Chapter 137: In His Arms
Su Yaoguang was furious.
If Jiang Yihui weren’t absent, she would rush over right now and throw him into the manure pit.
The people outside dispersed, and the entire night returned to silence.
Zhou Wangshu pulled her to lie down beside him, yawning as he said, “Go to sleep quickly! That’s all ancient history; I’ve even forgotten it.”
“You really don’t hold a grudge.” Su Yaoguang lay at his side, saying sympathetically, “It’s precisely because you’re too honest that those shameless people bully you like this.”
After this interruption, the eerie atmosphere from earlier completely vanished, and Su Yaoguang was no longer so afraid.
Zhou Wangshu heard the even breathing coming from behind him and knew she had fallen asleep. He turned over and, by the dim light, looked at the young girl in front of him.
She was exceedingly vibrant.
In his eyes, the world was all gray, and she was that splash of vivid color amid the gray.
“Helping this one for a while and saving that one, acting like a living Bodhisattva—aren’t you afraid that among those you save, there might be ungrateful people?” Zhou Wangshu pinched Su Yaoguang’s cheek.
So soft, so pinchable.
No wonder she liked pinching his face.
He had to admit, pinching like this felt quite comfortable.
Zhou Wangshu didn’t know how he fell asleep again, but when he woke up once more, he had an excellent human-shaped pillow in his arms.
She nuzzled in his embrace, her lips aimed at his neck, her exhaled breath sprinkling onto it.
Zhou Wangshu froze.
He had just wanted to move when he realized the person in his arms was about to wake up. He quickly closed his eyes and pretended to sleep, acting as if he knew nothing, waiting to see her reaction.
Su Yaoguang opened her eyes and was immediately met with a handsome little face.
Those eyelashes were so long and upturned—how could they belong to a man?
Still, his features were naturally soft and beautiful. Otherwise, back when he disguised himself as a girl, he wouldn’t have fooled so many people.
“Her skin is so smooth and tender, and her lips are so pretty… Why does she have to be a boy? If she were a girl, I could hold her and sleep every day.” Su Yaoguang muttered this as she slowly got up.
Zhou Wangshu: “…”
That’s it?
No shyness, no panic, no special reaction at all—just like waking up after sleeping with Jiang Jing, completely natural.
Su Yaoguang got up to fetch water for washing and grooming. As soon as she went out, Zhou Wangshu sat up indignantly.
“What does she mean by ‘why a boy’? What’s wrong with being a boy? No wonder she’s so nice to Jiang Jing and Jia Chunni all the time—she likes girls and not boys.” Zhou Wangshu fumed.
As soon as Su Yaoguang stepped out, she saw Jiang Yihuan fetching water and entering the room opposite. At that moment, Wen Shi appeared fetching water too. The two bumped into each other at the doorway and then glared at one another.
Su Yaoguang: “…”
Jiang Yihuan really knew how to bend and stretch!
Had she developed a sense of crisis?
After fetching water and washing and grooming, Su Yaoguang saw that Zhou Wangshu was still asleep, so she left a note on the table and went out.
When Zhou Wangshu woke up again, he saw the note on the table and knew there was medicine warming for him on the stove, so he drank it first. As for breakfast, Su Yaoguang said she would bring some back, so he waited.
He lowered his head and sniffed himself.
He wasn’t sure if it was an illusion, but he felt like he had an extra fragrance on him today.
She had lain in his arms all night, and even he now carried the scent of rouge.
Last night, refugees broke into people’s homes in the city and committed crimes, so today’s atmosphere in the city was markedly different. The local people were clearly especially hostile to those refugees, driving them away everywhere and even beating and kicking them, obviously venting their anger on the refugees. However, most of these refugees were the elderly, weak, women, and children; aside from kneeling and begging for a roof over their heads, they didn’t dare fight back at all.
The refugees feared that if they fought back, the government office would completely expel them, and then they wouldn’t even get the life-saving porridge in the city.
“Miss Su, the County Magistrate requests your presence.”
Su Yaoguang had just bought steamed buns and was preparing to bring them back to Zhou Wangshu when she was stopped by people from the yamen again.
Calling her at this time was probably about last night’s murder case. But wasn’t the County Magistrate overestimating her ability?
When Su Yaoguang arrived at the county office, she found that besides herself, there were people from other shops present.
As soon as she sat down, she noticed a richly dressed young man opposite her glaring at her.
She found it baffling.
Who was this person? She didn’t know him.
“He’s the young owner of Jin Le Fang.” The young man beside her smiled and said, “Business at Jin Le Fang has been poor lately, so his family sent him out to manage it, but there’s been no improvement this whole time. Nearly all the customers have been snatched away by your Peach Blossom Workshop, making it so he can’t hold his head up in the family.”
Su Yaoguang looked at the young man beside her: “You look a bit familiar. May I know your name?”
“I’m the owner of Jiang Family Restaurant. Last time, Miss Su, you dined at our place, and I saw you struggling to carry a young man on your back, so I sent a horse-drawn carriage for you.” Jiang Ziqian said with a smile.
“Oh, it’s you. I remember now.” Seeing his friendly demeanor and that he had helped her before, Su Yaoguang developed a good impression. “What does the County Magistrate want with us?”
“It’s probably about the refugees! The Imperial Court hasn’t sent anyone to settle them yet, and the conflicts between the refugees and local people are getting worse. If we don’t think of a way to handle it, things will only get more troublesome.”
“I already suggested a method to the County Magistrate yesterday, but after what happened last night, I’m afraid that method won’t work anymore.”
“What method?”
“I suggested having the County Magistrate settle the refugees in the village, using the unoccupied houses there to house them. But after last night’s murder case, the villagers will definitely drive out the refugees, leading to endless trouble everywhere.”
The County Magistrate appeared. He nodded to Su Yaoguang by way of greeting.
“Everyone, I troubled you to come here amid your busy schedules because I need your help with something.” Magistrate Chen said, “You must have heard about last night’s incident. Those few refugees were homeless and gravely ill, knowing they had only days left to live. Before dying, they dragged down an orphan and widow as their targets for venting rage. Our people captured them overnight, but by the time we found them, they had already slit their throats and committed suicide. Their deaths brought relief to them but cut off the escape route for the other refugees. I was originally planning to settle the refugees in the village today, but now the local people certainly won’t agree.”
“After much thought, the only way is to pool the strength of all families and ask you bosses to lend a hand. Everyone knows our city’s situation is much better than other places because we have prescriptions for treating and saving lives, and grain provided by Peach Blossom Workshop’s Su Dongjia. But there are too many refugees; relying only on Peach Blossom Workshop’s power isn’t enough. This time, we all need to tide over the crisis together.”
