But now, she and Haoming were riding the same horse, and they hadn’t even used a fifth of the usual time before they arrived at the foot of the mountain and saw the outline of the town.
She clutched a cloth bag containing various bottles and jars, all of which she had stayed up late the night before to mix.
Haoming spurred his horse into the town, occasionally glancing down at the little girl in his arms. She was seated sideways on the horse, and as the horse galloped, her shoulder would occasionally bump against his chest, and her slender little legs would sometimes rub against his thighs. He knew it wasn’t intentional; she hadn’t even noticed, but he felt his mouth go dry, a restlessness growing within him, slowly...
With a gulp, he swallowed his saliva. Just then, the little girl looked up at him with a puzzled face and said, "Liang Haoming?"
Dong Huiying blinked her eyes and, as if realizing something, her face suddenly turned bright red.
"You... you stop, stop here, I’ll walk the rest of the way!"
With a wooden expression, Haoming tightened the reins. After the horse stopped, she quickly jumped down, her face so hot it seemed steam might come out.
Then, she turned to glance at him before quickly bowing her head and scurrying through the crowd like a little mouse.
Brother Liubao, with two big dark circles under his eyes, was holding a handful of sunflower seeds and looking towards Chu Pavilion. Just then, a flamboyantly dressed man walked out of Chu Pavilion, "Hey, isn’t this Brother Liubao?"
Sky Blue Building, located in the Red-light District, was directly across from Chu Pavilion. Brother Liubao and Boss Choo across the street were old adversaries. Seeing Boss Choo’s smug expression, Brother Liubao couldn’t help but scowl, "Pah! Mr. Choo, don’t get too smug. Once Phoenix Blood comes back, your little pavilion will be shutting its doors for good!"
Boss Choo pulled out a handkerchief from his chest, pretending to fan his face as if it were too hot, "Oh, Brother Liubao, did you eat stinky tofu or something? Why is your mouth so foul? No wonder your Sky Blue Building doesn’t have a single customer all day; they’ve all been driven away by your breath, haven’t they?"
Brother Liubao was fuming, but Boss Choo was laughing heartily. "You know what they say, ’a mountain cannot accommodate two tigers.’ Looks like your Sky Blue Building can’t keep running. Almost all your young servants have run off to my place. You might as well close up shop now to save yourself the trouble of burning the midnight oil, right?"
"Heh," Brother Liubao scoffed, "I don’t need Boss Choo to worry about me. Everyone has their days, and no flower blooms for a hundred days. Fortune turns like a wheel; we’ll just have to wait and see!"
After that, Brother Liubao spit fiercely in Boss Choo’s direction, then turned with a glower and went back to his Sky Blue Building.
The smugness of the petty man!
This Mr. Choo is pushing it too far!
Ever since Phoenix Blood left, Brother Liubao’s Sky Blue Building had been losing business to the establishment across the street, Chu Pavilion, and even his young servants had started to leave. He pressed his forehead, truly anxious and troubled with a headache.
At that moment, a petite young girl with a flushed face approached the Sky Blue Building...
"May I ask if Brother Liubao is in?"
The girl was early, arriving in the morning.
Places like the Sky Blue Building typically liven up only in the evenings.
During the day, it was quiet both inside and outside the Sky Blue Building. Brother Liubao had just gotten irritated by Boss Choo and was about to sit down for a cup of tea to calm down when he saw the girl enter the building all by herself.