He did not know if Song Yuanyan understood the metaphor, but even if he did, he did not show it. So Xu Qichen simply finished his tangyuan quietly.
Song Yuanyan rested only for a short while before declaring that his stomach felt uncomfortable and that he had to take a walk. He then picked up his coat and made to leave. Xu Qichen did not stop him, he simply called out, “If you don’t come back, I won’t follow you out the next time.”
Song Yuanyan stopped mid-step and turned around with a smile, “I’ll definitely come back. Don’t worry. Wait for me.”
Xu Qichen sighed.
What a troublesome target.
Bored, Xu Qichen stood up and walked around the room. He was truly unused to this body. Although there was less than a centimeter difference between the length of the two legs, he still felt tired after only a few steps. So he sat down where Song Yuanyan had sat earlier.
The spilled tea from before was still on the table. Xu Qichen rested his chin on his one hand and casually dipped the finger of his other hand in the spilled tea and began to write on the table.
‘Sun Lin.’
Then he dipped his finger again and wrote ‘Yuanyan’ under that.
0901 suddenly asked, “Mr. Xu, why did you give him this name? It is very difficult to pronounce.”
Xu Qichen laughed, “I’m sorry for making life difficult for an AI like you.” He wiped the two words away with his fingers then leant back on the sofa, “This name came from Qu Yuan’s ‘Nine Songs: Mrs. Xiang’. One of the lines goes like this: Yuan River’s angelica, Li River’s orchids, long for Mrs. Xiang but do not dare speak of it.”
0901: “What does it mean?”
Xu Qichen did not reply to him, instead continuing, “I used the first and the last words to form this name.”
Said like that, it sounded like he had named him arbitrarily, but only Xu Qichen knew how much the name meant to him.
Xu Qichen called the waiter to remove all the desserts from the table and to clean it up.
In this era, there were no mobile phones, so he had nothing to entertain himself with. He asked the girl wiping the table, “Do you have books or something similar here?”
“Which book would you like?”
Xu Qichen thought for a moment, “Any newspaper or magazine will do.”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
In no time at all the girl came back with a magazine.
We Hlmtfc atbeuta la kjr nfgs cbnfi. Ktf vfrluc bc atf mbnfg kjr delaf biv-ojrtlbcfv. Pa kjr bcis joafg tf aegcfv la bnfg, atja tf obecv atja la kjr j mbiifmalbc bo frrjsr, rtjgqis mglalmlhlcu atf rtbgambwlcur bo atf meggfca alwfr.
We Hlmtfc lr j qfgrbc ktb obgufar atf bearlvf kbgiv jr rbbc jr tf rajgar gfjvlcu j ybbx. Qtfc tf kjr lc tlut rmtbbi, cb wjaafg tbk cblrs atf mijrr kjr, tf kbeiv jikjsr rla delfais lc tlr rfja, flatfg gfjvlcu bg cjqqlcu ktfc tf ofia algfv. Pa kjr jr lo tf kjr lc j vloofgfca alwf jcv rqjmf ogbw tlr mijrrwjafr.
“Reconciliation and compromise…” Xu Qichen stared at the title and subconsciously read it aloud. He probably ate too many sweets just now because his mouth felt dry. He stretched out his hand and searched around the table for the tea cup. He was so engrossed that he didn’t even lift his eyes.
When he finally found the cup, it was upside down. Only then did he remember that they had cleared the table, and the tea as well.
Forget it. He retracted his hand and flipped the page, and continued to read.
“Waiter, two coffees.”
He suddenly heard a girl’s voice from across the table and looked up in surprise. Only then did he realise that there was someone sitting on the sofa as well.
Sun Lin seemed to be a little short sighted. It was not very serious, but Xu Qichen squinted habitually.
There was a young lady sitting in front of him. Actually, if she had not spoken, Xu Qichen would have taken a moment longer to wonder if she was a young lady or a young gentleman, because both, her looks and her manners, were ambiguous.
The other party’s hair was cut very short, and was no more than a centimeter longer than his own. The hair at the back of her neck was trimmed neatly, and her fringe was combed up to reveal a pair of heroic eyebrows. Below, was a pair of bright phoenix eyes, which were upturned at the corners. Her face was shaped like a goose egg, that looked somewhat feminine.
The coffee came quickly. Xu Qichen said his thanks and closed the book.
“Hello, Miss He.”
She smiled, “You stared at me for a long time earlier. Do you think I’m strange?”
He did look for a long time, but only because he was trying to match her to the settings he had written.
Xu Qichen lifted the corners of his lips without much other expression, “Is Miss He asking this because you think you are strange?”
Miss He raised her eyebrows slightly. There was a trace of surprise on her unpowdered face. She soon smiled again. “According to the ancient Chinese saying, I have been defeated by the opponent general.” She sipped her coffee, “I thought that a pedantic scholar like you must be extremely disgusted with a woman like me.”
Xu Qichen said mildly, “There are two things I have to refute. First, why does Miss He think I’m a pedantic scholar? Second…” He took in the woman in front of him.
“There are many different kinds of women in this world. Which kind is Miss He?”
Miss He’s hand froze as she stared at him.
She did not like it when other’s judged her by her looks, but she, too, had fallen into that trap.
“What women should do and what men should do, such unwritten regulations have always been a cognitive injustice.” Xu Qichen didn’t look at her. He just looked at the joints on his fingers. There was no emotion in his words, as though he was talking about something as meaningless as what he had eaten for lunch. “No one should be limited by the word man or woman.”
His eyes were dark brown, like the coffee in front of him. Not strong, but there is a natural sense of alienation.
“Gender is only relevant to reproduction, not to one’s lifestyle.”
Miss He paused, then laughed out loud.
“Interesting, interesting.” She looked carefully at Xu Qichen, then reached out her hand and finally gave him a friendly smile, “‘Miss He’ sounds too formal, please call me Nancy.”
As expected of someone who had studied overseas.
Xu Qichen hesitated, but the girl was open and friendly, so he shook her hand.
Miss Nancy had a lively temperament. Before Xu Qichen spoke, she said again, “It is said that the young master of the Song family is ill and weak. I had a headache as soon as I heard it. Today, I had to be dragged here by my father. Now I see that although you are rather thin, your mind is very advanced.”
The hand she was shaking faltered.
Ah, he’s been misunderstood again.
The door suddenly opened.
“I took a walk downstairs and found a western fruits stall, guess what I saw…?”
Xu Qichen immediately withdrew his hand and looked towards the door.
Why do such coincidences happen?
The smile on real young master Song’s, holding an exquisite box, face froze slowly.
Xu Qichen stood up and bowed to Miss He, who was rather confused, “My apologies, you misunderstood. I’m merely a servant of the Song family.” He glanced at Song Yuanyan, who was still standing in the doorway, “That is young master Song.”
Miss He frowned, “So… I was mistaken?”
Xu Qichen nodded, “I was only waiting for the young master here, I did not intend to cause any misunderstanding… I’m really sorry.” Then he picked up the magazine and walked towards the door, giving Song Yuanyan a look.
Song Yuanyan frowned as he walked over and put the box in Xu Qichen’s hands. Then he dropped himself on the sofa, “You are Miss He?”
Why did he sound so angry…
Was it because he thought Xu Qichen was seducing his date?
Xu Qichen silently looked at the box in his hands. There were handwritten words on it in English calligraphy, so he could not read it at a glance.
Miss He was already feeling embarrassed about her mistake, and the real young master’s attitude upset her even further. “And so what if I am?”
This development was not good.
In the novel, they were pretty friendly during their first meeting, as they were both western-educated and could converse easily, thus they ended up getting married.
Did his presence change the plot?
Please no, what if he died early? Xu Qichen remembered the words Mrs. Song had said to him before they left and kicked Song Yuanyan under the table. With a grin he looked at the box in his hands, “This is a gift young master got for Miss He ba.”
Song Yuanyan frowned and snatched the box back before Xu Qichen gave it out. “You’re very kind all of a sudden. When did I say that?”
He completely ignored the path of peace.
Xu Qichen felt awkward and immediately tried to remove himself from the situation, “Then… the two of you have fun chatting, I won’t bother you further.”
“No need,” Miss He stood up very quickly. Someone brought her red coat over and helped her put it on, “I was forced to come here, after all. It seems…” She cleared her throat in Song Yuanyan’s direction, “It was as I expected. Young master Song and I are not suited for each other. There will be no need for us to meet again in the future, either.”
Song Yuanyan gave a fake smile and waved, “Safe travels, Miss He.”
Miss He walked over to Xu Qichen and her expression softened, like it had been before she met Song Yuanyan, “What’s your name?”
He had no choice but to answer her. Xu Qichen lowered his head and said respectfully, “Sun Lin.”
Miss He nodded and then left coolly.
Well well, looks like someone is jealous
Thank you for the chapter!
UwU I smell vinegar and a pinch of salt~
Ok who spilled the vinegar? I can smell it from all the way over here 🤣
The Jar has been tipped!
thanks for the chapter <3
They might be fictional, but the smell of vinegar damn real
Aaaaa I finally caught up hmmm tasty vinegar
thanks for the chapter!
Hoho I like this Miss He. She seems like a very interesting character. I hope to see her more in the future~
♥️🥰