frightfiction Chapter 303: First Love
Chapter 303: First Love
Chapter 303: First Love
Li Ming placed the bamboo sieve on the ground, turned around to look at Yan Zhi, and noticed that she was almost completely soaked. He quickly found one of his clean clothes and draped it over her. Yan Zhi rubbed her arms, her lips were pale, and she kept her head down without saying a word. Li Ming realized that something was wrong with Yan Zhi, so he touched her forehead and found it was very hot.
"You have a fever. Wait a moment, I'll take you home." Li Ming looked at Yan Zhi anxiously, tidied up the peach blossoms, and waited for the rainwater on them to evaporate slowly with the air.
"Let's go, I'll carry you home." Li Ming carried Yan Zhi on his back, holding an umbrella, and went to Ji Meiqing's house. The road was muddy, making it a bit slippery to walk on. Yan Zhi had a fever and her mind was a little hazy, but she was still somewhat conscious. She grabbed Li Ming's clothes and said, "Brother Ming, put... put me down, I can walk by myself." She had a fever and her voice was a little weak, so she could only whisper in Li Ming's ear.
"We're almost there, it's alright," Li Ming said through gritted teeth. Rouge gave a soft "Mmm" and drifted off to sleep. When they arrived at Ji Meiqing's house, Li Ming put Rouge on the bed and tucked her in.
Li Ming found some clothes for Yan Zhi and softly called her name. Yan Zhi opened her eyes slightly, saw Li Ming, and smiled foolishly, saying, "Brother Ming, you're here! I like you so much!"
Li Ming paused for a moment after hearing what Yan Zhi said, then said, "Your clothes are wet, change them." After saying that, he left the room.
Rouge patted her head, feeling much more awake. She couldn't help but laugh when she thought of Li Ming's expression when she confessed her feelings. "Li Ming, I'm determined to win you over," Rouge thought to herself. Then she changed out of her fitting clothes.
After changing her clothes, Yan Zhi felt dizzy and lay down on the bed to sleep. Li Ming waited outside Yan Zhi's room the whole time. After a while, he knocked on Yan Zhi's door, but there was no response. At first, he didn't think much of it, but after knocking several times in a row and still receiving no response, Li Ming began to feel inexplicably anxious.
Left with no other choice, he had to force his way in. Seeing Rouge fast asleep, his anxiety subsided. He went to the kitchen, filled a basin with cold water, soaked a towel in the water, wrung it out, and applied it to Rouge's forehead. Once Rouge's fever had subsided considerably, Li Ming lay down on the edge of the bed, intending to take a nap.
Jiangnan.
Li Meiqing was at a loss, and the day she was supposed to meet Shen Bin was drawing ever closer. She felt somewhat frustrated and wanted to try her luck outside. Lu Yu had rarely appeared lately; he told her he was practicing martial arts and didn't have time, so Li Meiqing had no choice but to let him be.
Ji Meiqing went to the jewelry store she'd visited before. As soon as she entered, the owner recognized her and said, "Miss, are you here to pick up some goods?" Ji Meiqing simply nodded. The owner went to the back to get something and returned shortly with a handkerchief in his arms. The owner opened the package, and Ji Meiqing saw the finished hairpin and exclaimed in amazement at its exquisite craftsmanship.
Ji Meiqing examined the finished hairpin, then handed twenty taels of silver to the shop owner. The owner, looking at the silver in his hand, said, "Miss, we're just a small business owner, this...this is too little." Ji Meiqing smiled and said, "This hairpin isn't pure gold, so twenty taels isn't unreasonable." The shop owner wanted to say something more, but he was at a loss for words and reluctantly accepted the twenty taels of silver.
Before leaving, Ji Meiqing said to the shop owner, "We will have more opportunities to cooperate in the future." The shop owner, who was already unhappy because of Ji Meiqing's twenty taels, immediately brightened up when he heard this.
Having obtained the hairpin, Ji Meiqing prepared to return to the inn. As she walked, she heard someone playing the erhu. Following the sound, Ji Meiqing found the person, an elderly man with graying temples and a broken bowl beside him. Although his temples were gray, the old man's eyes shone with an unusual brightness. The erhu he played was poignant yet elegant.
Ji Meiqing, standing to the side, clapped her hands and exclaimed, "Bravo!!" Seeing that Ji Meiqing liked the erhu she played, the old man picked up a bowl from the ground and held it out to her. Ji Meiqing, however, raised an eyebrow at him, looking as if she had no money. The old man, seeing that Ji Meiqing had no money, didn't say anything and continued playing his erhu.
“Old man, although I don’t have any money right now, if you come with me, I guarantee you’ll never have to worry about food or clothing,” Ji Meiqing said, tossing a silver ingot into the bowl. The old man didn’t seem to be a greedy person, and didn’t react much to Ji Meiqing’s actions. Ji Meiqing wasn’t entirely confident that she could get the old man to come with her, but she still wanted to try.
She hummed a song as she walked away, swaggering ahead, her heart pounding with unease. She wanted to turn back many times, but she held back. After walking for a while, she suddenly heard someone playing the erhu behind her. Ji Meiqing was delighted and turned around to see the old man following her not far away.
The old man was rather strange. He told Ji Meiqing that he only knew his surname was Lin, and nothing else. Ji Meiqing was skeptical, but didn't press him further. And so, she took Uncle Lin to the inn.
Arriving at the door of Yin Lie's room, Ji Meiqing knocked. Yin Lie opened the door after a while, and Ji Meiqing said apologetically, "Uncle Yin, I'm sorry to have troubled you to stay with Uncle Lin these past few days." Ji Meiqing was prepared for Yin Lie to refuse at any time, and then Yin Lie said, "It's alright, Miss Ji, you don't need to feel sorry."
After settling Lin Bo's accommodation, Ji Meiqing returned to her own room. As soon as she entered, she saw Lu Yu asleep on the bed. This seemed to be the first time he had slept so soundly during the day. Thinking this, Ji Meiqing felt a little strange. She went to the bedside, checked Lu Yu's temperature, and only after finding nothing amiss did she feel relieved and let him sleep.
The afternoon was rather muggy. Ji Meiqing paced back and forth in her room, feeling restless and unsure of what to do. She eventually packed her bags and went to Yingchun Pavilion. As before, even with Ji Meiqing's wine added, the place remained deathly still. They hadn't received more than two customers all day.
Seeing how slow business was, Ji Meiqing was somewhat anxious but didn't show it. She wasn't sure if her plan would help this business.
Ji Meiqing went straight into the restaurant. She was about to go upstairs to find Shen Bin when the manager stopped her, saying, "Miss Ji, our boss is not here today." Hearing this, Ji Meiqing had no choice but to stop walking.
Looking around the room and finding nothing amiss, Ji Meiqing sat down. The waiter promptly brewed tea for her. Ji Meiqing kept her head down, seemingly lost in thought. After a while, she turned to the shopkeeper and said, "Go and take down the signboard." The shopkeeper, unsure of Ji Meiqing's intentions, dared not ask further and remained silent.
As soon as the signboard was brought in, Ji Meiqing said, "Throw away the signboard and replace it with a new one." The shopkeeper looked at Ji Meiqing, somewhat puzzled, wondering why she would throw away a perfectly good signboard. Ji Meiqing could tell that the shopkeeper seemed to want to disobey her, and she said with a dark face, "What's wrong? Is what I said unpleasant to hear?" The shopkeeper was displeased by Ji Meiqing's arrogant attitude and ignored her words.
Ji Meiqing said somewhat angrily, "You're fired." The shopkeeper, however, looked at Ji Meiqing indifferently, too lazy to pay her any attention, and kept his head down, doing his own thing. Ji Meiqing was a little angry that he didn't respect her, but since he didn't treat her as his boss, no amount of talking to him would make a difference.
"You're fired," Shen Bin said, walking straight up to the shopkeeper after witnessing the scene at the door. The shopkeeper looked at his boss with some shock but said nothing and left.