Chapter 21:被罰
Punished
"Pa."
"Ah!"
Everyone's attention was drawn past the loud noise, when everyone looked clearly at what was in front of them, some timid maids cried out in alarm.
It was Zhao Jing who blocked Chen Xing's side as she received a solid slap from Chen Ling'er. A clearly visible slap mark immediately surfaced on that white tender face and then half of her face could be seen to have swollen up, this showed how much force Chen Ling'er had used in that slap just now.
Chen Ling'er looked at Zhao Jing, who was covering her face and crying. Her arrogance just went down now. When she thought of the consequences it would cause, she couldn't help but shiver and said in a trembling voice, "Why did you come over here?"
Zhao Jing grew up with pride, at this time, after receiving this slap, her face was burning hot as she was in pain. Her heart became more and more aggrieved, hearing Chen Ling'er ask this, her tone was not very good too, "I originally wanted to come over to persuade Jie Jie not to be impulsive, after all, he also spilled the soup on Jie Jie because he was helping me."
Speaking to this, Zhao Jing covered her red and swollen face, as if two golden beans came out of the corners of her eyes as she was in pain, she hadn't expected Chen Ling'er's hand to be so quick.
Chen Ling'er looked at her appearance and didn't know what to say at this time.
Just when Chen Ling'er didn't know how to solve the situation, the maid next to her opened her mouth urgently, "Two young ladies, we have to go back to the residence now and take care of the young lady's face, otherwise if it becomes serious later. Madam will definitely kill us."
As if suddenly awakened, Chen Ling'er hastily put away the remorse on her face and said comfortingly towards Zhao Jing, "Zhao mei mei, let's go back now, I still have the ointment at home, apply it and it won't hurt anymore."
After the young lady's instruction, they couldn't be bothered and looked for trouble with Chen Xing, so they helped Zhao Jing, who was crying uncontrollably, as well as Chen Ling'er who was covered in filth, to leave in a huff.
Looking at their backs as they left, Chen Xing let out a soft sigh and began to clean up the table.
Chen Xing hoped that the little girl who had been slapped in place of him, would not be left with any psychological shadows because of this, after all, that solid slap just now sounded like a painful one.
Chen Xing was still thinking about this until he returned to the Gu Family Mansion, finished his lunch with Gu Lang and Qiu Jiu. Now Gu Lang and Qiu Jiu were eating Ice Jelly 1while enjoying the cool air on the veranda yet Chen Xing was still thinking about it.
Sitting in a wide chair, Gu Lang took a sip of this brown sugar water, which in his eyes was at best a bit icy, added with some smooth texture toppings and other ingredients which Chen Xing had called Ice Jelly. He felt in an extraordinarily soothing mood. He liked it after one bite and decided privately to take ownership of the last bit that hadn't been served.
Ice jelly
However, after he raised his eyes and saw the expression on Chen Xing's face, he put aside his plan to add another bowl for himself, looked at Chen Xing as he asked out loud, "What are you worried about?"
Chen Xing seemed to be too absorbed in his thoughts and was startled by his sudden voice, the ice jelly in his hand spilled a little because of his shaky hand. He pursed his lips a little uneasily then he said what had happened today. At the end he added with some concern, "I don't know if the little girl who was beaten up will be alright, I think that little girl is quite nice."
Seeing Chen Xing refer to Zhao Jing as a little girl, Gu Lang gently raised his eyebrows, but answered him with particular certainty, "I don't think the little young miss you mentioned will be in any trouble, instead the one you said that hit her that might be punished in some way."
Chen Xing's eyes blinked for a moment, seemingly not quite able to understand.
As if Gu Lang had read his thoughts, he gently hooked his lips and said with a bit of sarcasm in his tone, "You said that the maids following behind them wore different clothes, so naturally they were the young ladies of the two different families. The one who hit her up was vaguely modest to the other one. According to her spiteful temperament, she must be a domineering and unreasonable one at home, and could not have suppressed herself at every turn just because they were on good terms. The most likely thing is that her family is looking for the other family's help. There are elders above her who are strongly suppressing her which is why she is putting up with everything."
After Gu Lang said quite long, the corners of his mouth continued to widen as Chen Xing's increasingly adoring gaze continued, "So, she will definitely bring to account or her explanation demanded by her elders when she returns and the one who was accidentally injured will definitely be defended in every way."
After hearing these words from Gu Lang, Chen Xing's heart that had been hanging in the air immediately relaxed.
Chen Xing, after finishing the rest of the Ice Jelly in his bowl in three or two sittings, stood up and said to Gu Lang, "I'm going to the kitchen to prepare the ingredients for tomorrow's stall."
Looking at Chen Xing who was in a better mood, Gu Lang's mood also improved and he was about to see him off when he heard Chen Xing said to him, "You are not in good health, there is still a lot of ice in the remaining sugar water, so don't eat it, leave it all to Qiu Jiu."
The smile on Gu Lang's face froze for a moment.
Seeing the change on Gu Lang's face, Chen Xing seemed to think that he had spoken a bit too harshly, and coaxed him again in a soft voice, "That, I'm not saying I won't let you eat it, it's just that the ice melted in it has diluted the taste of the sugar water, it's not that sweet anymore, so naturally it's not that tasty anymore."
Gu Lang looked at Chen Xing who was trying hard to explain, the smile that had dissipated a bit on his face reemerged again as he looked at him and said soothingly, "It's fine, I know you are doing it for my own good. I won't eat it, don't worry, go and get busy ba!"
Chen Xing looked at him several times and breathed a sigh of relief after making sure he wasn't getting angry, revealed a big smile towards Gu Lang, particularly put his mind in ease as he nodded his head, "Hn."
Looking at Chen Xing's back disappearing, under the corridor, Gu Lang used the fan he had placed at his body to press Qiu Jiu who was sneakily trying to pour the sugar water.
Qiu Jiu was startled and stopped moving his hand, looking at his expressionless young master and shouted in a small voice, "Young master."
Gu Lang raised his eyelids, looking first at the confused Qiu Jiu, then at the sugar water he hadn't poured out and said softly, "Don't move."
Qiu Jiu still tried to fight for himself, "But Chen Xing said this is too cold, you can't drink it."
Gu Lang raised his eyelids and looked at Qiu Jiu who acted recklessly (regardless of the danger) and said indifferently, "If you put it there for a little longer, the ice will all melt, so where is there still any ice left?"
Hearing his young master's lame argument (twist words and force logic) over a mouthful of food, Qiu Jiu wanted to argue a little more, but immediately gave in to his family's young master's cold gaze. Hiks, compared to a mouthful of food, it was still his life that was more important.
The last bowl of sweetened water was saved and Gu Lang's face turned a little better as he looked at Qiu Jiu who was still a little unhappy and said in a low voice, "Go and find out which family the two young ladies who caused trouble today are from, especially the one who want to hit him, and let someone keep an eyes on her."
Hearing Gu Lang's order, Qiu Jiu's face immediately returned to normal and said with a serious face, "Yes, I will take care of this matter."
"Hn." Gu Lang nodded as if he was a little impatient and waved his hand at him, said straightforwardly, "Alright, you can go help in the kitchen." After saying that, he paused for a moment and continued as if in a warning way, "Remember not to say anything about the Ice Jelly."
"Oh~" Qiu Jiu replied in a disheartened voice, glanced at the aloof and indifferent Gu Lang, turned his body around and walked towards the kitchen.
At the Chen family.
Inside the Fourth Miss Chen's room, there was a crackling sound of broken porcelain, followed by the woman's frantic roar of rage, followed by the unanimous pleas for mercy from the little maids.
Madam Chen, standing at the front of the door, listened to the commotion inside with an expressionless face, and only when the person inside had just about enough venting all of her anger did she ask the maids beside her to knock at the door.
"Who is it!?"
Hearing the angry sound coming from inside, Madam Chen's eyebrows didn't even move as she said in a cold voice, "It's me."
There was a moment of silence inside and then the door to the room was slowly opened from the inside.
Ignoring the broken porcelain on the floor, Madam Chen walked straight towards Chen Ling'er who was sitting on the edge of the bed sulking.
Madam Chen let the two maids who were kneeling at Chen Ling'er's feet to leave, gently stroked her already medicated face and said softly, "Still blaming and complaining about Mother hitting you just now."
Chen Ling'er pursed her lips and did not speak, but the angry expression on her face completely betrayed her thought.
Madam Chen had always loved this daughter, but this love was also conditional. When the family's interests were not involved, she did not mind indulging her a little, but on an occasion such as today, even if she intended to cover up, it won't work.
Today, the two families' young ladies went out happily, but the Zhao family's young lady came back with red and swollen cheeks, so pitiful, and the one who started it all (the original one used the first person to bury funerary dolls) was her own daughter. If she hadn't done something, the Zhao family's madam would have blamed the Chen family.
Looking at her stubborn daughter, Madame Chen gently touched the top of her head and whispered, "You know that your mother has always loved you. This time, I had no choice but to do so. You must know that if you hadn't mistakenly slapped Miss Zhao and hadn't lost face in front of everyone, this mother wouldn't be like this at all."
Chen Ling'er bit her lip fiercely, it was unknown how much Madame Chen's words were heard by her.
Madame Chen looked at her daughter who had lost her temper and knew her quite well. She stroked her cheek, which had already been treated with medicine, and said in a comforting voice, "You are a piece of flesh that comes off from this mother's body, so how is it possible that mother doesn't feel heartache for you? You have to think about it carefully, even if you don't consider or plan your marriage to the second young master of the Zhao family, you still have to think about your third elder brother's official career. If he goes well, you will be able to straighten your back (have the support) in your in-laws' house in the future, right? You wanted to make some new clothes the other day, didn't you? I'll inform the housekeeper tomorrow so you can go to the storehouse and pick out some fabrics you like as well as some nice jewellery."
After saying this, Madame Chen looked at her daughter who was still sullen and knew that no matter what, she would not listen to anything she said, so she said nothing more and left with her own maid. As the daughter of the Chen family, it was time for her to think clearly about everything.
After Madame Chen stepped out of the room, Chen Ling'er took the vase next to her and threw it fiercely to the ground, causing the little maid next to her to shout.
Chen Ling'er gasped and stared angrily at the floor not far away, but in her heart she held two names in hatred, Zhao Jing and Chen Xing.
Today they had caused her to lose so much face in front of everyone so she would definitely take revenge when she got the chance!
1
[Bingfen (Chinese: 冰粉; pinyin: bīngfěn), also called ice jelly, is a Chinese dessert native to Southwest China in provinces such as Sichuan, Guizhou, and Yunnan. It is served as a bowl of iced transparent jelly, made from the seeds of the Nicandra physalodes plant, along with toppings like haw flakes and wolfberries.[1][2] It is commonly sold in the summertime as a street food.]
Chapter 22: 钵仔糕
Bowl Cake1
In the days that followed, Chen Xing neither met the two ladies again, nor did he encounter anyone who came to their stall looking for a fight or pick fault with him.
After the initial worry, Chen Xing gradually put the matter aside, thinking that if he met the young lady who had taken a beating instead of him again one day, he would definitely thank her properly.
This day, when Chen Xing and Qiu Jiu were busy, they suddenly heard the familiar sound of gongs and drums coming from not far away, so everyone subconsciously looked in the direction where the sound was coming from, including Chen Xing.
At one glance, Chen Xing saw the two officials who had come to give publicity to everyone last time.
The two officials were dressed similarly to the last time, one was carrying a gong and drum while the other was shouting after the sound fell, "Tomorrow at noon, the Lai family will be executed in the street, so all the traders in the street should pay attention and be careful to avoid it."
Chen Xing watched the two official officers give publicity to people as they walked along the street and then gradually disappeared.
Chen Xing stared at their backs as they leave, always feeling that there was something weird in there and it was only when he could no longer see their backs completely that he suddenly remembered that something was wrong there, so he asked Qiu Jiu, who was also watching next to him, "Why did they ask the traders to pay attention?"
When Qiu Jiu heard Chen Xing ask this, his expression which was still watching the show, froze for a moment and he also showed a confused expression, then shook his head in confusion, looked at Chen Xing and guessed, "I don't know either. Could it probably be some kind of custom here?"
"What custom ah? They were afraid of accidental injury cases!"
The sudden insertion of a voice startled both Qiu Jiu and Chen Xing, who were still discussing as they turned their heads to see Fu Gongzi who didn't know since when he had come over, now looking serious as he stared at the wooden barrel in front of him, obviously still try to decide the food of his choice in his mind.
"Fu Gongzi, what would you like to eat today?" Chen Xing saw his face full with a smile and asked, "And what did you mean by what you said just now?"
"I'll just have cold skin noodles today. My mother will take me to a banquet a little later, it's not good for me to go after I've eaten too full." Fu Gongzi looked at the cold noodles that were still quite a lot left and a look of reluctance to give up was on his face.
Chen Xing smiled at this and asked Qiu Jiu to give him the cold skin noodle, while looking at Fu Gongzi wanting to know what he meant by what he had just said just now.
Fu Gongzi directed Qiu Jiu to give him more toppings, at the same time, he also continued to finish what he had not finished saying earlier, "Do you know how the Yamen escorts the death penalty prisoners?"
Chen Xing shook his head, he had only been here not long ago and his range of activities were limited, how would he know such things?
When Fu Gongzi looked at the usually bright and smart little boss, who was showing this confused look at this time, he could not help but smile smugly and explained towards him, "Those people are all escorted from the official's cells onto the prison carts, after that, go along the main street until they reach the place where the executions are carried out."
Fu Gongzi took the bowl that Qiu Jiu handed to him, inhaled it, seemingly satisfied with the smell, and continued to say, "By the way, on the way to the execution site, as long as there is no prisoner robbery or trying to break the prisoner out, the officials usually don't care what happens."
Hearing this, Chen Xing's mind flashed, thinking of certain images he had once seen on television, as if he understood what he meant.
Just as expected, Fu Gongzi continued, "If the person does not attract so much hatred, nothing serious will happen. But those who have made a lot of enemies on a regular basis are bound to have rotten eggs and leaves waiting for them on the road. When there are so many people throwing dirty things, the accuracy of the hit, of course can't be predicted, it would easily hurt the street vendors next to him, right? That's why the county magistrate had this reminder."
Hearing this, Chen Xing felt that the present County Magistrate seemed to be quite humane.
The thought only crossed Chen Xing's mind for a moment before he put it behind him, looked at Fu Gongzi in front of him again and thanked him, "Thank you very much Gongzi for your answer."
Fu Gongzi waved his hand to show that there was no need to be polite, picked up his bowl and went to find a seat to eat.
Standing in front of the stall, Chen Xing looked at the main street not too far away and Yamen which was not too far away from them. He decided after some hesitation to take a day off tomorrow, lest Lai Shi Ye's family's prisoner's wheel carriage pass by and cause an accident that would affect his stall.
Having made up his mind, after closing up his stall, Chen Xing packed up his things all the more thoroughly and even cleaned up the tables and chairs before leaving.
When they got back to the Gu residence, Chen Xing had lunch and slept. He looked at the early morning sky after he woke up thinking that he did not need to go to the stall tomorrow, so he decided to go to the kitchen to make something sweet.
Chen Xing was not considered as fast, but as he did not make too much, he was able to make a steamed basket of bowl cakes within two hours.
When Qiu Jiu saw that there was smoke in the kitchen and came over there, he saw each and every transparent dessert in a small bowl on the kneading board.
Qiu Jiu stared curiously at Chen Xing, who was picking the cake with the bamboo stick in it and asked, "What is this?"
Chen Xing used the bamboo stick in his hand to stick the Steamed Rice Cup Cake in from the small bowl and handed it to Qiu Jiu who asked. He smiled as he said, "This is Bowl Cake."
Qiu Jiu looked at the transparent things and took a curious bite, then his eyes lit up immediately. He gave Chen Xing a thumbs up and said happily, "This is delicious."
Chen Xing saw Qiu Jiu eat so happily, so his mood also improved. He put the three different flavours on a plate and looked at Qiu Jiu, who had finished one in a couple of seconds, and asked, "What Gu Gongzi is doing right now?"
After a moment's thought, Qiu Jiu replied, "I think he's writing in his study room."
Chen Xing nodded at him, picked up the tray and was about to leave, but as he was about to leave the kitchen, he thought of something and he pointed with his chin toward the rest of the bowls and said to Qiu Jiu, "I've made three flavours, you also try them all ba!"
"Okay, I know."
Only until Chen Xing left, Qiu Jiu looked at the bowls cakes which were still inside the small bowl and the bamboo sticks beside it and said with a soft smile, "The ones for my young master are all already arrange, but I have to do it myself, what a difference in treatment ah."
Unaware that Qiu Jiu was muttering about himself behind his back, Chen Xing picked up the tray and went straight to Gu Lang's study room's front door, where he saw Gu Lang standing at the table, sorting out the paper.
Chen Xing watched as Gu Lang lowered his eyebrows and stared intently at the object in his hand, those bony hands running over the pages of the book as if it were a painting that would please the eye and heart (warms the heart and delights the eye).
As Chen Xing stood there staring blankly at the inside, Gu Lang seemed to notice his movement, lifted his head to look in his direction. His eyes first fell on his slightly dazed face, and then gradually slid down to the tray in his hand.
After a few moments, Gu Lang gave him a gentle smile, looked at him and said gently, "Do you have something for me?"
It was only at this time, Chen Xing nodded as if he had been suddenly awakened, then looked at Gu Lang inside who was smiling at him, before he stepped in.
As Chen Xing came closer, Gu Lang also saw what he was holding, which was three pieces of food skewered with bamboo sticks and had a transparent colour. Thinking of what Chen Xing used to cook, Gu Lang thought that this would be a new kind of food.
Looking at Gu Lang, who seemed to be hesitant, Chen Xing smiled and said, "This is a new food I have made, the bowl cake. I made the red bean one, the green bean one and the grape flavoured one. Try it, I think you will like it."
After saying this, he tried to find a place to put it down so that Gu Lang could take one and try it, but when he looked down, he saw a table full of paper, so he really had no place to put it.
Looking at Chen Xing's not knowing what to do expression, Gu Lang hurriedly put away the paper on the table that was full of words and made an empty space for Chen Xing to put down the things he was holding.
Chen Xing put the tray down and let Gu Lang choose the food from the inside. He took a curious glance at the paper next to him and noticed that he could recognise most of the characters on the paper which felt similar to the traditional Chinese characters they used in ancient times.
He was taking one of the red bean flavored bowl cakes, Gu Lang liked the smooth and soft flavour of this little thing after one bite. When he saw Chen Xing curiously examining the papers, he stopped eating for a moment, looked at him with deep eyes and asked softly, "You can you read it?"
Hearing this sudden voice, Chen Xing was taken aback. When he saw Gu Lang staring at him seriously, Chen Xing, who was still embarrassed by being caught in the act, nodded in embarrassment, "I can read a little."
Looking at the embarrassed Chen Xing, Gu Lang calmly ate the remaining half of the red bean pudding cake in his hand before looking at him and asking, "Do you know what I wrote?"
Chen Xing didn't know why Gu Lang asked this question, but he was a bit confused and said from the content of what he had seen, "I think it's like a folk stories book2." Although it was not as good as the novels he had seen in modern times, it was not bad in this era.
When Gu Lang heard him say this, he nodded and asked in some way that as if he failed to understand, "Yes, it's a talking book. I remember you said at the beginning that you were not well received in the Chen Residence, so where did you learn to read?"
Chen Xing was flustered by his question and looked at him with a slightly confused look, muttering, "I… I learned from others when I saw them learn about it, so I know a few words."
Gu Lang looked at Chen Xing who was obviously not telling the truth, the corners of his mouth raised lightly, slightly lowered his eyebrows as he picked another green bean flavored bowl cake and ate it. He suddenly changed the subject, "I heard Qiu Jiu say that tomorrow the Lai family will be beheaded."
When he saw that Gu Lang no longer brought up what happened just now, Chen Xing nodded his head along with the change of topic, even though he didn't know why, "Hn, that's right."
"Then what is your plan for tomorrow?"
When Chen Xing heard Gu Lang ask this question, he didn't understand why he asked it. He looked towards Gu Lang and saw that Gu Lang's head was hanging low, his long eyelashes covering his eyebrows, so he couldn't see the emotions behind it.
Shortly after that, Gu Lang raised his head, his dark eyes staring fixedly at him, as if he was hiding a lot of things inside. He then asked him softly, "Don't you want to go and see all the fuss (thrilling sight) that people are talking about?"
1
[Put chai ko / Bowl cake /Bowl pudding/Red bean Pudding Cake/ Steamed Rice Cup Cake, usually with Red Beans: is a famous street food. Its chewy texture with flavours of sugar and beans are very attractive to those people who are fond of steamed desserts.]
2
[话本/ Hua ben: printed versions of the prompt-books used by popular storytellers in Song and Yuan times (salient features of huaben stories: use of the vernacular larded with the stock expressions of professional storytellers; liberal admixture of colloquialisms and archaisms; frequent inclusion of rhymed passages, idioms, or poems for narrative or descriptive purposes; a routine preamble before the feature story)]
Chapter 23: 书店
Bookstore
When Chen Xing heard Gu Lang ask this, a moment of hesitation appeared on his face. Although he was somewhat interested, he was still worried that he would not be able to bear the sight of a bloody scene like that.
While Chen Xing was torn, Gu Lang had already finished eating the three bowls of cakes that Chen Xing had brought to him. He looked at the empty tray with a slightly regretful expression, and then said as if he had no intention to do so, "I am going out tomorrow. I originally thought that I could go with you."
When he heard Gu Lang say it like this, Chen Xing's attention was immediately drawn to him. He looked at him and hesitantly asked, "What are you going out for?" As soon as the words left his mouth, he felt that it was improper, after all Gu Lang was free and there was no need to report it to him where he went.
Gu Lang looked at the embarrassment on Chen Xing's face, but he said in a warm voice, "Naturally, I am giving the folk stories book to the bookstore owner after that, getting the manuscript fee back from him."
Chen Xing's eyes widened slightly, and now he couldn't care less about being embarrassed. He had originally wondered how Gu Lang and the others managed to make ends meet, but now he seemed to have the answer.
Looking at Chen Xing's startled look, Gu Lang continued to add, "It's just that although I can earn some money from this book, I am not well, therefore I can't write much each time, so the money I earn is also limited."
Chen Xing automatically interpreted Gu Lang's words as his sadness at his inability to make money, and immediately said comfortingly, "You are also like this because you are not in good health. When you get well, you will definitely be able to achieve more. Now that I'm also making money, I'm sure I'll be able to earn more after a while. When the time comes, I'll definitely pay you back as soon as possible."
Gu Lang looked at the naive and innocent expression on Chen Xing's face. The bottom of his eyes darkened slightly. He laughed in a low voice, "There is no rush, there is still enough money to spend around, you should not put too much pressure on yourself."
Chen Xing looked at Gu Lang's eyes and was somewhat moved even more, obviously Gu Lang was still in such a difficult situation himself, but Gu Lang still thought of him in every way. Sure enough, he is really a good person ah!
Gu Lang was a little uncomfortable, stared at by Chen Xing's shining eyes, slightly averted his gaze, changed the subject and said, "Oh,that's right, about the question that I just asked you, what is your answer?"
Doubt surfaced on Chen Xing's face.
Gu Lang looked at Chen Xing, who had obviously forgotten what he had just asked, his eyes were filled with a little more doting that he himself hadn't even noticed and said softly, "Are you going out with me tomorrow?"
Chen Xing listened to his low, deep, dark and hoarse voice and nodded after a moment of hesitation, thinking that if he was with Gu Lang, he might not be afraid anymore.
When Gu Lang saw Chen Xing agree, the corners of his lips lifted slightly, and there was a little more of an unspeakable look in that handsome face: "Since it is so, then we already make an appointment."
Chen Xing felt that something was wrong with himself, obviously Gu Lang had only said a very ordinary sentence, but in his ears, it gave him the illusion that the two of them were not going out to join in the fun but to go on a date, such a thought made him blush, he hurriedly found an excuse to leave the study room.
Until Chen Xing's back disappeared, Gu Lang looked at the empty plate on the table, raised his eyebrows and laughed lightly, "That's really silly (simple-minded)."
Because they were going out, they finished breakfast early the next day. Chen Xing, who had nothing to prepare, changed into clean clothes and waited at the front door for Gu Lang, who had gone back to get his books.
While Chen Xing was squatting at the front gate, fiddling with the green foxtail1 that had grown by the door. Suddenly, he noticed that someone was walking towards him, he subconsciously raised his head and was dumbfounded the moment he saw the person.
Gu Lang, who usually dresses casually in the house, was wearing a white traditional garment worn by men. His hair was neatly combed up and tied up with a smooth wooden pin, revealing his clean forehead. Although his face was still a little pale, he looked like an elegant young master coming from an ancient painting.
Gu Lang looked at Chen Xing, who was crouching on the ground staring at him, extended his hand towards him and said softly, "What are you doing by crouching in here? Get up, it's time for us to go."
Chen Xing looked at the bony hand in front of his face and suddenly remembered his own current image, his face immediately turned red as he didn't even let Gu Lang help him. He immediately jumped up from the ground, looked at Gu Lang and said embarrassedly, "I didn't do anything ah.
Let's go now." After saying that, he ran toward the outside.
Gu Lang looked at Chen Xing who had run away, regrettably withdrew his empty hand and followed him out of the front door of the Gu Mansion.
It was only when he reached the main street that Chen Xing's agitated emotions, which had been stirred up by the embarrassment just now, calmed down a little. He looked at Gu Lang who was following him, beside him unhurriedly before then he suddenly remembered a very embarrassing (awkward) question and stopped in his tracks.
Seeing that Chen Xing had stopped, Gu Lang also stopped, looking at Chen Xing with confusion in his eyes as to why he had suddenly stopped walking.
Receiving Gu Lang's puzzled gaze, Chen Xing looked at him somewhat awkwardly and a bit of embarrassment appeared on his face as he said in a small voice, "I don't know where the bookstore you are going to is."
Gu Lang looked at Chen Xing's face, which was flushed with embarrassment, he resisted the urge to pinch it and said with a gentle smile, "It's alright, you're going the right way. Look, there's that bookstore not far away from here."
Chen Xing's tense body slowly relaxed under Gu Lang's gentle reassurance, so when he followed the direction that Gu Lang had pointed and saw that the shop was really not far away from them, his nervous mood was completely relaxed.
Gu Lang looked at Chen Xing and said gently, "Let's go, the shop owner should be waiting there."
Chen Xing nodded and followed Gu Lang towards the other side. Only when they were closer did he realize that the bookstore was even more stylish than he had imagined.
It was a two-storey building, with the first floor selling writing brush, ink, paper and inkstones (ink slab) while the second floor contained books and folk stories books. At the moment, there are many scholars going in and out of the building, and it seems to be a thriving scene.
Chen Xing was a bit surprised, he did not expect that a bookstore in this era could be so bustling. He had the impression that in ancient times, it was not advisable for students to study because the cost of studying was so high that ordinary people could not afford it. Since not everyone could afford it, it was only natural that not so many people would come to buy it, but he wondered why this bookstore was so crowded.
With this kind of question in mind, Chen Xing followed Gu Lang and stepped into the bookstore.
As soon as they entered, the shop attendant who had been introducing papers to the scholar immediately came over to them and said politely, "Gu Gongzi"
Gu Lang nodded his head, considered as a response.
The waiter was about to say something else, but when he saw Chen Xing who was looking around behind Gu Lang and seemed to be interested in everything here, he swallowed what he was about to say. He looked at them and continued, "The shop manager is waiting for you on the second floor."
"Many thanks." Gu Lang said thank you to the shop attendant and led a curious Chen Xing to the upper floor.
The waiter looked at the two people's backs as they walked away together and muttered, "Is this the Ger who Xiao Jiu (Qiu Jiu) was talking about?"
Chen Xing originally thought that the decoration of the first floor was already beyond his expectation, but who knew that going up to the second floor would be an eye-opener for him. The layout was similar to that of a modern bookstore, except that the shelves were all made of wood.
At first glance, they saw the bookstore shop manager standing at the counter on the first floor. The shopkeeper was about forty years old, dressed as a scholar, upon seeing Gu Luang, his face immediately showed an expression of delight, before then, he saw Chen Xing behind him. The smile on his face froze for a moment, but he quickly adjusted himself as he looked at Gu Lang and asked politely, "Who is this?"
Gu Lang looked in the direction where the shop manager pointed at and when he saw Chen Xing, who was slightly uncomfortable, the corner of his lips hooked slightly as he said it very naturally, "This is the Fu Lang I married."
When Gu Lang's words came out, the other two people present were dumbfounded. The shop manager, in particular, looked as if he hadn't expected Gu Lang to answer in this way. He looked at Gu Lang for quite a while and couldn't come back to his senses, staring at Chen Xing with a look of shock that he couldn't hide.
Looking at his shocked expression, Gu Lang handed over the box he had been carrying in his hand and said in a deep voice: "This is the book I have written for the past few days."
Gu Lang's words immediately reminded the shop manager, who raised his eyes and met Gu Lang's cold eyes. He shivered, hurriedly took over the box and said hurriedly, "Wait for me, I'll go and bring your reward (pay)."
Gu Lang revealed a smile and his aura became gentle again.
After taking the box to the counter, the shop manager immediately took out another box of similar size from the counter and handed it to Gu Lang, "Here is the author's remuneration as well as the paper you need."
"Many thanks."
When he saw Gu Lang take the box, the shop manager's lips moved, obviously wanting to ask something, but when he saw the gentle gaze of Gu Lang toward Chen Xing, in the end he didn't say anything at all.
Only after the two of them had left the bookstore under the watchful eyes of the shop manager, did Chen Xing say quietly to Gu Lang next to him, "I think the shop manager and the shop attendant were looking at me in a strange way, although there was no malice, but I always felt that something was not quite right, as if they were looking at something that especially strange."
When Gu Lang heard Chen Xing say it like this, he smiled gently and said soothingly, "Perhaps they were just curious about what my Fu Lang was like."
Chen Xing didn't expect Gu Lang to answer him like this, so he looked up in dismay and met Gu Lang's gentle gaze, slightly stunned for a while. Thinking of what Gu Lang had just said in the shop, he muttered with some dissatisfaction, "Just now, how could you say it like that?"
But Gu Lang was looking at him with a soft gaze, "I was just telling the truth."
Chen Xing's heart all of a sudden skipped a beat, his heartbeat involuntarily sped up. He wanted to ask Gu Lang if he had a deeper meaning by saying that, or if he himself had over thought it. If Gu Lang didn't have any intention, then he still hoped that Gu Lang would not do so in the future.
But before Chen Xing could open his mouth and ask, he heard all kinds of noisy sounds coming towards them from a distance.
1
[狗尾巴草 : Setaria viridis, in chinese word by word or literal meaning of it is 'dog's tail grass' : green foxtail, green bristlegrass, and wild foxtail millet.]
Chapter 24 : 行刑
Execution
Chen Xing subconsciously looked towards the direction where the sound came from, and was stunned when he saw what was happening there. He saw on the street where there were not many pedestrians, at this moment there were vast and mighty troops walking in from the corner of the street, slowly marching past under the watchful eyes of the people.
In the middle of the procession were several prison carts, on which stood the prisoners of the Lai family who were about to be sent to the execution ground, all of them with numb (lifeless) faces and no emotion on their dirty faces.
On either side of the carts were the Yamen officials responsible for escorting the prisoners, as well as the people who followed the carts with their vegetable baskets and at the same time, pulling out the rotten leaves and rotten eggs from inside the basket, throwing it at the prisoner carts.
Chen Xing stared dumbfounded at the scene in front of him, looking at the dozen or so prisoners whose faces could not be seen clearly and struggling to identify Lai Jiu from them, who previously had been insufferably arrogant but was now even dirtier than a beggar.
Looking at the fierce and cruel young master who was originally so high and mighty as he did not put anyone in his eyes, but had turned into such a state now, Chen Xing's mood was extraordinarily complicated.
As the procession drew nearer, Chen Xing could even smell the stink smell of the prisoners, therefore he could not help but cover his nose.
Looking at those people, as if they could not smell their bad smell and were still venting their anger at this moment, Chen Xing could not help but think of how many bad things they had done to make these common people hate them so much.
But before Chen Xing could come up with the reason why, the long procession passed before his eyes, taking those who had done all kinds of evil things, along with their victims, moved towards their final place of judgment.
Chen Xing looked at the crowd in the distance, before he could make any reaction, he heard an indifferent voice come from beside him, "Do you want to go over and take a look?"
Chen Xing came back from his trance and turned his head to see Gu Lang looking at himself, those dark eyes full of his own reflection, as if he could hold Chen Xing only in his eyes.
But Gu Lang misinterpreted Chen Xing's staring at himself and not speaking as not having heard his question.
Gu Lang sighed softly, looked at the absent person in front of him and said in a gentle voice, "Do you want to follow along and see how they carried out the execution in the end?"
Chen Xing licked his lips, which were a little dry for unknown reason, and asked in a trance-like manner, "What will happen to them?"
Gu Lang's eyes were cold and indifferent, his voice was cold, "They will be executed (received the death penalty)."
Chen Xing felt that it was somewhat cruel, he wasn't sure if he, someone who had grown up in a modern society, would throw up at the sight of such a bloody scene. Just when Chen Xing wanted to tell Gu Lang that he would not be going, a large group of scholar students came out of the bookstore they had just come out of. They hurriedly chased after the troops escorting the prisoners.
"Hurry up, I heard that this time the county magistrate himself is taking charge of it, so we might be able to see it from beginning to the end, if we go there now."
"We should follow the example of the County Magistrate and if we become officials in the future, we must be good officials like the County Magistrate in getting rid of the evil people."
"Yes, if I come across such evil people in the future, I will also prosecute and punish them according to the law, just like the County Magistrate."
"For such vicious (guilty of terrible crimes) people, a simple beheading has already let them off too lightly. "
Chen Xing was a little taken back as he watched them energetically went to watch the execution, he felt that these young men were not at all like the kind of lacking the strength even to truss a chicken (unaccustomed to physical work; weak) and frail scholar he imagined it to be.
Chen Xing stared at their backs for a while longer, until a voice came from his ears, only then he withdrew his gaze,
"What are you looking at?"
Chen Xing looked at Gu Lang with some embarrassment and hesitated for a moment before saying what he thought, "I think that those scholars are a bit too bold, in my impression, scholarly students are usually gentle and frail-looking."
Gu Lang lowered his eyes and looked at the blushed Ger in front of him, and when Chen Xing didn't not see him, the corner of his mouth curved up in a mocking curve, but his voice was still as gentle as ever, "If you don't even have the guts to do this, what can you do in the future even if you become an official? Being an official has never been something that can be done with only a little learning."
Chen Xing felt that Gu Lang's words were a bit strange and when he looked up, he saw Gu Lang's cold expression.
Perhaps it was Chen Xing's gaze that made Gu Lang realize that his words were a bit inappropriate, therefore he quickly put away the cold expression on his face. He then returned to his usual gentle and elegant appearance as he lowered his head, looked at Chen Xing and smiled, "So, do you want to go and take a look now?"
When Gu Lang asked this, he was already prepared to go their way back home, after all, from what he had just observed, Chen Xing seemed didn't like such a bloody affair very much.
Who would have expected that, after pondering for two seconds, Chen Xing said with a somewhat odd expression on his face, "Let's go over and take a look, I want to see how they carry out the execution. If, if I just can't take it anymore, we'll go back."
Gu Lang looked at Chen Xing, who had a torn face, the corner of his lips curled up as he said softly, "Okay."
Although Chen Xing said with his mouth that he wanted to see it, when he really went over, he was still a bit timid to see those bloody scenes. When he and Gu Lang arrived at the place and looked at the lively crowd, he was completely stunned.
Chen Xing originally thought that there would be at most a few victims and people coming to see the liveliness, so the total number of people would not exceed a hundred, but who knew that when he came to the scene, he found that there were more than three hundred people here.
Looking at this scene, which was as lively as if it was a bazaar, the psychological construction Chen Xing had just built for himself collapsed. He then suddenly felt less scared.
Gu Lang, who had been following behind Chen Xing, was exceptionally calm, and after sweeping past the crowd gathered here with various purposes, he then fixed his gaze on the high platform of the execution ground in front.
Before Chen Xing could regain his senses from the atmosphere of the execution which was likened to a vegetable market, the voices around suddenly dropped and then he heard the loud voice of the official coming from the front, "Everyone,be quiet, the county magistrate has something to say!"
After the officer finished his sentence, the whispering voices in that place fell completely silent.
That yamen official seemed satisfied with this kind of effect and nodded, giving up the position he was standing in and giving way to the county magistrate behind him. The County Magistrate was wearing an official's uniform and stood in an awesome bearing.
Not knowing if it was because of the execution or something else, but Chen Xing felt that the county magistrate's face, which originally still had a bit of a scholarly air, had a bit more of a stern expression on it.
Chen Xing was still wondering why the county magistrate had made such a big impact. The county magistrate standing above had already waved his sleeves and shouted towards the crowd below, "We are gathered here today to witness personally the bad end of the Lai family and this county magistrate hopes that you all will take this as a warning and be strict with yourselves in the future, so that you will not do anything to endanger others, violates the laws or commit crimes."
"Yes!" As soon as he finished speaking, the people below responded in unison as if they had received some kind of call.
Satisfied with the scene before him, the county magistrate raised the token in his hand and said in a loud voice, "Now, bring the prisoners up!"
As soon as the county magistrate's command came out, the Lai family who had long since been released from the prison cart, were immediately dragged by the officials towards the guillotine.
Chen Xing looked at those Lai's family members who struggled desperately, but in the end, they could not resist the officials and were dragged to the guillotine like dead dogs. The Lai Family's emotions were also particularly complicated.
"The Lai family has committed the most heinous crimes, and according to the law of the present dynasty, the whole family should be executed and confiscate their property but in consideration of the innocence of their wives, they were let off the hook. The rest of the sinners will be executed at noon today! I hope that all of you will take this as a warning not to commit the same wrongdoings in the future."
As soon as the county magistrate's words fell, those men who had been dragged up were pressed onto the guillotine in unison by the officials. The executioners next to them were ready to begin their work by his command.
Under the various mixed feelings of the crowd, the sun rose little by little into the sky, that yamen attendant in charge of keeping an eye on the hour looked at the overlapping sun clocks and shouted, "The hour is up!"
Seeing the county magistrate, just like in the TV drama series, threw out the token of authority in his hand the moment he heard the announcement from the official and at the same time, he shouted, "Execute!"
Then Chen Xing felt a blackness in front of his eyes before he could react, he was confused for a moment and soon realized that someone had already covered his eyes. He reflexively tried to pull the hand covering his eyes, but only heard a cold voice come from behind him, "Do you want to see their heads fall to the ground?"
Chen Xing instantly froze, he heard that it was Gu Lang's voice. The hand on Gu Lang's wrist didn't move anymore as he just let Gu Lang cover his eyes and stood there.
After Gu Lang glanced at Chen Xing who was obediently listening to his words, he moved his gaze to the stage, only to see the executioner's hand rise and fall,as the heads fell from the stage and blood flowing down their necks.
Gu Lang's that handsome face did not fluctuate in the slightest, so calm that as if he had seen such a scene countless times before.
Chen Xing's eyes were covered and could not see what was going on around him, but his other senses around him became more and more sensitive, soon afterward a faint medicinal fragrance wafted to his nose, the fragrance was not too strong with a bit of a clear and cold smell, just like the feeling Gu Lang's whole person gave off.
When he thought that the medicinal fragrance was coming from Gu Lang's body and that he was still being held in Gu Lang's arms, Chen Xing's face involuntarily turned red. He was even glad that Gu Lang was standing behind him and covering his eyes, otherwise his current state would have been definitely more and more shameful if Gu Lang had seen him.
Just as Chen Xing was immersed in an indescribable sense of shame, the punishment of the Lai family over there had already ended.
Gu Lang looked indifferently at the women of the Lai family who had not been integrated with, bringing their children next to those beheaded corpses and crying as if heaven was bumping with the earth. The hand covering Chen Xing's eyes never moved even for a bit until the person in front of him gently removed his hand and asked warily, "Is it over?"
Gu Lang lowered his head and looked at Chen Xing who was encircled in his arms and was now alert likened to a small animal being captured, so he faintly curled the corners of his mouth. His voice returned to its previous gentleness, "It's over."
After that Gu Lang led Chen Xing away from the execution ground, making sure that he couldn't see any reeking of blood before letting go of his hand that covered his eyes.
Chen Xing, who had regained the light in his sight, blinked for a moment, looked at Gu Lang in front of him and muttered softly, "Why did you cover my eyes?"
Gu Lang looked at Chen Xing's muttering and complaining look, the gloomy emotions that had risen earlier while watching the execution began to dissipate a little.
Gu Lang curled up his lips, his expression gentle,"Because I'm worried that someone will be scared at night if they look at it."
Chapter 25: 食材
Ingredients
Hearing Gu Lang's words as if he was coaxing a child, Chen Xing's face immediately turned red as he looked at him and tried to defend himself, "I, I'm not scared at all."
Looking at Chen Xing's thoroughly red face, Gu Lang slowly moved closer to his face and stared into his evasive eyes, saying with a hint of teasing, "Oh, really? Then you know that the moment the beheaded head hits the ground it bounces twice like a ball made of woven grass and vines before stopping. A large amount of bright red blood will spurt out from the broken neck and fall all over on the ground. If…"
Before Gu Lang could finish his sentence
Chen Xing already covered his mouth first with his hand. The previously red face had turned a little pale because he already made a mental connection or imagined it.
When Gu Lang saw his frightened look, the smile in his eyes had already disappeared and a bit of apology or regret even appeared. He had covered Chen Xing's eyes just now because he didn't want him to see those horrible scenes, but now he had taken the initiative to mention them, which was his fault.
Chen Xing had covered Gu Lang's mouth when he was unable to think calmly, so the moment he came to his senses and felt the softness under his palm, he then realized that it was Gu Lang's lips. His already pale face had now become red again.
Chen Xing hurriedly removed his hand from Gu Lang's face and looked at him with a red face.
"I'm sorry."
"I'm sorry."
The two apologies that rang out in unison caused the two of them who had been looking at each other to become dumbfounded for a moment.
It was Gu Lang who reacted first and said to Chen Xing who was still in a daze, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have scared you."
Chen Xing looked at Gu Lang who was apologizing to him and felt his face burning, it was his own fault yet he had made Gu Lang apologize to him.
Chen Xing hastily waved his hand and hurriedly said, "No, it's not your fault. It's my problem, you don't have to apologize to me."
Gu Lang looked at Chen Xing, who kept on trying to put all the problems on himself and felt that if the argument continued, the problem would not end.
Thereupon, Gu Lang looked at Chen Xing with his usual gentle smile and changed the subject of their conversation, "Today is my payday so after this, I'll treat you to a meal at a restaurant."
Chen Xing who originally was still trying to apologize to Gu Lang, saw that the topic of conversation had suddenly changed to eating, at first he was a bit overwhelmed, but he still went along with his words, "That, that's not good ba."
Gu Lang looked at the confusion in Chen Xing's eyes, the curve in his mouth gradually increased, therefore his voice became gentler and softer, as if his voice was purposely lowered with a hook that tickled people's ears, "What is not good?"
The handsome face was getting closer and closer to his own. The original feverish face of Chen Xing gradually reddened again, subconsciously shifted his gaze and said somewhat uncomfortably, "Last time, we went out to eat without Qiu Jiu. This time, he didn't come either, so I think it's not good for us to go out to eat alone."
Gu Lang who was still guessing what Chen Xing would say, laughed out loud when he heard him say this and in his tone there was a bit of doting that he didn't even notice, "Why don't we go back and call Qiu Jiu to let him come with us?"
Seeing Gu Lang repeatedly accommodating himself, Chen Xing, who was already blushing, felt more and more embarrassed. He didn't even dare to look at Gu Lang's eyes. His eyes fluttered as he said in a low voice, "No need, let's go buy some ingredients and go back to make it by ourselves. I don't think my cooking is worse than the outside ones."
Gu Lang looked at Chen Xing, who was glancing to the left and right but not looking at himself so his eyes were filled with a smile as he said in a gentle voice, "Okay, I'll listen to you."
Chen Xing's heartbeat involuntarily accelerated a little, feeling that Gu Lang talking to him like this was kind of illegal.
The two of them decided to buy ingredients and go back to cook for dinner, so they didn't stay here much longer. After discussing the dishes they wanted to eat in the evening, they went to the nearby grocery shop first, prepared to buy some seasonings that they had run out of.
When they arrived at the shop, Chen Xing was responsible for finding the spices he needed, while Gu Lang followed behind him and helped Chen Xing carry the spices that had already been packed.
When the two of them had finished packing up what they needed and took it to the counter to be weighed and paid, the old shopkeeper looked at Chen Xing and said cheerfully, "Your husband is a caring man. I haven't seen such a hardworking husband for a long time. (willingly to work hard without complaining)"
Chen Xing looked at the old shopkeeper who was looking at him with a kind of 'where did you find such a good husband, you have a good eye' look. He opened his mouth, but still did not tell the shopkeeper that he and Gu Lang were just a fake husband and wife.
The shopkeeper was very quick, so while he was talking to Chen Xing, he had already weighed and packed all the things he had bought and calculated their prices.
Under the shopkeeper's teasing gaze, Chen Xing paid the money with a red face and left the shop in a mess as he dragged Gu Lang with him.
When they went outside, only then Chen Xing looked at Gu Lang and said embarrassedly, "That…You don't misunderstand, I didn't clarify just now because I didn't think it was necessary. I don't think we need to explain so much to others about our relationship."
"There's no misunderstanding."
Gu Lang's cold and clear voice came out, causing Chen Xing to be confused for a moment. He raised his head, looked at him and bumped into the man's gentle gaze, it was as if there were many things hidden in those black eyes that he couldn't read.
Chen Xing stared at Gu Lang as he listened to him continue to say, "We are in a formally and legally married relationship."
Chen Xing's mind exploded, not knowing what Gu Lang meant when he suddenly said that. He tried to stabilize his wildly racing heart, wanting to ask Gu Lang what he really meant. If he didn't mean the same thing as what he understood it to be, then Gu Lang shouldn't keep saying such misleading things to him.
But before Chen Xing could ask that question, he saw Gu Lang's expression, who was originally looking gentle across from him, change his face and suddenly pull him into his arms, while a 'bang' sounded in their ears.
The sudden warmth still took Chen Xing back a little, and after he realized that he was still in Gu Lang's embrace right now, his face unconsciously blushed again.
Chen Xing was just about to ask Gu Lang what he was doing when he looked up and saw the look on Gu Lang's face, because at that moment Gu Lang was staring ahead with a frosty face, his face was extraordinarily cold.
Chen Xing instinctively sensed that something was wrong. Not caring about the strange feelings that had just risen, he turned his head and looked in the direction Gu Lang was looking, only to see a beautiful woman holding a kitchen knife standing at the entrance of the restaurant five steps away from them. Opposite the woman was a not yet recovered from a fright madam, surrounded by a crowd of onlookers.
The woman raised the kitchen knife in her hand towards that madam and said fiercely, "If you dare to come over, I will cut you to death!"
Chen Xing took a look at the kitchen knife in the woman's hand, then at the kitchen knife that had just brushed past his ear and landed not far from them at this moment. He suddenly became scared.
If Gu Lang hadn't pulled him just now, then he would have been splattered with blood right now. Thinking of this, Chen Xing's face also became unusually ugly. His gaze on that gorgeous woman also became unkind.
The moment Chen Xing's face changed, the married woman who had come to her senses shook off the person holding her, stood up, looking at that woman and cursing her.
"You slutty fox, don't you think that I'm afraid of you. In the past, you relied on your unclear relationship with Lai Jiu, so people didn't dare to touch you. You just went around borrowing money and not paying it back, denying it the credit. Now that your backer has fallen, I'm telling you, if you don't pay my money back again, I'll smash up your shitty shop! You also don't dare to scare me again with that stupid broken kitchen knife. I was brought up to be scared, I'm definitely not scared of this plaything!"
Faced with the woman's loud and long curses, the woman's face turned red, but she could not say any words in retort.
That madam looked at the woman's red face as she did not dare to retort, seemed to feel relieved, thrust her waist towards the crowd watching and shouted,
"Please everyone who is present here, help me as a witness. I, Xu Xia, swear here that if this Qiao Xin doesn't pay my money back again, I will definitely bring people over to smash her shop therefore no one will be able to persuade me. Even if this shameless disgusting plaything goes to my family that's good for nothing, I won't leave the matter as it is."
That madam finished her harsh words, gave a provocative glance at the furious Qiao Xin and walked away with her servants behind her in arrogance and her head up.
Just as Chen Xing was watching the scene in front of him, sighing with feeling that both women in front of him were too tough as nails, he suddenly felt an intense gaze looking straight at him and when he looked over at that line of sight, just in time to meet with the woman's angry stare at him.
Chen Xing froze for a moment, thinking that he saw it wrong (misinterpreting what he saw), after all, he didn't know that woman, and there was no reason for her to look at him like that. But when he looked around for a few moments, he found that apart from him and Gu Lang, there was no one else here. Moreover, the woman's angry gaze was directed at him.
Against reason, after glaring at Chen Xing for a few moments, the woman turned around and went back to the shop, closing the shop door with a bang.
Chen Xing watched this series of actions by the woman until the woman's figure completely disappeared, then he turned his head to look at Gu Lang and said stiffly, "I don't know that woman. Not only did she not apologize for almost cutting me just now, why is she still glaring at me like that?"
Gu Lang lowered his head and looked into Chen Xing's slightly aggrieved eyes, his face, which was originally covered in ice, immediately softened, he raised his hand and gently stroked Chen Xing's head, softly comforting him, "She just needed to vent her anger. She just happened to meet you, it's not your fault at all."
Listening to Gu Lang's gentle reassurance and feeling the warmth of his palm falling on his head, Chen Xing only felt that his mood, which was still somehow being wronged just now, was gradually soothed. He nodded at Gu Lang, still a little unhappy and answered, "Hn."
Gu Lang looked at Chen Xing who had regained some spirit, returned his smile, and then said in a warm voice, "Didn't you say we are going to the market to buy a chicken? Let's go there now, shall we?"
Chen Xing nodded his head. The unpleasantness just now was instantly thrown into the back of his mind as he led Gu Lang in the direction of the food market.
Looking at Chen Xing who had regained his spirit, Gu Lang who was walking behind him took a glance towards the door of the shop 'that woman' had entered before turning around and noted down in his mind the name of the shop on it 'Qiao's Restaurant'.
Gu Lang's eyes darkened as he turned his body and caught up with Chen Xing in front of him. He must have let Qiu Jiu check it when he returned to see why this woman had so much ill will towards Chen Xing.
Chen Xing did not know what was in Gu Lang's mind or plan, only then he noticed that Gu Lang had stopped and did not go, waiting in the same place. At this time, he saw Gu Lang catch up and asked him in a clear loud voice, "Is there anything else you want to eat these days? We'll conveniently buy it and bring it back together."
Chapter 26:醉酒
Get drunk
Hearing Chen Xing's words, Gu Lang looked at him, smiled gently, shook his head lightly and said in a low voice , "I don't have anything that I want to eat.
If you are the one who makes it, I think it's all delicious."
Gu Lang's compliment made Chen Xing's ears involuntarily blush. He looked at the man who kept staring at him and muttered, "Don't keep saying such misleading things."
"Hn?" Gu Lang didn't seem to hear what he was saying, and let out a breath from his nose, expressing his question.
Chen Xing, however, turned red as he looked at Gu Lang who was staring at him, and shook his head radically, not saying what was on his mind. He felt that if he said it out loud, but Gu Lang simply didn't mean like he thought he would be, then he was as if imagine that one love was reciprocated (自作多情: shower affection on an uninterested party.)
Gu Lang looked at Chen Xing, who he didn't know what he was thinking about, and didn't pursue the matter any further. He turned his head to look at the sky and gently reminded him, "It's almost time, we should go to the food market."
Only when he heard Gu Lang's words did Chen Xing realize that it was getting late, so he quickly put away his fluttering romantic thoughts and pulled Gu Lang straight towards the vegetable market. They had encountered so many things today, they had to eat a good meal to get over a shock.
Chen Xing and Gu Lang bought a lot of ingredients and returned to the Gu residence before the sky turned dark.
Gu Lang helped Chen Xing put the things in the kitchen before lifting the box in his hand and looking at Chen Xing with some apology, "Sorry, I have to go back and put this first before I can come and help you."
Chen Xing, who was thinking about what dishes he was going to cook today, didn't care at all when he heard Gu Lang's words and with a wave of his hand, he said boldly and generously, "It's okay, the dishes I'm going to cook today are very simple and I can do it all by myself, so you don't need to come and help."
Gu Lang looked at Chen Xing, who had started to work right after he said that, without looking at himself. His eyes darkened for a moment as he replied softly, turning around and walking towards the study room, but in his mind he was still thinking that he needed to put his things down quickly and come over to help Chen Xing.
At this moment, Chen Xing's mind and eyes was full of thoughts about the dishes he was going to cook later, so he didn't pay much attention when he saw Gu Lang leave. He took a quick glance at the ingredients he had bought today and decided to make the stewed meat in soy sauce and spices first, before making the other dishes.
When Qiu Jiu smelt the smell and came in, he saw that Chen Xing was busy putting the cleaned and cut pork into the brown soup and there was an aroma of herbs in the air.
After Chen Xing had put all the ingredients into the pot and put the lid on, he looked up and saw Qiu Jiu standing by the door and said casually, "We didn't see you when we came back just now, so I thought you were resting in your room. It turns out that you have gone out."
Qiu Jiu was shocked in his heart, but he quickly stabilized himself. He looked at Chen Xing with his usual smile and asked naturally, "How did you know that I had gone out?"
Chen Xing smiled, pointed to Qiu Jiu's head and said teasingly, "You still have a leaf on your head, I remember there is no such leaf in our courtyard, so I think you got it on the outside when you went out."
Qiu Jiu looked at Chen Xing's smiling face and reached out to touch his head, then the time he really felt the leaf, he took it off and immediately saw the little blood stained on the leaf.
Qiu Jiu's pupils contracted. He squeezed the leaf into a ball super quickly and put it into his palm. When he looked up again, he saw that Chen Xing had already lowered his head to pick the vegetable and did not seem to notice his strange behavior here.
Qiu Jiu breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing this as he walked over to Chen Xing's side, threw the leaf into the fire without a trace and asked him, "Can I help you with something?"
Hearing his words, Chen Xing glanced up at the counter and finally pointed at the partly fat and partly lean meat pork on the table and said to Qiu Jiu, "Why don't you help me chop that meat into minced pork? I'll use that to stir-fry with some vegetables later."
Hearing Chen Xing's order, Qiu Jiu came over there without saying a word, stood up, took the knife and started chopping the meat.
After Qiu Jiu had chopped the meat into a very fine minced park and marinated it with eggs as Chen Xing had instructed, he noticed that today's dish seemed to be very plentiful and asked with some curiosity, "Why is the dish so rich today?"
Chen Xing lifted the lid of the pot, at the same time he smelled the aroma was already quite okay, he then added a little more wine to remove the fishy smell. Only after he had put the lid down did he reply, "Today Gu Lang was paid for the author's remuneration of the published book and wanted to take us for dinner but I thought it would be more economical to buy the ingredients and cook it by myself, so I prepared a lot of dishes."
Qiu Jiu inhaled, smelling the aroma in the air. He looked at Chen Xing, somewhat touched by his words and said something that puzzled Chen Xing, "Chen Xing, you are really a good person!"
From what Qiu Jiu knew about his family's young master, if he wanted to invite Chen Xing for a meal, he would definitely not remember Qiu Jiu's share. It was because Chen Xing had said this that Gu Lang then changed his mind and decided to eat at home. Chen Xing was indeed a kind hearted person.
Chen Xing: ？？？
Chen Xing wanted to know what Qiu Jiu's words just now meant, but unfortunately, Qiu Jiu only shook his head when he asked him further and said nothing more, so he could only give up.
As Qiu Jiu and Chen Xing were both very quick and skillful with their hands, they cooked together very quickly, and in such a short time, three of the four dishes were ready to serve.
Only when all three dishes were ready did Chen Xing open the already long-extinguished (stove) marinated meat, The marinated meat had absorbed the spices and soy sauce by now. He took out a piece of marinated meat from the inside and put it on the chopping board to cut it into the right size. He also made a dipping sauce on the side.
As soon as Qiu Jiu smelled the aroma of the marinated meat, he could not help but swallow his saliva. He looked at Chen Xing and praised him, "Chen Xing, this marinated meat you made really smells good (tasty)!"
Chen Xing was skillfully cutting the marinated meat that was out of the pot, so when he heard Qiu Jiu's words, he lifted the corners of his mouth and smiled, "If you like it, we will buy some more tomorrow and stew it in the pot." The marinated meat was cut into thin slices of the right size by Chen Xing and put on a plate next to him, where it quickly cooled down.
When Qiu Jiu and Chen Xing were ready to take all the dishes to the dining room, Qiu Jiu realized that three of the four dishes were cold dishes and the remaining one was a warm soup.
Qiu Jiu suddenly realized and thought of his family's young master's eating habits, therefore he suddenly said with a sigh of admiration, "Chen Xing, you are so kind to my young master."
As Chen Xing listened to this sudden and out of nowhere remark, he turned his head to look at him, his eyes full of confusion.
Qiu Jiu saw that he was confused and did not answer his question, but asked instead, "Did you make these cold dishes especially for my family's young master?"
Chen Xing admitted it straightforwardly, "That's right ah, Gu Lang can't eat hot food and he also needs to pay more attention to what he eats everyday, so I prepared more cold dishes!"
Qiu Jiu looked at the calm Chen Xing and asked curiously, "Don't you think it's a bit strange that Gong Zi can't eat hot food?"
Chen Xing felt that Qiu Jiu's question was very strange, but he quickly thought that they were ancient people and their sources of information were not as convenient as modern ones, so they knew relatively scarce. He then looked at him and patiently explained, "I don't think so! It's a natural thing, not a disease. The place where I come from, people who can't eat anything too hot are called 'Cat's tongue'. It's a very common thing."
Chen Xing spoke in such a natural way that Qiu Jiu wondered if he had made a fuss about nothing. When Chen Xing asked him to help serve the rice for the meal, he could only nodded dumbly.
Neither of them noticed that Gu Lang was standing at the kitchen door, staring at Chen Xing with a complex gaze that contained a lot of emotions that no one could understand.
Gu Lang thought that it turned out that Chen Xing knew all about it, that was why he always gave in to him. He looked at Chen Xing for a long time, then put away his confused thoughts, turned around and walked towards the dining room.
When Chen Xing and Qiu Jiu arrived at the dining room bringing the dishes and the rice, they saw at one glance that the person who should have been in the study room was already sitting there. After sensing their arrival, he looked up and smiled toward them.
Chen Xing also returned Gu Lang's smile, and after setting the food on the table, he noticed that there were two more beautiful bottles and three wine cups on the top of it.
Gu Lang followed Chen Xing's gaze and saw that his eyes fell on the three bottles. He smiled lightly and said, "I thought we should have some wine to calm down after all that we've been through today, so I took the initiative to buy two bottles of wine."
When Chen Xing heard that there was wine, his eyes lit up. In fact, he was still very interested in the taste of wine in ancient times, but he had never had the chance. Now that there was wine in front of him, he was also interested in it.
But Chen Xing looked at Gu Lang who was sitting there and still had a few concerns. He looked at Gu Lang and asked cautiously, "You are not in good health. I'm afraid drinking will affect you, right?"
After Chen Xing asked this question, the smile on Gu Lang's face, which had been faint, instantly brightened up. He seemed to be very happy and said gently towards Chen Xing, "This is peach blossom wine, it is very mild and will not affect my health very much. Don't worry, I won't take my body's health as a joke."
Hearing this name, Chen Xing became more and more interested and after hearing Gu Lang's words, he became restless and his desire to drink become more and more obvious. He looked at Gu Lang, who was staring at him and said softly, "In that case, let's drink a little. Only you, you should drink less."
Gu Lang didn't feel the slightest bit unhappy with Chen Xing's restraint. He even nodded his head in a very cooperative manner and said softly, "Hn, I'll just listen to you."
Qiu Jiu, who was standing by the side, glanced at his own young master who was helping to pour the wine and then at Chen Xing who was very excited and in high spirit. He secretly decided that he must lower his presence later, otherwise he had a feeling that if he disturbed his family's young master's sudden or out of nowhere interest, he would definitely die a very miserable death.
Gu Lang handed the first cup of peach blossom wine to Chen Xing, who sniffed it gently and then licked it with a pink tongue like a small animal. His eyes lit up as soon as he took a small sip, quickly finished that one cup in one gulp.
After Chen Xing finished his own cup, he looked at Gu Lang with his empty glass and asked with his bright eyes, "Where did you buy this wine, why is it so good?"
Chen Xing originally thought that the ancient wine would only taste like Shāojiǔ (name of a famous Tang dynasty wine) because of the brewing process, but who knew that this wine was much better than he had imagined, with a refreshing peach flavour that was neither bitter nor spicy, making him, who didn't like drinking wine much, like this kind of taste.
Looking at Chen Xing's joyful expression, Gu Lang picked up the bottle,poured some more wine into his cup and said gently, "I bought this by chance from an old man in the mountains. I don't know if I could find it again next time."
Hearing this, Chen Xing felt a little regretful, but as another glass of peach blossom wine was poured down his throat, he gradually forgot about this matter. He concentrated on eating his food and drinking his wine.
At the end of the meal, all the dishes on the table had been eaten and Chen Xing had drunk most of the bottle of wine by himself.
Gu Lang looked at Chen Xing, who was holding the bottle of wine and not saying anything, frowned as he called out tentatively, "Chen Xing? !"
When he heard someone was calling him, Chen Xing sluggishly turned towards Gu Lang and stared at him with his watery eyes, giving him a silly smile.
Qiu Jiu, who was tidying up the bowls beside them, immediately said, "Gong Zi, he is like this, looks like he is drunk."
Gu Lang gave him a sidelong glance.
Qiu Jiu immediately shut his mouth and slapped his own mouth, before then he honestly cleaned up the bowls and left.
After Qiu Jiu left, Gu Lang looked at Chen Xing, who was hugging the bottle and laughed foolishly. He thought to himself somewhat upset that he should not have let Chen Xing drink so much.
Although the peach blossom wine was good, even a shallow drinker would get drunk. Fortunately, there were no after-effects and he would be fine the next day after waking up from sleeping.
As he thought of this, Gu Lang's expression improved and he looked at Chen Xing, who was counting how many flowers carved on the bottle; his face was incomparably gentle.
Gu Lang stood up, walked over to Chen Xing's side and said gently, "Come, Chen Xing, I'll take you back to your room to rest."
Chen Xing turned his head to look at Gu Lang who stretched out his hand toward him, yet he did not move at all for quite a long time.
Seeing that Chen Xing was staring at himself but not saying anything, Gu Lang thought that he was too drunk to recognize him and could not understand what he was talking about, so he wanted to reach out and help Chen Xing return to his room.
Who knew that before Gu Lang's hand could touch Chen Xing's shoulder, Chen Xing let go of the bottle he was hugging and staggered to his feet as he stood up, pointing at Gu Lang and stuttering in his speech, "Are you, are you… are you Gu Lang?"
Gu Lang saw that Chen Xing could not even speak clearly because of his drunkenness, yet he still managed to call his name accurately, therefore his face revealed an incomparably gentle smile as he coaxed him in a soft voice, "That's right, I am Gu Lang."
The sound of Gu Lang's voice seemed to confirm Chen Xing's target, as he let out a loud 'ow' and then throw himself into Gu Lang's embrace.
Gu Lang did not expect Chen Xing to do this, so he caught him with some difficulty and tried to hold his body steady so that both of them would not fall and sit on the floor together.
Qiu Jiu, who was about to come back to ask if his young master had any other orders, saw the two of them embracing each other as he stepped into the dining room. He was so shocked that he froze in place, muttering, "Play, …already this much (at this stage)?"
Qiu Jiu stared at the two hugging each other, took step by step backwards and left the dining room, then ran away without looking back, thinking it would be better for him to pretend that he hadn't seen anything just now.
Gu Lang knew nothing about Qiu Jiu's arrival and was preoccupied with Chen Xing. After Chen Xing jumped into his arms, he directly reached out and cupped his face, causing Gu Lang's heartbeat who initially quickened to slow down, making him leave a helpless look on his face.
Chen Xing pinched both sides of Gu Lang's cheeks and pulled it outwards, muttering as he did so, "How can you be so good looking? You look like you have come out of a painting. You're not a person who came out of the painting and now you're pretending to be a normal person to fool me, are you?"
Gu Lang endured Chen Xing's kneading, and all enchanting thoughts that had risen because Chen Xing threw himself into his arms had now disappeared. He looked helplessly at the drunken person in his embrace and coaxed him in a soft voice, "No, I didn't lie to you. Chen Xing, you're drunk, let's go back to sleep, okay?"
Chen Xing's expression instantly fell. He kept himself in his embrace and said unhappily, "No, you're a fake, my family members call me Xing Xing, not Chen Xing. Sure enough, you are really from inside the painting and now you want to trick me into going back with you, then lock me up inside the painting."
Gu Lang did not know how Chen Xing came to such a conclusion, and looking at Chen Xing who was struggling in his arms, as if he would not stop or let the matter drop until he called out to him, he could only call out with a bit of doting, "Xing Xing."
Gu Lang's this especially gentle calling him 'Xing Xing' seemed to carry a bit of magic. Chen Xing, who was originally still struggling, immediately stopped moving, looked up at him and answered with an extraordinarily well-behaved voice, "Hn, I'm Xing Xing."
Gu Lang looked at Chen Xing with his eyes full of him and felt as if his heart were about to melt away. He gently hugged him and coaxed him in a gentle voice, "I'll bring Xing Xing to the bed, okay?"
Chen Xing tilted his head as he looked at Gu Lang and thought seriously for a moment, then nodded his head severely and smiled sweetly, "Okay, but you have to hold Xing Xing's hands." As he said this, he stretched out his hand.
Gu Lang looked at Chen Xing's face with nothing but doting only as he reached out and held Chen Xing's hand.
Seemingly because Gu Lang had fulfilled his wish, Chen Xing was very cooperative all the way to his bedroom, where he allowed Gu Lang to lead him, then obediently cooperated with him in washing his face and feet, and finally lay down on the bed.
Covered with a thin quilt, Chen Xing lay on the bed and looked at Gu Lang sitting on the edge of the bed. His eyes shining brightly as he said this, "Will Gu Lang tell Xing Xing a story?"
Gu Lang looked at this kind of Chen Xing and gently touched his face. The expression on his face was very gentle, "I can, what does Xing Xing want to hear?"
Chen Xing thought for a moment and said obediently, "If Gu Lang is the one who tells the story, Xing Xing wants to hear it."
Gu Lang's heart suddenly became soft, he looked at Chen Xing who was lying under the quilt, his thin lips gently opened and slowly said, "During the Ping He year, there was a wealthy family in Shen He, they had a smart child in their house …"
[Shenhe district of Shenyang city 沈阳市, Liaoning]
Before Gu Lang had finished his story, the person on the bed had already fallen asleep, with a slight smile on his pretty face, as if he was having some kind of good dream.
Gu Lang looked at the sleeping Chen Xing for a while. He curled his lips slightly, slowly bent down and gently kissed him on the forehead, "Well, Xing Xing, rest well."
After Gu Lang blew out the candle and left the room, the person on the bed rolled over and muttered a few words, but his face was still smiling slightly, as if he had dreamt of something good.
The time Gu Lang searched Qiu Jiu in the kitchen, Qiu Jiu was gnawing on freshly taken pig's trotters from the pot with great relish.
When he saw Gu Lang enter, Qiu Jiu hastily hid his half-eaten pig's trotters behind him and shouted in panic, "Gong, Gong Zi!"
Gu Lang gave him a disgusted look and deliberately ignored what he had hidden behind him but still had a corner of it exposed, and said indifferently, "Go and investigate someone (for me) tomorrow."
"Yes." After the panic just now, Qiu Jiu had completely calmed down and said with a calm face, "Today, I've also done the things that Gong Zi had assigned to me a few days ago."
Hearing Qiu Jiu's reply, Gu Lang said nothing more, nodded his head before then he left the kitchen.
Qiu Jiu watched Gu Lang leave and made sure he wouldn't come back before he took out the pig's trotters that he had bite some before, from behind his back and stuffed them into his mouth leisurely, mumbling as he ate it, "Following beside Gong Zi is scaring me to death, fortunately there's still delicious food to eat. But it's unexpectedly strange that Gong Zi didn't stay in Chen Xing's room."
When Chen Xing woke up the next day, he first saw the pale white bed curtain above his head, and then his memories of last night slowly returned to him. Soon afterward, he slowly shrank into a ball on the bed, like a small shrimp under the quilt.
A few moments later, the sound of desperate screaming and someone beating the bed with all his might came from Chen Xing's room.
Chen Xing simply couldn't believe what he had done yesterday, not only had he seduced Gu Lang, he even forced him to call him by his childhood name and in the end, made Gu Lang coaxed him to sleep!
"Ah!"
Chen Xing now preferred to lose his memory after drinking rather than to remember what had happened yesterday. How on earth did he manage to say something so stupid?
Outside the door Gu Lang listened to the commotion inside, hesitated for a moment but still dropped his raised hand and turned to leave the room, thinking that he should order Qiu Jiu to buy breakfast outside.
Chen Xing struggled in his bed for a long time and finally poked his head out from under the messy blanket. He decided that he would pretend to have amnesia after he got drunk and not remember at all what happened yesterday, so that, like this, he would not have to face Gu Lang.
Chen Xing thought this idea of his was very good and after giving himself enough courage, he finally got out of bed to wash and dress.
When Chen Xing walked past the dining room with his tangled heart, he saw Gu Lang and Qiu Jiu already sitting there, with a few steamed buns and three bowls of congee in front of them.
The moment he saw Chen Xing, Gu Lang waved at him and said gently, "Did you sleep well last night? I expected you to wake up late today, so I asked Qiu Jiu to buy some breakfast outside. Take a look, if it suits your taste."
Chen Xing looked at Gu Lang's expression, which was no different from his usual one. He nodded his head as he slowly sat down and ate his breakfast under Gu Lang's attentiveness.
As they were having the meal, Chen Xing saw that Gu Lang did not mention yesterday's incident, so he gradually let go of his nervous heart. By the time he had finished his breakfast, his originally tense mood had completely relaxed.
Just as Chen Xing was about to go to the kitchen to prepare the ingredients for the stall later, he suddenly heard Gu Lang, who hadn't said much during the whole meal, suddenly said to him, "Xing Xing, this name sounds really nice."
Hearing this, Chen Xing's head exploded and his face also turned red.
Chapter 27 :再见小姐
Meet the Young Lady again
When Chen Xing heard Gu Lang call himself 'Xing Xing', his face immediately turned red beyond recognition as he looked at Gu Lang and mumbled something, not knowing what to say, feeling that it was inappropriate for him to say anything.
Seeing how embarrassed Chen Xing became, Gu Lang slightly hooked the corners of his lips. He gave a light laugh. His voice was low and deep, bringing some magnetism within it, "I'll call you Xing Xing from now on, is that okay?"
Chen Xing only felt that Gu Lang's words seemed to carry a hook, causing his ears to redden involuntarily. His face tended to get hotter and hotter, he mumbled for half a day, but still didn't think of how to answer.
Gu Lang looked at Chen Xing's flushed red face, but did not reply to his words for half a day. He lowered his eyes slightly, with a bit of disappointment in his tone and said softly, "Can't I call you Xing Xing?"
Chen Xing, who originally had been overwhelmed (excited and unable to act rationally) by Gu Lang's call just now, at this moment heard Gu Lang's voice which sounded as if he was dejected, therefore he felt a bit of guilt in his heart. Without even thinking about it anymore, he said, "You can call me Xing Xing."
The next second after Chen Xing said this, the man who had his head bowed raised his head again and looked at Chen Xing with a smile on his face, his black eyes were filled with starlight because of joy, making it impossible for people to look away.
Gu Lang looked at Chen Xing who was staring at him and dumbfounded, the corners of his mouth slightly hooked,so he called out in a low voice, "Xing Xing."
Chen Xing's face reddened again.
It was only when the dizzy giddy Chen Xing went to the kitchen to prepare the ingredients and was blown by the cool breeze when he passed by the corridor that his head gradually cleared up, thinking of Gu Lang's actions just now, he was torn again, he felt as if he had just been trapped by Gu Lang.
This thought only flashed through Chen Xing's mind, soon afterwards he was shaken out of it. He felt that Gu Lang would not be so bored as to trick himself up for such a trivial matter.
Thinking of Gu Lang's full of magnetic voice just now, calling himself Xing Xing, Chen Xing's face, which had dispersed a few degrees of heat, falling short of expectation, reddened again.
Until Chen Xing reached the stall, the voice of Gu Lang calling his childhood name just now was still echoing in his head, making him begin to wonder if the wine he drank yesterday hadn't sobered up yet, otherwise why would he have had such a hallucination.
It was in this trance-like (absent minded) state that Chen Xing was welcomed by an unexpected customer.
Chen Xing looked at the rich young lady who had come with her maid. He blinked a little, as if he was not quite sure.
It was only when the maid beside that young lady who was dissatisfied with Chen Xing gazing at his own young lady for so long, spoke up and told Chen Xing to pay attention to his surroundings, only then he withdrew his gaze.
Chen Xing looked at the young lady and explained with embarrassment, "Sorry, I just didn't expect you to come. About that day, I'm really sorry. You, you were fine that day, right?"
The young lady in front of him was the one who had received a slap on Chen Xing's behalf a few days ago.
Hearing Chen Xing mention what happened that day, Zhao Jing's face looked sad for a moment, but soon she shook her head and looked at Chen Xing in front of her and tried to show a smile, "You don't need to apologize to me, it was originally because I fell that day only then it was happened. It wasn't your fault."
Chen Xing did not expect this young lady to say this, but it did not stop him from feeling a little more good impression about this young lady after hearing this, he looked at her with extra sincerity and said, "You are a kind young lady."
Hearing Chen Xing's compliment, Zhao Jing looked at his beautiful eyes staring at her for an instant, then her face unconsciously flushed.
Looking at her shy appearance, Chen Xing felt more and more that this little girl was simple and innocent. He did not continue to ask her what had happened that day, so that she would not remember the sad incident again. Instead, he looked at her and gently asked, "What do you want to eat for today?"
Hearing Chen Xing's words, Zhao Jing's face grew redder and redder while her hands squeezed the silk handkerchief with a little more force. She quickly adjusted herself, looked at Chen Xing and said, "I heard that you had some new food here, but after my servants bought it back for me, it didn't taste so good anymore, so I thought I better personally come and eat it here."
At this point, Zhao Jing swallowed her saliva, her face full of desire for that food.
Chen Xing looked at her and couldn't help but smile, opened a cover on the table, pointed to a round white dough in a porcelain basin and asked with a smile, "Miss, are you talking about this frozen brown sugar dumpling?"
Zhao Jing stared at the small and shining white dumplings [(usu. stuffed) dumplings made of glutinous rice flour served in soup] and swallowed hard as she thought of the taste described to her by her subordinate. He nodded her head and replied, "Yes, this one."
"Young lady, do you still need to order anything else?"
Zhao Jing's eyes roamed around the table, longing for all those foods, but after half a day of struggling she said, "I, I'll have a bowl of cold skin noodles."
Chen Xing saw her staring at the other food as if she was reluctant or unwilling to let go of it after she had finished talking, he then suddenly thought of something and smiled at her, "Miss, if you still want to try the other food, I will give you a little less of each item, so you can try a little of every menu."
Zhao Jing's eyes instantly lit up as she looked at Chen Xing and said with some excitement, "Is that possible?"
Zhao Jing was worried that she would waste her food if she ordered too much, so she would only order what she could finish, but she did not expect Chen Xing to take the initiative to solve her problem.
Looking at her appearance, Chen Xing knew that he was right. He curled the corner of his mouth and looked at her, "Naturally, it is possible."
After personally receiving Chen Xing's agreement, Zhao Jing nodded her head with all her might and said excitedly, "Good, then I want to try every menu." After saying that, she felt that she had been too excited and looked at Chen Xing with a bit of embarrassment in her eyes.
Chen Xing, however, seemed not to notice. After hearing her request, he politely told her to wait at her seat and he would soon bring her order.
While Zhao Jing was leading the maid to search for the seat, Chen Xing heard the maid complain in a low voice, "Miss, you are not short of money, why do you have to save so much?"
Zhao Jing's voice, however, was a little colder, "Cui Cui, my Grandma said that even if you have money, you should not waste food that should not be wasted. Next time you say something like that, I'll tell my Mom to transfer you to another place to serve."
"Don't, Young Miss, don't say anything to Madam, I know I'm wrong."
The next thing he heard was a series of pleas for mercy from the little maid.
Chen Xing did not continue to listen, but became curious about this young lady's family situation. Chen Xing had been influenced by television dramas that he had watched in the past and thought that all the wealthy families in ancient times spent their money freely and willfully but he did not expect that there would be such a frugal family as this young lady's.
Chen Xing sighed a little and carried what the lady wanted. He saw that she was eating with great joy and her eyes were full of love for food. In his heart, he could not help but like her a little more.
As Chen Xing looked at her chubby face, an idea suddenly came to him.
When the young lady was paying and about to leave, Chen Xing said to her, "Miss, next time when you come back, I will give you one that hasn't ever seen food as a thank you gift for helping me last time."
Although Zhao Jing had some doubts, she did not hesitate at all to respond after hearing that it was something delicious.
As Chen Xing watched the young lady's joyful reaction, he had a clearer understanding of how much she loved good food, and at the same time he made up his mind that he would make sure to cook it well and give it to her.
With this thought in his mind, Chen Xing went to the vegetable market as soon as he closed his stall and bought a lot of fishskins and air bladder (of fish) before then he returned to the Gu Mansion energetically, ready to put to use his cooking skills.
Since Chen Xing was so preoccupied with wanting to go to the kitchen and cooking the food, he did not pay attention to his surroundings, so much so that he did not see Gu Lang standing under the veranda waiting for them. Gu Lang's face darkened in an instant when he saw Chen Xing not even looking at himself and walking straight past him.