Zhu Yanyin couldn't afford to lose face, so he picked out a few books, packed them up, and asked Li Sui to take them back to the inn for him.
"You stole the book."
“I’ll return it after I finish reading it!”
Zhu Yanyin threw the bag into his arms and urged: "Hurry up!"
Very justified.
The stairs going down were still steep, and the light was dim, making it harder to walk than when we came up. Li Sui said, "Come here, I'll carry you."
Zhu Yanyin was happy in his heart, but he still had to pretend to refuse on the surface, which was not a good idea.
Li Sui nodded: "Okay, then you walk slowly."
Zhu Yanyin: “?”
Li Sui walked downstairs alone.
Zhu Yanyin stood at the stairs with mixed feelings. What's wrong with you people in the martial arts world? Can't you understand the meaning of "reluctantly accepting but also reluctantly"? This is not what the book says. I don't want to walk by myself.
Li Sui asked lazily, "Are you not coming yet?"
Zhu Yanyin quickly summed up his experience and decided that it would be better to be straightforward, so he ran down the stairs. In his haste, he almost tripped. He flew into the arms of the cold-blooded devil like a pure and flawless white lotus.
So weak.
Li Sui remained calm: "You've gained weight."
Zhu Yanyin: "Shut up and I'll walk by myself."
Li Sui smiled and hugged him tightly, then took everyone down to hide.
Hecheng is full of books and the inn is more elegant than other places. Zhu Xiaosui has already lit the brazier and warmed the soft couch, waiting for her son to come back and rest.
Zhu Yanyin slipped into the room quickly. Fortunately, his dusty appearance was not discovered by Uncle Zhang.
Zhu Xiaosui helped him change his dirty clothes: "If you want to hide, it's just a matter of saying hello. Why do you have to be so sneaky like a thief?"
"I don't want to make a big fuss." Zhu Yanyin wiped the book clean. Zhu Xiaosui flipped through it and said, "It's all the local chronicles of Jincheng. This book is boring and dull. What's so interesting about it?"
"I want to check something." Zhu Yanyin asked, "Does the Zhu family have its own people in the Ministry of Industry?"
"Yes, my third uncle's cousin works in the Ministry of Industry and often interacts with us. After the young master was injured, he sent some supplements and letters to us, showing his concern. He also sent a message a while ago, saying that he wanted to take the young master to the royal city to celebrate the New Year."
"Then I will write a letter now, and you can send someone to deliver it to my cousin. I have something to ask him for help." Zhu Yanyin said, "The faster the better."
He wanted to look up some old events, but now everything was just a vague guess and it was hard to say.
At night, a cold wind suddenly blew, causing ghosts and wolves to howl outside the window, and the room became a third colder. In the distance, someone was playing the xiao, which was intermittent and out of tune, making it unpleasant and even more desolate.
Zhu Yanyin was awakened by the sound, and tossed and turned in bed. Later, he simply got out of bed and put on his clothes. There was a thick stack of papers on the table. They were all poems written by the literati who gathered at the city gate during the day. To be fair, many of them were well written, some were gorgeous, and some were heart-wrenching, but he just couldn't muster the energy to read them. His mind was like a candle, and he kept thinking about other people and other things. He thought so much that he fell asleep on the table when it was almost dawn.
In my dream, it felt like someone wrapped me in clothes, driving away the chill of early winter.
I slept until noon.
Zhu Yanyin was sunk into the soft and warm silk quilt, looking lazy and unlearned. She asked in a hoarse voice, "You were the one who helped me to bed?"
Zhu Xiaosui didn't understand: "What do you mean by help to the bed?"
Zhu Yanyin sat up and said, "I was reading those poems last night, and I fell asleep while reading. When I woke up, I was in bed."
Zhu Xiaosui handed him a cup of tea to soothe his throat: "I didn't, are you dreaming, sir?"
Zhu Yanyin: “…”
He didn't think he could sleepwalk back to bed, so there might only be one truth left. Second Master Zhu leaned back on the soft pillows and thought, he fell asleep while reading poetry, wearing a thin white dress and accompanied by a solitary lamp, the scene seemed to be okay, like a painting of snow in early winter, very elegant and charming.
Zhu Xiaosui waved her hands in front of him: "What are you so happy about, young master?"
Zhu Yanyin quickly retracted her expression and answered gracefully, I'm not happy, I'll lie down for a while.
Zhu Xiaosui said, "Then I will go prepare lunch for you, sir."
Zhu Yanyin responded and continued to lie on the bed thinking about life. What could be more disturbing than being carried to bed by the devil in pajamas? No, fortunately I slept soundly last night, otherwise if I woke up in the middle of the night, I don't know what would happen. He opened the quilt again, wanting to get a bronze mirror to admire himself, but Li Sui happened to push the door in, and their eyes met. If it were in a storybook, peach blossoms would fall from the sky at this moment.
Zhu Yanyin: "… Good morning."
"It's getting late." Li Sui closed the door. "There are many scholars waiting to see you outside. The whole street is blocked."
Zhu Yanyin was frightened, was this true or not.
He carefully pushed the window open a little, and sure enough, there were people everywhere, even the government officials were helping to maintain order.
"Want to go?"
"I don't want to go, and there's no rush."
Zhu Yanyin still leaned on the bed: "I haven't finished reading those poems. If you like any of them after reading them, let Uncle Zhang arrange a banquet. But that should be after I return from Snow City."
Li Sui didn't understand the rules of scholars, so he just nodded and said, "The Wulin Alliance will rest here for a day. I'll take you for a walk outside the city?"
"Okay." Zhu Yanyin organized her words with reserve, "I fell asleep at the table last night. Fortunately, you are here."
Li Sui was puzzled: "What's wrong with me?"
Zhu Yanyin: “?”
There is only one truth: it was done by the loyal old butler.
Zhu Yanyin: Forget it, just pretend I didn’t say anything.
Peach Blossoms won't float down from the sky for now. The big devil is not as considerate as imagined. However, Li Sui figured out something: "You want me to come to your room in the middle of the night?"
Zhu Yanyin wiped his face and denied it, "It's not me. I didn't do that. Don't talk nonsense."
Li Sui asked again: "Then I'll come over tonight?"
Zhu Yanyin threw the towel back into the basin, turned around and looked at him. This kind of thing requires the right time, right place and right people. Why did you make an appointment in advance? You are not an old gangster in the city who is meeting a young widow under a crooked tree. There is no aesthetic appeal at all.
Li Sui reached out and pulled his ear.
Zhu Yanyin held back for a long time before saying, "Why did you come to my room in the middle of the night instead of sleeping well? No!"
Li Sui said: "You are blushing."
Zhu Yanyin thought without hesitation, but I didn’t.
Li Sui brought the man to the bronze mirror, leaned forward slightly, and rested his chin on his shoulder: "Look for yourself."
Zhu Yanyin simply closed his eyes. As long as I don’t look, you will be the one blushing.
Li Sui laughed again, his hair and breath brushed against Zhu Yanyin's ear, burning that small patch of skin of his and making it grow redder. It was not impossible that it would burn the next moment. After all, they were all at that age where they were extremely impulsive, and any spark would cause trouble.
Zhu Yanyin was hugged by him from behind, and his mind was in a mess. Although there was no window paper between the two of them, there were some things that had not been discussed after all. Now it seemed as if he was the only one with romantic thoughts. How could this be possible? Did he still want to maintain the precious face of a scholar
So he turned his head and gave Li Sui a quick kiss on the face.
The Jiangnan bully is so adept at teasing the good girl that it is impossible not to admit defeat.
Li Sui: “…”
It seemed as if both inside and outside the house were quiet at the same time. At least Zhu Yanyin could no longer hear the noise from the street. He looked at Li Sui who was so close to him, but said nothing. Of course, it was mainly because he was too nervous to speak.
Li Sui hugged him tighter, and after holding him for a long time, he said, "I haven't extorted fifty years from Jiang Shenglin yet."
Zhu Yanyin asked: "How long can you live?"
"Ten years, or five years."
"Well, it's not long."
Li Sui rubbed his neck gently.
Zhu Yanyin continued, "If you really only have five years, then you must quickly make a list, write down all the unfulfilled wishes in your heart, and complete them one by one, so as to avoid any regrets."
Li Sui raised his head: "Why don't you comfort me? Maybe I can live another 20 or 30 years."
Zhu Yanyin said: "Yeah, maybe you can live another 20 or 30 years."
Li Sui grabbed his face with both hands and threatened: "Not sincere enough, try again!"
Zhu Yanyin grumbled: "I'm drooling!"
"Whatever! Hurry up!"
"Okay, okay, wait for me to get ready."
Zhu Yanyin saved his face and stood there to brew his emotions. After brewing for a long time, he spoke: "You can definitely-"
Li Sui interrupted him: "Okay."
Zhu Yanyin choked: "... What are you talking about? I haven't finished speaking yet."
"You don't have to tell me." Li Sui looked at him, "I promise you, I will live till old age."
Zhu Yanyin: “Yeah.”
Zhu Yanyin smiled again and said, "Then I will remember it, don't cheat."
The sun in early winter is warm.
The talented men of Hecheng missed the talented man from Jiangnan for the first time at the city gate, and missed him for the second time at the inn door.
Li Sui took Zhu Yanyin and rushed out of the city. This time, even the guards of the Zhu Mansion were left far behind, and there was only the sound of the wind along the way.
The two of them are going to the top of the mountain to see the snow.
In fact, they were not there to see the snow. The main reason was that there were too many people in the inn, and there was no other quiet place in the city. Both of them wanted to be alone with each other, so they had to choose a high, cold and wintry place where there were few people. They talked about cultivating immortals together under the moon and flowers.
Zhu Yanyin rubbed his hands: "It's so cold."
Li Sui wrapped him in his cloak and said, "Go back?"
"No, we just got here." Zhu Yanyin stepped on the snow on the ground. "The city is crowded and noisy, but it's quiet here. Let's go to higher ground later."
Li Sui made a small snowman for him: "Does it look like—"
Zhu Yanyin: "So ugly."
Li Sui quickly changed the subject: "Jiang Shenglin."
Zhu Yanyin asked a soul-searching question: "Why did you create a divine doctor Jiang?"
Li Sui remained calm and said, "If he can't extort 50 years, I'll prick him with a needle every day."
Zhu Yanyin: “Hmmmm.”
Doctor Jiang in the inn: Although I don’t know what happened, I just felt a chill on my back, as if someone had plotted against me.