Li Tingcen watched Jun Haoyue leave with a dark look in his eyes. After a moment, he withdrew his gaze and called out to the person who was lost in thought, "Miss Xu."
Hearing his name being called, Xu Xingchen came back to his senses and said without thinking, "Oh, by the way, don't you want to take the imperial examination? My cousin is also a scholar. He has great literary talent. You can study with him."
After saying that, she followed the direction Jun Haoyue had left and went over there.
Entering the greenhouse, Jun Haoyue was standing with his back to the door, grinding with a stone mortar. Xu Xingchen walked in, opened her mouth and then closed it. Now that he was in sight, she didn't know what to say.
Ask him why he is angry? Ask him why he is angry?
But in the final analysis, why should she care why Jun Haoyue was angry...?
Xu Xingchen was confused, as if he was stuck in a vicious circle.
Jun Haoyue had noticed it as soon as she came in, but he was a little angry, angry at himself. He must be useless enough, which made her have to handle everything by herself.
The greenhouse was quiet, with only the rustling sound of grinding mills.
"It will be polished soon." Jun Haoyue lowered his head first.
"Ah...? Oh, yes, thank you." Xu Xingchen hesitated for a long time before uttering the word "thank you".
There was a soft clinking sound of porcelain as Jun Haoyue put the ground powder in a bowl and handed it to her. "I think this should be applied externally. You can try mixing it with water and applying it."
"Oh."
Xu Xingchen seemed to be able to only say "um," "ah," and obediently reached out to take the bowl he handed over.
Just as she was about to get it, the bowl was suddenly taken away and she looked up.
Jun Haoyue frowned and said embarrassedly, "I spoke too loudly just now."
Xu Xingchen shook his head like a rattle, "No, no, it's just..."
"Why are you angry?" She asked this question for some unknown reason.
Jun Haoyue became quiet, so quiet that only his breathing could be heard.
Suddenly, as if he had figured something out, he looked at the person in front of him with burning eyes, and slowly opened his thin lips, "Because..."
because...?
Xu Xingchen felt her palms were a little wet. She rubbed them nervously on her sides, wondering if it would be as she imagined.
Jun Haoyue, are you jealous?
"Because you are my cousin, I am concerned about your safety."
Xu Xingchen: “…”
Her face quickly turned red, and she replied with the same words he had used before: "Didn't you say it was fake?"
Jun Haoyue turned his head away and muttered, "Now you don't admit it. I wonder who is using this to pressure others."
Xu Xingchen spat at him, she simply believed his lies!
"By the way, Li Tingcen said he wants to take the imperial examination. Why don't you study with him? That will consolidate your knowledge."
Jun Haoyue's expression immediately became expressionless again, neither agreeing nor refusing.
"If you don't answer, I'll take it as your consent. That's it." After saying that, Xu Xingchen snatched the bowl from his hand and walked out angrily.
Jun Haoyue stood there, looking at her back, lost in thought for a long time.
It's not the right time yet.
......
In the past two days, Xu Xingchen followed Jun Haoyue's instructions and mixed the powder of Peacock Spirit with water to make a facial cream for Li Tingcen to apply.
He also asked Jun Haoyue to build a small study next to his small bamboo house, which contained two tables, two stools, and a kerosene lamp on each table.
Xu Xingchen spent a lot of money to buy this in town, just so that the two of them could study well.
She didn't let Li Tingcen help in the fields. She went to farm alone. Before leaving, she told Jun Haoyue to study with her in the small library after he finished his work in the greenhouse.
Xu Xingchen was walking on the way to the field with a sickle on her waist. The villagers were walking in groups of three or four like her, so she was inevitably forced into the gossip topic.
"Have you heard that the Qian and Mao families lost something?"
"What was lost? What is there for these two families to lose?"
"That's right, I'm as poor as a ding-dong."
Xu Xingchen was also a little curious. To be honest, there were only so many households in this village, and they saw each other everywhere. How could someone steal things?
"Don't tell me, it's just some jewelry or something."
"How much can jewelry be worth? The most valuable ones are silver bracelets or something like that. Who wants that kind of stuff?"
"Who knows? It's still possible for someone to touch it."
Xu Xingchen, who was standing behind, only listened for a few seconds and then lost interest. It wasn't her family that had lost anything anyway.
Jun Haoyue 'endured the humiliation' and dealt with the greenhouse matter before going to the small library to consolidate his studies. Li Tingcen was very quiet while reading, which made him feel relieved.
As I was watching, I heard loud shouting outside the door.
"Hurry, he's at Widow Xu's house! I saw Widow Xu go to the fields by herself this morning, so the beggar must be there!"
Li Tingcen looked at Jun Haoyue a little confused, and Jun Haoyue pursed his lips and walked out.
Aunt Wang and a group of people squeezed into the yard without permission. When they saw Jun Haoyue coming out, they shouted, "Where is that beggar? Let that beggar out!"
The villagers behind him echoed, "Yes, let the beggar come out."
"Aunt Wang, what do you mean?" Jun Haoyue's tone was indifferent, and no emotion could be heard.
Aunt Wang didn't dare to offend Jun Haoyue. She retreated into the crowd, spitting and yelling, "It was your cousin who saved a beggar. The village has been losing things so often lately. No one in the village would do such a thing. The only one who did that was the beggar who Widow Xu saved. He must have stolen something."
Li Tingcen frowned and walked over slowly, "I didn't steal it."
"Everyone, look! The burns on this beggar's face have actually faded." Aunt Wang saw Li Tingcen coming out, and his face was no longer as scary as when she first saw him. "He must have stolen something from us and ran to town to see a doctor."
Someone in the village echoed: "No wonder we haven't seen him for a few days. He used to go to the fields every day to help Widow Xu."
"So that's what it is, thief!"
"Thief, return what you stole!"
Aunt Wang, her belly protruding, placed her hands on her hips as she spoke to Jun Haoyue, "Widow Xu's cousin, look at what your cousin did. The villagers treated her well, didn't they? And she turned her back on them by rescuing this beggar from nowhere, causing everyone to lose their belongings!"
Jun Haoyue ignored him and only asked Li Tingcen, "Did you steal it?"
Li Tingcen shook his head, "I didn't steal it."
"Aunt Wang, you saw it. He said he didn't steal it."
The two men spoke in tones as if they were discussing what to eat today, their faces trembling with anger. They urged the villagers, "Don't listen to him! Let's catch this thief and bring him to the village chief. Let him make the final decision!"
The villagers surrounded the two men. Jun Haoyue did not want to fight with the villagers, so he stood in front of Li Tingcen, feeling very passive.
A villager came around and grabbed Li Tingcen by the collar, dragged him into the crowd, and surrounded him, pointing and insulting him.
"Get out of the way, what are you doing in my house!"
A delicate cry was heard, and everyone turned to look. Xu Xingchen pushed the crowd aside and stood in front of Li Tingcen.
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