Until she got on the horse carriage, Cai Wei had not yet emerged from Jiujin’s pained expression. At seventeen or eighteen years old, just at the age when first love begins, his long-guarded affection had abruptly ended amidst so much hope. Although she had never experienced that kind of pain, she felt heartache for his despairing eyes...
Upon realizing that Cai Wei had left, the members of the Zhou Family excitedly came into the house, Aunt Zhou complaining as she moved, "Jiujin, why didn’t you keep Girl Wei here to have dinner before leaving? She came from so far away, you... ah, ah hey, Jiujin, what’s wrong? Why are you crying?"
On the ground, Jiujin sat there, crying like a child, tears glistening on his youthful cheeks, one after another, rolling down onto the deed on the floor.
It was a house deed, just one wall away from Bafu Restaurant, a gift from Sister Wei’er. She said that in the future, he could run his shop independently, to take care of himself and live a good life.....
But now, she left, just like the brightest light in his life had disappeared, where would he have the mood to take care of himself, or the heart to live a good life!
Zhou Laowu sat beside him, ’click-clack’ smoking his tobacco pipe, hearing his son’s disjointed account, he sighed deeply and said, "Son, your dad had figured long ago that this girl is not ordinary, sooner or later she’s bound to soar high, our family can’t afford to keep someone like her, you better give up that thought..."
Aunt Zhou initially blamed Cai Wei’s ruthlessness, but when she saw that Cai Wei had so generously given them such a large shop, her resentment disappeared instantly. What remained was gratitude and regret. She could only wish that this girl would have a smooth journey to the capital and find a good mother-in-law’s family worthy of her. She saw this, and then she was at ease...
Cai Wei arrived at the Mu Family Village just before sunset. She thought the house would be chilly and deserted, but when she entered, she found the house immaculately clean and as warm as spring.
The enchantingly handsome man sat casually on her home’s fire kang, holding a chess piece, his gaze focused on the chessboard on the kang table, deep in thought. Hearing her enter, he didn’t raise his head but just lifted the corner of his mouth slightly and said lazily, "You’re back!"
"What are you doing here?" Cai Wei was startled, her voice rising instantly, as if she’d seen a ghost.
The man seemed not to hear her, just looking at the chess game and considering his options.
Cai Wei walked over and knocked on the edge of the kang table, sounding rather cross, "Hey, I am talking to you!"
"Shush, don’t disturb..." Nangong Yi made a silencing gesture to her, his beautifully arched eyebrows crinkling together, one hand holding a chess piece, the other tapping on the table edge, the jade-like fingers poking out from his gorgeous sleeves seizing charming grace away from the purple bamboo on the sleeves.
Cai Wei snorted, turning to go to the kitchen. Just as she left the room, the man on the kang who had been pondering the chess game suddenly looked up, a triumphant smile spreading across his handsome face, silently laughing at the petite figure leaving the room.
There was less and less time he could spend alone with her, he wanted to make the most of every moment they could spend together, so that there would be something worth reminiscing about in his future life.....
Upon arriving at the kitchen, she found it completely empty, not even a single grain of rice. But, this did not pose a problem for her, for being in the kitchen was just a diversion. Inside her space, there was any food one could think of. Almost every delicacy in the world could be found there.
Once inside her space, she found white stem rice, a few tender cucumbers with thorny flowers, and a few ripe tomatoes, hunted a plump wild chicken, picked some mushrooms, and returned to her kitchen brimming with provisions, starting to cook dinner.