News spread quickly in the small town. In less than half a day, everyone knew that the top scholar of the Jiang family had returned.
In a small place like this, the emergence of a top scholar is enough to cause a sensation for decades. Before long, many acquaintances came to visit with gifts, and famous local gentry also heard the news.
But at this time of year, with the harvest difficult, how could Jiang Xu accept their gifts? Instead, he used his own salary to support them so that they could survive during the disaster.
Night fell.
The night in Cishui is not as good as that in Huajing. There is no night market here. In order to save lamp oil, the locals turn off the lights and go to bed soon after dark. When you open the window, all you see is pitch black.
This makes the moonlight seem especially bright.
Xue Zhiyi was not used to going to bed so early, so he lay by the window, staring at the moonlight in a daze.
In this room that originally belonged to her, Xue Zhiyi thought, if nothing had happened, perhaps she would also be staring at the moon in a daze like this at this moment, but with a different mood.
Although there is no glory and wealth, there is no need for intrigue and you can spend the rest of your life in peace and contentment.
Thinking of this, she felt a little sleepy.
At this moment, the tip of her ears moved and she suddenly sat up straight.
As expected, Huo Wuyou sneaked in through the window and bumped into her.
"Have you been drinking?" Xue Zhiyi smelled alcohol on him.
But he put his finger on her lips, hushed her, then closed the window, pulled Xue Zhiyi to sit side by side, listened carefully for a while, and only breathed a sigh of relief after making sure there was no sound outside.
"Have you become a thief?" Xue Zhiyi asked him.
In the darkness, Huo Wuyou chuckled drunkenly, "I had some drinks with your brother."
"You two...drinking?"
But Huo Wuyou was overjoyed: "He has a terrible alcohol tolerance and is unconscious now."
Xue Zhiyi became more and more confused as he listened: "Why did you get him drunk?"
Huo Wuyou seemed a little excited because he had drunk some wine. You could tell without even looking that his face was red.
"It's all because of Jiang Xu. He arranged an empty guest room for Sui Yunlang but not for me. He also wouldn't let me sleep in the same room with Sui Yunlang. He insisted that I sleep on the floor in his room. He even said he would keep a close eye on my every move. Tell me, isn't this unreasonable of him?"
Xue Zhiyi understood: "So you got him drunk."
"Exactly. This is the only way I can think of to get out of this situation."
Huo Wuyou probably felt he had done a great job, so he said softly, "I bought some wine, and Jiang Xu was feeling a mixture of emotions today, so I tricked him into having a few more drinks. Who would have thought he'd pass out so easily? It's a good thing he did, otherwise I wouldn't have had the chance to talk to you alone these past few days."
"How did you coax him?" Xue Zhiyi was a little surprised.
"He lay down on the bed, ready to go to sleep. I wanted to feel if he was asleep, so I started chatting with him. I told him that I had a sister just like him. Only then did he stop being annoying and wanted to ask me how to get along with his sister. He talked to me for a few more words, and when he got excited, he simply got up and lit the lamp to talk to me in detail. I had prepared some wine, so we talked a lot and couldn't help but drink a few glasses..."
It was not a good idea to talk in the dark, so Xue Zhiyi lit a lamp while listening.
Huo Wuyou was anxious: "Don't let him find out!"
The lights came on, and as she watched his somewhat shaky steps, she said, "First, we're not committing adultery, so there's no need to be so cautious."
Huo Wuyou came to his senses: That's right! What is he afraid of Jiang Xu doing?
"Second." Looking at his flushed face, Xue Zhiyi said, "You're not in much better shape yourself. Wake up quickly."
"Nonsense." Huo Wuyou smiled. "If I were drunk, how could I find your window accurately?"
He took Xue Zhiyi's hand familiarly and said, "Do you know that even though we've been together these days, I'm almost sick with longing for you?"
Letting him pull him, Xue Zhiyi dragged him to sit down, trying to make this unconscious man behave himself.
Huo Wuyou was a little tipsy and chatty, chattering non-stop: "Awan... this name sounds nice. I'll call you that from now on, okay? Awan?"
Xue Zhiyi felt that this man was a little nagging after drinking, but looking at his slightly red face and wet eyes, he suddenly felt that he was not so annoying.
Huo Wuyou suddenly laughed: "Tell me, if you grew up here since you were a child, would I call you Awan from the beginning?"
Xue Zhiyi said, "If that were the case, I wouldn't even know you. At most, after my brother passed the imperial examination, I would have followed him to the capital and addressed you as Marquis of Lin'an when we met."
Huo Wuyou shook his head stubbornly: "No... With our fate, we will definitely meet earlier."
As he spoke, he couldn't help but hold his chin up and thought: "You were in Cishui, Jiangzhou, and I was in Yueling Pass at that time. It only took seven days to get here by horseback."
"So close?" Xue Zhiyi was a little surprised.
"Yueling Pass is west of Jiangzhou, and Cishui is at the westernmost part of Jiangzhou. It's just that the road from Yueling Pass to Jiangzhou Prefecture usually takes a different official route that doesn't pass through Cishui. But... given my behavior back then, I definitely wouldn't have stayed at Yueling Pass. Maybe I'd just wander around and end up at Cishui."
He laughed again: "If I met you in Cishui, you would definitely be much more obedient than you are now."
Xue Zhiyi couldn't help but smile: "You know all this?"
"I dreamed about it." Huo Wuyou muttered, "I dreamed about you being well-behaved, with round face and eyes, unlike now, with sharp teeth that would bite people."
As he spoke, he shook his hand, which was clasped with Xue Zhiyi's, and said, "Have you ever read that kind of storybook?"
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