Both of them frowned together. YangYue came into the room carrying two large bowls, and when he saw the scene in front of him, he unhappily said, “Master Xia, I told you not to let my father be distressed, what is that bump and those wrinkles between his eyebrows?”
Jinxia smelled the fragrance and jumped to her feet, she then helped carry the large bowls; the golden noodles, on top of which was a layer of thick and still hot sauce, with mushrooms and minced meat, sent their aroma up her nose. She handed it to Yang ChengWan at once and praised, “This medical hall is really good, there is also meat to eat. These noodles should be eaten while they’re hot, or else they will become soggy.”
Yang ChengWan took a noodle bowl, sorted through the noodles, looked at YangYue and blamed, “You’re now getting bolder. Jinxia faced all sorts of troubles, yet you dare to help her cover it.”
YangYue thought that Jinxia had told his father everything, so he didn’t dare to argue with him, he only said, “Father, I know I was wrong, that’s why I bought the poison antidote at the shop in front of the clinic…”
“Ahem! Ahem! Ahem, ahem!” Jinxia intervened right away trying to violently stop him, while glaring and winking at YangYue.
Realizing that something was wrong, YangYue stopped his words and, for a moment, he didn’t know how to proceed.
“What with the coughs? You think if he doesn’t tell me, I wouldn’t know?” Yang ChengWan glared at Jinxia, “Judging from your temperament, let alone the fog, even if blades fall down like rain, you wouldn’t hesitate and still go investigate. If you had the patient to wait another day to investigate, that means something must have happened.”
Jinxia opened her mouth, but didn’t know what to say. At last, she said while laughing: “Look at me, I’m fine. I told Da Yang not to tell you too much, because I wanted you to spend more time recovering.” She was talking while stuffing the noodles in her mouth. While eating, she told him everything, and didn’t dare to hide any details this time, but the situation with her catching the miasma poison and the encounter with the snakes in the forest, she tried to reduce the story as much as possible.
When he heard about the Zhiyan pill, Yang ChengWan’s face immediately changed.
Jinxia, noticing his change in expression, asked in excitement, “Master, do you also know about the Zhiyan pill? Is this item really expensive?”
“No, I just thought of an old friend.”
The fact that a Ziyan pill was necessary to detoxify the poison indicated that the miasma poison was extremely dangerous, and he remembered that his disciple was very careless and rash, she would definitely break into the forest. Yang ChengWan couldn’t help but shake his head.
YangYue, standing on the side, gave an idea: “Father, just punish her, tell her to put a wash bin on her head and stand in the yard.”
Jinxia immediately put on a smile, showing off her white teeth.
Yang ChengWan sighed, “Xia’Er, even if you don’t think about me, you have to think about your mother. Your mother could hand you over to me, this means she puts her trust in me, If something happens to you, what can I say to your mother?”
“Master, I know.” Jinxia lowered her head.
“One more thing, Yue’Er, if anything strange happen with an unknown origin, similar to this, don’t let her replace you again.”
“Understood.” YangYue answered right away.
Yang ChengWan looked at the two of them, sighed quietly, then said: “Yesterday, the medicinal food sent by Xie Xiao, Xia’Er, you go bring some goods to the Xie family on my behalf. Wu’An Gang helped Zhou Xian escort the funds, which made themselves involved in the case, it’s not good for them. Explain to them the reason and thank them for me.”
Jinxia agreed, got up, took the medicinal drink and walked out.
“Try to act like a lady a little, don’t lose your etiquette, will you remember?” He reminded Jinxia again.
Jinxia, standing by the door, nodded.
Hearing that her footsteps was going further away, Yang ChengWan turned to look at YangYue, “Yesterday, when you followed her into the Taohualin Forest, was Xie Xiao who carried Xia’Er?”
YangYue was tidying up the bowl and chopsticks. Hearing his question, he wasn’t sure what he meant by it, so he just nodded his head.
Yang ChengWan stopped all his questioning. He half leaned back and closed his eyes to rest, there was a smile on the corner of his lips.
***
Jinxia brought the medicinal goods to the Xie’s family. After reporting her arrival to the house servants, they immediately led her to the yard where Xie Baili was staying. As soon as she walked past the meihua tree*, she saw Xie Xiao walking around in the corridor.
*[Meihua = apricot tree]
“You…” He intended to smile but when he saw what she was carrying, he was surprised: “Why did you bring these things back?”
“How can we not?” Jinxia smiled, “Zhou Xian’s case is still under investigation and Big Master Xie gave us something so expensive… If someone doesn’t understand the situation, they might use this opportunity to make it difficult for your family. My master is afraid that it will affect your reputation later, so we had to return them quickly.”
“This…”
“No hurry, my master will be resting for three months. No matter how bad Zhou Xian’s case about the losing of the river funds would turn out to be, two months should be enough to wrap up this case. After we find the money, you can send these back.”
“In two months? Have you found a clue where the money could be?”
Jinxia waved her hand carelessly, “Don’t talk about where it could be, I can’t even find a single clue relating to it. It’s like that one thousand taels of silver grew wings and flew away. I can only hope that they fly back one day.”
“Then why are you saying two months?” Xie Xiao laughed mockingly, “You’re just sitting there and waiting.”
“Waiting, this method is sometimes better than attacking.” Jinxia said seriously, and then shrugged, “That is what my master said, I also do not understand, I just have to work hard.”
Xie Xiao laughed while scolding her, “You’re just trying to fool yourself with these words, let’s walk inside, the old man is waiting for you.”
Jinxia followed his invitation and went inside, politely greeting Xie Baili.
Before she could open her mouth to explain the situation, Xie Baili saw the items being returned, and understood. He laughed and said: “Brother Yang’s prudent temperament hasn’t changed at all. These items are only worth a few taels, yet he still returned them.”
“At the moment, the case is still under investigation, my master is afraid that it won’t be good for you.”
Jinxia sat politely in the mahogany wooden chair with roses patterns, laughed and said, “This world is full of chaos, we have a small group of people, but there are more villains* than goods, don’t bother about this. Please wait until the case is over, and my master’s foot improves, then we won’t care about the villains anymore and even getting drunk over three hundred rounds would be no problem.”
*[The villains she’s mentioned are the people around them, for example servants, workers, guards, etc. Since the Zhou Xian case involved Wu’An Gang, so if they exchanged gifts, people would mistook it as a bribery between gangs and officials, TN]
Xie Baili let out a loud laugh after listening to her: “You are a girl, yet you’re very clever and bold with your words, this is not something Brother Yang would have taught you.”
“Speak and act cautiously, my master has taught me everything, but I didn’t learn well.” Jinxia smiled.
Xie Xiao stared at her, couldn’t help but laugh in secret. His action fell into Xie Baili’s eyes.
Jinxia visited the Xie’s family for a cup of tea, Xie Baili asked about Yang ChengWan’s condition, and also asked about their living condition in Yangzhou. She only said what she needed to say, and what she shouldn’t say, she vaguely answered him. Xie Baili nodded in silence. Although this child looked young, he understood everything in her heart. After all, she was brought out by Yang ChengWan.
When she was ready to leave, Xie Baili ordered Xie Xiao to take her out.
After reaching the gate, she saw that Xie Xiao was still following her and was surprised, “Brother, you can go home now, I’m not a girl who never went out before, you don’t need to escort me all the way back.”
“I’m not doing this because of you, I’m using this opportunity to get out of the house for fresh air.”
Xie Xiao stretched his arms, then twisted his waist, and took big steps walking down the street.
“Aren’t you afraid of being caught by the old man?”
“He is my father, do you think he doesn’t understand me?” Xie Xiao squinted at her, “Do you think when the old man asked me to escort you out, he was hoping I would come home right after?”
While Jinxia was walking with him, she remembered something all of a sudden and seriously asked, “Earlier, because I was in your residence I didn’t dare to ask, but your injured brothers who were hit with the Japanese strange weapon, how are they?”
Xie Xiao sighed, “Still sleeping on the bed. I heard that Jiangning has a doctor who is good at treating strange poisons, and Uncle Jin from the White Tiger Gang has told people to go pick him up already.”
“Does the old man know?”
“He’d already known from the beginning, it was hard to hide it from him.” Xie Xiao continued to sigh.
“Those Japanese pirates, after you report them to the authorities, did they not send anyone to investigate?”
“I heard that they did send people, but when they arrived at the scene, it was empty. These Japanese pirates have no fixed place, they come and go like ghosts. Those Yangzhou police and their little swords, I say, even if they did meet them, they would probably die anyways.”
Jinxia furrowed her eyebrows and said out loud, “These government people… Unless it becomes a big problem, to the point of harassing and making the superiors uncomfortable, or else it will not be investigated.”
“Okay, okay, don’t display that ‘I care about the people’ face here, you’re just a small official, you don’t need to pay too much attention.” Xie Xiao said unhappily. He was about to stretch out his hand to pull her pigtails like when they were kids, but when his hand reached her head, she gently stroked her hair.
Jinxia tilted her head, looking at him in surprise.
Xie Xiao was stunned for a moment, awkwardly pulling his hand back, while giggling, “…There is… There is a small caterpillar.”
Jinxia didn’t mind, she just shook her head and continued to walk forward.
Not knowing what had happened to him earlier, Xie Xiao, without her noticing, let out a sigh of relief, and followed her. Then he saw Jinxia stop moving and turning to hide behind a fried pancake stall…
“What’s wrong?” He asked in surprise.
“Hushh!”
She quickly gestured to him, staring not far ahead.
Following her gaze, he only saw the heads of people passing by, nothing strange.
“You two, buy some fried pancakes! My fried pancakes are made with the recipes passed down by generations, made with fresh ingredients, the outside is very crispy, the taste is very pure, fragrant and sweet.” The owner of the stall was very welcoming, “Two coins for one pancake, if you buy three, get one extra free, and buy five, get two extra free…”
“Buy five and two extra free? How great!” After saying those words, Jinxia put aside her previous problem at once, looked down at the pancakes and reached into her pocket to touch the coins inside. She hesitated, asking, “Uncle, can I owe you?”
Upon hearing the word ‘owe’, the owner’s face immediately went down, “This is a small business, no owing.”
“Look at you, losing your face.” Xie Xiao couldn’t watch anymore, he quickly took out some coins and slammed it on the stall, “Wrap me ten pancakes.”
“It’s great to have a lot of money!”
Jinxia said with envy.
After taking the wrapped pancakes, Xie Xiao asked, “What were you looking at before?”
“Huh?…” Jinxia remembered all of a sudden and looked up again in the previous direction, “Where is the person? Already entered the show?”
“Who the heck is that?”
“You go home first, I have some business.” Jinxia’s eyes continued to look in the same direction, and waved her hands. She ignored him and started walking toward the place.
“Ei! You… Do you still want fried pancakes?”
Xie Xiao held up the fried pancakes, feeling annoyed, looked at her back, then chased after her.
***
On the stage, the sounds of gongs and drums were playing loudly, spreading across the room, the song being played was the ‘Mandarin Duck Letter’. That song told the story of Hu Sanniang, who went out hunting and met by coincidence with Wang Ying who was trapping a tiger. Sanniang first fell for him because of admiration, which later turned into love, whereas Wang Ying fell in love because of Sanniang’s beauty. Later on, Wang Ying and Hu Sanniang each wrote a poem on a pair of Mandarin Ducks, expressing their love for each other. After a few twists and turns, they finally got married.
Wang Ying was also called the ‘short-legged tiger’, since he had a small body. The actor on the stage had a tiger mask on his head and on his body he wore a costume. With a half-crouched body, he tried with his best ability to move around, forward, back, left, right, up, down, turn around, and straight ahead. He kept turning until the whole audience clapped.
As soon as Jinxia entered the place, there was an instant sound of gongs and drums mixed with applause that was filling the room. The girl hid behind a pillar and examined the inside with her eyes. There were a lot of people watching the show, and the downstairs audience was also full, there were about three to four young servants holding long-mouthed teapots, walking back and forth into the room, delivering and pouring tea for the audience. Looking upstairs again…
With just a glance, she subconsciously hid behind the pillar and tilted her head to watch with attention.
“What are you doing here?” Xie Xiao went inside and, seeing her hiding, he became surprised.
Jinxia forcefully pulled him behind the pillar. Both hiding, looking at the fried pancakes in his pocket, the fragrant went through the greased paper and up her nose, she couldn’t help but lower her voice, “Can you give me a piece?”
“I originally bought it for you.” Xie Xiao followed her to lower his voice on instinct, and then felt something was wrong, “Why are you acting like a thief?”
She bit into the fried pancake, gesturing to him to look upstairs.
Xie Xiao stuck out his head, glanced up, and was immediately stunned, but he was dragged back by Jinxia.
“How can she be here with that Lu person?” Xie Xiao was surprised and dissatisfied.
“Really crispy and crunchy, you should eat one too.” Jinxia kindly put a piece of pancake in Xie Xiao’s hand, and then asked: “Does Shangguan Jie like to watch theatre plays these days?”
“I do not know.” Xie Xiao chewed the fried pancake, feeling annoyed, “I’ve never heard her talking about it.”
Jinxia stuck out her head and glanced upstairs again, sighing, “I have said from the beginning that Lu Daren is flirtatious… On one hand, he keeps Ms. Zhai close by gifting her fragrance, and on the other hand, he invited Shangguan Jie to watch theatre plays. Look, they’re both having a good chat.”
“How is this possible…”
Xie Xiao was a little annoyed. Right at that moment, a young servant who happened to come over to them, warmly said, “Two respectful customers, please come inside! We have salted beans, sweet fried chestnuts, crispy fried tofu…”
“Get away from this Lao Si!”
Xie Xiao scolded him and the young servant was so shocked that he took two steps back.
Both of them frowned together. YangYue came into the room carrying two large bowls, and when he saw the scene in front of him, he unhappily said, “Master Xia, I told you not to let my father be distressed, what is that bump and those wrinkles between his eyebrows?”
Jinxia smelled the fragrance and jumped to her feet, she then helped carry the large bowls; the golden noodles, on top of which was a layer of thick and still hot sauce, with mushrooms and minced meat, sent their aroma up her nose. She handed it to Yang ChengWan at once and praised, “This medical hall is really good, there is also meat to eat. These noodles should be eaten while they’re hot, or else they will become soggy.”
Yang ChengWan took a noodle bowl, sorted through the noodles, looked at YangYue and blamed, “You’re now getting bolder. Jinxia faced all sorts of troubles, yet you dare to help her cover it.”
YangYue thought that Jinxia had told his father everything, so he didn’t dare to argue with him, he only said, “Father, I know I was wrong, that’s why I bought the poison antidote at the shop in front of the clinic…”
“Ahem! Ahem! Ahem, ahem!” Jinxia intervened right away trying to violently stop him, while glaring and winking at YangYue.
Realizing that something was wrong, YangYue stopped his words and, for a moment, he didn’t know how to proceed.
“What with the coughs? You think if he doesn’t tell me, I wouldn’t know?” Yang ChengWan glared at Jinxia, “Judging from your temperament, let alone the fog, even if blades fall down like rain, you wouldn’t hesitate and still go investigate. If you had the patient to wait another day to investigate, that means something must have happened.”
Jinxia opened her mouth, but didn’t know what to say. At last, she said while laughing: “Look at me, I’m fine. I told Da Yang not to tell you too much, because I wanted you to spend more time recovering.” She was talking while stuffing the noodles in her mouth. While eating, she told him everything, and didn’t dare to hide any details this time, but the situation with her catching the miasma poison and the encounter with the snakes in the forest, she tried to reduce the story as much as possible.
When he heard about the Zhiyan pill, Yang ChengWan’s face immediately changed.
Jinxia, noticing his change in expression, asked in excitement, “Master, do you also know about the Zhiyan pill? Is this item really expensive?”
“No, I just thought of an old friend.”
The fact that a Ziyan pill was necessary to detoxify the poison indicated that the miasma poison was extremely dangerous, and he remembered that his disciple was very careless and rash, she would definitely break into the forest. Yang ChengWan couldn’t help but shake his head.
YangYue, standing on the side, gave an idea: “Father, just punish her, tell her to put a wash bin on her head and stand in the yard.”
Jinxia immediately put on a smile, showing off her white teeth.
Yang ChengWan sighed, “Xia’Er, even if you don’t think about me, you have to think about your mother. Your mother could hand you over to me, this means she puts her trust in me, If something happens to you, what can I say to your mother?”
“Master, I know.” Jinxia lowered her head.
“One more thing, Yue’Er, if anything strange happen with an unknown origin, similar to this, don’t let her replace you again.”
“Understood.” YangYue answered right away.
Yang ChengWan looked at the two of them, sighed quietly, then said: “Yesterday, the medicinal food sent by Xie Xiao, Xia’Er, you go bring some goods to the Xie family on my behalf. Wu’An Gang helped Zhou Xian escort the funds, which made themselves involved in the case, it’s not good for them. Explain to them the reason and thank them for me.”
Jinxia agreed, got up, took the medicinal drink and walked out.
“Try to act like a lady a little, don’t lose your etiquette, will you remember?” He reminded Jinxia again.
Jinxia, standing by the door, nodded.
Hearing that her footsteps was going further away, Yang ChengWan turned to look at YangYue, “Yesterday, when you followed her into the Taohualin Forest, was Xie Xiao who carried Xia’Er?”
YangYue was tidying up the bowl and chopsticks. Hearing his question, he wasn’t sure what he meant by it, so he just nodded his head.
Yang ChengWan stopped all his questioning. He half leaned back and closed his eyes to rest, there was a smile on the corner of his lips.
***
Jinxia brought the medicinal goods to the Xie’s family. After reporting her arrival to the house servants, they immediately led her to the yard where Xie Baili was staying. As soon as she walked past the meihua tree*, she saw Xie Xiao walking around in the corridor.
*[Meihua = apricot tree]
“You…” He intended to smile but when he saw what she was carrying, he was surprised: “Why did you bring these things back?”
“How can we not?” Jinxia smiled, “Zhou Xian’s case is still under investigation and Big Master Xie gave us something so expensive… If someone doesn’t understand the situation, they might use this opportunity to make it difficult for your family. My master is afraid that it will affect your reputation later, so we had to return them quickly.”
“This…”
“No hurry, my master will be resting for three months. No matter how bad Zhou Xian’s case about the losing of the river funds would turn out to be, two months should be enough to wrap up this case. After we find the money, you can send these back.”
“In two months? Have you found a clue where the money could be?”
Jinxia waved her hand carelessly, “Don’t talk about where it could be, I can’t even find a single clue relating to it. It’s like that one thousand taels of silver grew wings and flew away. I can only hope that they fly back one day.”
“Then why are you saying two months?” Xie Xiao laughed mockingly, “You’re just sitting there and waiting.”
“Waiting, this method is sometimes better than attacking.” Jinxia said seriously, and then shrugged, “That is what my master said, I also do not understand, I just have to work hard.”
Xie Xiao laughed while scolding her, “You’re just trying to fool yourself with these words, let’s walk inside, the old man is waiting for you.”
Jinxia followed his invitation and went inside, politely greeting Xie Baili.
Before she could open her mouth to explain the situation, Xie Baili saw the items being returned, and understood. He laughed and said: “Brother Yang’s prudent temperament hasn’t changed at all. These items are only worth a few taels, yet he still returned them.”
“At the moment, the case is still under investigation, my master is afraid that it won’t be good for you.”
Jinxia sat politely in the mahogany wooden chair with roses patterns, laughed and said, “This world is full of chaos, we have a small group of people, but there are more villains* than goods, don’t bother about this. Please wait until the case is over, and my master’s foot improves, then we won’t care about the villains anymore and even getting drunk over three hundred rounds would be no problem.”
*[The villains she’s mentioned are the people around them, for example servants, workers, guards, etc. Since the Zhou Xian case involved Wu’An Gang, so if they exchanged gifts, people would mistook it as a bribery between gangs and officials, TN]
Xie Baili let out a loud laugh after listening to her: “You are a girl, yet you’re very clever and bold with your words, this is not something Brother Yang would have taught you.”
“Speak and act cautiously, my master has taught me everything, but I didn’t learn well.” Jinxia smiled.
Xie Xiao stared at her, couldn’t help but laugh in secret. His action fell into Xie Baili’s eyes.
Jinxia visited the Xie’s family for a cup of tea, Xie Baili asked about Yang ChengWan’s condition, and also asked about their living condition in Yangzhou. She only said what she needed to say, and what she shouldn’t say, she vaguely answered him. Xie Baili nodded in silence. Although this child looked young, he understood everything in her heart. After all, she was brought out by Yang ChengWan.
When she was ready to leave, Xie Baili ordered Xie Xiao to take her out.
After reaching the gate, she saw that Xie Xiao was still following her and was surprised, “Brother, you can go home now, I’m not a girl who never went out before, you don’t need to escort me all the way back.”
“I’m not doing this because of you, I’m using this opportunity to get out of the house for fresh air.”
Xie Xiao stretched his arms, then twisted his waist, and took big steps walking down the street.
“Aren’t you afraid of being caught by the old man?”
“He is my father, do you think he doesn’t understand me?” Xie Xiao squinted at her, “Do you think when the old man asked me to escort you out, he was hoping I would come home right after?”
While Jinxia was walking with him, she remembered something all of a sudden and seriously asked, “Earlier, because I was in your residence I didn’t dare to ask, but your injured brothers who were hit with the Japanese strange weapon, how are they?”
Xie Xiao sighed, “Still sleeping on the bed. I heard that Jiangning has a doctor who is good at treating strange poisons, and Uncle Jin from the White Tiger Gang has told people to go pick him up already.”
“Does the old man know?”
“He’d already known from the beginning, it was hard to hide it from him.” Xie Xiao continued to sigh.
“Those Japanese pirates, after you report them to the authorities, did they not send anyone to investigate?”
“I heard that they did send people, but when they arrived at the scene, it was empty. These Japanese pirates have no fixed place, they come and go like ghosts. Those Yangzhou police and their little swords, I say, even if they did meet them, they would probably die anyways.”
Jinxia furrowed her eyebrows and said out loud, “These government people… Unless it becomes a big problem, to the point of harassing and making the superiors uncomfortable, or else it will not be investigated.”
“Okay, okay, don’t display that ‘I care about the people’ face here, you’re just a small official, you don’t need to pay too much attention.” Xie Xiao said unhappily. He was about to stretch out his hand to pull her pigtails like when they were kids, but when his hand reached her head, she gently stroked her hair.
Jinxia tilted her head, looking at him in surprise.
Xie Xiao was stunned for a moment, awkwardly pulling his hand back, while giggling, “…There is… There is a small caterpillar.”
Jinxia didn’t mind, she just shook her head and continued to walk forward.
Not knowing what had happened to him earlier, Xie Xiao, without her noticing, let out a sigh of relief, and followed her. Then he saw Jinxia stop moving and turning to hide behind a fried pancake stall…
“What’s wrong?” He asked in surprise.
“Hushh!”
She quickly gestured to him, staring not far ahead.
Following her gaze, he only saw the heads of people passing by, nothing strange.
“You two, buy some fried pancakes! My fried pancakes are made with the recipes passed down by generations, made with fresh ingredients, the outside is very crispy, the taste is very pure, fragrant and sweet.” The owner of the stall was very welcoming, “Two coins for one pancake, if you buy three, get one extra free, and buy five, get two extra free…”
“Buy five and two extra free? How great!” After saying those words, Jinxia put aside her previous problem at once, looked down at the pancakes and reached into her pocket to touch the coins inside. She hesitated, asking, “Uncle, can I owe you?”
Upon hearing the word ‘owe’, the owner’s face immediately went down, “This is a small business, no owing.”
“Look at you, losing your face.” Xie Xiao couldn’t watch anymore, he quickly took out some coins and slammed it on the stall, “Wrap me ten pancakes.”
“It’s great to have a lot of money!”
Jinxia said with envy.
After taking the wrapped pancakes, Xie Xiao asked, “What were you looking at before?”
“Huh?…” Jinxia remembered all of a sudden and looked up again in the previous direction, “Where is the person? Already entered the show?”
“Who the heck is that?”
“You go home first, I have some business.” Jinxia’s eyes continued to look in the same direction, and waved her hands. She ignored him and started walking toward the place.
“Ei! You… Do you still want fried pancakes?”
Xie Xiao held up the fried pancakes, feeling annoyed, looked at her back, then chased after her.
***
On the stage, the sounds of gongs and drums were playing loudly, spreading across the room, the song being played was the ‘Mandarin Duck Letter’. That song told the story of Hu Sanniang, who went out hunting and met by coincidence with Wang Ying who was trapping a tiger. Sanniang first fell for him because of admiration, which later turned into love, whereas Wang Ying fell in love because of Sanniang’s beauty. Later on, Wang Ying and Hu Sanniang each wrote a poem on a pair of Mandarin Ducks, expressing their love for each other. After a few twists and turns, they finally got married.
Wang Ying was also called the ‘short-legged tiger’, since he had a small body. The actor on the stage had a tiger mask on his head and on his body he wore a costume. With a half-crouched body, he tried with his best ability to move around, forward, back, left, right, up, down, turn around, and straight ahead. He kept turning until the whole audience clapped.
As soon as Jinxia entered the place, there was an instant sound of gongs and drums mixed with applause that was filling the room. The girl hid behind a pillar and examined the inside with her eyes. There were a lot of people watching the show, and the downstairs audience was also full, there were about three to four young servants holding long-mouthed teapots, walking back and forth into the room, delivering and pouring tea for the audience. Looking upstairs again…
With just a glance, she subconsciously hid behind the pillar and tilted her head to watch with attention.
“What are you doing here?” Xie Xiao went inside and, seeing her hiding, he became surprised.
Jinxia forcefully pulled him behind the pillar. Both hiding, looking at the fried pancakes in his pocket, the fragrant went through the greased paper and up her nose, she couldn’t help but lower her voice, “Can you give me a piece?”
“I originally bought it for you.” Xie Xiao followed her to lower his voice on instinct, and then felt something was wrong, “Why are you acting like a thief?”
She bit into the fried pancake, gesturing to him to look upstairs.
Xie Xiao stuck out his head, glanced up, and was immediately stunned, but he was dragged back by Jinxia.
“How can she be here with that Lu person?” Xie Xiao was surprised and dissatisfied.
“Really crispy and crunchy, you should eat one too.” Jinxia kindly put a piece of pancake in Xie Xiao’s hand, and then asked: “Does Shangguan Jie like to watch theatre plays these days?”
“I do not know.” Xie Xiao chewed the fried pancake, feeling annoyed, “I’ve never heard her talking about it.”
Jinxia stuck out her head and glanced upstairs again, sighing, “I have said from the beginning that Lu Daren is flirtatious… On one hand, he keeps Ms. Zhai close by gifting her fragrance, and on the other hand, he invited Shangguan Jie to watch theatre plays. Look, they’re both having a good chat.”
“How is this possible…”
Xie Xiao was a little annoyed. Right at that moment, a young servant who happened to come over to them, warmly said, “Two respectful customers, please come inside! We have salted beans, sweet fried chestnuts, crispy fried tofu…”
“Get away from this Lao Si!”
Xie Xiao scolded him and the young servant was so shocked that he took two steps back.
