FID – Chapter 201

“There’s no trouble, no trouble! Since you’re Xiao Jinzi’s future wife, you’re one of us! Come on, come and take a seat and have a cup of tea!” 

At the other end, Grandma Liu was already warmly welcoming her.

Feng Mohan, that ass-kisser, even poured tea and water for Grandma!

He used to do this job! Did he come to steal his presence? To step on his status in Grandma’s mind?

I’ll crush you, you little emperor!

Unwilling to be left out, Qian Wanjin dragged the big parcel on the ground and opened it.

“Grandpa, Grandma, Second uncle, Zhiqiu! I brought you gifts from the capital. Let me first divide the gifts. I’ll take the rest to the inner courtyard for Nannan. This time, I’ve found a few top-grade herbs in the capital, so she’ll surely die of happiness!” He first fished out an antique tea pot bought in an ancient porcelain store and handed it to the old man. “Grandpa, here. I heard that brewing tea with this tea pot will taste particularly aromatic!”

“The family has everything. Why do you buy so many every time you come back? It’s a waste of money!”  The grandpa rebuked, but everyone could see that he was very happy. He carefully examined the tea pot, and the more he looked at it, the more he liked it.

“I bought it from street stalls, so it’s not worth a lot of money. You like to collect them, so I gladly bought them!” Qian Wanjin uttered an understatement.

Shi Xianrou secretly smiled. Spending 500 taels on a street vendor was probably something Qian Wanjin could do alone.

“This is a thimble for grandma. The one you’re using is old. Replace it with this, and you won’t prick your fingers. Second Uncle’s concealed button brocade box, I’ll show you how to open it later. If you use this for some private savings, Second Aunt will surely not find it…”

“Really? Oh, Xiao Jinzi, you’ve sent a gift from the heart!” Liu Erlin hugged the brocade box and couldn’t put it down.

Liu Zhiqiu laughed nearby. “Father, forget it. You haven’t saved a large amount of money after so many years, and you’re still playing this trick now? Mother won’t search, but once she gets wind of it, she’ll carry the whole box away!” Ignoring his father’s darkened face, he turned his head and craned his neck. “Where’s mine? What’s my gift?”

When receiving presents, the family was fond of that surprise moment.

“What’s the hurry! Here, yours is a bunch of crowns, and a box of skin care cream. Please quickly primp your face, it’s black as charcoal!” Then he turned and shouted to the grandma, “Grandma, please quickly find a wife for Zhiqiu. Time is running out for him. If you drag it on, the longer you delay, the more he’d be disabled. No one will be willing to marry him then!”

In an instant, laughter exploded over the courtyard.

Shi Xianrou watched everything before her, looking at the man, roaring with laughter and frolicking while nimbly dodging Liu Zhiqiu who was chasing him. Her eyes were glued to his glowing face, and was unconsciously infected until she beamed. 

Qian Wanjin really knew the Liu family. He bought them gifts that were seemingly ordinary, but precious. Most of all, every present he bought seemed to suit everyone’s desires.

He was very attentive.

From childhood to adulthood, from a small fat boy to today’s handsome and suave man, he has changed enormously.

The only thing that remained was his innocent heart beneath his appearance.

He was still her love, Qian Wanjin.

The quarrel and noisy frolicking came to a stop after a while, and Qian Wanjin tidied up the rest of the presents. He glanced at the boy, sitting next to Grandma.

Although the boy’s face was quite disdainful, his eyes were obviously very envious.

As the little emperor, how could he confiscate gifts?

He gave him another look, just in time to meet the boy’s sneaking glance, which he quickly averted.

Qian Wanjin rolled his eyes. Forget it. He wouldn’t fuss about a child!

After digging in the parcel, he pulled out a pair of azure sleeve sashes embroidered with silver threads and water patterns and handed them to him. “Here, these are for you!”

“For me?” The boy was stunned and somewhat incredulous. His eyes were wide open.

“Use these to tie your sleeves. It’s easy to scrape your sleeves when you go up the mountain and down the river. It will make you move easier. Do you want it?”

The young man reached out and quickly took the sleeve sashes. “Since you gave them, I will accept it.”

He was grinning ear to ear, but still stubborn in his speech. The adults turned their heads and restrained their laughter.

Since he had sent a gift to negotiate peace, Feng Mohan felt that he should also be magnanimous and show his generosity, so he asked, “How do you know I go up and down the mountain?”

“Snort! This young master has been here. Do you think I still can’t tell?” Qian Wanjin raised his chin. He was also once a pampered noble young master. But after arriving in Xinghua Village, half of his teenage years were spent crazily playing with Zhixia and Zhiqiu. “Thinking back in the day, when I, Zhixia, and Zhiqiu were in the village, we were the rightful rulers. There was nothing that we could not do!”

“You also went down the river to catch fish and up the tree to catch birds?”

“I’m not bragging. In terms of climbing trees, I am this!” He gave a thumbs up. “If you don’t believe me, ask Liu Zhiqiu!”

Feng Mohan’s eyes lit up as if he found a confidant. “Tomorrow, we’ll be picking loquats in Aunt Liu’s orchard. I dare you to compete with me to see who climbs faster and picks more!”

“Challenge accepted!”

Two kids who haven’t grown up.

The Liu family retired and went about their business with their own gifts. “Xiao Feng, go to the inner courtyard and call your Uncle and Aunt Liu to come out. We’ll have dinner once your Great Uncle and Aunt get back!”

Liu Dalin and Xiulan went to work in the medicinal fields by the Qing River, and they were likely to be back soon. 

Qian Wanjin immediately stood up. “I’ll go and call them!”

“Sit, stay here with Miss Shi. What are you blindly running about for?!” Grandma Liu glared at him. This unenlightened one. His fiancee was here. Where was he going?

Shi Xianrou smiled and stood up. “It’s okay, Grandma. I’ll go with him to call them. I’ve been hearing Qian Wanjin talk about Lucky Nannan. I’ve wanted to meet her for a long time.”

“Okay, then you can go together.” Grandma Liu didn’t think much about it and nodded in agreement.

Nannan has been devoted to medicine all these years. Although she has been good friends with her peers in the village, she has never had a real close friend.

Maybe, Xiao Jinzi’s fiancee could become friends with their Nannan in the future.

A light medicinal fragrance drifted into their noses the moment they approached the courtyard.

This kind of fragrance made people’s mind strangely calm and peaceful.

When they stepped through the inner courtyard’s threshold, the entire courtyard was laid out before them.

The courtyard was small with bluestone slabs paving the path and green grafted vegetation as well as unknown flowers on either side. Beside the flower bushes, there were two rockeries as tall as a person. There were peach trees and bamboo trees in the two corners of the courtyard, and the peach trees have already borne fruit, the size of a small fist. They were green and haven’t ripened yet. A few branches also climbed over the wall and stretched outside, adding a bit of fun to the yard.

Diagonally opposite the peach tree were green bamboos planted against the wall.

There were stone tables and benches under the bamboo, and there was also a bamboo chair you could lie on.

A few steps away, there were irregularly placed bamboo shelves and bamboo sieves with medicinal herbs, drying under the sun.

It was in the middle of those sieves that Shi Xianrou first saw Liu Yusheng.

The young woman’s face was pure and gentle, wearing a soft smile on her lips while flipping the drying herbs and listening to the man beside her.

The man in dark purple brocade robes beside her with a jade crown on his head looked distinct and handsome, reserved and elegant. He was speaking with his head slightly lower and his gaze fixed on the young woman. It made Shi Xianrou think of a phrase.

Only you in the world.