Wang Yanzhou simply said, "It's clean here," and then he said nothing more, quietly eating his meal alone. Tang Chen didn't ask any more questions, but just looked thoughtfully at the chicken droppings on the ground at the door. So, was the cleanliness he wanted superficial, or was it inner purity?
Tang Chen had just helped Aunt Zhang clean up the dishes, wiped his hands, and walked into the house from the well, ready to sit down and rest. Then, a burly man with a muscular body, eight-pack abs, and a face covered in rust, who looked like he made a living on the water, walked in. He cupped his fists at Wang Yanzhou and called out, "Valley Master."
Wang Yanzhou casually brought him a small bamboo stool and asked, "Have you eaten yet? We just finished eating. Let this girl make you something to eat."
Tang Chen was stunned. Wait, little girl? Calling her? She must have heard it right. Oh my god, what kind of name is this? Why does it sound so strange coming from his mouth?
"I've already eaten," Shuisheng said, then smiled at Tang Chen and said, "This is Miss Tang, right?"
Tang Chen hurriedly nodded and greeted. Before the two of them could get to know each other, Wang Yanzhou flicked his sleeves and got straight to the point: "Don't be too respectful to her. She'll have nothing to do with us in a while. By the way, how's the thing I arranged for you going?"
Shuisheng nodded and replied, "It's all done."
Wang Yanzhou raised his eyebrows, as if the result was different from what he had expected. "Oh, has Zhang Xiaohua also been dealt with?"
Shuisheng explained, "It was originally inappropriate, but Lord Zhang suddenly disappeared overnight for no apparent reason, and the brothers on the river came to us in search of him."
Wang Yanzhou nodded slightly and reminded, "That's the best. Send someone to keep a close eye on her. Zhang Xiaohua's temperament is fickle, and she didn't agree with this matter in the first place. I'm afraid there will be some changes."
Tang Chen sat aside, not knowing what they were up to. Her intuition told her that knowing too much was bad, as it would easily lead to mistakes. "...Um, well, do you need me to step away?"
Wang Yanzhou smiled and said, "No need. If you dare to say anything nonsense, I will cut off your tongue."
Hearing this, Tang Chen forced an awkward yet polite smile. In his heart, he couldn't stop complaining, "Why do you all like cutting tongues? Were you a braised meat seller in your previous life?" No wonder that perverted woman was so obsessed with him. It turned out they were just the same kind of people. "I'm sorry, I still want to keep my tongue for delicious food. Please continue. I'll just pretend I'm temporarily deaf."
So, Wang Yanzhou and Shuisheng continued the conversation that Tang Chen had just interrupted. As for Tang Chen, he had no idea what they were planning, and being alone and bored, he simply fell asleep on the table.
Tang Chen's friends and family all describe her in a remarkably consistent way: a Martian doll. Even at 20, Tang Chen's favorite things are still watching anime and playing games. She's not exactly a homebody, either, as she also enjoys going out, strolling around, and shopping.
This person always seemed to be grinning from ear to ear, as if nothing could possibly worry her. From time to time, she'd come up with a surprising idea. To put it bluntly, she was just like a fool with low emotional intelligence.
In truth, Tang Chen had always felt both lucky and unlucky. There were so many reasons, it was hard to pinpoint them all at once. However, compared to the women Wang Yanzhou knew, Tang Chen was truly incompetent. Compared to the girls of this era who were expected to marry and take care of their families at the age of fifteen, sixteen, or seventeen, she truly seemed like a lazy, pleasure-seeking burden, completely devoid of any awareness. This was probably the reason for Wang Yanzhou's endless complaints and disdain for her.
However, there was one thing about Wang Yanzhou that Tang Chen admired: he was different from many of the men she had seen since arriving here. In his opinion, the only way for a woman to survive was to marry and live by relying on a man.
When Tang Chen woke up, Wang Yanzhou and Shuisheng had almost finished their discussion. Tang Chen watched Shuisheng get up and leave, then he got up from the table and stretched his muscles: "Are you done?"
Wang Yanzhou tapped the folding fan in his hand, looked at the direction where Shuisheng left, and said thoughtfully: "Is there any place you want to go or scenery you want to see? Let's hurry up."
Tang Chen was stunned. She hadn't really considered this question. Time was running out, and Wang Yanzhou seemed to have a lot of things to do. She really needed to plan things out. "I need to think about this. Give me one night to think about it."
The next morning, Wang Yanzhou had just washed up, eaten something, and was reading in his room when he saw Tang Chen jogging to his window, chattering, "Boss Wang, I've got something!"
Wang Yanzhou frowned, holding a book in one hand and covering his ears with the other: "Why are you making so much noise so early in the morning? Can you be more girly?"
Tang Chen stuck out his tongue and said, "Oh, this is very embarrassing. People in my place are as lively and cheerful as me."
Wang Yanzhou closed the book and shook his head helplessly: "...Forget it, I won't bother with you. Tell me, where do you want to go?"
"Sea, I want to see the sea!"
Wang Yanzhou was slightly stunned, and then reaffirmed: "...Think it over carefully. If you go to the beach, I can only accompany you there. From then on, you have to walk the rest of the way alone."
Tang Chen was immediately torn by this reminder. She had spent an entire evening finally choosing from a pile of plans, but now she had to start all over again. Tang Chen's mind raced, quickly recalling all the places she had written down last night that she wanted to go and the scenery she wanted to see. She then finalized her decision: "Got it. I want to see flowers. I want to see all kinds of flowers and plants."
Wang Yanzhou rubbed his nose with a headache and said, "Okay, I'll have someone check it out."
"Okay, then I'm going fishing!"
After saying that, Tang Chen took the fishing rod and bamboo basket he had borrowed from Aunt Zhang earlier, and ran away dancing with joy: "Brother Shuisheng, I'm ready, let's go!"
With Shuisheng's help, Tang Chen found a good spot and prepared the bait. After placing the fishing rod, he sat motionless by the river, carefully observing every movement on the water.
However, she didn't wait for her first fish. Instead, she waited for Zhang Xiaohua, known as the "Flower on the River." Zhang Xiaohua was like a spirit on the river, always rowing her fishing boat, loaded with lotus leaves and lotus pods, appearing from nowhere. In a blink of an eye, her figure quietly appeared on the river surface.
Zhang Xiaohua was rowing her boat, heading home for the holidays, and had never expected to run into Tang Chen on her way home. If she hadn't seen someone stupidly gazing at the water's surface, holding a fishing rod and craning their necks, looking rather amusing, she would never have come ashore.
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