Since lunch had consumed quite a bit of their time, by the time they arrived at Lin County, it was already very late. Lin County wasn’t unfamiliar to Chu Lian because their family owned the Yuelai Restaurant there and they also had a residence. However, Chu Lian didn’t go there and instead followed everyone else to an inn.
This time, the trip was for leisure, and he wanted to enjoy that atmosphere. Besides, Xiangxiang was there, and he wanted to spend more time with her.
It was very late, and most of the inns were full. They finally found one where they could stay, and the group took four rooms—Yang Ming and Xiaoxiao naturally shared one, and the other three each had their own.
After they secured the rooms, everyone followed Xiao’er to their rooms. On the way there, because the path was narrow, Xiangxiang was bumped by several men coming from the opposite direction.
Xiangxiang’s body slightly moved, and Chu Lian quickly steadied her.
Because of the bump, Xiangxiang reflexively looked towards those men, who also glanced back at her. Seeing that the men looked somewhat scary, Xiangxiang hastily withdrew her gaze and followed the others to view the rooms.
Xiaoxiao was quite satisfied with the rooms; after all, she was used to living in shabby places.
"Xiao’er, prepare the bathwater for this young lady’s room first," Chu Lian said, thinking that Xiangxiang needed to wash off the bird droppings, so he instructed Xiao’er to take care of it first.
Xiangxiang felt very grateful for Chu Lian’s thoughtfulness. Although she had wiped her face earlier, if she didn’t take a bath to address this, she would feel uncomfortable all over.
"Sure thing, sir. Is there anything else you’d like me to do?"
"Prepare some food. After this young lady has bathed, we’ll go eat," Chu Lian said, giving Xiao’er some small change as a tip.
"Right away, sir," Xiao’er responded happily and then went to take care of it.
"We’ll head back to our room now. Call us when it’s time to eat," Yang Ming said as he walked back to the room with his wife.
Actually, leaving Xiangxiang in a room alone worried Chu Lian, but he had no choice. He could only stay in the room next to hers, and he instructed her with some concern, "Go inside. I’m right next door. Call me if you need anything."
"Okay," Xiangxiang replied and entered her room, feeling that as long as they weren’t contentious, this way of getting along was quite nice.
Chu Lian watched her enter her room, then turned and pushed open the door that led to the room next to hers.
Acheng, seeing how focused his young master was on Miss Wang, should have understood long ago that Miss Wang was likely to be his future mistress.
Just as he was about to open the door to enter his room, he saw his young master’s door open. They exchanged glances, and understanding dawned. Acheng directly entered his young master’s room.
As soon as Acheng entered, Chu Lian instructed, "Be lighter on your feet tonight, and pay attention to the sounds from her room. Ensure her safety."
"Yes, young master. Don’t worry, Acheng will definitely protect Miss Wang," Acheng responded.
"All right, you can go now."
Acheng exited the room, and Chu Lian sat there, attentively listening to the noises outside. Hearing someone approaching, he quickly opened the door, seeing Xiangxiang also opening her door.
Seeing Chu Lian come out, Xiao’er asked, "Sir, do you need something?"
"Carry on with your tasks," he replied.
Taking that as a cue, Xiao’er and his team went in to prepare the bathwater for Xiangxiang and left after finishing.
Chu Lian went in, checked the bathwater, and noting it wasn’t too hot, said, "It’s fine for bathing now. Call me if you need anything."
After speaking, he left the room, leaving Xiangxiang baffled. Surely she couldn’t call him while she was bathing, could she?