angry
After the meal, Yinzhen carried a pile of dishes back to the small kitchen to wash them. Suxi's heart was pounding, and he was afraid that he would lose his composure if he stayed with Chen Yunqiu again, so he found an excuse to hide away, and then followed Yinzhen into the small kitchen to wash the dishes together.
In just one morning, this shabby little kitchen was tidied up by Yin Zhen and looked extremely clean and brand new. All the kitchen utensils had been cleaned, and the iron pot on the stove still had a faint smell of cold oil.
After washing the bowls in the copper basin in front of him, Suxi took the pot off the stove to wash. He scrubbed it several times, but the black ash wouldn't come off. Instead, it kept getting thicker. Suxi rubbed it vigorously with the coarse sandpaper under the stove, but suddenly he heard a soft click, and the pot handle was snatched from his hand, leaving only a basin of black water.
"Oh, Xiaoxi, this is not the way to wash the iron pot! You will break the pot if you wash it like this! The iron pot needs to be coated with oil. More oil will prevent the residue from falling off." Yinzhen looked at the iron pot carefully with some heartache, and finally sighed and threw the rusty pot on the ground casually.
"Forget it, this pot is useless. I'd better buy a new one and treat this one as scrap metal." As he said this, Yinzhen looked at Suxi's hands, which were as white as jade, and then at the hideous scar on her face, and said with some doubt: "Xiaoxi, you haven't done much work before, right? Your hands look even more beautiful than those of our county Pipa Lady!"
"No way?"
Suxi looked at his black hands and felt a little embarrassed for a moment.
"But your face..." Silver Needle clicked his tongue twice, as if expressing deep regret, "Look at what a pretty face you have! The prettiest young bride in our village can't compare to you, and yet you have a scar. What a pity! But the traveling doctor who treated my mother is quite capable, even a half-immortal. Maybe he can heal your face!"
"real!"
Su Xi stood up suddenly, not caring about the black ash on his hands and wiping it directly on the hem of his clothes. "Is the doctor you mentioned really that powerful?"
"Of course! I'm not kidding. There aren't many people with real skills in this city. The real barefoot immortals are all in the countryside. That old woman is really powerful. She saved my mother when she was only breathing her last. She lived for many more years!"
Yinzhen said, then changed the subject, "But the old lady has a quirk. She only sees patients who are predestined to be with her. She won't see anyone who isn't. She also likes sweets, like honey and the like. I'll take you there when the time comes. Remember to bring her some food..."
"How about tomorrow? Shall we go tomorrow?"
Seeing Suxi's anxious look, Yinzhen thought that the woman just loved beauty and nodded immediately.
-
That night, Su Xi ran around the streets and did not return home until the hour of Xu. As soon as he entered the main house of the West Garden, he saw Shen Yunqiu sitting upright facing the door. When their eyes met, Su Xi was startled and took two steps back.
"You...what are you doing? Acting like a door god? It's scary."
She was still frightened and rubbed her chest, but the man opposite remained motionless and silent, only his extremely cold expression was still directed at her, and his pair of almond-shaped eyes scanned her body as if scrutinizing her, finally stopping at the large and small bags in her hands.
"Sugar-fried pancakes, lotus sorbet, peanut crisps, donkey rolls, maltose... Are you going out to play? Who are you going with? Yinzhen, or that little girl who came to see you the other day?"
"No, I went there by myself. These things are so hard to buy. I went all over Qingzhou to buy them all. I was exhausted."
Suxi placed the oil-paper bags and enamel bowls of various sizes in her hands on the table, dusted off the dust on her butt, and sat down on the bed behind her. The mattress was exceptionally soft, so soft that it seemed unfamiliar to her. She shook her head to block out the tiredness that made her eyes dizzy and looked back, only to find that she had actually sat down on Shen Yunqiu's bed.
broken.
In her previous life, she was always so casual, doing whatever she wanted. She was used to being indulged and for a moment she forgot that Shen Yunqiu was extremely clean.
Su Xi, feeling somewhat embarrassed, slowly and quietly rose to her feet, gently patting the bedspread, which had been wrinkled by her sitting. She slowly turned around, silently praying that Shen Yunqiu hadn't noticed her impudent behavior. But as soon as she turned her head, she happened to meet a pair of exceptionally beautiful almond-shaped phoenix eyes. Such eyes, which originally seemed to be extremely inconsistent with the dry white hair, now revealed a uniquely alluring aura in the dim candlelight at night, like a white fox that had just transformed into a human.
Su Xi suddenly forgot his guilty conscience and stood by the bed, staring blankly at the gloom on the man's face when he entered the room. The gloom disappeared without a trace, leaving only a cheerful face. He couldn't help but tremble for a moment, shuddered, and suddenly came back to his senses, as if his soul had been taken away by a fox and he found it unpalatable and vomited it out.
"Um...bed cover...I'll get you a new one."
"No, just use this."
Shen Yunqiu interrupted, not wanting to pursue the girl's reckless mistake for a moment. The inexplicable joy in his heart made him even raise his tone.
"Since you're so thoughtful, I'll forgive you this time. But I don't really like sweets that much, so you don't have to buy so much at once."
"ah?"
Suxi choked. He really didn't expect that he had misunderstood.
"No... no, I didn't buy these for you. I bought them for someone else! These things are very important, don't worry about them, you hear me?"
Seeing that Chen Yunqiu's expression had turned from sunny to gloomy again, Su Xi thought that he wanted to eat the lotus ice cream, so he hurriedly picked up the bags of food and hung them all on the golden hooks on the ceiling above the couch in the study, then jumped off the couch and brushed the dust off his palms.
"That's good now. It's cool and windy up there, so the candies won't go bad, and I don't have to worry about someone..."
Su Xi glanced at Shen Yunqiu and saw that his wide eyes were filled with anger and surprise. His eyes suddenly became as round as grapes, and his face looked particularly red because of his anger.
"Others? Who are you buying this for? Silver needles?"
Shen Yunqiu could hear the bitterness in his own tone. Even as he asked, he secretly lamented his own insignificance, feeling inexplicably jealous of a minor guard and so concerned about the feelings of a plain-looking maid. He reasoned that no matter how far he fell, he would never stoop to the level of harboring thoughts about a little maid.
Maybe it's because I haven't been cared for so much in a long time, so I subconsciously want to keep this preference for myself and don't want to share it with others.
That's about it.
Chen Yunqiu persuaded himself and suppressed the strange sour feeling in his heart. He also put aside the torment of waiting from noon until late at night without knowing what he was waiting for. Without waiting for Su Xi to say anything else, he blew out the light, supported himself on the edge of the bed, and lay down on the couch.
Almost in an instant, the candlelight in the room suddenly dimmed. Before Su Xi could say anything, he was blinded by the sudden darkness. He closed his eyes and opened them again, and only then could he roughly see the scene inside the room. However, he saw that the man had pulled up the bed curtains and lay down in it at some point, leaving only a slightly lonely and blurry back.
Suxi was speechless for a moment.
"Hey, Shen Yunqiu, are you really so stingy? I'm not buying this for the silver needles, I'm buying this for the doctor..."
"It doesn't matter. I don't care."
The voice coming from the tent was cold and full of resentment.
"Then I'll buy you more next time, okay?"
"don't want."
"But aren't you used to sleeping with a candle lit? Why don't I light it for you?"
“No need.”
"Really not lighting the lamp?"
“······”
After a long pause without a response, Suxi knew Chen Yunqiu didn't want to bother her, so she decided not to bother herself anymore. She took off her coat, draped it over the screen, and slid under the covers to sleep. That night, without a book to block out the light, and smelling the sweet fragrance of the fruit overhead, Suxi slept exceptionally soundly. It would have been much better if the person on the other side of the screen hadn't tossed and turned all night.
-
The next morning, just as the sky was getting light, an extremely loud crowing of a rooster cut through the dark night sky, followed by the crowing of a flock of roosters, one after another. The night watchman also struck the gong for the fifth watch, reciting the same lyrics every day.
Su Xi lazily got up and heard the sound of even breathing coming from inside the bed curtains. He didn't know what time Chen Yunqiu fell asleep. He quietly dressed and washed up. He heard rustling voices outside the door. He opened the door and saw Yin Zhen sweeping the fallen leaves in front of the door.
Seeing her get up, Yinzhen immediately put down his broom and went forward cheerfully: "Xiaoxi, have you told the young master yet? We have to take an ox cart to the countryside of Pingchuan County today, and it's a ten-mile journey. I made steamed buns and cornbread. Let's eat them quickly and set off!"
"This..." Su Xi glanced at the gray sky, a little bit unbelievable for a moment, "Yinzhen, it's only the fifth watch, didn't you sleep?"
"Of course I slept! We farmers all go to bed at dusk and get up at three in the morning. I'm still a little uncomfortable with my new arrival. Oh, yes, I'll get you some steamed buns!"
"Wait!" Su Xi saw Yin Zhen turning around to leave and hurriedly called out to stop him. He stammered, "Yin Zhen, actually, I want to take the young master to see a doctor today. Is that okay with you?"
"There's nothing wrong with that. It's just that the young master has difficulty walking, and the old woman has a strange temper. It's impossible for her to come to the Shen Mansion to see a doctor... Why don't I carry him there!"
"Slow down!"
Seeing Yinzhen was about to go into the house to carry someone, Suxi hurriedly stopped him.
"Yinzhen, there's no need to rush to take the ox cart. I've rented a horse carriage. Let's go there!"
"A carriage?" Yinzhen was stunned for a moment, and it took him a long while to recover. He muttered to himself, "That must cost a lot of money. A carriage is faster, so we don't have to walk, and the young master can come along, too, which is great."
After a while, the sound of horse hooves was heard from far away in front of the corner gate of the West Garden. Su Xi hurried to push open the corner gate. At a glance, he saw a chestnut horse pulling a wide carriage as high as the wall of the Shen Mansion approaching the gate. The driver pulled the reins, and the horse immediately stopped, lowered its head, and picked up the grass leaves at the foot of the wall to eat.
"Wow, this horse is so beautiful!" Yinzhen also followed and couldn't help but open his mouth wide in admiration. "But Xiaoxi, did you buy the candy?"
"Is that even a question? Of course, we've already made all the necessary preparations!"
As Su Xi spoke, she went to the main house to call Shen Yunqiu. When she opened the door, she saw Shen Yunqiu already dressed and sitting by the door. The look he gave her was extremely complicated. She didn't know how much he had heard.
Suxi was a little embarrassed, but he couldn't afford to delay because the coachman was waiting at the door. He hurried to the couch, took down a few bags of candies, and pushed Shen Yunqiu into the carriage.
-
Soon, it was daybreak and a gentle autumn breeze blew in through the gaps in the car curtains, making people feel refreshed.
In the carriage, Yinzhen looked at the interior layout curiously. He stood up and touched the red-painted wooden pole on the roof, looked at the thick and soft deerskin cushion, fiddled with the small table and small charcoal stove in the middle of the carriage, and then lifted the curtain to look at the scenery outside. He was completely unaware of the extremely strange atmosphere in the carriage at this time.
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