Chapter 205: Intimacy
The breakfast shop’s shop assistant delivered breakfast as usual.
As he prepared to leave, a young and beautiful married woman walked out from the side.
“Little brother…” Jiang Yihuan blocked the shop assistant’s path, “If you deliver tomorrow, could you bring a portion for me too?”
With that, Jiang Yihuan stuffed broken silver into the shop assistant’s hand.
The shop assistant quickly pushed it back and refused, “Sorry, Madam, you have to come to our shop to queue up. We don’t deliver.”
“If you don’t deliver, why are you here? You’ve been delivering every day recently, and yet you say your shop doesn’t deliver breakfast?”
“Young Master Zhou is different. That was a special instruction from our boss.” After saying that, the shop assistant left briskly.
Jiang Yihuan stomped her foot watching the shop assistant’s retreating back.
She had gone to queue yesterday, but after waiting half an hour, it sold out just as it was her turn. She cried on the spot from anger, saying they were bullying people. She thought other customers would seize the opportunity to make a fuss too, but they all left on their own, as if they were long used to this situation.
Later she learned that the shop’s business was extremely good, not just during this period of scholars taking the imperial examination, but usually as well. Eating their breakfast required not only perseverance but also a bit of luck.
“If you don’t eat this, are you going to starve to death or drool to death?” Xiao Yanci’s disdainful voice came.
Jiang Yihuan froze in place.
She couldn’t believe such harsh words came from Xiao Yanci’s mouth.
Although his mood had been worsening lately and his temper increasingly strange, it shouldn’t have reached this level of harshness.
Where had his previous gentle elegance and poise gone? Xiao Yanci now looked devoid of his former mild temperament and appeared quite ugly.
“Xiao Gege, you’re really too much.” Jiang Yihuan looked at him with teary eyes and ran out feeling aggrieved.
Xiao Yanci opened his mouth, annoyance flashing in his eyes.
What had come over him just now?
How could he say such words?
It must be because he was about to enter the examination hall, the pressure was too great, and the previous shadows had been haunting him, causing his temper to lose control like this.
Su Yaoguang and Zhou Wangshu walked out from inside.
“Aren’t you really going to join the other scholars for the poetry gathering today?”
Zhou Wangshu said, “No, I’ll accompany you to wander around. I drank too much yesterday, my head still hurts now, and I don’t want to socialize with them.”
“When I went to various shops with Cui Rong to discuss business yesterday, I saw that the fabric patterns at one silk shop were particularly beautiful. Our county town doesn’t have such good quality ready-made clothes. Since you’re not going to socialize with the scholars, come be my pack mule. We’ll buy some to take back for Mother and the others.”
“Is there any for me?”
“When have you ever been shorted?”
Xiao Yanci returned to the inner room and looked at a book.
His eyes stayed on the book, but his mind had its own thoughts. Those memories were clearly long past, yet now they replayed vividly.
In his previous life, Su Yaoguang had accompanied him to the local imperial examination too, but back then he was full of youthful vigor, held in high esteem by many. He despised her for being unsophisticated and never took her out. Even when fellow examinees visited and asked about her identity, he only said she was a servant. When she proactively bought things for him, he would disdain them as ugly. She wanted to visit the provincial capital’s market but only mustered the courage to mention it after the local imperial examination ended, and he still didn’t agree.
So her affection was never indispensable to him. Now with another man, she treated him like a treasure, presenting the best to him.
No, even better than to him.
In his previous life, he hadn’t had such good fortune.
Why?
How could Su Yaoguang live better and better after leaving him?
He had to become the Top Scholar and parade grandly on horseback through the streets, letting her know what she had missed.
Su Yaoguang and Zhou Wangshu came out of the ready-to-wear clothing shop. They had worn one set of clothes when they went in, and now they wore another.
The ready-to-wear clothing shop’s shopkeeper enthusiastically saw them out.
“Shopkeeper, we’re still going to wander around now. Just have someone deliver the clothes we bought tomorrow to our current residence.”
“Alright.”
The two were about to head to the next stop when they turned and saw Zhong Chushan, Chen Buyu, and others. Behind Zhong Chushan and Chen Buyu were more than a dozen scholars.
Zhang Linglong was among them.
“You said you drank too much and wanted to rest well at home today. When did you move without us knowing, and you moved here?” Zhong Chushan teased.
“Brother Zhong, Brother Zhou wants to accompany his sister-in-law, so don’t expose him.”
Zhou Wangshu put his arm around Su Yaoguang’s shoulders and generously admitted, “So what if I want to accompany our Yaoguang? You bunch of men gathered together won’t miss me one, and Yaoguang is unfamiliar with the place here, so of course I have to consider her feelings more.”
“Cheeky boy.” Several people laughed and cursed.
“Sister-in-law, since we’ve run into each other, why not have a meal together!” one scholar said.
“Sure!” Su Yaoguang said, “He can’t accompany you, but I can in his place. This meal’s on us.”
“Then let’s go to Bright Moon Tower!” Zhang Linglong said, “It’s the best restaurant in the provincial capital, but I don’t know if it’s convenient. I hear it’s a bit expensive.”
“No problem.” Su Yaoguang said.
“Yaoguang, that restaurant has been fully booked lately. I’m afraid we can’t reserve a spot.” Chen Buyu said.
“Are you dumb? Isn’t that restaurant Cui Rong’s aunt’s? We went there the first day we arrived.” Zhong Chushan said.
“Right, I almost forgot. But Cui Rong isn’t here today! With him not there, they might not give Yaoguang this face.”
The group headed to Bright Moon Tower. As soon as they entered the restaurant, the shopkeeper came to greet them. He recognized Su Yaoguang and quietly said a few words to her.
After a moment, Su Yaoguang returned and said to the group, “The shopkeeper says they’re fully booked.”
Zhang Linglong pursed her lips, her eyes full of schadenfreude, “Oh dear, I thought you had a way. Looks like we can’t have this meal after all.”
Zhang Fengyi frowned and tugged at Zhang Linglong, “Can you stop stirring things up?”
After saying that, he stepped in to smooth things over, “It doesn’t matter where we eat. I see several nearby restaurants have empty seats. Why not just pick a place and grab something casual?”
“No need for that. I told the shopkeeper I’d pay three times the price to have him clear out the private dormitory room used for hosting the boss’s guests for us. The shopkeeper agreed.” Su Yaoguang said, “Last time we also went to the boss’s private dormitory room, but that day it was as friends of the boss’s nephew, personally hosted by the boss. Today my friend isn’t there, so I didn’t want to impose under his name. Spending a bit of money is more straightforward.”
“Sister-in-law is so generous!” A nearby scholar asked Zhong Chushan, “What does sister-in-law do to be so wealthy?”
“If you’d been to our county town, you’d know who she is. The shop she runs is the most popular there, and she even received a plaque bestowed by the government office. There, she is this…” Chen Buyu gave a thumbs up. “Don’t let Wangshu’s good looks fool you. He really married up.”
