As soon as Jinxia heard that voice, she turned around in excitement, “Lu Daren, you’re back! I have prepared a table to invite you for dinner. Hurry and sit in the room.”
Lu Yi glanced at the carrot in her hand, “Eating this? You think you’re feeding rabbits?”
“How can that be? I’ve prepared a vegetarian menu. Don’t misunderstand thinking I’m trying to save money. I’ve checked the books, it is advisable for us to be vegetarian today, we will earn a hundred thousand merits.” After saying this, she somewhat regretted her words, as if they were showing what she was trying to hide.
“So you mean I’m doing too many bad things these days?” Lu Yi raised his eyebrows and said in a displeased tone, “And so now you want me to accumulate merit points?”
Jinxia let out a dry laugh, “Daren, you think too much, Beizhe is just… Daren has always looked after me, inviting Daren to eat is something I should do.”
Lu Yi looked at her for a moment, glancing at YangYue who was in the kitchen as well. He didn’t add anything more and walked into the room at once.
Behind him was a clueless Jinxia chewing her carrot. She tightened her eyebrows: “It looks like he’s in a bad mood today… I don’t know who has offended him and made him angry.”
YangYue quickly put the tofu into the soup, stirred it a few times, and then scooped it in the soup bowl. He said to Jinxia: “What are you still doing there? Daren is back. Hurry and go to serve the food.”
She grabbed the tray right away and put the soup down on the top. After that, Jinxia carefully brought it into the room. Seeing Lu Yi’s frowned and slightly wrinkled forehead and that he was reaching out to pour tea…
“Daren, are you not happy today?” Jinxia asked in a curious tone, putting the soup bowl on the table with attention.
Lu Yi raised his head and looked at her for a moment. He did not answer her.
“Has anyone offended you and made you angry?” Jinxia asked sincerely, “They must be in the wrong! Daren, please taste the soup first so you can relieve your frustration.”
He was still looking at her, when he slowly said, “Not really… Today you have some good news, should I congratulate you?”
“Daren, don’t laugh at me!” Jinxia was worried about this, and said in anxiety, “How could that Xie Xiao think something and immediately do it? How could I marry him? Won’t there be a big fuss… Daren, don’t let Liu Daren know about this matter, please!”
YangYue brought in the radishes fried with pig oil. The colour of the radishes was brownish yellow, they were sprinkled with green onions. There was also a little fried shrimp. Under the light of the lantern, the dish gave out a shining gold colour.
“Xie Xiao told my father, you’ve accepted him.” YangYue whispered toward Jinxia.
Jinxia became more and more worried, frantically saying, “I told him that this matter will be discussed later, how can this be called acceptance? You say… He looks normal, but why is he so stupid?”
“You don’t want to accept his proposal and you’ve already refused it, why bother talking about it later?” YangYue was confused.
“You don’t know the situation at that time…” At this moment, Jinxia couldn’t explain the boat robbing incident.
At that point, Lu Yi had already scooped himself a bowl of soup, then gently used the spoon to stir the soup in the blue and white bowl, “That day, I remember you saying it was a good thing.”
Not expecting Lu Yi to participate in the conversation, Jinxia immediately looked like she was going to cry. Trying to defend herself, she said, “I’m just saying, that day my head was dizzy and I had a fever, anything he said, I didn’t keep it in my heart. How could I agree to something like that… Also, my family is in the Capital, and he is in Jiangnan, my mother would never agree to a marriage so far away! Besides… There is Shangguan Sister beside him, the two of them had an engagement before. Moreover, Shangguan Sister has a deep affection for him, how can I put my foot in it? If I really marry him, everyday, I will have to face Shangguan Sister and her twin sword, and if one day she’s having a bad day, I might be cut into pieces. Do I look like someone who wants to die?”
Speaking to that point, she just remembered that Lu Yi was interested in Shangguan Xi. She hurriedly faced him, “Daren, I really respect Shangguan Bangzhu, and have no dissatisfaction with her at all, please don’t get me wrong.”
Lu Yi waved his hand, it was obvious he didn’t mind, “You’re thinking quite far ahead… Continue!”
“Continue?” Jinxia was surprised for a moment, “There is nothing more I can say. Anyway, I will not agree to this marriage, my mother won’t either, tomorrow I will end his plan.” Her hand pressed hard, her determination was strong and definite.
YangYue reminded her, “Xie Xiao is an arrogant person, don’t let people go off their head.”
“Don’t worry, I already have an idea.”
Even though she said that in her mouth, Jinxia still felt restless and massaged her forehead.
“Alright… I have to go get the pancakes.” YangYue thought of the kitchen, walking out in a hurry.
Jinxia watched Lu Yi drinking his bowl of soup. Seeing that he was enjoying the meal, she was excited again, and attentively served him. She said laughing, “Daren, should I warm the wine for you?”
“You also prepared wine?” Lu Yi did not think about this.
“One day, while cleaning Daren’s room, I found two jars of wine in the round cupboard in the corner of the room, still unsealed. Daren, do you want to try?”
Lu Yi furrowed his eyebrows, “You’re the one who invited me to eat, yet you’re serving my wine?”
Jinxia shamelessly said, “The distinction between good and bad wine is too obvious, it’s not like cooking. As long as the craftsmanship is good, then it will taste good, I don’t have money to buy wine for you. This…Whose wine is not important, the important thing is that Daren eats well and drinks well, right? I will go warm up the wine…”
“Wait… It’s fruit wine, it doesn’t need to be heated.” Lu Yi thought for a moment, “The fruit wine tastes good, the colour is beautiful, therefore it must be served in a glass cup.”
“Where am I going to find a glass cup for Daren?” Jinxia looked at him in confusion.
Lu Yi also looked at her. After a while, he lightly sighed, “Then, forget it.”
Seeing that he had already lifted the chopsticks to eat the vegetables, Jinxia went to get the wine jar from the round cupboard, thinking in secret, ‘this rich person is too difficult to please’. While lost in her thoughts, Lu Yi’s voice came again, “This radish is fried in pig oil?”
While holding the wine jar, Jinxia leaned over with a smile and said, “Yes! Look at this colour, it’s pretty! Da Yang fried this dish, it’s so good, I can eat three bowls of rice with this.”
Lu Yi asked, “Didn’t you say this was a vegan menu? Why use pig oil?”
“Using pig oil would be more delicious…”
“What about accumulating the merits?” he asked.
“Don’t worry about that, you don’t need them, Daren!” Right now, Jinxia found it very difficult to serve him, “This food is really good, couldn’t you just eat it?”
Seeing her a little tense, Lu Yi lowered his gaze, and chuckled,“Very well, I’ll just eat it like this then.”
After a while, YangYue finished making the spring pancakes, along with other ingredients and dipping sauce. Jinxia helped arrange them neatly, she intended to explain each of the ingredients of this pancake to Lu Yi, but because she was splashed with cold words earlier, he probably wouldn’t even bother to look at her now, reducing her high spirit by half. Seeing that the dishes were ready, she then poured wine for Lu Yi, and was prepared to return to the kitchen with YangYue to look for leftovers to eat.
“Daren, please continue to enjoy the meal, Beizhe will leave first.”
As if he didn’t expect her to leave, Lu Yi was a bit surprised, “Where are you going?”
“Daren, I’m also hungry, I want to go eat with Da Yang.” She nudged YangYue, signalling him to go with her.
“A table full of radishes for me to eat? You’re really treating me like a rabbit.” Lu Yi said, unhappy, “Sit down and let’s eat together!”
“This… It’s a bit inappropriate; our ranks are different, how can we sit at the same table with you for dinner?” Jinxia stared at the food and was a little reluctant to move her legs, “Or Daren can eat first, we serve you on the side, then we can eat after you finish.”
Lu Yi glanced at her and gave a short order, “Sit down, eat!”
Hearing his words, it made Jinxia smile brightly, “Since Daren has good intentions, we will not refuse then.”
YangYue refused instead, “Father hasn’t slept yet, I have to go back to the clinic. Daren, please forgive me.”
Lu Yi nodded his head, “You can just go, please pass my greetings to Superior Yang. Later when I have the time, I will go see him.”
Jinxia escorted YangYue to the door. At first she was about to say something then, after hesitating for a moment, she said, “Nevermind, tomorrow I will go tell the master.”
YangYue reminded her again, “Don’t get drunk in front of Lu Daren, losing control is not good.”
“I know… This master doesn’t lose control with wine.”
Jinxia urged him to leave quickly.
***
“Reporting Bangzhu, we have succeeded in escorting the person. Everything has been carried out properly according to orders.”
A’Rui, who was wearing a short jacket, lowered his head to report to Shangguan Xi.
Shangguan Xi was standing upright in front of the boat, her gaze lost on a point far away. It took a long time before she seemed to notice the existence of A’Rui. She asked slowly, “You… You’re back.”
A’Rui raised his eyes and looked at her. He had not seen her for two days, it seemed she had lost a bit of weight… He couldn’t help but say, “Bangzhu, what happened to you…?”
Shangguan Xi shook her head, turned to look at the busy workers who were going up and down, and said, “I’m going to board on a boat and relax.”
Without any other words, A’Rui took the boatman’s oar, signalling him to get off the boat.
One small boat, two shadows.
Shangguan Xi was again standing straight at the prow of the boat, speechless and oblivious toward her surroundings. A’Rui rowed slowly on the stern of the boat, his eyes never leaving her.
When they arrived in the middle of the lake, the moon had already risen above the sky. While he was rowing, Shangguan Xi said, “In the room, there are two jars of wine, you go bring them here.”
In the dim room of the boat, A’Rui stretched out his hand to search and found two jars of wine. He weighed them: the jars were quite heavy, and the wine had to be strong. After hesitating for a while, he brought the jars out.
Under the moonlight, one could see that the jars were still sealed with clay; the bodies of the jars were scattered by clay stains.
Shangguan Xi took out a handkerchief, bent down and soaked it in the lake water, in order to clean the dirt on the jars. A’Rui was stunned for a moment; he didn’t have a handkerchief on him, instead he tore a piece off his clothes, wet it with the lake water, and helped her clean the jars.
The smooth glaze faintly reflected the moonlight. Shangguan Xi slightly sighed while rubbing her white fingers on it.
“Lend me your knife, okay?” She asked.
A’Rui didn’t say anything else, turned and took out a short shark-toothed blade knife from his waist, giving it to her.
She used the knife to make a small split on the edge of the seal, then one of the jars was opened. The thick and strong smell of wine pierced through her nose. After sniffing it, she knew that it was a very good wine.
“Doesn’t this wine smell good?” She asked casually.
A’Rui ‘uh’ once, then nodded his head: “Good wine.”
“Good wine, that’s right.” She laughed a little, “This is ‘Nu’Er Hong’ that my father has kept hidden for twenty years.”
As soon as Jinxia heard that voice, she turned around in excitement, “Lu Daren, you’re back! I have prepared a table to invite you for dinner. Hurry and sit in the room.”
Lu Yi glanced at the carrot in her hand, “Eating this? You think you’re feeding rabbits?”
“How can that be? I’ve prepared a vegetarian menu. Don’t misunderstand thinking I’m trying to save money. I’ve checked the books, it is advisable for us to be vegetarian today, we will earn a hundred thousand merits.” After saying this, she somewhat regretted her words, as if they were showing what she was trying to hide.
“So you mean I’m doing too many bad things these days?” Lu Yi raised his eyebrows and said in a displeased tone, “And so now you want me to accumulate merit points?”
Jinxia let out a dry laugh, “Daren, you think too much, Beizhe is just… Daren has always looked after me, inviting Daren to eat is something I should do.”
Lu Yi looked at her for a moment, glancing at YangYue who was in the kitchen as well. He didn’t add anything more and walked into the room at once.
Behind him was a clueless Jinxia chewing her carrot. She tightened her eyebrows: “It looks like he’s in a bad mood today… I don’t know who has offended him and made him angry.”
YangYue quickly put the tofu into the soup, stirred it a few times, and then scooped it in the soup bowl. He said to Jinxia: “What are you still doing there? Daren is back. Hurry and go to serve the food.”
She grabbed the tray right away and put the soup down on the top. After that, Jinxia carefully brought it into the room. Seeing Lu Yi’s frowned and slightly wrinkled forehead and that he was reaching out to pour tea…
“Daren, are you not happy today?” Jinxia asked in a curious tone, putting the soup bowl on the table with attention.
Lu Yi raised his head and looked at her for a moment. He did not answer her.
“Has anyone offended you and made you angry?” Jinxia asked sincerely, “They must be in the wrong! Daren, please taste the soup first so you can relieve your frustration.”
He was still looking at her, when he slowly said, “Not really… Today you have some good news, should I congratulate you?”
“Daren, don’t laugh at me!” Jinxia was worried about this, and said in anxiety, “How could that Xie Xiao think something and immediately do it? How could I marry him? Won’t there be a big fuss… Daren, don’t let Liu Daren know about this matter, please!”
YangYue brought in the radishes fried with pig oil. The colour of the radishes was brownish yellow, they were sprinkled with green onions. There was also a little fried shrimp. Under the light of the lantern, the dish gave out a shining gold colour.
“Xie Xiao told my father, you’ve accepted him.” YangYue whispered toward Jinxia.
Jinxia became more and more worried, frantically saying, “I told him that this matter will be discussed later, how can this be called acceptance? You say… He looks normal, but why is he so stupid?”
“You don’t want to accept his proposal and you’ve already refused it, why bother talking about it later?” YangYue was confused.
“You don’t know the situation at that time…” At this moment, Jinxia couldn’t explain the boat robbing incident.
At that point, Lu Yi had already scooped himself a bowl of soup, then gently used the spoon to stir the soup in the blue and white bowl, “That day, I remember you saying it was a good thing.”
Not expecting Lu Yi to participate in the conversation, Jinxia immediately looked like she was going to cry. Trying to defend herself, she said, “I’m just saying, that day my head was dizzy and I had a fever, anything he said, I didn’t keep it in my heart. How could I agree to something like that… Also, my family is in the Capital, and he is in Jiangnan, my mother would never agree to a marriage so far away! Besides… There is Shangguan Sister beside him, the two of them had an engagement before. Moreover, Shangguan Sister has a deep affection for him, how can I put my foot in it? If I really marry him, everyday, I will have to face Shangguan Sister and her twin sword, and if one day she’s having a bad day, I might be cut into pieces. Do I look like someone who wants to die?”
Speaking to that point, she just remembered that Lu Yi was interested in Shangguan Xi. She hurriedly faced him, “Daren, I really respect Shangguan Bangzhu, and have no dissatisfaction with her at all, please don’t get me wrong.”
Lu Yi waved his hand, it was obvious he didn’t mind, “You’re thinking quite far ahead… Continue!”
“Continue?” Jinxia was surprised for a moment, “There is nothing more I can say. Anyway, I will not agree to this marriage, my mother won’t either, tomorrow I will end his plan.” Her hand pressed hard, her determination was strong and definite.
YangYue reminded her, “Xie Xiao is an arrogant person, don’t let people go off their head.”
“Don’t worry, I already have an idea.”
Even though she said that in her mouth, Jinxia still felt restless and massaged her forehead.
“Alright… I have to go get the pancakes.” YangYue thought of the kitchen, walking out in a hurry.
Jinxia watched Lu Yi drinking his bowl of soup. Seeing that he was enjoying the meal, she was excited again, and attentively served him. She said laughing, “Daren, should I warm the wine for you?”
“You also prepared wine?” Lu Yi did not think about this.
“One day, while cleaning Daren’s room, I found two jars of wine in the round cupboard in the corner of the room, still unsealed. Daren, do you want to try?”
Lu Yi furrowed his eyebrows, “You’re the one who invited me to eat, yet you’re serving my wine?”
Jinxia shamelessly said, “The distinction between good and bad wine is too obvious, it’s not like cooking. As long as the craftsmanship is good, then it will taste good, I don’t have money to buy wine for you. This…Whose wine is not important, the important thing is that Daren eats well and drinks well, right? I will go warm up the wine…”
“Wait… It’s fruit wine, it doesn’t need to be heated.” Lu Yi thought for a moment, “The fruit wine tastes good, the colour is beautiful, therefore it must be served in a glass cup.”
“Where am I going to find a glass cup for Daren?” Jinxia looked at him in confusion.
Lu Yi also looked at her. After a while, he lightly sighed, “Then, forget it.”
Seeing that he had already lifted the chopsticks to eat the vegetables, Jinxia went to get the wine jar from the round cupboard, thinking in secret, ‘this rich person is too difficult to please’. While lost in her thoughts, Lu Yi’s voice came again, “This radish is fried in pig oil?”
While holding the wine jar, Jinxia leaned over with a smile and said, “Yes! Look at this colour, it’s pretty! Da Yang fried this dish, it’s so good, I can eat three bowls of rice with this.”
Lu Yi asked, “Didn’t you say this was a vegan menu? Why use pig oil?”
“Using pig oil would be more delicious…”
“What about accumulating the merits?” he asked.
“Don’t worry about that, you don’t need them, Daren!” Right now, Jinxia found it very difficult to serve him, “This food is really good, couldn’t you just eat it?”
Seeing her a little tense, Lu Yi lowered his gaze, and chuckled,“Very well, I’ll just eat it like this then.”
After a while, YangYue finished making the spring pancakes, along with other ingredients and dipping sauce. Jinxia helped arrange them neatly, she intended to explain each of the ingredients of this pancake to Lu Yi, but because she was splashed with cold words earlier, he probably wouldn’t even bother to look at her now, reducing her high spirit by half. Seeing that the dishes were ready, she then poured wine for Lu Yi, and was prepared to return to the kitchen with YangYue to look for leftovers to eat.
“Daren, please continue to enjoy the meal, Beizhe will leave first.”
As if he didn’t expect her to leave, Lu Yi was a bit surprised, “Where are you going?”
“Daren, I’m also hungry, I want to go eat with Da Yang.” She nudged YangYue, signalling him to go with her.
“A table full of radishes for me to eat? You’re really treating me like a rabbit.” Lu Yi said, unhappy, “Sit down and let’s eat together!”
“This… It’s a bit inappropriate; our ranks are different, how can we sit at the same table with you for dinner?” Jinxia stared at the food and was a little reluctant to move her legs, “Or Daren can eat first, we serve you on the side, then we can eat after you finish.”
Lu Yi glanced at her and gave a short order, “Sit down, eat!”
Hearing his words, it made Jinxia smile brightly, “Since Daren has good intentions, we will not refuse then.”
YangYue refused instead, “Father hasn’t slept yet, I have to go back to the clinic. Daren, please forgive me.”
Lu Yi nodded his head, “You can just go, please pass my greetings to Superior Yang. Later when I have the time, I will go see him.”
Jinxia escorted YangYue to the door. At first she was about to say something then, after hesitating for a moment, she said, “Nevermind, tomorrow I will go tell the master.”
YangYue reminded her again, “Don’t get drunk in front of Lu Daren, losing control is not good.”
“I know… This master doesn’t lose control with wine.”
Jinxia urged him to leave quickly.
***
“Reporting Bangzhu, we have succeeded in escorting the person. Everything has been carried out properly according to orders.”
A’Rui, who was wearing a short jacket, lowered his head to report to Shangguan Xi.
Shangguan Xi was standing upright in front of the boat, her gaze lost on a point far away. It took a long time before she seemed to notice the existence of A’Rui. She asked slowly, “You… You’re back.”
A’Rui raised his eyes and looked at her. He had not seen her for two days, it seemed she had lost a bit of weight… He couldn’t help but say, “Bangzhu, what happened to you…?”
Shangguan Xi shook her head, turned to look at the busy workers who were going up and down, and said, “I’m going to board on a boat and relax.”
Without any other words, A’Rui took the boatman’s oar, signalling him to get off the boat.
One small boat, two shadows.
Shangguan Xi was again standing straight at the prow of the boat, speechless and oblivious toward her surroundings. A’Rui rowed slowly on the stern of the boat, his eyes never leaving her.
When they arrived in the middle of the lake, the moon had already risen above the sky. While he was rowing, Shangguan Xi said, “In the room, there are two jars of wine, you go bring them here.”
In the dim room of the boat, A’Rui stretched out his hand to search and found two jars of wine. He weighed them: the jars were quite heavy, and the wine had to be strong. After hesitating for a while, he brought the jars out.
Under the moonlight, one could see that the jars were still sealed with clay; the bodies of the jars were scattered by clay stains.
Shangguan Xi took out a handkerchief, bent down and soaked it in the lake water, in order to clean the dirt on the jars. A’Rui was stunned for a moment; he didn’t have a handkerchief on him, instead he tore a piece off his clothes, wet it with the lake water, and helped her clean the jars.
The smooth glaze faintly reflected the moonlight. Shangguan Xi slightly sighed while rubbing her white fingers on it.
“Lend me your knife, okay?” She asked.
A’Rui didn’t say anything else, turned and took out a short shark-toothed blade knife from his waist, giving it to her.
She used the knife to make a small split on the edge of the seal, then one of the jars was opened. The thick and strong smell of wine pierced through her nose. After sniffing it, she knew that it was a very good wine.
“Doesn’t this wine smell good?” She asked casually.
A’Rui ‘uh’ once, then nodded his head: “Good wine.”
“Good wine, that’s right.” She laughed a little, “This is ‘Nu’Er Hong’ that my father has kept hidden for twenty years.”
