reason with him at this moment, Su Jinxiu decided to address the root of the problem. She took a deep breath, stopped struggling, and instead gently placed her hand on his chest, feeling his rapid heartbeat through her fingertips.
"What happened?" Her voice was very soft, with a hint of deliberate grievance. "Is it because of this that you got so angry?"
Wen Shiqin became even angrier, and unconsciously increased the pressure on her neck. Seeing that her expression changed slightly and she had some difficulty breathing, he chuckled in frustration and relaxed a little.
Su Jinxiu had just breathed a sigh of relief when he grabbed her wrists with one hand and pressed them above her head.
"Does my sister really not know why I'm angry?"
He leaned close to her ear, his breath hot.
"If you're not a stubborn blockhead, you'd better pray that you can keep up this foolish act to the end, lest I discover that you're actually quite shrewd and just pretending to be confused in front of me!"
"Otherwise, if I find out, I will make you pay for all the torment I've endured, the sleepless nights and restless days, a thousand times over!"
These words sounded like a threat, but Su Jinxiu sensed a desperate, all-or-nothing attitude in them.
Even if she was completely clueless, she suddenly understood, as if struck by a thunderbolt.
He was actually constantly being jealous.
It turns out that he harbored such feelings for her as well.
Su Jinxiu tilted her head and touched his earlobe, whispering, "Let go first, Aqin, let's talk this out."
Wen Shiqin trembled as he was scalded by the heat, and the hand that was holding her wrist loosened.
But the next second, he suddenly buried his face in the crook of her neck, his shoulders shaking violently.
Su Jinxiu loosened her grip and gently stroked his back. Feeling the dampness on his neck, she quickly patted his back and coaxed him softly, "Don't cry, let's talk it out."
All that could be heard was his whispered words, muffled and aggrieved, buried in the crook of his neck: "Sister, you are such a good sister... You are so kind to everyone, you have helped so many people, why won't you help me?"
"Alright, alright." Su Jinxiu patted his back more quickly and frequently until his crying gradually subsided. She then cupped his face in her hands and gently pulled him away from her neck, bringing him close to her eyes.
"Crying again? Aren't you ashamed if word gets out?" Though she said this, she gently wiped away his tears with her fingertips. "How do you know I'm stingy with you? I'm only truly generous to you."
“I don’t believe it.” He choked up. “You must have said this to other people too, otherwise how could they all be so infatuated with you?”
Su Jinxiu was both amused and exasperated: "Then how can you make me believe you?"
Wen Shiqin blinked, as if he had thought of something, and looked at her intently.
"Call me 'brother' and you'll believe me."
"..."
"Then don't believe it." Su Jinxiu abruptly withdrew her hand and was about to leave.
"Hey!" Wen Shiqin hurriedly pulled her back around the waist, hugged her tightly from behind, buried his head in the shoulder that he had just cried on, and clasped his hands in front of her to protect her hands.
When he felt that the person in his arms had stopped struggling, he truly felt that dying at this moment was not such a bad thing.
"Sister...please don't just be my sister anymore, okay?"
Su Jinxiu's eyelashes trembled.
"This is what I said to you at Huayun Pavilion before, what I wanted to tell you when I returned."
"OK?"
"OK?"
"OK?"
Wen Shiqin kept asking questions and hugged her tighter and tighter. Su Jinxiu felt that if she didn't answer, she would probably suffocate to death. She took a deep breath and squeezed out a single word with all her might.
"good."
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